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chapter 19
“Yes, I have become the duchess’s aide. I look forward to working with you.”
Zeno once again offered a polite bow.
“I see.”
Although Yuriela was a little flustered by the unexpected situation, she didn’t dislike the idea of Zeno becoming her aide.
‘Zeno is someone I can trust. Working together with him will bring a lot of benefits.’
“Then, may I begin by explaining about the business right away?”
At his question, Yuriela gave a small nod.
“First of all, to run the business, we’ll need an office and a workshop for producing the gossip paper, don’t you think?”
Zeno handed her a map he had brought.
“This is…”
“You recognize it right away, as expected.”
The place marked on the map was none other than the marketplace building located right behind the mansion where Yuriela’s sisters lived.
“I deliberately chose that location. For the sake of strict confidentiality. Also, I’ve kept the staff to a minimum. Here are their résumés—please review them.”
Yuriela took the documents Zeno handed her.
“Five people?”
“Yes. If you think the scale is too small, I can hire more.”
“There’s no need. I already have people in mind.”
“I see. Understood.”
Yuriela intended to bring Soren in as one of her staff. He possessed information no one else could access, and no one could rival the abilities of a magician.
“So, when can I meet these people?”
“They’re currently in poor health and resting, so it’s hard to say for certain. I haven’t even brought it up to them yet. Once things settle, I’ll let you know.”
“Very well. Ah, and as for the duke, I plan to tell him that the Vitale family will sponsor the Longo household.”
“A sponsorship?”
“Yes.”
It was not common for one noble house to sponsor another.
Especially since the only underage member left in the Longo viscountcy was Daisy, rumors were bound to spread.
‘That way, I can avoid Rey’s suspicion, but it might cause trouble for my sisters and Daisy. That can’t happen.’
When Zeno saw Yuriela’s expression darken, he quickly reassured her.
“You don’t need to worry. We’ll say it’s an artistic sponsorship.”
“Artistic sponsorship? I’ve never heard of such a thing.”
“It’s not common, of course. The requirements for becoming such a patron are a bit strict. But for us, the Vitale family, it’s possible. The problem is, since we’re only a viscountcy, there aren’t many who want to openly receive sponsorship from us.”
Nobles were a class obsessed with rank and hierarchy.
So, no matter how influential the Vitale viscounty was, most nobles still regarded them as inferior.
“What’s the difference from ordinary sponsorship?”
“Simply put, it’s like sponsoring an artist. The difference is, when you sponsor an artist, everyone enjoys the results together, right?”
Yuriela nodded slightly.
“But sponsoring a noble young lady is a bit different. For nobles, art is treated merely as a sign of refinement, nothing more.”
Many nobles dabbled in the arts, but none of them earned money from it. They were too busy showing off their skills.
“In that case, I understand. I’ll tell Rey myself.”
“Yes, but since we’ll be working closely together from now on, please feel free to speak to me comfortably.”
“No, that wouldn’t be right. Using honorifics doesn’t lessen intimacy. And besides, you may well become my sister’s husband someday.”
At her words, Zeno’s face flushed bright red.
“D-do you mean you acknowledge me as Lady Reina’s partner?”
“My acknowledgement isn’t what matters, but you never know what may happen in life. Perhaps, someday, you’ll win my sister’s heart.”
“Can we really trust this man?”
“And what if we don’t? Do we have anywhere else to go? If we leave here, we’ll be caught immediately.”
At Soren’s reply, the man who had questioned him lowered his head.
“Once we step out, we’d be captured right away. What could we even do? And if his goal was to betray us, he wouldn’t be helping us like this. He could’ve taken us easily when we collapsed.”
“That’s true… but how long can we keep relying on this favor? We can’t just go on like this forever.”
“Right. But where else could we go? We’ve lost everything… I never imagined Sena would do that.”
To Soren, Sena had been like a younger sister.
But when she fell in love with a client, everything changed.
“Yeah… who would’ve thought she’d sell us out.”
Sena, blinded by love, had betrayed all her comrades.
