Chapter 96. Where the Daffodils Bloomed

“Melissa… what? She was taken away by the Grand Duke of Bayern?”

Margot, who had just received the shocking news, froze like a statue, her eyes wide open.

The servant from the Palmen household, who had come to deliver the news, added an explanation with an awkward expression.

“She was arrested on the spot for allegedly spiking the Grand Duke’s champagne with illegal substances. The Grand Duchess drank the champagne, which greatly angered the Grand Duke…”

“……”

Margot, who had been standing blankly, slid down to the floor, her legs giving out. The servant glanced at her nervously, then bowed and left.

Left alone in the small, shabby room, Margot’s lips slowly curled into a smile. She laughed intermittently, like a madwoman, gasping for breath.

Melissa… charged with using illegal substances… That means…

‘She’s definitely going to prison.’

Since her crime targeted the Grand Duke, charges of insulting and defaming the royal family could also be added.

‘Why did you do such a foolish thing, Melissa!’

Margot, her face contorted, pounded the floor with her fists. Her hands hurt, but she couldn’t stop. She needed some way to vent her frustration.

‘If she goes to prison, she won’t be able to marry or even enter a convent… She’ll have to live and die as a factory worker or a tenant farmer!’

Margot finally broke down in tears, curling up on the floor. Illegal substances—where on earth did she get them…

‘…Could it be…?’

Suddenly, a thought struck her, and she stopped crying. She lifted her head and stared into space, her green eyes trembling like leaves in a storm.

…That old gypsy in the slum… is she still…?

‘No, but that was so long ago. Even if the Grand Duke of Bayern catches the gypsy… it’ll be fine. Nothing will happen.’

It was over ten years ago. There was no way the gypsy would remember. The chance that the illegal dealer Melissa bought the substances from was that gypsy was extremely low…

The last time she saw the foreign old woman, she looked at least 60 years old. There was no way she survived over ten years in the disease-ridden slum. The old woman must be dead.

‘Yes, it’s just needless worry.’

Margot, trembling, stood up and opened the moldy wardrobe. She planned to change into clean clothes and visit the Palmen household. If she begged and pleaded, they might cover Melissa’s legal fees…

‘I can’t give up on Melissa. I have to find a way to reduce her sentence, no matter what.’

As she hurriedly dressed and left the small room, Ellen’s curse echoed in her mind.

‘Instead, I’ll curse you. I hope your precious daughters, Helene and Melissa, live in torment in a hellish reality for the rest of their lives. And Anthony, there’s no need to mention him. What will a boy who frequents gambling dens become when he grows up? He’ll be lucky to keep all his limbs. And you, you’ll live to see all that. Watch your children live the miserable lives you so desperately didn’t want for yourself…’

D*mn girl.

It will never go the way you want. Never.

* * *

“So?”

“……”

“You dare propose a deal with me?”

The illegal dealer caught in the slum was an outrageously shameless old woman. She had proposed to give up ‘important information’ in exchange for being deported to her hometown instead of being imprisoned.

“Do gypsies even have a hometown?”

“Of course. This old woman’s hometown is the Andalusian hills, on the way from Asir to Katar. It’s all dead now, but my family and friends were all born there.”

“If you were born in such a nice place, why didn’t you settle there? Why crawl into Freuden and cause trouble?”

“Do gypsies need a reason to wander? The sky is our roof, and the ground is our floor. My hometown may be Andalusia, but the whole world is the gypsy’s home.”

Her audacity in maintaining such an attitude in front of the Grand Duke of Freuden was commendable. Perhaps she had lost her fear after living so long.

“So, what’s this important information? If it’s trivial, you’ll get a bullet in your head.”

Enoch, who had no respect for the elderly, pressed the gun barrel against the old gypsy woman’s forehead and threatened her. She clicked her tongue and began to speak.

“The first is the hideout of the Atreos smugglers distributing drugs in the slum.”

“Hmm.”

“And the second is about the Grand Duchess’s biological mother.”

