Still, I assured Sicar that I wouldn’t harm Hersia.

And now, there was something more urgent to convey.

“Sicar, investigate that rural house.”

Sicar didn’t immediately understand my words.

“A rural house?”

“The place where Grandma and I stayed when I first came here. Seoyeon mentioned it as soon as she arrived.”

“Knowing that it’s an empty place, it makes sense she’d think of that.”

“If we can secure that place, at least some of the people coming here might be captured.”

“The rural house?”

“Yes, so we need to send people right away.”

Sicar seemed to deeply empathize with my words.

“You’re right. We need to handle such matters quickly.”

“But would anyone really side with Gillian?”

“Gillian is curious about where your hometown is, where people are from. So, even if someone from your hometown doesn’t intend to side with Gillian, Gillian’s guards won’t just let them go unnoticed if they find someone with black eyes. They hope there won’t be anyone caught in Gillian’s net.”

“So, are you saying that even if we torture someone, they’ll just confess where they came from?”

“That’s right. They’ll definitely do that. We need to identify your identity, after all.”

“But even if they confess, they’ll probably just say they came from a different dimension. Will Gillian believe that?”

“Well, he can’t exactly call it fiction, so he’ll likely be deceived into thinking it’s from another dimension. And to prove my words, I might share information about this place or predict future events or even disclose Kian’s identity.”

“If that happens, our Kian will be in danger. Kian is still young and powerless…”

“Seeing no unusual movement from Gillian’s side, it seems like they haven’t seen anyone from your hometown yet. Or maybe, they might have another trick up their sleeves.”

Given the current situation where we didn’t know Veronia’s whereabouts, it had to be the former.

“To monitor Gillian, we need Hersia in various ways.”

“We need Hersia to monitor Gillian?!”

“Yes. If she becomes the queen’s confidante, it will be easier for her to hover around Gillian. Later, she might be useful in various ways.”

Over the past three years, Hersia, as I saw her, was not only afraid of Gillian but also disliked being around him. How could Hersia, who feared Gillian, do anything right by his side?

“What if Hersia refuses?”

Sicar’s expression was as if he asked an obvious question.

“Hersia won’t be able to refuse.”

Another threatening thought.

Hersia had been a friend to me over the past three years. We filled fruit juice together, read novels together, and listened to social gossip from her.
Sometimes, when I went to visit Grandma, Hersia used to follow me to the ancestral temple. To me, Hersia was not much different from the only friend I had here.

But now, to threaten her? However, I knew that it was pointless to try to convince Sicar not to threaten a friend of his wife.

So, I reluctantly played my trump card.

In truth, I hadn’t intended to use it at a time like this, but a trump card was meant to be played when needed.

Now seemed to be the most appropriate time.

I balled my fist and confronted Sicar.

“Hey, Sicar. We need to talk.”

“Talk?”

“Why didn’t you write a letter?”

Sicar blinked as if he didn’t understand what I was saying.

“A letter?”

“You went on a campaign; didn’t you write a single letter?”

“It wasn’t the right situation.”

“Did you eat while you were there?”

“I did.”

“Did you have a lot of strategy meetings?”

“We did.”

“But you didn’t have time to send a letter to your family? Or maybe you don’t think of us as family. Giving Rosemary as a gift doesn’t exactly show consideration for family.”

I looked at Sicar with a fairly disappointed expression.

This strategy was, in fact, the method Grandma used to write to Sicar. Every time, Sicar would put down his sharp claws, which he raised as if to resist, while looking at Grandma.

If Sicar really thought of us as family, he would listen to me.

Sicar seemed a bit apologetic and approached me, mumbling.

“Alright. That’s my mistake. How can I make up for it?”

“Then don’t threaten Hersia. She may understand from looking at my memories, but she is my only friend here.”

“Got it. I won’t threaten Hersia. Let me think of a way to persuade her without threatening.”

“No intimidation or coercion.”

“Understood. But there might be a deal.”

You usually make deals at knifepoint. You scoundrel.

Instead of saying that, I smiled and asked.

“How do you plan to make a deal?”

“Gillian intends to send Hersia to the Hamel Viscount’s house.”

“Hamel Viscount’s house? It sounds familiar, but…”

“It’s a family involved in transportation. They’re pushing for a marriage with Hersia in exchange for opening the crossroad on the northern route.”

Hersia would be quite shocked when she learned this fact. And just like in the original work, she might not be able to refuse the marriage.

Gillian was trying to use Hersia politically.

“Oh, no. Stop it, Sicar.”

“If Hersia helps me, I can also help her.”