Chapter 9
The banquet had ended.
Katrina immediately handed the prepared note to her attendant.
“I need ingredients to make a perfume. Please get them for me.”
“Yes, my lady.”
The note listed rare ingredients—ones that could help ease Raymond’s seizures.
The Duke of Abiche was currently desperate to place Katrina as the crown princess.
So until she could find another way, Katrina had to stay close to Raymond.
“Once he receives the perfume, Raymond will change his mind.”
He must’ve gotten so used to the pain that he’d forgotten what a normal life felt like.
But a life without pain—that was something truly precious.
Once he experienced it again, he wouldn’t be able to stubbornly refuse her.
She had chosen the banquet day on purpose—Raymond was unlikely to see her any other time.
Giving the perfume to him directly at the banquet was the best option.
“My lady, the duke has instructed us to move you to another room.”
She hadn’t expected that.
The room Katrina had stayed in since waking up was in the annex—the equivalent of exile within the Abiche estate.
“Do you have anything to pack?”
Would I?
She had lived in that annex with absolutely nothing.
“I have no belongings. Bring me one maid.”
“Oh, I’ll have someone assigned immediately—”
“No. The girl who served me in the annex.”
“Understood.”
Katrina headed toward her newly assigned room.
“Not bad.”
It wasn’t as nice as her old room before exile, but certainly better than the annex.
Knock knock.
A knock at the door.
“My lady, I heard you called for me.”
“Come in.”
The maid entered, looking around curiously at the new room. When their eyes met, she quickly bowed her head.
“No need to be nervous.”
“I’m sorry, my lady.”
“No. I’m here now partly thanks to you.”
After all, the girl had delivered the letter to Raymond.
“I keep my promises. I’ll send you the money I promised soon.”
“…Thank you, my lady.”
“Thank you. You helped me more than you know.”
And the girl would need to help her even more in the future.
Katrina would be living here for some time. She needed someone to assist her.
The maid looked overwhelmed with emotion.
“What’s your name?”
“R-Rina, my lady…”
“Alright, Rina.”
Katrina gave her a small smile.
“I’m counting on you. Be my aide from now on.”
Until I return.
“Damn that Katrina!”
Crash!
Everything on the table fell and shattered.
Selena wasn’t satisfied with just that. She raged, throwing more things.
“Selena! Calm down!”
“AAAHH!”
The duchess tried to hold her daughter back, but it was no use.
“Katrina is going to take what’s mine again! Again!”
“Selena, my sweet… This mother will take care of it.”
It had started when Selena hit puberty.
Back then, Duchess Arabella had brought home a girl, holding her by the hand.
They thought she had just picked up a servant girl.
But then she registered the girl into the family, doted on her more than even her biological son, Damian—everything changed.
“Damian, are you just going to stand there?”
The duchess glared sharply at Damian.
“You hate Katrina too.”
“…”
“We’re in the same position, aren’t we?”
The same position, she said.
Damian quietly stared at the mother and daughter.
He had clear reasons for disliking Katrina.
She had taken everything that was supposed to be his.
But so had they.
“Is that why you called me? Because you’re afraid Selena’s position is threatened and you want me to protect her?”
“How can you say that? If Katrina disappears, it’ll be good for you too.”
“Not necessarily.”
Damian tilted his head.
“That would’ve been true if Katrina still posed a threat to my position. But she doesn’t.”
Though her dignity had recovered a bit, she still held the lowest rank in the family.
“She’s no threat to me.”
“Pfft.”
Selena snorted.
“You’re such a liar. You were the most eager to send her to the temple.”
“…”
“You hated Katrina the most.”
Instead of reacting to the obvious provocation, Damian replied calmly.
“Unfortunate that it looked that way.”
“Wasn’t it true?”
“I don’t like Katrina, that’s correct. But I agreed to send her because the temple promised me a worthy exchange.”
Damian always pursued practical benefits. He never acted on emotion.
“But it’s also true we can’t just leave Katrina alone.”
If she didn’t go to the temple, the benefits he’d been promised would be revoked.
The only reason he wasn’t acting now was because of Duke Abiche.
The fool still believed Katrina had a chance to become crown princess.
“Let’s start by making sure she can’t attend the banquet.”
“How?”
“It’s simple.”
Just bind her.
The ingredients were all ready.
What Katrina had gathered could relieve Raymond’s curse.
“I just have to mix them.”
In the game, the female protagonist had lifted Raymond’s curse.
She could do that because she obtained a “rare document.”
A book written by a great magician—Arabella.
The same Arabella who was Duchess of Abiche, Damian’s mother.
She was long gone now, but once, she had been the only kind person to young Katrina.
Arabella had left Katrina many things when she died.
One of them was her research notes.
In the game, Katrina died and the female lead got them.
“Give this to Katrina. Let her use it as she sees fit.”
“She can sell it if she needs money.”
That was Arabella’s final will.
Katrina had been so dumbfounded then, she’d forgotten to cry.
Back then, she thought she’d never have use for them. Still, she kept them safe—because they were Arabella’s.
“Never imagined I’d end up using them like this.”
Katrina silently thanked Arabella.
Thinking of her, she finished combining the ingredients—and the perfume was complete.
Katrina sprayed it on herself.
A citrus scent. Neutral.
But it would be different for Raymond.
While wearing it, the curse would be suppressed. For a moment, he would feel no pain.
Today, a banquet was being held at the Imperial Palace.
Katrina had secretly received permission from the duke to attend.
She planned to slip in, give the perfume to Raymond, and leave unnoticed.
She covered her head with a black veil.
As she would be attending unofficially, no one could see her.
Inside a fast-moving carriage.
Katrina stared out the window into the pitch-black night.
The carriage raced down a dark road.
Then suddenly—thud! The carriage jolted hard.
Katrina grabbed the wall to keep from falling.
The shaking stopped, and the carriage came to a halt.
“What’s going on…?”
