Chapter 117
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Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
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Chapter 117
"Wow, you certainly have a knack for handiwork, Miss. I heard you cook well too."
Lindsey watched in admiration as I braided my hair with practiced ease.
My pride swelled at least three centimeters at her words.
"Well, it's nothing special."
"So you've been doing this skillfully on your own since you were young?"
"Around nine years old, I suppose? Before that, my father used to...."
I trailed off as I casually mentioned Curtis Rohan.
Several days had passed since I learned the truth about my mother's identity.
I had waited to speak with Curtis Rohan, but over the past few days, he had only visited briefly while I slept.
The morning after I discovered this, I instructed Liman to wake me even if it was late at night when Curtis Rohan returned, but since then, he hadn't come home again.
'I hope he's not overworking himself and falling ill.'
I was seriously considering whether I should go help him when I heard the sound of a carriage outside the open window.
'Curtis Rohan?!'
I abandoned my hair and rushed to the window.
But the carriage that arrived at the Estate bore not the Rowswide crest, but the Edelwein crest.
It was Lahedis coming to pick me up.
I had told him there was no need to come fetch me, yet Lahedis came to collect me every day I was scheduled to visit the Duke's Residence.
'Lahedis, you've arrived earlier than promised today.'
Though I was disappointed it wasn't Curtis Rohan, the moment I saw Lahedis step down from the carriage, my heart began to flutter pleasantly as it always did.
I hurried to finish arranging my hair and descended to the Estate's entrance.
"Lahedis!"
"Did you attend your lessons well? You finished early."
"You're the one who arrived incredibly early."
"I wanted to see you as soon as possible."
His sudden, smooth line of flattery left not only me but also the Butler and servants who had been watching us momentarily speechless.
The one who had delivered that line, however, simply smiled with shameless composure.
Before Lahedis could say anything more embarrassing, I quickly bundled him into the carriage.
Then, with a flustered smile, I instructed the Butler who was watching us with an amused expression.
"Liman, if my father returns, send someone to the Duke's Residence immediately."
"Yes, Miss."
"And you must keep my father there until I return! Tie him up if you have to. Understood?"
"Well, given who we're dealing with, I'm not certain it will be possible.... But I shall do my best."
With my conversation with Liman concluded, the carriage departed.
Upon arriving at the Duke's Residence, the Butler was waiting for us.
"Lord Lahedis, there has been contact from the Guild."
He held a note that Hector had sent.
* * *
After confirming the note, we headed straight to the Antique Shop that Hector managed.
We checked the note and headed straight to the Antique Shop that Hector manages.
The note we received said....
We've identified the group that purchased Toxic Tartrium.
...but since they didn't write a reply directly on the note, it seemed like quite an unusual matter.
'Actually, it's something the Imperial Princess asked me to do, and it would be fine if Lahedis just listened and relayed it....'
The two of them said they had no ill feelings toward each other, but still, leaving them alone together felt far too risky, didn't it?
In any case, for that reason, I accompanied Lahedis as well.
'Come to think of it, this is the first time I'm meeting Hector since I started dating Lahedis?'
With such thoughts, I stepped into the Antique Shop, and a booming voice welcomed us.
"Welcome, Master! And Sister-in-law!"
I, who had been about to greet Hector after so long, faltered at the title "Sister-in-law."
As I glanced up at Lahedis with a sidelong look, he protested.
"I didn't tell him to say that."
Considering how Lahedis was always quick to tease me, I found it hardly trustworthy, but I took a seat anyway.
"It's been a while, Hector. How have you been?"
"Oh, you know, always the same. Sister-in-―"
Hector, who was about to say "Sister-in-law" like before, glanced sideways at me and corrected himself with a dejected expression.
"You've been well, Lady?"
"I've had quite a lot happen, actually. Though I'm sure Hector already knows all about it."
It would be strange for a high-ranking executive of the Information Guild not to know what's happening in the Capital.
Watching Hector wear an embarrassed smile, I suddenly recalled an anecdote from some time ago and opened my mouth.
"Oh, right. Thank you for the gift recommendation back then. Thanks to you, I've apparently become a cunning woman?"
"Th, that was...!"
"I'm joking. I really am grateful. Lahedis absolutely loved it. In return, I'll buy you something delicious next time! Is there anything you like?"
"Ah, I...."
Hector, who was about to answer with a beaming smile, suddenly stiffened and abruptly changed his demeanor.
"No, no, I'm fine. Why don't you have it together with the Master instead?"
Following Hector's gaze upward, I saw Lahedis.
"Yeah. Buy it for me."
...That subtle smile of his must be my imagination, right?
As I tilted my head at the delicate current between the two, Hector broke the tension.
"Perhaps you have a preference for tea? If you tell me, I'll bring some―"
"Never mind that. Get to the point."
Lahedis cut him off before he could finish.
At the same moment, the entrance of the antique shop began to frost over.
Lahedis had cast a spell to prevent our voices from being heard outside.
But that aside.
'It seems like every time Hector talks to me, he cuts himself off....'
Surely my boyfriend isn't that childish and narrow-minded, is he?
However, that suspicion was quickly buried by Lahedis's next words.
"The mastermind behind the purchase of the toxic plant."
"...."
"The Emperor?"
At that question, Hector's eyes, which had been gleaming with amusement just moments before, turned cold and sharp.
"To be precise, it's a group of Dark Mages who manipulated the monsters during the Hunting Festival."
I flinched at hearing this.
It was more shocking that Lahedis had already suspected the mastermind, but what truly startled me was something else entirely.
"Wait—are you saying the Emperor and the Hunting Festival incident are connected?"
"The Hunting Festival incident was a staged spectacle orchestrated by the Emperor to provoke a war with the demon race."
In truth, an Emperor who envied Lahedis's father and, unsatisfied with that, sought to eliminate his nephew as well, was certainly capable of such a thing.
Yet I had never suspected the Emperor as the architect of the Hunting Festival incident because....
"B-but the Imperial Princess was present at that event, wasn't she? If something had gone wrong, your daughter could have been harmed. Surely he wouldn't go that far...."
"To the Emperor, the Imperial Princess is more of an eyesore than anything. A woman who inherited magical talent that neither her father nor her brothers possess."
"...."
"He may not actively seek to eliminate her like he did his brother, but neither does he cherish her as something precious to protect."
What must it feel like to discover that your own father orchestrated your peril and even allowed your death to occur?
It was a cruel reality for the Imperial Princess to bear.
"This is the kind of person we must stand against, Vivian."
Lahedis, who in the past would have deliberately shielded me from such dark truths, now laid bare the harsh reality with cold precision.
Only then did I understand his reason.
'Because I resolved to fight the Emperor.'
Lahedis respected my determination.
He had acknowledged me not as someone to be protected, but as a comrade whose back he could trust.
Lahedis moved on to the next matter.
"Have you discovered what the poison was used for?"
"We couldn't determine that much, but when we traced their other purchases, we found materials for a potion."
"...So we don't know what potion they're making with that poison, but they're definitely producing one."
"Likely. And all of the poison and those materials were brought into the Imperial Palace."
"Then there's a place somewhere in the Imperial Palace where this potion is being manufactured."
"But what's suspicious is that the Imperial Palace staff have no knowledge of these materials being brought in."
"That is indeed suspicious. What potion could our esteemed Emperor be preparing so secretively...."
As Lahedis and Hector fell into thought, something suddenly occurred to me.
"I think I know what the Emperor intends to use that potion for."
Both of their gazes turned toward me in unison.
"I believe...."
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Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
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