Chapter 47

But then, I had a small problem. I forced myself to spare time to meet Aloken for the first time in a long time, but the letter I sent him didn’t receive any answer after several days.

“You have no appetite?”

“N-No, Godmother. I enjoyed the meal.”

The road to the North is rough, so maybe the mailman got in trouble on the way.

Could a wild animal even bite a horse to death?

I eventually gave up meeting Aloken because I didn’t get any reply even after sending him a letter again. On the way, I concentrated on godmother’s lessons and Carl’s teaching, developing my power and knowledge.

Crumble.

Around the time when Kingdom Kasius came to the beginning of winter, I opened a letter from the mailman.

[Duke Jalier is dead. I will be busy with the succession issues, so if you have anything to say, visit me in the capital around New Year’s Eve.]

It was a very short letter, but he was the one who made the appointment in advance.

“New Year’s Eve.”

New Year’s Eve is the most important festival in the Kingdom of Kasius.

“The Duke died sooner than I thought.”

Our meeting was scheduled for two months from now on.

* * *

Two months later.

The downtown area of Kingdom Kasius.

“…”

“L-Lady Vanora. Are you upset? Your fiancé is late for the appointment.”

“No.”

Tak, tak, tak, tak.

New Year’s Eve, the first new year since I regressed and a day from five years ago that I had already been through once. The rich and poor in the capital were out on the street enjoying the festival, and I was also sitting leisurely in the coffee house with the generosity of godmother. However, no matter how long I waited, the person who asked me to meet him on the second-floor terrace didn’t appear.

“It’s cold. I will bring Lady a blanket…”

“I’m fine.”

Tak, tak, tak.

I nervously tapped my nails on the table and sometimes ground my teeth. But in fact, I wasn’t upset because my fiancé was late.

‘Until when do I have to live like this? I think I have learned etiquette and methods to kill them enough now. How can I wait until I make my debutante?’

I had been nervous about not getting my revenge over the past few months.

‘Those rotten people! Did you call yourself noble in the end?! Do you think I will never be able to get my revenge for the rest of my life?!’

First of all, I had set the order of my revenge in my plan. The more you are involved in many cases, the greater the risk of being caught. In the case of Vasago, even if I didn’t get to the trial, I may not be able to get close to her as soon as a terrible scandal comes to me.

I think things will work out well if I target Vasago first. But again, Duke Guelder’s name wasn’t just a decoration.

‘If she goes around like that, does she even have such a thing as privacy?’

Just in the last hour, I had attempted to assassinate Vasago. That’s because Vasago made a rare appearance in the street, just like described in the ‘Dangerous Love’ novel. But when I went to see her in person, what happened? There were at least five escort knights, as described in the novel. Plus, there was the young boy who she always brought with her.

‘If the world is just like in the novel, it’s okay to be lax… ha…’

Then, I think I can aim for another opportunity. Still, the scope of Vasago’s activities in the novel was not very wide. At best, the Guelder mansion, the Jalier mansion, the royal castle, the salon… All of them are reputed to have tight security, and even if I am aiming when she rides her carriage, it’s still full of guards. It was almost impossible to aim at her when she was alone without being a friend to her.

‘Even if I am destined to die soon, I’m still a noble. I also came to the New Year’s Eve being tailed by godmother’s servant.’

So, in the end, I decided to wait for the right time. First of all, I decided to participate in debutante and approach Vasago step by step when I was already old enough to enter the social world.

“…”

“Ah! Lady, I hear footsteps. This time it must be the Duke!”

But I thought about it for a while. The godmother’s servant standing next to me chatted like a sparrow. I looked up belatedly. A few seconds later, as the servant said, a man entered the small terrace seat.

“Greetings.”

I greeted him with a formal greeting as he approached.

“Duke.”

“…”

The new owner of the Duke’s family. Duke Aloken Jalier revealed his face after a few months of absence. All his succession matters have finally been completed.

“You guys get out.”

Aloken sent the butler he had brought and the servant who was next to me out of the door. After that, he sat down in the empty seat opposite me, raised the corner of his mouth, and smiled.

“Have you been well? Vanora.”

“Yes. You have successfully inherited the title. Congratulations.”

“I don’t know if I should call this successfully.”

“I’ve heard about it. As long as the seal has been officially stamped, isn’t the game over?”

“My younger brother, who doesn’t understand that easy thing, is still struggling.”

The past few months have been simple to sum up. Aloken eventually succeeded in crafting a new will without missing a moment when his father woke up from bed. Therefore, even if his overall support is still insufficient, considering the tradition and will of the family, it is inevitable that he will be overwhelmed with the advantage to succeed the title. In the end, he sat down in the Duke’s seat as he wanted.

‘It’s just something that will happen someday.’

I finally could comfortably call him. Well, in my memory, he had already become ‘Duke Jalier’ for several years, but it’s so uncomfortable to call him ‘little Duke.’

“Duke, then…”

“Ah, many people call me as duke even if Lady Vanora doesn’t call me like that. So stop it.”

