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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: A Secret Meeting
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While the carriage bearing the Daphne family crest made its way to the ducal estate, Enoch was facing a pair of colorless eyes that looked just like his own.
Completely unaware of what Riana had been thinking.
“What brings you here?”
“……”
As he stood there, offering no answer, the former emperor turned away without a second thought.
“If you have nothing to say, then leave. Otherwise, come in.”
“Father.”
Watching the back of the man, whose impressive build belied the fact that he had a grown son, Enoch clenched his fists.
*Squeak.*
The leather of his gloves ground together, making a grating sound.
“The day my power first went berserk, why did you go to the temple?”
“Is there any reason I must tell you that?”
“I knew you would say that. Then allow me to rephrase the question.”
His gaze fixed on the former emperor's expressionless face as he turned back, Enoch slowly began to speak.
“Was it you, Father?”
“Your habit of speaking incoherently is as present as ever. Stop beating around the bush and get to the point—”
“I am asking if you were the one who tampered with the manifestation records of the Little Marquess and the Duke's Daughter.”
***
“Hmm. I don't see Elisha.”
Surveying the lavishly decorated hallway of the ducal estate, I stood on my tiptoes.
For a charity event, everyone was certainly dressed to the nines.
Finding Elisha was no easy task with all the flowing dresses and elaborate hairpieces.
After weaving through the bustling crowd on my tiptoes, I patted my legs and sat down on a nearby chair.
“Why isn't the host showing up?”
Just as I thought I should probably check somewhere else and stood up,
“Oh my, did you see?”
Two women with flushed, excited faces came around the corner.
“Of course! Goodness, what kind of relationship do they have to be meeting so secretly? They looked quite close.”
Their effusive voices naturally made me lean in the direction of the sound.
“I never imagined the Duke's Daughter was close with him.”
“Shh. We must be careful. You can't speak of such things carelessly.”
The two women, who had appeared in a flash, disappeared just as quickly back into the crowd.
Listening blankly to their exchange, I turned in the direction they had come from.
“Is Elisha over there?”
But they said she was with someone…
“...Well, let's go find out!”
***
“Left? No, was it right?”
Contrary to my bold determination from a few minutes ago, my head was now whipping back and forth.
“How can one mansion be so big and complicated! I wonder if I can even find my way back.”
I had only turned a few more corners, but the scenery around me had changed completely.
“Hmm… did I take a wrong turn? I should go that way— Aah!”
A short scream escaped my lips as I turned, thinking the path was unused.
I had been moving carelessly without looking and walked right into a pillar, smacking my nose.
“Ugh… that hurts…”
I had hit it so hard that a small smudge was left on the ivory-colored pillar.
As I clutched my stinging nose and wiped off the makeup I’d left on the pillar, a mumbling sound drifted on the wind.
“The power… the plan…”
“Huh? That’s Elisha’s voice.”
Thankfully, it seemed I hadn’t strayed completely off course.
Having finally found a trace of Elisha, I perked up my ears, listening intently.
“Where is it coming from?”
Cupping a hand to my ear, I scanned my surroundings, and my eyes landed on a room at the end of the hall.
The door, though somewhat familiar, seemed out of place in the opulent ducal estate.
From beyond that door, which hadn't been fully closed, another familiar voice flowed out.
“You should have just stayed put… causing trouble…”
‘Karhel? What is Karhel doing here…?’
Startled by the appearance of someone I hadn't expected, I took a step to get closer, then froze with only the ball of my foot on the ground.
‘No, wait. I can’t go like this.’
A floor of expensive stone stretched to the room where the voices were coming from.
It was fine where I was standing now on the grass, but…
The surroundings were so quiet that if I walked without thinking, the click of my high heels on the stone floor would surely echo throughout the entire hallway.
I might as well announce my presence to the world.
Gazing down at my crystal-adorned shoes, I bent over.
I slipped off the shoes Dane had so carefully prepared for me, held them in my arms, and tiptoed forward. My jaw dropped.
‘Ugh, it’s cold.’
The sensation from the stone floor, which had absorbed the chill of the air, was sharper than I expected.
Instead of making a fuss, I hugged my shoes tighter and approached the door, where I could see something like the back of Elisha’s head inside.
I couldn't be sure because of the dim, reddish light.
*Rustle.*
“!”
Startled by the sound of leaves rustling in the wind, my body stumbled over the threshold.
I hadn’t intended to enter the room, so I tried to step back out, but the conversation between the two held me rooted to the spot.
“Still, it’s a relief Father came back sooner than expected.”
“That’s all thanks to me.”
“Don’t be so smug. You got something out of it, too.”
“What’s so great about getting a few extra coins for a contract fee? My lady, what’s more important is that I was annoyed.”
‘What in the world is this…’
This was a conversation far more secretive and dangerous than a simple tryst.
“To get your own feet tied up in a scheme designed to tie the Emperor’s feet. Has there ever been a more foolish case? Tsk.”
