“I told you earlier that my desperation must not be revealed. Please, don’t dismiss this as words from a lowly merchant, but always remember. It will become important in the position Your Highness is in.”

Adel quietly gazed into Louisa’s eyes.

Normally, a ‘Grand Duchess’ would know to scold a commoner for giving such presumptuous advice.

But the current situation was unilaterally unfavorable to Adel.

Louisa held the information she desperately wanted, and she didn’t have enough gold to satisfy Louisa.

Adel obediently nodded.

“I will. So, have I paid the full price now?”

“Oh, no!”

Louisa quickly suppressed a short exclamation and shouted.

“I still have information left to give you.”

Louisa winked one eye. Adel slightly leaned her upper body over the desk, following her secretive gesture. As she brought her head closer, Louisa whispered.

“How much do you know about the prophecy Your Highness received?”

“You mean the prophecy that Count Reichenau received? I don’t know the exact contents.”

Adel looked at Louisa with slightly surprised eyes. The fact that a prophecy had come down around the time of her birth was kept top secret.

Those who knew would only be the Pope, the Padre, Grita, and Count Reichenau.

Even Adel herself didn’t know for a long time that she was the subject of the prophecy.

If Count Reichenau hadn’t made a drunken slip of the tongue, perhaps she would never have known even now.

She vividly remembered Count Reichenau’s expression right after he blurted out those words.

Because such a thing couldn’t be forgotten.

The face that realized he had made an irreversible mistake while raising his hand high to strike her cheek.

The moment his flushed, plump face instantly turned pale and froze.

‘But how on earth.’

It was hard to even guess how the information that Count Reichenau himself was trying so hard to keep secret had leaked out.

Perhaps, as much as the Count frequently indulged in alcohol, he might have ‘accidentally’ leaked the secret more often…

“First, please tell me what Your Highness knows. If there’s any incorrect information, I’ll correct it for you.”

“I don’t know exactly. Only that some prophecy was given about me, and that it’s probably related to my ability.”

“Hmm… Well, that’s wrong from the start. That prophecy wasn’t given to Your Highness. To be precise, it was a prophecy received by Your Highness’s mother.”

“…To my mother?”

Adel asked back, feeling dazed. Louisa shook her head as if she had no more information to give and answered.

“That’s all I can tell you. I heard this information a very long time ago, and I’ve researched it diligently in my own way. It was hard to be certain because the trail disappeared in the middle… but when I put together the recent information, it all leads to one conclusion.”

It was a puzzling statement. It seemed too broad to be important information for her.

“Let me give you one clue: it would be good to check the original text of the prophecy.”

“Do you know the original content of the prophecy?”

Adel thought Louisa would naturally know the original text of the prophecy. But surprisingly, Louisa scratched the back of her head.

“To be exact, I don’t know either. I only know a few scattered verses that have been passed down.”

“…”

“For accuracy, you should go to the Great Cathedral. Usually, when a prophecy is given, three priests hear and interpret it. Finding one of the three who might disclose the secret is the payment for showing me the bracelet. Now, what’s left is…”

Louisa tore half of the paper placed beside her, dipped a quill pen deeply in ink, and quickly wrote down an address.

After shaking it in the air a few times to let the ink dry well, she neatly folded it and handed it to Adel.

As Adel carefully received it and put the note in her bosom, Louisa smiled broadly, showing all her teeth.

“Was this a satisfactory trade for you?”

“Of course.”

“Please come again anytime. I’d be happy if I can be of help to Your Highness.”

“Thank you for your words.”

Adel replied with a smile. As she rose from her chair, Louisa also stood up.

Quickly crossing the room as if to give the usual send-off, Louisa grabbed the doorknob ahead of Adel.

“And before you go, this is… a bribe, not a bribe, that I’m giving to Your Highness.”

She said ‘this’, but there was nothing in Louisa’s hands.

Just as she was about to tilt her head in confusion, Louisa brought her face so close that Adel could feel her breath and whispered.

“I’ve received information that Charlotte Linda Hegel von Reichenau’s healing powers are disappearing day by day.”

Adel stared at Louisa, slightly pulling her head back in surprise.

Even knowing that Louisa had no benefit in playing such a trick on her, it was hard to believe easily.

‘Was that why Charlotte’s expression looked particularly anxious a few days ago? I thought it was just because of the engagement…’

If this information was true, it would make sense why Count Reichenau had been making reckless moves regarding Charlotte’s whereabouts recently.

