Chapter 29
“Okay, but seriously—why are you collecting so many roots from the blue flower fruit?
I’m dying to know. It’s poison, isn’t it?
You’re not planning to kill anyone, so what’s it for?”
“……”
“I’m just curious, that’s all.”
Evan Ortega smiled, clearly faking it, but his eyes were sharp with interest.
As expected from a skilled information broker, he seemed eager to learn some new “hidden” knowledge about the blue flower root.
“I’ll buy that little secret you know. Come on, just tell me a bit, yeah?”
Of course, he was now offering to pay for the information.
Catherine paused to think. In this novel world, Evan is a supporting male lead with influence. Trading with him wouldn’t be a bad idea.
Eventually, she gave in with a pretend sigh.
“Hmm, so you want to buy what I know? How much?”
“Ten times whatever price you name. I’ll give you ten times that.”
Ten times? He doesn’t even know what she might ask for yet… Typical noble—money just flows out of their pockets.
‘He must be swimming in cash, huh.’
“…Forget it. I’ve got more than enough money myself. Let’s say you owe me a favor instead. Deal?”
Sure, it was the Duke’s money, not technically hers—but Catherine acted like she had plenty of it.
In truth, the idea of actually receiving ten times the amount she named was a little scary.
Even as a noble, Catherine still had the nerves of a regular citizen.
She figured it was better to ask for help than cash.
“A favor? But you don’t look like someone who’d need my help.”
“Well… no one knows what the future holds. I’m just making myself a backup plan, that’s all.”
At her words, his silver-gray eyes curved into a half-moon smile.
“My help doesn’t come cheap, you know. It’s special—worth more than money.”
The way he turned her offer down while making it sound fancy was kind of annoying. But he wasn’t wrong either.
Evan Ortega—heir to the Marquess of Ortega, and the owner of Red Bird. His help would be more valuable than gold.
That’s why Catherine felt confident that this was a fair trade.
“Then that makes this a perfect deal, doesn’t it?”
‘You’re going to need a lot of money soon anyway. I’ll make tons for you, so just take it quietly when I give it to you.’
“…Hmph. If you say so, fine.”
Evan finally nodded with a reluctant smile as he looked at her confident grin.
He didn’t look convinced, but it was like he’d decided he could tolerate a bit of trouble if things went wrong.
Catherine smiled, satisfied with how the deal turned out.
Nearly a month passed.
With Rachel constantly pushing her to feed Philothes to Eleanor, Catherine finally arranged to meet her in secret.
“What’s going on? You said it was something important?”
Just as planned, the two of them met alone—no knights or attendants.
“…First, I need to tell you something.”
Catherine looked straight at Eleanor and explained Rachel’s plan.
“The Duchess… gave you Philothes? And told you to feed it to me?”
“Yeah.”
“…Then why are you telling me this?”
Eleanor’s reaction was calm, but her eyes showed genuine curiosity.
Why wasn’t Catherine just obeying her mother?
“Because I don’t want you to go through something like that. This time… it crosses the line.”
“……”
Catherine looked into Eleanor’s cool blue-green eyes.
‘I didn’t want you to misunderstand me.’
She didn’t know if her feelings would reach Eleanor, but she had to make it clear she wasn’t part of this plan.
Catherine didn’t want Eleanor to think of her as an enemy—she wanted to help her.
“So… where is this Philothes now?”
Eleanor suddenly asked about it. Catherine’s eyes drifted to the teacup in front of them. Eleanor’s gaze followed.
The red tea gave off a fragrant aroma.
“This is it, isn’t it? Then I’ll drink it.”
“W-wait! What? Why would you drink it?!”
Catherine was startled and tried to stop her.
“But if I don’t, won’t you get in trouble with your mother? Just telling me about it is enough. Let me take care of the rest.”
Eleanor told Catherine to step back from the situation now.
Hearing her words, Catherine realized something—Eleanor still didn’t trust her.
She was going to handle everything herself, like always—leaving no room for Catherine to be involved.
And for some reason, that hurt.
“…Sigh.”
Trying to hold back her frustration, Catherine pulled something out of her bag and handed it to Eleanor.
This was the real reason she’d called her here today.
“Actually… This is what I wanted to talk to you about. I wanted to give this back to you.”
A silver pendant, decorated with small bluish-purple gems.
Eleanor’s eyes widened for the first time.
“This is… no way…”
Seeing the mix of shock and longing on Eleanor’s face, Catherine smiled softly.
It was a keepsake from Eleanor’s mother—the necklace Catherine had stolen from her when they were younger.
“You threw this into the river, didn’t you? How… how do you have it?”
It happened when Catherine was 13 and Eleanor was 14.
‘What’s with that ugly necklace? Do you wear something like that? Ugh. Give it to me.’
Catherine had spotted the pendant around Eleanor’s neck one day. It was usually hidden well, but she’d worn it out that day—unluckily.
Catherine couldn’t stand seeing Eleanor trying to look nice, so she yanked the necklace away and mocked it.
Even though the purple gem matched Eleanor’s eyes and looked expensive, Catherine pretended it was ugly.
‘Give it back! That’s my mother’s keepsake!’
‘Why carry trash like this around?’
When Eleanor tried to take it back, something snapped in Catherine.
So she threw it into the nearby lake—right in front of her.
Splash.
The lake was deep. The necklace sank instantly.
‘No… no way… That was my mother’s…’
‘Haha! I helped you get rid of garbage. You should thank me!’
That night, Eleanor jumped into the lake to find it and ended up sick in bed.
Her family’s reaction? Cold and indifferent.
Later, Catherine found out—it was the only keepsake Eleanor had of her mother.
“Why… Why do you have this?”
As Eleanor’s sad expression began turning into anger, Catherine answered,
“…I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that to you. It was something precious to you.”
“……”
“I don’t know how, but… Mother had it. She gave it to me.”
“What?!”
Catherine remembered how Rachel had handed it to her.
‘Take it.’
‘This is…’
‘Yes. That child’s keepsake. Her memory.’
It was the same necklace Catherine had once thrown away.
How Rachel had it—Catherine had no idea.
‘If you give her this, she won’t be able to say no. After that, I’ll handle the rest.’
Rachel had stroked Catherine’s head with a look of certainty like Catherine would obey.
But the moment she took the necklace, Catherine knew she had to return it.
It was guilt—for what she had done when they were kids.
“…Sorry. I should’ve given it back a long time ago.”
Eleanor didn’t say anything. Catherine didn’t know what she was thinking.
But she could tell—Eleanor was finally starting to listen.
It was time to wrap this up.
“You said you’d drink the Philothes, but… I don’t want you to. Why would you even think about it?”
“…But—”
“The truth is, it was never real to begin with. I checked. The one Mother gave me? It’s fake. She thinks it’s real, but it’s not.”
“What?!”
“I only set this up to return your necklace. And to fool Mother. That’s all. You suddenly saying you’d drink it caught me off guard—I couldn’t explain properly. Sorry.”
“What are you talking about…”
“Anyway, I’ll handle the rest. You can go back now.”
Eleanor stared at her in disbelief, still trying to process what was going on.
Catherine just smiled sweetly and waved her hand.
“Go on. If you stay too long, it’ll just look more suspicious, right?”
