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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 72

* * *

The moment The Emperor appeared, Nicola quietly slipped away and left the Charity Event Venue.
It was a day when I witnessed something far more spectacular than any opera—a performance of pure ‌‌horror.
'That woman... she really was Adeline!'
The woman I'd encountered at the Boutique was none other than the Lockhart Duchy's daughter.
When I realized I'd brazenly impersonated her right before her eyes, my mind went blank.
'And The Emperor himself appeared at the Charity Event Venue?'
Adeline seemed to have anticipated it, but aside from her, no one could have known The Emperor would make an appearance there.
Only Adeline had been composed enough to handle The Emperor's arrival.
'Just seeing his back made my skin crawl.'
All ‌‌‌I wanted was to escape that place immediately. Still, thanks to The Emperor's sudden appearance, I had successfully completed Duke Hexagon's orders.
Adeline and The Emperor seemed ‌‌to interact far ‌‌‌more frequently than the whispers suggested.
All the rumors circulating were wrong.
'I've done something dangerous!'
Now, impersonating Adeline was no longer the issue. If I'd known I'd committed such a reckless act ‌‌‌as to make The ‌‌Emperor himself my enemy, I wouldn't have accepted Duke Hexagon's request, no matter what.
I had to leave this Empire as soon as possible.
Nicola sat in a carriage and searched for her uncle, ‌‌‌‌who should be waiting for her. ‌‌
But there weren't just one or two noble carriages here—finding his was proving difficult.
As I wandered in circles, I ‌‌‌‌‌suddenly found myself in a dead ‌‌‌‌end.
"Sigh... This place is too vast to search through."
"Miss Portnum!"
A voice called out from behind me.
From an open carriage window, the woman calling me was none other than Adeline.
Nicola tried to walk past, pretending not ‌to hear.
"Wait!"
The duchess's daughter pushed through the window and leaped out, pursuing me with relentless determination.
"Are you leaving already?"
"My lady, thank you so much ‌‌‌‌for the invitation today! I'm afraid I have ‌‌‌a headache, so I must take my leave!"
"Just a moment, Nicola Portnum! I have something to tell you!"
"I'm sorry, but I'd prefer to hear it another time."
Then my shoulder ‌‌was grabbed, and I stopped in my tracks.
The duchess's daughter tilted her head, studying me with curious eyes.
"Wait, something... hmm..." ‌‌
She furrowed and unfurrowed her brows as if trying to recall something just beyond her grasp.
"Miss Portnum, haven't we met somewhere before?"
"!"
"Me...? That can't be right."
I tried to turn away and pretend ignorance. Adeline seemed to have little recollection of what had transpired at the Boutique that day.
"I'm afraid I have urgent matters to attend to. Thank you so much for the invitation, my lady."
"...Wait just a moment!"
When she called out to me again, my heart plummeted.
I bowed my head deeply.
"I'm terribly sorry, but I'm quite busy...."
"I want to buy ‌the rare medicinal herb you brought. ‌‌‌Will you sell it to me?"
"Pardon?"
She had desired this herb even within the Banquet Hall.
I couldn't fathom why she wanted it so desperately or whether it held some special value, but I withdrew it ‌‌‌from my bag and handed it to her without hesitation.
"Please, take it!"
I prepared to leave the scene, forgetting even to accept payment, when ‌‌‌my wrist was suddenly seized.
"No, I'm certain ‌‌‌we have met before."
She leaned her face uncomfortably close and stared at me intently ‌‌‌before speaking.
"The Boutique."
I froze.
She reached up and removed my hat, her eyes widening.
"That's it."

