While I was lost in my own thoughts, Colin walked up to me and gave me a belated greeting. His expression was noticeably dim. It may be due to the unpleasant conversation he had with Rosetin, who had aristocratic ideals.
“I greet Her Majesty the Empress.”
“Sit down.”
Even after Rosetin disappeared, the awkward air remained. He took a light deep breath, as if to forget his conversation with Rosetin a moment ago.
His eyes resembling the clear sky looked more serious than ever. He opened his mouth as if he had made up his mind.
“The first article will be published later this month.”
It was the answer I expected. I handed him the materials I had prepared. With a sharp gaze he quickly scanned it.
“I see it’s about Baron Tulouf notorious for his cruel treatment of commoners.”
“It seems like you already know about him.”
“It’s our newspaper’s job to expose injustice, and Baron Tulouf is notorious even among the nobility. I’m sure there are more than a few people who have died unjustly at his hands.”
“I know. He’s a truly despicable man.”
“Much to my regret, there are a lot of nobles like Baron Tulouf in Asha.”
Colin’s benevolent features suddenly turned sharp. His voice seemed to have thorns, like the tip of a pen.
Then he opened his mouth carefully with a slightly wary eye.
“By the way, Your Majesty……, he is Duke Bledel’s man.”
Whatever relationship he had with the Duke of Bledel was none of my business, but something seemed to bother Colin. In the first place, I instructed Stella not to care about who the target was, but to investigate only provocative scandals unconditionally.
However, after completing the investigation, Duke Bledel was at the top of the vicious nobles who bullied the powerless.
“As I said before, my father and I are different. In the future, the people targeted in our articles will mainly be those associated with House Bledel.”
I spoke in a more powerful tone to reassure him. From a political perspective, to gain public support, the Emperor and his people needed to implement policies that stabilized the lives of commoners.
For the sake of reform and to increase their power, they had to confront the opposition, which inevitably meant taking action against the privileged nobles.
On the other hand, the vested interests of the Duke’s faction, backed by Bledel’s authority, had long squeezed the blood of the people for their own gain.
As the people’s dissatisfaction matched the interests of the emperor’s faction, the political flow of Asha was already changing. However, those nobles were so intoxicated by the sweetness of power that they couldn’t see what lay just one step ahead.
“Well, I’ve watched with disgust as such a man has taken advantage of innocent people. It seems you and I are both looking in the same direction, though our goals are different.”
The evils committed by the nobility against the powerless in Asha were beyond imagination.
Colin’s face, which had always been suspicious, turned soft. Looking into his eyes, I told him a few things he should keep in mind.
“All articles should be published under a pseudonym. If you mention names directly, you’ll get caught up in a nasty dispatch, but I want you to be specific enough to make sure they know who you’re talking about.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“There are plenty of provocative stories about Baron Tulouf. Publish multiple articles gradually, increasing the intensity. Eventually, the pressure will become too much for him, and he’ll come to us himself.”
I glanced at him, who nodded slightly. It bothered me that someone who was doing righteous things for the country was being asked to cover the sordid scandals of the nobility.
The reputation he’d built for the paper and his pride as an upstanding journalist could be destroyed.
Even though it was a contractual relationship that served a mutual purpose, there was a nagging feeling of discomfort in the back of my mind.
“It’s funny that I’m saying this, but I hope you don’t think that writing something like…… makes you a less than honorable journalist.”
“…….”
“You care about Asha more than anyone I’ve ever known. To the point where I am ashamed as an empress.”
Colin was silent for a moment, then spoke.
“I will never consider myself less than honorable unless I abandon my convictions, and if this leads to more things I can do for my people in the future, then that is enough.”
For the first time, a gentle smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. Seeing him smile so unguardedly made him seem so much more virtuous than when he was expressionless.
It was as if an invisible wall had been broken down a little, and I felt more relaxed than when we first met, so I also smiled softly.
