“Whether the money is forced or voluntary, what does it have to do with the orphans? If there’s more money, we can provide better food, and if there’s even more money, we can provide better education opportunities. It doesn’t matter what kind of money it is. I’ll handle all the false flattery, so you just focus on using the incoming money as efficiently as possible.”

“I think so too! The more money, the better! I was actually hesitating about education because the budget was tight! It’s just that I dislike how Your Majesty the Empress bows down to such obvious donations……. ”

As he spoke, he felt something strange.

What does it matter whether the supreme commander Ermedillin bows her head or not?

She was a woman he originally intended to burn to death.

But Ermedillin, unaware of Pellio’s inner thoughts, felt grateful to Pellio for getting angry on her behalf.

Becoming complete comrades may be difficult, but it felt like another ally had appeared after Lunie.

“Your words are truly comforting. To be honest, I wasn’t entirely free of discomfort, but thanks to you, Your Highness, I’ve forgotten all about it.”

Hoping her sincerity would reach him, Ermedillin gave him a bright smile, filled with gratitude.

“Ah…… No, it’s nothing. Just get on with your work!”

Although she gave a triumphant smile, Pellio averted his eyes with an awkward face.

Ermedillin was about to say something more, but his stern back looked so determined that she closed her mouth.

‘Well, it can’t be helped. Considering the original work, becoming close all of a sudden would be difficult.’

But the exact opposite side of that neat backside was anything but neat.

His face was displaying a rather comical appearance, with various conflicting emotions appearing and disappearing.

Disappointed, Ermedillin began to hold a formal meeting with Pellio.

“The construction is somewhat finalized, isn’t it? But with the increase in donations today, I think it might be good to change the plans a bit. I want to strengthen the facilities for education, what do you think, Your Highness?”
“I wholeheartedly agree with that opinion. Simply feeding and clothing them is not enough. For those without any ties to society to successfully settle, there must be plans that connect education with jobs.”

Although he had flaunted his privileged upbringing just before, at times like this, it becomes clear once again how intelligent he is.

Proud of Pellio for scratching his own itch, Ermedillin unknowingly thrust both fists forward and clenched them tightly.

“Master, how come your thoughts are the same as mine…….”

Ermedillin was simply doing something she often did when she was in a good mood, but Pellio suddenly stepped back.

“It was a mistake earlier! I will never touch Master’s body again, so don’t worry.”

Having overreacted to a simple mistake, Ermedillin’s sarcasm started to show.

“No, that’s not……”

Before Pellio could answer, Ermedillin quickly walked away and disappeared into the distance.

Luni, who was glaring at Pellio as she chased after her, was not happy either.

Pellio felt drained by the cold aura he felt even from her retreating figure.

He might have disliked her, but he had no intention of being rude, so all the more.

Strangely, these days, whenever he stood in front of Ermedillin, he felt that he could not control his actions.

‘That’s right. That woman is doing something she never did before. That’s why.’

As he quickly chased after her, intending to spill his grand plans for the educational facility he had established, he saw someone jumping into Ermedillin’s arms.

“Heugh! Your Majesty, the Empress!!”

The memory from the funeral flashed through his mind, and not only Pellio but also Luni and Margo ran to her, but fortunately, Ermedillin was not hurt.

Rather, the seriously injured one was Helen, who had mindlessly jumped at Ermedillin and was immediately repelled.

Helen’s body, collapsed on the ground, was rotting black, as if it had been cursed by decay.

“Don’t go near her!!”

Pellio blocked the way between Ermedillin and Helen.

“Your Majesty might know this better than anyone, but it seems that she’s under a decay curse that is triggered by touch.”

“Oh…”

At Pellio’s explanation, Ermedillin remembered that her special ability in the original work had been the curse of decay.

‘But I don’t know how to use curse magic…’

“If Your Majesty hadn’t repelled the curse just now, it wouldn’t have been this servant rotting there.”

“Repel a curse……?”

Come to think of it, she had screamed ‘I don’t want it!’ inside when someone jumped at her a while ago, and at that moment, she felt something leaving her body.

The curse must have been so powerful that there was hardly any healthy flesh color left in Helen’s body.

“Wh, where is the priest? The priest?”

Ermedillin looked at Pellio with a desperate face, but Pellio only lowered his head with a cold expression.

“There’s a temple nearby, but we won’t arrive in time. Besides, there are not many priests who can break the curse of the François House.”

‘The François House?’

“Could it be…… did Father send you?”

Though she was afraid of her body rotting in real time, Helen seemed not to hear anything.

“Did the Count François send you?”

Unable to bear it, Pellio shouted, and only then did Helen’s head begin to move slightly up and down.

“Help me, please. My…… my sister and mother…… by the Count… please…… help…… me…….”

From Helen’s barely uttered words, it seemed that her family was being held hostage.
Helen must have come this far, bearing this dangerous curse to save her family.

The curse of Helen has now spread within her body to the point where her vocal cords no longer respond.

“The Count is holding your family hostage? I thought you had escaped and were doing well…….”

In her sorrow, Ermedillin reached out, but Loony quickly came forward and stopped her hand.

“You must not touch her.”

“Where is the family? The Count… Is Father still in the earldom?”

Ermedillin poured out questions in her curiosity, but Helen ultimately could not answer and simply passed away.

“Contact the nearest temple immediately. It’s a very powerful curse. The corpse, and even the place where the corpse was, must be purified.”

A servant who received Pellio’s command hurriedly mounted a horse and headed for the temple.

Desolation.

It’s regrettable that Helen, who had been secretly cared for, died this way, but what torments Ermedillin’s soul even more is her family’s murderous intent towards herself.

Count François and Ermedillin are so much alike that no one in this world can deny that they are mother and daughter.

From ebonylike hair and mysterious purple eyes to nearly perfect cold features, they are identical.

Another me, my alter ego, who I cannot help but love, even if I try not to love.

Could it be that Count François, whose face I have no memory of but keeps appearing in my dreams, preventing me from sleeping soundly, is Ermedillin’s real family, the father who raised her?

Such a father, who has exploited and abused his daughter all her life, now intends to kill her with a terrible curse.

The moment of happiness, thinking that I had someone on my side, was brief.

At the fact that her family, the real bloodrelated family she had been dreaming of, wants to kill her, Ermedillin once again felt a deep despair.