CH 94

“The area around the barracks was closed for safety! Someone must have let the bears lose on purpose.”

I calmly watched the Duke’s breathless actions. He held the wounded Dorothea in his arms and raised his voice toward the emperor. 

“It’s an attack against a feeble woman who didn’t even have any weapon! The mastermind must be punished severely!” 

‘Count Hilbert isn’t even doing anything so why is he making such a fuss?’

He might be Anissa’s biological father but he didn’t feel particularly like a father to me. 

I opened my mouth as I watched his pale pink hair similar to mine flutter in the wind. 

“The Duke is right.”

“Wha-what did you say?”

The Duke opened his mouth as if he didn’t expect that I would agree with him. I glanced at Dorothea who was crying in his arms. 

“There was a strange scent coming from the Countess. It’s definitely a scent that stimulates the wild animals.”

“I have never given you leave to speak, Princess.” 

The Duke’s face contorted as if he was displeased that I spoke to him first without permission. 

“Keep your manners.”

‘Ah, there was an etiquette like that.’

I bowed my head, recalling Damon’s crash course. A person of lower status cannot speak first to someone who was of higher status nor engage in conversation. 

“I give her permission.”

When I shut my mouth, Dietrich, who had been standing still, put his arm over my shoulder. 

“You have no such authority, young master.” 

“It’s Your Grace to you. Your old ears must have grown deaf for you not to hear Her Majesty’s words.” 

Although he had not yet received the approval of the House of the Lords, Dietrich was definitely a grand duke who had already completed his succession. Whether the duke frowned or not, he continued to speak slowly. 

“Anissa can say anything she pleases here. So don’t rudely cut her off.” 

‘I don’t really intend to say anything of importance here.’

I shyly scratched the back of my head at Dietrich’s expression of full support. 

“Anyway, I agree with His Grace. Someone must have done it on purpose.”

When I spoke firmly, the people who had gone quiet at the Duke’s words started roaring again.

“Maybe Lagrange didn’t do it?”

“Maybe they really didn’t? The person who save the Countess earlier was also the Princess, isn’t that right?”

I knew it would turn out like that. 

If I had stayed still, it would be too obvious that Dietrich would have become the culprit just because of the label ‘Lagrange of the North.’ 

I put my hands together, tearing up as if I couldn’t forgive the tragedy that happened to Dorothea.

“Oh poor Countess Dorothea, you must have been so scared!”

“...Didn’t the Princess save the Countess?” 

The Duke touched his mustache nervously, perhaps flustered that the situation wasn’t moving according to his wishes. 

“Yes.”

“Is it true that you used your ability in the process?”

“Yes.”

I smiled innocently and turned my head toward the emperor instead.

“But if I didn’t, the Countess could have been gravely injured, or worse, she could have died. I had no other choice, Your Majesty.” 

Charlotte wasn’t the only one who could cry easily. I secretly pinched my hand and shed tears.

“It was really scary. They were much too big a bear that a gun wouldn’t be able to do anything.”

As I shed tears, the emperor came down from her horse and groaned regretfully. She hugged me tightly and patted me on the back. 

“Oh my goodness. Duke Euclid, the Princess is also quite surprised herself so don’t press her.” 

“However, it is forbidden to use abilities in the capital–!” 

“So would you rather your sister-in-law have died?”

“Your majesty!”

Tsk tsk. The emperor clicked her tongue and showed her palm to the duke. 

“I told you to stop, Duke. Do not disregard my words.”

Even if she’s just a puppet, an emperor was still an emperor. The duke could no longer interrogate me and had no choice but to close his mouth. 

“The first thing we need to do now is find the person who applied the scent on Countess Dorothea. Countess.” 

“Yes, Your majesty.”

“Was the perfume you wore today something special?”

“No. It’s the same perfume I always use.”

Dorothea buried her face on her shoulder with an odd face and sniffed. It was then that she frowned, noticing the scent. 

“However, I used perfumed oil today.”

She murmured inaudibly and then raised her head in astonishment. The emperor who found Dorothea’s face turning white hugged me and mysteriously opened her mouth. 

“Was it a special perfumed oil?”

“Ah. I bought it from a p-peddler.”

“A peddler?”

Her aura lightly shook with tension. 

