Erin faced the Izbe ladies with cautious gestures. She greeted them with a hesitant voice, starting with pleasantries, but the ladies quickly sensed the venom in her eyes.
However, pretending not to notice, the ladies responded politely to Erin’s words. However, unable to bear the monotonous greetings anymore, Ashley interrupted and asked,
“So, what brings you to us?”
“Oh, well, I just visited the Empress’ palace a little while ago…”
Erin began, shrugging her shoulders as she glanced at the ladies. They responded with suitable intonation as if anticipating her to brag about it.
“The Empress’ palace?”
“She summoned you?”
In reality, the ladies knew that the Empress was in a hurry to marry off Dianel, but they played ignorant.
Unaware of this, Erin continued in a cheerful voice.
“Actually, Her Majesty the Empress seemed quite fond of me. She thought I looked lovely during my debutante ball.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes, so I came to visit today… She said something meaningful to me.”
“Meaningful words?”
“Yeah, like, well… about being a candidate for the Prince Consort. It seems she believes that the Prince Consort should be a worthy scion from a good family, just like the two of you!”
Erin smiled as she spoke, seemingly oblivious to the underlying implications.
The ladies exchanged knowing glances with narrowed eyes, trying to gauge Erin’s true intentions. At that moment, Erin inadvertently shrugged her shoulders, prompting one of the ladies to speak with an expression that saw through her façade.
“You don’t have to beat around the bush. So, your point is that you want to get rid of the annoying girl in the way, right?”
“Seems like you heard me right. I can’t deny that.”
Erin closed her eyes and chuckled, as if saying, “You know it all, don’t you?”
The ladies nodded while maintaining eye contact with her. Then, they continued with a meaningful statement.
“That’s right, we should get rid of the annoying girl.”
“According to Izbe’s way.”
Erin laughed heartily, nodding in agreement. It seemed the ladies understood her message perfectly.
Satisfied with their understanding, Erin left Duke Izbe’s mansion with a contented smile. Later that night, she went to sleep with sweet dreams, thinking that everything would flow smoothly from now on.
But Erin realized that something was amiss when she discovered that none of the empire’s scions, including herself, received invitations to the winter ball, an event to which all imperial scions were usually invited.
After that, her social standing plummeted, and rumors about her spread at the winter ball. It became apparent that the “annoying girl” the ladies mentioned was her.
The ladies’ words were incredibly powerful, and Erin found herself ostracized from the high society in an instant. Her father’s business deals collapsed, and the banks cut off their funds. As the situation worsened, even those around her turned their backs on her.
In the end, Erin’s family had to sell their estate in the capital, effectively expelling them from the aristocratic ranks. Matters grew worse, and they couldn’t even pay their employees’ wages. Angry employees stole the family’s belongings in retaliation, including Erin’s cherished jewelry and clothes.
“This can’t be true. This can’t be happening…”
Erin said with a desolate expression as she tried to meet the Empress and the ladies, but no one granted her a meeting. At that moment, Erin’s eyes caught a headline in the newspaper.
It was about the Empress leaving the palace to recuperate on the island of Zarnak. As Erin stared at the article, the boy who was passing the newspaper around laughed as if it were a funny story.
“Are you interested in the Empress too?”
“…The Empress, you say. Why don’t you use honorifics?”
“Honorifics, huh? In reality, I was practically exiled to an island. Our father said he paid a heavy price for troubling Dianel. She even went so far as to call him the devil’s child! She’s the one who spoke to the warrior who sealed the demon king.”
Erin’s hands tightened. Only then did she realize that she had been deceived by the Empress.
She had thought she was the favorite, that she would do as she wished, but in reality, she had only created an escape route for her. And yet, cunningly, she had manipulated her and even played a trick on her. Erin’s heart ached.
Unaware of Erin’s thoughts, the boy continued with a smirk,
“Covering up one’s own mistakes by throwing others under the bus, but it all ended up like this. Quite amusing, isn’t it?”
Erin couldn’t utter a word. The boy, looking unimpressed, pursed his lips and left.
