I looked at Noura's frightened expression and quietly pulled her towards me.
“No!”
And I ignored her words and opened the door.
A strong herbal scent that makes your nose tingle.
It was a very familiar scent to me.
Bang!
I nervously closed the door and pushed it away.
Noura looked as if her own hands had pushed her instead of her own, then sank into the sofa with an expression that suggested she had been feeling ten years old.
“Do you know something, Noura?”
“Please, please don’t ask me anything, Ma’am.”
Noura covered her face with both hands and muttered.
Her pale face seemed to have faded away, and her thin, veiny hands were also pale.
“If you don’t tell me, I will have no choice but to think that Her Highness the Crown Princess and Lady Noura conspired to kill me.”
Noura's eyes lit up with astonishment through the gap between her thin hands.
“Oh my God, oh my God! How did I get involved in this... !”
“This isn’t the first time Doris has asked you to do something like this, Noura? Aside from delivering gifts like this. Haven’t you been doing a lot of strange things lately?”
A vivid fear appeared in Noura's eyes.
She shook her head as if she couldn't believe my lips as I spoke Doris' name so freely.
Eventually, she couldn't bear it any longer and jumped up from her seat.
“I, I’ve done everything I was told to do, so I’ll go. I appreciate the kindness of taking a hot spring bath, but I’m busy. Please understand that I can’t stay like this forever. And don’t ask me any more questions. Just do as I say. This is advice for Madam!”
I opened my eyes half-heartedly and watched her take off the shawl and walk away.
When I didn't say anything, Noura, who had been glancing around anxiously, finally bit her lips and headed toward the front door.
The mansion was so narrow that she hadn't even walked twenty steps when she suddenly stopped in her tracks.
“Oh, it looks like there was a prior engagement.”
At that moment, a black shadow appeared at the entrance.
I slowly got up and walked behind Noura.
“It’s been a while, Countess Giuseppe. How’s your jewelry business going?”
A tall, old woman with elegantly tied white hair strode forward.
The noblewoman, who seemed to have a holy air about her as if she had been staying in a temple for a long time, looked down at Noura before her with eyes that must have been incredibly beautiful when she was young.
The same azure eyes as Vincenzo's moved past Noura and towards me, who was standing behind her.
I checked out Vincenzo, who was hurriedly following me and immediately recognized the charismatic old lady in front of me.
She was the maternal grandmother of Lord Rhodnes, and the Marchioness of Canula Winston, who inherited her husband's title through the law of wives' succession.
It was only then that I noticed the brooch with the Marquis Winston emblem on her livery jacket.
Noura also seemed to have noticed this, as she bowed at a similar speed as me and showed respect.
As she lowered her gaze, she saw the long cane the Marchioness was holding.
The cane, studded with sparkling jewels, seemed to aid her somewhat slow pace, despite her dignified posture.
“You must be Countess Acacia, the owner of this mansion. Contrary to the rumors of you being a seductress, you’re cuter than I thought.”
“Grandma, there’s no need for you to say something like that when you came as an uninvited guest without even contacting me in advance, right?”
“Vincenzo, I told you not to call me Grandma outside. Because of you, I hear voices damaging my honor as a Marchioness.”
Vincenzo escorted Canula silently.
Canula walked past Noura and Adrienne and sat down on the sofa as if it were her own home.
“Are you going to just stand there, ladies?”
A cold silence enveloped the lobby.
Vincenzo seemed uneasy about welcoming the Marchioness alone without Rhodnes, and Noura, unable to turn her back to the Marchioness, ended up sitting back down.
“You must be very busy in the capital, so why do you have to come all the way to such a dangerous place?”
Noura, sitting next to me, fidgeted with her hands anxiously.
“Her Highness the Crown Princess has brought me a gift, Marchioness.”
I calmly pushed the ship towards the Marchioness.
“She told me to light the precious incense only for me when no one else was around, right? Since Your Grace is an honored guest, would you please take a look? I don’t know much about incense.”
“If you want.”
As Canula nodded, Vincenzo opened the door. Canula's face hardened noticeably.
“Countess Giuseppe.”
“Yes, yes?”
Noura quickly answered Canula's stern voice.
“What is your intention in bringing this dangerous thing here?”
Noura, with an expression on her face, as if she had lost everything in the world, looked at me with her eyes shaking wildly.
It was an eye asking for help.
“Do you even know what this is?”
“I, I... I don’t know exactly what it is! But...”
Noura, who was completely overwhelmed by Canula's fierce momentum, barely managed to answer, tucking her neck in like a frightened cat.
“His Excellency the Duke of Castagna, who received that incense, collapsed the next day. I, I may be guessing, but this incense...”
“Your guess is correct.”
