Chappter : 159
As soon as I entered the mansion, the smell of freshly baked bread wafted through the air.
In the meantime, some new servants seemed to have arrived, as a few unfamiliar maids politely received the luggage from the coachman.
I walked down the hallway, my face blank as I took in the familiar sights of the mansion.
Then, someone quickly ran up next to the stairs.
“Miss-!!”
The person with tears welling up in her eyes was none other than Anna.
“Anna!”
“Oh my, how have you been? No, your pretty face has become half of what it used to be!”
Anna extended her hand towards me, but she seemed flustered and restless. I smiled awkwardly.
“Does it look like that?”
“Yes! Why do you look so thin? Have you been eating properly? How…?”
At that moment, Phioni, who had been standing beside Anna, lightly scolded her.
“Anna, stop it. She must be tired.”
Anna jumped back in surprise at those words. Then, she slapped her cheeks with both hands.
“Oh my, I must be going mad. I was so relieved and happy to see your face…”
After letting out a deep sigh, Anna quickly took the small bag from my hand.
“Let’s go up to your room. I’ve prepared everything so you can wash up and eat.”
However, I nodded and looked around the surroundings.
“But where is the Duke?”
Anna opened her eyes wide in surprise.
“The Duke?”
“Father. Is he not home?”
Anna gasped and furrowed her brows.
“Well… Actually, he’s been waiting for you all morning.”
Then she turned to Phioni with an awkward expression.
“He just left for the imperial palace a little while ago. Sir Walter went with him. There was an urgent summons from the imperial palace.”
My eyes widened.
“An urgent summons? What happened?”
Anna frowned.
“I’m not sure either…”
At that moment, someone spoke from the second-floor stairs.
“The Emperor was attempted to be poisoned.”
Someone, looking tired, came down the stairs and said this. I looked at the person in shock.
It was Ansen, who, as usual, wore a weary expression on his face.
Ansen bent slightly at the waist and greeted me with a polite smile.
“It’s been quite a while. I’m sorry to bring such unpleasant news as soon as we meet.”
I was at a loss for words and closed my mouth.
Ansen, as though expecting this reaction, calmly continued.
“To give you a brief explanation, most of the elite soldiers followed His Excellency to the imperial palace. So, the number of soldiers guarding the mansion is quite small.”
He sighed.
“And I also need to head to the imperial palace…”
Ansen glanced at my luggage being carried by the servants.
“You should go straight to the Laurent Duchy mansion for now. They’ll probably have everything sorted out by the time you get there.”
I looked at him with a confused expression.
“What do you mean? Why would I suddenly go to the Laurent mansion?”
“Well…”
Ansen opened his mouth to say something but then closed it, shrugging his shoulders.
“Because it’s dangerous. It’s not safe for you to stay alone in the mansion.”
“…”
“Please go quickly. I need to confirm that you arrive safely at the Laurent mansion before I can go about my business.”
He then gestured for the servants carrying my luggage to follow.
The servants, who had been standing by the corridor, began to move busily.
The mansion doors opened once again to load the luggage.
Outside, there was already an unusual atmosphere.
On both sides of the entrance, twenty elite soldiers of Tigris were lined up. The one standing at the front was Copel.
Our eyes met, but instead of his usual playful demeanor, Copel greeted me with a serious bow.
Ansen turned back to me.
“This may seem a little funny, but it’s an emergency. It won’t hurt to be cautious.”
I was frozen in place, not knowing how to respond.
Suddenly, someone rushed up and supported one of my arms.
It was Anna, whose face had turned cold with fear.
“Anna…?”
I asked with a puzzled face, and Anna spoke in a flustered manner.
“It’s alright, Miss. It’ll be fine.”
I slowly closed my mouth.
“The things you’re worried about won’t happen, it’ll be alright.”
Her eyes widened a little.
‘What am I worrying about?’
Anna seemed to be trying to calm me down.
But I now understood why she was so scared. It was only now that I realized.
Suddenly, something flashed through my mind.
‘…Right. Now that I think about it.’
Ansen and Anna, both seemed to be worried about me, as the Emperor had been poisoned.
The atmosphere of the mansion was more tense than necessary.
‘If the Emperor was poisoned, why is the mansion’s security being strengthened?’
As soon as I thought that, I had an inkling of the reason.
Something similar had happened in this mansion before.
‘…Yes, they said it rained heavily that day too.’
