Chapter 99
After carefully observing the necklaces, one in particular caught my eye.
It was a necklace with a golden frame that matched his blond hair, embedded with a brilliant yellow gemstone that looked like the sun.
“What kind of gemstone is this?”
“This is a yellow sapphire, a type of sapphire.”
“It’s beautiful!”
I made up my mind.
“I’ll take this one too. Please wrap them all nicely since they’re gifts!”
My pockets quickly became lighter, but my heart felt full. We disappeared again, and he opened the door leading to the sanctuary.
Once we arrived at the sanctuary, I secretly placed the gift for Dedrick next to Yggdrasil.
“It would be nice if you could give it a little blessing.”
Yggdrasil swayed its branches as if smiling and lightly touched the three small boxes. A white light shimmered and seeped into them.
“Thank you!”
I gave Yggdrasil a big kiss.
“What… what are you doing?!”
Novembris looked flustered, but I just grinned.
“Yggdrasil has nothing, so I’m giving my kiss as a gift.”
The World Tree gently brushed my cheek with its leaves as if finding me adorable.
Now, it was time to give Novembris his gift.
I picked up the box containing the necklace and approached him, despite his reluctant expression.
“You’re probably the only person in the world who would kiss the great Yggdrasil.”
“Well, probably. No humans can come here anyway.”
He was at a loss for words and stammered. I stared at him.
“Hm, Bris. Your neck is quite nice.”
“W-What…!”
He instinctively covered his neck and took a step back.
“Doesn’t it feel a bit empty?”
“Not at all. I hate having anything on me.”
“Oh… really?”
Did he hate it that much?
‘Maybe I should have asked first.’
I fiddled with the box. But I couldn’t just not give it to him. I already bought it, so I should at least try.
I never expected him to wear it anyway, so I smiled and handed him the small box.
“I actually bought this necklace for you. But if you really don’t like it, we can exchange it. I guess surprise gifts aren’t always a good idea. I didn’t know your taste. Sorry.”
“…What?”
“Should we go exchange it now?”
“No…”
He looked utterly confused as he asked me,
“You bought a necklace… for me?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“What do you mean, why? Because I’m grateful. Even though I was being selfish, wanting to help Didi, you didn’t complain and just helped.”
“……”
“Thanks to you, I’m recovering well, I’m not bored, and I’m having fun. So, I wanted to give you a gift.”
“Oh…”
“But I really didn’t know you didn’t like necklaces. Should we go exchange it now—”
“No!”
Whoa!
He suddenly raised his voice and snatched the box from my hands.
“I’ll just take it since you’re giving it to me.”
“Bris, you’re so kind.”
I stood on my toes and ruffled his hair.
He looked awkward but didn’t move away. It seemed like he didn’t completely hate physical contact anymore.
“…Thank you.”
“No problem. I should be the one thanking you.”
I wanted to tease him for actually saying thank you, but I knew that if I did, he would never say it again. So, I replied sincerely.
Seeing the slight smile on his lips reassured me that he liked the gift.
But I couldn’t resist one last tease.
“Just so you know, don’t develop any romantic feelings for me. I’m only for Didi.”
As expected, Novembris turned pale and shouted,
“What?! Who would even think that about you?!”
Well, Didi does.
Late at night, Dedrick arrived at his room and, as usual, picked up the blue envelope left on his desk.
[Delani Blackwood’s Weakness.]
Dedrick stared at it for a moment before pulling out a thick document from his bag. It was a ‘one-year record’ stamped with the duke and duchess’s seals.
In noble families, it was mandatory to have a scribe who recorded everything that happened for future generations and history.
Only the truth.
Even the family head couldn’t tamper with these records.
And now, that record was in Dedrick’s hands.
He read through it carefully until he stopped at one page.
[Arnold Ectherus visited Delani Blackwood’s room late at night.]
‘So, it was true.’
He had set this matter aside due to a lack of evidence…
“The records in the ducal estate must be fake, then.”
The real truth was written here.
It was obvious who had tampered with the records.
The duchess and Arnold.
As if that wasn’t enough, they had even killed the scribe who wrote the original record.
