~Chapter 29~
Camilla waved her hand.
“Anyway, move aside. I want to go inside.”
“Alright, let’s go in together.”
Camilla was a little stunned by Dane’s boldness, but as soon as she stepped into the room, she wrapped a blanket around Dane’s shoulders.
“Don’t stay out in the cold.”
“…Shouldn’t I be the one doing this for you?”
“Do you not like it when I do it?”
“Who says I don’t?”
Camilla smiled slyly at Dane, who raised his eyebrow.
“Well, I’m still mad at you, but this is good timing—I had something to tell you.”
Actually, Camilla’s anger melted away as soon as Dane said he should be the one to give her the blanket, but she decided to keep pretending.
She looked Dane in the eye and smiled softly.
“The medicine for the clinical trial will be ready soon.”
“That means…”
“It might not be the perfect cure yet—we’ll have to do a clinical trial first—but the Grand Duchess and I did our very best.”
As soon as she finished, Dane hugged Camilla tightly.
The hug was so strong she almost yelped. She was about to say he was crushing her, but then she realized Dane’s back was trembling.
Camilla gently patted Dane’s back without a word.
“Thank you… really, thank you.”
“This is just the beginning.”
Camilla hugged Dane back and closed her eyes.
‘After he’s cured, will Dane still treat me as a friend?’
Or maybe—
‘Will he treat me the same way after he finds out I’m an illegitimate child?’
She pushed away the uneasy thoughts.
“Tsk, tsk. Not only did she steal herbs, but she also did that out of jealousy. Foolish.”
Marie, now limp and exhausted, clenched her fists in anger.
‘Don’t make me laugh. This was all the Empress Dowager’s plan!’
But she couldn’t say that, so she just had to lie there, gasping, as she was tortured and questioned.
Marie hated Camilla so much she could die, but all she could do was struggle to breathe.
“That’s enough. Take her away.”
At the head maid’s cold command, the guards grabbed Marie’s arms and dragged her off.
As they reached the side gate, the head maid bowed her head and whispered,
“She had high hopes for you…”
‘She…?’
Marie’s eyes flew open despite the pain. The head maid was also one of the Empress Dowager’s people!
“It’s a shame you were useless.”
The words stabbed deep into Marie’s heart.
“No…! I can do it! I’ll do anything here—please, just one more chance!”
But her desperate cry reached no one. As the guards threw her out and the side gate slammed shut, the sound echoed like thunder.
In the darkness, Marie collapsed and dug her nails into the ground.
“No, this can’t be!”
The cold dirt scraped under her nails, but she didn’t even feel the pain. Blood ran from her fingertips as she scratched the ground, howling.
If she didn’t get back in, her worthlessness would be reported straight to the Empress Dowager.
If the Empress Dowager judged her useless, it would be the end.
“I have to get back in… I have to…!”
But the gate didn’t budge, and only Marie’s cries echoed in the night.
At that moment, footsteps drew near. Marie froze in fear.
‘A-an animal from the hills?’
The side gate was close to a hill. If her cries attracted a wild animal, she’d be in trouble.
Suddenly—whoosh! Something flapped and covered Marie.
“……!”
Marie was trapped in a sack. She screamed, but her cries were muffled by the sack.
The ground shook. She guessed she was being put in a wagon or carriage.
She shivered in fear for what felt like forever, battered and bruised.
Finally, the cart stopped, and someone lifted her out.
“Let her out.”
The sack opened, and fresh air rushed in. Marie almost whimpered with fear.
A man with bloodthirsty eyes looked down at her. With his boot, he lifted her chin and bared his fangs in a grin.
“Hey, you served that girl, right? What’s she like?”
“W-what…”
“Ares.”
A calm voice came from behind. The beastly man stepped back. Marie turned her head and saw a noblewoman with a mad gleam in her eye.
‘Ah…’
Baroness Mowin, covering her mouth with a fan, smiled wickedly at Marie.
“Be polite. She has a precious mouth that will bring us gossip. Ares, you spread dirty rumors, but the ducal house didn’t even care, huh?”
The woman’s eyes flashed as she gripped Marie’s shoulder painfully.
“Hey, girl. I want to know what’s happening at the ducal house right now.”
The White Rose Palace, one wing of the Imperial Palace.
The Empress Dowager lounged on a giant golden chair.
She had raised and taught her grandson, the current Emperor, since he was a baby, and commanded enormous power.
“…It looks like your daughter failed. She was kicked out of the ducal house completely.”
At those words, her loyal maid stepped forward and immediately dropped to her knees, banging her head on the stone floor.
Bang, bang!
“Forgive me! Please forgive me!”
Her forehead was bleeding, but the Empress Dowager just looked on coldly from behind her veil.
“Keep bowing. And, Amelia?”
The Empress Dowager turned her eyes to a girl in a pink dress, sipping tea.
With soft brown hair and pink eyes, the beautiful girl bowed her head, covered in fancy jewelry.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Her name was Amelia—the daughter of the Emperor’s favorite consort.
“You’re coming of age this year, aren’t you? They say you’re good at charming men?”
“I’m always shy when talking to men… But if Your Majesty wishes it, I’ll do my best.”
“Heh, you should know how to play coy.”
The Empress Dowager smiled in satisfaction.
“Dane, he’s lived like a gentleman for so long, but now he’s keeping a lowborn girl in his house, just like his father.”
Right now, the dirty rumors spread by Ares and Baroness Mowin had already swept through Escalus and reached the palace.
The Empress Dowager tapped her fan against the table in annoyance. The rhythm matched the banging of the maid’s head on the floor.
“I thought he’d behave himself until he came of age, but men really can’t be trusted.”
‘Damian Escalus, at least, cared about what the royal family thought,’ she snorted.
Duke Dane Escalus.
He was one of the top three in the line of succession if the Emperor never produced an heir.
So he needed to watch his behavior, but he had the nerve to bring a girl into his house!
Crack!
Her fan broke just as the maid collapsed from exhaustion.
The Empress Dowager’s eyes gleamed cunningly.
“Amelia, try to win over the Duke. If you succeed, I’ll make you Duchess, or even Queen.”
Amelia’s eyes sparkled at the words.
“I’ll send you to the Duke’s birthday banquet in my name. Can you do it?”
“Of course, Your Majesty.”
After meeting with the Empress Dowager, Amelia covered her mouth with a fan and strolled across the palace.
She was confident she could win any man with her beauty and charm.
Even if there was another girl in her way—
‘I’ll just crush her.’
Amelia smiled brightly.
That day, the ducal house received an unexpected guest.
Knock, knock.
Knock, knock, knock.
The butler, seeing someone pounding on the gate with bare fists, looked shocked.
The news quickly reached the Grand Duchess, then Dane, then finally Camilla.
“There’s a guest?”
Dane nodded, looking unusually uncomfortable.
“Yes. And that person is…”
‘That person?’
If Dane called someone “that person,” they must be very close, Camilla thought.
‘But I don’t think he has any other friends but me?’
This all led to a big event in the drawing room that afternoon.
“Dane!”
Camilla couldn’t believe her eyes.
A noble girl with orange braided hair, who looked strong-willed and proud, walked in.
But that wasn’t what caught Camilla’s attention.
“The whole of Escalus is talking! They say you’re crazy for women!”
Standing next to the noble girl was someone Camilla knew very well, with bright yellow hair—
“Sister!”
‘Nina, why are you here?!’
