So I accompanied Cardan to visit Janet.
“Your Majesty, and D, Duke…….”
Janet’s hand trembled inexorably as she poured us tea.
“W, what brings you here?”
First, I smiled brightly to reassure her.
Because Cardan couldn’t match it, the effect was reduced as he stared at Janet with his arms and legs crossed, but Janet’s tremor improved little by little.
“I came here to apologize because I thought I was rude yesterday.”
However, as I continued to talk, the trembling of her whole body, which had barely subsided, became worse. As Janet shuddered to her shoulders and trembled, I had no choice but to raise the corners of my mouth as much as I could, pretending to be kind.
“I don’t usually get drunk that fast, but I didn’t feel well yesterday, so I showed disgrace to the madam.”
In the end, Janet dropped the teapot she was holding.
The delicate porcelain splashed in all directions.
Instead of calling the maids, Janet began to pick up the pieces herself.
At the sight of Janet trying to pick up the sharply broken fragments with her bare hands, my hands reached out without realizing it.
Pulling Janet’s hand, she was hauled in without hesitation. Sure enough, there were drops of blood on her fingertips.
Without hesitation, I sucked Janet’s finger.
It was no different from folk remedies, but when I saw Janet crying like a child, I moved without realizing it because I wanted to do something.
However, the next moment, I was pulled away from Janet with my back held by a solid arm.
Cardan, who pulled me close to the waist, made eye contact.
I didn’t know why Cardan smiled so coolly with his eyes sharply open, but I felt relieved and came up with an excuse.
As I lowered my head, Cardan’s fierce face got closer, so I closed my eyes tightly without realizing it.
“Why don’t you two just date?”
At last there was a murmur of irritation in my ears.
“Haha, what the hell? I was just worried about the madam…….”
I’m still trying to figure out a way to escape the clutches of Cardan, who has my back tightly wrapped while rolling his eyes.
Janet apologized unexpectedly.
“The Duke thinks of me so much……. I… I…….”
Janet couldn’t finish her sentence and burst into tears.
Her appearance was so miserable that my heart sank without realizing it.
In addition to being a person who had to be coaxed and treated well, I felt various emotions.
After hearing about Janet’s childhood that her father and brother only watched her when she fell into the lake, and that her brother bullied her with his hounds, I felt sorry for her for some reason.
I was proud of her, who was not crooked even though she was treated so coldly by her family members who were supposed to be more supportive and caring than anyone else.
I thought it was a shame so I was fond of her. I am not her sister, but I felt more attached to Janet, who had not lost her good heart, even though she was weak, knowing how the Duke of Baloa, who had a similarly poor childhood, had changed.
I eventually elbowed Cardan and ran straight to Janet.
“Why are you crying all of a sudden? You’re going to ruin your pretty face.”
Ignoring Cardan, who stared at me with an absurd eye, I covered Janet’s shoulder.
And when Janet buried her face completely in my chest, I carefully opened my mouth.
“Is it because of the drink you gave me yesterday?”
Poor things are pitiful, but I have to dig up what needs to be dug up.
I patted her on the back before Janet, who had hardened herself, shook me off.
“I don’t mean to blame Madam.”
And while keeping my voice soft, I poured out words quickly.
“There are many people who tried to poison me, so will a glass of wine that made me drunk so quickly break our friendship, which has been strengthened by all kinds of trials?”
Cardan’s snort was heard from behind. I glanced at him as I patted Janet on the back.
He has a knack for breaking the flow at an important moment.
Fortunately, Janet didn’t seem to hear it.
She looked up at me with tearful eyes.
She smiled shyly as I wiped tears off her cheeks.
“I’m not as close to anyone as the concubine.”
When I caught Janet’s eyes shaking with emotion at the unexpected confession, I immediately brought up the subject.
“So I really wanted to ask you. Why did you give me that wine? You’re a close friend that I cherish more than anyone else, so can you tell me that much?”
As I tilted my head and bent my eyes beautifully, Janet nodded absent-mindedly for a moment.
I naturally smiled contentedly inside.
Janet trembled so much that we settled on the drawing-room sofa again.
But this time, I sat next to Janet, not Cardan.
Janet sobbed and spoke with difficulty.
“I’m so sorry. There’s no one who’s been as kind to me as the Duke. You did such a thing…….”
My question was delivered as gently as I could, without criticizing Janet.
“There was something I had to ask my brother……. He said he wouldn’t do it unless I put medicine on the Duke’s alcohol.”
As she confessed slowly, Janet began to sob again.
“Now, stop. I’ve already received enough apologies.”
I tried to console her, but Cardan tilted his head sharply from the other side.
