Chapter 11 - Spring blooms in winter's pavilion (10)

But the maids were persistent.

They kept asking me to show them the picture, so instead of showing them, I ended up compromising by drawing them one by one.

Although I'm not good at drawing, Peina, Mary and Shelia were so happy when they received the painting I drew.

They were very moved to receive my painting, especially Peina, the one who took care of me the most.

"Thank you very much, lady! I will keep this painting as an heirloom!"

"You don't have to do that…"

I think it was too much, but I didn't feel too bad either. I'm just a little bit shy.

But it's not too much of a burden.

"My lady, won't you be protected later by the Glorious Golden Touch, which influences all the areas of art among the patrons?"

"Yes, I'm sure you'll be a great painter! You're already this good at drawing even when you're only seven."

"That- that's not it."

The maids were more enthusiastic than I thought. Shelia, who hugged the painting, said in an excited tone with sparkles in her eyes.

"No way! Miss, I've never seen anyone so good at drawing! Everyone needs to know your natural talent…"

"S- stop…!"

"Later on, won't your paintings be hung in the Hall of Fame in the Imperial Palace? The road on your journey is still so far from ending, so the lady's name will be famous….."

"Ugh!"

No, it's not…!

I ran away from the maids and rolled myself to hide through the covers. Peina approached and hugged me while smiling.

Then she started to tickle me.

"Lady, I got you!"

"Ahahaha, stop it! Stop it! Hooh!"

After playing with the maids for a long time, I became hungry.

My scribbled painting of Henriette is still roughly crumpled up. I wanted to put it away in the corner, but I folded it in half twice and put it in the pocket of my dress because I thought I would look for it later.

I really, really don't want them to see my painting of Henriette. I drew him like a bad guy, and it would be hard to make excuses if they found out.

It was time to have a snack soon. I'm waiting for the pudding to come out today.

When I heard a knock.

*knock*

"Miss, I'm here to pick you up."

"Huh?"

It was the voice of the aide that I heard this morning.

Then I checked the time. I just remembered that Henriette said 'I'll call for you soon.'

But why did he say he was going to call me again?

Peina opened the door while I was in doubt, and this time, other people were standing beside the aide who came to pick me up.

It was Henriette's assistants and several knights in black cloaks.

"Pe- pei….."

I remember seeing those knights at the slave auction house, and when so many people stared at me at once, I got scared and hid behind Peina's legs.

The aide became embarrassed and persuaded the knights to step back a little and make way.

The oldest of them all stood about three steps back in the hallway, looking at me with their heads bowed.

"Excuse me, Miss. We're sorry to surprise you. Please allow us to escort you, the Lord commanded us to protect you from harm."

"Miss, it's okay. They're the knights who protect our castle."

Knights are all big people, so to me, a seven-year-old kid, they just look like huge mountains.

I know they're not bad people, but to a child's mind and instinct, I should avoid them.

Peina held me in person and went outside because I couldn't stop being frightened.

The aide explained where I was going and why Henriette called me.

It was because of the remarks and information I made last time.

"Master, we're here."

We arrived at a huge conference hall in the annex next to the castle.

When I came down from Peina's arms and stepped on the ground, I immediately saw Henriette sitting at the top of the long table.

That alone is nerve-wracking in itself, but the other tables were also full of people I don't know.

Henriette, who came back yesterday when I was in the middle of wandering the castle and got lost alone, came with the nobles, vassals, even some members of the imperial senate.

In particular, I heard that the Presbyterian Church was originally one of the imperial elders' associations, but an internal division caused them to be divided into different factions, so they also visited the meeting.

Most of the other believers who supported the emperor gathered at the Duchy of Wensgrey.

On the way, I heard that they had to gather in this castle because the purpose of the meeting was something that should be carried out secretly and shouldn't be heard by other people.

There must be a lot of ears in the palace.

There's only one reason they need a meeting like this.

Based on the story I brought up at dawn last time, they are trying to collect evidence of the rebellion and the circumstances of the forces opposing the current emperor's reign.

In other words, I said a few pieces of information that forced this dream of the villains to destroy the rest of the rebels.

As expected, people should watch their mouths.

*hik….

"That's his majesty's daughter."

"She looks a lot like the late Duchess."

