Chapter 72

“The Revelation of Heros”

📋 Revolutionary Army Status:

• Military Strength: Stable

• Equipment & Supplies: Abundant

• Comfort Level: 92%

• Funds: 2,900,300 den

• Revolution Progress: 96% (Imminent)

• HP: ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♡♡

Back in the mansion’s garden, I stood in the sunlight, checking the revolution army info through my watch.

Piyooo—

Piyo was happily hopping around, enjoying the flowers.

“Wanna take that too?”

Piyo!

When I patted Piyo, its mouth opened wide—revealing the inventory space.

Inside, the glowing number 112 million den gleamed in golden figures.

‘Piyo really makes an excellent safe.’

I placed a flower pot that Piyo liked into the space. Then I checked my treasures—jewels fit for luxury living in both Montella and modern-day Korea.

With all the camping gear and clothes I bought, I’d make it to the Montella border easily.

I patted Piyo again, and it closed its mouth, tilting its head with a cheerful chirp.

Not long after, Heros entered the garden holding the potion I had ordered.

‘This high-grade potion from Elma Pharmaceuticals is packed with the best ingredients. It should refill Etius’s remaining hearts.’

The only lingering regret I had was that I hadn’t found Jeffrey Whistler to ask him to spare Etius’s lungs.

‘Still, the revolutionary army is strong enough without his help. It’ll be fine.’

I pushed down my unease.

“Miss.”

“Oh, by the way—what about Cain from the Scavengers?”

Heros didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he looked at me with heavy eyes.

“You said you’d just talk with him and come back. He should be here by now, right?”

Still no answer.

‘He figured it out, didn’t he? That I’m planning to leave.’

His brown eyes were fixed on me, as if memorizing me. Maybe I was giving off a more serious vibe than usual.

I sighed softly.

“Heros…”

“Tomorrow is your title inheritance ceremony, my lady.”

That’s right.

But I never planned to accept the title anyway.

“You intend to vanish on the very day when all eyes will be on you… A true Lady Ellemore move.”

“…Heros, I—”

“I’ll take Cain’s place and escort you.”

My eyes twitched at his words. He’d mentioned Cain, a high-ranking commander, so casually…

‘Something’s off…’

And then, it hit me.

“I… Jeffrey Whistler, leader of the Scavengers—”

A gust of wind blew, ruffling Heros’s hair.

I froze and stared at him, dumbfounded.

The butler who always stood by my side, who endured my mood swings and temper…

The man who chose to stay in the mansion, saying he found happiness here…

The dangerous man who once joked about becoming my pet…

“You’re… Jeffrey Whistler?”

The breeze brushed my cheek again as I stared at him in disbelief.

Sure, he was handsome—handsome enough to be a side character in a novel—but…

‘There was never any mention in the original story about Jeffrey hiding in the Ellemore mansion!’

Even when I found the Scavengers’ crest in his room, I didn’t suspect him—because of a wanted poster I saw in the papers.

‘The face in that photo looked completely different!’

Maybe it was a fake. Maybe he altered his face.

“He’ll come when he’s ready… and I think he holds you in high regard.”

Cain’s words came back to me.

‘So that’s what he meant…’

I stared at him, hurt and betrayed.

Then he spoke.

“After a royal army ambush, I became a wanted man. I slipped into the Ellemore household under a new identity.”

“They never looked under their own noses. I stayed hidden as a servant of their most trusted family. Eventually, I left the Scavengers to my subordinates and decided to stay here until things calmed down.”

“As I told you before, I never meant to harm the Ellemores. I didn’t expect to find a reason to remain even after things calmed down, but… I did.”

He shrugged, a far cry from the tidy butler I knew.

‘He’s not just a butler. He’s the underground king hiding a beast within.’

“I enjoyed myself for the first time in a while. Every cell in my body awakened to what I liked. Especially after the funeral of the Duke and Duchess—watching you become a refined villainess gave me chills.”

…Okay, I didn’t need to hear any more of this.

I pretended to brush my hair aside while discreetly covering my ears.

His cheeks were a bit red as he mumbled something about wanting to be tortured into a confession—said it three times, actually. Even now, he claimed to be ready to be tied up.

‘This guy’s a total lunatic.’

“You were my paradise. And from now on…”

Jeffrey (no longer Heros) gently took my hand.

He kissed the back of it with care.

Looking up at me with deep brown eyes, my heart skipped just a bit.

‘Stay calm, heart. Don’t be dumb.’

“I will serve you. And I have no intention of letting you go.”

There was darkness swirling in his gaze.

“Wherever you go, I will follow.”

It was a completely different aura from the man who used to follow me around humbly.

“Haa…”

I slowly pulled my hand away.

Suddenly, everything felt more complicated.

I had no intention of taking Heros—no, Jeffrey—with me to Montella.

‘As Lady Catrin Ellemore, I planned to leave everything behind. Start a new life. Return home eventually. Clean slate.’

But his shadow was now wrapped tightly around my ankles.

“And you, my lady…”

His lips parted again.

“I will protect you. No matter what.”

“Vanishing Point”

“Can you believe it? By tomorrow, the young lady will become Duke Ellemore!”

“The first female duke in the Empire, right? I never imagined it!”

Two maids doing the laundry were chatting excitedly about tomorrow’s big event.