Canula sighed deeply.
“This is the herb I told Bardenaldo about when he came to visit Winster Mansion when he was young. It is an herb that grows on Winster’s lands. It has a nice scent, but it is a poisonous plant that slowly dries people to death.”
Canula, who had been somewhat in a haughty mood, fell into deep thought.
After hearing the whole story from Vincenzo, she came running here in her old age, so she must have heard some of Bardenaldo's atrocities.
If it were Canula, it would not have been difficult to guess that Bardenaldo had secretly told Doris about this herb.
“Your Grace, please, just pretend not to know. If you are a noble who serves the royal family, you must have a dark side, right? I have served Her Highness the Crown Princess for a long time, and in any case, she is my benefactor who helped me when my husband was injured and I had no means of making a living.”
Noura trembled at the word poisonous plant, but then suddenly gained momentum and began to pour out her words.
“When she orders me to, I do it. Even now, it’s just part of that work. I didn’t bring this incense because I had personal feelings for Countess Acacia. Madam, just pretend to burn the incense like I said and throw it away. Do you understand? I carried out the order of the Crown Princess to deliver this incense, and I didn’t contribute to someone's death. Then everyone is happy, right?”
Canula's sunken gaze turned to Noura. Noura seemed to think that now was her chance, so she readjusted her shawl and jumped up.
“Forgive my rudeness, Marchioness. Madam, I must be going now.”
Noura took another step forward with the aforementioned face.
At that time.
“Countess Giuseppe.”
Canula grabbed Noura with a locked voice.
“Do you really think that Doris Castagna is your benefactor?”
I could see the back of Noura's neck becoming stiff.
She stood there as if she had decided never to look back.
“It’s been several years since Count Giuseppe lost one of her legs and became a hermit.”
“Your Grace.”
Noura called out to Canula in a low voice as if warning her.
The Count, who lost one leg while suppressing the rebels, was a sore spot and a pain to Noura.
“I kept my mouth shut all this time even though Doris Castagna was acting suspiciously because she was my granddaughter-in-law. It’s no coincidence that the Count ended up like that.”
Finally, Noura slowly turned around.
The expression on Noura's face, as she looked at Canula with a face as pale as snow, was a raw shock that she had never seen before.
“What does that... mean?”
“There were no rebels, to begin with, Madam. Count Giuseppe was merely a scapegoat who was sacrificed by Doris, who was jealous of you, a socialite and jeweler. In fact, when he was injured and unable to run his business normally, you took over and Doris actively helped you?”
Canula answered with a gloomy face.
Noura came back with a scary look and sat down on the sofa.
It was a terrifying face of a different level than before.
“There are no rebels?”
“It is said that Grand Duke Noevian used some tricks to prevent Rhodnes from gaining a foothold in the capital. The Crown Prince pretended not to know even though he knew, and the Duke of Castagna provided the location. Doris may not have known that the rebels were fake, but she confirmed that they had your husband, who was not even an officer, drafted to suppress the rebels. At that time, a monster that was setting up camp in front of the rebels tore off his leg.”
This time, I opened my eyes wide. The disgusting face of the Crown Prince, who pretended not to know that there were no rebels, suddenly came to mind and I felt sick.
“Isn’t the Duke of Castagna a victim?”
“The damage. They cleverly and actively cooperated to trample on the territories of the vassals who were starting to gain power. With such a secret, wouldn’t they have been able to unite under the Crown Prince while constantly snarling at each other?”
“Your Grace!!”
Noura's screams echoed through the lobby.
Her face was bright red from neck to head, and she was shedding tears.
The shawl she had been holding was spread out on the floor, and her long, well-manicured fingernails were clenched into fists that were digging into her palms.
“Just, just to have a lady like me as her person... my, my husband..."
“Yes, I suppose you could think that way. But Doris would gladly do that to make just one lady her own.”
"What the heck-!!"
Noura slapped her cheeks without mercy and cried.
“Did the Marquis know about it and condone it? Why!!”
“If you treat the royal family with contempt, everyone has a dark side. I recently started investigating and found out the details. The rebels were honestly a bit shocking.”
“Ahhhh-!!”
Unresolved anger burst out of Noura's mouth. I could understand Noura's feelings better than anyone else.
“Madam, it’s not too late.”
I held her hand tightly as she cried and slapped her cheek.
“Do you want revenge on Doris Castagna?”
I asked her in a gloomy voice, trying to comfort her. Noura, who had been in despair, looked up at me earnestly.
"I am..."
It was several minutes later that Noura's lips opened, hesitating and despairing.
“How can I help?”
The eyes were red with all the blood vessels bursting.
“How can I get revenge on Doris Castagna?”
