Chapter 16: Vol. 1 - Chapter 16

“Wh-what are you doing…?”

“Still haven’t come to your senses, right?” The maid muttered and looked down on her.

“You’re not being interrogated, right?”

“...”

“Naturally, since you’ve already confessed. So now that the interrogation is over, what do you think will happen to you?”

It was just as the maid said. On the first day of interrogation, she feared that she might die so she gave a false confession. She thought that she still could get out, catch the real culprit Marinda, and reveal the whole truth.

“Except for the guards, I’m the only one who comes in here.”

Angela suddenly realized the gravity of her situation. If even this maid turned her back on her, she was as good as dead.

“W-wait, what do you mean? Wh-what will happen to me!” Angela frantically clung on the bars. “I-I’ll give you all the jewels. So, p-please…”

“You should have done this sooner,” the maid clicked her tongue, “Tell me. Where did you hide the jewels?”

— — —

“Gosh, how much is all this?” Marinda opened the jewelry box and smiled widely, covering her mouth in delight. Inside, there were far more jewels than Marinda had expected. Among them were the jewels that had been taken from her.

As she gazed at the sparkling treasures, Marinda tightly hugged the box. Unable to contain herself, she burst into laughter.

“Pfft! Hahahaha!”

Angela’s disheveled appearance while locked inside the filthy prison cell was more exhilarating than she had imagined. She had never expected to stumble upon such a windfall when she went to the prison to poison Angela.

Marinda carefully held the jewelry box in her hand.

“I almost missed out on all these jewels.”

It was a stroke of luck that she insisted to the Chambermaid that she would take care of it herself. She volunteered just to see Angela’s last moments but never expected to come across such a fortune! Seeing her covered in filth, with twisted legs and missing teeth, it was a sight Marinda would never forget.

Marinda hummed as she put on her robe. After a week of confinent, Marinda swiftly climbed the stone wall and entered her room through the window. She changed her clothes and hid the jewelry box just as the timing was right for the guard to enter.

“Is something the matter?”

Feigning innocence, she blinked her eyes. The knight scanned the room. Marinda barely managed to suppress a scowl forming on her face.

It was baffling how her beauty doesn’t work on these Northerners at all. Marinda prided herself on her attractive appearance. However, it didn’t work on either the Duke, his aide, the knights, or anyone else. The fact that her charms worked not with important people but only with unimportant pests was starting to get on her nerves.

“What were you doing just now?”

“I was just…”

“Sir?”

The knight and Marinda both turned to the person who suddenly interrupted. It was the Chambermaid.

“You must be tired. Have you had lunch?”

“...”

When the knight didn’t answer, the Chambermaid immediately understood the meaning of his silence.

“I’ll stay here for a while, so you can have your lunch and come back.”

“That…”

“It will only be for a moment. Besides, I have some talk with this girl.”

The guard exchanged glances with the other guard standing outside the door.

He had been growing increasingly frustrated, having to stand guard all day without a proper meal, all because of one maid. Moreover, since it was the Chambermaid who said so, the guards didn’t think twice.

“Ahem, then we’ll be back in an hour.”

As soon as the guard left and his footsteps faded away, the Chambermaid wiped away her gentle smile and sat down urgently. She lowered her voice as much as possible.

“What are you doing? Why haven’t you killed Angela yet!”

“Just wait a little more, Chambermaid. I have a plan.”

Marinda whispered her plan to the Chambermaid’s ear. Soon, the Chambermaid’s lips drew into a deep smile.

“Good. Very good.”

“Then I’ll proceed as planned.” Thoroughly satisfied, the Chambermaid patted Marinda’s shoulder.

“Ah, Chambermaid, I need to go somewhere for a bit. Could you cover for me?”

“Alright, but be back in half an hour. The knights might return any time.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be quick.”

The Chambermaid readily agreed on her request in a good mood. Marinda immediately left the room and headed to the Madam’s room at the far end of the third floor.

‘Let’s see what you can do this time.’

Marinda entered the door after staring at the door for a long time. She covered her mouth as she entered because of the thick dust accumulated inside, and left the room shortly after.

After Marinda left the room, Anna, who had been hiding, appeared from behind the curtain.

‘What was she doing?

’ Anna tilted her head.

She had been busy working here and there and hadn’t been able to clean the Madam’s room. As a result, she barely had time to come and clean. But just as she just started cleaning, someone came in and Anna instinctively hid behind the curtain.

‘That was definitely Marinda.’