“She’s amazing. I still don’t get how she got so powerful in politics.”

A new title was about to be officially bestowed at the Ellemore estate, once left quiet and still after the previous duke’s death.

One of the maids, who used to tremble just at the mention of Catrin Ellemore’s name and always looked ragged, now wore clean clothes and smiled brightly.

Her once-chapped hands were soft again, and her hair no longer looked dull and brittle.

“By the way, what were those documents she took from us the other day?”

“I think she said something about creating bank accounts in our names? That sounds like a good thing, right?”

But before they could finish their conversation, Anes’s panicked voice echoed through the laundry room.

“Miss!”

Anes burst in, pale and frantic, calling for Catrin.

“What’s going on, Anes?”

“She must be in her room, right?”

It was already dusk, and darkness had settled over the land.

“No. She’s not there…”

Anes shook her head, her face gone ghostly white.

“The lady—she’s gone!”

“The Final Move”

“Piyoooo—”

As I stroked Piyo’s back, the inventory opened. I began taking out the 1 billion den in gold.

“Ugh, it’s heavy…”

“My apologies, I can only help carry it once it’s out,” Heros said, accepting the gold bars from me.

Since Piyo’s inventory could only be used by me, I had to do the heavy lifting—pulling out all the converted gold bars, one by one.

“Almost done. Let’s hurry.”

We were stacking the bars inside my office at the now-closed Sistina Orphanage, and Heros was helping arrange them.

“Whew… it’s done.”

I wiped the sweat from my forehead.

The gold bars—worth about 100 billion won in Korean currency—were piled up across the office floor.

The last thing I took out was a potion to fill Etias’s two remaining heart slots.

“I wonder if the letter I sent has reached the Revolutionary Army HQ by now.”

As I closed the office door behind me, I added,

“Probably has.”

[‘Use the money well, and drink this—it’s good for your health, Your Highness. φ(-｀Д´-)’]*

The 1 billion den I just left behind had come from scamming the Emperor, selling him the overvalued Ellemore mine.

It would be my final donation to Etias before leaving the Empire.

With his frozen assets and this extra funding, he should now be able to stabilize the country through the coming chaos.

And with Jeffrey Whistler, who wanted Etias’s lungs, now bizarrely turned into my “weird loyal companion,” I guess I really have paved the road with roses.

I glanced at Piyo’s inventory, which still had plenty of money left, and stroked his back again.

“Piyoo~”

This would be my travel fund, hard-earned by robbing the corrupt Emperor-faction nobles blind.

“Come on, Piyo. Time to go.”

Under the dim night sky, we left the Sistina Orphanage and boarded the carriage.

I didn’t know whether it would be tomorrow, the day after, or a few days from now—but the revolution was imminent, and my watch confirmed it.

Revolutionary Army Info:

• Military Power: Stable

• Supplies: Plentiful

• Morale: 97%

• Funds: 8,100,300 den

• Revolution Progress: 97% (Imminent)

This carriage would run all night toward the border, where Lancelot of Montella was waiting.

“Wait! Stop right there!”

Just as the wheels began to turn, a few men—clearly revolutionaries—came running from behind.

I glanced at Heros, who quickly ordered the driver to speed up. The carriage lurched forward, accelerating fast.

There were no people on the roads this late at night, and thanks to the road renovation project I had funded, the route was smooth and fast.

“Wait! Stop! Plea—!”

Their voices faded away as we outpaced them.

I pressed my hand to my chest, exhaling in relief.

Gazing out the window, I watched the capital blur by. My reflection flickered across the glass.

“If I hadn’t decided to leave this place…”

Lately, Etias had started treating me differently. He seemed to realize I was helping him—maybe even siding with him—and had grown closer to me.

“Maybe… he’d even forgive someone like me?”

But there was no certainty.

After all, my father, Duke Ellemore, had committed unspeakable sins against Etias.

One of them, revealed through Aglia, was a horrifying truth: he might have been involved in the death of Etias’s mother, the late empress.

“Can Etias still protect me after learning that?”

Etias was a man of unwavering justice, with a perfect moral compass.

He wasn’t someone who bent his standards for emotion—not even for himself. That’s exactly what I admired about him.

“For both of us… it’s better to go our separate ways.”

To Montella, where I planned to spend the next three years—before returning to the modern world.

“His Highness Etias will definitely try to find you.”

Heros, now dressed not as a butler but in a full black Scavenger uniform, quietly murmured to me.

When I looked at him curiously, he smiled faintly.

“Miss, you don’t realize just how persistent someone like Etias can be. Men like him… they never let their prey escape easily.”

“Does he even have time for that now? He’s got a whole revolution to handle.”

In the original novel, Etias had been too busy during the revolution to focus on anything else.

“He can’t possibly stop nobles from escaping across the border.”

But Heros’s words still struck a chord.

“You gave him that extra time, Miss. Don’t forget that.”

My fingers twitched slightly.

I wanted to argue using the novel, but then remembered all those idiotic romance heroines who clung to the plot too tightly. Weren’t they just like… me?

Seeing my sudden serious expression, Heros leaned forward and met my eyes.

“But don’t worry, Miss.”

“Even if he thinks you’re a cornered mouse, he doesn’t know that I’m Jeffrey Whistler, king of the underground.”

That’s true, at least—another difference from the original story.