Leopold, who had been quietly looking at Mercedes’ hand, opened his mouth.

“To be honest, we don’t have much information yet. His Majesty ordered us to place several informants in Shaim… but it takes time for messages to go back and forth, and it’s difficult to find out about royal affairs.”

“I see. So it’s a collaboration between Duke Russell and the king. Cromwell is fine.”

“If Count Cromwell and Duke Russell’s family join forces to make a minor duke in the top 5 the crown prince, it would be convenient for the king.”

“…There was a rumor that the minor duke is the king’s illegitimate child, and he was adopted into the Russell ducal family to hide that fact.”

“You know well. Since the bloodline is connected, it seems he’s thinking of revealing the existence of the illegitimate child and abdicating the throne to him rather than his incompetent sons. I hear the minor duke is quite intelligent.”

Mercedes sighed deeply as she examined the documents.

There was nothing she could do right away.

If she were to believe the emperor’s sweet words of temptation, it seemed like he would start a war right away.

‘Well.’

As soon as she entered the office of the emperor’s aides, she felt prickly gazes.

In such circumstances, could she believe the emperor’s words were sincere? She still didn’t understand why he had saved her.

So she couldn’t rely on him completely when she still couldn’t trust him.

“And there’s one more rumor that we barely managed to dig up. Your… former husband. The dead crown prince had an illegitimate child, and Count Cromwell is keeping that child.”

Leopold spoke slowly, watching her.

Mercedes nodded. Leopold didn’t know, but that was already a rumor Carlos had told her about.

An illegitimate child. Thinking of Richard, it didn’t seem strange. The fact that his father had taken him away also didn’t seem strange.

Mercedes soon rose from her seat.

“I understand. Thank you for showing me the documents. I needed to know how things are going in Shaim. Please let me know if you get any new information.”

“…I want to ask the reason.”

“Pardon?”

“It’s true that I have to follow your words because of His Majesty’s order. But to be honest, you’re still someone I need to be wary of. So please tell me the reason. The reason you killed the crown prince, the reason you’re investigating Shaim.”

Leopold asked bluntly without hesitation.

Mercedes thought as she looked at Leopold.

According to Rhonda, the order the emperor had given to the imperial palace was ‘I’ll have your head if you mistreat Mercedes.’

Even knowing that, he asks such questions. Very upright, without hesitation if he thinks it’s necessary.

“…I see why His Majesty put you in charge.”

“Pardon?”

“It’s nothing. The reason is simple.”

She slowly opened her mouth.

“I killed him because I wanted to.”

It wasn’t something she couldn’t say anyway.

“…What?”

“And now, I want to kill Count Cromwell.”

She emphasized once more to the bewildered Leopold. Was it because it was the first time she was saying this directly? Her heart seemed to be beating fast.

Whether it was excitement, fear, or sorrow. She couldn’t tell.

“…Is that. Is that… Is that the reason? Don’t you have any circumstances…?”

It must have been an unexpected answer. Leopold asked, visibly surprised.

“Well. I don’t think I need to explain the circumstances right now. Because I’m not sure if you’ll accept it as the truth. I won’t hold it against you for questioning me sharply today. So I hope you’ll show me mercy and help me with future matters, Sir Leo.”

Mercedes spoke calmly and rose from her seat. Leopold was staring at her blankly.

“Please, be sure to let me know if there’s any new information.”

Her green eyes shone transparently in the sunlight.

Leopold let out a hollow laugh as he watched her speak brightly.

“Ha, haha…”

Leopold laughed emptily behind her.

“Haha. Of course. His Majesty wouldn’t bring in an ordinary woman…”

He muttered, and Mercedes clearly heard it.

But she left the room without looking back.

She was already branded a murderer anyway. Mentioning murder again wouldn’t make it a bigger flaw.

What she needed to do right now was to think about how to make Cromwell fall in the most miserable way possible.

She felt like she wanted to go in and use her ‘ability’ right away.

But her mother’s request still weighed on her mind.

She didn’t know if she could handle all those people, from Cromwell’s knights to the count himself, with this ability.

And this ability was also disadvantageous because she had to get close and touch them directly, and… she had no intention of experimenting with such a wicked and cursed power on just anyone.

* * *

‘Father, please open the door. Father!’

‘What father. Shut up! I ordered you to wear the corset all day today…’

The touch of those rough, huge hands was still vivid.

Saying that a lowly illegitimate child should at least take care of her body well, she always had to wear a corset from a time she could barely remember.

Just one day. She had only taken off the corset because she got terribly sick from eating hard bread, but it seemed the story had gotten out.

There was no one on her side in the count’s mansion anyway.

Around that time, the count, who was in a bad mood from fighting with the countess every day for bringing in an illegitimate child, came running and whipped her with a leather whip and locked her in the wardrobe.

‘That something like you was born… Tsk. You should be grateful for staying in the count’s mansion. You dare disobey an order? Damn girl.’

The wardrobe was only big enough for her to barely curl up in, and no light came in at all.

It would have been nice if there was someone who would pity her and open the door.

