IHIMML Chapter 71

 

Philome turned her head back to Emon.

“Emon, I’ll say it again. That child is truly the Duke’s niece. Understand?”

“Y-yes.”

Emon hurriedly nodded.

The plan in his head to blackmail them for a quick buck had already crumbled. Survival came before money.

Emon held his breath as much as possible, waiting for them to ignore him and pass by.

However, seeing Emon sitting down and cautiously observing, Philome suddenly had an idea.

‘Ah, this is the perfect timing!’

Philome quickly took off the jacket draped over her shoulders and handed it to Kaien. Then she slightly turned her body to show her dress to Emon.

A luxurious-looking dress came into Emon’s view. It looked even more expensive than the dresses his mother usually splurged on.

Philome fiddled with her hand resting on her chest. Emon’s gaze naturally shifted to the ring on that finger. The stone set in the ring was anything but ordinary.

At a glance, the uniquely expensive green gemstone sparkled brilliantly.

Both the ring and the dress suited Philome perfectly, highlighting her beauty.

Emon momentarily forgot the earlier situation and stared blankly at Philome.

‘Was Philome always this beautiful?’

For the first time, Emon thought of Philome as beautiful and gazed at her in a daze.

“Emon.”

Philome said in a gentle voice.

“Thank you so much.”

“Uh…?”

Emon was flustered, well aware that he hadn’t done anything worthy of Philome’s gratitude.

As he tried to recall what he had done, Philome continued speaking.

“It’s about your affair with Nadia. Thank you so much.”

“Uh?”

That was something Emon had never considered.

‘Why is she thanking me for an affair?’

Though she had spoken boldly and confidently, Emon knew it wasn’t exactly a commendable act.

Philome smirked inwardly as she watched Emon blink in confusion. However, she maintained a gentle smile on the outside.

“Because of that, I was able to meet a man like Kaien. Thank you. For taking Nadia away.”

“What… what are you talking about?”

Philome laughed, narrowing her eyes.

“You don’t need to know that much. Well, I should repay you for this, right? I genuinely appreciate you having an affair with Nadia.”

Philome removed a hair accessory and threw it to the ground. It landed just within reach of where Emon would have to crawl a bit further to get to it.

Emon’s gaze instinctively shifted to the expensive-looking gemstones on the accessory. The jewels alone seemed quite valuable, and the craftsmanship of the accessory itself was evident.

“It must be expensive. As you said, the Duke spoils me and spends lavishly on what I wear. You probably won’t earn as much even if you struggle your whole life.”

In truth, she didn’t know the exact price.

However, it was clear that Kaien had filled her possessions with rather expensive items, and considering that Emon was too foolish to work properly, he thought she was probably right.

“So, this is kind of your last chance.”

Philome smiled brightly.

“Take this and get lost. Don’t ever show up in front of me again.”

Kaien intertwined his fingers with Philome’s and added to her statement.

“If you show up in front of Philome again, your body will be separated from your torso and limbs.”

It meant he would cut off his head, in other words, kill him.

Kaien kissed Philome on the temple and whispered affectionately.

“Let’s go, Philome. I’ve seen enough of this filth.”

“Yes, it seems my eyes are contaminated, so let’s leave now.”

“Let me purify them with my face.”

Philome and Kaien linked arms and turned away.

Kaien soon draped his jacket over Philome, and she quietly thanked him.

Philome felt a sense of relief, as if a long-suffering tooth had finally been pulled. Although the end was quite messy and unpleasant, it felt refreshing.

Philome smiled lightly, and seeing that, Kaien felt a similar emotion and smiled back.

The two walked away like that.

But it wasn’t just Emon who was watching them.

‘So…’

Winston, who had been listening to everything from a corner of the terrace where he could see them from above, blinked blankly.

So much information had flooded in at once that it took him a moment to process it.

“So Kaien has a niece…”

Winston naturally trusted Kaien’s words more than Emon’s. In fact, Kaien’s brother, Kaizen, was married.

At that time, Winston had no power, so he hadn’t thought to investigate, but it wasn’t impossible that Kaizen’s wife was pregnant back then.

Understanding that Kaien hadn’t married until now because he had a niece made sense. He probably had his niece in mind as his successor.

‘Kaien has been hiding this thoroughly.’

The fact that he hadn’t revealed it meant he was still conscious of and wary of the Imperial Consort and himself, which meant.

‘He was preparing for revenge.’

Winston tightly shut his eyes and then opened them. For now, this shock wasn’t important. He had suspected it to some extent.

But.

‘I already know everything. That you suddenly went abroad ten years ago and appeared again after a month or two.’

Ten years ago. A foreign country.

Philome. Mel.

It was too perfectly coincidental to be a mere coincidence.

Winston turned his head to follow the already vanished figure of Philome.

“Mel…”

Maybe I can meet you again?

“What… what are you talking about?”

Winston was startled by the sudden voice coming from behind and turned around. Standing there was Nadia in maid attire.

“Lady Nadia? What are you doing here?”

Nadia, being Winston’s personal maid, couldn’t be used as a maid for the banquet. Yet, what she held was a banquet plate.

“Could it be… you came secretly?”

Since their fight a few days ago, there hadn’t been much conversation between them. With no common ground for discussion, they had kept their words to themselves, and ultimately, there had been no progress in their relationship.

“That’s not what’s important right now.”

Nadia mumbled absently as she approached. Then, without even looking at Emon, who was picking up the hair accessory from the floor, she stared in the direction where Philome had disappeared.

‘Thank you for having an affair with Nadia.’

‘Because of that, you were able to meet a man like Kaien. Thank you for taking Nadia away.’

“Are you saying… it was originally my place?”

Nadia muttered absently.

She had originally attended the banquet to catch the Crown Prince’s eye. That was because her opinions didn’t align with Winston’s at all.

But when the Crown Prince didn’t show up, she had no choice but to follow Winston out to the terrace, where she ended up overhearing an unexpected conversation.

“The seat of the Duchess of Wintbell was originally mine…”

Nadia couldn’t shake the feeling that someone had struck her hard on the back of the head. Even though she understood and accepted it, she couldn’t come to her senses.

The envious gazes directed at Philome, the kind and handsome Duke of Wintbell, the lavish mansion, the perfectly trained servants, and the beautiful jewelry and dresses.

All of that was originally hers.

Nadia felt like she was going insane. She was so angry, frustrated, jealous, and wronged.

When Nadia began to breathe strangely, Winston was taken aback.

“Lady Nadia? Are you alright?”

Nadia tightly shut her eyes and then opened them.

“Third Prince.”

“Perhaps we should call someone…”

“I will be of help to you, Prince.”

“Lady Nadia. Are you still saying that? I…”

“The Empress sent someone to me.”

Being able to attend the banquet today was also thanks to the Empress’s help. When Nadia expressed her desire to go to the banquet as a maid, the empress gladly offered assistance.

At first, Nadia had been a bit skeptical about the Empress taking an interest in her. However, it was impossible for anyone other than the Empress to wield such influence in the palace.

Nadia decided to revise her plan to use the Crown Prince to get back at the Duke of Wintbell after gaining his favor.