The symbol of Libertan disappeared in an instant. Just as if what I saw a moment ago was a hallucination.
But John knew better than to mistake such things.
‘It wasn’t detected from Estelle.’
The unpleasant woman, the saintess, had the symbol of Libertan’s protective mark.
‘Could this be a coincidence?’
Stella carefully gathered the hem of her dress and slowly stood up. The saintess looked at John with a pure face, anxious and fidgeting.
“I tried to wipe it as much as possible with a handkerchief, but I couldn’t completely remove the moisture.”
They were closer than before.
They almost bumped into each other or embraced by mistake.
However, Stella’s blue eyes were innocent, as if she knew nothing.
‘Disgusting smell.’
The closer John was to Stella, the more he sensed an indescribable foul odor.
‘Estelle always smelled good.’
—
“…If it’s okay, I’ll prepare similar clothes next time—”
Just as Stella’s delicate hand was about to touch John’s shoulder gently,
John ignored her and brushed past her. There was no time to hold onto her and pay attention.
The symbol of Libertan’s protection.
The only person who would have received that mark, which Estelle did not have, was Yestella Libertan.
Originally, she was John’s target for revenge.
‘But Yestella Libertan died of an incurable disease.’
Most importantly, Stella’s face was completely different from Yestella’s.
‘Is she a descendant of the Libertan bloodline I haven’t identified?’
If she was under the protection of the Holy Nation, it’s possible John didn’t notice.
‘I need to confirm.’
Immediately, John headed to the underground prison of the imperial palace.
There, the Libertan duke and duchess were soon to be executed.
The sight of the Libertan duke and duchess, tortured by severe interrogations, was tragic.
“Wake them up.”
The jailer poured cold water to wake the Libertan duke and duchess, then left.
“…Estelle? Finally here to save us—”
They still looked dazed, as if wandering in a dream.
“Come to your senses?”
John, sitting elegantly with his legs crossed on a chair, asked them.
“Why is my wife coming to see you?”
“Duke Blanchet?”
“I have something I want to ask.”
The Libertan duke and duchess screamed in fear.
“We told you everything we know! We even told you about the treason!”
They confessed a false treason.
John looked down at them with a cold face.
“Where’s your biological daughter?”
His biological daughter.
Rosaria inhaled with sad eyes.
“…I don’t know.”
“Don’t lie.”
John warned with a flicker of his red eyes.
“Don’t think you’re safe just because you’re dying now.”
“Really, I don’t know either…”
As Rosaria started to sob, Damian spat blood lightly and cursed.
“She’s dead! I bet they’re trying to desecrate her corpse. But her body was taken to the temple and cremated. She’s resting somewhere you can’t defile!”
John’s red eyes showed a flicker of interest.
‘Taken from the temple?’
John slowly stood up and took a step forward.
“You seem very sure. As if you saw it yourself.”
“Yes! I saw it with my own eyes. That poor girl… turned to ashes, even performing the temple’s purification ritual.”
The temple’s purification ritual is a top-tier funeral that guides the deceased to the place of the gods.
John caught on to a question from her words.
“So, you didn’t see it firsthand?”
Because even parents can’t witness the purification ritual up close.
“So what? My angelic daughter has gone to heaven. That’s enough for me…”
“But, honey.”
At that moment, Rosaria, staggering, grimaced as if in pain.
“Did our daughter really die? Then why…?”
“What are you talking about? Snap out of it.”
“No, it can’t be. After the funeral, I kept feeling like I saw Yestella again.”
Rosaria muttered looking at the floor.
“I thought I saw her alive, hugging us. But I guess it was just my imagination.”
“Stop saying that!”
“You thought Yestella came back to life?”
But John did not miss that small clue.
“Tell me properly. What do you mean?”
John grabbed Rosaria, examining her.
“No, she’s definitely dead. I… with the grief of losing my child…”
Rosaria’s eyes were hazy, like the vassals of Libertan last time.
“Please, one last favor. I beg you.”
Rosaria then clung to John and begged.
“Just let me see Estelle once. Even if it’s before her execution… I want to see her face.”
“Alright. I don’t know why…”
Damian gently stopped Rosaria and spoke quietly.
“Let her apologize to her one last time. Somehow, I feel like I have to apologize to her.”
John thought that the Libertan duke and duchess were very strange.
‘At first, I thought it was because she was my beloved daughter…’
But it was as if her personality kept changing, saying completely different things.
“No. You can’t see my woman.”
The faces of the Libertan duke and duchess crumbled.
