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Chapter 37
After the accident at the festival, Psyche searched everywhere to meet the head maid again.
But the head maid disappeared as if she had evaporated. As expected, the man in the black robe could not be found either.
However, Psyche was able to uncover the woman’s past actions. Everything the head maid had said about her mother was true.
She had pretended to be the Countess of Clement and sent letters to nobles of the Cigarr Empire. Using Psyche’s reputation—since Psyche never appeared in high society—she secretly took money and sold portraits.
Psyche swallowed all the questions she wanted to ask her mother. Only now did she finally open her mouth.
“Did you know everything… and still choose to ignore it?”
“Yes. I knew.”
Ah.
She had expected it, but hearing the truth directly still felt like betrayal.
“…Why… why did you ignore it?”
The fact that the head maid attempted murder surely included her mother’s negligence.
Clearly, her mother was not without fault.
But Psyche could not bring herself to speak of the terrible things the head maid had done to her.
Her mother’s face looked as if it might collapse at any moment, twisted with pain.
“I’m sorry, Psyche. I wanted you to live an ordinary life. I wanted you to stay by our side, living in the Cigarr Empire. I don’t know all the details myself, but I always wished you would go against your fate.”
“……”
“I thought everything she did was for your sake. When she came crying, saying you had driven her out, that was when I realized how foolish I had been.”
The Countess did not seem to know all of the head maid’s crimes.
Yet she spoke as if she had known all along that Psyche would one day come to the Grand Duchy.
“Psyche, take this. One day, it will surely help you greatly.”
“What is this?”
Their eyes gathered on the oval-shaped locket resting in the Countess’s palm.
Psyche took the locket without thinking.
“It belonged to your maternal grandmother. In truth, your grandmother was from the Grand Duchy.”
Psyche did not know much about her mother’s family.
She only knew that her mother was the second daughter of a prestigious marquis family, and that she had married Psyche’s father despite strong opposition.
There was even talk that her mother had been cast out of the family because of it.
“But Mother, you used the name Hisent, didn’t you?”
Before becoming part of the Clement family, her mother had belonged to the Marquis of Hisent’s house.
“Yes. Your grandfather was a marquis. When he was young, he traveled to the Grand Duchy, met your grandmother, and promised to marry her. I heard he planned to pass his title to a collateral relative and live in the Grand Duchy with her.”
It was the first time Psyche had heard this story.
Her mother had never spoken of the past—not even once.
After learning that her mother had been expelled from her family, Psyche had never asked about the Hisent marquis family again.
She quietly watched her mother’s face, which seemed trapped in the past.
‘Mother’s blue eyes.’
The eyes she had always thought were beautiful might have been remnants of the past.
“But things did not go well.”
Without a word, Psyche held her mother’s hand.
She was still angry—but she wanted to hear the reason. Everyone deserved a chance to explain.
As Psyche slowly patted the back of her hand, her mother spoke again.
“I only remember your grandmother at the very end. Long after I married your father, she came to see me and placed this locket in my hand. And she spoke about you.”
“……”
“She told me that if I ever had a daughter, I must name her ‘Psyche.’ She said it was a name loved by the gods. It was no different from a prophecy of the fate the gods had given you.”
And at that time, you were already growing inside me.
The Countess added quietly.
Stories of the Grand Duchy tied to the god of love—
The old Psyche would have dismissed them as nonsense.
But after witnessing so many strange and unbelievable things in the Grand Duchy, she could not.
“Later, when I learned that something complicated had happened among the adults—centered around your grandmother—I could no longer remain in the Hisent family, so I left. Still, I had you and your father. That was enough for me.”
Psyche looked at her mother closely.
She did not seem to need comfort.
She was no longer weak or dependent like before. Instead, she looked firm and resolute.
“Psyche, inside the locket is a small lock of hair. It is your grandmother’s hair.”
Holding the locket, Psyche traced the engraved surface with her fingers. Her mother’s faint warmth still lingered on it.
“There is something important inside. Those who do not love cannot see it.”
“Can you see something, Mother? I can’t see anything.”
Psyche stared at the locket with a calmer expression. To her, it was nothing more than an ordinary piece of gold.
“Of course I can. After giving birth to you, I began to see it too.”
The Countess’s eyes trembled gently as she looked at Psyche. Her gaze was filled with deep love.
Psyche could not fully understand or accept everything her mother said. It felt like a riddle that circled around the surface, never reaching the core.
But—
“You don’t have to force yourself to understand and solve everything. As you live, there are things you will come to know naturally.”
She could clearly feel her mother’s affection.
“…Yes, Mother.”
When Psyche stepped back in acceptance, the Countess widened her eyes, as if surprised by her reaction.
“You’ve changed a little… since coming here.”
Smiling, the Countess gently brushed aside Psyche’s stray hair.
“By the way, dear… your cheek looks a little swollen. Are you hurt? There’s a scratch too…”
The wound had almost healed, leaving only a faint line. It was barely visible when covered, yet Psyche was startled by her mother’s sharp eye.
‘They say you can’t fool a mother’s eyes.’
“I think I was cut by grass while walking in the forest near the Grand Duke’s castle. Don’t worry, Mother.”
“…I see. Make sure it doesn’t leave a scar.”
“Of course, Mother.”
“I’m truly sorry, Psyche. It feels like I keep hurting your heart.”
Facing that smile, Psyche felt a strange warmth spread across her healing cheek.
At the same time, the Cigarr Empire was in chaos.
Due to a mistake by Marquis Erisicton, who guarded the Rusland region in the north of the empire, a large number of life-sentence prisoners escaped from Rictus—the so-called Island of Criminals.
“I–I sincerely apologize. While unloading supplies, we were attacked…”
“Tsk, tsk. To be this useless.”
A woman with silver hair shining like a blessing, flowing down to her waist, clicked her tongue sharply with her hands behind her back.
Rictus was an island where the most vicious criminals, sentenced as first-class offenders, were imprisoned. It bordered Rusland, which was under Marquis Erisicton’s control.
The Emperor had granted him the territory on the condition that he personally manage and oversee Rictus.
“Marquis Erisicton, what do you intend to do? Because of your mistake, the nobles are furious, and the financial losses are enormous. His Majesty the Emperor is extremely angry. If things go wrong, your property may even be confiscated.”
After escaping the island, the criminals scattered throughout the Cigarr Empire.
Some were captured after pursuit, but many were still missing.
That fact alone plunged the empire into fear. Shops closed one after another, and people hesitated to step outside their doors.
“Please kill me. This is entirely my fault for failing to protect it. Let me atone with my death!”
“Even so, it would only be a disgraceful death. In the end, it would be nothing more than a dog’s death.”
“Your Majesty the Empress…!”
The silver-haired woman, who had been staring out the window, slowly turned around.
Her presence was overwhelming. With a single movement, the air around her froze sharply.
When her icy, blade-like gaze pierced him, Marquis Erisicton slammed his head to the floor.
