Julia fell ill. Lying in bed, she tossed and turned, racking her brain, and when fever rose, she called any maid to find fault and vent her anger.

Knight Henry, who had been to the palace, reported that the sisters Lena and Mina had stolen jewelry from a maid from Tane and fled, now being pursued by the guard.

So the two had worked together to disappear from White Palace without a trace. Julia gritted her teeth and shuddered with a sense of betrayal.

“Have they gone mad? I could have given them as much money as they wanted.”

It would be a problem if the imperial guard found them. The mere thought of them confessing everything as Julia’s orders made her tremble.

She instructed Henry to thoroughly search and investigate the hospital where Lena’s mother Viscountess Vizer was staying, the neighbors in Oro Alley, and Mina’s boyfriend who had gotten a job at the Mathis Trading Company.

Julia glared at the maid who was polishing the rose-patterned mirror hanging on the bedroom wall.

“You there!”

The maid’s knees trembled just from being noticed. She immediately went before Julia and knelt down.

“Yes, young lady.”

“Go to Mina’s room and bring every single one of her belongings here.”

The maid, as if her legs had gone weak, backed away on her knees and only stood up at the door, quickly leaving Julia’s bedroom.

Julia collapsed back onto the bed. She buried her face in the pillow and swallowed her anger. She recalled Duke Parse’s request to her father in the duke’s secret passage. Duke Parse and Empress Pamila’s plan was to assassinate the crown prince.

Compared to Empress Pamila, she had been too naive and childish. She had only thought of using contraceptive pills and sleeping powder to lower dignity.

Julia didn’t care who plotted rebellion to eliminate whom or assassinate the empress.

Now, there was only one person in the world Julia was obsessed with and cared about. The death of Patricia Calian Evas, the woman who had seduced and stolen her longtime lover, Harchen.

Knock, knock, knock.

Following a cautious knocking sound, a maid entered carrying a large wooden box. Julia glared at the maid.

“How dare you bring that filthy thing here. Leave it in the reception room and get out.”

“Yes, young lady.”

The maid quickly went out to the reception room next to the bedroom. Julia pulled the bell rope. The maid who had just left entered.

“Come and tie my hair.”

The maid brought a comb from the console and touched Julia’s hair while combing it. Julia suddenly turned around.

“You! Did you wash your hands? What are you doing touching me with hands that touched that dirty thing?”

At the same time, Julia’s fan struck the maid’s cheek. The crisp sound of slap, slap, slap cleared Julia’s chest.

“Take that comb and get out.”

“Thank you, young lady.”

The maid clutched the comb more than her swollen cheek and scurried out of the bedroom. The swollen and wounded cheek would subside in a few days.

Thanks to this, she had obtained a comb inlaid with real diamonds, not cubic zirconia. If she sold it, it would fetch quite a sum, more than three months of a maid’s salary.

“How pathetic. Grateful even after being hit.”

Julia left the bedroom. In the reception room was the box of Mina’s belongings that the maid had brought from Mina’s room.

Julia put on bright pink leather gloves from the table and then poked through the box with the tip of her fan. Finding a letter, Julia sat on the sofa and unfolded it.

The letter was from Mina’s girlfriend. It said she was working at a restaurant for workers at the Kaosan mine.

“How squalid. But, Kaosan mine?”

Mina’s boyfriend. His name was…..

She couldn’t remember his name.

Based only on Mina’s words, she had thought he was the one who controlled Oro Alley and agreed to write a letter of recommendation for him to the Mathis Trading Company, which was in charge of Kaosan mining.

When he came to receive the recommendation letter, he was startled by Julia’s question asking if he was the boss of Oro Alley.

“How dare you mistake me for the White Arrow chief, I am not.”

“White Arrow chief? His name?”

“Bark. He’s a Heun clan hunter. He’s old man Chen’s grandson.”

“Heun clan hunter.”

At that time, Julia had let it slide.

Rising from the sofa, Julia smiled brightly. She pulled the bell rope and told the maid to send in Knight Henry. The knight immediately entered the reception room and bent his arm.

“Sir. Have you found the Vizer sisters?”

“I’ve sent men to the hospital, Oro Alley, and around Kaosan mine as you instructed.”

“Hmm, we must hurry. We need to find them before the imperial guard does. Sir, do you know about the Heun clan hunters?”

“I’ve heard of them but never met one.”

“Tell me what you know.”

Henry spoke about the Heun clan hunters he had heard of in rumors.

“That, the one called chief in Oro Alley, do you know of him?”

“It’s Bark. He’s famous for his white arrow.”

Bark was raised by his grandfather, old man Chen, who runs an apothecary in Oro Alley, but when he became a boy, he went deep into the Roche Mountains on his own to become a Heun clan hunter.

He handles white arrow poison, but it’s for hunting and not aimed at humans. However, there was one time he broke this rule.

He lent a hand to the 3rd prince in the political upheaval of the Marcus Kingdom, which was beginning to seize power on the Arkan continent.

With their help, the 3rd prince defeated the 2nd prince and crown prince’s factions in just ten days and usurped the throne. In particular, the 2nd prince had received support from Emperor Kazan of Tane, the war maniac, and 20,000 soldiers.

At that time, the exploits of nine Heun clan hunters remained legendary on the Arkan continent.

“Poison arrows. How splendid.”

