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Chapter 9
“It’s been a while, hasn’t it, Rachel? How have you been?”
“H-Hello.”
The carriage stopped in front of Harpa Castle where Paris Emporus resided.
‘You crazy father!’
She had emphasized that it was dangerous but Henry still brought Rachel here.
Rachel felt dizzy for a moment, but she cleared her head.
‘No. It’s rather good.’
The checkpoint was updated this afternoon. Even if she died, she would only return to half a day ago.
“And your wife?”
“Rachel wanted to see the capital so it’s only the two of us.”
“I see. Is it Rachel’s first time coming to Harpa Castle?”
The man started to boast about the construction that started in his grandfather’s generation that would finally be completed in his time. He looked very excited.
“Brother, did anything good happen?”
“Good? I’m just delighted to see my cute niece. You know how brusque boys can be since you’re raising a son. You haven’t eaten right? Rest while I have it prepared.”
He looked for the butler. After leaving the butler to guide them, he disappeared for a while.
Henry and Rachel were ushered to the guest room. Rachel was upset with Henry but she soon concentrated on exploring the castle’s interior.
‘Can we escape from here?’
When she first looked inside the castle, she thought it was very spacious, but it was more than she had expected.
‘How far can I go? It seems difficult to escape.’
The hallways were wider and the decorations and sculptures were more ornate. The butler who accompanied them also guided them with disciplined motions.
‘Are our employees, by comparison, bumpkins?’
She didn’t really have any complaints. The employees of the mansion were clumsy, but they were rather lively.
However, they were so close-knit that everyone became depressed when one of the maids died in the accident on the first day in round 1.
‘That’s when all the repairs stopped.’
They finally arrived at the guest room.
“If you need anything, please pull the cord in the room. I’ll be going now.”
When the butler disappeared, Rachel looked at Henry.
“Father, what were you thinking? Have you forgotten what I told you?”
“It’s not that.”
“I told you. I saw a future where I will die because of uncle. How could you bring me to uncle’s castle?”
Rachel complained but lowered her voice in case anyone could hear.
If it was a normal person, Rachel would have at least not brought them here.
“I stop by the castle to meet my brother whenever I go to the capital alone. It would be more suspicious if I suddenly just went without stopping.”
“You can say it was because it was urgent. Isn’t my life at stake?”
“Even if my brother is aiming for you, he wouldn’t do that in front of me. I’ll always be around you, so don’t be too hard on me.”
He said that. But…….
“Euk, keuk!”
Whilst having dinner, he grabbed his chest and fell on the table. His face slammed into his bowl and the soup splashed everywhere.
“Father? Father!”
– A family member has died. Returning to the checkpoint.
***
Her vision was covered with vertical lines and the colors became achromatic. Soon, achromatic vertical lines filled Rachel’s field of vision and the surrounding landscape changed.
She saw a familiar wooden table instead of a large marble table. And instead of Paris Emporus’ face, in front of Rachel was her family, Priest Peace, and Enoch.
Round 14 ended and Round 15 began. The cause was Henry’s death.
Rachel determined that Henry ate poison.
‘I can’t believe you poisoned your own brother!’
From what Rachel had experienced, the relationship between the eldest son, Paris Emporus, and the third son, Henry, wasn’t bad at all.
Although the title went to his older brother, Henry gave up on the title and traveled his own path to become a doctor.
Henry trusted Paris Emporus. It was to the extent that he couldn’t believe her claim that his eldest brother would kill her. In the end, he ate poisoned soup and died.
“You don’t look too good, it will be tiring in the carriage, will you be okay?”
Evelyn asked. Rachel nodded her head.
“Yes I’m fine. I can go.”
‘It’s not like I didn’t figure anything out.’
Rachel thought as she chewed her food. She herself ate the soup, but was fine until Henry collapsed.
Was it because she was nervous and ate a small amount? That couldn’t be it. The amount of soup that Henry ate wasn’t a lot either.
‘He didn’t intend to kill me.’
If his only purpose was to kill her, she should have died with Henry.
‘What is it? Why? Does it have anything to do with not having daughters born in the Emporus family?’
She lacked information.
‘Should I ask others for help?’
The priest and Evelyn were here now. Rachel decided to borrow the wisdom of her elders.
“I just saw the future.”
Deino looked up at his sister as if asking “What are you talking about?”. But the others focused on Rachel.
“What kind of future was it?”
“Tonight, the carriage father and I will be riding will stop at Harpa Castle. At the dinner prepared by uncle, father will eat poisoned food and collapse.”
“Rachel! Don’t say things like that!”
Henry slammed the table in anger. He didn’t believe Rachel.
He had seen Rachel’s abilities, however, he thought that Rachel was using it to insult him by lying about his brother in front of everyone.
“Honey, be quiet. Rachel, is that true?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
Evelyn shut Henry up and asked Rachel. Rachel was able to answer all of Evelyn’s questions.
“Honey, Rachel has never been to Harpa Castle. She’s not lying.”
“She could have heard about it even if she hadn’t been there.”
“She could have, but why would she lie?”
“Why, that’s…….”
He couldn’t say why. How could he say that Rachel was angry because he thought that she was not his daughter? He bit his lip.
“Is there no reason? For the outing to the capital with you?”
