Chapter 77: CH 77

The day after she went to the Emperor’s office, Riett immediately packed her belongings.

The Emperor ordered her to leave as soon as possible. Although she felt a hint of restlessness and anxiety in the Emperor’s hurried attitude, Riett tried not to pay attention to it.

Regardless, the Emperor was on her side, a side that would never change. If he was hiding something from her and had to keep it a secret, there must be a reason for it.

The same applied to sending her to Parman. There was undoubtedly a reason for sending the exile without much explanation, although she didn’t know what that reason was. There must also be a reason for keeping it a secret from herself.

While staying in the northern part of Parman, Riett entrusted the management of Marren’s mansion to the butler, Abigail. However, she asked her to keep this fact a secret from her parents.

Since they were in a territory quite far in the south, it would take time for the news to reach them. It was obvious that they would worry, so Riett hoped they would hear this news as late as possible.

She had sent a letter to the mister in advance, explaining her current situation and the reasons she had to go into exile.

Even without this letter, the mister would soon find out about the situation. He knew how to navigate to every corner of the rural village.

‘I apologize for disappointing you.’

To her trusted parents and the mister.

In addition, as a result of this incident, not only the Emperor but also the progressives who supported her would suffer a major blow. The Emperor had ignored the voices calling for impeachment and decided to send her into exile. Therefore, the conservative nobles would never accept this unilateral decision.

The arrows of discontent would be directed at all the other progressive members, and the progressives who had been protected by Riett all this time might face retaliation under the pretext of involvement in tax reforms.

‘Damn.’

Riett pressed her temple, feeling a headache. Then, she suddenly noticed a letter envelope lying on the desk.

‘……Come to think of it, I haven’t sent a letter to Evan yet.’

Yesterday, she had written a letter to the mister and was about to write one to Evan, but the pen wouldn’t move.

[I plan to take refuge in the northern part of Parman for a while. I’ll come back when things calm down here.]

Riett barely managed to write this sentence and folded the letter. She didn’t want to go into detail about her situation.

Whether it was because she was suspected of being a spy, or because someone was behind it, or how she should deal with it from now on.

‘Why do I feel so conflicted?’

Since finishing the conversation with His Majesty yesterday, her heart had been heavy. She thought she had recovered a bit, but as soon as she picked up the pen to write to Evan, her mood sank again.

Was it because of wounded pride? Or because she had to go into exile due to a political failure…?

‘No, that’s not it.’

Riett shook her head. It wasn’t just because of that reason. It was more complex than that.

She felt a sense of resentment towards Evan, who had maintained a close relationship with Terrator, the Count, who had made her feel this way. But, in fact, more than anything else…

“Duchess, there’s a guest.”

As if interrupting her thoughts, Natasha’s voice came from outside. Riett gathered her thoughts about Evan and opened the door.

“Is it Bern?”

“Yes. He’s waiting downstairs.”

Riett hurriedly went downstairs. Since she had to leave soon with the carriage loaded with her belongings, there wasn’t much time to talk with Bern.

“Did you bring it?”

Riett asked Bern without any greetings as soon as she saw him. Knowing her urgency, Bern didn’t take offense and handed her the paper he had brought.

“This is the list of petition writers that the Duchess requested.”

Until the day of her departure, Riett didn’t miss the tasks she had to do. When she heard the rumors about the leaked location of the Spirit Stone, Riett felt something was amiss. And on the day she heard the plea for exile, she had a further conversation with the Emperor.

“Your Majesty.”

“Speak.”

“If neither I, Perante, nor Your Majesty leaked information to the Haren Empire, then there must be another spy.”

“Just as I thought. Even if it’s not the three of us, we can’t guarantee that no one overheard anything in this small palace.”

In other words, there was a separate true spy. The Emperor and Riett no longer needed to share their thoughts, as they were already thinking along the same lines. They had been working closely together, and their thoughts and actions had naturally aligned.

“While I am in exile, I will find things I can do, so please, Your Majesty, do your best to uncover who the traitor in the Empire is.”

She had made such a request to the Emperor, but Riett also intended to continue investigating who the real spy was.

‘Then I’ll be able to clear my name.’

In truth, she had suspicions about Count Terrator or at least his subordinates. He had made relentless efforts to associate himself with the Haren Empire, and she had heard that he was the initial informant about the leaked location of the Spirit Stone.

That’s why she had asked for this list, to check for any hidden connections he might have. Even if he pretended otherwise, if he was on her side, everyone would have written a petition regarding themselves.

She needed to have a clear understanding of her enemies before she left. Riett quickly scanned the paper.

“But, Duchess….”

“Yes.”

Without taking her eyes off the paper as she searched for Count Terrator’s name, Riett replied.

“There’s someone unexpected on here…”

As Bern spoke hesitantly, Riett’s eyes stopped at one particular name.

