Secret (2)
"Why are you so surprised? I said I'd give it to you after the summit."
“Ah.”
I clench my fist. I feel a tiny pill the size of a fingernail.
At las.
Even if I regain my memories, there is no guarantee that I will find my benefactor.
But I was confident that I would find some clues. This drug would eventually lead me to the answer.
"Thank you."
"If you take that medicine, you'll wake up in a day or two. I'll be watching you during that time, so nothing bad will happen, but just know that."
"Yes, I remember you telling me last time."
"Taking the medicine won't bring back all your memories at once. They'll come back slowly, out of order, one after another. Don't be confused, because you might suddenly remember them while drinking tea."
"Yes, I will keep that in mind."
"Then do you want to eat it today?"
"No, I need to find the person who fed me the Sirok yesterday. I'll take the medicine after that."
A frown appeared between Rahon's eyebrows.
"Why don't you leave that to Kalit and just do your own thing?"
"That can't be. It's my job."
"You said you had to find your memories. Wasn't it urgent?"
Rahon was urging me to take the medicine strangely. I tilted my head at the urgent sound in his voice.
"Rahon, why are you like this? What's wrong?"
"Ha..."
Rahon raised his head and sighed into the air.
"Nadia, can you step aside for a moment?"
"Yes? Uh yes, then please call me when you two are finished speaking."
Nadia left the bedroom with a look of confusion on her face. I held my breath and waited for Rahon to speak.
"Millenia."
In the silence, Rahon grabbed my hand tightly. Soon a heavy voice came out of his lips.
"I have a house that I bought when I was twelve."
You bought a house so young?
I don't know why he suddenly said that, but it was so cute that I laughed.
"Is that so? You've been talented in that area since you were young."
"It's not as fancy as this mansion, but it's still usable. There's a small lake in front, and the walking path is also pretty."
"Well, it sounds like a nice house just from what I hear."
"There's no one around here except my house. I bought the whole area."
"Hmm, are you sending Nadia out just to brag about it?"
Even though I playfully responded, Rahon's expression was serious.
"Would you like to live there with me?"
"... Yes?"
"The Emperor abandoned his child because of you. Of course, he abandoned Oslo because he was a hindrance to the Empire, but if you hadn't been there, none of that would have happened."
"But?"
"The Emperor's personality makes it impossible for him to have good feelings toward you."
"That may be so. But what would His Majesty do to me? I am a Guardian."
"Yeah. I guess I can't do anything right now."
Rahon looked up and stared at me.
"But what if your power disappears? Will the Emperor just sit by and watch you then?"
"..."
"No, he will definitely retaliate. And he will do so very secretly and subtly."
"..."
"I can't leave you in a place like this."
When the Great Rift ends, I intend to declare that my powers are exhausted and step down from my position as Guardian.
That's all I saw of the future in my past life.
Will the Emperor take revenge on me then?
'I don't think so...'
To me, Rahon's words sounded a bit forced.
That would be the case. What excuse would the Emperor have for retaliating against me for stepping down from my position as Guardian?
And the daughter of a nobleman, not a commoner?
Not only would my father not stay still, but there was a greater chance that he would incur the resentment of the nobles if he tried to retaliate unnecessarily.
'If the Emperor finds out that I've been acting as a guardian all this time, then that might be possible.'
Because now he has a reason to take revenge.
Otherwise, the calculating Emperor would not have done anything that was not beneficial.
"There's no way Rahon wouldn't know this..."
"I understand what you're worried about, but what does that have to do with medicine?"
"That's a drug that restores memories."
"But?"
"Do you remember what happened yesterday?"
“Ah.”
I don't remember anything from the break room yesterday. What happened in the meantime?
'Nadia said nothing happened?'
"Yesterday... did I do something outrageous to His Majesty?"
"That's not it. Only Ian and Kalit know what happened yesterday."
"Then why are you doing this?"
"..."
“Rahon.”
At that moment, Nadia's voice came through the door along with a knock.
