Didn't Plan to Become a Companion (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 5
God clearly designated Ricardo as the next emperor through divine revelation. Thus, people predicted the labyrinth map must reside in Ricardo’s mind and believed he would draw it himself.
Once Ricardo—who inherited both bloodline and ability more profoundly than anyone else—married the Saintess, all he needed was to retrieve the chest containing the key from within the labyrinth; the High Temple would unquestionably proclaim him emperor without hesitation. This was even more natural than the sun rising in the east at dawn.
After all, the key within that chest symbolized the imperial family itself.
But there was one thing they did not know: although it was true that Ricardo held the labyrinth map in his mind, it was only after he had manifested the Rochester bloodline’s ability. Therefore, everything would only unfold after Ricardo left the count’s estate.
“Yes, of course. Father, I can do it well.”
Since Count Fennel was playing the benevolent father, it was now my turn to play the obedient daughter.
“Just trust me.”
I smiled brightly while inwardly mocking their foolishness. The emperor’s efforts to gain legitimacy he inherently lacked would inevitably prove futile—and above all else…
The emperor betrays Fennel.
Count Fennel intended to hand over the labyrinth map to Emperor Dermayer to secure great wealth and power, but the emperor, fearing exposure of their conspiracy, would ultimately execute him by beheading.
The man, destined to die soon, left my room wearing an utterly satisfied smile.
After he departed, I exhaled a deep breath and stretched my arms above my head. That boy would leave this count’s household around the time he grew a full head taller than me.
He would ride away in the carriage sent by Duke Rochester’s household, calmly and peacefully….
For now, my only hope lay in the fact that Ricardo would draw the labyrinth map only after that moment.
Having achieved an unexpected success, I personally took a bag and headed toward the East Wing where he lived. Stepping out of the West Wing, I was met with overcast, gloomy weather offering not even a hint of clear sky.
Though it was merely moving from the West Wing to the East Wing, it felt as if I were stepping into a new world where even a single step ahead remained utterly unknown.
It was the desert’s rainy season—the monsoon that lasted precisely one month a year, pouring down as though a hole had opened in the sky.
[This is the timeline separator]I’d already sensed it from the dresses Sabrina wore, but her taste truly never changed. Right now, I sat on a bed that resembled a bouquet of flowers, watching Sabrina frown deeply.
“Is it really so difficult that you have to open and close all ten fingers over and over?”
“Shut up.”
Sabrina, having narrowly escaped a major crisis thanks to my help with her arithmetic homework earlier, had invited me into her room first.
“Can I learn letters today?”
“I told you I’d teach you after you finish all this.”
“So I can’t learn today, then.”
Ever since that day, Sabrina had kept asking me to help with her arithmetic homework under the pretense of eventually teaching her letters.
“If you can’t wait, you solve it all yourself.”
“Sabrina, calculation is important. If you can’t do basic arithmetic, your entire future in mathematics is basically doomed.”
Scowling heavily, she resumed intently opening and closing her fingers. Nearly ten days had already passed since we began studying together. Count Fennel had left the manor again just three days after visiting me.
The writing system wasn’t difficult; aside from a few exceptional readings, I was able to learn most of it quickly. I waited for Sabrina to finish her homework while reading a book she’d borrowed.
“The more I think about it, the more unfair it seems.”
“What is?”
“This book. There weren’t any high-quality books like this in the library I visited last time.”
The content was no different, either.
“Well, that’s just the old library. Honestly, you should be grateful the head butler even took you there.”
“Why? Because I’m a bastard?”
Abruptly, Sabrina froze.
“Well… well, not exactly—I didn’t mean it that badly…”
After spending several days together, she seemed to have grown somewhat attached; she no longer treated me as carelessly as before. The girl who once loudly proclaimed “bastard” to the whole world as if afraid someone might miss it was gone.
I chuckled softly and sprawled out on the bed.
“It’s fine. Being a bastard isn’t some made-up term, and frankly, I’ve no intention of getting hurt over something that isn’t even my fault.”
Before, I hadn’t even understood what the word truly meant. Yet every time I heard “bastard,” my throat would sting as if I’d been caught stealing someone else’s belongings.
“Still, it’s childish to discriminate against people over something as meaningless as books.”
I expected some sharp, sarcastic retort, but for some reason, Sabrina remained silent.
While watching her, I casually asked about Ricardo—the matter I’d been curious about all along.
“But that boy in the East Wing…”
“Oh, the one you fancy?”
“Why do you say it like that?”
My heart leapt, and I shouted louder than usual.
“If you don’t even like him, why did you go in there at all? The East Wing isn’t any better than the West Wing.”
“Well… I was scared of being alone.”
My fabricated excuse sounded convincing enough that Sabrina made no further comment this time either.
“Well, anyway—why doesn’t that boy have a name?”
