Chap 18

"The Viscount owns a mine. The reward won't be disappointing...."

"No. For now, I can't do it."

"What do you mean?"

"I just arrived and it seems you haven't heard yet, but I received purification from the priest a little while ago. So now I can't use a curse."

"Purification? Was there something wrong in the palace?"

All along, the Countess of Elion maintained her composure, but her dark brown eyes sparkled sharply like a predator eyeing delicious prey.

"If you're curious, ask anyone on your way out. I need to rest now because I'm tired."

When Ermedillin turned away coldly, the Countess left the bedroom without probing further.

Though she looked extremely curious, she had some sense.

"You always come like a ghost to the palace when something happens, being the Empress's maidservant? How did you hear the rumor so quickly this time?"

'My maidservant?'

Apparently, the visitor from a little while ago was one of the Empress's maidservants who had not shown her face for a few days.

"I don't know, really."

"Anyway, sometimes I think the Countess of Elion really wants to be the first to hear the palace gossip and that's why she's a maidservant."

Though Loony, unaware of the Countess of Elion's true purpose of visiting, guessed wrongly, she was not entirely incorrect.

It was not because of the rumors, but because she was working as a maidservant to be a broker for buying curses.

"It's better than not hearing at all, isn't it?"

"True. Countess Grania and Princess Biella don't even visit."

'Grania, Biella.'

While trying not to show that she had gained unexpected information, Ermedillin was memorizing the names she had just heard when Pellio came to visit.

When he entered the reception room, Pellio's appearance was incomparably colder, even chilling, than before.

A beautiful ice sculpture that perfectly fit the nickname of the Ice Prince.

"I came because of the lawsuit…"

"What's your scheme?"

"Eh?"

"Did you actually recruit a child who was infected with the plague in advance to appear favorable in the lawsuit?"

"What?"

Ermedillin was choked and speechless.

What kind of absurd misunderstanding is this?

She saved a child and now faced this kind of suspicion. Ermedillin suddenly felt as though she was in the body of a tremendous villain.

"Whether it was a recruitment or not, a quick investigation will reveal the truth. I had no such intention. I just reacted reflexively."

Despite Ermedillin's explanation, Pellio's frozen silver eyes showed no sign of melting.

"The preparation for the lawsuit is going well. Although I was followed, continuous meetings in the palace may attract unnecessary attention, so if there is anything to report, I will send a carriage as before."

"Followed?"

"Were you unaware? Two cars were following you."

"?"

Seeing that Ermedillin showed no sign of knowing, Pellio swept his long, graceful fingers through his dark blue hair and sighed shortly.

"Did you think you wouldn't be followed? It's the surveillance from His Majesty and Valier."

"Ah...."

She hadn't thought that far.

After all, even in the Empress's inner circle, there were spies, so surveillance wasn't unlikely.

"Although we can't avoid being followed, we must ensure that the contents of the lawsuit don't leak. You must keep your mouth shut."

"I will do so."

About to confess that she had already received a threatening letter, Ermedillin firmly closed her mouth, not wanting to appear any more incapable.

When Pellio left and she returned to the bedroom, Helen was seen holding a duster, standing on her tiptoes, and cleaning a high cupboard.

'She'll fall doing that....'

Before Ermedillin could even finish her thought, Helen's outstretched hand holding the duster touched a stone ornament.

The instant Helen lost her balance, she reached out her dusterwielding hand even further, touching the ornament harder.

Because of this, the stone ornament lost its balance, and as it was about to fall onto Helen, Ermedillin quickly ran over, catching Helen's thin waist with one hand and the fairly heavy ornament with the other.

"Are you hurt?"

In response to Ermedillin's question, Helen jumped and bent her waist.

"Sorry, ssorry, tthank, thank you, and sorry."

Whether she felt guilty for daring to be supported by the Empress or not, Helen's deeply bowed waist wouldn't straighten up.

"I am fine. Lift your head. As long as you're not hurt, it's fine. Next time don't overreach, put a sturdy chair under...."

"II'm sorry. Your Majesty the Empress!! I have committed a sin worthy of death!!"

She was just about to reprimand her softly, but suddenly Helen screamed and knelt, leaving Ermedillin utterly bewildered.

"No, why are you apologizing for this!! Get up! Oh... No, this is too much!"

In her confusion, almost a harsh word slipped out.

"I'm really sorry, Your Majesty the Empress. Please kill me."

"Hey, seriously! What's this about dying for....?"

In the midst of speaking, a piece of paper that had briefly crossed her mind flashed through.

"Could it be... you?"

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty the Empress. I was told that I just had to let you know what happened… and that if I did that, I wouldn't be taken to Count Heidern… So I did. I'm really sorry."

"Haah...."

Her throat ached.

Ermedillin sighed deeply, looking up at the ceiling.

"You left the note on the bed?"

"Yes."

"Do you know what was written inside?"

"I don't know. Count François told me to just place the note, so I left it there."

The name Ferdant, which had been on her mind, was something she inquired about as if testing the waters, but Helen seemed to truly know nothing.

The illtempered person wouldn't have told something important to a mere servant who was considered a tool.

Looking down at Helen, she saw that her small, skinny body was trembling uncontrollably.

She was so thin that even rainwater seemed as if it could collect in the fleeting glimpse of her collarbone beneath her shaking shoulders.

Ermedillin did not feel much like blaming the young girl.

"If it's something to be hidden, why reveal it? You know what kind of person I am, don't you?"

Ermedillin asked, deliberately using a cold tone.

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