33

Leabrick's office. The room, filled with reports and documents from all over the Empire, was filled with the smell of ink and the soggy aroma of parchment.

Two types of correspondence lay side by side in the eye of Leabrick. One came from Elena, and the other was sent by Anne, who had been placed as a watchdog.

Elena mainly talked about everyday life, dormitory life, and how she was doing. On the contrary, Anne wrote down Elena's track record from the time she arrived at the dormitory. There were signs of trying to write down in detail as much as possible where she went, what she ate, and whom she met.

"It's weird."

Leabrick had no idea why she was doing this. Elena could not be confined to the hedges of the academy. All eyes in the academy were on Elena, and no matter what she did, she had to be seen. Nevertheless, that deep seed of tic-tac-toe anxiety was not going away easily.

Knock, knock. She heard a knock.

"This is Lorentz."

"Come in."

Lorentz, a knight who entered the room, greeted her with a brief greeting with his forearm on his stomach. His appearance of breathing wildly seemed somewhat urgent.

"What's going on?"

Since he was Lorentz, who does not appear to be disorganized in most cases, Leabrick solidified her expression after assuming that something unusual had happened.

"I have been informed that Princess Veronica is in critical condition."

"You said she was over the hump yesterday, right?"

"The poison penetrated into her organs in blood vessels all night and recurred overnight…"

Leabrick's face darkened. Princess Veronica, addicted to mysterious poison, could not wake up and die like this. It would be a big deal. In order to put out the emergency fire, Elena was acting like her, but she was only a substitute.

If Veronica dies, the Grand Duke Friedrich will be cut off, and if things go wrong, the centuries-old reign of the Grand Duke Friedrich family could have ended. Not only that, but the hundred-year-old Bastasche family, who stood up as the leader of the new aristocracy, would also show their teeth to bite the weakened Great House.

"His Highness?"

"He is being guarded by his side from the inside of the safe house."

Even though Grand Duke Friedrich was cold-blooded, if anything happened to his only child, Princess Veronica, he would be terrified.

"We need an antidote. Somehow."

Leabrick thought it was so absurd and ridiculous even now. Poison. It was funny that the only princess of the Friedrich family, who is said to be the Grand Duke above the imperial family, was poisoned, but it was even more absurd that they could not find the antidote even with the power of the Grand Duke that even dropped birds.

"It's been two years. If there's no antidote after searching the continent like this, it could be something that really doesn't exist."

"Viscountess, how can you say that!"

Lorentz unknowingly spoke up at Leabrick's profane remarks.

This is because there was something that should never be said as a retainer loyal to the Grand Duke.

Leabrick was lost in thought, tapping her finger on the desk.

"If detoxification is difficult, we may have to change our minds."

Leabrick's expression became determined. It was due to her own conclusion.

"Fighting poison with poison."

Use another poison to get rid of it. It was the only antidote offered by a few doctors. It was dangerous enough to take Veronica's life, but there was no choice now. It was also a limitation to prevent the spread of poison by using all kinds of treatments. If left untouched further, it would be tantamount to neglecting Veronica's death.

"Lord Lorentz, let's go to the safe house. Right now."

In order to avoid the worst, it was a time when they had to choose the sub-evil.

***

Elena did her duty as a student by attending lectures and going back and forth to the dormitory. Sometimes she stopped by the central library to borrow books or study on her own.

What made it special was that the schoolgirls who wanted to get to know Elena were brave enough to talk to her. They were disappointed because Elena didn't want to draw the line and become friends with them.

A few of the boys with *swollen livers had approached her with a rational liking, but had been put off by Elena's cold demeanor and left. Somehow, Elena's figure and the authority of her time as a queen drifted from her body, and she was unable to cheer them up. After a while, the current students around her gave up trying to get close to her.

(T/N: overly confidential.)

"Wow, how can a person change like that? She seems like a different person."

"I know. How can a woman who was more evil than the devil be so gentle?"

"Devil! Watch your language. Or you'll get your tongue pulled out."

"What's wrong with that? Are you going to tell on me?"

The female students who remembered the appearance of Princess Veronica when she was a student at the Academy two years ago spoke in secret. They hadn't been able to see her at all, as she periodically gathered her classmates together to give them a lesson, and picked out the ones she didn't like and bullied them like a witch hunt.

Rumor has it that she almost died because of poor health. So much so that there were stories circulating in the academy that she might have changed her person. In any case, the Veronica of today is a different person than she was this past year. She did not attack or torment others, and she did not gather factions. As the connections and factions of the academy soon led to the social world, it was clearly different from Avella, the eldest daughter of the Duke of Reinhardt.

