Chapter 9
“…I’m saving it for later. If I want to gain something bigger, I need to know how to be patient.”
“As expected of you, Master. You always think several steps ahead. Then this incident must not get out. If we want to use it at a decisive moment later, that is. Understood. I’ll make sure the witnesses keep their mouths shut.”
I looked pitifully at the butler, who had convinced himself of my intentions and was even taking responsibility for cleaning up the situation afterward.
Adrian had really ruined this man.
‘Is this man also the type who, once he swears loyalty to someone, doesn’t care about right or wrong?’
“Luna, if there’s anything you want, tell the butler.”
“Pardon? I only did what I was supposed to do…”
“Are you daring to refuse a reward from me?”
“N-No! Of course not! I’ll think carefully about what I want and tell you! Thank you so much, Master!”
Luna waved her hands frantically before carefully approaching me.
She knelt in front of me and neatly placed my slippers at my feet.
I tightened my nightgown and slipped on the slippers.
“I’m uncomfortable because I sweated so much. Prepare a bath.”
“…”
For some reason, Luna seemed lost in thought.
“Ahem!”
When the butler cleared his throat, she finally snapped back to reality and didn’t know what to do.
“I-I’m sorry! C-Could you please repeat what you said? I-I didn’t hear…”
Terrified, Luna trembled like a leaf.
Seeing how pitiful she looked, the butler glanced at me before quietly helping her.
“Luna, Master told you to prepare a bath.”
“Yes! Understood! I’ll prepare it immediately!”
Luna’s back was soaked with sweat as she hurried toward the bathroom.
‘It seemed like she wanted to say something to me… Was I mistaken?’
The long grooming session that lasted an entire hour and a half finally came to an end.
It had only been two hours since I woke up, yet I already desperately wanted to get back into bed.
“Hand mirror.”
“Here you are, Master.”
I took the hand mirror from Luna and carefully examined my face and neck.
Since I had been choked until just before I passed out, there should have been tiny spots of bleeding on my face and bruises in the shape of fingers around my neck.
And since I had fallen and scraped my elbow and face, there should have been injuries there as well.
But my body was completely clean, without a single wound.
‘This must be Piache’s power, too.’
Normally, priests had to recite prayers before they could use divine power.
If there were many wounds, they had to repeat the prayers several times, and the deeper the wounds, the longer the prayer became.
As far as I knew, Owen was the only priest who could heal the entire body with a single prayer.
‘Even Owen could only heal physical injuries…’
Piache had healed both physical injuries and illness simply by touching me with her finger.
‘She’s far too young and innocent for the power she possesses. It’ll be important for her companions to protect her so that no one can take advantage of her.’
I needed information about Piache.
What was her relationship with Adrian?
Did she even know what kind of power she possessed?
“Butler, prepare a report on Piache. There are some things I need to check.”
“Understood.”
Even though it was an unexpected order, the butler didn’t show the slightest hint of confusion.
He was also remarkably capable.
He completed the report within half a day.
“Master, the report you requested this morning is ready. Would you like to review it?”
“Bring it here.”
A short title was written on the report the butler handed me.
It was a report summarizing Piache’s information.
When I turned to the first page, the information was organized by age.
‘Name: Piache Ibrante. A ward of the Ibrante family… Huh? She was registered as a ward?’
Surprisingly, Piache had been registered as a ward of the family by Adrian about five months ago.
What kind of change of heart had Adrian experienced to decide to sponsor a child?
I tilted my head in confusion before continuing to read.
‘Age: five. Birthday… Huh? It’s coming up soon?’
Perfect.
If it was her birthday, she wouldn’t think it strange if I gave her a present.
I smiled silently and turned the page.
‘Wow, she was the prettiest child in the orphanage? Five nobles regularly sponsored her, and the records of adoption requests say… what? Thirty-three times? Wow, there were really that many families who wanted Piache. But the director rejected them all? Hmm…’
Piache’s adoption was approved when she turned three.
The adoptive family was the Marquess of Molten’s family.
They had a good reputation and currently had a seven-year-old only daughter.
“…That’s it?”
The entire record about her adoption consisted of only three lines.
Everything after that was completely missing, and the records started again when she was four.
“Is this really all? What happened to the records from when she was three to four?”
“There are no records because that was the period when she was adopted.”
“So this is all the information you have? She isn’t an ordinary child. She’s an officially registered ward of our family.”
