Chapter – 24
Evidence…
Daisy banged her head against the floor.
You’d think she’d tell me to stop by now…
She had only been pretending at first, planning to tap her head lightly and fall forward. But when Yesica didn’t say anything, Daisy panicked and slammed her head harder. The skin on her forehead split, and a bit of blood trickled down.
“That’s enough.”
I knew it.
If shedding this little bit of blood was enough to be forgiven, Daisy thought, then it was nothing. She lifted her head. Anyone else would’ve found Yesica’s narrowed eyes unsettling, but Daisy didn’t register her expression at all.
“Could you say those same words in front of the Marquis?”
“What? The Marquis?”
“Of course. What you’re claiming could be considered insulting a noble.”
“My lady, I only told the truth!”
“Then bring me proof.”
“Huh?”
“Proof. Bring me evidence that Lady Rüssel tried to harm our household. Then I’ll believe you.”
Yesica’s words snapped Daisy back to her senses.
Proof? There’s no way I could bring something like that!
“You seemed hurt earlier. I’ll ask Lord Serren to assign you a knight who can escort you next time you go out. Bring the evidence then.”
“A knight to protect me?”
“I can’t just let someone working for our house wander around unprotected, can I?”
“Th—thank you!”
Moved to tears, Daisy stammered out her gratitude. If she had thought about it, she might have realized how strange it was for a mere maid to be assigned a knight. But with her life on the line, all she felt was relief.
And the idea of a knight escorting her—her, a maid—made her feel almost like a noble lady.
“You may leave.”
“Thank you, my lady! I won’t disappoint you!”
At Yesica’s gesture, Daisy left the office, certain that a bright path was now opening before her.
“My lady.”
Anna called out, but Yesica raised her fan to silence her. Seeing the warning in Yesica’s eyes, Anna immediately closed her mouth. The icy expression Yesica wore after Daisy left made it impossible to speak carelessly.
Yesica tapped her desk with the fan—tok tok—then threw it down with a sharp tak, leaning back in her chair.
One problem pops up, and now another one’s making a scene.
Quietly handling things was now impossible. Not that she ever intended to handle things quietly. Anna had heard everything, and outside, Altere would have heard it as well. The plan had to change.
Was dying in a back alley too easy?
Daisy was a commoner. In the capital, countless nobles roamed, and commoners who irritated them died every day.
Since a ducal house stood behind Marianne, Daisy was no longer needed. Keeping her alive would only cause trouble. Yesica had intended to take care of her personally—but now she realized she didn’t have to.
Upon hearing that someone linked to Darten’s faction might be inside the knights’ order, Yesica had ordered Altere to notify that person whenever Daisy left the estate.
After that, everything should have gone smoothly. Altere had said the man moved. Daisy was supposed to die the usual way—killed in a dark alley, her body found later.
But she came back alive.
No… this is better.
Now Daisy would have to bring evidence. If Darten and House Rüssel weren’t connected, Daisy could easily bring proof.
And of course they aren’t.
If Darten had joined hands with House Rüssel, he would know of Daisy’s existence—and wouldn’t have tried to kill the servant who’d been feeding them trivial information.
“Anna.”
“Yes, my lady.”
Anna, who had been watching Yesica nervously, answered quickly.
“Go bring in Lord Altere.”
“Lord Altere?”
Yesica fixed her with a stare that made further questions unnecessary. Anna hurried out, and soon Altere entered. Yesica gestured for him to take a seat.
“Sit, my lord.”
“I prefer to stand.”
“Then I’ll speak plainly. Call in Lord Serren.”
“The commander?”
“Yes. We need him to assign a guard to Daisy.”
“The order will talk, my lady.”
Altere wasn’t wrong. Knights took great pride in serving noble ladies and their liege lords. None of them would volunteer to guard a maid.
“We can assign a trainee or a squire. If left alone, that girl will die.”
“She betrayed the house, my lady.”
“No—she’ll die because she won’t be able to bring us any evidence.”
To Altere insisting that a traitor could not be protected, Yesica replied coolly:
“Her usefulness lies in showing us who’s targeting the Marquisate. I won’t spare someone who truly betrayed us.”
A spark of blue flashed in Yesica’s eyes. Altere bowed in knightly respect and left without another word.
Soon, Serren entered with him. After hearing the situation, he was shocked and said he would report to the Marquis immediately.
“No, tell him only after we have evidence.”
“But, my lady—”
“I will tell Father myself.”
Yesica’s tone allowed no room for argument. Even Serren, who believed this matter should be reported, found himself wavering.
“If you tell him first, I’ll take it as disloyalty toward your lady.”
“My lady, this concerns the safety of the house—”
“I know. That’s why I told you. So trust me this time, Sir Serren.”
He couldn’t say no. It was the knights’ duty to eliminate those threatening the Marquisate, but without knowing the enemy clearly, Serren’s hands were tied.
In the end, he agreed to assign a particularly skilled squire to guard Daisy.
“If I think you or the Marquis is in danger, I won’t wait.”
“I won’t be going out anyway. Father’s been staying home these days, hasn’t he?”
Winking, Yesica cut him off entirely. Serren couldn’t help but admire her—she had already planned everything.
He regretted only that he could do nothing but watch. But watching Yesica grow was something worth anticipating.
She’s grown so much.
She was no longer the lonely young lady craving affection. Accepting that, Serren bowed and left. Yesica didn’t move from her seat until the Marquis came to call her for dinner.
Salife, who had swept in like the wind, shaken Yesica’s heart, and left, did not contact her for an entire week.
Anxious about how to face him when he returned, Yesica sought peace of mind by bringing a book to the knights’ training grounds. She spread a cloth on the ground and sat. Serren warned her it was dangerous, but she ignored him. Defeated, he begged:
“You must not cross this line. Ever.”
“I know, Sir.”
“Absolutely not. If I remember how the Marquis once drilled the knights because of—”
“What? Father drilled the knights?”
“N-no, forget I said that.”
Yesica tilted her head. She couldn’t believe it. The Marquis had never so much as raised his voice at her, no matter what she did. The idea of him punishing the knights seemed absurd.
He must have misspoken.
Though she knew Serren wasn’t careless with words, she forced herself to believe it. Her father would never do such a thing.
The soft sound of pages turning soothed her. The distant clashing of swords felt familiar—what she had grown up with.
How did I forget this?
Whenever her father trained, her mother would bring her out here, and the two of them would read together. Sometimes she’d stare at her father’s swordplay, missing her mother’s words; other times, she’d be so absorbed in her mother’s voice that she’d miss her father calling for her.
Such beautiful moments she had loved—moments that would never return. Remembering them, Yesica pressed her hand to her chest. She could barely breathe.
“It hurts…”
It truly hurt. She had returned, but the mother she longed for was gone.
If only I could see her face once more.
To see her alive, smiling. But now the only face she had was the portrait—just as in her previous life.
The newly arrived Lady Rüssel had burned the former Marchioness’s portrait—the portrait Yesica cherished most. She had cried endlessly, longing for the mother she would never see again.
When she returned to the past, the first thing she secured was that same portrait, painted during the Marchioness’s lifetime at the Marquis’s command.
Remembering how she had cried over it, sorrow washed over her again. She tried to focus on the book—she couldn’t let the knights see her crying.
But once her mood plummeted, she couldn’t bring it back. So she read aloud, the way her mother once had.
“Everything in the world remains in its rightful place. To exist in that place is their duty, and…”
“The Empire of Ert protects those who uphold their duty. Quite an interesting passage you’re reading.”
Salife snatched the book from her hands.