Due to his question, Janet, who barely opened her mouth, shut her mouth like a clam.
“If you have made a person unconscious, you should at least tell me what you were trying to get from doing so much.”
“It’s all right, madam. I’m really fine.”
I glanced at Cardan and tapped him hard on the back.
Janet, who sniffed, dug into my arms to avoid Cardan’s pointed gaze.
I patted her on the head and carefully opened my mouth.
“I want to know, too. What you had to ask the Crown Prince…….”
When Janet shuddered and tried to set boundaries, I hastened to add.
“I might be of some help, wouldn’t I? If it was for the concubine, I would have just helped…….”
At the moment Janet’s breathing slowed, someone snatched my waist again.
As a result, I missed the thin shoulder of Janet, who was hugging me.
Before I knew it, Cardan, who was sitting next to me, raised his eyebrows and asked directly.
“Was it a request for Peter?”
The answer has already been given by Janet’s reaction.
Cardan put his arm on my shoulder and jutted at Janet.
“Look. Isn’t it much faster this way than hugging and crying?”
Regardless of his contract with the Duke of Baloa, I think he was really a tyrant without blood or tears, but Janet, who was looking at us, grabbed my hand.
“H, help me. Help me, Duke……! Please save Peter!”
Janet continued to speak gibberish, trying to hold back her tears and snot. Her story unfolded in an instant.
From the story of her mother’s death as a child, to her accident of falling into the lake, to the story of Peter who dramatically saved her.
I expected that her childhood would not have been smooth, but I almost shed a little tears without realizing it because of her much more unfortunate story than I thought.
And the moment I saw Janet’s expression about Peter, I had a hunch.
My plan to lure Janet to Cardan was doomed from the start.
No matter how handsome he looks, can he be compared to a man who saved her life while losing sight on one side of his eye?
I glanced at Cardan while thinking about whether I should have dropped Janet instead of dropping the crown prince into the lake, then my eyes met him.
Cardan smiled mischievously and asked with his mouth.
I turned away in a hurry without realizing it.
I didn’t know why I remembered that Cardan also saved my life many times at this moment.
As I touched my heated ear, Janet desperately grabbed my hand. She was stopped by Cardan right away.
“Brother didn’t tell me anything except that Peter was nearing death, and the Empress Dowager changed Peter’s letter. T, there’s no place for help.”
Surely, if I save Peter, I will gain Janet’s infinite loyalty.
However, I could not intervene hastily before I was ready to collide head-on with the Empress Dowager.
First, I need to diagnose the risks accurately.
“Where exactly is Sir Peter Arthur van right now? His current location, or if there’s anyone watching him. Please tell me everything you know.”
“That’s… I don’t know. The only thing I know is that he’s in Lores.….”
Janet opened her mouth cautiously.
“I don’t know exactly, but it means lawless in the Eslandic dialect. I think it’s used as slang among knights, but I only know that Peter has been sent there.”
“So do you know what Lord Arthur van did in Lores? The priority is to locate Sir Arthur Van, and I think it can be roughly inferred if I can identify his mission.”
Janet, who was squeezing her hand again, said nothing for a while.
It wasn’t until I urged her to speak.
“It’s embarrassing as a princess, but I don’t know anything, I don’t know anything…….”
I approached her because I thought she would be helpful as a princess of the country, but this operation seemed to have also failed.
We left the drawing room after reassuring Janet moderately.
“Don’t do anything useless.”
Cardan was sometimes horrifically quick-witted.
“Haha, what do you mean, something useless?”
“I know you’re thinking of helping the princess.”
“If I help her with this, it won’t be a problem to bring on Janet.”
Cardan raised his eyebrows.
“Is there any guarantee that the princess will be of help if you recruit her?”
I was already confused, so Cardan clicked his tongue when I couldn’t answer immediately.
“What good is it to burst into tears every few seconds?”
I couldn’t bear to refute it.
“The Duke’s plan to use her as a double agent seemed plausible at first, so I’ve watched it all this time, but now that I see it, it’s a total sham. How could she be a double agent as a person who seems to have never lied properly in her life?”
It seems like being venerable is like this.
The scene of Janet, crying sadly and asking me for help, kept replaying before my eyes, but there was no way to refute Cardan’s words.
Cardan laughed contentedly as I rolled my eyes without saying anything.
“I understand that there will no longer be trivial plans to seduce or persuade the princess after this incident.”
I clapped my hands at his words. A certain realization struck my mind as soon as I heard his sarcastic remarks.
“Right! Even in His Majesty’s eyes, she can’t tell a dirty lie!”
Cardan looked at me up and down as if he thought I was crazy, but I only smiled.
“Let’s take advantage of it.”