I stepped outside and looked up.
The clear sky earlier was nowhere to be seen, and it seemed like rain was about to pour at any moment.
I could feel Anna’s trembling hand on my arm.
I clenched my lips tightly and placed my hand over hers.
Now I completely understood why she was so scared.
It had been about ten years since Selenea was nine.
It had been a stormy day, and Duke Tigris was not at the mansion, just like today.
On that day, the Duchess had been attacked.
“Selenea!”
Estelline ran across the garden. Pale Rosetyn was beside her.
“Are you alright? Was everything fine?”
I nodded.
Turning around, I could already see the elite soldiers of Tigris surrounding the mansion, in full alert.
Inside the garden, there were also countless knights of Laurent.
“What… what is going on?”
Estelline, who was looking nervously towards the outside of the gate, spoke in a hushed voice.
“Let’s go inside first. This isn’t something we should talk about here.”
As soon as she said that, heavy raindrops started to fall from the sky.
A flash of lightning followed by a loud thunderclap.
It was a noisy spring rain.
“So, you’re saying the Empress summoned all the Fourth Dukes? Even Duke Hellen?”
“That’s what I heard. If they don’t come, they’ll be considered traitors.”
My head cleared up.
‘I should be glad that I brought Rubel to the system.’
For the past few weeks, I had been quite busy within Lishion.
I had completed the entrance ceremony and preparatory training, and in my spare time, I had researched the temples and the ancient god Fluma.
I had also been busy observing the movements of the Sorad Kingdom.
Rubel was the same. He had not missed a single day of training.
In less than a month, he had switched masters three times, appointed by Duke Hellen.
His learning ability was beyond description.
Despite his packed schedule, he still trained in handling magic every night.
In the meantime, he never forgot to visit me.
When I left Lishion for my first outing, he had followed without hesitation.
However, this time, he didn’t accompany me as a knight of Tigris.
He was accompanying me as Duke Hellen’s son and my future fiancé.
“By the way, where is Lord Tatio?”
I answered calmly.
“Duke Hellen has a mansion in the system. It’s not used often, but there’s someone managing it, so he probably went there.”
“Well, that’s a relief.”
Another silence descended. I looked at Estelline, who had a worried expression, and asked carefully.
“Duke Laurent also went to the imperial palace, right?”
“Yes. By the time we arrived, he had already left the mansion.”
“Any suspects for the assassin?”
“The servant who served the tea His Majesty drank has confessed, so… right now, that person seems to be the prime suspect.”
“…But since he confessed, it’s impossible to find out the type of poison now.”
Estelline nodded with a pale face.
“Yes. It seems to be no ordinary poison since even powerful healing abilities can’t cure it…”
Rosetyn let out a sigh from beside us.
“How is it that the moment we leave, something like this happens? I was hoping to finally relax.”
Though her voice was full of complaints, I could tell Rosetyn was trying to ease our tension.
Estelline suddenly raised her head in surprise.
“But what happened to Selenea? We were so shocked when we got the news that you were coming here. Is there something wrong with the mansion?”
“Oh, that…”
I blinked my eyes awkwardly and smiled uneasily.
“Everyone in the mansion hates the idea of me being left alone there.”
Rosetyn widened her eyes.
“Why?”
“Because something similar happened before, and that’s when the Duchess, my mother, passed away.”
Rosetyn fell silent. Estelline’s face went pale.
“…I see. That day… yes, that happened.”
I nodded, and Estelline looked at me with sad eyes.
“You must have been so scared, Selenea. Of course, Tigris mansion is safe, but there’s no need for you to stay alone. I’m glad you came.”
I smiled awkwardly. Rosetyn said,
“By the way, both Duke Tigris and Duke Laurent… I don’t think they’ll be back today.”
“…”
“Selenea, are you okay?”
I slowly lifted my gaze.
The reason Rosetyn was asking if I was okay was that I had been looking forward to my conversation with my father until just before I left.
While at the academy, I had been exchanging messages with my father regularly.
But I still couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling.
Talks about sacred relics, my powers.
The secrets hidden in the temple and by the ancient god Fluma.
I had only shared them with Estelline and Rosetyn. I hadn’t even hinted at these things to my father.
‘I was planning to tell him everything and apologize for hiding things.’
Suddenly, the Emperor had been poisoned.
‘What’s really going on?’
I furrowed my brows tightly.
