~Chapter 98~
“All done.”
The silver necklace with the witch’s hand-mirror pendant now hung around Kiara’s neck. Even though it was meant for gathering evidence, it looked so pretty that it matched her outfit well.
“I really like it, even as just an accessory. Thanks again, Amelie.”
“No problem. If you have any trouble using it, let me know!”
“I will.”
Kiara smiled, but suddenly her eyes widened.
“Oh!”
“What is it?”
“I brought a gift for you but totally forgot!”
“That’s okay. You can give it to me now.”
Though Amel didn’t mind, Kiara seemed nervous. She handed over a small box.
Kiara felt embarrassed, especially after Amel gave her a necklace first. But before she could say more, Amel snatched the box and opened it with excited eyes.
“Wow! It’s a necklace!”
It was another necklace—what a coincidence. Both of them had prepared the same kind of gift.
“It’s nothing big… I reused one of the potion bottles you gave me before. I thought your glass might be special.”
The pendant was a tiny glass bottle, empty inside. It even had a little cork, so something like a few drops could be put inside.
“This is so cute! How did you think of this?”
“Well… when I think of you, I think of potions first.”
“That makes sense. Thank you so much, Kiara.”
Amel put the necklace on right away. The necklaces they exchanged seemed to shine together, and Kiara liked that a lot.
“Well, I should go now. I really enjoyed today, Amelie.”
“Me too. Please visit again!”
By now, Amel’s initial hesitation was long gone.
Maybe it was mostly because she was sure Kiara didn’t like Christan, but Amel also felt that, even if Christan wasn’t in the picture, she and Kiara could have been friends someday.
It was really time for Kiara to leave. Amel woke the knights who had been waiting in the next room. The knights frowned as they woke up, confused.
“Where…?”
“It’s time to go home now. Thanks for protecting me.”
“Uh… yes, of course.”
Trying to act calm, Kiara answered the clueless knights and quietly sighed with relief.
‘The spell worked well.’
Now the knights would tell the Marquis nothing unusual happened, so Kiara wouldn’t look suspicious. Relaxing, she let Amel see her off and went home.
But—
“Kiara.”
The Marquis of Esmeralda was waiting outside her room.
“…Did you need me?”
Kiara was touching her mirror necklace when she saw him. She quickly made her hands look natural but accidentally turned on the recording.
‘Oops.’
Luckily, the Marquis didn’t care about the necklace. He walked right up to her.
“I heard you went to see the witch today. What did you do there?”
“Nothing special. If you don’t believe me, ask the knights.”
Kiara answered confidently. The Marquis nodded as he listened. Then—
Smack—!
“…”
Kiara almost fell, barely keeping her balance. Her left cheek burned as if it was on fire. Her surprised teal eyes stared at him.
“That’s your punishment for being useless, Kiara.”
“What…?”
Diego Esmeralda looked at her with cold eyes. Her cheek turned red where he slapped her, but he felt nothing about it. He even thought not using magic when hitting her was as merciful as he could be.
“Nothing special? If you were going to do nothing, why meet that witch at all? You should have killed or stabbed her or done something! I can’t let someone as useless as you bear the Esmeralda name. From now on, you’re not an Esmeralda. I don’t care what you do with the witch. Just disappear and never show yourself again.”
Kiara stared blankly at him the whole time, not even bowing her head. The Marquis, thinking she was shameless, clicked his tongue and turned away.
“If you pretend to be an Esmeralda anywhere, I won’t let it slide. I’ll never let you disgrace our name again.”
He disappeared down the hall.
As soon as he was gone, Kiara checked the necklace. She didn’t know for sure, but it probably hadn’t been five minutes yet.
Even if it had, she could just go to his lab and make a new recording…
“…”
She didn’t hesitate long. Kiara hurried down the stairs toward the Marquis’s lab. Luckily, she didn’t run into him on the way.
“Whew…”
Kiara wasn’t someone without pride. Taking his scorn face-to-face was something she was still not used to.
But if she’d bowed her head or run away, the necklace wouldn’t have recorded his face and words properly. So she endured the moment and made sure to record everything.
She couldn’t trust Amel’s plan completely. Amel and Christan were both against the Esmeraldas, and Kiara was still part of that family. She might be blamed too.
But now the Marquis himself had cut her off from the family, and she had solid evidence saved. It was at least some protection. She guessed Amel and Christan wouldn’t attack her now, but she couldn’t rely only on them—she needed her own backup.
Soon, Kiara reached the lab and opened the lock she already knew. The messy room was full of dirty things, since no maids ever cleaned here. Seeing the mess made her laugh a little.
‘Can’t even clean his own lab, but calls me useless?’
But there was no time to laugh. She quickly sorted through the piles and recorded all the important documents with the necklace.
There were a lot, but she kept calm and finished quickly.
While moving, she thought about how the Marquis would react after all this. How would he feel, being betrayed by someone he thought was so useless?
‘Hehehe…’
The necklace recorded sound too, so Kiara only laughed on the inside.
After she finished, the necklace stopped working. She carefully put everything back in place and prepared to leave…
Rustle.
“…!”
She heard someone nearby. She froze, too scared to look back.
‘That sound… Could it be the Marquis…?’