‘It’s a lie.’

I knew Dorothea was lying, but if I called out her lie, I’d have to divulge the nature of my abilities. 

‘That would spell trouble.’

Eredia’s ability was not well-known so it’s impossible to guess just by growing a few trees, but she was famous for her ability to distinguish the truth. 

“Yes. I bought it from a peddler. I guess I was out of luck.”

“Do you not know who the peddler was?”

“It was a wandering peddler.”

There was no way a noble of equal standing to a countess, much less an arrogant one like Dorothea, would have bought something from a wandering peddler. 

I was dumbfounded by her obvious lies, but the emperor had stopped questioning her further.

“For now, I understand. Investigate the bears and we’ll find something. Today’s weather is foul.” 

At the emperor’s command, her royal guards tore the bear cage open which I had made from scratch.

Krrrrng. Krrrrnng. 

The bears that had calmed their agitation cried loudly but there was nothing I could do for them. As I watched the captured wild animals being dragged away, I wiped the corners of my eyes which were still brimming with tears. 

“....Don’t look.”

Dietrich’s large hand covered my face. His hand was rough but the warmth emanating from it loosened my tight lips. 

“Did you not catch anything, Dietrich?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“Because you hate things like that.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at Dietrich’s seemingly natural answer. When we lived in Dahlia he had no qualms catching a rabbit running on the ground or catching a bird flying in the sky. 

“In any case, we have to find the person who gave Dorothea the perfumed oil.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean why?”

Whoever it was, it was obvious that they were after Dietrich and not Dorothea.

“We have to catch and torture them because they were trying to pin it on you.” 

He, who still had one hand over my eyes, laughed like the billowing of the wind at my words. 

“Why are you laughing?”

“Just because.”

I like it.

He whispered and I grabbed his arm with both my hands, putting it down. 

I was speechless for a moment at how wonderful his slightly lowered eyelids looked. 

‘It’s a beauty that’s such a waste to give to Charlotte.’

“What exactly do you like so much? Someone is after you.” 

“You’re so reliable that I’m not even afraid.” 

It sounded sarcastic but Dietrich seemed to mean it. I looked for Charlotte, leaving him to grin to himself. 

She was looking at the ground, chewing on her thumb as if she didn’t understand the current situation.

‘Is she looking at the zelkova tree?’

“Charl, what are you looking at so intently?”

“Anissa.”

At my voice, she tore her penetrating gaze from the ground and broke a root of the zelkova tree which I had raised. 

“I have something to say.”

She glanced at Dietrich with a forcibly cut tree root in her hand. She opened her mouth again after seeing no signs of him retreating on his own. 

“I’d like you to step aside, Your Grace.”

“I don’t want to.”

Even at Charl’s request, Dietrich didn’t budge as if stuck in his place. I opened my mouth like a sigh and pushed his back.

“You can go away.” 

“I know what that girl will do to you.” 

“Your Grace, I have no intention of harming Anissa!” 

Charlotte’s voice grew louder, upset by Dietrich’s words. She chewed on her lips as if shocked by Dietrich’s attitude toward her. 

Watching Dietrich moving, chased away by me, she opened her mouth as if she would cry any time soon. 

“......I can’t understand His Grace’s attitude.” 

“Pardon?”

“He’s cold towards me.”

Dietrich was a person known for being impartial, cold, and uncouth to all. I tilted my head unable to understand her words. 

“His Grace isn’t supposed to be cold to me. Because we are a pair determined by fate.” 

My eyes widened in surprise at Charlotte’s words.

‘Did she read the book “The Rose War of Men?”’

“Fate?”

“The savior that the prophecy speaks of is me, the Saint of Vallandia. The North is a metaphor referring to His Grace.”

Charlotte’s thin lips moved slightly. After hesitating for a moment, she soon continued without delay. 

“But there’s one more prophecy that people don’t know.”

Her voice dropped as if what she was about to say was a secret. I turned my ears towards her as she leaned toward me.  

“There was a warning that the North could be completely taken by a clown pretending to be a god.” 

Charlotte then began to tremble, squeezing the tree root in her hand. 

Then a very small bud sprouted from the root. 

“This power is from Hera.”

“.........”

“How the hell did you steal the power of Solisism, Anissa?”