CHAPTER 58……………
Everett gave a languid smile.
“Lord Kyle, you’re going to demand more money from them than they prepared to offer, aren’t you?”
Kyle was infamous in the North for squeezing lords out of their gold in return for monster hunting.
“Me?”
Kyle widened his eyes as if it were news to him.
“Oh my, did you forget who I am?”
Kyle nodded with a mischievous grin.
“But you know, Everett, rumors always get exaggerated beyond the truth.”
“Really?”
“I wasn’t the kind of duke who just went around extorting money…. The rumors are much too twisted.”
“Ah, I see. I’ll have to discreetly ask Lord Olbreno about it later.”
Kyle gazed at her with eyes full of adoration, as if he could die from how cute she was. Everett, refusing to meet his eyes, handed him a sheet of paper with rune letters written on it.
“Student Kyle, it’s time to study.”
A moment ago his eyes had been full of mischief, but now they gleamed with intelligence.
“I’ve removed all the meanings, so you just need to memorize the sounds and characters. I arranged them in order for you.”
Everett pointed at the chart and began explaining slowly. Kyle’s gaze, which had been fixed on the runes, gradually drifted toward Everett.
“Do you follow me so far?”
As she turned her head, Kyle’s eyes darted downward.
“Lord Kyle, if you’re not paying attention, then what are you looking at?”
“Well, my teacher is lecturing so passionately, she looks so dazzling… I can’t help but stare.”
That sly but irresistible smile of his. Everett could only give him a faint glare.
“You need to understand this perfectly if you’re going to teach others.”
“Teach? Me?”
“You said you’d use this as a cipher, didn’t you? Then you’ll have to teach it.”
“That’s true. But I won’t be the one teaching.”
“What? Then who…?”
Kyle extended a hand toward Everett.
“Why, we already have an excellent teacher right here.”
“What are you saying? I can’t. I mustn’t.”
“Mustn’t? And why not?”
Kyle asked softly, gazing at her intently. When his long eyes curved slightly, Everett quickly turned her head away.
“Everett, did I ever tell you about the incident that made me decide to create a code?”
“No.”
“There was a covert investigation in the North. A letter with progress reports was nearly intercepted. By the Owls….”
Kyle suddenly wondered.
Would Everett know of the Owls?
How much information did she really possess?
He had already asked her to become his informant, but his curiosity got the better of him, so he deliberately mentioned the word Owl.
First used long ago on the battlefield, the word “Owl” referred to spies who observed the enemy camp. They would climb tall trees at night to watch movements, resembling owls.
Though the war ended and peace came, the Owls did not disappear. Their target simply shifted—from enemies to their own side.
As the years passed, fewer people remembered them, yet the Owls remained, hidden in the shadows.
They existed, yet did not exist.
Kyle’s eyes gleamed with anticipation.
“You said the letter was nearly stolen, so it wasn’t actually exposed?”
“Correct. But they’ll try such tricks again. I’m thinking of capturing them.”
“Is that really necessary? The Owls haven’t caused real problems… they’re just small fry who watch from the sidelines.”
At her answer, Kyle’s lips curved in satisfaction. Everett, catching a glimpse of his face, smirked inwardly.
You think I don’t know you were testing me with that Owl remark? You’re just curious about how much I know….
Though she hadn’t responded outright, Everett felt herself leaning toward accepting his offer.
To gain the upper hand in a bargain, it’s best to toss out the right piece of information.
She wondered, what information did Kyle most need right now?
“Lord Kyle, do you meet His Majesty often?”
“No. Even when I return to the capital, I see him once or twice at most. He doesn’t wish to meet me.”
Everett sipped her tea and nodded slightly.
“And why ask about His Majesty?”
“Have you noticed any change in him lately?”
At her question, Kyle’s gaze sharpened.
Through Alfred’s agents in the palace, he had hoped to learn of the Emperor’s state, but the plan had failed. The Emperor had grown suspicious, frequently replacing handmaids, making infiltration nearly impossible.
That was why he had sought out Naz. Someone who might know the palace’s internal affairs from outside.