The nanny was nowhere to be seen either.

‘Ah, please, open… Please open it. Father…!’

More than the pain from where she was hit, the darkness in the wardrobe. That suffocation was scary. The corset was still constricting her solar plexus, and it felt like something was going to eat her.

She cried in the wardrobe until she fainted, and was locked up like that for a day.

The next day, the nanny finally rescued her. It seemed she had rescued her through a very difficult journey.

‘Thinking about it now, she probably pretended to have just rescued me after resting for a day.’

Mercedes pressed her temple as she moved her pen.

She had picked up the pen to organize her thoughts on what to do with Count Cromwell, but memories of the past kept flooding in.

Being locked in the wardrobe was a mild punishment compared to other abuse. She chuckled, mocking herself for the fear she felt then.

Anyway, after meeting with the aides, Mercedes was holed up in her room, deep in thought.

How could she effectively eliminate Cromwell?

She spent a whole day like that, but nothing came to mind.

“…I can’t think of anything.”

A way to remove Count Cromwell.

How could she know such a thing?

She had lived confined. She barely learned to write and read tattered books she picked up.

After becoming the crown princess, she could read various things freely, but even she thought she wasn’t a particularly brilliant person.

Only those who had been in politics would know how to politically suppress someone.

“…Revealing that I was an illegitimate child?”

Marrying her off while hiding that fact was a crime of insulting the royal family.

But what impact would revealing her illegitimate status have? Cromwell was fine even though she had killed the crown prince.

No matter how much she thought, only primitive ideas came to mind. Thoughts like war being the only way to destroy Cromwell.

Of course, Mercedes wasn’t completely unaware of various ways to pressure and unsettle the Cromwell family.

The problem was that she needed at least some help from Carlos.

What could she do now? She had no assets, just her body placed here.

“That person, someone I can trust…”

Not yet, though.

She bit her nails and scribbled various things on paper, then crossed them out, crumpled the paper, and repeated the process. It felt like a huge wall was not only blocking her way but crushing her.

Knock knock.

Absorbed in this activity, she didn’t hear the knock, and the door opened behind her.

“Lady Mercedes? Are you sleeping?”

Rhonda carefully entered the room. Mercedes, unaware of who had come in, was tightly gripping her quill.

Discovering Mercedes hunched over the desk, Rhonda approached her quickly with a worried expression.

“Um, Lady Mercedes?”

“…”

“Lady Mercedes.”

Rhonda called her once more.

“…Ah. Rhonda?”

Mercedes finally came to her senses and looked up. Rhonda was looking at her with furrowed brows.

“I… I know you’re resting quietly… I’m sorry for coming in without permission. But it’s almost afternoon, and the bell hasn’t rung… I was worried you might be ill.”

“Huh?”

“Don’t tell me you haven’t slept?”

“…What?”

Mercedes raised her head at Rhonda’s question. She was sure the maids had prepared her bed and left yesterday.

Sitting at the desk, she had been pulled into the past and lost track of time. The large candle she had lit was now almost completely melted away.

As Rhonda quickly opened the curtains, the sun outside could be seen past its zenith and starting to set.

“Time… has passed like this.”

Was she addicted to the pain of ruminating on anger and suffering? Mercedes put down her pen in surprise. Her fingers were completely blackened with ink.

“Oh my, your hands. Just a moment.”

Startled, Rhonda hurried out and returned with Patricia. They wrapped her hands with soft cloths dipped in warm water, wiping away the ink.

“Oh dear. The ink has completely soaked in. It won’t disappear completely, but it should fade in a few days.”

Rhonda said kindly, and Patricia followed with concern.

“To think you haven’t slept… Lady Mercedes. Please rest now. You don’t look well.”

“Ah. No. I’m fine. Thank you, both of you.”

“Then, what about a meal?”

“Food… Just a simple sandwich should be fine.”

She didn’t want to eat, but she had to force something down to prolong her life. That’s what she had learned while in the Room.

Mercedes smiled as if painted on as she faced the maids. Like an actor pretending to be unaffected.

“…Lady Mercedes.”

Rhonda, who had been watching her, swallowed hard as if she had made some decision. Mercedes’s condition seemed to have worsened no matter how she looked at it. She couldn’t leave her mistress like this.

So Rhonda decided to use a little trick, sighing loudly on purpose as she spoke.

“Yes, Rhonda.”

“I’m… a little scared.”

“Huh?”

“His Majesty will return soon, and if we tell him that Lady Mercedes, whom he ordered us to take utmost care of, is eating poorly and not sleeping…”

Rhonda trembled slightly and drooped her eyebrows. Seeing this, Patricia was inwardly surprised but quickly composed herself and began to follow Rhonda’s lead.

“Um, for our sake too… couldn’t you please take care of your health a little? His Majesty left with such a threat… What did he say again, Rhonda?”

“He said he’d have our heads, Patricia.”

“Oh my. How frightening.”

“Lady Mercedes…”

Rhonda performed quite well, but Patricia’s acting was a bit awkward. The two maids began to plead with her for her sake.