/
Around the same time, Cayetana managed to get herself together and got up from the bed.
For the first time in a few days, she was even well enough to walk. In the meantime, she had been sleeping strangely as if she was dead and barely eating what the maids brought, though now, she felt more energized and alert.
“It seems that you were attacked by rat shapeshifters, Madam.”
Cayetana’s doctor informed her. He mentioned he had repeatedly been saying the same thing to her, but she didn’t even remember it.
“I’ve been bedridden for days?”
“Yes, Madam. As the dream demon deprives you of your energy, you’ll become lethargic and drowsy, unable to maintain your daily routine. It’s not uncommon.”
“I see. Since you’ve been taking good care of me, here’s your reward.”
After honoring the doctor with the gem, Cayetana gritted her teeth.
“All of those shapeshifters are a nuisance. I can’t believe I was beaten by a rat shapeshifter. What on earth did the knights who guarded my visit do?”
She punished the knights, opposite of what she had done to the doctor.
Nonetheless, how could the knights have prevented the rat shapeshifters who had turned into rats from breaking into the room? However, the knights were unable to say anything and had to accept a three-month pay cut.
Cayetana, who rewarded and punished people, asked Betty, her personal maid.
“Has anything happened in the meantime?”
“The Duke and Duchess attacked the slave traders of the Count of Bilbao and summoned the elders. Somehow, the elders rushed to the Duke’s residence at dawn and presented him with gold and silver treasure.”
“What?”
“Shortly thereafter, Count Schdental contacted me to request an audience with the Madam. Things were moving so fast, and the Duchess’s servants were so tight-lipped so I couldn’t dig any deeper. I apologize, Madam. I’m afraid it’d be quicker to ask the Count.”
“Ha.”
Cayetana wiped her forehead. What the hell happened while she was lying in bed?
“Prepare right now. I must see Count Schdental.”
Soon, she got into the carriage and left the mansion. Cayetana intended to meet Count Schdental in a secret location, away from prying eyes. Entering the commercial district of Blois, she suddenly felt a strange sensation. She ordered Betty, who sat in the driver’s seat instead of the coachman.
“I need to change carriages.”
Betty, who took off her maid’s uniform and drove the carriage with a sword in her leather armor for ease of movement, immediately understood what she meant. She intentionally circled a few busy alleys before hiding Cayetana’s carriage in a corner and hailed a carriage that was passing by.
After moving the carriage, Cayetana closed the small window in the door with a curtain, lost in thought.
Her eyes were sharp.
‘It feels like I’m constantly being followed…’
It was like that at some point. Even when she attacked knights and asked them to see if anyone was tailing them, they wouldn’t catch anything.
‘Is it just because my nerves became more sensitive?’
It could have been.
She had been feeling like she was being followed for quite some time now, but nothing had happened yet. Who was going to keep chasing after her when she had retired from all that hard work and power after so much effort?
‘It can’t be Dimitri who has a grudge against me. If it were him, he’d have tried to harm me long ago, and I doubt he’d continue this pointless chase…’
It could be that she had done a lot of harm to Dimitri, so Cayetana was suspicious and anxious. If she thought that to herself, she’d be able to stay away from Dimitri, but that wasn’t what she believed.
‘He’ll have his revenge on me one day… He’ll have his sword sharpened, but I can’t let that happen. I have to trample on him firmly so that he wouldn’t dare to dream of revenge.’
Only then would she be able to rest easily. Only by getting rid of Dimitri would she be able to live out her days in peace.
‘That b*stard and I have come too far to live and breathe together under the same sky.’
Cayetana remembered all the dirty things she had done to Dimitri. She abused him, kidnapped and abandoned him, and poisoned his biological mother to death. However, as a joke of fate, Dimitri persisted and became a duke.
It never occurred to her that he would be able to survive in the first place.
‘Either I die or he dies, one of the two… Still, I don’t want to be killed by a dirty shapeshifter, so it should be him who dies the most miserable death.’
In the meanwhile, Cayetana changed carriages twice more on the way, unable to shake off the unpleasant feeling of being followed. It was only then that she circled the block and finally arrived at the place where she was supposed to meet Count Schdental.
Count Schdental had come first and was waiting for her.
“You’re late, Madam Elbas.”
“I’m sorry. I’ve been feeling dubious.”
Hearing that, the Count calmed her familiarly as if he had already heard what she feared.
