Surprised by the unexpected news, Amy asked with astonishment.

“Me? You mean me, not His Highness the Grand Duke?”

“Yes. They say they’re looking for someone who can identify the person in a portrait. There’s even talk of a reward. Do you have any idea…?”

It was absurd. How could she have any idea when she hadn’t done anything wrong in her life? And a portrait, no less?

‘I entered the palace when I was barely ten and rarely went outside… The imperial palace would know where I am, so they wouldn’t search for me like this.’

Unable to understand what was going on, she asked the mercenary captain again.

“Are you sure they’re looking for me?”

“One of our men approached discreetly and checked the portrait. He says it closely resembles the Head Maid. However, it seems they don’t know anything besides the face. When we probed a bit, they said they couldn’t provide any personal information. It appeared as if they didn’t know rather than trying to conceal anything.”

“Only knowing the face… It doesn’t make sense.”

Amy frowned and searched her memories, but she couldn’t figure it out.

“However…”

The mercenary captain cautiously added.

“The portrait doesn’t match perfectly… It seems slightly off, they say.”

Amy startled for a moment, then furrowed her brow.

“It seems it wasn’t drawn by someone who knows me well.”

“I think so too.”

Amy bit her lip pensively.

‘Could it be my parents after all?’

Since escaping from her hopeless family and entering the imperial palace at a young age, she had never met her parents. Unable to change their habits, they persistently demanded money.

When she was young, she had no choice but to hand over most of her salary, but the moment she became an adult, she cut them off completely. Her parents made a fuss, but she was now an adult no longer under their control, so she easily ignored them.

There was no legal ground for her parents to force her, so they had no way to compel Amy.

‘I did send a brief letter before leaving for the North, saying I would be leaving the palace.’

She had done so fearing they might persistently send letters to the palace in her absence. Was that why they were searching for her whereabouts? To extort money from her again?

Amy pondered deeply.

‘They only knew me as a child, so they wouldn’t know my adult face for certain.’

If they had drawn a portrait based on their memories…? Thinking about it that way, it matched up in many ways with the person looking for her.

‘For now, there are more urgent matters, so I’ll have to think about this later.’

Amy shook off her uneasy feelings and asked the mercenary captain.

“By the way, what about what I asked before?”

“Ah, you mean Baron Pearson?”

The mercenary captain looked around and lowered his voice.

“It hasn’t been long, so we’re still looking into it… but the biggest thing that happened around him recently was a landslide in his territory.”

“A landslide? Was the damage severe?”

“Given that it was late autumn… it must have affected the harvest.”

Amy frowned.

‘Isn’t it strange? A natural disaster like a landslide happened just recently… yet he was giggling with the Crown Prince and excited about good things to come. How could that be possible unless he had a solution…?’

Suddenly, a chill ran down her spine. As if possessed, Amy turned and started running towards the hall where the banquet was in full swing.

“Head Maid?”

The confused voice of the mercenary captain came from behind, but she had no attention to spare. Her chest felt like it would burst from the ominous premonition.

‘The Empress tried to persuade the Grand Duke through the Crown Prince. Knowing that the First Prince is the hidden child of the former Empress, she’s trying to prevent Noah from allying with him.’

She ran out of the gallery and dashed down the marble-paved corridor. Though she was out of breath, she regretted not being able to run faster.

‘But what if the Grand Duke rejects the Crown Prince’s hand?’

Another chill ran through her. As Amy reached the entrance of the hall, panting and gasping, the guard saw her and quickly opened the door. At that moment,

“Kyaaaah!”

“Oh my God, Your Highness the Grand Duke!”

Screams and shouts of shock erupted. Amy’s mind went blank at the scene unfolding before her eyes.

Noah was kneeling on one knee on the dais, covering his mouth with his hand and coughing violently. Bright red blood was streaming between his fingers.

“Your Highness!”

Vernon and Bradley rushed to support him. Noah leaned against Vernon’s chest, breathing heavily. His terrifyingly pale face looked as if he might close his eyes at any moment.

“Ah…”

Everything went dark. Amy almost collapsed but managed to steady herself by grabbing the wall. What on earth was happening…?

But there was no time to dwell on it. Taking a deep breath and straightening herself, she strode forward and shouted.

“Seal the hall!”

“!”

The guards, who had been in disarray, came to their senses and rushed to their positions. Immediately, doors and windows were closed, and people were trapped like mice in a cage. The training under Vernon’s command had paid off.

“Head Maid, His Highness…”

As she jumped onto the dais, Vernon looked up at her with a terrifyingly stern face. In his arms, the Grand Duke was breathing heavily with his eyes closed, powerless. Amy’s sharp gaze quickly scanned him. Finally, her eyes caught something.

