55.

In an instant, a thousand thoughts flashed through my mind, all of them terrible. With a grim expression, I leaned my ear towards Archie.

“Please forgive me for leaving without seeing you due to an urgent matter in the capital. I understand you will be attending this meeting. I hope to see you again in the capital.”

… Is that it?

“Did he say anything else?”

“Anything else?”

“Like, for example, about yesterday.”

“Yesterday? What did the two of you do without me yesterday?”

Archie immediately frowned and asked. Norma must have played with him a few times, and it seems he enjoyed it very much.

Startled by his innocent question, I almost blurted out that nothing happened. Nothing, my foot. It was a dark history that I should bury as a lifelong secret. I hastily made an excuse.

“No, it’s just that I left the banquet early yesterday, so I was asking about it.”

“This is all there is.”

Considering what happened yesterday, it felt strange that he left without a word about it. More than anything, I felt oddly disappointed. Was I finally going crazy?

“Oh, and by the way.”

“What else is there?”

“It’s about Antoinette! She really likes me, you know? When she was seeing me off, she wouldn’t let go of me. So Sir Diazi suggested taking Antoinette along when you go to the capital. Isn’t that great?”

Archie spoke excitedly, while my face twisted subtly.

Great, my foot. The thought of seeing him again was disheartening. I regretted not crawling back into my room yesterday or even going out to the terrace in the first place.

* * *

“Sorry for my failure, Lord.”

Erika spoke as she put down the paper containing information about Sonnet Kruger.

The content of the paper contained secret information that could only be known by infiltrating the tiny fief of the Pensa family, hidden in the corner of the northern region, and mingling among the women there.

Before marrying into the Kruger family, Sonnet’s surname was ‘Pensa’. When Petra Landry was a noble, her name was Sosya Pensa.

“It’s alright. It was something that could have been found with enough time. It just happened a little faster.”

Erika did not lift her head, which was bowed in apology. I waved my hand dismissively, as if even that was too troublesome.

“After becoming a widow, she returned to Pensa and stayed there. It seems she secretly worked as a midwife.”

Sonnet Kruger performed the duties of a midwife, but she had never actually delivered a baby. Her role was to diagnose pregnancies and assist with miscarriages. Naturally, it had to be kept secret.

If I had died and Petra, carrying Phillip’s child, had naturally married him… the first child Sonnet would have delivered might have been theirs. Quite a historical event.

“Assisting with miscarriages rather than delivering babies… Even if she needed money, it’s not a profitable job, and such illegal work isn’t something a noblewoman could have done.”

The Empire had a tendency to rely too much on the omnipotent holy power. As a result, certain advancements that would improve living conditions were lacking.

In other words, contraceptive methods were not varied, and those that existed were not highly effective. Amidst the Empire’s extreme aversion to scandal, midwives were regulated to prevent illegitimate children.

The lack of effective contraception and the lack of privacy in midwife services caused numerous problems that ruined many women’s lives. Thus, unlicensed midwife Sonnet might have been a hidden hero or a righteous thief to the women of Pensa.

Sonnet became a widow less than a year after her marriage, due to the absurdly old age of Lord Kruger. Records indicate that they had one daughter.

Given that she returned to Pensa in a manner that seemed almost like expulsion, it’s not hard to guess that her secret activities were related to that daughter.

“Maybe it was out of sympathy or because she didn’t see it as someone else’s problem.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter why Sonnet went around as an unlicensed midwife.”

“Yes. She has a lot to hide, so it will be very easy to blackmail her.”

I nodded in agreement with Erika’s indifferent remark.

“By the way, where are you getting your information these days? Information about an unlicensed midwife would have been extremely difficult to obtain, especially for outsiders or men. Did you acquire a new informant without my knowledge?”

“A new informant without your knowledge… something like that.”

“Lord.”

Erika called me in a serious voice in response to my vague answer. Of course, she was always serious.

“Speak.”

“I wonder if the reason your eyes were so swollen a few days ago was because I didn’t tell you in advance about my relationship with Sir Fallon—”

Although Erika was not entirely uninvolved in the stormy crying of that day, hearing it from her own mouth made me very annoyed. She seemed to think I brought in a new informant out of spite.

Bang—.

I lightly slammed the desk to silence her, and Erika quickly shut her mouth. How audacious of her. The more I thought about it, the more annoyed I got, and I couldn’t help but feel mischievous.

I glared at her with narrowed eyes for a few seconds before smiling wickedly to myself. I had just seen an elegant figure quietly entering behind Erika. A perfect idea to tease Erika came to mind.

“By the way, you and Sir Harry Fallon have been seeing each other for at least five years now. Aren’t you going to get married?”

I leaned back against the chair and asked her nonchalantly. At the same time, the person standing by the office door, waiting for their turn to report, froze in place.

“Exactly eight years. As I mentioned briefly before, we planned to marry after you, Lord, departed first.”

