“And the curse left inside her from the war all those years ago has weakened a little, too.”

The adorable, polite little girl in front of her had just said something that left Mu Nanyan completely baffled.

War? Curses? Mu Nanyan had never heard of any of that. Could it be lore that wasn’t in the original story?

“You didn’t know?”

“Ah, you mean… you mean that. Well, it’s not that I know for sure, it’s just… I mean, we’re not saying that this is… well…”

Mu Nanyan stammered for ages without getting to the point, going around in circles over and over.

She’d thought she could bluff her way through it, but Lan Yu seemed to be taking her a little too seriously.

Lan Yu actually thought Mu Nanyan was trying to say something. She tilted her little head and stared straight at Mu Nanyan with both eyes, waiting for her to finish.

“All right, I don’t know.”

Mu Nanyan sighed. It was obvious she wasn’t going to talk her way out of this, so she might as well be honest.

“I guess even the Demon Emperor doesn’t tell you everything. Maybe she’s afraid you’ll worry.”

Lan Yu covered her mouth, unable to hold back a quiet giggle.

“Many years ago, when the Demon Clan went to war with the Divine Clan, the Demon Emperor was badly injured. That year, my teacher personally pulled her back from the brink of death.”

“She survived, but the Demon Emperor was left with some very serious aftereffects.”

“Strangely, my teacher and the others searched through every medical text they could find and still couldn’t figure out what was causing them. In short, the Demon Emperor had lost the ability to learn.”

“Whether it’s magic or martial arts, the Demon Emperor’s skill has been frozen at the level she reached that year.”

Lan Yu’s words suddenly made everything click for Mu Nanyan. No wonder the Demon Emperor never showed up in person to clean up Long Aotian’s messes in the original story.

No wonder the Demon Emperor had suddenly taken in so many exceptionally gifted girls…

So that’s what happened. Her power had stopped growing there? Then as long as I, Mu Nanyan, work hard and bide my time, I can surpass the Demon Emperor, who’s stuck where she is, in a few years. Then I can break off the engagement unilaterally and live a carefree life on my own?

W-Wait! You mean I actually have a chance?

“Then does Lan Yu know what level the Demon Emperor is at now?”

Mu Nanyan gazed at Lan Yu expectantly. First, she’d set herself a modest little goal, then give it everything she had to catch up. Could she do it? Please. If I’m running as hard as I can, how could I not catch someone standing still?

Then I might as well have wasted all those years eating.

“She could probably wipe out half a Human Race nation if she tried a little. It’s not that much, really, but it’s enough to keep the Demon Clan in line for now.”

I’m sorry. I really did waste all that food—no, to be precise, I was a waste of food… Mu Nanyan silently shed a single tear. It looked like brute force was completely out of the question.

But it wasn’t completely hopeless. If I had a hundred years… Wait, I’d be dead by then.

If I had fifty years… Never mind. Being an ornamental empress might not be so bad. The Cold Palace was a little small, but it was still a courtyard in the capital of the Demon Clan, within the grounds of the Demon Imperial Palace. That was prime real estate.

“What does all this have to do with my medicine?”

“Well, after the Demon Emperor took the medicine you gave her, it didn’t just suppress the poison in her body. The strange condition that kept her from learning magic also disappeared for a little while.”

“The Demon Emperor was thrilled. She used that precious opportunity to read four books on magic from cover to cover.”

“Huh?”

Mu Nanyan was stunned. At this rate, it looked like her only option was to become the Demon Emperor’s ornamental empress.

“So, about that medicine of yours… could you show me how to make it? No matter how we try your prescription, we can’t reproduce the effect.”

Lan Yu looked a little aggrieved, and it was hard not to feel for her.

“That can’t be right. You just throw everything in a pot and boil it. It’s so simple. Can’t the Demon Clan’s royal physicians even manage that?”