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Chapter : 144
“Who, who dares… to commit such monstrous acts in the Imperial Palace? Who would do such… this?”
Among those remembering Princess Lueira, only the Emperor was filled with rage.
He had pretended to be all harmonious, but when faced with Princess Lueira, the Emperor could barely catch his breath, let alone form a coherent sentence.
He couldn’t even greet his long-lost sister properly and acted so coldly.
The Emperor and Seiji were truly ill-mannered younger siblings.
Of course, there was a huge difference between Seiji Rowen and the Emperor.
“Capture them at once! Hurry!”
The Emperor, his face red with fury, roared as he rampaged.
The knights quickly began searching the area under the Emperor’s command.
But they could not find where Princess Lueira’s video had started from.
‘Of course, the video is currently playing in the Duke’s mansion’s lounge.’
This was the role Mari had been assigned to keep watch over the operation center.
The moment the second bell rang, she activated the magic tool to display Princess Lueira’s video.
The reason why the video started from the Duke’s mansion and appeared elsewhere was because of the reflective mirror magic tool.
The reflective mirror, inspired by the mirage phenomenon caused by the refraction of light in deserts, was a magical artifact.
It had briefly become popular among some nobles before fading away, which was why people couldn’t recall it immediately.
Moreover, this particular artifact had been crafted through countless trial-and-error in their side of the operation.
It would have been impossible to catch the culprit immediately without enough time.
“There’s nothing! We can’t find anything!”
“Find it! Find it now! I want that dreadful thing removed from my sight!”
The Emperor, losing his composure, urged even his guards to participate in the search.
The knights, who had been guarding the hall, hurriedly scattered in every direction.
“Lue, Lueira, Your Highness….”
At that moment, the Empress, who had been crying since the video of Princess Lueira began playing, collapsed from breathing difficulty.
“Empress! Your Majesty! Your Majesty!”
“The Empress has fainted! Call the Imperial doctor!”
The noise escalated.
Though the Empress fainting was unplanned, the greater the commotion, the better.
This way, during the disorder, Scylla could swap the Emperor’s Sword.
The Empress collapsed, the Emperor raged, and the majority of the knights guarding the hall had left their posts.
Now was the chance.
Moreover, there was an heir to the shadows, specialized in stealth and infiltration.
Moving through the shadows of people, Scylla quickly closed in on the Emperor.
“Your Majesty, there’s nothing here. Nothing at all!”
The knights, who had urgently searched the second floor, reported back.
“Impossible! There must be a video device! The device playing the video must be there!”
The scene of Princess Lueira smiling and looking back, still playing on the second-floor railing, was on a loop.
The Emperor, unaware that his sacred object had been swapped, was lost in the illusion of his deceased sister.
“It’s the reflective mirror! It must be using the reflective mirror!”
Hilda Maynard, the Imperial Vice Commander, finally realized the existence of the reflective mirror.
‘At least there’s one person who is thinking.’
Though Hilda guessed correctly, it didn’t matter much anymore.
Scylla had already swapped the Emperor’s Sword and escaped, and soon, a bigger commotion would cover everything.
“My word, what is this…?”
Just when they thought there couldn’t possibly be anything more shocking, the people gathered for the succession ceremony swayed, too weak to stand.
“Your Majesty, are you alright?”
A ringing voice filled the hall.
The strange thing was that the voice seemed to be coming from the ceiling of the hall.
Screeching, the banner of the Rowen family, decorated for the succession ceremony, tore and fluttered.
A woman, holding her family’s banner, descended from the ceiling of the hall.
Florence, upon seeing the woman’s identity, muttered in disbelief.
“Cris, Christie Rowen, how is she… here?”
Like a barbarian warrior, Christie Rowen descended on the crimson banner, landing squarely in the middle of the hall.
People were left speechless, staring at each other in shock.
“I’m a little late.”
Christie Rowen shrugged casually, as though nothing had happened, and began looking around as if searching for someone.
When she spotted the person she was looking for, she winked playfully at them.
That person, of course, was the First Princess, Florence.
Florence’s face turned a mix of red and blue with anger.
‘How do those who carry Rowen’s blood resemble each other so much!’
Rishtea, Keith, and Christie, all of them couldn’t help but provoke her.
Florence, silent in her fury, clenched her neck in frustration.
Unfazed by Florence’s reaction, Christie brushed past the crowd and walked directly toward the Emperor.
The Emperor, still in a state of confusion, stood frozen as he continued to rage.
“Your Majesty, I, Christie of Rowen, have come a long way to be your eternal loyal subject.”
The moment Christie kneeled before the Emperor and spoke her oath, a loud ringing echoed throughout the hall.
Deng, deng, deng.
The heavens acknowledged Christie as Rowen’s rightful heir, and their response filled the vast hall.
Christie, still with her head lowered, ran her hand over her chest.
‘It almost felt like my heart would burst. Our Duchess has truly raised someone strong.’
Christie reflected on the longest few hours of her life.
The events that had happened just hours ago already felt distant.
Afterward
“You can come out now.”
The carriage, which had transported Christie like cargo, arrived at the Duke’s mansion’s lounge, set up for the banquet.
“You must have been tired. There’s no one here, so feel free to rest.”
A young servant, seemingly from the Duke’s household, spoke kindly to Christie.
Christie, who had disguised herself with clothes and sat up from the bag, nodded as she looked around the lounge.
While stretching her limbs lightly, Rishtea approached and spoke in a dry tone.
“We’ll meet again shortly. I trust you won’t make any mistakes.”
“Yes, don’t worry.”
