Chapter 020
I quickly moved to the Grand Duchess’s wardrobe.
It was still quiet, perhaps because she hadn’t arrived yet.
Carefully, I stepped out of the room and checked my surroundings. In the distance, I saw the Grand Duchess. She was heading into a nearby parlor, so I hurried to slip in through the door before it closed.
“This matter needs to be settled here and now,” she said.
“Mother!”
“What other choice do we have? The fact that the prince’s belongings were found in that servant’s room proves he was blinded by greed and ruined everything.”
The Grand Duchess clicked her tongue in disapproval.
“If the prince asks to deal with the servant himself, the situation will be out of our control. I need to handle it before that happens.”
If the servant ended up in the prince’s custody, it would expose Delani’s schemes.
The Grand Duchess planned to silence the servant before that could happen.
Somerset nervously shook his legs, making an irritating tapping sound.
Annoyed, I frowned, but it seemed the Grand Duchess didn’t like his behavior either.
“Somerset, a future head of the family must learn to control and hide their emotions. This isn’t a good look. You should fix that,” she scolded.
“But Mother! It’s clear the prince favors Dedrick! There’s no way I can align with the illegitimate child—”
“The prince liking Dedrickk doesn’t mean he’ll make him a Grand Duke. Everything depends on political interests, not friendship or affection,” she said soothingly.
“This time, luck wasn’t on our side, but there will be other chances.”
“Do you think Dedrickk was behind this?”
“No, that boy didn’t do it.”
“But the servant keeps insisting he’s innocent!”
“People like him always say they’re innocent. Don’t worry about it.”
The Grand Duchess’s calm demeanor finally let me breathe a sigh of relief.
She didn’t suspect Dedrickk.
Given how he trembled in her presence, it was no surprise she couldn’t imagine him doing anything daring.
Her prejudice worked in my favor, though I wasn’t sure how long that would last.
For now, I could relax a little.
“Somerset, if you become the successor, the prince will naturally support you. Whether or not he likes you doesn’t matter.”
“Yes? But I thought I should work harder to please him…”
“I was thinking of getting closer to the Empress, but there will be many opportunities.”
“I should have tried harder… Sorry, mother.”
The Grand Duchess smiled kindly at her apologetic son.
“Somerset, there’s no need to apologize. Just continue as you are. I’ll take care of everything else. If it comes to it, even dealing with a concubine wouldn’t be out of the question.”
“But Mother!”
Somerset cried out in horror, making Delani look at him fondly as if he were endearing.
“Yes, I’d rather not associate with such lowly women either. But we can’t ignore the Emperor’s favor entirely.”
That much was true.
However, the current power in the palace leaned more toward the Empress than the Emperor.
The Emperor was much like Somerset in nature—easily swayed and indecisive.
“We can’t keep bowing to the Empress forever. We have plenty of cards to play, and we just need to choose the right one.”
Somerset reluctantly nodded but then asked, confused,
“Mother, couldn’t you meet with the Empress directly instead of going through the Second Prince?”
“The Empress doesn’t like me much,” Delani admitted.
As she said, the relationship between the Empress and the Grand Duchess wasn’t good.
When they were younger, both women were the most noble in the empire, so they clashed frequently.
But that was in the past.
Now, the Grand Duchess sought to build a connection with the Empress to secure power for Somerset.
‘In the original novel, she succeeded.’
But not this time.
Once Perez returned to the palace, he’d tell his mother everything.
The Empress, who already disliked Delani, would completely cut ties with her over this incident.
“What will you do with the servant?”
“The usual, of course. Before he can fall into the prince’s hands…”
The Grand Duchess’s lips curled into a soft smile.
“Charge him with another crime and have him executed immediately.”
“Yes, madam.”
Hmm… I rubbed my chin thoughtfully.
Killing him was the easiest way to silence him.
The servant was fated to die at Delani’s hands anyway, but still…
‘The only downside is killing him too quickly.’
If the prince had interrogated him, he’d see Delani’s true colors firsthand.
And he wouldn’t overlook a crime as bold as stealing from the prince.
But if they killed him now…
‘What if I secretly helped the servant escape?’
But then I shook my head.
If I let the servant go, he might run away, but he would never go to the Crown Prince on his own.
‘It’s unfortunate, but I’ll have to be satisfied with this.’
I didn’t feel sorry for the servant.
He had tormented Dedrickk and even stolen the prince’s belongings to frame him, all on the Grand Duchess’s orders.
Why else would the duchess choose him?
Because he enjoyed bullying Dedrick and was willing to do anything for money.
‘He brought this on himself.’
I quietly followed behind Gemma as she left the parlor.
I needed to inform Dedrick of everything as soon as possible.
Two days had passed since the theft incident.
The Duchess sent her regrets to the Crown Prince, explaining that the servant had committed too many crimes and even attacked a knight, leaving her no choice but to execute him on the spot.
She even pretended to feel bad, saying that if she had known Perez wanted to take charge of the servant, she would have tried to keep him alive somehow.
As an apology, she sent an expensive jewel as a gift to Perez, but he politely declined.
Instead, Perez subtly mentioned that Dedrick didn’t have a proper outfit for formal events. The Duchess, eager to make a show of things, sent Dedrick a splendid outfit as a gift.
“You’ve got a great friend,” I said with satisfaction.
Seeing me praise Perez, Dedrick frowned and turned away. Perez looked at him, puzzled.
“Dedrick?”
“It’s nothing. By the way, when are you leaving?”
“Haha, are you saying you want me to leave soon?”
“Well, it does feel like you’ve stayed a bit long.”
Since the theft incident, Dedrick and Perez had grown close surprisingly fast.
I thought Dedrick might feel awkward around his first real friend, but he seemed unexpectedly comfortable with the Crown Prince.
Even now, he was so blunt that most people would find it offensive, but Perez didn’t seem to mind.
In fact, Perez had a habit of liking people once he got close to them, no matter what they did. Just look at how he was smiling happily now. He even seemed to enjoy Dedrick’s honest personality.
It was the same in the novel. After they became friends, Perez was always the one to approach Dedrick, even when Dedrick acted coldly. That’s just how charming Perez, the easygoing second lead, was.
Knock, knock.
“Your Highness, the Empress has sent a message.”
“She must be contacting me because I’ve been away too long,” Perez said with an awkward smile as he stood up.
“I’ll be back shortly.”
“Take your time.”
“When you say that, it makes me want to come back quickly.”
With a hearty laugh, Perez stepped out of the room.
Dedrick let out a deep sigh and lightly bumped his head on the table.
“What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”
When I gently touched his head, Dedrick grabbed my wrist. He turned his face toward me, pouting with frustration.
“We’re finally alone…”
“Well, we’ll be much more alone in the future.”
“…That’s true, but still.”
I stood up and sat in front of his desk.
“Still, it’s a bit disappointing. I was making good progress on my studies.”
“Should I teach you a bit now?”
“Do you know when he’ll be back?”
“Even just one word.”
Dedrick pulled out a notebook from the side, and something slipped out.
I quickly caught the fluttering piece of paper as it fell in front of me.
“Look! I caught it!”
How’s that for reflexes?
But what’s this? There’s so much written on it.
I focused on the dense text covering the paper and tried to read it.
“What is this? Lil… Lian? No, Liliana?”