“…”

“Aren’t we in agreement to call by our name? If you don’t like it, we can change it using the nickname as a special provision…”

However, even if the naming problem has improved, the inconvenience seems to continue. I responded coldly to Aloken’s mischievous remarks. Aloken, on the other hand, only wriggled his left eyebrow.

“Ahem. Anyway, I have something to say.”

“Come to think of it, you sent a letter to me when the Duke passed away. So, what do you want to say?”

As Aloken, who was seated, leaned the staff in his hand against the terrace wall, I took a sip of the cooled tea and continued.

“That’s…”

But what came out of my mouth was far from the sentence I really wanted to spit out.

“I said that I would provide helpful information to extend the contract once a year. But, come to think of it, I think I will be busy preparing for my debutante in the new year.”

“Ah, that’s why you wanted to see me in the fall.”

“It’s better to meet you in person. I’m not supposed to tell you this in the letter.”

Once again, I sipped the tea and began to whisper in a low voice.

“This is the information for this year. In the near future, the merchants from Gamiel, who have been popular in our Kingdom, will withdraw one by one.”

“Is it because the disease the previous duke suffered and Popira, the fruit from Gamiel, was about to be revealed by the middle of next year?”

“It has nothing to do with that. It’s the spice merchant who will withdraw.”

As I said so, Aloken leaned his upper body toward the table and listened more.

“I don’t know the details, but the climate of Gamiel Kingdom has changed a lot recently.”

“Really?”

“It seems the yield of spices grown in Gamiel has declined sharply. The monarch will soon issue an export ban as there is not even enough quantity to be consumed in their own Kingdom.”

The terrace filled with the key part of the information I was holding.

“So, before spring arrives, sweep up the Gamiel spices in the capital. Especially aromatics, which nobles are accustomed to, will become very expensive later on.”

Of course, Duke Jalier, the most wealthy man in the Kingdom, can monopolize the goods.

Aloken briefly retraced the information I had brought up.

“It’s mouth-watering information, but I don’t see any trend yet for anyone to buy spices… how can you know about it so quickly?”

“…”

“Is my fiancée actually Gamiel’s spy?”

I responded with a smile, contrary to his remarks.

“Did you see the sky on your way to the capital yesterday?”

“?”

“The night sky was clear, so my fortune-telling came out well.”

This meant that I had no intention of telling the source of information, so shut it up.

“…”

At such a response, Aloken let out a laugh. After that, he nodded in a somewhat convincing manner.

“Yes, thanks to an astrologist like you, I was able to rise to the duke position without seeing blood, so I will trust you again this time.”

But…

“Aloken.”

I, who had been pondering the sentence he uttered, immediately asked with a subtle face.

“Does that mean that we would have seen blood if you hadn’t been able to become a duke?”

“…”

Aloken immediately answered the question. As if there was nothing to worry about.

“Hmm? No, I’m just saying. The fight would have been a mess, but would I kill my brother?”

‘What?’

I didn’t expect him to give such a cool answer. Look, he’s a man with a coldness in his eyes, but he’s just reluctant to make a bloody battle out of the succession fight.

“Then, what if the title of the duke is being taken away?”

“Should I assume that I succeeded but failed to do my duty?”

“…”

“Hmm, if I had lost… no matter how much ambition I have, I would lower my tail. I would have gotten a few bucks and left the estate to live.”

I was astonished by his unexpected, ordinary idea.

Aloken wondered why I was reacting like that and then came to his own conclusion.

“Aha. I was wondering why you asked me this. You were worried that your status would also fall if I failed, right?”

“What?”

“You must have been in trouble. Wealth and status are also good conditions for courting the opposite sex.”

“Pardon?”

“I will win Lady Vanora’s favor before my strength decreases.”

I froze at his words. Aloken was rather interested when he saw me and added a few words,

“Why don’t you reconsider now? You’ve succeeded in making me a duke as planned, so I’ll give you the wife’s position for that.”

“I won’t buy it.”

Of course, I, sitting opposite him, refused immediately. It seems that the choice of my words was a little off, but we didn’t have to argue about it here.

‘Why is he trying to seduce me these days? Isn’t he going to horribly throw me away after I’ve done my best?!’

But it was then.

“Vanora.”

“Ah… yes.”

“But… you don’t tell me something.”

Clatter.

Aloken lifted the cup of coffee from the table, then said slowly,

“You must have met my brother once in the meantime.”

“…”

As expected, I got caught. I was silent for a moment at his remarks, and soon Aloken’s eyes fell into my gaze. It was a deep amber gaze that I didn’t know what he was thinking.

“Yes, Rose Jalier came.”

He probably already knew what his younger brother had said. So, I made a head-on breakthrough to reveal Aloken’s true nature. He’s a human being, so if I hit the nail on the head like I did when he found out about his father’s illness, he will have a slight reaction.

“Your brother told me something quite shocking, so I couldn’t say anything.”

“…”

“Aloken, were the stories he told me true?”

I boldly recited exactly what Rose had said. The fact that he tried to kill his five-year-old brother because of a mere toy, and what happened at his mother’s funeral. As far as saying he has a mental illness. All of that passed over the table, and Aloken slowly closed his eyelids.

“Huh…?”

And a few seconds later.

The reaction of Aloken was like this.