CH 35

Jansi, who was on his way to his desk in the office, looked back at Carlot and said, “It’s enough to call me just once, Carlot. So, what is it?”

“Sister will be home late again today, won’t she? Is she still staying with that unlucky mercenary king we don’t like?”

“I guess so,” Jansi responded coolly. “It’s already getting dark. I guess they are planning to come back after the sun goes down.”

“This is all because of that guy named Ian,” Carlot grumbled like he was complaining. “After that bastard became an escort, my sister started going out all the time.”

Just thinking of the mercenary king, Ian made Carlot angry.

Sitting down, Jansi rested his chin on his hand and smiled loosely without answering.

‘I really didn’t notice anything.’

He thought he had analyzed Elodie’s recent behavior and came up with the cause, but it was very wrong.

Elodie started to go outside even before the mercenary king, Ian became her escort. It was even before that event that her attitude had changed.

It was clear why Elodie, who was supposedly attached to the mansion, seldom returned to it.

It was to avoid.

Carlot. No – everyone in Perdia, including Carlot.

At least, it seemed that she interacted with mother more frequently than before, but it was not a friendly relationship.

It must have been some kind of transaction, but Jansi couldn’t figure out what it was about.

‘If I touch my mother for no reason, I’ll see blood.’

Themis Perdia was not a great woman who looked after him as a son. It was clear that he would be punished if the fact that he did a background investigation was discovered.

No matter how good Jansi was at gathering information, he couldn’t avoid getting caught in his mother’s eyes if he attempted gathering information related to her.

In any case, Jansi knew that Elodie kept her distance from all the people of Perdia.

Among these developments, the most difficult thing to solve was the relationship with Ian, the mercenary king.

Even if you want to find out what he’s up to, it’s not easy to dig into the background of the mercenary king’s side.

Jansi once tried to smuggle his men into the Earth Hawks Mercenary Corps as spies, but…..

The result was simply disastrous. He was kicked out before he even stepped into the mercenary headquarters.

The sense of belonging and loyalty held by the mercenaries belonging to the Earth Hawk Mercenary Corps was blindingly bizarre through the eyes of a third party.

He still wanted to find out what Elodie was doing there in the afternoon. But even so, rushing into the headquarters of the mercenary corps was risky.

Elodie went outside to avoid her family. If he were to go there, of course Elodie wouldn’t like it.

‘Well,’ Jansi decided, ‘Let’s send Carl.’ 

Jansi watched Carlot as he took out his sword and began to polish it. He was like an experimental scapegoat.

If Jansi used Carlot as a shield in front of him, Elodie’s arrows of resentment would not be directed at him.

Instead, all the blame would fall on Carlot.

Come to think of it, there was a part of Carlot’s behavior that he couldn’t understand at all.

When it came to Elodie, Jansi himself had many points that he couldn’t understand with reason, so he just skipped over them, but now he needed to point them out.

“Carl.”

“Mhh?”

“I have a question, will you answer me?”

“What is it? Ask.”

Carlot put his sword down on the floor and looked up at Jansi expectantly.

“I thought at first that the reason you changed your attitude towards Lili was because of guilt,” Jansi began. “Because you, the escort, failed to protect Lili, so you erased your hostility towards her to clear your guilt of it.”

From Jansi’s point of view, Carlot’s sudden change of behavior seemed that way.

At first.

But as time went by, he could see that Carlot’s feelings were not simply guilt–

“But now, Carl, I’m curious about the feelings you have for Lili.”

“What are you saying?” 

Carlot laughed and buried his upper body on the sofa. However, though his face was smiling, his eyes darkened as if he was tracing the past.

‘I do feel guilty.’

Carlot also thought that at first.

Because as an escort he couldn’t protect his charge properly.

But everytime the memory of that moment when she fell off the cliff suddenly came to mind, he couldn’t do anything.

Because the face of his sister who didn’t hold his hand, and her expression of resignation, never left his head.

‘It’s me. I made her like that.’

Even at the moment of death, she pushed him away and made the choice to give up rather than to reach out to live.

Yeah, it was definitely a guilt trip.

However, there were clearly other feelings he had harbored for Elodie before that.

As a child, he was curious about his sister, whom he had never called like that.

Indifferent parents, an older brother who was kind but not kind enough, and a lonely self.

He wanted to talk to Elodie, the only member of the family near his age. He wanted to get close.

He wanted to be a family.

“I actually wanted to get close to my sister.”

“…………”

“I found out about it too late.”

Carlot repeated some worn-out and meaningless speculation in his mind.

‘What if the moment of our first conversation wasn’t the worst?’

‘If only I hadn’t said that to my sister.’

‘Could we have been an ordinary sister and brother?’

Carlot laughed bitterly and finished answering.

“ I found out late……..Like a fool.”

The feeling that he had towards Elodie was regret.

***

‘It’s going very smoothly.’

Since I finally secured my personal space, I was able to make an antidote without worrying about prying eyes because no one would disturb me.

Thanks to that, I was able to make far more antidotes than before, albeit at the cost of being a bit tired.

Rumor had it that the duchess’s poison, along with the antidotes, was enjoying great popularity on the black market.

‘Hehe.’

Thanks to that, my “independence fund” money pocket was getting bigger and bigger.

After delivering the antidote to the duchess through Martha, I got a call to meet her right away.

