Helen widened her triangular eyes and looked at the black-fur bear coat.
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âDoes he give me a bear that almost killed me as a present?â
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The Emperor inside Helenâs mind was very scary and fierce. With âBullying Marâ as the recently added information in her mind.
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There was no way she could be happy knowing the coat was given by such a man.
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However, Ellie was different, she beamed and arranged the coat with a beaming smile.
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âWinter in Idelberg is severe. Itâs useless now because itâs currently summer, but itâll be very handy during winter.â
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âYeahâŚ.â
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Not wanting to spoil Ellie, who was in a good mood, Helen answered irresolutely and ignored her.
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She attempted to read a new book she bought this time.
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After the Emperor suddenly increased her budget, Helen bought a lot of new books with it.
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It was to relieve the feeling of resentment when she wasnât able to go to the library and read books.
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When she was eyeing for the book to read, Ellie stepped closer and stood beside her.
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âYour Highness, I apologize for giving you that kind of book last time. Were you surprised by that?â
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Book? What kind of book? ⌠Oh!
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Helenâs face turned red when she recalled which book the maid meant.
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âYouâre flushed again. If you find it pleasant, would you like me to give you another book?â
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âEllie!â
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Ellie chuckled lowly as if she was amused by Helenâs flustered reaction.
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She fanned herself with both hands, but she was at the end of her wits.
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âI was joking.â
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âWhy are you suddenly talking about booksâŚ.â
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When Helen mumbled a question, Ellieâs eyes were filled with worry.
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âBut His Majesty definitely felt something. Even with what happened at the hunting festival, the bear fur, he would never do those kinds of things without feeling anything.â
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ââŚItâs not because of feelings.â
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It was a secret that was only known by her. She knew that Ellie would find it weird.
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âYouâre not going to tell me again, right?â
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âSorry.â
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âHuft, I donât mind at all si donât make such a face!â
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Ellie, who couldnât stand it seeing Helenâs face, hit on her own chest and spoke.
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She hit so hard that Helen opened her eyes wide and looked at her in surprise.
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âYour Highness, everything is going good, why are you so easily discouraged? Iâm completely in distress because of it.â
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âYeah. I know, so stop hitting yourself. It must have hurt.â
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âAre you concerned about me?â
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âOf course.â
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Helen nodded as if it were a matter of course. Helen nodded as if it was obvious.
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She was afraid that Ellie might hit hard on her chest again.
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Ellie etched a slight frown on her face.
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âIâm concerned about you, Your Highness.â
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The more she got involved with the emperor, the less beautiful her circumstances would be.
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In other words, the 26th concubine, Edith, had 26 mountains to climb ahead of her.
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Twenty-five concubines and one empress.
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However, Ellieâs mind failed to be at peace when she looked at Helen, who always read books.
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Moreover, she had always wondered. Why did Her Highness Edith seem to have a low self-esteem?
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Knowing the place where she grew up and her background, she shouldnât have acted that way.
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âDo you know the wide-spread rumor about how devoted His Majesty the Emperor of Cordelia was in terms of raising his daughter?â
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Is it because the rumor grew too wild?
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âNow that I think about it, he sent his beloved daughter away, but you havenât even heard anything from him.â
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âI have, onceâŚ.â
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âItâs only once. Her daughter is worth his every day.â
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ââŚ.â
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Helenâs expression rapidly alluded.
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As she watched the change of expression from her facade, Ellie realized she had stepped on the minefield.
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âIâm exhausted today, so can you leave?â
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âYour Highness?â
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Ellie was forced to leave as if she was kicked out of the room.
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Helen, who remained alone in the room, shrugged her shoulders and took a deep sigh.
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âHuftâŚ.â
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Ellie and Mar were the last people she wanted to find out the fact that she was Helen.
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At the same time, they were the people who she wanted to tell the most about her real identity being Helen.
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It was such a weird feeling.
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She thought she was doing a good job at hiding the ugly Helen, and Helen was wondering if Mar would be surprised once he found out about it.
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âPerhaps, is it too obvious that sheâs an ugly daughter?â
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The trembling that had reduced after meeting Mar, returned again.
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âPleaseâŚ.â
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She held her trembling hand and waited until the tremble subsided.
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After this moment passed, she hoped the night would come by soon. Itâs the only time she could see Mar.
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***
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She opened the door of the Emperorâs room. Mar stood right in front of the door like he was supposed to be.
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âDid he wait for me again?â
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She felt both grateful and guilty to him.
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However, Helen couldnât bring herself to say thank you as well as usual.
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âEdith?â
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Mar asked curiously, realizing Helen was in a terrible mood.
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Helen was startled and flinched by Marâs voice, her eyes widened slightly.
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It was reasonable for Mar to grow suspicious of her unusual behavior.
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âIâve always wondered about this before. Do you hate your name?â
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When Mar asked her carefully, Helen swiftly shook her head.
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âNo, Iâm just startled.â
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âIâve felt it. Your eyes get twisted every time I call your name.â
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âItâs not.â
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Helen dropped her head and secretly avoided his gaze, but Mar persistently attached his eyes on her and tried to initiate eye contact with her again.
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Helen eventually closed her eyes tightly.
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âLook at me.â
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Marlâs voice was uncharacteristically bewildered.
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Helen knew how she didnât act like usual, but she didnât have the courage to open her eyes.
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âIâm, Iâm sorry.â
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She hated when people called her by her sisterâs name, especially if it was Mar.
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She tried hard to hide it, but she ended up showing it again.
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Helen twitched her eyelashes in dismay.
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âDonât be embarrassed. Itâs all right.â
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Marâs tender voice made Helen feel like the stone on her chest fell on her feet.
