Now, the deeper he fell in love with Rosetin, the more negatively Ian would view me. I must prepare myself thoroughly, leaving no stone unturned.
The suspicious and shrewd Duke Bledel would not be easily fooled. But when it comes to the Duchess of Bledel, who leads a dangerous double life, anything is possible.
At my suggestion to look at the Duchess of Bledel’s background, Stella looked incredulous.
“Why would you suggest such a thing?”
“Stella, have you ever heard of a book club called Pacaellon?”
“Of course, it was a social club that was famous among the nobility a long time ago, though it was actually an excuse for women who were dissatisfied with their husbands to indulge in a promiscuous sexual life. I’m not sure if that’s accurate, but I’ve heard that to become a full member, you had to pay an exorbitant subscription fee, so most noble women couldn’t even set foot in the place.”
“The Duchess of Bledel was one of the members.”
“Really?”
Stella’s eyes widened in surprise, unable to hide her astonishment as she spoke.
“But the society is now defunct, and it was so long ago that no hard evidence remains.”
“It won’t be easy for a person who has experienced extreme pleasure to live a normal life again.”
“You mean the Duchess might still be secretly enjoying such pleasures?”
“That’s right.”
“But…… when my family organization secretly investigated the Bledel family, we didn’t find much, especially since the Duchess doesn’t go out much.”
Stella shook her head skeptically, speaking in a slightly doubtful tone. The darkest places are often under the lamp, and the location of her secret rendezvous with her lover would most likely be within the Duchy.
It was also the best place to hide from prying eyes, as long as the servants were strictly controlled. But it would be tricky to investigate the place without being seen by Duke Bledel.
I pulled a profile from the last batch of lover candidates materials I received and showed it to Stella.
“We’ll have to use bait.”
“Do you have a method in mind?”
“Henry Child.”
“Henry Child…Isn’t he the fortune teller you hate?”
“Maybe using him will make things easier.”
Henry Child’s meaningful profile suggested that he was sexually curious and would be a good candidate to seduce Rachel, who liked opposite sex.
“We need to find out more about this man. He seems to have already entangled himself in sensitive matters with numerous noblewomen, but he may have a weakness that could draw him to us.”
There’s something I needed to find using Rachel: a note written by the Emperor before his death.
It was about nullifying the marriage between Ian and Lethenia, depriving Duke Bledel of his title and punishing him for treason. It was enchanted with powerful magic and impossible to destroy, so it must be hidden somewhere in the Duke’s manor.
Stella’s face was filled with confusion. Soon she spoke in an incomprehensible voice.
“I know that you have a complicated relationship with her, but she is still a member of the Bladel family. That could potentially be disadvantageous to Your Majesty, the Empress.”
I looked at her, my eyes filled with doubt. Perhaps the time has come to confess the truth.
Theo and Stella were the only people I could trust right now, and I couldn’t keep it a secret forever.
“Stella, I am not a real daughter of Duke Bledel.”
Stella’s whole body stiffened, as if at a loss for words. Looking at her, I continued bluntly.
“I’m sure you’ve made some assumptions, Stella, given your involvement with the organization in Priados.”
After a moment’s silence, Stella spoke in a muffled voice.
“I have heard from my father that the relationship between Duke Bledel and your birth mother, Duchess Mary Bledel, has been strained,…… but that was all speculation.”
“I will step down as Empress one day, and perhaps Rosetin will succeed me when I am gone.”
“What? That’s ridiculous!”
Stella jumped and clenched her fist.
“I want to leave the palace and live free, and Lucia, a true Bledel, will soon be recognized as the next Empress anyway, and Duke Bladel only used me as a temporary replacement doll for that child from the beginning.”
Stella remained speechless, still showing her confusion, as she looked at a distance.
“I am already looking for a place to live quietly after leaving.”
“Then that’s why you asked about the island the other day…….”
“Yes. The Bledel family will soon be over, and I must find a place to live.”
“But His Majesty the Emperor won’t let anything happen to the Empress.”
Stella seemed hopeful that Ian would help me, which was perhaps understandable since she didn’t know the original ending, but the Ian I knew didn’t have the slightest bit of remorse for Lethenia.
No, even if there is, he will eventually sacrifice Lethenia for his revenge and imperial power.
“It doesn’t matter what our past has been,” I said, “maybe he’ll kill me for Rosetin’s sake, because he’ll have to make my existence even darker for his new empress to shine.”
