“They say you only use an old woman brought from a rural corner as your maid. Did you expect such a person to be your ears and eyes in the imperial palace? You didn’t seem so naive when you were young.”

“…”

In fact, she didn’t need eyes and ears, which was why she brought Margaret.
Adele, who stoically responded regardless of what was said, seemed fed up, as Charlotte bit down as if expressing that.

“Now, can’t you even understand blame? Your ability is still consistently, without any progress, criticizing your miserable state. Just like your husband, who doesn’t know the subject and covets the throne.”

Adele finally raised her gaze. Charlotte had a triumphant expression on her face at Adele’s hesitation.

“What are you talking about?”

The throne? Did Valentin finally get entangled in the emperor’s scheme? Or is it really…

In Adele’s expression, frozen with shock, Charlotte finally burst into laughter.

Such a face is fitting clothing for you, as satisfying as it could be.

“Looking at your expression, you really didn’t know, did you?”

If she had no inkling of such a flow, it would be a lie.

However, even if she knew the fact now, it was a time to pretend not to know.

“I really didn’t expect anything. But where did you leave Greta?”

At the mention of Greta, Adele clenched her fist. She couldn’t show signs of being easily swayed by Charlotte’s words.

Her rhetoric always hid traps.

“Why did Greta suddenly…?”

“I was just surprised that you weren’t with Greta. Nothing more.”

Adele turned her gaze away, not showing tension on her face.

She could manage her expression somehow, but she had no confidence in completely hiding her wavering gaze.

“Greta left Ansgar. It happened a while ago.”

“Is that so?”

At Adele’s calm reaction, Charlotte openly expressed her lost interest.

She looked down at her well-groomed fingernails and then spat out casually.

“Well, whatever. Honestly, I didn’t expect much. By the way, where did you leave Greta?”
“Sure, well, honestly, I’ll tell you. I saw a beggar resembling that woman in Pragma, won’t I?”

In an instant, she felt breathless. Charlotte continued to talk as if she hadn’t noticed anything.

“She was loyal to you, even defying her mother. It’s strange that she suddenly appeared by your side. I knew about everything you’ve been up to, by the way.”

“…”

“Well, that’s really all.”

At the moment when a trace of childish anxiety flickered on the emotionless face of her step-sister, Charlotte realized that she had accurately cast her fishing line.

While Adele was looking elsewhere, a bright smile appeared and disappeared on Charlotte’s face.

It bloomed and withered like a splendid poisonous flower in an instant.

Valentin didn’t return until very late at night.

Adele, lying alone on the large bed, tossed and turned in various directions.

The words Charlotte had spat out tangled up in her mind, making it impossible for her to fall asleep.

Greta in rags in Pragma…

Well, it’s the central city where all kinds of people gather, so that much is true.

But if she had left on her own, she should have lived a comfortable life. Where did she spend all that money?

No, why did she leave Ansgar Castle in the first place?

Why did she have to abandon me, all of this? Her mind was boiling with various thoughts.

“You didn’t sleep?”

As she got up in response to the sound of someone carefully entering the tent, Valentin, looking surprised, asked when he saw her sit up.

Adele, gazing at him for a moment, answered obediently.

“I couldn’t sleep.”

“Ah. So, you were waiting for me to come all this time?”

With a pleased smile, he approached and sat at the edge of the bed.

There was a strong smell of cheap alcohol from his clothes and breath.

The banquet bestowed by the emperor continued until dawn.

Adele realized that his face looked a bit tired. There was also an inexplicable restlessness in his eyes.

Leaning forward, Valentin buried his head in the pale nape of Adele’s neck. With both arms tightly around her slender waist, he exhaled a long sigh.

“If I knew you were awake, I should have cleaned up and come quickly.”

“Do you have to go out again?”

“I have to. I just came in to change my clothes.”

Why do humans like alcohol so much?

Slipping his hands along her spine, Valentin, leaning his upper body, sighed again.

“You’re not drunk, right?”

He let out a short laugh.

“If it was the spirit of alcohol, I wouldn’t be tired. The drunkenness of human beings is endless.”

As Adele twisted her body, tickled by the laughter erupting from her throat, he let her go from his embrace.

After a while, carrying a basin of water, the servant returned.

Valentin stood up, took off his shirt, and wiped his upper body with a towel in the faint light.