31.Target

Azmaria closed her mouth with a confused face. Rather than questioning the chilling response, she seemed to acknowledge her mistake.

“Azmaria.”

“Yes.”

It was a short answer. Azmaria’s mournful voice seemed to deal with an old lover who was reunited after much hardship.

“You’re going to lose more than you get. Do you mind?”

“The nickname Stupid Woman Who Fell in Love is infinitely light when I think about the future.”

“What can I do for you?”

“I want to stay here for a while. Please stop the Will family carriage from coming to pick me up.”

Is Richton good or lucky? The prey comes in on its own leash even if he doesn’t step out.

“And.”

Azmaria looked carefully concerned about how to get more out of Richton. At least I could tell from that face that all this wasn’t an impulsive plan.

“…Let me use Susan as my maid.”

I mean, I don’t think this kind of development is that surprising. But if Richton is around, the story is a little different. I was smoothing my nails as if nothing had happened, but I could feel all my senses turning towards Richton.

“I didn’t expect that name to come out of Will Young lady’s mouth.”

Richton’s voice was calm. It’s okay. I don’t have to be scared. I didn’t do anything to deceive him. All that happened between Azmaria and me was going to be informed to Richton through Keane.

“I think this will also require your permission, Princess. Isn’t that the little girl you loved?”

I smiled lightly. It was me who voluntarily became Beatrice to see Azmaria. Therefore, the answer to his question was already set.

“There’s no reason why I can’t lend Richton a maid. She’s going to be your only wife soon, do you have to ask for that?”

Advice that wasn’t my advice didn’t work in the end. In a way, it was a natural result. From Azmaria’s point of view, she couldn’t trust anyone but me.

“Thank you for your permission, Your Grace.”

“Then I think you two have a lot to talk about. I’ll leave the uninvited guests alone.”

Looking back at Richton, he leaned down and kissed me lightly on the cheek. If it is not an illusion, it seems that the time his lips on my cool skin was a long time for greeting.

“You’re making an unpleasant joke. You have never been an uninvited guest in my life, Princess.”

The hard arm that was pulling my waist away. Richton left her with a sweet, warm smile that was evident that he is in love with me. I turned away from him because I wasn’t confident in smiling face to face.

The yellow moon rose in a circle between the main building and the annex. The lonely and clean Ingord’s annex looked to me like a large glass fishbowl.

The next day, the mansion was cluttered from early in the morning. The atmosphere was similar to the day he left the Marquis Crohertz. It was a calm and static farewell without losing dignity, but it seemed a bit rushed. News spread among employees that Azmaria remained in Ingord.

“Who remained back in the Duchy?”

“Azmaria Will Young-ae is left.”

Before noon, all the guests in Ingord were out like a low tide. The play is not ready on stage, but the audience is. The nobles also want to watch this interesting and surprising news one step away and relax. I checked that the wig and veil were perfectly worn and went down alone. As if she heard that I was leaving, Azmaria came out to say hello. As if she were the hostess of this mansion.

“Lovely Azmaria Young lady. Did you come down to console the abandoned mistress?”

“Don’t say that, Your Highness. I’m here purely to thank you.”

Azmaria’s face color was noticeably better than the first and second days. She might have settled down last night.

“After three years, everything will be back in place. I promise.”

Will it take three years?

“You didn’t even have to ask me to give her a letter.”

I took out the letter and handed it to Azmaria. Last night’s letter was all about a short word.

<Target>

I agonized about the meaning for a long time, but I couldn’t find the right answer. But that doesn’t mean I was in a hurry. I’ll have plenty of time as a maid in the annex.

“Oh.”

Looking down, I handed her the letter back.

“In fact, the recipient of this letter is not Susan, but Your Highness. Please read it when you get out of Ingord.”

What are you going to do by delivering a letter with <Target> on it? I couldn’t make it obvious that I had read it, so I had to take it back.

“I will.”

Richton didn’t come out. Maybe Beatrice doesn’t need to exist anymore. The carriage that picked me up left the mansion with a servant, a maid, and Azmarian sent me off.

We ran towards the west. When we arrived at the abandoned guard post after driving about five more minutes, the horsemen and guards would leave the carriage and return to Ingord as promised. Then I can go back to being Susan. I shoved my clothes and wig in my bag, and on the horse….

All of a sudden.

It was then. I heard a scream right next to the carriage.

“Who are you… hah!”

“Attack! Guard the carriage!”

How far am I? The carriage stopped and the guards began to scream. Rough noise rang along with the sound of iron clashing. Blood splattered through the window. In the rough-shaking carriage, I re-opened the letter I had folded finely.