Christie’s cousin always had a cold demeanor, which Christie didn’t think much of, but it seemed she was acting unusually cold toward the servant girl.
“Mari, don’t worry. Baron Wilhelm will be guarding the way.”
“Then no matter what happens, I’ll protect our Mari. Mari, do you trust me?”
“Yes, I trust only you, Sir.”
It seemed that even the youngest daughter of Duke Richter, Wilhelm, was very protective of this Mari girl.
‘She must be a maid from the Duchess’s family.’
Having quickly assessed Mari’s position, Christie put on her social mask.
“If you’re uncomfortable, feel free to tell me, Young Lady.”
“No, it’s fine.”
“I’m just a maid. Please, speak comfortably.”
“This is comfortable.”
Though the maid was friendly, Christie made sure to draw a line.
At her level of influence, whether the other person was a servant or not didn’t matter.
It was better to stay overly polite than to make a mistake due to letting her guard down.
“You’ll finally be able to return home after today. You must have missed your family very much.”
“Of course.”
“You must have missed your beautiful daughters. It must have been hard to be apart from them.”
“Do you know my daughters? How?”
“Oh, no, I was with Princess Lueira when you went to Duke Rowen’s mansion.”
Mari smiled brightly, telling Christie how beautiful and clever her daughters were and how much they missed her.
She spoke so happily about how they played with just a cane, Christie realized Mari had an extraordinary talent for caregiving.
“Mari, my children’s governess—.”
Just as Christie was about to suggest hiring Mari, there was a knock at the door, and Wilhelm, who had been guarding the door, poked her head in.
“Mari, someone sent by Princess Lueira is here.”
“Yes, that’s right. She said someone would come around the second bell.”
Mari stood up and looked back at Christie.
“Lady, did you say something just now?”
“No, nothing.”
Christie quickly shook her head.
She couldn’t let herself become distracted while trying to recruit someone close to Rishtea.
“Oh, it’s really soaked. That person must have done this on purpose.”
As the lounge door opened, a woman entered, her clothes soaked in wine.
“You can change into the clothes here. Let me help you.”
Mari helped the woman change.
The woman, after removing her yellow dress, changed into a dark blue one and added a hat atop her bright pink hair.
Christie, watching the scene quietly, spoke cautiously.
“Lady Rose?”
“Yes, that’s right. Lilian Rose.”
Her answer was rather curt.
Christie, unsure if she had heard correctly, tapped her ear a couple of times.
By age and rank, it didn’t make sense for Lilian Rose to speak to her like that.
Seeming to understand Christie’s disbelief, Lilian Rose responded in a tired tone.
“If you’re going to complain about my tone, ask Rishtea later. She’s the one who taught me to speak like this.”
Were all the young people like this?
Christie, lost in the question of how Lilian Rose, who was actually Scylla in disguise, came across as an old-fashioned person, was interrupted when Lilian Rose spoke.
“Did you install the reflective mirror in the location we discussed?”
“Yes, Lord Lyon said he’d handle both the installation and retrieval. It doesn’t matter if others know about the reflective mirror, as long as it’s discarded in a proper place.”
The reflective mirror was meant to disturb the original location of the video.
Unlike the reflective mirror, the magic tool that contained Princess Lueira’s video had to be retrieved.
“We agreed that you would play the video?”
“Yes… I was wondering if it’s okay for me to handle something this important.”
Mari scratched her head awkwardly, but Lilian Rose glanced at her and said in a strange tone.
“I thought it might be better to have someone else do it, but Rishtea said she trusts you.”
Mari’s eyes grew wide and her cheeks turned red.
“No, you really…”
Mari blushed and lowered her head, covering her face with both hands.
“Enduring Rishtea’s temper is quite an achievement.”
“What’s wrong with our lady?”
Just moments ago, Mari had been embarrassed, but now she was glaring back at Christie.
Though Christie agreed with the notion that Rishtea’s temper was something, she didn’t add anything further.
There was nothing to gain by participating in this argument.
“Well, let’s just decide for ourselves how to judge it.”
Lilian Rose approached the window, pinched her thumb and index finger, and let out a shrill whistle.
As if waiting, a bird with jade-colored feathers flew into the Duke’s mansion’s lounge.
Lilian Rose, petting the bird’s feather on her finger, said.
“Parang, if you do well today, the Duke will give you a special meal. Yes, the special one you’ve been eyeing.”
The bird, called Parang, seemed to understand as its eyes sparkled.
It pounded its chest with its wings as though signaling to trust it.
Lilian Rose tied a small pouch around the bird’s neck and handed it to Mari.
The bird hopped onto Mari’s palm, sniffing around and making a face as if it had eaten something inedible.
It was truly a magical bird.
Though, it wasn’t just a magical bird—it was a magical beast.
“When the second bell rings, just play the video from the assigned spot. Until the third bell.”
“Yes, I know.”
“Afterwards, put the used video device in the bird’s pouch and let it fly away. It’s not hard.”
Lilian Rose lightly tapped the pouch around the bird’s neck.
Unlike the reflective mirror, which could be discarded anywhere, the magic tool containing Princess Lueira’s video had to be retrieved properly.
“Parang, do your best.”
Despite Mari’s pleading, the proud bird merely gave a side glance.
“It’ll do it itself. By the way, I need to leave now. Give me that thing.”
“Yes, here.”
Mari, as if expecting the request, retrieved a dagger wrapped in leather from a drawer.
Christie, noticing the dagger, was startled and shouted.
“Isn’t that the Emperor’s Sword?”
Lilian Rose smiled contentedly and replied.
“Does it look like it?”
“Of course…”
“This is a fake I made.”