Sabrina tapped her lips lightly with a high-quality pencil that left no charcoal smudge on her fingers.
“I’m not exactly sure, but he says he can’t remember.”
“He can’t remember?”
Had something happened during Count Fennel’s abduction of Ricardo? If not, then the boy was clearly pretending to have lost his memory. My head ached from the complexity, but I shook off the thought.
I decided it was better to focus on a simple goal whenever problems grew too complicated.
“Well, I don’t know if he truly forgot, but one thing’s certain—he refuses to speak about his past.”
Then Ricardo must be deliberately concealing his identity… Perhaps even Duke Rochester could pose a threat to him.
But fortunately, the Ricardo I’d met again in the empire was unmistakably the heir of the ducal house. That meant he wouldn’t suffer serious harm at the duke’s hands.
“Are you done?”
Having sorted my thoughts somewhat, I sprang up and moved beside her to pick up the test paper. Tsk, not a single correct answer.
“Fractions… fractions are hard.”
“You’re awfully quick to tell me to ‘know my place,’ though.”
Glancing at the time, I realized the private tutor for arithmetic would arrive soon. I hurriedly corrected the answers and explained them, though whether Sabrina understood remained uncertain.
“I deliberately got five wrong. Can’t afford to look suspicious.”
“F-five whole ones?”
Just then, the door burst open without warning, and a stern-looking woman entered. She’d arrived earlier than usual, leaving me no time to slip out. I stepped aside and bowed politely to the tutor.
“Ah, we have a guest.”
Naturally, I waited for Sabrina to introduce me, but not a word came. I glanced sideways and saw her face had turned ghostly pale.
“I am Lienne Loi Pernelle.”
I introduced myself first, and a flicker of surprise crossed the tutor’s face—but it quickly turned to displeasure. A familiar reaction.
No matter what, I was still a Pernelle. Once I stated my name, basic courtesy demanded at least a small acknowledgment from her. Yet the tutor immediately averted her gaze and stood directly in front of Sabrina.
“Please leave now.”
Though I expected mistreatment from this household, I saw no reason to endure such treatment from outsiders.
“No, if it wouldn’t be too much trouble, I’d like to observe the lesson.”
“What on earth—?”
“You wouldn’t deny me the right to observe class just because I’m a bastard, would you?”
I cut off the tutor mid-sentence. Sabrina had been trembling since earlier, and my feet refused to move. My instincts screamed: never leave that woman alone with Sabrina.
“As you know, I don’t yet have a tutor of my own.”
The tutor, looking as though she had much to say, turned away and sat down to grade Sabrina’s test. A trace of suspicion appeared on her face as she reviewed the paper. While I considered adjusting the number of intentional mistakes more carefully from now on, a rustling sound caught my attention.
Looking toward the noise, I saw Sabrina rising from her seat and lifting her skirt. What I saw beneath defied belief—even with my own eyes.
I rushed over and examined her calves closely.
“What is this? Were you beaten?”
“Huh? Yeah.”
“Why?”
“Because I got answers wrong.”
I glared fiercely at the tutor, but she merely held her head high and looked down at me disdainfully.
“Beaten for wrong answers? Explain exactly how.”
My voice rose slightly without my realizing it.
“She receives one lash of the cane for each wrong answer. That’s the rule.”
“The rule?”
Private tutors were appointed from specific circles—mostly unmarried women from baronial families. Occasionally, some came from viscount families, but unless their circumstances were truly dire, noblewomen rarely became tutors.
Yet in a society with such rigid social hierarchy, how could a baron’s daughter lay hands on the body of a count’s daughter?
When scheming men desperately battle for her favor in the male harem
This one’s also on my reread list! The rivalry, scheming between the men in the imperial harem are just as intense and thrilling as in classic palace drama novels, where concubines fight to the death. Give it a read, girls! I promise you won’t be disappointed.
Synopsis:
“I am not worthy of her… but I still want to be by her side, even if only as a loyal dog…”
Those were the painful whispers of Yue Guanyi – the proud Crown Prince of the Great Qi, who was torn between deep love and a guilty conscience. Despite holding the supreme power of the Imperial Guard, he still could not forget the dark past when he was sold into a brothel.
Fate played a cruel twist when Qiu Shuzhi – a young female official who had just passed the imperial examinations with top honors – stepped into his life. She did not know that she was the one who had saved him from a tragic fate many years ago. And now, her heart was the target of pursuit for both Yue Guanyi and the powerful Empress Dowager Qin Qing.
While Yue Guanyi only dared to silently care for and protect the one he loved from afar, the Empress Dowager Qin Qing openly expressed his feelings and did not hesitate to take advantage of his power to approach Qiu Shuzhi. The covert struggle between the two most powerful forces in the imperial court began…
Trigger warning: All men in this novel are yandere style.
_____
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