If this came to light, they wouldn’t just lose their noble titles.
They had essentially rewritten history.
“Boss! What are you doing? Come down!”
“……”
“Huh? Oh, another letter?”
Milos approached and peeked at the document. His eyes widened.
“This… This is about Arnold Ectherus!”
Milos let out a sharp breath.
“So that’s why there were no records about him! They covered everything up!”
Then, he tilted his head in confusion.
“But why did the duke ignore this? If he exposed it, he could have protected you better.”
Dedrick closed the record and replied calmly.
“Maybe he didn’t want to.”
Milos glanced at him and cautiously asked,
“…Are you going to look into why?”
“Do I need to?”
Dedrick handed him the document completely and said,
“If I can use this to threaten Delani Blackwood, that’s enough. I don’t need to know every little detail.”
With his cold blue eyes, he added,
“The truth in front of me is what matters.”
“What about Arnold?”
“He’s joining the Black Hawks.”
Milos was shocked and immediately objected.
“Are you crazy?! He’s not even skilled! No way!”
“I’m not going through all this trouble just to cut off the duchess’s head.”
“……”
“There are plenty of ways to bring them down instantly.”
Even so, taking the long way around like this was necessary—because just that much wouldn’t be enough punishment.
I had to make her suffer more than me while she was still alive.
“There is no better way to gradually tighten the Grand Duchess’s leash than this. After the Founding Festival, bring her in.
“So, she will be joining as my junior?”
“Does it matter?”
Milos smirked, clearly up to something, and happily left with the documents.
The Founding Festival was one of the biggest spring celebrations.
The streets were lined with dozens of flags bearing the Beatum Empire’s emblem—a sword and an eagle—fluttering in the wind.
The largest banquet hall in the palace was lavishly decorated, as if spring itself had been brought inside. The scent of cherry blossoms filled the air.
Soft music played in the background, blending with the laughter of nobles as they enjoyed the festivities.
As the evening went on, nobles naturally gathered in familiar groups.
Joanna and Ebony were both present, but their parties had long since split.
Joanna completely ignored Ebony, engaging in lively conversations with the nobles surrounding her.
Meanwhile, the nobles on Ebony’s side grumbled at Joanna’s behavior.
“How shameless! Even after Lady Ebony swallowed her pride and apologized, she acts like she doesn’t care!”
“She’s still bitter that Lord Dedrick’s heart turned toward Lady Ebony.”
Ebony smiled awkwardly.
The truth was, she had completely misunderstood Dedrick’s feelings. But the embarrassment of it all kept her from telling anyone the truth.
As Dedrick had not bothered to provide any clarification, the rumors had simply been taken for granted.
Not that he had time to waste on such nonsense anyway.
Because of that, the nobles still believed Dedrick had feelings for Ebony.
Ebony simply smiled and tried to ease the situation.
“Don’t be too harsh. Joanna really liked Lord Dedrick, after all.”
“…My lady,” whispered Sohe, trying to caution her.
Ebony tilted her head, looking genuinely confused. What’s wrong? It’s true.
Seeing her innocent expression, Sohe could only open and close her mouth helplessly.
The other ladies around them immediately jumped in.
“They say she even broke off her engagement with Prince Somerset because of Lord Dedrick!”
“I heard her family is struggling because of her…”
“That’s nonsense.”
Joanna suddenly cut in, flashing a dazzling smile.
Even as her cold gaze met Ebony’s, Ebony cheerfully greeted her.
“Joanna!”
But Joanna ignored her and spoke instead.
“Prince Somerset’s behavior was unacceptable. My parents and I decided to cut him off.”
Her words were blunt and direct.
Some nobles nervously glanced toward the Grand Duchess in the distance, but Joanna didn’t care.
She was certain that Somerset would never become the next Grand Duke of Blackwood.
‘His brother Axel, maybe.
But that idiot? Never.’
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• ❁ • ❁ • ❁ •By Freya• ❁ • ❁ • ❁ •
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Advance chapters of this novel are available on my kofi channel
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oh i almost forgot of that stupid ebony, why is she still alive?