*****
To briefly forget the complicated emotions caused by Rosetin, I headed to where Casey was. Once again, Casey jumped at the sight of me and ran into my arms.
As I picked her up, her soft fur tickled my face. It had been a while since I started taking care of her, but she was still small and light. It was strange no matter how I looked at it.
Wondering if something was wrong, I asked the wolf’s caretaker about her health.
“I’ve never seen anything like this before, so I’m not sure, but…… I think she was born with a genetic disease.”
The wolf caretaker also seemed to have questions about Casey’s stunted development.
“A genetic…… disease, does that mean Casey won’t live long?”
“Based on my experience caring for various livestock, young animals with poor growth like this tend to have weaker immunity and frequent illnesses, leading to a shorter lifespan, but…”
My heart sank at those words. My face darkened rapidly, and the wolf caretaker spoke quickly, looking alarmed.
“I was talking about a general case. Other than being a little small, Casey is very healthy, so there shouldn’t be anything wrong.”
I let out a deep sigh without realizing it. I gently petted Casey’s head, and he responded by licking my chin. I just hoped she would grow up healthy.
Then Casey poked his tongue and licked my chin. I wish she could grow up healthy
As if he had read my disturbed mind, Casey dug into my arms and wagged his tail gently. Just then, I noticed Stella approaching at a slightly faster pace after a quick trip to the bathroom.
Up close, her face was slightly reminiscent, her eyes twinkling like stars as if she spotted something interesting.
The look in her eyes told me she had something important to say. I handed Casey over to the wolf keeper and followed Stella to the greenhouses at the back of Vanessa Palace.
Stella and I were the only ones in the deserted Vanessa Palace greenhouse, but she spoke softly, her voice only audible at close range.
“Maybe things will work out.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, Henry Child has had a few lovers over the years, and one of them was…… the Duchess of Bledel.”
It was news about the fortune teller Henry Child, whom Stella was investigating. I had anticipated it would not be too difficult to find a connection between him and Rachel.
The fortune teller had been associated with so many noble women and was a celebrity in his own world, and it would be impossible for him not to know Rachel, who was one of his best patrons among his lovers.
However, the fact that he had been in Rachel’s company for such a long time surprised me. I thought things might be easier than I had imagined.
“The Duchess of Bledel’s involvement was a surprise to me. My father told me that the Priodos organization had tried to dig up information on the Bledel family a long time ago, and in the process, they dug up the Duchess of Bledel as well, but nothing came up.”
“And?”
“Well, now that I’ve been following Henry Child this time, I think I know why they haven’t found any leads.”
One corner of Stella’s mouth turned upward.
“Because he’s…… going in and out of the mansion disguised as a woman.”
“A disguise?”
My eyes widened at Stella’s unexpected words. I couldn’t believe Rachel would go to such lengths to hide the existence of her lover.
She wasn’t an ordinary woman after all…
“I was so surprised at first that I was speechless.”
“I can’t believe no one suspected it all these years…….”
“She must have used a magical artifact called the Dawn’s Sunset, which can change gender while you have it on your body.”
“If that’s true, then it’s as good as a face mask, isn’t it?”
“Of course, his original features are still there, so if a robust man used them and walked around, it would be awkward for anyone to see. As you know, the man’s appearance was quite dashing, enough to make even Her Majesty the Empress raise an eyebrow.”
Her words reminded me of a portrait of Henry Child. For some reason, his eyes exuded allure, and his fine features made it impossible to distinguish his gender.
There was a separate reason why he was especially popular among the ladies who were restrained by their husbands. A magical artifact that hides his gender.
For secret rendezvous with their lover away from prying eyes, nothing could be more convenient.
However, Stella claimed that the “dawn’s sunset” was a difficult thing for a simple fortune teller to obtain.
The names of numerous nobles related to him passed by in my head. Among them, Duchess Rachel Bledel was the only one who could wield the greatest power and get as many magical artifacts as possible.
I shot Stella a curious glance and opened my mouth.
“I need to find out more about the history of that magical artifact.”
