His heart sank.
“Surely not like back then—”
John remembered the day he saw Estelle’s trauma.
She lowered her long white lashes and bit her lips faintly, as if in pain.
“Estelle!”
Unable to restrain himself, John stepped into the Gazebo and grabbed her.
Estelle’s eyes widened as if she had just regained consciousness.
“Huh?”
“Do you know who’s in front of you right now?”
“Well… John?”
Estelle tried to gloss over it with her usual calm face. He felt pity for how Estelle kept trying to hide her wounds.
“Yes, I’m right beside you. Don’t forget.”
At that moment, a spark flew from the crystal ball, and an anomaly began to unfold. Patches of Peony were blooming around them.
“Something like this cannot happen.”
But there was one circumstance in which it could.
“This magical item is ordinarily made assuming a living person.”
The sudden appearance of the Peony, which is the flower that blooms, lent further credence to that assumption. The Peony is a flower of death—a symbol of chaos, opposite of the divine.
“Estelle… is she closer to the dead than the living?” John looked at Estelle sadly and spoke.
“…Estelle.”
Estelle’s crystal ball had already darkened with her extreme pain. Yet, despite how close she was to death, she showed no obvious distress.
“You don’t have to pretend you’re alright.”
It was miraculous that she could move at all.
“I’m glad I didn’t break it.”
Estelle looked at John and seemed to sense the situation roughly.
“…You’ll probably know you’re already incurably ill, so you’ve picked up on it, haven’t you?”
Her personal physician, Henry Hansson, spoke about Estelle.
“Usually Sleeping Beauty doesn’t feel pain, but there are exceptional cases of extreme pain. At first, my mistress was thought to be the pain-free Sleeping Beauty, but…”
“Is my wife experiencing extreme pain now?”
“From occasional signs you can tell, yes. It seems so.”
“How could that be?”
The Sleeping Beauty is a disease of the body bringing its own ruin. It’s not something one can bear.
“It seems Your Lady has become accustomed to bearing her pain herself. She’s been trying to hide it from her master as well.”
Given that the crystal ball confirmed it, Hansson’s diagnosis was accurate.
“Estelle is still enduring pain right now.”
But John had no way to heal her.
Perhaps Estelle herself knew how desperate her situation was.
“I really like this flower. It’s like John’s eyes.”
She smiled.
“Even though it’s a little sad or scary, there are times I feel it’s exactly like John’s sincerity. I like that we’ve grown closer.”
She tried to comfort him.
“Really, how dare you be so endearingly bold.”
It was maddeningly endearing.
“How can you be so infuriatingly adorable?”
“Am I adorable?”
John trapped Estelle against the wall. Estelle looked at him with wide, cow-like eyes—the expression that always provoked him.
“You’re maddeningly adorable.”
“…”
“That drives me crazy.”
John’s violent words startled Estelle. Her breath trembled with tension. Her long, white lashes trembled like butterflies. John surveyed every corner of Estelle with a mad gaze.
“Are you going to die like this?”
Among the crawling monsters, John risked his life to save Estelle. As a result, John would find it harder to use magic as before until he paid a new price.
“Then will you truly save me?”
But Estelle grew further away from John.
“Why do you want to save me so much?”
John slowly pressed his lips to Estelle’s forehead and the bridge of her nose. Each time their lips touched, she reacted sensitively.
“Who wouldn’t miss it?”
That was something he would not tolerate.
“Joh… John?”
“When we return to the dukedom, I’ll plant flowers you want all through the garden. Then we’ll be together in a garden full of blossoms.”
“Are we really going back to the dukedom now?”
“It seems healing here is unlikely.”
John smiled gently at the surprised Estelle.
“I’ll save you,” he vowed.
“However you can, I’ll find a way to keep you alive.”
~·~·*· . ·*· . ·*· . ·*·~·~
John told Estelle he would go up to the dukedom in three days.
All the plans to go down to the Blanchtan principality had been canceled because of what happened.
“There’s a lot to do.”
Even I, an outsider, could tell John had plenty on his plate. Especially since magic doesn’t work well on me, I couldn’t transport easily, which added to the workload.
During that time, I spent the remaining days with Betty touring Blanchet’s duchy. She had prepared many things to let me rest.
“Madam, this is prepared so you can choose freely once you arrive.”
“That many?”
The duchy’s chief maid politely replied.
“Of course that’s not all. There are about ten more rooms like this. All with top-quality dresses, adjustable to your measurements at any time.”
“Ten?”
“Sorry. We hurried to prepare; even checking near Blanchet Duchy all the way to the capital, this was the best we could do.”
Since John had already booked everything at renowned fashion houses, these clothes would fill the guest’s taste and level.
“John said he’d start by earning money first…”
He really must have so much money.