Until then, he had pretended to be relaxed about marriage, acting as if he couldn’t even send his daughter away out of love, but now he started pushing her here and there as if he couldn’t sell her off fast enough…

The Emperor probably wanted to take that bait and attach Charlotte’s influence to Valentin.

Her head was complicated. Adel realized that Louisa was observing the changes in her expression and quickly composed herself.

“Isn’t the information you’ve just bestowed upon me worth more than I could ever pay for?”

Louisa, who had been looking at Adel with puzzled eyes, finally grinned, showing her teeth.

“That’s why it’s a bribe.”

“Was the trade satisfactory?”

Donovan grumbled as soon as they left the Talon Mercenary building.

Adel couldn’t tell if her face showed that the trade was satisfactory, or if he was sulking because she had left him behind.

After a bit of contemplation, she decided to answer honestly.

“It was satisfactory. I got the information I wanted.”

“What information did you go to that scary place to buy, without even minimal guards?”

“That’s…”

Adel considered making up an excuse but then sighed heavily and told the truth.

“I traded information about Grita.”

She could feel even Donovan hesitate for a moment, not to mention Margaret. But it couldn’t be hidden or postponed any longer. They were planning to go to the address she had just received right away.

If the information Louisa had given was inaccurate, or if it needed more time to verify, Adel would have revealed it subtly at an appropriate time to avoid shocking them.

Not like this, blurting it out like setting off explosives.

Adel put her hands together as if in prayer, with an apologetic heart.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you beforehand. Even if I apologize, it probably won’t fully soothe your feelings, but…”

At this point, all she could do was offer a sincere apology. But Donovan, with his gruff face, rarely interrupted Adel’s words midway.

“Please don’t apologize or explain for every action you take, Your Highness. You are our master.”

“Since we’re on the subject, I actually find receiving such formal treatment uncomfortable.”

Margaret cut in as if she had always been bothered by it. Then, after hesitating for a while, she spoke again.

“Actually, about that time…”

Adel immediately understood that ‘that time’ Margaret was referring to meant the years when she was treated like a half-alive ghost in Ansgar Castle.

As Adel’s expression darkened, Margaret’s face sank even more gloomily.

“We all owe Your Highness an apology. We shouldn’t just let it pass, hiding behind Your Highness’s generosity like this.”

“Generosity? Not at all. It’s not like I don’t understand your position…”

“No.”

Margaret shook her head from side to side.

“At that time, none of us truly considered Your Highness as the mistress of Ansgar. We all decided that even if we were beaten to death for disobeying orders, we would resist, that even if Your Highness tried to punish our rudeness with a whip, we wouldn’t comply…”

“…”

“But Your Highness didn’t do that.”

So they were wary at first, then gradually relaxed their guard, and later treated her as if she didn’t exist.

Daring to do so, not knowing their place. Adel guessed all the words Margaret couldn’t bring herself to say.

Once, it was something she herself had experienced with her whole body.

“So, regrettably, I always thought Your Highness was too weak for Ansgar. That you couldn’t even notice when a maid by your side committed embezzlement, that with such a careless nature, you would inevitably break before winter.”

“Do you mean it’s different now?”

Margaret smiled faintly and continued.

“Yes. It was my arrogant prejudice. Your Highness has endured three winters. And now… I think you are calm in many ways.”

“…”

“You don’t easily get swayed, and you don’t act rashly. If I may dare say, you possess the qualities most needed in Ansgar. You are without lack.”

Adel’s cheeks flushed red at the embarrassing and overly direct compliment.

Throughout her life, this was only the second time someone had told her she was ‘without lack’. The first time was Valentin…

Margaret smiled as if to dispel the slightly awkward atmosphere.

“Your Highness’s happiness is Ansgar’s happiness. We will gladly follow whatever you command.”

Adel knew this was Margaret’s way of apologizing.

That she wanted to clear the air like this at least once.

The people of Ansgar had clear likes and dislikes, and as much as they were exclusive to outsiders, they had a steadfastness not to turn their backs on those they had once accepted into their boundaries.

“…”

Every time they gradually accepted her, she wondered if it was because of Valentin’s coercion.

She often felt lonely, like an uninvited guest squeezed into a seat at a fully occupied table, pushing others aside to barely fit in.

But now…