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Chapter 78
I had expected this moment to come. I hadn’t imagined we’d meet like this, face to face.
So, I had thought about it countless times in private.
How should I act when we meet again? What kind of attitude should I maintain?
Do I still carry even a shred of fear toward Felix Charte? Does my heart still pound when I think of him?
“Why is a maid even here? Has she managed to snag the position of the Duke’s consort or something?”
But the moment I heard such words, I realized something. Fear wasn’t what ignited Betty’s emotions.
It was anger. Anger at someone who could so casually spout such nonsense with the kind of arrogance that made it seem they would never realize what they were doing wrong in their life.
“Ridiculous. Fear is far too generous an emotion for this guy.”
Rather, Betty began to feel a bit annoyed at having to deal with someone as pathetic as Felix Charte suddenly.
She didn’t have time for this worthless human. There were new leads regarding the Empress’s poisoning to discuss.
“All you have in that head are things like that, so it’s no wonder your words are equally ridiculous.”
“…What did you say?”
She could see his hand twitch. He hadn’t learned his lesson, and a violent action was about to flare up again.
But Betty now knew exactly how to deal with someone so tightly bound by pride in his status and petty vanity.
“Just raise that hand, and rumors will spread throughout the palace that you tried to harm the Empress’s maid.”
“You… you are the Empress’s maid? You? The hidden daughter of Marquis Prowell?”
He looked utterly incredulous. Understandable—she herself sometimes found it hard to believe.
But even if she were still a maid, she couldn’t let someone so utterly dismissive and belittling act so freely.
“If you don’t believe me, you can ask Her Majesty the Empress.”
Betty deliberately lifted her chin higher, using the few steps between them to look down at him.
Every time, she acted imagining Vivian’s demeanor—aloof and dignified, no matter the circumstances.
She was gradually becoming accustomed to it, as if it were a second skin, a shield layered over herself.
“You think someone like you can match me… This is absurd.”
She could see the tension in Felix’s hand gripping the railing—but he didn’t dare raise it.
“Then confess to His Majesty the Emperor. After all, he’s the one who first granted me the position of the Empress’s maid, so you can lodge your complaints with him.”
Honestly, Betty still felt a little awkward using this tone. But she had clear instruction from the matriarch, and when she learned something, she learned it thoroughly.
“…People like that love to suppress others with power. So you deal with them the same way.”
He flaunted being the son of the Charte family, wielding his father’s ducal authority with pride.
Why shouldn’t she be able to reference the Empress or Emperor? She wasn’t saying anything wrong.
“From the looks of it, the Charte family has really, really fallen out of favor with His Majesty.”
Betty spoke coldly, pretending to eavesdrop on passing nobles’ conversations.
It was something she already knew. But in this situation, it made no difference.
“You think you can survive saying things like that?”
“I will. I’m still doing fine, aren’t I?”
Ah, still, she had learned more from Vivian. Vivian was a master of irritating people and delivering sarcastic barbs.
With just a little imitation, Betty could make Felix Charte’s face flush crimson.
“You don’t even have the courage to tell His Majesty the Emperor about my position as his maid. So don’t think you can approach me and insult me carelessly like that.”
That was her final, chilling warning. He had the audacity to speak, yet could not oppose power, yet now, having been recognized as holding power, he should not dare treat her carelessly.
There was no longer any value or time in continuing the conversation.
Betty grabbed the edge of her skirt and turned back, ascending the stairs again.
A short while later, she met Kane’s gaze at the top, where he was holding a sword.
“I was standing by in case you needed assistance…”
He trailed off, seeing Felix Charte still huffing in place, and shrugged, lowering his hand.
“You handled it well on your own.”
“It would be troubling if I couldn’t deal with such a human now. I can’t trouble the Empress.”
Kane, seeing Betty back to her usual calm state, inwardly shook his head.
She was no ordinary person. She had been this way even as a maid.
The only difference now was that she had completely shaken off her fear.
“But what is it?”
Kane asked lightly, but Betty’s expression suddenly turned serious.
She glanced around and lowered her voice.
“Is the Duke present? I have an urgent matter and must see him directly.”
From experience, when Betty spoke like this, it was almost certainly important.
The last time, a matter involving Princess Vivian had caused quite a stir at the Duke’s house, and it began with exactly this expression.
“His meeting is over. He is currently in his study. Let’s go.”
“…Yes.”
Kane lightly knocked on the large door and opened it, seeming to announce her arrival with a slight nod.
“Enter.”
“My lord. A guest you will be pleased to see has arrived.”
“…Who?”
A low voice came from inside.
“There is only one person I could be referring to.”
As the door swung wide, the Duke came into view, leaning over a massive table with a map spread across it.
The building at one end looked like the palace, confirming it was a map of the capital’s inner city.
Ian had been retracing the recent actions of the deceased maid from the Lis baronial family before Betty arrived.
Dorea Lis appeared, from palace records, to be a dutiful daughter who frequently visited her parents’ house during outings.
But it was clear she hadn’t always done so.
Moreover, her family relations were far from ideal; the family had relied almost entirely on Dorea herself.
“They weren’t particularly close as a family.”
“It’s strange that she acted on her own. Usually, such things are commissioned by the family.”
“This means the mastermind is far from ordinary—perhaps not even in the Empire. First, we need to locate a contact point.”
From here, it was a continuous series of efforts by his subordinates—collecting eyewitness accounts, mapping possible destinations, and connecting the lines.
Among them, there had to be a place where suspicious footsteps had landed.
Ian studied the analysis report on the poison, designed specifically for such secretive assassinations.
Even a minute amount could be lethal. If the Empress had taken even a single sip, there would have been almost no chance of survival.
“Poison… having such expertise in poisons…”
His mother’s extensive knowledge of herbs suddenly came to mind.
“That plant shouldn’t be touched. But if handled carefully, it can be medicine.”
“That one, Mother?”
“Absolutely do not touch it. It’s magical—it causes hallucinations.”
In Arken, doctors still stood between sorcerers and healers, sometimes serving as advisors to the king.
She had also been a disciple of a palace sorcerer before meeting her father.
In the past, sorcery had been practiced, but only her exceptional herb compounding skills remained.
He thought it improbable, but the Empress poisoning attempt wasn’t something any noble could easily pull off.
It was too bold and organized. Such a large-scale, trace-free operation could not have been carried out by a single family…
At that moment, a knock at the door interrupted his thoughts.
Standing beyond the wide-open door was none other than Betty.
“Ian, the palace gardener found this.”
Even a brief glance was enough.
Ian instinctively knew she had brought a crucial, previously missing clue.
