Chapter 3 – The Greedy Trisha

Diana slowly closed her eyes and recalled the fact she knew in the next part of the book. In the novel, Trisha subsequently received the Marquess title and wore the beautiful ruby ​​necklace. The necklace was made with three rows of diamonds, making it even brighter. It perfectly suited Trisha’s proud red eyes.

Trisha ran around the imperial palace as if it was her little playground, holding Lucas’ hand with the giant ruby ​​necklace proudly displayed on her neck. But that was just the beginning.

One necklace would not be enough.

Diana thought of one thing after another. In the book, Trisha, now Marquess, even dared to live right next to the Empress’ chamber. Gifts filled the place day by day and making it as an excuse, she took up more space than necessary.

The timid Diana then quietly backed away in silence. She gave up her corner, her husband, her seat, and ultimately her dignity. The necklace had not been enough.

Trisha’s spirit rose day by day. And Lucas often visited the inner palace, putting off his political responsibility as the Emperor. He would usually walk with Trisha in the gardens, which he had modified to suit her taste.

It was the perfect and calculated location for a secret rendezvous. People in the empire only knew that Lucas was going to the inner palace, but there was no way to see if he headed for the Empress’ or Trisha’s quarters.

“You can never satisfy Trisha.” Diana’s delicate lips tightened and remarked in a voice colder than ice. Lucas felt a little bit puzzled at her outburst.

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t you think she’s such a selfish child?”

“Empress.” A word of warning came out of Lucas’ mouth.

But Diana was only telling the blatant truth. Although Trisha acted innocent, her heart was dripping with pure envy, masked under naivety. Despite all the things she obtained, it was still never enough; it seems the more she acquired, the more she yearns.

“There is no way to satisfy infinite greed.”

Lucas’ brows furrowed at Diana’s remarks. She turned around and looked straight into his disapproving eyes, her own blue eyes containing waves of different emotions. There was not the usual tranquility present.

“What are you talking about?”

Rarely did she make Lucas feel embarrassed. But she thought he finally deserved this. Her words gave him a shock, she knew. This was something the original Diana could not say, and she should have been the first woman to dare talk to Lucas rebelliously. He was an authoritarian, a person whose skies would collapse if there was even someone who would challenge the authority of the imperial family.

“This emperor orders you to tell him.”

Still deaf to his words, Diana’s face only reflected her current sadness. The original Diana trusted Trisha to a fault, believing in the lie that Lucas’ feelings for Trisha were mere friendship. And the truth broke her heart, for it was a marriage they swore under the heavens.

But this time, it was the limit of her patience. Especially now that she knew more about the real situation.

“Yes, well… I do not care anymore.”

Lucas couldn’t believe the words that came out from Diana’s mouth. His face could only exude contempt at her having bad mouthed Trisha.

“Empress, are you out of your mind?”

“I could be.”

Diana arranged her dress and fixed Lucas with a resolute gaze.

“Do not dare speak that way. Even if you are the Empress, such words will not be tolerated.”

“What I say or do won’t matter anyway. You will continue being outrageous and stupid.”

The cold words shook Lucas. His emerald eyes filling with anger and surprise, finding it too hard to accept Diana’s incredulous behavior at the moment.

“Empress!”

But Diana’s face remained stern. This time, she wanted to live a life without having to keep being Lucas’ doll whose only purpose is to produce a successor.

In the end, the story went its original course despite everything she had done to alter it.

Then, Diana burst into laughter for the first time. Lucas stared, not understanding Diana’s current image.

“But you don’t know what that means. It’s something only I can understand anyway.”

Diana remembered the beginning of this whole transmigration incident, the time before she was not yet the pitiful Diana in the book, but a person in another reality. She found a rare book, one that had no particular, or special markings. It was a book she read out of boredom and found it still had substance. The frustrating start was tolerable, as most high novels revolve around a plot to drive the story to its climax. But still…

“Ha! You are the worst.”But by the time she had read half of the book, she realized that half of her holiday had gone. She could only think, ‘What the hell am I reading?’ as there was a point that she finally reached her breaking point.

It was just a loveless novel, a cruel story of a married woman locked in her own romantic fantasies that would never come true, while her reality was crumbling as her husband cheated on her with her friend.