Evelyn dealt with Henry in a relaxed tone. The guilty man was pinned down by his wife’s words.
“And we still haven’t found the one who hid the cursed objects in the mansion.”
She didn’t say it out loud, but she hinted that the culprit could be Paris Emporus.
Priest Peace set her fork down and opened her mouth.
“Then why don’t we do this? Enoch will escort them both.”
Enoch, who was picking at the carrots stealthily, blinked in surprise at the suggestion from the other side.
“Enoch has excellent swordsmanship and can use divine powers. Not only can he purify the poison, he can also protect the two of you.”
“What if something happens here while I’m away?”
“I will stay here until Enoch returns. Evelyn is a swordsman and I can use divine powers, we’ll complement each other.”
He was looking forward to their sparring, but when he realized that he wouldn’t be able to fight for a while, he began to rummage through the food with his fork.
“Yes, I’ll do it.”
His answer and expression didn’t match. Evelyn said to Enoch.
“In return, once you come back, I will fight you as much as you want.”
Upon hearing those words, Enoch’s face glowed.
“Yes, I will definitely protect you two.”
Rachel swallowed her salad, thinking that he was a very easy person to read.
‘His image that I know isn’t like that.’
It was fascinating because even though she thought that, she was okay because he was still handsome.
So this time Enoch joined them.
The atmosphere inside the carriage, which was heavy in the previous round, became refreshed just by the fact that he had joined.
“Have we, by any chance, met before? Your face looks familiar.”
Rachel looked at Henry talking to Enoch. If the other person wasn’t a man, she would think he was flirting.
“If you’ve been to the temple, we may have run into each other.”
“Not at the temple. I’m not sure. Your face is familiar. How old are you?”
“I am 18 years old.”
“You’re young. I thought you were older because you’re a paladin. That’s amazing!”
“You flatter me.”
Henry grabbed Enoch and made a fuss saying that he liked him. Rachel pouted her lips at the sight of Henry.
She didn’t even think about improving her relationship with him, but she felt betrayed for the second time, seeing him talk like that to others while not speaking to her properly.
“Rachel, are you uncomfortable anywhere?”
“No. I’m just not used to the carriage.”
Although she returned, she rode the carriage for half a day the day before. And here she was riding the carriage again.
Fortunately, she was not prone to motion sickness but she couldn’t get used to the pain in her bottom.
“If it’s your first time riding a horse-drawn carriage, it can be quite inconvenient. Put this under you.”
Enoch handed a cushion from his side to Rachel. She didn’t feel such consideration when she came with Henry.
“Will Enoch be okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
“Then I won’t say no. Enoch is very kind.”
“I’m kind?”
He asked as if he had never heard it before. Rachel answered without a single hesitation.
“Yes.”
If this man isn’t kind, then who the hell is?
“Enoch is the kindest man I have ever met.”
Henry, the man who was unaware of his daughter’s discomfort, went to Paris Emporus’ den, which she had warned was dangerous, and crawled to his death.
Rachel glanced at Henry, and met his gaze.
“So Father, are we going to Harpa Castle where uncle is?”
“We are. I’ll check if the soup is really poisoned. If it is, then I will believe everything you say in the future. However, if there is no poison, I will regard your words as lies.”
“Be my guest. However, introduce Enoch as my maid, because if uncle sees Enoch as he is now, he might not add the poison.”
“What? A maid, not a servant?”
Enoch reacted, startled by Rachel’s words. Rachel nodded her head.
“Yes. Father doesn’t carry a servant with him. But this is my first time going out, so it wouldn’t be strange if I take a close maid with me.”
“But I’m a man.”
“Well, you still have a thin build, so even if you dress as a woman, no one will notice. I knew this would happen so I asked mother to prepare clothes and makeup!”
This was planned even before they boarded the carriage. After lunch, Evelyn and Priest Peace called Rachel. She then asked who she would introduce Enoch as and they lent her their wisdom.
– Sometimes you have to be able to disguise yourself for a mission. That’s great, Rachel, Enoch is in your care.
Recalling Priest Peace’s words, Rachel raised the corners of her lips and asked.
“Enoch, can you pretend to be a maid?”
***
“Wow, you’re so pretty!”
Before arriving at Harpa Castle, the carriage stopped at an empty lot. Rachel dressed him in the maid outfit Evelyn had prepared.
It was black overall except for the collar and the chest, and the plain white apron made of lace completed the maid outfit.
When she fastened the button all the way up, he was covered up to his neck, but Enoch’s face was so beautiful that it suited him so well.
Before makeup, he was already a beauty, but when she applied makeup, he only looked like a very beautiful maid.
“That can’t be true.”
Enoch retorted, blushing. But when Henry saw Enoch coming out of the carriage, he said.
“You, if you had been born as a woman, you would have made many men cry. Of course I will only love my Evelyn.”
He added, sensing his daughter’s gaze. Rachel then made him wear a light brown wig as a final touch to cover his short hair.
“With this, even uncle would not suspect. I’m going to introduce you as the maid I trust the most, so you have to stick with me.”
“Haa, yes.”
Enoch sighed and answered as if he had lost his will. He looked so good that even the coachman glanced at him.
“Come on, let’s depart again.”
The carriage ran and reached its destination.