‘….’

Her expression visibly stiffened. Bern, who had been watching her, put his hand on his waist and sighed.

“Oh… I was also surprised when I checked the list. I don’t understand why that person’s name is there…”

Instead of rambling, Bern tried to come up with an excuse, but Riett remained motionless as if the world had stopped.

‘Evan Kreutz.’

Her gaze fixed on the familiar name.

Tears welled up and fell silently.

“I truly don’t understand why he did that… Duchess!”

Bern, who had been muttering, hurriedly approached Riett as he saw her shedding tears.

“I thought it would upset you…”

Bern took out a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to her. Seeing Riett’s expressionless face and tears flowing, Bern felt even more pained.

‘…It’s understandable.’

Duchess Marren might have outwardly growled at him, but they had been close since childhood, spending a lot of time together with Duke Kreutz. Yet he secretly wrote a petition and played a part in driving Duchess Marren away.

‘Haah… Our Duchess.’

Moments of the ups and downs they had together flashed through Bern’s mind.

Many people had grumbled about him, becoming the aide to Duchess Marren and taking a female superior. But Bern didn’t care.

The superior he had seen so far was like a sturdy tree that wouldn’t flinch even in the face of a typhoon. If it was the path she believed in, she would march forward without wavering, no matter who the enemy was.

Although that appearance seemed precarious, like walking on fire, Bern always felt proud that he could walk the same path as that person.

‘But to shed tears like this…’

It felt as if someone had peeked into her secret. Riett’s ironclad composure was finally crumbling.

For a while, Riett had been shedding tears like that, but now she casually wiped them away with a handkerchief.

“I have to go now.”

Bern stood up with a saddened gaze, looking at Riett.

“Thank you for the list, Bern.”

There was no strength in her forced smile. Riett waved her hand towards Bern and the household staff who she didn’t know when she would meet again.

And so, the carriage departed.

* * *

As they moved away from the capital, the road became rough, and the carriage swayed as if dancing.

Due to the turbulent movement of the carriage, everyone held tightly onto the handles, except for Riett, who simply surrendered herself to the jolting.

In Riett’s mind, there was only one word from the list—’Evan.’

‘Why…?’

Why on earth?

She had always respected Evan’s political views and had been careful not to let political battles turn into personal emotions.

Of course, they had recently argued over the Count Terrator incident, but that was just an exception. Normally, she had never been like that.

‘Then again, how was Evan?’

Come to think of it, Evan didn’t seem to mind causing trouble for the empire by trying to change it. More precisely, he didn’t hesitate to challenge the privileged powers.

Of course, she didn’t think Evan himself belonged to the privileged class. She thought he was just concerned about his childhood friend who was causing trouble recklessly…

But when she checked the list of petitioners, she couldn’t be sure of anything about Evan anymore.

Unconsciously, Riett bit her lip which had gone pale.

‘Or maybe he really disliked me?’

Otherwise, there was no way she could have been subjected to this absurd mockery.

A tingling sensation ran through her head due to the shock. To ignore her muddled thoughts, Riett closed her eyes as if being hit by cold water.

As they headed north, the weather became as cold as Riett’s frosty heart. With each passing day, the once-green landscape turned white. The snow-covered everything, blanketing the surroundings in pure white.

By the time the cold weather outside the carriage no longer felt unfamiliar, the tangled mess in Riett’s mind also became clear, as if washed by cold water.

However, she didn’t fully regain her energy as before.

His Majesty had emphasized that this exile was by no means the end, but Riett couldn’t easily promise the next step.

She had quickly risen to her feet, even in the face of many trials. But now… she wasn’t sure. It felt like standing on the deck of a drifting ship in the middle of the sea, staring into the endless ocean.

‘What would Mister do in times like this?’

Since she sent the letter, he probably knows by now.

Riett momentarily indulged in longing for Hail Kreutz, her spiritual patron.

Then, suddenly, she remembered the unsent letter. It was a letter she had intended to send to Evan.

Thinking about the letter, Riett let out a bitter laugh.

Only now did she recall why she didn’t want to write the letter to Evan in detail. It wasn’t because of wounded pride or resentful feelings toward Evan.

It was because she was worried about Evan. She thought that if Evan were to find out later that she had gone into exile, he would be greatly shocked and worried. So she wrote it as briefly as possible, trying to appear nonchalant and indifferent.

‘How foolish I am…’

She worried about Evan, not knowing that he had played a role in her impeachment.

Riett raised her hand to cover her eyes.

She should have torn the letter apart properly. The letter was probably still lying on the desk in her room.

‘Surely, Abigail didn’t send it to Evan, thinking that it was forgotten.’

At that anxious moment…

“We have arrived, my lady.”

After a long journey, they finally arrived in the northern part of Parman.