“Don’t worry. I’ve got eyes on the alley from the entrance, so if someone were to follow you, I’d know right away.”
“That’s a relief, then.”
“Maybe it’s because Dimitri has been paying too much attention since he became a duke.”
“All the unhappiness in my life is because of him. By the way, I heard about it, but what’s been going on lately? I have been bedridden lately because of the rat shapeshifters’ mischief.”
“Ah, that was the reason. I was worried because I couldn’t reach you.”
The next moment, as Count Schdental told her the details of what had happened, Cayetana groaned and touched her forehead.
“I can’t believe Rowaine was such a wr*tch… I guess I let my guard down too much because I thought she was a foolish child that has a quick temper.”
“This isn’t the time to blame yourself. The nobles are crawling under him one by one. We need to take measures.”
“Don’t be impatient, Count. There must be a way out, and who wants to be under that shapeshifter? They’re all just cowering from the threat in front of them.”
Saying so, Cayetana took a flower from the vase on the table and habitually crushed the petals one by one with her fingertips. Her hands were stained red with flower water.
As she had been lost in thought for a while, someone’s name popped out of her mouth.
“Rowaine… She is very suspicious indeed. What happened to her relationship with the Emperor, and why is she suddenly clinging to Dimitri?”
“Even so, I sent someone to Count Larscel to investigate, but it doesn’t seem to be his plan either.”
“You mean that b*tch is acting on her own?”
“Even Count Larscel was very angry.”
“That’s even more suspicious, then.”
Why?
Even though she didn’t know what Rowaine was up to, what was certain was that her bad reputation wasn’t a bad thing for them to use against them.
“I hear she’s been acting pretty badly. If we dig into that, wouldn’t that give us a way to hurt Dimitri?”
At that time, Count Schdental opened his mouth again as though he had a good idea.
“They say that woman is setting up a shapeshifter shelter.”
“A prisoner shelter?”
Haha.
Cayetana laughed sharply as if she was amazed.
“Is that b*tch insane? She’s truly a family disgrace.”
“There will be a lot of people who would dislike the idea.”
At those words, she nodded her head as though she understood what Count Schdental wanted.
“I’ll try to figure out a ploy about it somehow.”
˚ ･: * ✧ * :･ ˚
Rosanne was taking a walk near the annex. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see kittens running and jumping over the walls of the annex and into the backyard.
“I heard that Rowaine brought in a lot of shapeshifters with Dimitri, so it must be those kids.”
She, who usually had a tiger-like expression on her face, had an uncharacteristically cheerful smile on her face.
The old maid next to her pulled a shawl tightly around Roseanne’s shoulders and spoke in surprise.
“They look rather cute.”
“I must be old, seeing that I think those little things are cute.”
Contrary to her blunt voice, her eyes looking at the kittens were warm.
At that time, a crow circled high in the sky above her head before swooping down to land on a nearby branch.
“I’m back, Rosanne.”
It was a crow shapeshifter.
Unlike human-friendly dog shapeshifters and cat shapeshifters who arbitrarily regard humans as equals even if no one acknowledges them, other species shunned the human world. Therefore, it was difficult to find and tame them, so it wasn’t a subject of much interest, even among humans.
However, sometimes there were shapeshifters who lived with humans even though they weren’t dog or cat shapeshifters.
Lerida was a crow shapeshifter that Rosanne took care of when she injured her wing in an accident one day.
Crow shapeshifters tended to consider repaying favors as their mission. Even though Lerida wasn’t in a master-servant relationship with Rosanne, but rather her secret friend who always appeared whenever she called and did her bidding.
“Oh, how was it?”
“Cayetana is meeting with Count Schdental.”
“Is that so?”
Rosanne had been keeping an eye on Cayetana ever since Dimitri became a duke.
“As I sat by the window and listened in, it looked like they were going to do some tricks to Rowaine’s shapeshifters’ shelter.”
“I see, that’s enough. Thank you again this time.”
“If you ever need another favor, just ask. If it’s a favor from Rosanne, I’ll be happy to oblige as long as it’s in my power.”
Lerida, with her beautiful black beak, bowed her head as a greeting and flew away. Seeing that, her maid asked.
“Will you wait and see this time again?”
“I don’t know. That would bE up to Cayetana.”
Rosanne watched with a thoughtful face as Lerida flew freely and disappeared into the sky.
“I just want to protect Blois.”