"Miss, the little Duke has arrived."
"Oh, just a moment."
Rahon muttered as expected.
"I guess they caught the servant."
"Already?"
"I heard that he was a servant working in the palace. Strangely, Ian and Kalit couldn't catch him even though they came forward."
While the banquet was in progress, Ian and Kalit appeared to have moved secretly and captured the attendant.
Rahon stood up with a soft sigh.
"I'll be back in two weeks."
The departure is later than expected. The other participants will already be rushing to prepare to return.
"Is that okay?"
"I originally planned to leave with the Cardinal, but I was a little late."
"Because of me?"
Rahon cupped my cheek without answering. His shadowy purple eyes quietly scanned my face.
I quickly lowered my gaze, thinking that our eyes might meet, and he smiled faintly.
"You must have been very anxious."
"... Yes?"
"Let's live together, Millenia. I'll make it comfortable for you."
Smooth lips lightly touched my cheek and then lifted.
As I was blankly staring at Rahon as he turned around and left, Ian came in. The two men's eyes met for a moment and then parted.
lan, who had crossed the bedroom past Rahon, kissed the back of my hand.
"How are you feeling?"
"It's okay. I should have been more careful... I'm sorry."
"No matter how much you prepare, you can't avoid a sudden downpour. It's not Young Lady's fault."
"Still... You had to suffer for nothing because of me."
"I just did what I had to do."
Hearing the indifferent answer actually made me feel better.
As Ian sat down across from me, Nadia offered him some tea and left.
Come to think of it, the first person to find me yesterday was Ian.
Then he might know why Rahon Is doing that.
I naturally changed the subject.
"Did I act strangely yesterday?"
"You were quietly held in my arms, and after being healed, you immediately lost consciousness."
"Then why is Rahon..."
"What did Rahon say?"
"No, he didn't say anything."
He just asked me to live with him for some strange reason.
It looks like Ian has no intention of talking about yesterday either.
"This is even more suspicious..."
I let out a small sigh.
"You said you were looking for a servant.
"I also found out who was behind it."
"That's fast."
"He confessed as soon as he was caught. He said he just did what he was told."
"Who was it?"
"She was Sierra Coelho's nanny."
I also knew that Sierra's nanny was particularly fond of her.
'They said she has a wide network of connections and knows a lot of people in the palace.'
That's why I guessed that Sierra's meeting with Anton was a coincidence and that her nanny had used her connections in the palace to tip her off.
To somehow get Sierra married to a man from a good family...
It was understandable that the nanny would feel resentful, since Sierra, whom she cherished like her own daughter, was sent to prison because of me.
"That woman is also currently in custody."
Sierra's nanny was of noble if fallen birth. A Baroness, I think?
"It would have been impossible to arrest a noble without solid evidence... I guess he confessed more easily than I thought."
lan chuckled.
"How could that be? She tried to avoid it until the end, so I arrested her for trading in stolen goods."
"Trading?"
"The object that the woman gave to the servant was a pink diamond necklace."
"...!"
As for the pink diamond necklace, it was a piece of jewelry that Sierra had once snuck out of my dressing room.
The thing that Nadia had insisted on finding, was a gift from Kjer for my twentieth birthday.
'Somehow...'
When I returned home a while ago, I had gotten back the jewelry I had reported stolen.
At that time, I guessed that Sierra didn't sell it because she only had the pink diamond necklace...
'So that's how the nanny bribed the servant.'
Her father was killed by Sierra, her family was torn apart by a pack of relatives, and my nanny, who loved me like her life, was thrown into prison.
Now there was no one left to help her. Not a single one.
Just like I was in prison in my last life.
'Now...'
Even when she was abandoned by Anton and imprisoned on charges of instigating my assassination, a sense of exhilaration that had not been felt before began to surge forward.
I stood up, clenching my fists.
"I have to go to the palace."
"Are you thinking of meeting the nanny?"
"No, I want to meet Sierra."
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