Noura spat it out with great earnestness, trembling.
“No!”
And I ignored her words and opened the door.
A strong herbal scent that makes your nose tingle.
It was a very familiar scent to me.
Bang!
I nervously closed the door and pushed it away.
Noura looked as if her own hands had pushed her instead of her own, then sank into the sofa with an expression that suggested she had been feeling ten years old.
“Do you know something, Noura?”
“Please, please don’t ask me anything, Ma’am.”
Noura covered her face with both hands and muttered.
Her pale face seemed to have faded away, and her thin, veiny hands were also pale.
“If you don’t tell me, I will have no choice but to think that Her Highness the Crown Princess and Lady Noura conspired to kill me.”
Noura's eyes lit up with astonishment through the gap between her thin hands.
“Oh my God, oh my God! How did I get involved in this... !”
“This isn’t the first time Doris has asked you to do something like this, Noura? Aside from delivering gifts like this. Haven’t you been doing a lot of strange things lately?”
A vivid fear appeared in Noura's eyes.
She shook her head as if she couldn't believe my lips as I spoke Doris' name so freely.
Eventually, she couldn't bear it any longer and jumped up from her seat.
“I, I’ve done everything I was told to do, so I’ll go. I appreciate the kindness of taking a hot spring bath, but I’m busy. Please understand that I can’t stay like this forever. And don’t ask me any more questions. Just do as I say. This is advice for Madam!”
I opened my eyes half-heartedly and watched her take off the shawl and walk away.
When I didn't say anything, Noura, who had been glancing around anxiously, finally bit her lips and headed toward the front door.
The mansion was so narrow that she hadn't even walked twenty steps when she suddenly stopped in her tracks.
“Oh, it looks like there was a prior engagement.”
At that moment, a black shadow appeared at the entrance.
I slowly got up and walked behind Noura.
“It’s been a while, Countess Giuseppe. How’s your jewelry business going?”
A tall, old woman with elegantly tied white hair strode forward.
The noblewoman, who seemed to have a holy air about her as if she had been staying in a temple for a long time, looked down at Noura before her with eyes that must have been incredibly beautiful when she was young.
The same azure eyes as Vincenzo's moved past Noura and towards me, who was standing behind her.
I checked out Vincenzo, who was hurriedly following me and immediately recognized the charismatic old lady in front of me.
She was the maternal grandmother of Lord Rhodnes, and the Marchioness of Canula Winston, who inherited her husband's title through the law of wives' succession.
It was only then that I noticed the brooch with the Marquis Winston emblem on her livery jacket.
Noura also seemed to have noticed this, as she bowed at a similar speed as me and showed respect.
As she lowered her gaze, she saw the long cane the Marchioness was holding.
The cane, studded with sparkling jewels, seemed to aid her somewhat slow pace, despite her dignified posture.
“You must be Countess Acacia, the owner of this mansion. Contrary to the rumors of you being a seductress, you’re cuter than I thought.”
“Grandma, there’s no need for you to say something like that when you came as an uninvited guest without even contacting me in advance, right?”
“Vincenzo, I told you not to call me Grandma outside. Because of you, I hear voices damaging my honor as a Marchioness.”
Vincenzo escorted Canula silently.
Canula walked past Noura and Adrienne and sat down on the sofa as if it were her own home.
“Are you going to just stand there, ladies?”
***
A cold silence enveloped the lobby.
Vincenzo seemed uneasy about welcoming the Marchioness alone without Rhodnes, and Noura, unable to turn her back to the Marchioness, ended up sitting back down.
“You must be very busy in the capital, so why do you have to come all the way to such a dangerous place?”
Noura, sitting next to me, fidgeted with her hands anxiously.
“Her Highness the Crown Princess has brought me a gift, Marchioness.”
I calmly pushed the ship towards the Marchioness.
“She told me to light the precious incense only for me when no one else was around, right? Since Your Grace is an honored guest, would you please take a look? I don’t know much about incense.”
“If you want.”
As Canula nodded, Vincenzo opened the door. Canula's face hardened noticeably.
“Countess Giuseppe.”
“Yes, yes?”
Noura quickly answered Canula's stern voice.
“What is your intention in bringing this dangerous thing here?”
Noura, with an expression on her face, as if she had lost everything in the world, looked at me with her eyes shaking wildly.
It was an eye asking for help.
“Do you even know what this is?”
“I, I... I don’t know exactly what it is! But...”
Noura, who was completely overwhelmed by Canula's fierce momentum, barely managed to answer, tucking her neck in like a frightened cat.
“His Excellency the Duke of Castagna, who received that incense, collapsed the next day. I, I may be guessing, but this incense...”
“Your guess is correct.”
Canula sighed deeply.
