CHAPTER 12……………………………..
I held back the sigh of relief rising up my throat and kept my composure.
“Go to Riena and report exactly what I tell you.”
After hearing my next instruction, Tara frowned.
“Is that really all?”
“Yes. It won’t harm Riena in any way, so it’s not an unreasonable demand, is it?”
She nodded reluctantly.
“I’ll know whether you followed my instructions by watching your master’s next move, so it’d be better not to try to deceive me.”
“…I’ll keep that in mind. Then when will you give me the information?”
“In two months. Exactly two months from now, you’ll be able to see Shileang again.”
For Tara, who had been waiting indefinitely for Riena to keep her promise, two months was an overwhelmingly sweet condition.
She looked dissatisfied, but in the end she accepted it and disappeared into the Wanderer’s Forest.
“Phew.”
Only then did I finally let out a breath.
Why is she so scary? She looks like she could kill someone with just her eyes.
And honestly, driving a wedge between Riena and Tara makes my conscience sting a bit.
The truth is, Riena didn’t intentionally withhold information about Shileang from Tara. It’s simply impossible at this point.
Why?
Because the newspapers I read before regressing didn’t include that level of detail.
Shileang regularly changed his name and residence to evade loan sharks and the authorities.
Would the papers really cover every single fake identity when it wasn’t even that important?
The only information Riena had about Shileang was his last alias—basically, the name and address he was using when Tara killed him.
I know which alias Shileang is using at this time.
There’s quite a complicated backstory behind it. In Riena’s second life, Tara happens to run into her sworn enemy.
A butterfly effect that occurred in a chain reaction after Riena changed fate.
Something that never happened before the regression.
Having lost her reason, Tara follows Shileang and tries to kill him, but fails—and what follows becomes a rather moving episode.
In this respect, possession really is better than regression.
Riena, as a regressor, only knows her first life. But I diligently read all the way through the second one.
Now then, that episode came right after the Emperor’s birthday banquet…
So from now, there are about three and a half months left.
To be safe, I’ll tell her about a month earlier.
By then, Terence will already have entered the imperial palace, so there’ll be no need to silence Tara anymore.
“I’m sorry, but until I get divorced, please doubt your master as much as you like, Tara.”
If their relationship is as tight as it is in the novel, my divorce will be that much harder.
For the sake of the mine, Riena won’t let me get divorced.
“Did you finish your conversation?”
A voice suddenly dropped down from above my head.
“Yikes!”
Terence was wearing a playful smile.
“I thought you’d forgotten about me. I got bored, so I was picking up acorns.”
He placed two acorns in my hand.
Why acorns? I slipped them into my pocket and chuckled back at him.
“Did you hear everything we talked about?”
“Even if I look like this, I respect my employer’s privacy. I deliberately tuned it out, so don’t worry.”
Liar. I clearly saw you raise your sword when Tara threatened me loudly.
Even if he didn’t hear the exact words, it meant he’d been watching our mood the entire time.
I grabbed the sleeve of my unexpectedly diligent bodyguard and tugged him along.
“Let’s hurry back and have a late lunch together.”
After that, I planned to let him taste a special medicinal tea I’d brewed.
Cassius’s townhouse.
“Miss, I’m back.”
As Tara entered the lavish chamber, Riena—who had been in the middle of changing—greeted her brightly.
“Welcome back, Tara! Did the errand go well?”
“Yes.”
“All right, you can all leave now.”
A note of regret spread among the maids who had been helping her dress.
“Miss—could you change just one more time?”
“Yes! That pale green cape dress suits you better than what you’re wearing now.”
“Hey, what are you talking about? Pink looks best on our miss.”
“No way. Blue is the best!”
“Girls? I’ll wear them all later.”
Riena looked troubled at the bickering maids, then as if making up her mind, clasped her hands under her chin.
“Please. There’s something I want to talk about alone with Tara.”
And she closed one eye.
“So go.”
Her voice was sweet and coaxing.
Gasp. Groans erupted everywhere.
“So—so cute!”
“I think my heart stopped!”
“You’re too cute, miss!”
“……”
Normally, Tara would’ve chimed in with a comment of her own, but today her head was too full, and she kept quiet.
Only after the commotion finally died down did the maids leave the room.
Riena slumped into a large armchair adorned with gold decorations. It was a gift from the duke, commemorating the seventh day Riena had massaged his shoulders.
“I appreciate that they like me, but sometimes it’s so over the top it’s a problem.”
“Yes.”
“Hm? You don’t look so good. Is something wrong?”
“No. Nothing at all.”
