Chapter 31
The maid, who was looking around even though no one was nearby, whispered into Irene’s ear.
“How is it?”
“But then…”
“It wouldn’t work with just anyone, but the person in question is Princess Winter. It’ll definitely work.”
“That’s true. Considering Siena’s usual behavior, it’ll work just fine.”
It was nothing to ruin the reputation she had just started building.
A dark smile appeared on Irene’s face.
Whether the wind blew for her or against her, I shut my eyes tightly as I looked at the piled-up cheonnyuncho (thousand-year herb).
“What am I supposed to do with this…”
I had harvested the cheonnyuncho, but the person who could make the medicine—Mago—was still a mystery.
I took it for granted that it would be Mago.
That day, I had chased and caught the woman I believed to be Mago—but she wasn’t her.
She only resembled Mago enough to surprise Herace.
After that fruitless attempt, I trudged back to the mansion.
The only ones I could trust now were the Duke’s knights, but even they shook their heads, saying they hadn’t seen a single strand of hair from the woman who might be Mago.
It seemed she had either already left or never even come to the festival.
“Can’t I just eat it…? Eating the root directly should have the same effect, right?”
“You’d better not.”
Ignoring Herace’s warning, I bit into the root, only to be overwhelmed by its disgusting scent, gagging instantly.
“Ugh!”
Now I understood why Mago was necessary. There was no way a human could tolerate the taste.
“Ugh…”
Tears welling in my eyes, I struggled with the cheonnyuncho, and Ban tilted his head in confusion.
“Is it really that bad?”
“…I’ll show you. Try it.”
Hoping someone would understand my pain, I quickly cut the root into three pieces and handed them to Ban, Herace, and Lina.
“…It smells weird.”
Ban hesitated briefly, sensing the unpleasantness, but boldly bit into the whole root.
“Ughhhh—!”
He immediately vomited everything.
“Ugh!”
Lina wasn’t any better.
Only Herace, who didn’t touch the cheonnyuncho at all, survived to watch the disaster unfold.
“Ugh, ugh.”
“Ugh, ugh.”
“Disgusting…”
Even Herace, however, covered his mouth as the gagging echoed from all directions.
When the chain of gagging finally subsided, we collapsed like defeated soldiers.
Until Noah arrived looking for me.
“Ugh… What is that smell?”
“It’s the cheonnyuncho…”
“…Did you dig up a stinky plant instead of an herb?”
“Haha…”
A dry laugh escaped me. As Noah said, the room reeked.
It was the smell coming from the cheonnyuncho’s sap.
“Oppa, what about Mago…?”
“I observed for a few more days, but she didn’t show herself.”
“This is bad… Can we even find someone who managed to avoid the Duke family’s information network?”
“At this point, we’ll have to use Valhalla.”
“Valhalla?”
I, who was draped across the window like laundry, sprang up like a spring.
Where was Valhalla?
It was the empire’s top information guild, knowing everything from the number of spoons in the neighbor’s house to national secrets. Rumor even had it they knew the Emperor’s underwear color.
“…But we don’t know its location.”
Since the guild dealt with everything from trivial information to top secrets, it hid in the shadows and rarely appeared publicly.
“If I knew where Valhalla was, I would’ve gone for the request long ago.”
Noah might not have known, but I had been searching for Valhalla’s location even before regaining my memories.
It was my attempt to find Daphne’s weakness somehow.
I had poured in time and money but still failed to locate Valhalla.
I figured it would be faster to find Mago myself than to risk another failure.
Though I ultimately failed.
The bitterness lingered on my tongue.
“Then go request it now.”
“I told you, I don’t know where it is.”
“I found it.”
“Wait… how did you find it…? What? You found it?!”
No way. Was I being tricked? I opened my eyes wide as Noah handed me a piece of paper.
On the front of the paper was unmistakably Valhalla’s emblem.
This is…!
It was a pass that connected directly to the Master, bypassing the lower-ranking guild members.
If this were a theme park in my previous life, it was a free pass.
“Really? Is this real?”
“Yes.”
“Uh… how…?”
While my hands and voice trembled, Noah remained calm.
“I paid the person holding the credential to buy it.”
The very Winters-like answer made me laugh without realizing it.
“Wow, even my brother is a Winter. Who would’ve thought he’d waste money like this?”
“Siena, that’s a pretty thing to say.”
Regardless of Noah’s scolding tone, I bounced around holding the credential.
“I’ve prepared a carriage, so go.”
“Thanks, Oppa!”
Noah silently patted my head.
Once I got out of the carriage, I glanced repeatedly between the address on the note and the building.
“Why? Did you come to the wrong place? The address is correct.”
“Mm… It’s just… it looks more… proper than I expected.”
Shaking my head at Herace’s words, I let out a nervous laugh at the unexpectedly normal exterior.
It was my narrow-minded thinking that was the problem.
I had assumed the guild headquarters would be hidden in the shadows, so I had only scoured the back alleys.
Yet it turned out to be in a restaurant in the city center.
“Let’s go.”
When I opened the restaurant door, the noise inside hit me.
“Welcome!”
With the place packed, I pushed my hat down to avoid being recognized.
A waiter approached, bowing apologetically.
“Excuse me, ma’am. There’s no available seating right now, so you’ll need to wait a little. Is that okay?”
“Do I have to wait here too?”
I showed the waiter my credential. Immediately, his hesitant eyes lit up.
“It’s a special order. You won’t need to wait. We’ll take you right in.”
Following the waiter to a side entrance, an unexpectedly luxurious corridor appeared.
After walking for a while with the staff, we stopped at a door, and he knocked cautiously.
“Master, a guest has arrived.”
“Come in.”
“Enjoy your time.”
The staff silently closed the door as we entered the room.
And when the Master finally appeared, I gasped.
…You’re younger than I expected.
I had assumed he would be older, given the empire-shaking information he controlled.
With blue hair and deep amber eyes, he looked no older than his late twenties.
I, hiding my face under my hat and scrutinizing him, froze when I heard my name.
“Siena Winter, Princess.”
“…How did you know it was me?”
To hide my identity, I removed my hat.
Trying to deny it in front of Valhalla’s Master would only make me look foolish.
“Is there anyone in the empire who doesn’t know Princess Winter? Are they unaware of spies? And…”
The Master’s eyes shone sharply as he looked at me.
“Someone who has been trying to track me relentlessly until six months ago? I wouldn’t forget them.”
“Then why didn’t you catch me?”
“I couldn’t. If I got it wrong and the princess tore me apart, I’d be left penniless…”
The Master skillfully dodged my question, then glanced at Herace, trailing off mid-sentence.
His amber eyes trembled slightly.
“…Herace?”