John looked at them with a relaxed smile.
“You wanted to save your life, even sell your daughter, but now you’re regretful and pretending to be good parents?”
“…”
“Don’t act so pitiful now.”
~·~·*· . ·*· . ·*· . ·*·~·~
Duchess’s study.
“I’ve placed the letters expressing your favor toward the lady here.”
Patricia, with a noble face, sorted the arrived letters.
“However, these letters are quite insulting, and I think it’s difficult to handle them on my own.”
Patricia’s face looked so serious that I was curious.
‘To what extent?’
Everyone said it was moderate, but to put it simply, it was like this:
[Your adoptive parents are being executed, and you’re doing fine?]
[That fake became the daughter of a traitor. Won’t she do anything?]
[If the fake girl starts social activities, please invite her to our house. We’ll see what she’s up to.]
It’s nothing new.
‘Anyway, it looks like the Libertan duke’s execution is soon.’
Despite being my parents who tormented me for a long time, I felt a strange mixed emotion at the news of their death.
‘It’s none of my business.’
I smiled bitterly and checked the new repertoire.
[Madame Gilete, what do you think about the crown prince? Do you think there was something between them?]
[Is it true that they brought down the Hettel Count family through a scheme?]
[It’s said he followed the prime minister around, trying to cling to him…]
Oh, every time I leave, a new story appears.
[That fake girl is being bullied, and they’re shamelessly ignoring her without a single apology. Please prevent her from participating in social activities. Madame Gilete, you know about morals, right?]
‘Victim of bullying?’
Hearing such absurd stories after a long time made me laugh.
“Everyone seems so excited.”
I wasn’t particularly well-liked at the Libertan estate, yet stories of victims who suffered abuse from me kept emerging from everywhere.
‘That wicked woman stole my dress with her tyranny.’
‘She ignored me even though I greeted her first, acting as if she were a real duchess.’
That was the story I first heard from the Libertan duchess.
‘How do they manage their reputation? Such stories spread! I can’t go out because of you!’
Honestly, I felt so wronged.
I hadn’t gone anywhere, yet everyone used me as the villain for all sorts of bad things.
‘You should have behaved better. That’s why they’re like this!’
The Libertan duchess, lacking in elegance for a duchess, had little influence in high society. During this time, I couldn’t do anything because I hadn’t even debuted in the social world.
When I was rejected after rumors of an affair with the crown prince, things worsened.
‘It’s impossible to go on like this.’
I shook my head, then Betty, with her lips pressed tightly, looked at my letter and asked.
“This is all just rumors. It’s not something you did, Lady…”
“Since it’s related to the prime minister’s work, it will be clarified.”
Of course, the suspicion arising from my infamy would still remain.
“You know very well that if influential noblewomen in high society don’t step in, it’s difficult.”
“There are indeed such issues,” Patricia said expressionlessly.
“Then I will record their names on the blacklist. Lady, you will soon become a prominent figure in high society.”
“Me? No… Wait, a blacklist?”
“A blacklist is necessary to deal with insignificant people.”
Patricia’s voice was free of hesitation.
“You will also become the most outstanding noblewoman in high society. I guarantee it.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You have been calmly managing the situation without worrying about baseless rumors. Even if they are true, rumors will spread anyway.”
“Some rumors can ruin you entirely.”
“But if someone as outstanding as you, Lady, faces this crisis, I believe you can turn it into an opportunity.”
I was stunned by such immense trust.
‘While I’m being cautious… did I receive some kind of mental training somewhere?’
Patricia, you are originally the villainess who torments me in the original story.
“Aren’t there chances for you? I’ve prepared for that.”
Patricia confidently pulled out a letter and handed it to me.
“This is an invitation to the alliance kingdom’s upper-class celebration. It’s from the Blanchet family, so you should be able to attend, Lady.”
Alliance Kingdom.
A coalition of kingdoms centered around the Royhem coast kingdom.
‘It’s rich in trade and resources, and even the empire can’t overlook it.’
Especially the core, Royhem Kingdom, was treated as very significant even by the empire.
“It’s recommended to build connections with the noble families of the alliance kingdom, since they’ll likely have officials from the empire.”
“Sounds good.”
The alliance kingdom was highly developed in commerce, making it easy to fake identities.
‘Knowing someone from the alliance kingdom would make it easier to create a false identity or find an escape route.’
Just as I was nodding and about to write a reply to the invitation,
Suddenly, I felt a sharp headache, and my hand trembling with the pen.
