Chapter 15
“I’ve heard the story, but please calm down, madam.”
Oscen tried to speak as calmly as possible, but Clarissa just scoffed as if she’d been waiting for this.
“If I calm down, I’ll be the one who sinks. You’ve heard what that Callista did to my nephew, haven’t you?”
The brief silence shattered as she pressed Oscen relentlessly, who stammered his reply.
“Well… even the chairman feels sorry.”
“Of course. That old fox can’t do a thing without Evans’ errands.”
Oscen wiped cold sweat off his face, embarrassed.
He was head of a vassal family managing Luferen’s maritime business.
Since becoming the council’s vice-chairman, he was stuck daily between hot-tempered Clarissa and the even more volatile chairman, getting scolded from both sides.
“No, I… the chairman even said she’d send a doctor to Louie…”
“Who cares about doctors when my hands and feet are being cut off?”
“Huh?”
“I mean the Luferen family is about to have no loyal people left. Especially since you know how vital Louie was for securing funds! Half of the hidden gold bars should be mine! That brat who should be grateful to even get a bite…”
Clarissa slammed the table as she shouted, making Oscen widen his eyes further.
“Also, they say they’ll exclude the Evans family from supplying groceries and hiring staff! That damned Theon…”
So, the duchess wasn’t worried about her subordinates’ safety but about her own status becoming unstable.
Especially the secret funding embezzled through Louie.
“Madam, if you looked into things a little more…”
“There’s no time! Callista has returned while people are lacking…”
Clarissa ground her teeth, glaring at poor Oscen.
She took a sip of tea and lowered her voice slightly.
“So, about that plan the chairman talked about — we need to start it a little earlier.”
“Pardon?”
Oscen’s face went ashen.
“We can’t always rely on the Evans family for my hands and feet. If she’s the future Luferen physician, wouldn’t it be better to make her my maid?”
“M-maid? But she’s from the Müller count family…”
“That’s why it’s even more fun to trample her down and keep her as a subordinate. I was just about to make that stiff-necked girl from the academy more obedient.”
Clarissa twisted her lips into a smile.
“Wasn’t that the chairman’s idea first? To catch that girl first, draw in the Müllers, and then topple Callista to install another successor.”
“That’s right.”
Oscen wiped sweat again, nodding.
Clarissa and the chairman had secretly joined forces years ago.
Back then, the chairman enjoyed wielding vast power by suppressing the incompetent Luferen duke and didn’t want to give up that position.
Clarissa needed allies to bring her people into the family.
Both sides exchanged favors, but agreed on one thing: If Callista became the official heir, they’d all be ruined.
So, the chairman and Clarissa first tried to sow discord between Callista and the duke, then worked hard to undermine Callista’s position.
The latter wasn’t going well, and the key to solving that was Vittori Müller.
“But that plan still needs some time…”
“How frustrating. Do you think I’ve been sitting idle?”
Oscen tried to excuse himself, but Clarissa glared again.
“Since the Louie incident, I instructed Dani to give Vittori poison alongside medicine. She’s used to strong tea, so no genius doctor will notice.”
“Oh! Is that true?”
“By now, she’s probably addicted to the Kori fruit without realizing it. If she suddenly stops eating it, she won’t survive.”
Clarissa gave a cold smile toward Oscen, whose eyes went wide.
She and the chairman had long prepared to plant people around Vittori.
From the moment they tricked Dani—Evans’ distant relative and orphan—into becoming Vittori’s maid, they started feeding her narcotic fruits.
Their plan was a long-term gradual poisoning, but the Louie incident hastened things.
Clarissa recently found an accelerator to amplify the drug’s effect.
They even confirmed advancing the full addiction point posed no problem.
“How fortunate. The only thing thriving in the barren Evans domain is the Kori fruit.”
“Providence!”
Oscen, who had been struggling before, now brightened and agreed.
“I suspected addiction but the accelerator makes waiting unnecessary.”
“That’s right. We must approach while the Müllers and Callista are preoccupied. Callista’s upcoming graduation party will be perfect timing.”
Clarissa’s eyes glinted sharply as she glared at Oscen again.
Oscen admired her silently before nodding.
“In that case, the chairman will surely help.”
“No mistakes allowed.”
“Of course. Anyone addicted to Kori fruit without an antidote is easy. The agony of not eating it is worse than death. Who’d throw their life away over it?”
Oscen relaxed into the sofa, Clarissa’s twisted smile returning.
“And remember, this must not leak to anyone.”
She added quietly.
“Haha, you worry too much.”
Oscen smiled.
“Who else would know or prepare this but us, unless a prophet?”
They exchanged a satisfied handshake.
Of course, they didn’t know—not only prophets can predict the future.
“How about the right one?”
“Hmm.”
“Then the middle?”
“Hmmmmm.”
“Left, maybe?”
“Hmm.”
Jenna furrowed her brow, seriously debating for an hour.
“Can’t I just wear anything?”
I, already tired of playing along, pleaded, but she shook her head solemnly.
“This isn’t your first banquet.”
“But it’s the first time I have three options. Theon gave me more allowance than usual…”
Yes. After Louie’s embezzlement, Theon began handling minor finances himself, recovering nearly all the allowance Clarissa used to skim.
My life improved, but Jenna’s dilemma increased with three dress choices.
“What dress…”
She stared at the three gowns on the bed, all prepared for Callista’s graduation party.
“…Which one’s the least noticeable?”
“Oh dear…”
I sighed.
Jenna wasn’t trying to make me stand out like other maids.
She was trying to pick something that wouldn’t irritate Callista.
Her cautiousness was consistent across lives.
But where Jenna once used it for her own safety, now it was for me.
Too cautious can be a problem in this case.
“If possible, white or pink…”
I looked over the three dresses on the bed.
Snow-white, pale rose-pink, and a slightly dark yellow that might have been called gold if it shone.
The last was unusual for a dress—its color was like ochre or a yellow ox…
“I’ve decided. The yellow one on the left.”
“Hey! That’s the ugliest one!”
The design was tacky and ugly—something from a forgotten era.
“Exactly. The banquet hall and many rooms are painted gold, so you won’t stand out.”
She smiled satisfied and helped me change.
Soon I sat before the mirror looking like bright mud.
“I’ll still do your hair nicely, though. No decorations, though.”
“…Can’t I not go?”
I muttered sullenly, feeling my confidence slip away despite recently hearing I looked cute.
“Show your face. Guests are coming from far borders today.
Stay just off center and mingle with them.”
“Borders?”
I asked curiously. Callista’s graduation was held before, but guests gathered only at Luferen’s center.
“No father, but guests come from Naitra family.”
Clink.
I put the hand mirror down.
“Naitra…?”
“Yes. They have ties with Elder Igard and were invited. Why?”
I knew about the elder chairman’s ties, but that wasn’t all.
Naitra family secretly handled assassinations and all immoral, illegal business for the elders, especially the chairman.
In my past life, Callista killed them all and raised her own assassins—but the reason was…
“…Vittori will come to the party too, right?”
I asked firmly. Jenna nodded.
My clenched hands trembled slightly.
Naitra came only once to Luferen’s party in my past life—to threaten Vittori.
The day they left, Vittori ended her life.
But that was almost two years later… Has something changed?
“Jenna.”
“Yes?”
Though hoping otherwise, I decided to prepare.
“I have a message for Theon.”
I scribbled a short note on scrap paper and handed it to Jenna, who blinked, confused.
“Make sure he gets it before the party.”
With that, I swished my yellow dress and left the room.
