[CHAPTER 86]
The Princess’s lips curved slightly as she looked around at the people who were still tense.
“I do not know what kind of wicked person is targeting Lady Granger, but I will protect her in my name.”
“So rest assured.”
The Princess spoke while looking directly at me.
Then silence fell.
When someone among those watching cautiously began to clap, the sound quickly spread like wildfire.
It meant that everyone was accepting Esther Granger’s innocence in accordance with the Princess’s will.
At last, the false charge placed upon me was lifted.
I had kept one of my promises to Esther.
“Sister.”
At that moment, Ariana Granger pushed through the crowd and hugged me tightly, her voice trembling.
“Sister, are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m okay.”
“Thank you, Ariana.”
“That’s a relief.”
As I patted Ariana’s back, who seemed even happier than I was, I glanced sideways toward the place where I felt a sharp gaze.
The Crown Prince was glaring at me as if he wanted to kill me, his fist clenched tightly.
His lips moved as if muttering to himself.
Just you wait.
You’ll regret this.
Ah, I don’t know, I don’t care.
I turned my head away, pretending not to notice.
No matter what hardships might await me later, it was fine to enjoy this moment, wasn’t it.
* * *
Here’s a riddle.
It is two letters when you leave, but three letters when you return.
The answer is me, who went from Jena to Esther.
After returning proudly from the Imperial Palace to the Count’s residence, I immediately went to see the Count.
His eldest daughter had formally returned, so he deserved to hear the good news too.
“Congratulations, Count.”
“Thanks to Her Highness the Princess clearing my false charges, you no longer have to suffer from guilt over hiding a criminal.”
“W, what?”
When I briefly explained the situation, the Count stared with his mouth agape in shock.
He looked exactly like a Statue of Truth.
Should I try sticking my hand in.
“Hah, you really went and did it in the end.”
“No, I suppose this turned out well, in a way.”
Muttering to himself, the Count suddenly let greed shine in his eyes.
“We were just at the right timing to need new medicine development.”
“You have been given another chance to devote yourself to our family.”
More like a chance to fund your extravagance.
He was the same man who had worked sloppily and dragged young Esther back in the first place, so I could roughly guess how badly he had run the business while I was gone.
I smiled sweetly at him as he slowly started revving up to exploit me again.
“I will help you with your work, Count.”
“But I plan to start engaging in outside activities as well.”
“Just make sure they do not overlap.”
“…What nonsense is this.”
“Do you not know that if your existence becomes too public, it will damage the Granger family’s prestige?”
The Count snapped back, true to form, desperate to hide the existence of his illegitimate daughter despite being a scoundrel himself.
“It’s already too late.”
“My existence is so public now that there is probably no one in noble society who doesn’t know me.”
“So what.”
“Do you think that just because you cleared a mere false charge, the stigma attached to your name will disappear so easily, Esther?”
The Count sneered at me as if it were ridiculous.
After thinking for a moment, I nodded in agreement.
“Oh, you’re right.”
“You’re absolutely right.”
“Then should I change my name?”
“……”
If a stigma clung to the name, then I could just abandon the name.
It was a very simple solution.
Besides, Esther herself did not want to live as Esther anymore, and my identity after transmigration was closer to Jena than to Esther.
Then what was there to do.
I should become Jena Granger.
“Actually, I like my original name, Jena, much better.”
“So from now on, I’ll live as Jena.”
“What, who do you think gave you permission—.”
“Actually, I already obtained the name change documents on the way here.”
“I’ll fill them out and submit them myself.”
I had planned to change my name regardless of the Count’s permission from the start.
As I laughed and pressed forward, the Count stammered in confusion.
“Then I’ll assume that’s settled.”
“I’ll be going now, Count.”
I called him Count to the very end and left leisurely.
I never wanted to call a man who wasn’t even like a father “Father.”
A belated roar calling for Esther echoed from the Count’s office, but I ignored it.
Because now, I was Jena Granger.
* * *
I could not meet the Princess or Aizen separately right after the Statue of Truth event ended.
Mindful of the Crown Prince and the surrounding eyes, we had to part without even exchanging proper farewells.
Several days later, a discreet invitation arrived.
When I went to the location written on it, an old general store hidden deep within a maze of alleys appeared.
I approached the owner, who asked what business I had, and spoke the password.
“The giraffe I drew is a well-drawn giraffe, and the giraffe you drew is….”
No, wait, again.
“The poorly drawn giraffe drawn….”
No, that’s not it either.
After stumbling over my words like a rapper at an audition and several attempts later, I barely passed.
When I entered the hidden space inside the shop, the Princess and Aizen welcomed me.
“Welcome.”
“I greet Her Highness the Princess.”
“Your voice sounds a bit strained.”
“Haha….”
Remembering the shop owner’s sympathetic look as he watched me struggle, I smiled awkwardly.
Aizen silently slid a teacup toward me.
When I took a sip of the warm tea, it felt as though my overworked vocal cords finally relaxed.
“So, should I now call you Lady Esther Granger?”
“Ah, it’s Jena Granger.”
“It was my real birth name, so I officially changed it.”
“I see.”
The Princess nodded and spoke.
“Lady Granger, since I publicly declared that I am protecting you, Lionel will not be able to attack you for the time being.”
“If anything were to happen to the lady, it would cause a major controversy.”
Aizen added in explanation.
The worry I had been carrying eased slightly.
The Crown Prince might target my life someday, but at least for now, I was safe.
“Still, be careful just in case.”
“Lionel firmly believes himself to be rational, but in truth, he is very emotional and capable of anything when angered.”
Wow, that is frighteningly accurate.
As I nodded in admiration at the Princess’s insight, she continued.
“And I discovered who Lady Hoffmann secretly met while she was in the capital.”
“Who was it?”
“Lady Naomi Owen, the Marquis’s daughter.”
“How ironic.”
“The one who contacted the Crown Prince of Bellium was Nicholas Owen.”
Aizen briefly explained the war between Bellium and the Kingdom of Nerderl, and how it was connected to the Black Breath disease.
“The Owen siblings are extremely close to Lionel.”
“There is a strong possibility that they acted on Lionel’s orders to help spread the plague in the Kingdom of Nerderl and the Kalad Territory.”
“But there is no direct evidence.”
“That is precisely the problem.”
“And that is why I summoned you, Lady Granger.”
Me?
I widened my eyes like a startled rabbit after being singled out while listening intently.
The Princess smiled gently at me.
“I want you to approach Lady Owen and draw her over to my side.”
“Ah….”
Before I could properly respond, Aizen cut in.
“Please wait.”
“Approaching someone close to the Crown Prince carries great risk.”
“I know.”
“But my own ladies are constantly at odds with Lady Owen.”
“Wouldn’t approaching her with a fresh face make it easier to break through her defenses?”
“Even so, if something goes wrong, Lady Granger alone would bear the consequences.”
“I know all of that, Duke.”
“I have no intention of forcing Lady Granger.”
“I only wished to ask whether you would grant me this favor.”
The Princess crossed her legs and narrowed her eyes.
Her voice was not openly displeased, but a faint irritation seeped through.