Julia ordered her maid to prepare a carriage. She went back and forth between the reception room and bedroom, opening her jewelry box and the chest filled with gold bullion.

She touched her hands and neck. She pondered the prices of necklaces, rings and bracelets, and gold bullion while scratching her forehead.

While getting contraceptive pills and sleeping powder from old man Chen through Mina, she had offered five times, ten times more money for poison herbs.

Old man Chen had angrily refused Julia’s offer and even returned the money for the medicine he had given so far, Mina said. Mina had actually handed over the exact amount Julia had given her.

“Fine. You keep that.”

Crunch. Julia bit her nails.

She held Julia’s hand and pressed her lips to the back of it, moved. Recalling Lena with those clear eyes and calm demeanor made her irritation rise.

She had helped with her mother’s hospital bills and even found a job for her sister Mina’s boyfriend, yet they had betrayed her like this.

‘If I catch them, I’ll tear the skin off their faces.’

She leaned her elbow on the gold bullion chest and stacked the gold bars like bricks while pondering deeply.

‘But a old man who refuses money. What should I do?’

When she heard the maid’s voice saying the carriage was ready, a brilliant idea suddenly occurred to her. Julia raised the corners of her mouth and smiled.

“My lady. Shall I accompany you?”

“Do so.”

Julia ordered the coachman to go to old man Chen’s apothecary in Oro Alley.

The carriage stopped at the dead end of the narrow Oro Alley. Julia told her maid to wait in the carriage.

Julia’s face completely changed as she turned away from the carriage. She smoothed out her expression full of venom and smiled gently. She lowered her sharply upturned eyes.

Julia entered old man Chen’s apothecary with a gloomy expression. Inside the apothecary were an old man who seemed to be Chen and a young man working on some browned tree roots.

They looked up curiously at Julia, dressed as a noble lady who didn’t fit in with Oro Alley.

“This alley is too dangerous for a noble lady to visit, what brings you here, my lady?”

Julia trembled her slender body like an aspen leaf.

“Are you old man Chen? I have an urgent matter to discuss.”

She stood silently for a moment.

“I am Chen.”

“I am Julia, daughter of Duke Leak.”

“Du-Duke Leak’s daughter. Oh my, I didn’t recognize you. To think such an esteemed lady would come to this humble place.”

Chen led the seemingly precious lady to the inner reception room of the apothecary.

“Hans, bring a chair and some warm tea.”

Only after taking a sip of the warm tea brought by Chen’s assistant at his instruction did Julia calm down a little.

Chen sent Hans to organize the warehouse. After the assistant left, Chen sat down in front of Julia.

Julia clasped her bony, thin hands together.

“I came to meet Bark. Please tell me how I can meet him.”

“My lady, I don’t know why you want to meet that rascal, but he’s such a goblin-like fellow that even I don’t know where he is.”

Julia looked at old man Chen briefly with tears welling up in her eyes, then lowered her head.

“Ah, I must meet him.”

“That bastard shows up unannounced when he’s bored.”

Julia murmured in a trembling, low voice.

“I don’t know if I should say this…”

“Please speak freely.”

Julia unfolded the handkerchief she was holding and buried her small face in it.

“I, I think I’m pregnant.”

“My-my lady, how could this be!”

“Previously, my maid Mina got some medicine prescribed here.”

“Yes, Lady Vizer is someone I cherish… But did you perhaps take that medicine, my lady?”

“That’s right. At first, I needed contraceptives. Something happened. Because of that, I was anxious and couldn’t sleep, so I wanted sleeping pills.”

“Ah, I see.”

“A few days ago, I was determined to die and wanted poison herbs, but you refused to give them, I heard.”

“My-my lady. I apologize, but is our Bark involved in this by any chance?”

Julia succeeded in drawing out a dramatic emotion from deep within and shedding tears. Once the tears started flowing, they pitifully wouldn’t stop.

“I decided to gather my courage and meet Bark, him, before I die, so I came here.”

Chen flustered and grabbed Julia’s gloved wrist.

“My lady. To think you’re suffering like this because of that bastard. Please stay strong.”

Chen quickly pressed the wrist he had grabbed to check her pulse.

The lady’s pulse was stable and normal. Fortunately, no other arteries were palpable. She was not pregnant.

Chen was relieved by this fact, but on the other hand, he felt a little disappointed. He had thought Bark’s cold appearance meant he was as cold as glass. But to think he had done this to such a pretty and precious lady like a doll…

Well, well, you can’t hide your bloodline.

Although her status as a high noble was an issue, Chen’s mouth was about to split with joy at the fact that he had met a woman.

Seeing her shed tears as clear as dew, he was determined to bring Bark right away to apologize profusely and clear up the misunderstanding.

“I’ll catch that bastard and bring him here right now.”

“No. Could I borrow some paper and a pen?”

“Of course.”

Julia calmly wrote on the paper with a quill pen in neat handwriting.

「Tomorrow, Epi Street, Etrangère Café. 11 AM. Waiting with an earnest heart. Julia Leak.」

In the meantime, Julia received a package of herbal medicine to boost her body’s energy that Chen had his assistant prepare, and got in her carriage.

That night, Julia secretly took out ten gold bars from the secret safe in the duke’s office.

Julia was devastated by what she had done, but it was already water under the bridge. Recalling that Harchen was on his honeymoon after consummating his marriage made her want to harm even her own body.