The reason was simple: the man she loved wanted to hunt down mages, earn merit, and be awarded a noble title.
“If she’d been a little slower, we’d all be in prison now.”
“Then why is that woman helping us?”
“She’s not the one helping us. It’s the lady she serves. …Do you think she knew?”
Soren knew very well that Mardel was only helping them because the lady she served had ordered it.
“Knew what?”
“On the day we first met, she told me to be wary of those closest to me. Almost like she foresaw this exact situation.”
Soren recalled his first encounter with Yuriela.
“Beware of those closest to you. It’s always easiest to be betrayed by them. And if you ever need help, don’t hesitate to reach out.”
At the time, Soren had scoffed at her words.
The people with him had been comrades since childhood, enduring hardship together. He believed betrayal was impossible.
But perhaps it had just been arrogance. It hadn’t been long since her warning, and now this had come to pass.
“Didn’t Sena say she was going out with that man?”
“Yeah, she came back… said he’s been busy. Oh, and she gave me something to eat—said he bought it for her.”
The moment he accepted the food without suspicion, he collapsed.
“Then what does that lady want from us?”
“I don’t know. But one thing’s certain—she’s searching for a mage. And we’re the ones most suited to find him.”
At Soren’s words, the man nodded.
“Right. She saved all our lives. As long as she doesn’t demand anything unreasonable, we should comply. We owe her. Ah, but she hasn’t found him yet, has she?”
“No, not yet. He’s hiding well. And we still can’t move freely outside, so it’ll take more time.”
“Duke, a letter of invitation has arrived from the imperial palace.”
At Victor’s words, Duke Baraota frowned.
“An invitation? I’ve only just returned from the palace.”
“But this invitation is… unusual.”
“What’s unusual about it?”
“The sender is His Majesty the Emperor. And the recipient is the madam.”
Fearing the duke’s wrath, Victor quickly lowered his head.
“Say that again.”
The duke’s voice dropped, icy and low.
“His Majesty the Emperor has sent an invitation to the duchess. It says he wishes her to attend the palace alone.”
It was unprecedented for the reclusive emperor to directly invite a noblewoman.
“Not the empress? Not the crown prince? You’re certain it’s the emperor himself?”
“Yes, without doubt.”
Victor, too, had been unable to believe it at first, rereading the lines again and again.
“Ha… what on earth is he plotting.”
“What shall we do?”
“What else? We can’t refuse an emperor’s summons.”
If it had been the empress or the crown prince, they could’ve made excuses—claimed illness, or requested to attend together. But not with the emperor.
“So, when is it?”
“Tomorrow morning. He wishes her to join him for breakfast.”
It was the emperor’s way of avoiding unnecessary misunderstandings.
Inviting a woman alone for tea or dinner would easily be misinterpreted as declaring her his consort.
“…Tell Yuriela in advance. And warn her to speak as little as possible.”
“You needn’t worry too much, my lord. The madam is not very talkative by nature, and she’s the last person to say something strange in such a setting.”
Indeed, when with people she was uncomfortable around, Yuriela tended to remain silent. The duke knew this.
Even so, he couldn’t help worrying—because the other party was the emperor.
“The emperor has a knack for steering conversations to his advantage. Do you think a man with no allies could have survived this long otherwise?”
The duke rubbed his face with a weary expression.
“The problem isn’t Yuriela—it’s the emperor.”
He couldn’t even begin to guess why the emperor had invited her.
‘It can’t be because of the empress or the crown prince. He’s never shown the slightest interest in them.’
Everyone in the empire knew the emperor treated the empress as if she were invisible, and even his own son, the crown prince, as if he were someone else’s child.
At times, rumors even spread that the crown prince wasn’t his biological son.
But as the prince grew older, his resemblance to the emperor became undeniable, and the rumors died down.
All the same, the duke couldn’t believe the emperor would summon Yuriela because of the crown prince.
‘Then what is it? Why would an emperor who shows no interest in anything invite her—alone?’
No matter how hard he thought, the duke could find no answer.
