‘Future husband, what a thing!’
Elia felt confused again.
'But how can I object?'
Then, Theo said to Lavinia in a worried voice:
“Miss, this Ludis is not an easy man.”
“I'm very familiar with it.”
Lavinia opened her mouth in a firm and clear voice.
“He was your boss and my uncle Keisha’s boss when he was in the Imperial Army.
He is someone who reached this position thanks to intrigues and flattery more than his skills.”
She continued talking.
“It was said that he seized the position of commander-in-chief after getting the palace sheikhs on his side.”
When Theo saw Lavinia speaking fluently, his eyes widened.
"how do you know…?"
“I monitored conditions closely every time I went to the palace to attend social gatherings.”
“Do they talk about such things at social gatherings?”
Theo asked again with a confused face.
Because social gatherings in the palace were places where young noblewomen would meet regularly, and would only talk about high-society gossip, not to mention politics.
"impossible."
Lavinia shook her head no.
“I heard it from the palace staff I was greeting back and forth.
To me, these matters are much more interesting than petty gossip.”
After Elijah heard those words, she secretly admired her.
'It's really special.'
Theo asked her.
“So, what are you going to do?”
Lavinia pointed her finger at her newspaper.
“First, we must find out why this so-called Ludis is accusing the province of Treingen of rebellion.”
Elia agreed with her words.
“True.
If we find out, we can file the false accusation and bring back Commander Keisha.
The Grand Duke’s family will also get rid of the disgrace of raising rebels.”
The rumor that the province of Triingen was preparing to revolt was the cause of all these troubles.
“As expected, Erhan understands very well what is being said.”
Lavinia looked at Elijah with eyes that expressed intense admiration.
“Erhan, do you have any possible reason to expect?
If so, tell me frankly.”
Her gaze sparkled sharply.
With that look that seemed to penetrate her, Illya felt an involuntary shiver run down her spine.
“Sorry, but there's no reason at all.
I don't know either.”
Illya admitted frankly.
It was an incident that she too could not understand at all.
Lavinia asked in a sharp voice, as if interrogating.
“So, Erhan, I will just make one point before we move on.
Why did you send a large sum of money to the province?”
“This… is because our family’s situation became difficult a few months ago due to a monster attack.”
When Elijah spoke to Lavinia and Theo in detail about the attack, their eyes widened.
"Oh my God, did something like this happen?
I didn't know about it at all."
"I didn't know either.
How could that fact not be known?"
Elia replied with a frown.
“Because the neighboring provinces at the time completely ignored it.”
“Why on earth?”
She hesitated, then told the story she heard during her last vacation.
“My father told me that it was because of the instructions of Derek Ruppelt, who was the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Army.”
"Derek Ruppelt issuing such an order?
This is absolutely unfathomable."
Theo said with a confused face, and Lavinia agreed as well.
“It's really strange.
General Ruppelt, despite lacking some resilience, is someone who would do anything to protect the Empire.”
Lavinia thought for a moment, then asked Elijah carefully.
“Was there anything else between General Ruppelt and the Province of Treingen?
Even if it is a trivial matter, tell me.”
Illya hesitated, then opened her mouth.
“Yes, there was.”
"What is it?"
“According to what my father said… General Ruppelt has been wanting the Black Crystal Mine in my province for a long time.”
“Black Crystal Mine?”
When Theo tilted his head, Lavinia's eyes widened.
“I heard about it before.
There is a big crystal mine in the north.
It was in Erhan Province, then.”
“Yes, but since it was the only source of income for our province, my father, then Baron Triingen, was strongly against giving it up.”
Theo's eyes narrowed.
“So, does this mean that Derek Robelt didn’t help during the monster attack out of revenge?”
Elia nodded.
“At least, my father thinks so.”
Theo muttered with a confused face.
"This is a really strange story.
The Ruppelt family must have amassed enough wealth that they don't need such a mine."
Then, Levina asked sharply.
“Isn't there a Ruppelt family member in the unit?
How about we call him up and ask him?”
Hearing those words, Ilya remembered the image of Axion who had come to the Baron's mansion on vacation and bowed apologetically to the Baron and Baroness, then replied.
“Axion also seemed to know nothing about this matter.
That is what I can confirm.”
"Hmm.
So then."
Lavinia nodded.
There was silence for a moment.
After a while, Lavinia opened her mouth.
“Then let's ask him in person.”
"What?"
Her golden eyes sparkled sharply.
"Let's go and ask General Ruppelt personally.
Why he did that."
Then, Theo tried to stop her with a confused voice.
“Miss, the general is in critical condition now.”
“He is in critical condition, but he is not dead yet.
According to the Imperial Palace staff, his consciousness returns for short periods every day.”
“However...”
“We must leave for the Ruppelt family district immediately, so prepare the carriage.”
Hearing those words, Elijah and Theo's eyes widened in shock.
What a tremendous work force!
'True, it was like this in the original novel, but...'
When I experienced it myself, I felt really daring.
“One moment please, miss.”
"What is there?"
As Lavinia was about to leave, Elijah caught her.
“Can I go with you too?”
She was curious as to why Derek Ruppelt bothered to interrupt her like that, and she wanted to hear the reason directly.
“I wish it were possible, but...”
Lavinia pointed to the newspaper, then broke off hesitantly.
Elia realized her reaction.
Her personal photo had been published in the newspaper in a very large size.
No matter how hard she tried to hide and go, it was clear that as soon as she got off the carriage and was seen by the Ruppelt family's servants, the imperial army would immediately come to arrest her.
But there was a way to get to the Ruppelts without them finding out.
“I have a good idea, but...”
“What is it?”
•
"Oh my God!
I can't believe it!"
Lavinia looked at Elijah in front of her with an admiring face.
Elia was wearing Lavinia's dress.
Over her short hair, she wore a large Lavinia bonnet.
Lavinia and Theo both stared at Elijah's appearance in amazement and muttered.
“What women’s clothing suits him like this!”
“Indeed.
I knew this boy was handsome and delicate, but he really looks like a woman.”
‘She is not “like a woman”, but rather she is a woman originally...’
'By the way, is this a double disguise then?'
She has disguised herself as a woman again, originally disguised as a man.
“With this much, even the Ruppelts will be fooled.
We can take Erhan and introduce him as Miss’s friend.
What is a suitable name?”
Elia answered immediately.
“I will use the name Elijah.”
“Oh, that's a really fitting name for you!
It matches your current image perfectly!”
Lavinia clapped her hands in delight.
'Actually, it's my real name…'
'What a very funny situation.'
While she was thinking to herself, Lavinia took her hand and pulled her out.
“Then, let's go!”
Lavinia took her by the hand and got into the carriage.
“Erhan, don’t you feel uncomfortable with the dress?”
“It's okay...”
“By the way, this is really amazing.
How could it suit you like this?”
Lavinia murmured, staring at her intently.
For some reason, Elia felt that her identity might be revealed, and her heart sank.
“Bet.”
At that moment, Lavinia called out to her.
“I'm really sorry.”
"What?"
When Elijah asked, Lavinia continued speaking with a sorry face.
“Because of our family’s affairs, you, your county, and your family were harmed, right?
The Imperial Army did this because they wanted to restrain my Uncle Keisha, as well as our family.
So, I sincerely apologize.”
Elia shook her head.
“It's not Miss's fault.
It's the Imperial Army that made a mistake.”
“However.
The Duke’s family will take care of your family.”
“Miss, thank you very much.”
Lavinia smiled bitterly and continued speaking.
“Ah, by the way, didn’t you tell me that you had a younger sister when we last had tea?
Is your sister also coming here to take refuge with your parents?”