"Are you okay?
Do you want some water or something?"
Despite my offer, Landon shook his head and replied, “I'm fine.
I'll go now.”
I watched his retreating shadow as if it was fleeing.
'He seems to be hiding something from me...'
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Meanwhile, Sardin was following Zeno, as Cornelia had ordered him to do.
In contrast to his usual cautious demeanor, Zenon seemed more relaxed, Cornelia said.
Today, he looked like he was getting ready to go out.
'I must find out who is behind this day.'
With this determination, Sardin watched Zenon closely from afar.
When Zenon finally left the palace, Sardin quickly descended from the tree in which he had been hiding.
'Okay, now I just have to follow him…'
At that moment, he heard someone calling his name.
“Sardine, there you are!”
Sardine frowned.
After all, even though Landon was the one who created an atmosphere of mistrust towards Cornelia, he was sticking around like a dove picking up breadcrumbs.
'I'm sure he's trying to use me for his own benefit.'
Normally, he might have offered to help, thinking it might benefit Cornelia.
But now he was in a hurry.
'I have to go after Zenon.'
Just when Sardine was about to ignore him and walk past him, “Wait, the lady is in danger!”
Sardine suddenly stopped and grabbed Landon by the scruff of the neck.
"What do you mean by that?"
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I listened to Sardin's report and laughed internally.
'Well, even if he's worried that I'll be shocked, what's the point if he doesn't tell me such important information?'
Although Landon's actions were suspicious, I couldn't reprimand him.
This was the first time anyone other than Sardin or Janet had shown interest in me, especially Landon, who had always looked down on me.
'Well, I treated him well, and my decision includes him returning to service as a servant.'
However, it was good that I had advance warning about the eldest lady's plans.
'Though, to be honest, I doubted she would resort to that.'
After a moment, I turned to Sardin, just in case.
“But there's no way anyone would have heard that, right?”
“Don’t worry.
Only Landon and the master’s close people know this secret.”
Then, cautiously, Sardin spoke to me.
“By the way, I'm afraid we've lost Zenon.”
I smiled and replied, "It's okay.
Even if we go after Zenon, there's no guarantee that we'll find out who's behind it."
“But...”
"Besides, I don't have the luxury of worrying about Zenon right now.
There are more pressing matters.
I trust you will handle it well."
At my words, Sardine lowered his head and said, “Don’t worry.
I will protect my lady with my life.”
I couldn't help but smile bitterly.
I smiled bitterly, because I knew very well that Sardin meant what he said.
'But I will never let anyone around me die in this life.'
I wrote a message immediately.
Upon seeing its contents, Sardin's expression turned grim.
“Ma’am, this is...”
I smiled, sealed the letter, and handed it to Sardin.
“Deliver this to the Emperor.”
“But...it could be very dangerous for you.”
I smiled at Sardine, who looked at me worriedly.
“Don’t worry.
It will be the eldest lady who will shed tears, not me.”
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A few days later, rumors spread in the aristocratic circles of the capital.
“Are the barbarians provoking the North again?”
Normally, noblewomen feared foreign invasions, but they spoke with disdain.
“What’s to be afraid of?
We have the Duchy of Brant in the north, and if anyone dares to touch it, the Duke will definitely intervene.”
“Well, if Duke Brant intervenes, these barbarians won’t be a big problem.”
Regardless of faction, everyone agreed on this opinion.
He was the empire's greatest swordsman, the unbeatable barrier.
Having Eric Lennon Brant was like having a warlord within an empire.
“However, Her Highness the Duchess must be disappointed.
She will not be seeing her handsome husband for a while.”
“Indeed.
It is all part of the strategy.
It is said that the Duchess courted the Duke of Brant so warmly that she persuaded the Emperor to marry him.”
Then, as if on cue, someone brought up a new topic regarding the Duchess of Brant.
“By the way, they say that Grand Madam Blunt is very controlling of her daughter-in-law, right?”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Yes.