“I can’t be certain yet, but he seemed different before I left for the North. Alfred once placed a maid in the Emperor’s court…”
“Recently His Majesty has been changing maids constantly.”
Kyle no longer bothered to hide his astonishment.
“How… do you know that?”
“They say His Majesty has become enamored with a new kind of tea.”
“Tea?”
It was well known across the empire that the Emperor loved tea. Shipments arrived from across the continent, and he purchased vast quantities himself.
“But for some time now, no tea at all has been allowed into the palace.”
“Perhaps because the gifts were too many already?”
Everett slowly shook her head.
“Even tea given as gifts has been discarded outside the palace gates.”
“Discarded? Are you saying the Emperor has stopped drinking tea?”
“I don’t think so. A merchant who once supplied the palace said someone else is gifting him tea, and he drinks only what that person offers.”
“Who… is sending this tea?”
“We don’t know yet.”
Kyle fell into deep thought, then asked again.
“But Everett, what does this new tea have to do with the Emperor changing?”
Everett set her teacup down.
“Those who work close to His Majesty say he smells faintly of burning.”
“Burning?”
Kyle recalled entering the Emperor’s study. Though there had been no fire, the air reeked of something scorched.
“You mean the tea itself gives off that smell?”
“I once read in a book—some teas are colorless and odorless, but when consumed, they make the drinker’s body exude a terrible burnt smell.”
“I’ve never heard of such a tea.”
“It isn’t truly tea.”
“Then what is it…?”
“Poison.”
Kyle’s eyes widened.
“P-poison…?”
“Yes. In very small amounts, it gives water a peculiar taste, like tea. But with continued drinking, one becomes addicted without realizing it.”
“So if he drinks it, his body begins to smell burnt… and the more he’s poisoned, the stronger the stench. Is that it?”
“Most likely.”
Kyle’s brow furrowed deeply.
Even if the Emperor hates him, he’s still his uncle. Of course Kyle would worry.
As Everett cautiously studied his face, Kyle suddenly grabbed her hands.
“Everett!”
His voice rang with fervor.
“I really like you.”
Startled by his sudden declaration, Everett let out a small hiccup. His smile shone brighter than ever.
“Everett, I need you. Be my informant.”
She knew it was merely his satisfaction with her information, yet her heart raced uncontrollably. Afraid he would notice the heat flooding her body, she gently pulled her hands free.
“Ah, sorry. I was so overjoyed I acted without thinking….”
Contrary to what she expected, news of the Emperor’s poisoning did not sadden Kyle. It was simply the precious information he had been desperate for.
To think I’d learn of the Emperor’s state so easily….
How many people could possibly know of his condition? Everett had pieced it together from scraps of gossip gathered from noblewomen and others who visited Naz.
What Kyle admired most was Everett’s brilliance—her ability to weave scattered fragments into a clear conclusion.
Everett thought it was time to give him her answer.
“I will sell you the information I have, and whatever I may learn in the future.”
“Everett….”
“But on one condition.”
Since Angelus’s arrival, Everett had constantly worried about her own situation. When she first opened the tarot shop, she had planned to quietly leave the capital once the Saintess appeared.
Yet unlike the original tale, she had not been thrown into the underground prison. She still intended to leave the capital, but now with bigger dreams. And to achieve them, she needed more money.
“Any condition.”
Kyle shrugged easily.
“Lord Kyle, my information is expensive.”
“I know. Whatever sum you want, I’ll pay more.”
“It’s not money I want. Putting a price on each bit of information would be troublesome anyway.”
“Then what?”
Everett lowered her gaze, then lifted it again to meet his eyes.
“Give me… a fief in the North.”
Kyle’s eyes bulged.
“What? A fief? In the North?”
Completely caught off guard, Kyle was at a loss for words.
“Yes, a fief. As you know, my family is nothing more than a nominal noble house with only a small estate. I want the Gronje family’s land.”
“I understand… but why the North, of all places? Everett, that land is the coldest, harshest region in the continent. Monsters cross the mountains there.”
“I know. But it has to be the North. There’s something I want to do there.”