Erika no longer hid it. She thought there were only four people in the office: herself, me, and her two tight-lipped assistants.

Eight years, huh? I let out a hollow laugh. Eight years meant she had started dating Harry as soon as he came of age… Interesting. I raised my left eyebrow.

“I didn’t expect you to last this long.”

“My fiancé is on the verge of death. It seems I’m out of luck, so you go ahead.”

Knowing Erika’s nature, I expected her to retort immediately, but she was unusually quiet.

“What?”

“…You might not be entirely wrong, but well, if that’s what you think, Lord.”

Her ambiguous reply did not prompt me to dig further as I was more interested in teasing her. Instead, I gave a sly smile and looked over her shoulder. Erika, oblivious to the change, continued talking.

“I understand your wishes, Lord. But I find it comfortable to keep dating, so I don’t mind living like this. Please don’t concern yourself with my marriage.”

Erika was two years older than Harry. Her statement about wanting to date a younger man for life was quite forward-thinking. This progressive idea was something her conservative mother, Lady Seymour, despised.

“Is that so, Lady Seymour? What do you think?”

I asked Lady Seymour, who had been standing quietly on one side of the office. My voice was filled with amusement.

Simultaneously, Erika’s face hardened as she realized Lady Seymour was there. Her face contorted completely for the first time in a while. Meeting her resentful gaze, I burst out laughing.

“I told Lady Seymour to come earlier than usual.”

“…”

“Eight years, you say? Did you start dating him right after his coming-of-age ceremony? And yet, you have no intention of marrying… If you’ve taken such an innocent young man, you should be responsible. I wonder if Lady Seymour knew about this.”

“…”

“It seems a mother-daughter conversation is needed. Lady Seymour, you can report to me later. I’ll give you some privacy to have a heartfelt talk.”

With that, I quickly exited the office, saying, “But not for too long.” The feeling of betrayal and desolation I had experienced was finally avenged, bringing a wicked smile to my face.

‘How funny. The night Ophelia visited felt like the end of the world.’

Despite sobbing in Norma Diazi’s arms, I was somehow surviving again. Maybe it was the cathartic crying that helped me shed some of the burden, but still.

‘As long as I’m alive, both he and I will find a way. We must live since we survived.’

With such thoughts, I walked far from the office, and in the distance, I heard Lady Seymour’s powerful roar for the first time in a long while. Her fierce shout made me resolve once again.

‘Let’s end this with Morfolk and Landry once and for all.’

Two days later, the head of the McFoy family secretly left the castle, ostensibly for a leisurely carriage trip while attending the Imperial Conference.

* * *

These days, Lady Landry is acting strange. The servants working at Morfolk’s mansion in the Imperial City whispered amongst themselves.

Petra Landry, the open lover of Morfolk’s young lord, Phillip, was a beloved figure at the mansion. She was kind to everyone, from the butler to the menial workers, and was known as a symbol of charm and loveliness.

But recently, ‘lovely Lady Landry’ had been acting odd. Not only did she start punishing servants directly for trivial matters, but she also behaved like the mansion’s eccentric mistress, even going so far as to dismiss a longtime maid for a minor reason.

Lady Landry has changed. The servants whispered.

Petra Landry was anxious. She felt like she was going to go mad with worry. When she first secretly summoned her sister, Sonnet Kruger, to the Imperial City, she hadn’t planned for things to come to this.

From the beginning, Sonnet was an ‘unlicensed midwife’ known only to the women of her hometown, Pensa. More precisely, she was a midwife who ended pregnancies rather than delivered babies.

Petra intended to get a diagnosis from Sonnet and, if she was indeed pregnant, to terminate it immediately. She had no intention of dealing with the McFoys. That would have been the case if the head of the McFoy family had not been kidnapped right in the middle of the Imperial City just before she met with Sonnet.

Everyone said the kidnapping was the work of fanatics and that Aisa McFoy was dead. For nearly two weeks, there had been no news, and everyone believed it to be true.

Petra was no different. She thought it was unfortunate for the head of the McFoys but saw it as an opportunity for herself to rise in status again.

Petra was more ruthless and thorough than anyone. She chose to hide the fact perfectly until she reached a stable period.

Acting was her profession, so it wasn’t difficult. For a while, she was lost in the sweet dream of becoming a noble and the lady of Morfolk once again, blessed by everyone.

However, during that time, the head of the McFoy family returned alive and well.

“Phillip may think I can quietly hide away somewhere, give birth, and live secretly, but why should I?”

It would be the same end for ‘Petra Landry,’ only the hiding place would change. This way or that, it was the end.

Feeling like her life was irreparably ruined, her decision to gamble was her last desperate act.

Surprisingly, things went smoothly when she blackmailed Morfolk and controlled him as she wished. But that momentum didn’t last long.

The temple, which had taken McFoy’s money, was ruthless and wouldn’t budge for a pittance.

 

TL/N: Advance chapters avalible