Chapter 61
Geppetto could feel the effects of the fatigue-relief drink Marsha had given him.
The dry, gritty feeling in his eyes disappeared, and his sluggish mind felt like it was running smoothly with oil.
But still—he had zero desire to buy this with money.
That’s how awful it tasted.
“Anyway, since you know about this drink… you’ve tried it too?”
“Just once,” Laura shrugged.
“Let’s be honest—it’s not the kind of thing you’d want to drink a second time.”
“…That’s true.”
Geppetto shuddered.
He still felt like the awful taste was lingering in his mouth.
“But if she makes this every day… that means she drinks this every day too?”
“Pretty much.”
“She’s really crazy, huh?”
Geppetto was horrified.
He frowned just thinking about how strong she must be to drink something so disgusting every day.
No matter how good it is for your health, who tortures their tongue like that?
Geppetto looked at the empty bottle.
Anyway, Marsha had made it for him.
That same woman who always frowned when she saw him or treated him like he didn’t exist.
Even if it tasted like poison, she still made something for him.
‘…It’s the first time she’s ever made me anything.’
Geppetto carefully wrapped the bottle in a handkerchief.
He didn’t think he could throw it away.
After hiding the bottle where no one could see it, Geppetto felt a little empty inside.
He knew exactly what Marsha thought of him.
“Your maid still hates me, huh?”
“Of course she does.”
That blunt answer stabbed at his chest.
“Because of you, her family was ruined, her loved ones died, and she can’t even use her real name anymore.”
“How is that my fault?!”
Geppetto was frustrated.
“I didn’t do anything to destroy that tiny noble family! My father did that on his own! You think I wanted to be born into this crappy family?”
“Even if that’s true… you bullied Marsha all the time, didn’t you? Realistically, who would like someone who tormented them for years?”
And Geppetto…
“Yeah, I guess that makes sense.”
…fell silent for once.
Geppetto wasn’t completely without morals.
He knew what he did was wrong.
But at the time, he found it fun to watch Marsha’s angry face. It gave him a thrill to keep her attention on him.
He let go of any guilt because she was Laura’s maid.
To Geppetto, Laura wasn’t a sister.
She was a threat—someone who might take his position and everything else from him.
‘Yeah… it’s too late to change anything now.’
The dice had already been thrown, and nothing could undo it.
All that’s left is to pay the price for what he’s done.
‘After all, I was born a bastard.’
Geppetto remembered what Marsha had said:
“You’d better live a long life… just to watch your whole family fall apart.”
Yeah. She was right.
If all that’s left for him is ruin, he should face it while he’s still alive.
“I’m the villain, after all.”
Geppetto rubbed his heavy eyes.
Maybe it was a mistake to think that drink had cleared his head—he felt that deep exhaustion returning.
Still, he smiled.
Like someone who lived carelessly, he grinned and acted like his usual self.
“Anyway, how’s your love life going? I heard you’ve been meeting the crown prince a lot lately.”
“My love life? What are you talking about?”
“If not him, then who? I saw two more men hanging around you lately.”
Angel and Dindin, was it?
Geppetto thought about the men always hovering near Laura.
Even someone like him, who was bad at remembering faces, could remember their names—that’s how often they visited.
“Wow, you’ve got three guys chasing after you. Our dear saintess is impressive.”
“Cut it out, seriously.”
Laura, for once, looked genuinely annoyed.
Geppetto chuckled, watching her squirm.
Yeah, this felt a little more like normal life.
“Come on, tell me your secret. How’d you become such a femme fatale?”
“There is no secret.”
“If there isn’t, then… Oh hey, your maid just brought another love letter.”
Geppetto pointed at the paper Marsha was holding.
Laura glared at him but quickly grabbed the letter when she saw the imperial seal.
“It is a love letter, isn’t it? Otherwise, why’d you tear it open so fast?”
“Shut it.”
Geppetto shut his mouth.
He knew when to stop teasing—he could tell when she was about to actually get mad.
Laura quickly skimmed the letter.
“I have to go.”
She stood up right away.
“Go where?”
“The Imperial Palace.”
But she wasn’t going to see Asel.
She was headed to meet his aides—to confirm a name that came up while they were investigating the history of the plague.
* * *
Asel’s aides weren’t foolish.
They knew that letters could be seen by many people.
So even though they stamped the imperial seal on the envelope, they didn’t make it clear whether it was from Asel or themselves.
They kept the message vague, so people unfamiliar with the situation wouldn’t understand it.
In other words, they did say something—but only people who knew the situation would get it.
Laura had previously asked Asel’s aides to investigate whether the Grand Duke had spread cholera before.
She assumed his name—or one of his people—would come up in the reports.
But instead…
“Selennian…?”
The missing empress.
Asel’s mother.
Laura never expected her name to appear.
She rushed straight into the Imperial Palace’s meeting room.
As if the aides hadn’t expected this result either, they were already gathered in the empty room.
Asel wasn’t there.
“You’ve arrived, Your Holiness.”
They handed her the report, and after reading the summary, Laura sat down, stunned.
“Is this information confirmed?”
Viscount Mueller, the scribe, nodded.
“Yes.”
Here’s the summary of what they found:
Exactly 18 years ago, a similar epidemic broke out in the Empire.
That was the same time Asel’s mother went missing.
And the route she used to escape matched the quarantine zone closed off due to the plague.
“There was a rumor back then. They said the deposed empress murdered the current empress and hid her body.”
The deposed empress never admitted or denied it.
That led to calls for an investigation—but nothing ever happened.
In the original story, Laura remembered it being written that the Emperor had stopped the investigation.
The deposed empress was the half-sister of Marquess Lewaze.
18 years ago, that family had so much power that they could rival the Emperor himself.
People whispered that the Emperor shut down the investigation out of fear of the Marquess.
“But that wasn’t the truth.”
Laura picked up another document.
It listed what happened to the people who worked in the Empress’s palace at the time.
Most of the maids were transferred quietly to other places.
Some officials were let go under the excuse of the epidemic.
Those who weren’t dismissed still left the palace the following year for different reasons—and they were all given pensions until they died.
At first glance, these events seemed unrelated.
But when you looked at them together, a pattern appeared.
‘The Emperor helped the Empress escape.’
Only one person had the resources and power to pull that off.
There’s no other way to explain this unnatural series of events.
‘If the deposed empress really killed the Empress, she wouldn’t have let any witnesses live.’
She would’ve silenced them.
But whoever made the Empress disappear left her attendants unharmed.
In fact, they were given the same salary they’d received while serving the Empress.
They had no reason to find other work.
That could only mean one thing:
‘The Emperor believed the Empress would return one day.’