“Ah… I sent people to contact the employees of that family, but I was informed that every attempt failed. They seem to be extremely loyal.”
“Butler, I’m not interested in hearing excuses right now.”
“My apologies. I’ll commission the Information Guild today. Things should be different if we use professionals.”
I turned the pages without answering.
- Mutism continued for one year.
- Diagnosed with enuresis. Changes in personality observed.
- Condition progressed from mutism to severe stuttering. Signs of depression observed.
- Underweight due to reduced food intake. Nutritional management required.
- Officially registered as a ward of the Ibrante family.
There was no record anywhere of Piache healing anyone.
Fine.
But why did her records after she was adopted look like this?
‘Did something happen at the family she was adopted into? This sounds an awful lot like she was abused…’
I was continuing down that ominous train of thought when the butler’s voice suddenly reached me.
“So, regarding how we should handle it… Master, are you listening?”
“…What did you say?”
“The academy has recommended that Miss Piache enroll. This is their second contact. How shall we respond?”
The academy?
I raised my head.
“When did they contact us the first time?”
“They sent an application immediately after Miss Piache was registered as a ward of the family.”
I looked over the report again.
Piache had been registered as a ward of the Ibrante family about five months ago.
The records after that were all related to the child’s health.
Thanks to that, Piache was currently small for her age, but otherwise in good health.
However, there were no records of her education at all.
Even though Piache was almost six years old.
“Do you remember why I postponed her enrollment back then?”
“You never gave a specific reason. However, after bringing Miss Piache from the orphanage, your health was not very good.”
“Ah, I remember now. I wasn’t feeling well, so I postponed everything concerning Piache.”
I closed the report.
After tapping my finger lightly on the cover, I asked,
“Can a five-year-old attend the academy?”
“Enrollment applications are currently accepted from the age of five.”
That wasn’t exactly what I was asking.
I was wondering whether it was too early.
“When you attended, Master, the minimum age was seven. It has been lowered considerably. I heard the enrollment age was adjusted several years ago at the request of the nobles.”
My ear twitched slightly.
‘So Adrian attended the academy?’
This was the perfect opportunity to learn more about Adrian.
I flipped through the report while pretending not to be particularly interested.
“What is the academy like these days? Is it similar to when I attended?”
“Its status has risen considerably. Almost all noble children living in the capital attend the academy. It is a good opportunity to build connections from a young age and establish relationships with members of the Imperial Family. Wasn’t the academy also where you became close to that person?”
“…!”
The person the butler was referring to had to be one of the princes.
The current ages of the princes flashed through my mind at lightning speed.
First Prince: 29.
Second Prince: 26.
Third Prince: 25.
Which one was he talking about?
“Even the current factions supporting the princes are divided according to the friendships they formed at the academy. Ah, except for the Third Prince, who left halfway through.”
My mind started spinning.
If the reason Leonhart had been forced to leave the academy was…
‘It was because of his asthma.’
“I don’t remember very well, but was I close with the Third Prince?”
“Rather than being close to him, you were very interested in him.”
So the member of the Imperial Family Adrian had become close to at the academy wasn’t Leonhart.
“I wanted to know everything about his every move.”
“…Huh?”
“You were especially interested in the Third Prince’s friendships. You even set aside time every day to receive reports about him.”
“…”
“Even after the Third Prince left the academy, you had people assigned to keep an eye on those around him.”
‘Wait… Isn’t that basically a background investigation?’
“At the time, rumors were spreading that the Third Prince’s asthma was so severe that he would soon die. So Master instructed me to make contact with the attendants at the Third Prince’s palace. I assume you did so because the health of the parents is very important when considering succession.”
“When you say succession…”
“You had already chosen the Third Prince as the future son-in-law of our family. Naturally, you would have been thinking about the heir as well.”
Didn’t the butler say Adrian had started attending the academy when she was seven?
But how could she have chosen a son-in-law at that age?
A bad feeling ran down the back of my neck.
“How long did I keep doing that?”
“Until the Third Prince volunteered for the Demon King expedition, so… Hmm. About twelve years.”
“Twelve years…”
“If the Third Prince hadn’t joined the expedition at that time, he would probably be the son-in-law of our family by now.”
It was only natural that Leonhart hated Adrian enough to want her dead.
‘She stalked him for twelve whole years!’