<Target>

That’s what she meant. She was smarter than I thought. But thanks to her, I realized I shouldn’t be relaxed, so it wasn’t a bad exchange for me. How many minutes have passed? The door of the carriage, which had been tightly closed, opened.

“Your Highness, Princess Beatrice?”

The man who appeared was not a horseman or an escort. The masked man grabbed my hair and didn’t pull me down.

“Do you happen to have any letter left?”

I handed him an open letter. The man who checked the contents told me in a polite manner.

“If you’ll do as we say, I’ll finish it quickly without swearing and pain.”

Does it mean that he will save his last face? It was funny. Who’s giving it to whom? I already had an experience of facing a similar crisis. And I know very clearly what’s wrong with guys like him. I carefully stretched out my arm and pulled the man’s arm. Weak and delicate, expressing the face of a woman who is about to die.

“I, if you don’t mind, could you come a little closer…?”

Choosing a weak voice like a thread that will be cut off at any moment helped. After leading the man into the wagon, I pulled the veil. It wasn’t completely borderline, but deep curiosity permeated the gaze. It is so easy to play a hunted rabbit. Who would think the pale princess’ blood vessels were poisoned?

“Sorry, I’m sorry. M, my hands are shaking so much… I didn’t think I’d end up like this, huh…Now, could you hold it for a second?”

I slowly swept the back of his hand with my bare hands without gloves. Shaking hands looked pathetic to me. I could see the heat slowly rising in the eyes of the man who was on alert.

“I, if you can comfort me….”

My tongue stumg when I said the bullsh*t from my mouth. The man’s eyes were not pretty at all. The eyes were as murky as the old water, and the wrinkles around the eyes were sparsely covered like black mushrooms. He slowly lifted his upper body and drew close to my face. His eyes were about to eat me. I took off the man’s mask with an innocent face as if she didn’t know.

“I, it doesn’t mean much. You understand how I feel, right? I just feel so empty….”

I chewed the flesh on the inside of my tongue and leaned against the man. The man’s black lips swallowed me as if he had waited. I held my breath and poured all my blood into it. The fishy smell of blood lingered on the tip of my tongue and then moved away. It was dirty enough to last another second. If the blood was handed over, that was the end of the job. There was no need to push the man’s excited body away with all my might. The wait was short. The gasping face began to be stained with pain.

“Kuek.”

The man holding my neck pulled out of the carriage in a laborious move.

Bam.

It happened in an instant. The man who was stumbling turned his head to the side. The owner of the fist was obvious without confirmation. Soon, the man poked his head into the carriage. Unstiff red blood was evident on the surface of the sword. When our eyes met, the grinning face couldn’t seem so peaceful.

“All right… very well done, Susan.”

I wasn’t in the mood to answer. All the disgusting smells left in her mouth were drawn and spit out to the floor. I was glad I skipped breakfast. There was no food that came over her even though I tried hard to gag.

“You know exactly where the men are going. I don’t think you learned from Mr. Berkne. No? Did you learn it? It’s terrible just imagining it.”

“Please shut up because it’s noisy.”

Keane was pushed out of the carriage. I gently stepped on the body with my shoes which were much softer than the dirty road.

“Who told you to do it?”

“Azmaria Will.”

“Aha, you mean the cute girl? Nice try, but bad opponent. I’m glad I got there first.”

I took off my wig and began to undress while Keane searched through the body. I didn’t want to go back into the carriage. I felt like the smell of the dirty guy was still there. The ladies of noble families are amazing. I had been wearing thin layers of clothes while she was in the middle of a struggle to tear the lace off the shoulders and arms. Keane’s eyes met looking this way with his arms crossed.

“What are you looking at?”

“…are you not ashamed? I don’t look like a man, do I?”

“I think you’d better turn your back with your nonsense, Keane. Of course, I won’t stop you from watching.”

He showed his back to me, shaking his head. But soon after, I had to regret spitting bitter words at Keane. No matter how hard I tried, the strap around my waist has not been loosened. A sigh came out. I had no choice but to call him.

“Keane.”

He turned his head slightly.

“Please untie this.”

This time, I turned my back and stood. Tsk, Keane clicked his tongue and grabbed my waist from behind. It was tied so tightly that it would take a considerable amount of time to untie it.

“You’ve tied it up meticulously, covering only a thin piece of cloth.”

“Oh, don’t pull hard!”

Maybe it’s because Keane, who was far away, was standing right behind my back. The fact that he was close to me alone began to make me aware of my half-exposed chest.