DDFF | Chapter 04

Chapter 04

“The other party is?”

“It’s Elisha Lowell. Baron Burns’s niece by marriage.”

“Hmm… Elisha Lowell…”

“Yes. Since the ducal house called for that woman, it doesn’t seem like a mere rumor.”

Havel frowned and rubbed his chin.

He couldn’t recall her face right away.

If she was a noblewoman even the High Priest didn’t know, then she was surely just some ordinary young lady with nothing special about her.

“Why would Blaine Lindberg want a woman like that?”

“That’s why it’s an unusual matter.”

“Isn’t it a good thing anyway? If Lindberg strengthens his political standing through marriage, it would only be disadvantageous for us.”

At one member’s opinion, Havel slowly nodded.

He lightly tapped the table with his fingers and fell into thought.

The members’ eyes filled with expectation, because they knew he always did that whenever he was creating a new scheme.

Under the hood pulled over his head, Havel’s eyes gleamed darkly.

“When is the day that woman goes to the Lindberg estate?”

“Next week.”

“Good. Move the assassins we planted in advance that day.”

“…Pardon? High Priest, are you serious?”

At the unexpected order, the members stirred in shock.

They had planted people in the ducal house in preparation for something that would happen someday, but—

they never expected to act so suddenly.

Watching the members whispering, Havel crooked his lips into a slanted smile.

In his head, the entire scenario was already drawn out.

“This is how it will be known to the world: ‘It turns out Blaine, who had a terrible conflict with his father, brought in an assassin disguised as his fiancée and murdered his biological father.’”

A proud smile hung on Havel’s lips.

A woman with nothing to boast of—just noble blood, and nothing else.

There couldn’t be a more perfect scapegoat than that.

***

One week after the proposal incident.

The Lindberg Ducal House officially invited Elisha.

Elisha chose the neatest outfit she could find and went to a flower shop near the plaza.

No matter what, she had received an invitation, so she thought she should at least show proper courtesy.

But what the merchant held out was a pot full of long, grass-like weeds growing thickly.

“This is just a weed—”

“Ahem, Miss. A weed? This is a precious pot where a lucky tree grows.”

“…This?”

Elisha stared at the pot with disbelieving eyes.

How could these thin blades of grass possibly turn into a tree?

But the merchant didn’t even give her a chance to breathe, pressing her relentlessly.

“You simply don’t know. This is a gift that even goes into the imperial palace. For important occasions, nothing beats this.”

“Even to the imperial palace?”

“Yes! We can’t even sell enough of these. Today, you’re lucky. High-ranking nobles can recognize this immediately, you know.”

With the merchant’s flashy sales talk, Elisha’s eyes started spinning.

Well, she wasn’t a “high-ranking noble,” so…

Maybe the ducal house would recognize it?

Tempted, Elisha asked,

“How much is it?”

“It’s normally 300,000, but I’ll give it to you for a special price of 270,000 der.”

“2… 270,000…?”

Elisha panicked at the much higher price than she expected.

Her monthly allowance from Baron Burns’s household was 300,000 der.

Spending almost all of it on one gift was too much.

“I’ll come back next time…”

“Ahem, Miss!”

When Elisha stepped back, the merchant quickly grabbed her.

“Then let’s do 235,000 der! Don’t tell anyone else!”

Elisha froze at those words.

He was discounting it by 35,000?

She almost wanted to praise his spirit of sacrifice.

But even so, it was still too expensive.

When Elisha stayed silent for too long, the merchant slammed the counter.

“Fine! Neatly at 230,000! How about it? Any lower and we truly won’t gain anything!”

After the second discount attack, Elisha couldn’t find any excuse to refuse anymore.

Or rather, it was more accurate to say she got overwhelmed by the merchant’s momentum…

In the end, she emptied out her allowance to buy the pot, then left the shop holding it tightly in her arms.

‘Right… he discounted it this much, so it would be rude not to buy it…’

In reality, the pot’s original cost wasn’t even close to 30,000 der, but Elisha had no way of knowing that.

Anyway, now that she had prepared a gift, it was truly time to go to the Lindberg Ducal House.

“Hoo…”

Now that she was actually going, the nervousness came rushing in.

Lila had lain down saying her stomach hurt, and Baron Burns was making a huge fuss beside her.

Because of that, Elisha couldn’t even get a carriage ride.

She had to walk there by herself.

‘But it would be… too shameless to ride a ducal carriage there.’

With Elisha’s personality, she could never do something like that.