Approaching Noah closely and kneeling down, she spoke softly.

“Please give me the cup, Your Highness.”

“…Amy.”

Noah opened his eyes, saw her, and smiled weakly. Suddenly, something welled up in her chest. Why are you smiling when you’re in this state? She was tormented by self-reproach for not noticing until things had gotten this bad, for letting her master end up like this, but without showing it, Amy said,

“I’ll keep it safe. It’s important, isn’t it?”

“Yes… If it’s you, Amy… *cough*… I can trust you.”

Even as he collapsed, Noah easily handed over the cup he had been clutching tightly to avoid losing it. Amy carefully received it and asked in a lowered voice.

“Who gave this to Your Highness?”

All the food and drinks served at the banquet had already been tested for poison in the kitchen. So if there was poison in this wine, it must have been brought in from outside by someone.

Noah, taking a shallow breath, whispered as if sighing.

“His Highness the Crown Prince.”

“…”

Amy, gritting her teeth, stood up abruptly and looked around. Not far away stood the Crown Prince. Beside him was the problematic Baron Pearson. He wore a worried expression, but unmistakable joy could be seen in his eyes.

On the other hand, the Crown Prince had a subtle expression, despite things going as he wanted.

Others might not notice, but Amy, who had served him since childhood, could tell. The Crown Prince was caught in mixed emotions.

The elation that things had gone as they should, and the anxiety about whether he might suffer consequences – that’s what it was. What enraged Amy was that there was no sign of regret anywhere in his demeanor.

She entrusted the cup to Bradley.

“Hold this and stand where everyone can see you.”

Bradley nodded with a pale face. Amy strode down from the dais. The Crown Prince’s face hardened as he saw her approaching. Amy stood in front of them and spoke coldly.

“I’ll get straight to the point.”

“…”

“Which one of you two did this?”

At those words, the Crown Prince gasped and exclaimed in shock.

“Amy! How can you say such a thing? Are you suspecting that I did this?”

“Didn’t Your Highness the Crown Prince give the wine to His Highness the Grand Duke?”

Amy stated only the facts, not getting drawn into the Crown Prince’s rhetoric. The Crown Prince glared at her with eyes full of anger.

“It wasn’t me.”

The moment he spoke through gritted teeth, Joseph approached Amy, panting, and whispered.

“I saw Baron Pearson putting something in the wine cup.”

“!”

The Baron’s expression, which had remained composed until then, cracked. Excitement and fear flashed across his face in turn.

In the end, he was a fool who didn’t realize he was just a disposable pawn for that high-ranking person, mistaking himself for omnipotent due to the elation of accomplishing something decisive with his own hands.

Amy, having often seen such people in the imperial palace, could easily see through his inner thoughts.

As Amy was about to press him, he preempted her.

“It was a mistake.”

“!”

He put on an elaborately crafted expression of distress.

“It’s true that I gave two wine cups to His Highness the Crown Prince. I intended to drink together with His Highness. I had already put my medicine in my cup.”

Joseph quickly pointed out the flaw in his story.

“Then there was no need to hand over both cups. You could have just given the one for His Highness.”

Baron Pearson agreed with Joseph’s words.

“That’s right. But suddenly I received an urgent message and had to leave my seat unavoidably. So I left the cups with His Highness and went.”

As he spoke, he seemed to regain his composure, his face becoming more natural. He pleaded with a tone of considerable injustice.

“But in the meantime, His Highness the Crown Prince took the wine to His Highness the Grand Duke. It was to celebrate the Grand Duke’s ascension. His Highness didn’t know I had put medicine in the wine. No one had any intention to harm the Grand Duke, so this is all just an unfortunate accident.”

He spoke glibly, as if his tongue were coated with honey. Amy experienced that when anger becomes too great, the mind becomes calm instead. She spoke in a subdued voice.

“Whether it’s an accident or not will have to be investigated, but even if it is, you can’t escape responsibility.”

Her words clearly conveyed her determination to make him pay for his crimes one way or another. The Baron’s face hardened, then he smiled.

“…I suppose so. I’m prepared for that.”

He still seemed to be relying on his backing. Amy let out a small sigh, then bit her lip hard.

‘The key is that Noah doesn’t die.’

If he dies, all the truth will be buried, and the empire will use the excuse of Noah having no heir to take the duchy back into their grasp.

The protests of the Head Maid, the aide, and the guard captain would be easily ignored. It would mean Noah died a miserable death like a dog.

‘I can’t let that happen.’

Looking back at the dais, she saw a physician hastily brought by the guards examining Noah. The physician was making Noah vomit by giving him something. Seeing his face contorted in pain, Amy felt her cooled blood surge back.

At that moment, the Crown Prince roughly grabbed Amy’s wrist.

“Apologize.”