85.

The woman carefully inspected various spots in the room, confirmed that all the maids had completely withdrawn, and then spoke. Her first words were outright reproach.

“Why didn’t you send a letter immediately?”

Naturally, she began speaking under the assumption that Rosetta knew everything. Rosetta recited the excuse she had prepared.

“My memories have been all jumbled since I woke up again. You know that.”

“How would I know? I’ve never died before.”

Blake Marchioness replied sharply. Yet she seemed to have not the slightest intention of being the first to reveal what the executed plan had been. Rosetta swallowed the tea again, deliberately trying to hide her growing anxiety, then cautiously broached the subject.

“More importantly, what plan are you talking about? Could you explain in detail? What was I supposed to do?”

“…So you really have forgotten everything?”

The suspicious gaze sweeping over Rosetta vanished in an instant. Apparently, she firmly believed that a complete outsider would have been unable to decipher that code. Blake Marchioness irritably swept her hair back as if resigned to the situation.

“You were supposed to kill the lion and place the lion cub inside the cage. Are you seriously pretending not to remember that?”

Although it was a metaphor, the meaning was quite intuitive. It seemed she had judged that if it were any more obscure, the woman with fragmented memories wouldn’t have understood. The meaning was clear—and cruel. At best, it was a plan to remove the admiral from power and place the vice admiral under their control.

Rosetta clenched her fists tightly, struggling to regain her composure from the sudden dizziness flooding over her. The sharp pain of her nails digging into her flesh barely helped her maintain calm.

“In any case, Nick waited long enough. He was about to take matters into his own hands.”

Nick. At the mention of him, her eyes burned with fierce resentment. It was an even stronger emotion than what she had felt immediately after being betrayed.

“So then, what’s the next step in the plan?”

“We can’t just leave a wild beast running loose without control. Appropriate measures must be taken.”

“Measures?”

“It’s obvious, isn’t it? If we leave him alive, he’ll bite people too.”

Rosetta nearly struck Blake Marchioness across the face with her fist. Only the suffocating fear that Cardier might be in danger kept her from doing so. The unnatural twitching of her right hand caused a flicker of wariness in the woman’s eyes. Rosetta quickly pressed her trembling hand to her forehead, just in time.

“I get like this sometimes. After all, I did die and come back to life.”

“Right. I understand now. Rumors about you going mad have been spreading—no wonder it caused such an uproar.”

“I… what should I do now?”

“For now, I’ll inform them that you’ve regained your memories. What about the medicine? You should have received it together with the others.”

“Medicine?”

“Judging by your current state, I suppose you never got it. Since the vice admiral is so attached to you, we assumed you had taken the medicine and changed your mind.”

“…”

“Still, I suppose you wouldn’t want to give up eternal youth either.”

Eternal youth. It sounded just like eternal life. Rosetta recalled Audrey Marchioness’s corpse-like body. The nauseating stench from that moment flooded back. The disgust she felt stirred far more violent emotions than she had expected.

For a moment, Rosetta wanted nothing more than to plunge the hidden dagger she carried into the woman’s hand and scream at her to confess everything she knew. But if the woman happened to be unusually loyal, doing so would only expose her existence to the other side, leaving her vulnerable. Then the one in danger wouldn’t be her—it would be Cardier, out at sea. Rosetta barely suppressed her murderous intent.

“Better this way. Find the medicine before it falls into someone else’s hands. It should already be nearby.”

“Near me?”

“You’re not seriously expecting me to tell you everything, are you?”

Blake Marchioness checked her pocket watch and stood up. Her actions suggested she firmly believed the soul inhabiting Lea’s body belonged to someone beneath her station. She smoothed the crumpled part of her skirt and picked up the fan lying on the table.

“Oh, by the way.”

Without even a greeting, the woman stood up and only then elegantly turned back just before opening the door.

“Do you remember your name?”

Rosetta almost scoffed. The trap was too obvious. If she hadn’t known Nick well, she would have fallen into it without a doubt.

