CHAPTER 43………………………….

Cherdicas set down his teacup and loosened the watch that had been uncomfortably tight around the boy’s wrist.

Thinking he understood what his older brother meant, Alexandros awkwardly swallowed dryly over and over for no reason.

“He doesn’t seem like the type to get in the way…”

“Pardon?”

Ramiel looked puzzled at Ariana’s murmured words to herself.

“It’s nothing.”

Shaking her head, Ariana recalled the conversation she had shared with Perez.

“I haven’t met my older brother even once yet, so I’m curious. What kind of person is he?”

“Someone who gets in the way…”

The day Perez came to the library and gave Ariana one gold coin as alms.

Referring to Cherdicas, Perez had described him as “someone who gets in the way.”

Ariana had thought Cherdicas’s attitude toward her, his younger sister, was neat and proper.

Her brother seemed like a nobleman who had been raised with an excellent family education.

If Perez found such a Cherdicas bothersome, then the way he looked at Ariana probably wasn’t much different.

‘The possessiveness Perez feels toward me might be similar to the possessiveness one feels toward a fork held during a meal.’

In other words, so faint that it was almost nonexistent.

No one lives consciously remembering which fork they used after finishing a meal.

Just as one looks at an inanimate object without attachment, Perez was surely indifferent to her.

Otherwise, it wouldn’t make sense for him to leave her alone for nine months despite her defaulting on her debt.

At this point, Ariana felt a slight sense of stubborn defiance.

How long would Perez remain indifferent to her?

“By the way, Ramiel. Do you also think I dislike my brothers?”

“…I’m not sure? Every time the two young masters are mentioned, Your Grace perks up and listens closely.”

“I do?”

“Maybe the other maids wouldn’t notice, but I can tell just by your reactions how much you like the two princes.”

“……”

Ariana tried to recall what kind of reaction she had shown whenever her brothers were mentioned over the past nine months.

‘I can’t remember a single thing.’

Nothing in particular came to mind.

Still, Ramiel was a maid of the Berkshire household.

Wasn’t she the one who stayed by Ariana’s side every day, observing her closely and constantly thinking about how to serve her more perfectly?

Perhaps Ramiel knew Ariana better than Ariana knew herself.

A fleeting, subtle expression. A slight tremble of the pupils. The unconscious tone of voice or habits…

“…You must have seen it right, Ramiel. I don’t dislike my brothers.”

Ariana turned her flushed face aside as if sulking.

The ones she feared weren’t her Berkshire brothers, but the half-brothers on Earth who had bullied Jiyeon.

Ramiel smiled gently and replied,

“It’s nice to have siblings with deep affection. More importantly, Your Grace, have you heard the news? Count Hubert was finally executed this morning along with his retainers. After the execution, his title was confiscated and he was demoted to a viscount.”

The baby bird had already kindly explained it to her, so Ariana simply nodded.

“Yes. On top of embezzling imperial donations, he knowingly helped recruit investors despite realizing Viscount Fonz was a fraud, and even smuggled military weapons to an enemy nation for personal gain… He should pay at least that much for his crimes.”

“Indeed. As for Lady Chloe, famous as the ‘Flower of Teatime’—since Your Grace selected her as the debut lead for the tea gathering, I had been keeping an eye on her. They say she no longer has the money to remain in the capital and has left for the outskirts. Apparently, a relative family took pity on her and brought her in as a maid.”

Ariana felt no particular emotion at Chloe’s downfall.

If not for the possibility that the original storyline might change, it would have been information she would have erased from memory as soon as she heard it.

The only thing that concerned her was—

‘I have to clear the quest.’

To maintain the flow of the original story, Ariana would have to meet Colombersh in place of Chloe and deliver the same lines.

“Ramiel, call Waldif for me.”

Waldif was a capable knight who always accompanied Ariana on her rare outings as her escort.

“Your Grace, is something the matter?”

“There’s somewhere I need to go.”

“Yes, understood.”

Without asking further, Ramiel bowed her head.

‘There were a few more lines in the original that described Chloe’s childhood exploits.’

Ariana recalled the passage she had read in excerpts from The Tyrant’s Poison.

It was a scene from the latter half of the story, where Chloe conversed with the emperor and secondary male lead, Kael.

“You’re curious about my childhood?”

At Kael’s sudden question, Chloe let out a light laugh.

“Well… Your Majesty, when I was young, I used to follow my father to the slums when he held charity meal events. There were times I purchased young boy slaves and burned their slave certificates to grant them freedom.”

“Buying slaves to free them? Are you denying the class system?”

Chloe was flustered by the emperor’s question.

“Of course not, Your Majesty.”

Kael was the emperor.

In terms of social hierarchy, he stood at the very top.

If her words had sounded as though they shook the very foundation of the empire, that would have been Chloe’s mistake.

In terms of power, Perez might hold practical superiority, but that was only an unofficial ranking.

“At the time, illegal kidnappings of commoners to sell them as slaves were rampant. I didn’t have the ability to purge the underworld… So in my childish heart, I only wished to save at least a few people.”

Kael quietly gazed at Chloe as she awkwardly explained herself.

Soon, however, the emperor smirked as if it had all been a joke.

“Chloe. Why so stiff? At this rate, I can’t even tease you.”

Burying his face against Chloe, Kael continued,

“You’re so innocent it’s almost naive.”

“…That’s why Your Majesty likes me.”

Slave emancipation.

If it counted as one of Chloe’s childhood achievements, then it was one.

When Ariana read that scene as a reader, she had simply thought Chloe was a truly angelic heroine.

But remembering the blue soup she had been served at the charity meal event, Ariana frowned slightly.

Still, those who committed embezzlement had all been punished. It was already in the past.

‘Let Father handle purging the underworld… I’ll buy the boy slaves the heroine freed.’

Just as Chloe had done in the original, Ariana planned to burn the slave certificates and restore the identities of the unjustly kidnapped commoner boys.

But first, she needed money to buy the slaves—and Ariana received no personal allowance, so she had no private funds.

‘I can’t possibly sell the tulips before their price skyrockets to turn them into cash.’

The only valuable item she currently owned was the brooch Schwaben had given her not long ago.

The one made with the red diamond she had chosen—

In other words, the item she had received as proof of her vote that Kael von Ettenhofer would become emperor.

Ariana had no need to align herself with a political faction, nor did she need to wear the brooch at all times, so it was the perfect item to temporarily pawn.

The items she used in daily life as a princess were also quite expensive, and she could technically sell any of them—but strictly speaking, they belonged to Berkshire, not to Ariana.

The brooch was the only item that truly belonged to her.

‘The boy slaves Chloe saved later all became Swordmasters and repaid her when she was in danger. The baby bird didn’t explicitly assign me a quest to save the slaves, but something feels off. According to the original, Chloe bought the slaves at age seven, on the Founding Anniversary.’

If later the butterfly effect twisted the storyline and the baby bird notified her of it, it might unfairly nitpick Ariana’s conduct.

If she could save them, it would be better to do so.

Thus, after leaving the Grand Duke’s castle, Ariana’s first destination was a pawnshop.

“Hello.”

“Welcome! Oh my, what a cute little customer.”

The pawnshop owner appeared to be an elderly man in his late sixties.

Ariana had no intention of revealing her identity, so she spoke politely.

“It’s a brooch made with a red diamond.”

“Let’s see, let’s see, have a look—how much might this fetch…?”

As if singing a tune, the pawnshop owner hummed the refrain.

Wearing a monocle, the elderly man carefully examined the brooch Ariana handed over, magnifying it as he inspected it from every angle.