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Itâs always like this each time.
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This feeling didnât matter to him.
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As soon as she secretly opened her eyes, which had been closed, her eyes met Marâs eyes.
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âCome here.â
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As he smiled with his eyes bent into half-moon shaped, red demilune showed up on her face.
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She forgot to refuse when her hands were pulled by Mar who flashed a pretty smile toward her, and she ended up embracing him without realizing it.
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âWe shouldnât hold each other like this.â
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Helen was taken aback by how complaining her tone was and closed her mouth.
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Then, she heard an unexpected voice in her head.
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âYou said we should comfort friends when they are sad. I think this is also the way to comfort them.â
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Friends?
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Even if they decided to stay as friends, even if she obviously was the one who had brought it up first.
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When the word âfriendâ escaped his mouth, she felt her heart ache and sank.
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Why is she sad?
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Helen held onto his collar with a slight frown in his arms.
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âItâs because I am tired today. So, let me use it as an excuse.â
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Tired.
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It was just an excuse to console herself, but Helen was hoping he wouldnât ask the reason, which was to no avail.
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âWhy are you tired?â
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âBecause youâre late.â
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Helenâs face turned red as if it was about to burst at Marâs sly reply.
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Her grip on his collar seemed to give a lot of strength to herself.
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The sound of her beating heart fluttered in her ears. Helen maintained a distance between their slightly touching bodies so that her voice couldnât be heard by Mar.
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Mar hugged Helen and gently caressed her long hair.
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Whatâs with that long face today?
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He didnât know anything beyond his control.
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Whether about her husbandâs identity, the girl that she called maid, was it pleasant to live during the day without him, and what made her in such a dismay all the time?
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There were a lot of things he wanted to ask, but he didnât want to.
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He thought that if he asked, the boundaries between them would become obvious.
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He just hated the thought of her leavingâŚ. with the same assumption.
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âLetâs quickly find a way to restore your memories.â
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Helenâs murmur resonated across Marâs chest.
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The hand that was playing with Helenâs hair stopped in the air.
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ââŚWill I be able to find my memories?â
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There was no certainty in Marâs voice.
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âWhat if I actually donât have any memories?â
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He had begun to realize what has changed from him bit by bit in the past few days.
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The most suspicious thing was the Emperor and him that shared similarities in their handwriting.
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Even the clothing in the dressing room fit perfectly to him, as if they were tailored specifically for him.
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The room appeared to be strangely familiar, and he even naturally knew where the things were placed.
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Those were the suspicious aspects that he learned after he was moved from the library to the Emperorâs room.
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âIs there any connection between me and the Emperor?â
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He wanted to ask Helen about it, but there was no way he could do that.
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Since Helen hated and feared the Emperor as much as he did.
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-The Emperor? Iâm not really sureâŚ. Heâs a scary person.
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â I donât know a lot about him. I donât want to know either.
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-Moreover heâsâŚ. Ehem, anyway I donât want to have any business with the Emperor.
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Mar remembered everything Helen had said in his heart.
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âDonât be doubtful. Iâm sure youâll be able to.â
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When she opened the door and entered the room, it seemed like she was lying about being in a terrible mood.
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When he smiled and stared at Helen, who raised her head as she settled in his arms, there was an intangible hope in Marâs heart.
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âRight. Letâs find my memories.â
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***
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Ersa carefully set the date. Since she had to create a circumstance where she couldnât be pointed out as a suspect.
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She called in a maid who had always moved around well and brisk, to sit down with her as she sipped on her tea calmly.
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Ersa stopped the maidâs hand that was attempting to pour tea into the empty cup.
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âCan you have a drink with me?â
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âYes, yes! O-of course.â
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Ersa poured the tea into the teacup for the maid with a kind gaze.
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The maid was so nervous that her face was ashen, even her hand that held the teacup was shaking.
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The maid gulped, her throat wavered heavily.
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âIâve always kept an eye on you. How smart you are at doing your work âŚ.â
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âT-Thank you.â
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The maid quickly drank tea once Ersa gave a gesture with her hand.
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Ersa looked over the teacup to stare at the nervous maid.
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It was a puzzling call, but the maid quickly remembered there must be a reason considering her usual character, she wouldnât have been called for no absolute reason.
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What she thought to be the wisest answer was there must be something she wanted her to do secretly.
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âM-Maybe, if there is something you would like me to doâŚ.â
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âYouâre a quick-witted girl.â
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Ersaâs eyes sparkled like a poisonous snake.
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Bringing the pocket of money which had been prepared earlier to the table, Ersa put it down hard enough to produce a sound on purpose.
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The maidâs eyes began to grow larger as the pocket, which was full of gold coins inside of it, laid on the table with a pleasant noise.
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âIâve put a lot of money in it. Iâll give ten times this amount of money if you manage to finish your job well.â
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Gulp.
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The maidâs neck was once again wavering heavily.
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âIf you do this well and leave the palace, Iâll find a house and business for you to lead a life with. How long are you going to live while taking care of others? You have to do your thing. Isnât that right?â
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The maidâs eyes once again shook greatly when she heard that the pocket of money wasnât the final thing she was going to receive.
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Nonetheless, Ersa smiled pleasantly in secret when she saw the maid nibbling on her lower lip and didnât talk gibberish.
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Among all the servants working under her, she was the most loyal maid who was worthy of being summoned for this kind of task.
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It wasnât a lie that she had been keeping an eye on her, she put the pocket of money in the maidâs hand and whispered subtly.
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âIf you overlook this just for once, Iâll let you lead a well-off life without having to envy others. How does it sound?â