If it really bothers you that much, you could just tell them to stop with a straight face.
Tara swallowed the words she wanted to say.
In truth, the maids had noticed that Riena subtly enjoyed those reactions, and little by little they’d raised the intensity until it reached this point.
For some reason, her master had a tendency to cling to affection given by others.
As if she were a child who had never received even a grain of love.
Even though the entire ducal family loved her more than enough—why was that?
Her brief contemplation was cut short by Riena’s cutesy voice.
“More importantly, how did the task go? About my sister-in-law.”
Feeling guilty about hiding the truth from her master, Tara lightly bit her lip.
But… but…
There was something more important to her than Riena.
“There was nothing unusual. She went for walks, went shopping…”
It wasn’t exactly a lie.
“What about her expression?”
“She didn’t look bad. She smiled often.”
In front of that man.
“See! My sister-in-law really doesn’t intend to divorce after all!”
Riena clapped her hands.
“I was worried when I heard she knew about the mine, but she just needed some time alone. Don’t you think?”
“Well… maybe.”
“If she really wanted a divorce, she’d be running around looking for a lawyer by now. Or she’d have gone back to her family to ask for help. Though I doubt anyone would dare oppose our Cassius.”
She let out a sigh.
“My eldest brother, honestly. How could he blurt that out while drunk? Of course she’d be upset from her point of view.”
Tara recalled what Leandro had confessed last night, flustered and unsure.
When I heard about the Andala mine, I was shocked too, so I had Tara keep an eye on Idel’s movements. But I guess I was worried over nothing.
The “Idel Wallace” Riena knew was a very realistic person.
Someone who would choose separation rather than cling to a hopeless divorce?
If she truly wanted a divorce, it’d be strange for her to seem so upbeat in the face of reality.
And she seemed to like Leandro quite a bit.
“If my brother apologizes properly, my sister-in-law’s heart will soften too. I had no idea she’d been so hurt all this time.”
“Then for now, will the mine remain under the younger madam’s ownership?”
“Mm, yes. What else can we do? The value won’t skyrocket until much later anyway.”
Trying to reclaim ownership through a lawsuit would only breed resentment, and the marriage would be finished.
For Leandro’s sake, she wanted to prevent that at all costs. She hadn’t realized it before, but he seemed to care more for Idel than she’d thought.
“Oh, Tara. Could you hand me that catalog over there?”
“Here you are.”
Riena flipped through the pages lightly, focusing on the product descriptions.
“A gift is essential for an apology. What would my sister-in-law like?”
“…Should I continue keeping an eye on the younger madam?”
Without even looking at Tara, Riena waved her hand dismissively.
“No. Honestly, it’d be a waste to use you for something this trivial. Starting tomorrow, go back to watching Count Crade as usual.”
Count Crade was one of Cassius’s political enemies, busy picking fights at every opportunity as he tried to keep the recently rising ducal house in check.
Riena had ordered Tara to watch him closely for any weaknesses.
After greeting Riena, Tara left and stepped out into the street.
She didn’t head straight for Count Crade, though. First, she needed to tell Idel that she’d carried out the task she’d been given.
“How does it taste?”
At my question, the man sipping tea with elegant movements shrugged.
“Mm. It’s good.”
“…And?”
“The aroma is nice too. It does feel a bit like taking medicine, though.”
“That’s it?”
“Is there supposed to be something more?”
“It’s supposed to be medicinal tea. Like, you feel lighter after drinking it, or you sleep well at night, or your strength wells up—something like that. Nothing?”
Terence tilted his head.
“Well… now that you mention it, maybe a little?”
“…Haha. I guess it doesn’t have any outstanding effects.”
“It’s not actual medicine, after all. It’s hard for tea to have dramatic results.”
It’s not just ordinary tea!
I swallowed the shout rising up inside me and simply smiled.
We were at a teahouse near the hotel.
Cozy interior, a kind old owner who looked half-asleep most of the time, and fragrant tea.
Above all, I liked that there were few customers—for Terence’s sake—so I’d chosen this place.
It had already been three days since I borrowed the teahouse’s equipment to brew my medicinal tea for Terence.
Shouldn’t the effects be showing by now?
He drank my tea without complaint, but showed no notable reaction.
My mouth itched to bring up even the word “headache,” but I barely managed to hold it back.
How would I explain it?
How would I explain how I knew he suffered from headaches?
The cause of those headaches was his imperial bloodline.
Which meant it would inevitably lead to the revelation that Terence was the Marquis of Freihyden, the Emperor’s illegitimate son.
In other words, it would expose that I’d approached him knowing his true identity.
That can’t happen.