Walking on her own felt more comfortable.

She looked down at the pot in her arms.

‘Will it really bring good luck…?’

Hoping it would share at least a little with her too, Elisha quickened her steps.

**”

The Lindberg Ducal Estate.

A grand mansion said to be even more beautiful than the imperial palace, in the capital of the Ornia Empire.

The marble building glowed softly under the sunlight, and the magnificent fountain in the center of the garden drew the eye.

On one side was a rose garden, and blooming roses spread a deep fragrance through the air.

Under the pergola in that garden, at a tea table, sat the stern-faced Duke and Duchess of Lindberg.

Across from them sat Elisha, shrinking into herself while hugging the pot tightly.

“I sent that boy Blaine away for a bit. Because I want to speak with you alone.”

“Y-Yes…”

Elisha nodded, extremely tense.

Her mind was spinning wildly.

‘How did things end up like this…?’

To be facing the ducal couple, people she couldn’t even dare make eye contact with—

and as someone being considered their future daughter-in-law.

It felt like the whole world had gone insane.

But what drove her even more crazy was the fact that she had created all of this herself.

No matter how much she thought, she couldn’t come up with a good way out.

“Hm.”

Duke Hugo Lindberg scanned Elisha coldly with the violet eyes unique to their family.

Duchess Felicia’s expression clearly showed she didn’t like this at all.

“Honestly, I was very surprised. Blaine, that child, getting married… and to think it would be the niece of a baron’s family.”

Her words carried a strong hidden meaning of, How dare you.

Felicia took a white envelope from inside her clothes.

“I want Miss Elisha to put an end to this marriage proposal. This should be enough compensation, don’t you think?”

“Ahem, dear. You’re being hasty before we even drink tea.”

The duke lifted a hand as if scolding her and held his wife back.

But he, too, clearly didn’t like Elisha.

After observing Elisha for a moment, the duke’s gaze moved to the pot she was holding.

“…What is that?”

“Ah! Th-This is—”

“Duke, the tea has been brought.”

Just as Elisha was about to explain, the maids served the tea.

While the cups were being filled, Elisha sat there blankly, still holding the pot.

Then, carefully watching their reactions, she cautiously set the pot down.

At that moment, a single blade of grass fluttered off and plopped right into the duke’s teacup.

Elisha’s eyes widened.

“Gasp!”

Of course, she hadn’t done it on purpose.

But thinking she had caused trouble, she hurriedly grabbed the teacup.

“I-I’ll drink this!”

“Huh? N-No, you can’t…”

The maid looked at Elisha with startled eyes.

But there was no way they could serve tea with an impurity in it to the duke.

Elisha refused to back down.

“You can’t give this to the Duke! Something that shouldn’t be in there fell in!”

That was when—

the maid’s eyes instantly turned cold.

“…Tch. So I’ve been found out.”

“Huh…?”

Elisha stared up at the maid, shocked.

The maid glared and pulled out a dagger from inside her clothes.

“It can’t be helped! This is the last resort!”

In truth, she was an assassin planted by the Grand Temple.

The situation was so sudden that everyone froze.

“Duke! Fall into hell!”

The maid rushed at the duke with the dagger.

A split-second, life-or-death moment.

“Ahhh!”

There was no time to think about anything else.

Elisha instinctively grabbed the pot beside her.

And without having time for another thought, she threw it straight at the assassin.

Thud!

The heavy pot hit the assassin’s forehead perfectly.

“Aaah!”

“H-Huh?”

The assassin screamed while clutching her head, then collapsed with a thump.

The garden instantly turned into complete chaos.

“What in the world is this…”

Everyone was stunned by what had happened in the blink of an eye.

But the most shocked person of all was Elisha herself—the person who had just thrown the pot and taken down an assassin.

‘What… did I just do?’

Her face was filled with disbelief.

The assassin lay on the ground, completely motionless, and the pot fell onto the table and shattered.

Soil poured out from the broken base, spilling messily all over the expensive marble tea table.

“Gasp! W-What do I do?!”

Panicking, Elisha hurriedly bent down to pick up the broken pot.

And at that moment—

“You brat! You were trained and sent here—ugh!”

Another assassin, who had been charging at Elisha, swung his arm—

but because Elisha suddenly bent down, he lost his balance and fell straight to the floor.

He must have hit his head hard when he fell, because he lay there without moving.

Elisha, who had somehow taken out two assassins all by herself, looked shocked even at her own actions.

‘…Huhhhh?’