The new Empress of Asha is as compassionate as an angel, having grown up like a commoner and knowing the needs of her people. On the other hand, I was the daughter of a vicious, proud traitor, a witch who spelled disaster for her country.
These were the images of Rosetin and Lethenia to come in the future. I could sense sadness spreading in Stella’s eyes at my last words.
“Stella, help me. Help me leave safely without getting killed.”
*****
“Her Imperial Majesty…… what shall we prepare as a gift for Rosetin?”
Stella hesitantly spoke with a somewhat somber expression. She said that Asha imperial custom required the Empress to send a gift to the new Emperor’s mistress.
It was a ridiculous custom for a wife to bring a gift to her husband’s lover, let alone congratulate him in person.
“I wonder if the Emperor will make it a custom to welcome the Empress’ lover and send him a gift.”
“Well, I don’t think that would be possible.”
“There are records of some queens in ancient countries having numerous male concubines, and Asha is a much later country and more archaic in its thinking.”
Stella laughed low at that. I wondered what to give Rosetin. It wasn’t a pleasant situation for Lethenia, but it would be a shame to send her a lousy gift.
“It’s a formal gift anyway, so you don’t have to worry about that. There are many congratulatory gifts from the last birthday banquet in the Empress’s storage room, so why don’t you choose one of them and send it to her?”
“Still, it’s a gift, so can I just return it to you unceremoniously?”
“Things that come into the imperial palace are so precious that we don’t look for such things, except for gifts from a few important connections, so there shouldn’t be a problem.”
Stella and I headed to the storage room in the basement of the Empress’s palace, which I remembered as being so large that I’d gotten tired of checking it out and assigned it to a scribe, but my mouth dropped open as the door to the storage room opened…….
I had anticipated it, but seeing it with my own eyes was a different experience. My eyes involuntarily widened as I looked at the room filled with an immense amount of treasures.
“Why are there so many?”
I breathed a sigh of relief as I looked around the room, which seemed to be filled with items so rare they could have been found in the emperor’s secret chambers.
“Thank goodness, I was worried about where we were going to find the money, but now I’m relieved. All the gifts that were to the Empress’s palace were sent to Bledel Duchy, so the storage room was always empty.”
Lethenia’s financial woes despite being a reigning Empress were all because of that person. As long as I was in this position, it was an impossible situation. I slowly looked around the storage room, noticing a few items that could be suitable for Rosetin.
A vase made of gold would be nice, given her love of flowers, and I remembered how well she looked in her colorful dresses. I also considered a valuable fabric that emitted seven different colors at once.
“What’s this?”
I stopped at one place. It was a giant-scale painting, taller than an adult man, with a single white flower in the center.
I examined the painting carefully. It was a Favia, the same flower that blooms everywhere in Vanessa’s palace. Stella, next to me, said curiously.
“I’ve never seen a painting of a Favia this big before, and the style is definitely different from what normal painters do.”
It was an original style of painting, different from the decorative paintings in the imperial palace.
It was painted by dipping and pressing the tip of the brush, an artistic technique not often used in Asha.
“Was it painted by someone famous?”
Stella asked, pointing to the provenance on the paperwork.
“It was sent by the Duchess of Lahedel of Ethesta. It’s a gift from one of Ethesta’s highest noble families, so it must be quite valuable in that country, though it’s a bit odd that the artist is anonymous.”
I eyed the painting of favia once more.
Paintings were the ultimate luxury item, one that had little practical use but could be used to showcase the noble hobbies of wealthy nobles.
“Shall we take this one then?”
“The Rahedel family of Etherstar has close ties to the Asha imperial family, and the current Duchess of Rahedel was very close to the previous Empress, so I think you should keep the gift she sent you.”
I nodded helplessly and turned my attention to the other items. Stella, too, scanned the storage room with wide eyes, and then exclaimed with delight.
“What about this?”
It was a fan sent by Baron Feldman’s daughter on Lethenia’s birthday. At the time, I had ignored it, but now I realized that the image on the fan was also a favia.
I wonder if it’s fashionable among the nobility to draw favia.
In any case, it didn’t seem to be a problem, as I had no relationship with Baron Feldman and was not involved in a sensitive relationship. Besides, Rosetin had said she liked favias.
Recalling our conversation at Vanessa’s Palace, it seemed like an appropriate gift that wouldn’t go against her tastes.
“This should be Rosetin’s gift.”