I wondered if it was an additional request, so I headed straight to the greenhouse garden.

But the duchess’s reaction upon seeing my face was strange.

“…….what is it?” I asked apprehensively.

The woman with narrowed eyes only looked at me without saying a word.

I avoided her gaze as I broke out in a cold sweat due to her burdensome stare.

“You’ve lost some weight.”

“I guess it’s because it’s hot.”

“Are you not eating properly? I heard that the chef of the main mansion went to the annex – is there something wrong?”

Ugh. I suddenly thought that the innocent chef might be fired at this rate.

He’s a pitiful chef who had already been demoted to a separate building!

“No, Madam. How delicious the chef’s cooking is! It’s just because I don’t eat much.”

“Yes. Elodie, you’ve always been weak and sensitive……make sure you don’t skip your meals in the future.”

“Yes, I’ll keep that in mind.”

“I’ll give you a cup of tea that is good for your immunity, so drink it and go. Your complexion looks so bad.”

“If you give it to me, I’ll drink it with pleasure.”

I drank the tea that the duchess poured for me. Perhaps because I often had teatime with the duchess, the silence wasn’t awkward at all.

It still wasn’t a comfortable place, though.

After taking a sip of the tea, the duchess opened her mouth first.

“Thanks to you, Elodie, the recent research is progressing smoothly. In fact, if it were just me, I’d only be interested in killing others because bringing them back to life is such a drain on the spirit.” 

Again today, the duchess smiled proudly and uttered cruel words. I couldn’t tell whether she was joking or being serious, so I tried to manage my face with an ambiguous expression.

“I’m glad I was helpful.”

“So, if you need anything, just tell me. I’ll help you with anything I can. Don’t push yourself too hard.”

“Yes, I will, Madam.”

It may be empty words, but the duchess’s words to help me with anything made me feel good.

‘I’ve become a useful partner, right?’

When I was burning with a strong will to use my power more diligently in the future, the duchess asked me a question.

“By the way, why is it so hard to see your face these days? I tried to call you, but I always hear that you aren’t in the annex.”

Sometimes when I returned late at night, I was told by Martha that the duke and duchess had asked for me, but at that time it was too late to visit.

It was a secret from the Duke of Perdia, Jansi, and Carlot, but the duchess knew I was making antidotes, so there was no reason to hide it.

“That’s because my escort, Ian, has given me a room at the mercenary guild. So, I make the antidotes there. When I’m in the annex, brother Carlot and Jansi keep visiting me.”

“Those guys… Jansi will understand if you tell him, and when Carlot gets caught up in something, he’s the type to barrel straight ahead without hesitation. So it was with his swordsmanship, and now with Elodie as well.”

I had no choice but to smile unenthusiastically at the duchess’s words.

‘Well, I’d like him to refrain from going straight ahead like that.’

***

Adenmir walked down the long, lonely corridor.

Numerous soldiers lined up on both sides, but no one made a sound. Maybe that’s why he felt like he was alone, even among so many people.

All the windows in the hallway were covered with thick curtains, so it was so dark that you had to turn on the lights even during the day. It felt like standing in the middle of a funeral.

At the end of the corridor, Adenmir stopped walking in front of the emperor’s bedroom.

“Notify His Majesty.”

At Adenmir’s words, the servant who was guarding the entrance to the bedroom bowed his head.

“Your Majesty the Emperor, His Highness the First Prince would like to see you.”

The answer came a long time later.

“…….Come on in……”

It was a strained voice that seemed to break off, as if it would die out any moment. It was his fathers voice, a familiar voice for Adenmir.

When he stepped into the emperor’s bedroom, the first thing that greeted him was the smell of herbs that pierced his nose.

“You’re here……”

“Did the councilor stop by?”

“Yes…..”

Cough, cough!

The emperor, who was lying in bed, coughed violently and his body shook.

Emperor Geon, who had been remedied only 5 years ago, became unable to get out of bed as his health deteriorated rapidly from a certain moment.

For Adenmir it was a disaster.

Adenmir was born from the first empress and Beltram was born from the second empress.

Since the empress died early, Adenmir’s support base was bound to be weaker than Beltran’s.

In the first place, the empress’s family weren’t people in power.

On the other hand, Queen Salvatrice rose to the position of empress with the active support of her subjects, who said that the position of empress should not be left empty.

The emperor, who loved the late empress, left her seat empty, but had no choice but to listen to the demands of those subjects on the condition of welcoming her as an empress.

Therefore, active support from the emperor was essential for Adenmir to become the crown prince.

However, in a situation where he should rule in favor of his eldest son Adenmir, the emperor lay sick right in front of the crown prince.

Naturally, Empress Salvatrice took control over the imperial castle in an instant.

Without pause.

“Don’t you feel frustrated just leaving the window closed?”

“The sound of the wind is noisy……”

As his illness worsened, the emperor’s nerves became sharper and more sensitive.

Even the breathing of others began bothering him, so the soldiers outside the door had no choice but to hold their breaths.

Adenmir stood by his father’s side with mixed feelings.

Cough, cough…….! 

The emperor, who had been coughing all the time, struggled to open his lips.

“Son, I have something to say…..to you.”

“Please tell me, father.”

Adenmir’s face stiffened at the emperor’s words that followed.

“Elodie Perdia……break off your engagement.”