Erin stood there, dazed and staggered. She absentmindedly muttered,
“I’ve lost everything… Did they think I’d just sit here quietly? I’m already at the bottom.”
Her friends had all abandoned her, and her family had crumbled. There was nothing left to collapse. Erin’s eyes filled with venom again.
“I will seek revenge. I will never forgive them.”
She detested both the Empress and the ladies, but Siara was the one she loathed the most. She was a commoner, worthless and undeserving. Erin couldn’t accept that someone like her stood on top while she had fallen to this extent.
‘Why does she succeed while I fail?’
The Izbe ladies and the Empress were all nobler than her, but Siara wasn’t. Erin couldn’t accept the fact that someone like her, who should have been beneath her feet, stood at the top.
Her anger kept boiling up, and Erin struggled to control her emotions, taking deep breaths. Then suddenly, a carriage approached.
“Are you Lady Erin?”
“Well, yes?”
“We’ve received a report accusing you of disrespecting the royal family and violating the empire’s security laws. You’ll have to participate in the investigation.”
“What? When did I ever do such a thing!”
“Let’s discuss this at the palace.”
Two royal guards held Erin tightly by the arms. She cried out in fear, but there was no one to help her.
In this way, Erin was taken to the palace and vanished without a trace. Meanwhile, her family completely collapsed, and they were no longer recognized as nobles.
* * *
The chill wind started to seep in; it was already winter.
I returned to Astita as soon as my work with Viscount Leven was done. Unlike the noisy and restless Huangdo, Astita remained calm as usual.
‘Above all, there have been no strange scandals.’
Although I was briefly associated with Dianel for some business matters, the rumors about me spreading so strangely… It’s not exactly a pleasant feeling that countless people are talking about me without my knowledge.
‘Being in Astita should keep the scandals quiet.’
Anyway, I’m glad that the tumultuous affairs at the palace were resolved successfully. Being in Astita, my body and mind felt at ease. There’s only one concern, which is that I frequently dream about the desolate plain with nothing around. And also―”
“Siara!”
“Lady Siara!”
Hierian and AdAdandito were here again, without fail. I looked at them and let out a deep sigh.
“Don’t you have anything else to do?”
“Meeting Siara is the most important thing for me.”
“Me too!”
They both smiled brightly. It was hard to scold them, so I just sighed again.
“Anyway, you both are still kids despite your large stature.’
Hierian he hugged me tightly.
“I don’t care if I’m a kid to Siara forever.”
Hieiran buried his face into my shoulder. I raised my hand and gently stroked his head. He soon had a smile on his face, and I playfully tapped his forehead before asking,
“Is your research going well these days?”
“Yeah… I’m doing my best, thinking of you, Siara.”
“Just because of me? Even your words make me grateful.”
“That’s true…”
“You don’t tell me what it is, but is it something similar to your ‘Calendula’ research? If it is, I have enough money, so feel free to pursue any research you want.”
Adandito and Dianel made a pact to visit the Golden Castle together. They could enjoy various benefits, from flowers and plants to membership in Mage Tower.
Moreover, I often helped Izbe ladies and received bonuses as well. I put effort into following their advice on dressing up, and at some point, I no longer needed to ask for prices when purchasing items. I felt I had enough money.
I knew that Hierian, who was well aware of that fact, would never do research that made money, but it was hard to guess what kind of research he had in mind. However, Hierian never revealed it as a gift for the future.
So, I could only speculate in my way. Hierian, with a meaningful smile, whispered,
“Later. I’ll let you know when the research is done.”
“You’ve been researching for so long; it makes me even more curious. Well, I’ll wait.”
“Yeah!”
Hierian smiled bashfully, raised his head, and met my gaze. Then, without hesitation, he lightly kissed my cheek.
Suddenly, Hierian’s physical affection became natural, and I just smiled and let it happen. Meanwhile, Adandito approached us quickly. Then he lifted both Hierian and me at the same time and said,
“The day is still young.”
“… Isn’t it heavy?”
“It’s not heavy at all.”
With us in his arms, Adandito moved towards the mansion. When Therid, my brother, saw us, he gaped at the sight.
Feeling somewhat embarrassed, my cheeks flushed red.
