The night stretched on and on, but Anna, engrossed in reading the reports from her Strawberry Network, didn’t take notice.

She was like a curious gremlin, curlers in her hair, a plate of strawberries beside her, one leg propped up on her table as she read through page after page of detailed tea.

"Damn, I wouldn’t wanna get on the bad side of my network. This is some serious insider information."

The report had everything on the five councilors. Their names, including some that had hidden middle names, their spouses and their names, and full detail of everything they’d been up to in the past weeks. The places they visited, the people they talked to, and what they talked about.

By the time she was done reading the twenty page report, she knew just who to use for her task completion.

In this world, marriage was sacred. Especially royal marriages, and that included councilors, minsters, anyone in high position of power. With how scarce females were, males were mandated to take total and absolute care of them. Cheating? Out of the question. Absurd. Unheard of.

But there existed some anomalies.

Anna looked down at the papers, her eyes glossing over the name on top.

Valor Balenfort.

What a shame, I thought he was a sensible man. Turns out he’s cheating on his wife.

To make matters worse, Valor was the only councilor to didn’t have co-husbands. His marriage was hailed as the ultimate love match. His wife, a tiger beastwoman from the warmer North clans, refused to take multiple husbands even though that was the norm.

"Love is a bitch huh?" Anna mumbled, reaching out for a strawberry. She chewed on it, formulating her plan. While this task was important, she still had to fix the devices, which was even more important.

Anna didn’t wait for morning to come.

She threw on a robe and left her room. Down the empty hallways, she kept walking till she came to the servants’ quarters. Finding Bella was easy as she was still up, reading a book with candlelight. She spotted Anna and hid the book under her pillow, her eyes wide and guilty.

"Y-your highness!"

"Please, be calm. I need your help."

Bella rushed out of bed. "You didn’t have to come down here yourself! You could have sent someone to get me!"

Anna shrugged. "That’s beside the point. I have an important task for you and your friends."

Bella nodded, her eyes determined. "Whatever you need me to do, your highness."

****

The next morning, the palace rose with an active hum.

The news spread faster than wildfire through dry bushes. Every maid and servant talked about it. Even the guards chipped their ears in for a bit of the juicy gossip. As anna walked through the halls, a calm and collected expression on her face, her ears twitched and she listened in.

"Hey! Did you hear? Councilor Valor is a nasty cheater!"

"Eh? Are you sure?"

"Yes! There’s proof!"

"And you won’t believe who he cheated with?"

"Who? Who? Come on, tell me!"

Anna grinned, pretending not to hear anything meanwhile she was jubilating inside her.

Due to some circumstance of her past life, aka her boyfriend cheating on her multiple times, Anna had no love or sympathy for cheaters. She was glad that this world felt the same way. Satisfaction eased into her heart as she saw the network doing its job dutifully.

But there was still one thing left to do.

For a second, Anna paused, deep in thought.

She needed to leave the palace, but doing so right now without any detectors was dangerous. She thought about asking one of her husbands to accompany her. Ray? No, he’s sensitive to sunlight. Kai? Who am I kidding, he still won’t talk to me. Azul is in the North, and I will rather chew razor blades and wash them down with acid before I ask Leon for anything.

For the first time, she felt alone in this world. Surrounded by people but still alone.

I just have to do this on my own, she decided.

So, Anna left the palace, accompanied by two of her guards. Her destination? A certain mansion she attended a birthday party not up to two weeks ago. The moment the car arrived, the servants of that mansion were already waiting to receive her.

Echoes of "your highness" filled the air as Anna stepped out, flanked by her guards.

Thalia stood at the front door, dressed beautifully, a polite smile on her face. "Your highness," she greeted with a bow when Anna came closer. "You’ve graced my home with your brilliance."

"Thank you. I didn’t come here for you, however I hope you and the rest of our friends haven’t forgotten your task."

Thalia’s eyes widened and her pupils dilated till they were almost circles. "But...your highness...I sent a letter for—"

Anna raised a hand, silencing her. "I got your letter, Lia. I sent my reply. Didn’t you get it? Or were you hoping for a different answer?"

"I didn’t—"

Anna sighed. "Where’s your mom? Set up a meeting for us immediately."