Nick wasn’t the type to introduce people working for him to each other. Even when she served under him, he never allowed his personal staff to introduce themselves to Rosetta—precisely because it made cutting loose any loose ends easier.

The publicly known friendship with Blake Marchioness was likely a means for him to infiltrate noble society… so this situation was unusual. Hiding the pounding of her heart, Rosetta smiled faintly and replied.

“Do you think I’d tell you? Even if my memory is shaky, do you really think I’d forget how Nick operates?”

“…I just wondered.”

The woman, grumbling loudly, completely dropped her suspicious expression and closed the door. Outside, the sound of Anna immediately guiding Blake Marchioness to the carriage could be heard. Rosetta remained frozen in place until every trace of their presence had completely vanished. Looking down at her palm stinging with pain, she saw a drop of blood already forming where her nails had dug into her skin.

Rosetta tightened her grip, as if calming the part of herself that wanted to bolt from the room immediately. Just a few minutes. Only the few minutes it would take for Blake Marchioness to board her carriage. She just had to endure that.

One sentence dominated her mind completely: This expedition was a trap. And she had to warn them.

* * *

“Why can’t that be done?”

Rosetta stamped her foot and snorted in frustration. The young officer, Aven, was drenched in cold sweat from the woman’s sudden appearance in the late afternoon. He wanted nothing more than to throw her out immediately, but the woman before him was a ‘Montrosa’.

She was of such high status that he could never touch her, and she appeared so fragile and harmless that pressuring her with military regulations seemed inappropriate—her flushed, angry face even stirred a sense of concern. In the end, the officer could only stammer out a response to her question.

“As I said, this isn’t my personal decision—it’s a military order…”

“Should I remind you once again that I’m in an extremely urgent and special situation?”

“Still, my lady, the military generally…”

“Generally, my foot! Why exactly can’t I use a military messenger hawk?”

Rosetta stomped her foot and lowered her voice sharply, as if wary of eavesdroppers.

“I have critical information about this expedition!”

The officer scratched his head, looking troubled. He found it hard to believe her words, but even if the information was important, there was very little he could do. Aven recited the military principle with an awkward expression.

“The expedition’s movement route is top secret. And by principle, military messenger hawks cannot be used by non-military personnel.”

“…And just what is your name, exactly?”

The woman curled her lips disdainfully and immediately shot back with an authoritative tone. For a moment, the strange pressure emanating from her almost made him instinctively salute as he answered.

“Aven, my lady.”

Rosetta coldly repeated the name under her breath—’Aven…’—as if to say she’d remember it even if she died tomorrow. Flustered, he quickly added,

“I don’t know what this is about, but if you tell me your purpose, I’ll do my best to relay it.”

Rosetta bit her lip hard. She knew this offer was the best she could get. They couldn’t casually let an outsider use a military-trained messenger hawk, nor could they disclose troop movements. But could she really tell this officer right in front of her that the expedition was a trap? What reason did she have to trust him? Where was the guarantee he wasn’t just a pawn of the crown prince?

True, even setting all that aside, compared to her frantic rush here, Rosetta still hadn’t fully grasped the nature of the trap. She didn’t even know who was involved or how.

At best, she could only guess they might be using the ocean currents around the archipelago adjacent to Tilsen. Though seemingly calm, that region had many areas with rapidly shifting currents, often creating whirlpools—ships that entered carelessly could easily become trapped or swept away. Rosetta decided it was time to step back. She lifted her chin with quiet dignity.

“Once you contact my husband, deliver this message: it’s urgent, so he must send a messenger hawk to me. You can at least deliver that, can’t you?”

“Of course.”

After extracting several firm assurances, Rosetta pulled her hat down and left the naval office. Frustrating as it was, that was all she could achieve for now. Arguing further wouldn’t yield any more information.

She struggled to suppress her growing impatience. Not yet. It’s still not too late. Even if it was a trap, they might not fall for it.

Yet the moment that hope shattered completely came in the blink of an eye.