Chapter 53
“Then, I suppose you must be busy… I’ll take my leave.”
Helene rose from the sofa.
It seemed Blaine had been working even then, but she didn’t want to get on the nerves of a workaholic.
Blaine also got up from the sofa.
“Ah… yes…”
He seemed like he had something to say but didn’t, keeping his mouth shut.
Surely it wasn’t regret for the favor he had shown her and Liliana now.
Helene knew that wasn’t possible, but she was still unused to unrequited kindness.
“Well then, I’ll see you at the ball.”
Fael entrusted a newly arrived servant with seeing Helene out.
He couldn’t take his eyes off Blaine, who was staring blankly at the door Helene had just exited.
Noticing Fael’s gaze belatedly, Blaine embarrassedly snapped back in irritation.
“…W-What?! Why??”
“No reason. Just an idle old man with nothing to do, spacing out.”
Blaine looked at the documents Fael held in his hand.
They had been prepared day and night for a week, in response to Blaine’s casual remark about meeting women.
Fael, who had been quietly pleased when seeing the invitation to the ball—thinking, “This time, I won’t have to trouble the female researchers… haha.”—left Blaine unable to say a word.
Fael let out a long sigh and placed the stack of documents into a box for organization.
He would attend this ball with Helene.
Though he had been to countless social events, he had never felt such anticipation in his life.
Blaine walked over to the desk, pulled the top drawer, and retrieved a red velvet box containing a tiara.
With his long fingers, he gently lifted the red velvet box.
Today, Helene was extremely busy.
For her next appointment, she headed to the bustling streets of the capital.
Standing in the crowded intersection in a carriage, she scanned the crowd, searching for a certain person.
Had they not arrived yet?
There were so many people, but the person was so conspicuous that she would have recognized them immediately if they had arrived.
“Hey~ Countess!”
Waving his hand broadly, the only person in the world who would dare call her ‘Countess’ so rudely was shouting for her: Shakia.
Helene quickly shielded her face from the gazes of the surrounding crowd.
To prevent drawing further attention, she ran toward Shakia.
Helene and Shakia met once a week to exchange information.
After adopting Beth, Shakia had sent people to track the “faceless one,” but ultimately failed.
Helene, too, had questioned nobles for information, but they didn’t even know the faceless one existed.
When Helene was disappointed with no results, Shakia pointed out two things with certainty:
First, the faceless one has collected all the divine power they wanted, which is why they don’t appear.
The faceless one disappeared after taking Alphonse, Beth’s brother.
Since then, no believers had died from losing divine power.
Helene had briefly wondered if the faceless one stopped out of fear of being followed, but only Helene and Shakia knew of their existence, so that was impossible.
It was clear they didn’t appear because their goal was achieved.
Whether this was temporary or permanent was unknown.
Second, the faceless one is either extremely wealthy or has powerful backing.
In the world, most unlawful acts have one main goal: money.
Shakia examined the situation with sharp, objective eyes.
If she were in the faceless one’s position, she wouldn’t hand money to the person they intended to kill.
And yet, they paid 10,000 gold at once—far too much to be profitable.
Even in similar fields, like the black market for organ trade, prices weren’t that high.
What they intended to do with the divine power was unclear, but it didn’t seem to be about money.
If money isn’t the goal, then what could it be?
If money were the goal, the case would have been simpler.
Since money was only a means, the faceless one likely possessed tremendous wealth.
In any case, once the faceless one had gathered as much divine power as they wanted, the world would eventually learn how it would be used.
Until then, all Helene and Shakia could do was wait silently.
Today, Helene had come to meet Shakia for a different purpose.
“So… you really caught Eric?”
Helene asked once more.
Eric.
He had once been Helene’s lover.
A dazzling golden-haired beauty, he was the kind of man who used his looks to scam women—a complete scoundrel.
Helene had been one of his victims, lending him 100,000 gold from selling Raul’s Sword Collection to start fresh with Eric.
The ending had been predictable.
Eric disappeared, and Helene was abandoned.
Then, by chance, Helene saw Eric in the bustling streets and chased him, only to narrowly lose him again.
As the saying goes, leave illness to the doctor, medicine to the pharmacist.
Following the lessons from her past life, Helene decided to entrust a professional.
She asked Shakia, the loan shark, to catch Eric.
“Turns out he was someone our people knew well. It was a piece of cake. A timid little guy. I got double, so you don’t even need to pay me separately.”
It was indeed good to leave it to a professional.
Recovering the principal and getting paid separately for the effort—perfect.
Being friends with a loan shark wasn’t necessarily bad.
“Th-Thanks… By the way, how’s Eric?”
“He’s not walking yet, but he’ll recover soon.”
Helene couldn’t comprehend Shakia’s words.
Why couldn’t Eric walk…?
“…W-Why can’t Eric walk?”
“Don’t worry. The surgery went well. The liver heals easily. A life of total abstinence isn’t so bad.”
For some reason, Helene didn’t want to ask more.
Alright… Eric always loved drinking. Let’s just think that Shakia helped him stop drinking…
In some ways, this might actually help Eric live longer.
“By the way, Countess, your taste is really weird.”
Shakia suddenly stared at Helene and started criticizing Eric.
“Why would you like a frail, pampered guy who spends a thousand gold a month on hair care? I’m better, aren’t I?”
Shakia pressed her face closer, insisting Helene examine her objectively.
Why is she acting like this? It’s overwhelming.
Shakia wasn’t unattractive objectively, but her half-lidded eyes looked terrifying.
“What did you even like about that guy?”
Shakia grumbled.
After recalling Han Yena, Helene agreed.
In terms of looks, intelligence, and character, her ex-husband Raul was a hundred times better.
Helene had never loved Raul.
She married him only for his title and wealth.
Raul had proposed without seeing her much.
They had never kissed or even touched in a romantic way.
Helene had even wondered if Raul was impotent.
To impoverished, uneducated Helene, Raul was the first real man she had ever met.
He treated her gently and always asked for her opinion.
Raul had been extremely kind, singing “Happy Birthday” to a girl who had never celebrated before, teaching her common sense.
Like a father…
For orphaned Helene, this presence was something she had never had.
Helene felt her pride insulted, was unbearably angry, and uncomfortable.
To rid herself of that feeling, she met Eric, a typical scumbag who initially praised her beauty and gradually attempted gaslighting.
Shakia, noticing Helene lost in thought and not responding, spoke to her again.