But John’s spending did not stop there.
“When we ascend to the duchy, you’ll find new dresses fitting your measurements in there.”
“That would surely become a rumor in the capital.”
Spending this much on attire would definitely cause lots of gossip in the social circles.
“I can almost hear everyone talking about it now.”
The best compliment would be that a fake Libertan noblewoman had sold well.
“Don’t mind that. Time is precious.”
“Right. The important thing isn’t gossip.”
“When we go up, a high-ranking priestess will come to treat you.”
The mention of a high priestess surprised me.
“A high priestess…?”
“It’s most likely an archbishop.”
John’s relationship with the temple was always poor. Blanchet’s noble house’ downfall had involvement from the temple.
“Why would they summon you, then?”
“Because I needed to satisfy the temple’s demands. I could pass them a region the temple needed. That’s why things fell into place.”
John spoke as if it were nothing.
“A high-ranking priest could not move around to ordinary places.”
There were probably more steps or big payments involved.
“Something about money is a waste.”
Though not my money, it stung to think he spent so much for a day not yet sick.
He asked me carefully, watching my reaction.
“Is there a problem with a high-ranking priest coming from the temple?”
“No. Not at all.”
Priests from Libertan came often, but it had nothing to do with me.
“There’s no healing power on me either, just watching from afar.”
“Though it might seem that Libertan was close to you.”
John, who would grumble more about that, would not leave me.
“I hope you don’t overexert yourself for my sake.”
“Not overexertion. And if sacred power doesn’t work, we’ll find another way.”
John held my hand and smiled warmly.
“By the way, I’ve turned over to you all the assets seized from the Hettel family. I’ve organized a list of their property in your room, so take a look when you have time.”
“All of the Hettel estate’s assets came to me?”
“Of course—your share.”
“But isn’t the Hettel estate still under trial in court?”
The royal court had begun proceedings to judge their crimes.
“The property confiscation was decided earlier. I’ve put it back under your name.”
As a result, the Hettel count was completely expelled from the noble roll. The count and countess received life sentences, and their daughters were demoted to commoners without a penny.
“As John said.”
“Then I’ll go back to work.”
John kissed my cheek and left to resume his tasks.
I went up to my room to check the documents John had mentioned. Indeed, all the Hettel estate’s assets had become mine.
“…Is it really okay for these assets to be mine?”
Although the Hettel family had been poor, a count is still a high noble.
Even the possessions the countess brought as a dowry became mine, a surprisingly large fortune.
“Why not? The master decided so.”
Betty handed me a letter.
“Did all the Hettel estate’s wealth really come to me?”
“Of course, it’s yours.”
“But isn’t the trial still ongoing?”
The royal court was hearing their crimes.
“Asset forfeiture was decided earlier. That’s why I put it in your name.”
The verdict led to the complete expulsion of the Hettel family from the noble register. The count and countess received life sentences, and their daughters were stripped of their names and cast out as commoners with nothing.
“As you said.”
“Then I’ll go back to work.” John kissed my cheek and went out.
I returned to my room and checked the documents John had told me about. Indeed, all of the Hettel estate’s assets were mine.
“…Is it really all right for this to be my fortune?”
The Hettel estate’s property was significant, particularly including the dowry items the countess had brought.
“It’s nothing you can’t handle. The master decided this.”
Betty showed me a letter.
“Use it as you wish. They don’t seem to have any remorse.”
The Hettel estate sent apologies.
It seemed they thought forgiveness would open a way for them.
‘They’ll never be able to pull this off in Libertan anyway.’
I looked at documents about the Hettel estate’s lands in the Hettel domain.
‘They really gouged the land dry.’
The Hettel family seemed to be in a rush. I spoke while looking at the Hettel Domain report.
“Betty, can I ask you for a favor?”
“A favor? Of course. Tell me what you need.”
The capable Betty always did what ordinary maids could not.
“Then sell these money and jewels and donate them to the orphanage and the poor in the duchy.”
“…Donate?”
“It’s better as sponsorship. Choose many hard-hit places, not only the Hettel domain.”
Betty blinked for a moment.
“Are you not using this for yourself?”
“This is for me.”
It wasn’t because I was virtuous or kind. The Hettel estate assets were already publicly recorded, so using them to run away from John would be difficult.
“All I need is money kept by Baron Peñula in the bank.”
Betty’s eyes grew moist as she asked.
“Then shall we set up a foundation in your name?”
“Think about it—if I’m going to sustain this for a long time, a foundation would be good. Could we set it up soon?”
“Of course. We can buy a struggling foundation and run it.”
“Betty, you’re very knowledgeable.”
Betty answered confidently.
“For a spy, you’ve got to know this much.”