“This is the herb I told Bardenaldo about when he came to visit Winster Mansion when he was young. It is an herb that grows on Winster’s lands. It has a nice scent, but it is a poisonous plant that slowly dries people to death.”
Canula, who had been somewhat in a haughty mood, fell into deep thought.
After hearing the whole story from Vincenzo, she came running here in her old age, so she must have heard some of Bardenaldo's atrocities.
If it were Canula, it would not have been difficult to guess that Bardenaldo had secretly told Doris about this herb.
“Your Grace, please, just pretend not to know. If you are a noble who serves the royal family, you must have a dark side, right? I have served Her Highness the Crown Princess for a long time, and in any case, she is my benefactor who helped me when my husband was injured and I had no means of making a living.”
Noura trembled at the word poisonous plant, but then suddenly gained momentum and began to pour out her words.
“When she orders me to, I do it. Even now, it’s just part of that work. I didn’t bring this incense because I had personal feelings for Countess Acacia. Madam, just pretend to burn the incense like I said and throw it away. Do you understand? I carried out the order of the Crown Princess to deliver this incense, and I didn’t contribute to someone's death. Then everyone is happy, right?”
Canula's sunken gaze turned to Noura. Noura seemed to think that now was her chance, so she readjusted her shawl and jumped up.
“Forgive my rudeness, Marchioness. Madam, I must be going now.”
Noura took another step forward with the aforementioned face.
At that time.
“Countess Giuseppe.”
Canula grabbed Noura with a locked voice.
“Do you really think that Doris Castagna is your benefactor?”
I could see the back of Noura's neck becoming stiff.
She stood there as if she had decided never to look back.
“It’s been several years since Count Giuseppe lost one of her legs and became a hermit.”
“Your Grace.”
Noura called out to Canula in a low voice as if warning her.
The Count, who lost one leg while suppressing the rebels, was a sore spot and a pain to Noura.
“I kept my mouth shut all this time even though Doris Castagna was acting suspiciously because she was my granddaughter-in-law. It’s no coincidence that the Count ended up like that.”
Finally, Noura slowly turned around.
The expression on Noura's face, as she looked at Canula with a face as pale as snow, was a raw shock that she had never seen before.
“What does that... mean?”
“There were no rebels, to begin with, Madam. Count Giuseppe was merely a scapegoat who was sacrificed by Doris, who was jealous of you, a socialite and jeweler. In fact, when he was injured and unable to run his business normally, you took over and Doris actively helped you?”
Canula answered with a gloomy face.
Noura came back with a scary look and sat down on the sofa.
It was a terrifying face of a different level than before.
“There are no rebels?”
“It is said that Grand Duke Noevian used some tricks to prevent Rhodnes from gaining a foothold in the capital. The Crown Prince pretended not to know even though he knew, and the Duke of Castagna provided the location. Doris may not have known that the rebels were fake, but she confirmed that they had your husband, who was not even an officer, drafted to suppress the rebels. At that time, a monster that was setting up camp in front of the rebels tore off his leg.”
This time, I opened my eyes wide. The disgusting face of the Crown Prince, who pretended not to know that there were no rebels, suddenly came to mind and I felt sick.
“Isn’t the Duke of Castagna a victim?”
“The damage. They cleverly and actively cooperated to trample on the territories of the vassals who were starting to gain power. With such a secret, wouldn’t they have been able to unite under the Crown Prince while constantly snarling at each other?”
“Your Grace!!”
Noura's screams echoed through the lobby.
Her face was bright red from neck to head, and she was shedding tears.
The shawl she had been holding was spread out on the floor, and her long, well-manicured fingernails were clenched into fists that were digging into her palms.
“Just, just to have a lady like me as her person... my, my husband..."
“Yes, I suppose you could think that way. But Doris would gladly do that to make just one lady her own.”
"What the heck-!!"
Noura slapped her cheeks without mercy and cried.
“Did the Marquis know about it and condone it? Why!!”
“If you treat the royal family with contempt, everyone has a dark side. I recently started investigating and found out the details. The rebels were honestly a bit shocking.”
“Ahhhh-!!”
Unresolved anger burst out of Noura's mouth. I could understand Noura's feelings better than anyone else.
“Madam, it’s not too late.”
I held her hand tightly as she cried and slapped her cheek.
“Do you want revenge on Doris Castagna?”
I asked her in a gloomy voice, trying to comfort her. Noura, who had been in despair, looked up at me earnestly.
"I am..."
It was several minutes later that Noura's lips opened, hesitating and despairing.
“How can I help?”
The eyes were red with all the blood vessels bursting.
“How can I get revenge on Doris Castagna?”
Noura spat it out with great earnestness, trembling.
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