Tying up the Emperor’s feet on the battlefield…
‘Then, in the original story, the way they weakened the Emperor’s authority while Enoch was away at war…’
It wasn’t that they had seized a coincidental opportunity—they had created that opportunity themselves.
My pupils dilated as I tracked the figures of Elisha and Karhel in the darkness with narrowed eyes.
Something was strange. The voice was definitely Karhel’s.
‘But why… is his hair a different color?’
Spotting his profile not far away, I rubbed my eyes, then squeezed them shut and opened them again.
Just in case I had seen something wrong.
But no matter how many times I looked, his softly curling hair was not the dark brown I was used to.
It was hard to be certain in the dark, but…
‘Pink…? Is it the light?’
Yes. The hair of the man standing in the darkness was close to pink.
Wondering if the reddish glow in the room was tricking my eyes, I moved to get a better look, when—
*Clatter.*
My elbow must have hit something I hadn't noticed, and the sound echoed through the room.
“Hmph!”
Not missing even that small sound, Karhel’s head snapped in my direction, and I ducked down just in the nick of time.
‘First, I need to get out of here…!’
Fortunately, the door was right behind me, so leaving the room shouldn’t be too difficult.
My eyelashes trembled as I mentally retraced my steps, planning where to hide as soon as I got out.
The door—the very door that had been open behind me just a moment ago—was gone, as if it had never been there.
‘Are you kidding me?’
Even in a world where magic was rampant, how could something as big as a door just suddenly disappear?
‘Oh, maybe the wind blew it shut.’
I didn't think I'd heard it close, but that was still more plausible than the door vanishing into thin air.
So I fumbled around where the door should have been, trying to find a handle, but my hands only met a rough, uneven wall.
“Well, now. It seems we’re not alone.”
In that time, the soft patter of footsteps drew nearer.
“Does the ducal house of the Empire raise mice, too? Squeak? Squeak squeak?”
‘…Why is that man really like this?’
How could he be so consistently strange?
Hearing his chuckling voice mimicking a mouse, I gave up on finding the door and duck-walked behind a shape that looked like a shelf.
“Little mouse, where are you? Come on out. You have to play with me.”
I had no idea what he found so amusing, but his voice rose as if he were singing. I grimaced and pressed my temples.
‘Am I crazy? As if I’d play with you. Okay, think. Just think. How do I get out of here…?’
Whatever happened, I had to make sure that man didn't catch me. As I pondered a way to escape,
A calm, low voice suddenly echoed in my head.
/[“If anything should happen tomorrow, use the necklace to call me.”]/
‘That’s right, the necklace Enoch gave me!’
My eyes sparkled as I recalled the existence of the necklace I had momentarily forgotten in my panic.
I had never used it before, but Enoch had definitely said it was enchanted with teleportation magic.
If I used it, I should be able to escape this place easily.
‘He said if I activate the magic, I’ll be teleported to where he is, right? Do I press here?’
Relying on my sense of touch, I searched for the button on the back of the pendant. Just then, my other hand, which was braced on the floor, brushed against something.
“?”
My gaze fell to the faint warmth I felt in my palm, and I almost threw the object away.
After all, what I had inadvertently picked up was Elisha’s ring.
‘Oh, honestly. One thing after another.’
Why was this here, too?
I should have kept my legs steady in the first place so I wouldn't have come in here at all.
I cursed my past self’s legs for giving out at the sound of the wind, and I squeezed my eyes shut.
I braced myself for the unpleasant sensation of my strength draining away, leaving me unable to move a finger.
“?”
I was hoping it would be over quickly so I could escape, but contrary to my expectations, I felt no change in my body.
The only thing I felt was a slight warmth from the small gem in my hand.
Sensing something was off, I opened my eyes. My vision, now somewhat accustomed to the dark, had become a little clearer.
‘…This isn't the ring Elisha was wearing, is it? There’s more than one of these?’
Looking closely, I saw that the gem in my hand was only the same shape as the one on Elisha’s ring; it was a different stone.
This one’s color was deeper and more vivid.
Thinking back, whenever I felt my strength drain, the color of the ring Elisha wore had been faint.
But the gem in my hand now glowed with a vivid red color, as if it were already filled to the brim with power.
Was that why? Was that why it felt different?
“Let’s see, could she be here?”
“!”
Snapping out of my thoughts at Karhel’s voice, which was now much closer, I hastily shoved the gem into my sleeve.
And just as a hand reached out right next to my face, accompanied by a sinister laugh,
‘I got it…!’
I activated the teleportation magic on the pendant.
‘Ah. But where exactly does this take me?’
Did he mean I'd go somewhere near him? Or right next to him?
As I felt myself being pulled away, a belated worry crossed my mind.
A split second later, Karhel's voice echoed from a distance as he poked his head into the space I had just occupied.
“What the. She's not here?”