Although the dust made her vision blurry, she was certain it was Marinda. Anna found it odd for Marinda to be wandering around like this despite not having completed the two weeks confinement, and stepped out behind the curtains

“She was definitely standing around here somewhere…”

Anna paced around the spot where Marinda had been standing. She didn’t know where she was exactly as she didn’t dare to peek out of fear of being caught. Not finding anything strange, Anna gave up. As she opened the window holding the dusty window frame, the floating dust was carried away by the wind.

“Cough, cough!”

Anna covered her mouth with her sleeve and sniffled. Looking around the room, she resumed cleaning. It was a simple room with only a bathroom and a tiny dressing room. She had been eagerly waiting for the Madam to come back. But as she recalled all the things the Madam had gone through, she began to wonder if it was truly right to wish for Madam's return.

‘Maybe for Madam…’

This place must have been hard to endure.

Her grip on the broom unconsciously tightened.

‘No, forget it.’

Anna shook off her unnecessary thoughts and started cleaning, something she had grown accustomed to. She dusted off the bed and curtains, swept the floor, and cleaned the small table. There wasn’t much to clean, given how sparse the room was, so it didn’t take long.

As she was wiping down the empty table, she noticed dust caught in the gap of the drawer. Pausing for a moment, Anna hesitated.

‘... Just clean it quickly without looking inside.’

Despite deciding to ignore it, Anna found something strange among the familiar objects as soon as she opened the drawer. It was a half-burned piece of paper. Anna had been in charge of the Madam’s room so she immediately knew that she had never seen that before. She picked up the paper, inspecting it closely. It was charred and the few visible words were not of the imperial language. Having only a basic knowledge of the imperial script, Anna tilted her head in confusion.

‘Is this foreign language?’

Since Madam is a noble lady, she would know many languages. Though of course, I haven’t heard the Madam speak in another language before.

Anna didn’t think much of it.

“Ah!”

But as she was about to put the paper back, Anna was startled by a sudden burning sensation and quickly withdrew her hand. Rubbing her stinging hand as if she had touched something hot, she stretched her neck to get a better look, but the paper wasn’t burning – it was just lying there as it had been.

Anna wanted to inspect it further, but the end of lunchtime was marked by the ringing of the bell. Soon the corridors would be bustling with people, so Anna hurriedly left Daphne’s room.

Fwoosh.

And deep inside the dresser, the paper caught fire again and disappeared in an instant.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

“Vent.” Damian habitually called Vent as he sheathed his sword, “Do all women love flowers?” It was more of a mutter as if talking to himself.

Vent was busy catching his breath to answer. Damian’s gaze was fixed on the wild flowers that had managed to bloom despite the cold weather.

“Ugh, it seems so. The bigger, ugh, and rarer the…flower is, the more they seem to like it…”

Sprawled on the floor, Vent barely managed to answer.

Big and rare flowers. He repeated Vent’s words in his mind and pulled his gaze away from the common wild flowers. Then he clicked his tongue at the sight of Vent, who looked as if he was on the brink of collapse. Understanding the meaning behind that sound, Vent barely lifted his head to refute.

“Please don’t judge by your standards, Young Master. If you do, more than half of the continent would be weak.”

“Get up.”

“You’re not telling me to go one

more time, right?”

Vent pointed to his face that had lost all of its color.

“Young Master, don’t you see this? My baby skin is on the verge of withering away.”

Vent’s appearance had changed over the course of a few days. Unlike Edmund and Damian who were naturally gifted in appearance, Vent was an ordinary person who usually had to take extra care of his skin during this time of year when it tended to crack.

But now, Vent’s once plump face was blemished with his eyes sunken to eye bags. This was all because Damian suddenly crammed all his schedule in two days and used the remaining time sparring. What was just a light warm-up for Damian was enough to nearly push Vent to the brink of collapse.

“Young Master, you’re acting like this because His Excellency turned down your request, right?”

Vent figured it out right away even if his Master didn’t say anything. Edmund had flatly rejected Damian’s request.

It was the expected outcome.

“To be honest, His Excellency is right. I think so too.”

“You…”

Before Damian* could say anything, Vent firmly continued.

“What’s more important is for you to secure your position as the successor.”

Damian was currently the sole successor of the Winter Duchy. But as an illegitimate child, his standing was somewhat precarious. This made it crucial for him to meet as many vassals as possible, to strengthen and solidify his position.

One never knew when or where a rival might suddenly emerge.

The Duke was still young, so he might have played with fire, and as a result of a past mistake, some woman could show up with a child around Damian’s age. Of course, Vent knew the Duke would never do such a thing. But in noble families, these things happened frequently enough that it was wise to be prepared.

“Young Master, you know it very well.”