It was fortunate that this knowledge was part of being a spy. If not, I could have wasted money somewhere.
“That’s lucky. Then for the donations and sponsorships, do it anonymously.”
“…Not in Madam’s name, but anonymously? Why?”
“Well, people wouldn’t want to be seen as receiving your charity, right?”
People hated me. No matter what I did, they’d think I was scheming.
“If it’s just me being hated, that’s fine.”
But those who benefited from my sponsorship would inevitably suffer too.
“Madam, that won’t happen. Even if some poor souls view it poorly, they’ll know your sincerity…”
“Please.” Betty finally nodded at my firm stance.
“Understood, Madam. But please stay strong.”
Betty bowed and left to handle the Hettel affair. In the meantime, it was already time to ascend to the Blanchet duchy.
~·~·*· . ·*· . ·*· . ·*·~·~
John prepared a potion for me.
“If you drink this, you’ll be able to use the moving magic circle without problems.”
“Even that exists?”
“Only for me.”
I drank the potion John gave me.
“Ugh, it’s bitter.”
It’s best not to need moving magic at all.
I shook my head and moved through the moving magic circle. The circle’s red runes stretched across the air like a series of horizontal pillars.
“It’s familiar somehow.”
The red letters in the magic circle trembled like smoke, and as the letters merged, new letters formed.
“Be careful?”
“Be careful?”
John asked beside me. His question surprised me.
“What did I just say?”
“I said be careful. Is something wrong?”
When I blinked again, the previous letters had vanished as if they were lies.
“No. I think I momentarily misread something.”
I smiled at John and held his hand. He looked at me for a moment and spoke.
“Yes. If you close your eyes and open them again, you’ll be in the Blanchet duchy.”
Following John’s guidance, I stepped into the red magic circle. But what lay inside the circle was a little different from what John had described.
“We were told we’d move immediately?”
Everything around us was pitch-black.
Then darkness began to swallow my entire body.
From the limbs, my body started to disappear bit by bit.
Just as I screamed in fear,
-Don’t worry too much, dear.
A warm voice made the surroundings bright again.
-So you can be happy, I’ll protect you to the end.
The parts of my body that had disappeared started to reappear.
“Who are you?”
But what echoed back wasn’t an answer but a sound of laughter. A laughter that made even me sad.
~·~·*· . ·*· . ·*· . ·*·~·~
My head felt dizzy.
“What was that voice?”
It didn’t seem like the voice I heard when talking to the trees.
“I keep getting things I don’t know, and I’m frustrated.”
There are limits to learning about black magic in the duchy library.
“I think I need to learn something more seriously.”
As I faltered, John steadied me.
“Magic always makes things harder.”
John frowned, and I gave him a small smile.
“With John’s help, I feel a bit better.”
“Let’s hurry inside the duchy and rest.”
Erik greeted us as we arrived through the moving magic circle.
“Master, I’ve been waiting for you.”
“What’s the matter?”
Erik glanced momentarily at my injured foot and reported to John.
“A person from the temple has just arrived. It would be best if you go directly to see them.”
“That seems proper.”
John looked at me as I spoke.
“I’ll go with you.”
“You too?”
“If it’s such an important occasion, I should go too.”
A vague sense of foreboding lingered. In the end, John consented to my wish. I followed him to the main gate. A white carriage with gold decorations stood in front. The door opened, and priests appeared from the carriage.
“I’ll help you,” one of them said.
“Thank you.”
Finally, a beautiful woman descended from the carriage as an escort. She looked different from the other priests in attire: a white nun’s habit revealing shoulders and neckline like a dress, making her appear more of a noble princess than a cleric of the divine.
Her blonde hair, bright as sunshine, fluttered in the wind. She adjusted her shining blonde hair with a delicate wrist and smiled bashfully.
Her clear blue eyes turned directly toward John.
“Ah.”
Her long eyelashes trembled, and a blush spread across her pure face.
The woman, who seemed about to greet us, stepped closer, shyly, behind another male priest.
The male priests gathered around as if to shield her.
When they finally reached us, a woman who had been behind the male priest stepped aside carefully.
“Hello, Duke von Blanchet. I am Stella, Saint of the Holy City.”
Stella smiled and lifted her habit as if it were a dress.
“You’ve been looking for me anxiously, haven’t you?”
I recognized her immediately, though I’d never seen her before.
“Estelle Libertan.”
Stella was John’s true target of revenge.
~·~·*· . ·**##^^##**· . ·*·~·~
Hey there, It’s Green Rose 😉
Since I human I might have make some mistakes while translating so please if you find them let me know here in the comments or in the Discord group so I can correct them and be careful in the future so they do not repeat.
Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
~~~Next Chapter~~~
Next chapter will be released Tomorrow.
See you then!!