I held my head and took deep breaths to steady myself.
“Why am I suddenly like this?”
I hurriedly spoke to the trees.
-Isn’t this curse already lifted? Why now…?
-Is something wrong?
The trees asked in a bewildered voice.
-I can’t hear well, are you talking to us?
My vision started to darken. Had the curse become stronger again?
‘Maybe because I haven’t absorbed the spirit power yet?’
At that moment, a knight knocked and entered the office.
“Lady. The saintess sensed your pain and has come. What shall I do?”
Seeing my pale face, the knight looked very surprised.
“It’s an emergency! Lady, your condition is not good.”
Before I could answer and collapse, Patricia shouted firmly.
“Bring the saintess immediately. I will take responsibility.”
~·~·*· . ·*· . ·*· . ·*·~·~
A sharp pain made me blink.
My vision cleared, no longer foggy as if shrouded in mist, and I saw a woman sitting elegantly in front of me clearly.
The saintess was smiling at me.
“Are you feeling a bit better now?”
Unlike before, she was dressed in a white veil, with the same elegant design wrapping her entire body.
“Saint Stella?”
“I’m sorry. The lady told me not to come.” Stella lowered her long tragic eyelashes and said.
“I couldn’t ignore feeling your pain.”
“It’s okay. Thanks to you, I feel much better. Do you know why I suddenly fainted?”
“I don’t know either. Maybe…” Stella said in a heavy voice.
“Perhaps it was due to sudden stress that affected your body. Have you recently felt burdened or exhausted frequently?”
Stella’s delicate hand grasped mine gently.
“Whatever it is, it’s good to let go of the mental greed that the lady harbors.”
“…”
“Because all illnesses originate from the mind.”
Her words felt strangely unsettling.
‘I’m grateful that she healed me, but…’
The more I talked, the more that gratitude seemed to diminish.
Honestly, I also thought the situation where Stella appeared was quite coincidental.
‘Is it just a coincidence?’
The last time, the saintess said she could sense people’s pain. Maybe she sensed my curse and came to find me.
‘But somehow, I’m suspicious…’
Stella, who was examining me, smiled gently.
“I’m glad you’re safe, Lady. If you ever need help, I—”
Suddenly, Stella touched her forehead as if dizzy. Behind her, a priest hurriedly ran toward her.
“Saintess! Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” Stella exhaled, breathless, with a pale face.
“It’s just that I’ve exerted too much effort.”
“Shouldn’t you lie down and rest immediately?”
“Yes. The saintess’s health is no less than the entire empire’s health.”
“But…” Stella looked at me sadly and muttered.
“If you find it inconvenient, what should I do?”
Is she telling me to listen?
‘Last time, I was told it was rude to point it out.’
The priest spoke up, supporting the saintess.
“Isn’t it because the Duchess of Blanchet is too exhausted from treating the saintess? Naturally, she should have prepared a place for the saintess to rest.”
“No. Nothing in this world is certain. If she’s already sick, and if I cause her stress…”
“Saintess, you are too delicate, which is a problem.”
Upon closer inspection, the priests surrounding her were not the same as last time.
‘They came with new people.’
Seeing everyone so restless around her, I could tell how highly the saintess was being treated.
The priest who comforted her looked at me with a scrutinizing gaze.
“Duchess, can you prepare a room so that the saintess can rest?”
It seemed he was dissatisfied that I hadn’t suggested her rest earlier.
“She is my benefactor, so of course I should treat her well. I will prepare a room.”
“The saintess hasn’t eaten since rushing here. Could you arrange a dinner?”
I looked at Patricia, and she nodded slowly.
“Since it’s dinner time, it can be prepared immediately.”
“Good.”
Although I disliked the attitude of the priests, I knew I might need divine power again soon.
‘Let’s just pass it for now.’
Until this curse is somehow resolved.
“I will prepare a dinner for the saintess.”
“Thank you.” Stella gave a gentle smile.
“I wanted to dine with the duchess.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I’ve been in the temple since I was young, so I don’t have many friends.”
Her blue eyes looked slightly sad and moist.
“So I want to become friends with as many people as possible. Including the Duke of Blanchet.”
~·~·*· . ·**##^^##**· . ·*·~·~
Hey there, It’s Green Rose 😉
Since I human I might have make some mistakes while translating so please if you find them let me know here in the comments or in the Discord group so I can correct them and be careful in the future so they do not repeat.
Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
~~~Next Chapter~~~
Next chapter will be released Tomorrow.
See you then!!