When the name Veronica, which had been in the spotlight for a long time, calmed down, Elena, who was holding her breath, moved.

"Don't try to deceive others, but let others deceive themselves."

Elena drank black tea with an old saying. The gathering of young men and women forced gossip to pour into the academy. It was only natural that interest in Veronica was not the same as before amid the provocative flood of gossip.

"May, come in for a second."

Elena quietly brought May into the bedroom.

"You have something to do."

Elena took a sheet of parchment out of the drawer and stuck it out. When May received it, the names she saw for the first time were written in full.

Camille de Haneh.

Randol Lake.

Centonio.

Lil Puccini.

Christina Marinus.

…

At a rough estimate, there were nearly thirty.

"You should go to the guild."

"Guild?"

"Yeah, how they live now, what they do. What else is lacking and what do they need? What is their family relationship? Don't leave anything out and get to know everything."

The Guild is a private organization that performs security, surveillance, flight, investigation, escort, kidnapping, etc. at the request of its client.

Not only did they make legal requests, but they did not hesitate to make illegal requests if the amount was met.

"We should never reveal our track record. I want you to handle it in a private and quiet manner. Can you do that for me?"

"… I understand."

Although not directly mentioned, May felt vague trust in Elena's words.

There was a vague expectation that May would be able to handle all of it perfectly.

"Tell the guild that I want the results as soon as possible. I'll pay the commission no matter how much it costs."

Although she was a substitute, her reputation was the status of Princess Veronica. It was limited, but she could afford to cover enough of the guild's request costs.

May nodded as if to say she knew what she meant.

"Oh, while you're out, send this letter to the Castol Corporation."

"This time not revealing the sender again?"

"Of course. No one in the world but you and me should know."

Elena, who sent May out, finished drinking black tea that had cooled down. Elena left the room to tidy up her messy school uniform.

"Anne, I can't concentrate because I'm stuck in the dormitory. I'll be back at the library, so please keep it organized."

"Yes, miss. Have a safe trip."

Anne saw Elena off without any doubt. When Elena arrived at the central library, Elena went straight to the archives. Most of the students didn't pay attention even after seeing Elena, perhaps because she had been in and out of the reading room frequently.

Elena, who came to the record room without anyone interrupting, locked the door. Then she took out the disguise items she had hidden inside the bookshelf. Despite the unfamiliar makeup method, it was the second time, so she was surprisingly speeding up. Even when she supplemented the parts she didn't like, she was able to make it more natural.

"Should I change my name tag?"

Elena took off the name tag Veronica from her school uniform and put on a name tag with the name Lucia on it. There was no problem with the eve festival because she was in dress, but school regulations required students to wear name tags while wearing school uniforms.

Elena, who left the archives after dressing up, was a completely different person. Her short hair and horn-rimmed glasses go well with her name which was Lucia, a freshman in the archaeology department.

After leaving the central library, Elena hurried to the other side of the dormitory. Elena headed to the western annex, not the undergraduate building.

Regardless of their status, the Academy provided the best environment for talented students. It was evident from the fact that individual art studios were provided to each individual so that students of the Faculty of Arts could devote themselves to their work in the annex.

At the end of the inquiry, she heard that Raphael's studio was at the end of the hallway under the annex, so she went there. Because it was so remote, human beings were rare, and it smelled damp.

"You have bad taste."

It was mysterious how a person with this closed tendency could paint a work that broke such stereotypes.

"Are you there?"

Elena opened the wooden, slanted door and felt the presence of a person. The room was damp and deserted, with no sunlight, unlike the hallway. The scattered phrases seemed far from tidy, and the bookshelves were lined with inconsistent books on literature, philosophy, and science. Also, the physical anatomy drawings hanging on the wall added to the weirdness.

"Is anybody there?"

Elena asked again, and she heard a rustle somewhere.

"Get out. Get out of the way… A-Are you the person from the eve?"

Raphael's eyes were strained when he got up from lying on his desk as a bed. Elena grinned at him.

"Nice to see you again. I'm Lucia, a freshman in the archaeology department, sir."

"I'm embarrassed. How do you know this place? No, can I just say hello first?"

"I'd appreciate it."

Raphael, who suddenly ran away from sleep watching Elena smiling, was embarrassed. Nevertheless, he couldn't take his eyes off Elena. This is because the work of the eve had not left his head so far, despite the fact that it has been quite a while.