Many people have seen the Duchess of Lenheim staring at the manager of the Shining Stone Shop, who visited the Duke of Brant’s palace.”
“Oh, did the principal say that herself?”
“No, she didn’t say it directly, but I could tell from her reaction.
It seemed that Grand Madam Brant was dissatisfied with the gift and criticized the illustrious Haji.”
“Oh my God, there are so many ladies who regularly visit there...
Could it be because of Twinkle?”
“I think it is possible; after all, it is known that the Princess of Brant is close to the Marquis of Argen.”
“Well, considering how much she favors the Marquis’s daughter...”
They thought about the subtle interactions they had witnessed between Madeleine and Cornelia in the shining stone, and they continued to speculate.
“By the way, it was Madame Arjenne who mentioned it.
You told the Duchess that the Grand Lady likes ruby necklaces, right?”
“Oh, I didn't notice that... how cunning she is.”
These rumors spread like wildfire, reaching the ears of Grand Lady Brant, who rarely left her palace.
Bang-!
The eldest lady dropped the vase and frowned.
“The audacity of those who normally would not even dare to raise their heads in front of me, now, based on the words of a simple merchant and the old vixen of Lenheim, dare to insult me?”
Of course, the rumors were largely true, but there are some things that should not be said, even if they were true.
Although she rarely leaves her palace, she is a social butterfly with a major presence.
But to spread such rumors?
For the eldest lady, that was a shame in itself.
“Madam, a letter has arrived from Miss Madeleine...”
The eldest lady frowned at the maid's cautious words.
“Come here.”
Then, after checking the message, the eldest lady laughed bitterly.
"How bold!
Is she in her right mind?
Asking me to say I love rubies!"
With Madeleine's elegant handwriting stating that this was the best way to quell the rumours, the Grand Madame became enraged and began tearing up the letter.
'What would I become if I got rid of the ruby necklace that I supposedly love so much?'
The Grand Madame was disgusted by Madeleine's selfish attitude, focusing only on herself.
Although she treated Madeline like her own daughter and cherished her, in the end she was just someone else's daughter.
'But what's even more annoying than Madeleine is…'
No matter how hard I tried to forget her, I couldn't.
She couldn't get rid of the image of Cornelia, her eyes wide open, speaking firmly.
Finally, the eldest lady shouted angrily.
“It's all because of Cornelia, that cunning woman!”
The Grand Lady was convinced that Cornelia was the cause of her downfall.
“I thought it was strange that she gave me a gift… I'm sure she invited that arrogant woman on purpose and then pretended to be pathetic!”
The more she thought about it, the more upset she became.
It was not enough that she captured the heart of her real son; Now she was trying to corner her.
The eldest lady looked at the maid with an angry look.
“Are the preparations I ordered being carried out correctly?”
“Well, you've been giving me a lot of instructions lately...”
In response to her oblivious answer, the eldest lady exclaimed angrily, her voice full of annoyance.
“You fool, the gift is for Cornelia!”
“It's going smoothly without any hiccups.”
At the mention that it was still in progress, the eldest lady frowned.
“…It must be accelerated.”
“Yes, but weren't you going to do that in a few months?”
In response to the maid's bewilderment, the eldest lady replied.
“Yes, that's true.
At that time, I felt that her loss would be more impactful when her belly was full.
But… I changed my mind.”
The eldest lady gritted her teeth.
She could not bear the thought that all this misfortune she was experiencing was because of Cornelia.
Moreover…
“Apparently Eric will be heading north soon.”
Although he was warned with a slap on the cheek, the Fake Son was not someone to be reckoned with.
He was watching her without lowering his guard, as if he could sense her every movement.
'So I had to act carefully.'
However, it is a lord's duty to defend his lands, so the false son will have no choice but to head north into the duchy's lands.
“Then it would be a good time to give my daughter-in-law a gift, and...”
The eldest lady gave an evil look and then narrowed her eyes.
“If I were to console that woman when she lost her child through her fault, wouldn’t there be anyone left to blame?”