At that moment, Enoch involuntarily flinched.

His expression slowly hardened. Pressing the gun barrel against her forehead, he asked in a low, cold voice.

“…What did you say?”

“The Grand Duchess’s biological mother. The Katarian mixed-blood woman. I might know how she died.”

“Might know? Does that mean it’s not certain?”

“That depends on how you take it.”

Bang! Enoch suddenly fired the gun. The bullet grazed the old woman’s head and embedded itself in the wall behind her. She flinched in fear, but only for a moment. Enoch’s chilling voice followed.

“Tell me everything you know. Truthfully.”

“……”

“Unless you want a hole in your head.”

The old woman finally realized that this man was not someone she could negotiate with. The chances of returning to her hometown were extremely slim.

After all, dying on the road was the fate of a wanderer.

Sighing deeply, the old woman began to tell her story. A story that had been moldy for thirteen years.

“About thirteen years ago, a pretty woman with red hair and green eyes came to buy drugs. It was a drug that caused severe mental confusion. Even a sane person would go mad after one sip, and a mad person would become even crazier. We called it ‘daffodil’ in our slang. The red-haired woman bought a bottle of daffodil and never came back, so I thought she was running an errand for someone else… People usually get addicted and come back for more.”

“……”

“Then, a while later, I saw her in the city center. Why was I there? At that time, there were many cases of girls being taken by pimps, so I was keeping an eye on them to prevent them from being sold into prostitution… Anyway, that’s not the important part.”

“……”

“That red-haired woman was with a gentleman. It bothered me, so I asked a flower-selling girl, and she said the gentleman was Baron Lopez and the woman was his wife. I was stunned. Why would the baroness come to the slum to buy drugs? Sometimes, wayward nobles come as customers, but… she didn’t look like an addict. Neither did the baron. So I thought something was strange.”

“……”

“Later, I heard from various people that the original baroness had gone mad and eventually committed s*icide… Knowing that, I had a chilling realization. The ‘daffodil’ that the red-haired woman bought… where was it used? I thought she might send someone to kill me to silence me, but nothing happened for over ten years. She probably thought this old woman would die soon anyway.”

* * *

I woke up with a terrible headache.

I pressed my forehead, groaning through clenched teeth. My head felt like it was going to split open.

“Oh my! Your Highness! You’re finally awake!”

The only person who could make such a fuss in a whispering voice was Jasmine. I frowned as I sat up from my lying position. My throat was parched. Lowering my hand from my forehead, I rubbed my neck and spoke.

“Jasmine, can you get me some water…?”

My voice was cracked and dry, like a desert. Jasmine quickly handed me a glass of water, and I drank it down immediately.

“Ah…”

I felt a bit more alive. The stabbing headache persisted, though…

“Your Highness… How do you feel? Do you remember what happened?”

…Come to think of it, what happened? My last memory was… going to the Werner family’s perfume event with Enoch, receiving a unique perfume as a gift, and then Angela and Melissa…

Ah, Melissa.

As soon as I thought of Melissa, the forgotten memories came rushing back. What Melissa had done, and what happened to me because of it…

…What I had… done…

“……”

Oh my God, I…

‘I like you… I like you so much…’

‘Get a grip. Don’t drive me crazy.’
‘No…’

‘Ellen, you won’t be able to stand it later when you remember all this.’
‘No…’

…What on earth did I do?

How embarrassing was my behavior…

Just as I felt like my mind was flying off into space,

Knock, knock.

Along with a dull knock, came the voice of the person I most wanted to avoid right now.

“Ellen, it’s me. I heard you woke up. I’m coming in.”

“…Ah, no!”

“No?”

I unintentionally blurted out. I heard a voice outside the door, sounding incredulous, and before I could run or hide, the door swung open.

Enoch entered the room without hesitation and, seeing me stiffen, smiled crookedly.

“Hello, my roll cake.”

“……”

“Did you sleep well?”

I had a bad feeling. A very bad feeling that I would be called by that nickname frequently for a while.