When I heard people talking, I hardened for no reason.

The atmosphere inside the conference hall was generally solemn and serious.

After the aide closed the door, the murmur was cut off, and only deep silence remained.

Frightened, I tried to walk to the very end of the table without making eye contact with Henriette.

At that time, a cool voice that sounded like thunder in a quiet space uttered, "where are you going?"

I immediately stopped walking and looked back at Henriette.

He looked at me with a disapprovingly feisty face.

"Come this way and sit down."

Now it turns out there was a chair next to Henriette.

I tried to turn around quickly, approach him and sit down, but the chair was so high that I couldn't go up right away and moved around for a while.

A cold sweat ran down my spine. Henriette stared at me for a while and…

"Oops."

My body popped up and landed on the chair.

Then I looked up, and all the eyes were on me.

I was forced to smile a little so as not to show nervousness, but Henriette spat out.

"From now on, bring up all the stories you heard while you were at the Count of Semond. Personal stories, gossip, anything. I'll look forward to it as much as you said you have a good memory."

People around me are really surprised to hear that. I looked embarrassed, but I shouldn't show it.

"Yes."

I don't know what kind of look I'll get if I say something wrong here.

I recalled all my memories of my time at Count Semond.

Reflecting on my words one by one, it seemed that Count Semond was holding hands with the forces aiming to overthrow the current imperial family while saying that he was going to be the Emperor's right-hand.

But he didn't lean completely on their side, and he just dipped his foot in because he thought it would help him more.

Perhaps that's why I remember more of the stories of the other nobles who attended the banquet more than the stories about Count Semond himself.

They talked about how they tried to deliver the poison disguised as a supplement to the Emperor; or hiding secret funds.

And committing corruption, taking bribes, covering up crimes.

Drunk people were especially honest, and I remembered their stories the most.

At first, I wondered how helpful a child's words would be.

But listening to the conversations these people had, it seemed they intended to simply use my testimony to grasp the situation so as to fit or fix their expectations.

There was no need for further confirmation anyway.

"Using your testimony, if I make the evidence accordingly, it'll be enough."

I forgot for a moment that Henriette was the villain.

He apparently took my testimony as part of a means to completely bury the forces opposing the emperor and their supporters.

"We have no clear evidence for Semond though, so it may be a little difficult. Even if we make allegations every time, he always escapes like a cockroach."

"But why did the Duke suddenly want to dig into this with him at the center?"

"Yes, you used to say let's just wait and see. He's connected to a lot of people at the top so he's hard to touch."

I didn't know, but Count Semond was tougher than I thought.

But Henriette was trying to bring down Count Semond, so I looked at him casually, wondering why.

Hearing several questions, Henriette looked over some of the documents handed over by his aide and responded with great indifference.

"There's a reason to bring him down this time."

He dropped the heavy block of paper in his hand down to the table.

Henriette's eyes, who had put down the documents, suddenly reached me.

"It's the price to pay for getting on my nerves."

The golden gaze was fiercely trembling. His pupils were quivering as his eyelids slowly blinked, it flashed like the sun in the heat of the afternoon.

I dropped my head in an instant.

At that moment, a ferocious sound broke out of my stomach.

Growl!

"······ Ah."

It just occurred to me that I missed… snack time.

Growl.

"…"

"…"

Growl·····

"S- stop ·····!"

Growl, growl, growl, growl, growl, growl, growl!

The sound from my stomach was so loud.

The adults in the meeting all went silent and their eyes gathered.

They were trying to put on serious faces, but they all looked like they were trying to hold back their laughter.

I was embarrassed and wanted to run out of my seat, but I was looking at Henriette.

"I can't believe you're hungry in this situation."

That is what I wanted to say… Mr. Henriette

I hugged my stomach. I felt like crying because it wouldn't stop growling, I bowed to hide my red face.

"Sorry, I'm sorry…"

In a crumpled voice, Henriette opened his mouth with a cold face before I could finish talking.

"Right now."

All right, now what? Do you want to kick me out? Do you want to lock me in the basement?

I'm nervous because I don't think anything he says will sound good.

"Give out refreshments."

". . . Huh?"

Henriette said unexpected words,

"with something for a child."

"Oh, we understand."

Peina and several other maids rushed outside.