As she laid on her bed, she remembered once again Petra’s first advice. Apollonia clasped both her hands in her lap. She tried. She really did her best. However, even after 7 years, she always failed.

Then what was next?

The answer was surprisingly simple. Now, she had to come up with measures. A complicated idea.

She was certain in her determination. Her crimson eyes glistened in the dark, and her breath was tranquil and regular. Her head was clear.

For Apollonia, the last 7 years hadn’t been a waste. She recalled Petra’s second piece of advice: ‘Don’t ever think of keeping anything precious for yourself.’ Fortunately, she’d never followed the second advice at all. Because there were a lot of precious things that belonged to Apollonia. She would never again let them take what belonged to her.

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Gaius and Petra thought they knew everything in the palace, but they were wrong. The late emperor had been a man of many secrets.

First, the palace where Apollonia lived had a secret function they didn’t know about.

Apollonia was originally supposed to live in the main building of the Imperial Palace, but after Gaius’s ascension, she hadn’t wanted to stay in her old room. Instead, she went to live alone in the Star Palace.

The Star Palace was located inside the grounds of the Imperial Palace, but was considerably far away from the emperor’s palace. It was a building built as a guest palace during the reign of the late emperor. At least, that was what people thought. It had actually been made to hide the emperor’s secret.

Hidden inside the Star Palace were many secret passages leading outside the palace and to other palaces, as well as leading to various secret rooms located in every corner of the Imperial Palace. These passages had been created to protect the imperial family in case of an attack, and also as a place to hide treasures from the imperial archive.

These treasures were things like bars of gold, ancient crowns, and every type of jewel imaginable; yet there was a rare treasure hidden there, more valuable than all the rest put together. This was the ‘Spirit Stone.’ It was a stone used by sorcerers, and it was an extremely important raw material in the creation of weapons, weapons that were nearly impossible to break with human power.

Apollonia used the emperor’s treasures to hear news from the outside of the palace, especially news about the Liefer family. Of course, she couldn’t ask Petra or her husband, but she was still able to find out Petra’s news by mobilizing a few loyal spies.

The second thing Gaius and Petra didn’t know about: many of the servants in the Star Palace were loyal to Apollonia, selected by Sid Bian himself.

Sid Bian was the head of the Star Palace. He had once been the Emperor’s right-hand man and the leader of the imperial knights. He had been awarded the title of Count and his own territory at a young age, in recognition of his military accomplishments. His influence was so strong that even Gaius couldn’t touch him.

Apollonia had told him the secret of Gaius and Paris seven years ago. Sid had sworn allegiance to Apollonia on the day she was born, and she trusted him completely. Once she moved to the Star Palace, he immediately found some loyal servants and filled the palace with them.

Of course, it was difficult to completely block off Petra’s influence, but at least Apollonia’s food was safe, and those in charge of supplying the food were not willing to change their minds and become Petra’s pawn.

Occasionally, when Petra’s servants in the Star Palace tried to get near Apollonia, Sid and the other loyal servants made excuses to force them away from Apollonia’s side.

That was all. Apollonia’s precious things. Even combining all of them together, it was not easy to stop Petra’s attacks.

“Sid, get ready to meet our midnight guest,” Apollonia called to her middle-aged escort driver.

His naturally grey hair and grey eyes had once been the symbol of evil spirits on the battlefield, terrorizing his enemies. But for Apollonia, he was a strand of warmth in the cold imperial palace.