* * *

"So that's it..."
In the end, House of Hexagon orchestrated this entire scheme to frame me.
The reason I couldn't uncover the truth even when I questioned Emma was because House of Hexagon was involved.
I stared at the Portnum Viscount's Daughter, who sat as still as a dead ‌‌mouse.
Her name was Nicola Portnum.
When I searched through her belongings, I found a ticket for departure to a foreign country.
"Why are you trying to leave for ‌‌abroad?"
"...Because, after doing such things to the Lockhart Duchy's daughter, it would be difficult to remain here." ‌
"That's true."
I nodded lightly. That much was genuine.
"Besides, it turns out ‌‌the woman I fought with at the Boutique was actually the real Adeline?! So that's the situation."
"I'm, I'm so sorry. If you spare me this once, I'll leave quietly."
"If you leave, ‌‌‌‌only Duke Hexagon and Baron Portnum benefit, don't they?" ‌‌
"I'll give you all the herbs too!"
There were four more Memory Grass roots. Five in total.
But Nicola Portnum didn't seem to understand the value of these.
"You must have seen Duke Hexagon before?"
"...I've never met him directly."
"Since I'm currently deciding whether to spare Nicola or not, it's better you tell me everything you know."
"Can you ‌really forgive me?"
I nodded.
"How long ‌‌‌‌has Duke Hexagon been ordering you to do such things?"
"That would be...about ‌‌three years ago. Or maybe four? ‌‌It could have been even longer. It started around the time our household fell into poverty."
That's around the same time I ran away from home.
This means Duke Hexagon knew even that. That I was in a state where I couldn't be impersonated, couldn't do anything, and ‌‌couldn't appear.
'Just how ‌‌‌much does Duke Hexagon know?'
Could it be...that he was also ‌‌possessed?
"No, that can't be."
I pressed my eyelids shut firmly.
"Did Duke Hexagon say anything else?"
"There didn't seem to be anything else..."
Being a mere underling, she proved less useful than expected. I ‌‌began to contemplate what to do with Nicola.
"How much does Duke Hexagon know about me?"
"He only ‌‌told me he knows your hair color and eye color."
That must be a lie. There's no way Duke Hexagon knows only that.
It was suspicious that he ordered an ordinary woman like Nicola Portnum to attend this bazaar.
"Then what do you know about Duke Hexagon?"
"I don't know much..."
As I tried to stand up, she urgently grabbed me.
"Ah! No, no, that's not it. I know one thing. It seemed like Duke Hexagon took in an adopted daughter."
"An adopted daughter?"
My eyes ‌‌‌snapped open at this unexpected revelation.
"Yes. Because all the clothes I own were given ‌‌to me by Duke Hexagon. ‌‌They were clothes someone else had worn. And my uncle mentioned it in passing once. He said he had taken in an ‌‌‌adopted daughter."
It ‌‌‌was suspicious and surprising news.
The fact that ‌‌‌Duke Hexagon had taken in an adopted daughter was not something known ‌‌‌‌anywhere.
Duke Hexagon had one daughter, but her age didn't match well enough to marry The Emperor.
And Nicola Portnum was around my age, and the dress she wore was one befitting a noblewoman ‌‌of my generation.
Taking in an adopted daughter of this age ‌‌‌had clear implications.
'He wants to use the adopted daughter to forge a marriage alliance with The Emperor.'
Duke Hexagon, now of all times?
But he was a villain who changed like a chameleon.
Though he ‌‌suffered greatly at The Emperor's hands, given his nature, he might not establish permanent enmity with the Imperial Family but ‌‌‌could ‌‌‌attempt temporary reconciliation.
'The Emperor and Duke Hexagon's daughter...?'
An odd pairing, wasn't it?
The fact that he might marry someone other than me wasn't entirely unfavorable.
'At the same time, it's not good either.'
While The Emperor could ease tensions with House Hexagon through marriage, such reconciliation was ‌‌‌impossible for my family.
Even if The Emperor mediated between them, if an Empress from House ‌‌‌Hexagon were born, one side would certainly check the other until one emerged victorious.
But the possibility of an Empress from House Hexagon was low.
Even if Duke Hexagon went to great lengths to make his adopted daughter Empress, The Emperor would never permit it.
Yet only two ducal houses in the Empire could produce an Empress befitting the Imperial Family's status.
House Lockhart ‌‌‌and House of Hexagon.
If I continued ‌‌‌‌to refuse marriage, voices would ‌‌‌emerge from within the Imperial Palace. And ‌‌they would seek a new candidate and push forward with the marriage.
The Emperor must produce an heir, so he cannot avoid marriage.
'Is what Duke Hexagon is aiming for simply to endure until then? Even if she's called Duke Hexagon's daughter, as an ‌adopted daughter, her legitimacy would fall far short of other candidates.'
The fact that he had taken in an adopted daughter meant he had grounds to actively pursue the marriage, but what could that be?
What more could Duke Hexagon, who was thoroughly stripped bare and confined to his estate last time, possibly ‌possess?

---------------
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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