Chapter 27

After the Duke of Elemoer’s funeral, I had run into Fadelmon as he was hurriedly leaving our house.

He was awkwardly holding a stack of papers.

“Ka-Katrin. Haha…”

At the time, I had just recently realized I was in a possessed body, and everything was so chaotic I didn’t think much of it. But later, I figured out what he had taken.

He had tried to steal the documents proving a huge debt he owed to his older brother—the Duke—hoping to take care of the problem now that his brother was dead.

But in his rush, he took the wrong documents. And the actual debt papers ended up in my hands.

He must have checked once he got back to his mansion, but since the letter he took was missing the first page, he probably couldn’t tell who it was from or to. So he didn’t bother looking deeper.

‘Lucky for me.’

I then handed Heros the poison bottle I had hidden in my dress.

“Give this tea to the official analysis team. It’s from Count Fadelmon’s mansion, and the poison mixed with the tea leaves will be found.”

The collateral members of House Elemoer had many business rights. Fadelmon’s included the right to sell green tea leaves.

So this would be solid proof that Fadelmon had tried to poison and assassinate me again.

It would add to the other evidence I’d already collected—from captured attackers and relatives—proving that the earlier ambush was Fadelmon’s doing too.

“Are you sure you want that official to handle this?” Heros asked.

“Yes. That’s right,” I replied, stepping into the carriage with a wicked gleam in my eye.

“I’m also planning to use this tea to accuse him of something even more interesting.”

Heros looked confused, but I just smiled brightly.

“Count Fadelmon’s family supplies Talis tea to the imperial palace.”

Nobles must pay taxes to the emperor, but they also offer special goods from their land.

The Duke’s family sent jeweled swords made from gems in our mines each year.

Fadelmon sent tea grown in his vast tea fields.

“Mixing poison into Talis tea meant for the emperor? That’s a very serious crime.”

The emperor is a suspicious man—but he trusts me quite a bit.

Especially after I helped return the frozen lands to the empire, that trust has only grown.

“You’re incredible, My Lady,” Heros said, sounding a little amazed.

I just got in the carriage with a light smile.

---

Meanwhile…

It wasn’t snowing in the capital, but things were very different in the northern tundra.

In the harsh winter storm, Etias marched forward through deep snow with his men, bundled in thick clothes.

Katrin Elemoer had notified him that his mother’s old villa would soon be demolished, so he had to collect her belongings before then.

“…”

He had been badly injured a few days ago but had recovered so well that he seemed healthier than before.

The doctor had said something strange:

—“It was a wound that couldn’t heal naturally. It’s as if an angel blessed you.”

‘Angel’s blessing, huh…’

Most citizens of the empire followed the state religion, but Etias had stopped believing in any god ever since he lost his mother at age five.

The way the Cambute Palace burned… it made him certain that no god existed.

‘There’s no such thing.’

A faint smile crossed his lips and faded.

After marching for two hours, they reached the abandoned villa in the middle of the frozen wasteland.

Caron, who followed behind Etias, was quietly impressed by his sense of direction. There was nothing around—just snow—and yet Etias had led them straight there.

“…”

Etias slowly pushed the old door handle.

As the door opened, a wild boar suddenly charged at him from inside.

In a flash, Etias drew his sword and struck, slicing the boar’s throat with perfect precision.

Thud!

The clean cut was almost artistic.

Calmly, Etias slid the blade back into its sheath and stepped inside.

His subordinates swallowed nervously and followed behind him.

The villa had two floors.

Etias still remembered spending cool summers here with his mother when he was about three or four.

He could almost hear her singing on the balcony while holding him on her lap.

Even after 20 years of being abandoned, the layout of the house was still familiar.

He headed upstairs toward the room where his mother used to keep her jewelry.

Creak…

The wooden stairs groaned—likely about to give out from age.

Etias opened the door and stood before the drawer where her valuables were stored.

‘I didn’t plan to come here for this.’

If the tundra hadn’t been returned to the emperor…

If Katrin hadn’t sent the notice about demolishing the villa…

Then this place would have remained a sanctuary of quiet memories forever.

Instead of bitterness, he felt a rare wave of nostalgia as he slowly opened the drawer.

Creeeaak…

The old drawer creaked loudly, but Etias didn’t flinch. He just stared silently inside.

“Your Highness, have you found it?” Caron asked from outside.

Even indoors, the air was so cold that his breath came out in white puffs.

“…”

Etias didn’t reply. He just reached inside and pulled out a small item, placing it in his hand.

Thump… thump… He could hear his heartbeat.

“Your Highness?”

Caron stepped closer.

In Etias’s hand was a woman’s ring made of pure gold, engraved with the imperial crest and placed on a bright flower-patterned velvet cushion.

It was clearly rare and expensive.

“That’s… the Empress’s ring?” Caron asked.

“…Yes.”

Etias remembered the words his mother whispered to him long ago, sitting in this very villa.

“This is a ring His Majesty gave me as a wedding gift. The Empress Dowager used to wear it too. Someday, Etias…”

He had been only four years old—too young to understand—but her voice had stayed in his memory.

“If you ever find someone you want to spend your life with, give them this ring.”

When they returned to Cambute Palace, she had said she left the ring at the villa and promised to come back for it next summer.

But that summer never came.

Staring down at the ring with deep blue eyes, Etias closed his fist tightly around it.

His resolve burned anew.

“…It’s good that I came.”

The anger he’d felt when he first read the demolition notice… now melted like ice in boiling water.

Caron asked quietly,

“Did you find what you were looking for?”

And at that moment…

“Your Highness! We found something too!”

Shouts came from outside the room.

Etias went out and saw his soldiers holding bronze ingots.

“We found these in the storage room.”

The revolutionaries always lacked supplies and equipment.

“These can help reinforce our armor. So many soldiers get hurt from wearing old, broken gear.”

“There are weapons too!”

Another soldier came in, carrying a bundle of old swords.

“They’re rusty, but once we clean them, they’ll be good as new!”

Caron grinned at the unexpected discovery.

“We should call more men to help carry everything.”

No one had expected this villa to hold anything valuable.

They’d just come for a few keepsakes for their leader.

“Looks like a lot of soldiers stayed here. This is great for us, Your Highness.”

“…”

Etias stood still for a moment, watching his excited men.

So much gain he hadn’t expected.

Suddenly, the doctor’s words echoed in his mind again:

—“It must’ve been the blessing of an angel.”

And for some reason, those violet eyes came to mind once more.

Outside the broken window frame, snow continued to fall silently.