Red hot anger flashed in Thalia’s eyes. Her chest tightened and a hiss built in her throat. She quickly swallowed it and bowed so the Princess wouldn’t see the anger in her eyes. "Please, follow me." she said, gesturing to the house. Deep down she wished she could lead the Princess to the greenhouse, give her snakes a fresh treat. But one look at the guards made her rethink. Later. I’ll do it later. I musn’t be hasty or it will backfire.

Anna was shown to a lovely indoor sun room and served fragrant tea.

"Permit me to fetch my mother," Thalia said with a too-sweet smile as she slinked away.

Anna didn’t touch the tea.

Minutes later, Thalia returned with her mother, Analiese.

Analiese looked nothing like her daughter. Where Thalia was all dark green and black and velvet, Analiese was softer, white lace and soft ribbons and a genuinely sweet persona that Anna had a hard time believing she birthed the monstrosity that was Thalia.

Wait...the queen is kind too and Princess Orchid came out rotten. Maybe it’s not the parents? Wow. These two best friended so hard they both became demons despite having perfect mothers.

But damn...I kinda understand Councilor Valor. This woman is so pretty, young too. And a widow...damn.

"Your highness," Analiese greeted with a deep bow. Her honey-colored hair swept over her shoulders, and she gently pushed it back. "I’m so sorry I kept you waiting."

Anna nodded, unsure of what to say.

When she heard that Valor was cheating on his wife with Thalia’s mother, she believed it would be easier to settle matters if Thalia’s mom was just like Thalia.

Anna cleared her throat. "It’s alright." Then she turned to Thalia. "You can leave."

Thalia said nothing, but the dark look in her eyes spoke volumes. She stormed off, slamming the door like a toddler.

Analiese gestured to the seats and the tea cups. "Tea, your highness?"

"No thank you. I came here for one reason, and I won’t waste your time with it. It’s about Councilor Valor."

The moment Anna said those words, Analiese gasped, her slender hands clamping over her mouth. "Your highness..." tears filled her eyes and her cheerful expression crumbled.

Anna shook her head. "Now is not the time for that. Here’s what will happen. You will come to the palace and publicly expose him. even better if you have some sort of evidence."

She shook her head, her tears flying from her eyes like icy droplets. "I cannot do that! I...he will never recover from the shame!"

Anna frowned. "You do know this man is married?"

Analiese laughed softly. "Have you ever been in love, your highness? You think of nothing else but your beloved. Nothing else mattered except being with them. Who cares what other people will say, or in this case his wife? I love Valor, and that won’t change."

Anna sat there, and realized that maybe she had misjudged her. "That’s disgusting, Analiese. Taking someone else’s husband is not love or whatever. It’s wicked."

"You’re not in a position to be a moral judge, your highness. Not when the entire kingdom knows you drugged your sister and put her in a coma so you could marry her lover. Compared to you, all I’ve done is tame."

The words cut through Anna’s defenses like a swiss knife through wet paper.

Even though Analiese spoke no lies, anger rose inside Anna. She got to her feet, her eyes darkened. "I see. Have a lovely day, Analiese."

"I wish I could say the same to you, your highness."

Anna walked out. She didn’t realize her fist were clenched so tightly till one of the guards handed her a tissue.

On the drive back to the palace, she couldn’t stop thinking about what Analiese said. She looked at her hands, the hands that went to extreme lengths out of pure spite just to have what Princess Lotus cherished. Disgust and anger coiled together in her gut, pushing bile up her throat.

She’s right. Who am I to judge?

But Analiese was wrong about one thing. Anna knew that it wasn’t Princess Orchid’s fault Princess Lotus was in coma. Contrary to the rumors, Princess Orchid actually tried to heal her sister using spores, but that backfired.

The truth didn’t matter when the entire kingdom already knew how wicked Princess Orchid was. Which was why, when the guards found her passed out in Princess Lotus’s healing room, she was quickly accused of trying to poison her sister again. And being the unrepentant villainess that she was, she accepted their blames.

A sharp ding echoed in Anna’s head, breaking up her thoughts. [Congratulations, hostie. Your task has been completed. Check your space for your rewards.]

"Won’t you tell me what they are?"

[Congratulations. Kindly check your space for your rewards. Your new task will be assigned soon, goodluck, hostie~]

Anna tried not to think of the next task could be.

By the time she got back to the palace and headed to the barracks to continue her work, she was informed of someone waiting to see her.

"He calls himself Lord Villis, your highness. And he’s been here all morning."