“I’m going to be a duchess. Something the likes of you could never imagine.”

Henrietta, with her makeup smeared like a clown, spoke proudly to Edith.

“The future is indeed bright for a legitimate daughter born to a proper wife. Now tell me why you came here.”

Having obtained the information she wanted, Edith slowly began to coax Henrietta. It was time to hear about her mother.

“Don’t you want to meet your mother? Surely you’re not planning to abandon the woman who gave birth to you while you live in luxury alone, Edith?”

Henrietta looked around the luxurious reception room of the prince’s palace as she continued speaking.

“Do you have any proof that my mother is alive now?”

“Well, Edith. I heard your mother used to call you her little fawn. Do you remember?”

Edith clearly remembered her mother calling her a little fawn. At least it was true that Henrietta had made contact with Edith’s mother.

“And this.”

Henrietta pulled out a small piece of paper from inside her dress.

“When I asked her to write a letter, she said she couldn’t write. She told you that these squares and circles were her signature when you were young, didn’t she?”

Edith knew immediately. What Henrietta showed her was indeed a drawing made by Edith’s birth mother.

“Whether you believe it or not is up to you. But if you don’t believe me, I wonder if her body, already weakened by tuberculosis, can withstand the increasingly cold weather?”

Henrietta sneered. Edith quickly shouted at her.

“Where is she? Tell me!”

Regardless of Edith’s shouting, Henrietta remained composed. Leaning back against the chair, Henrietta just smiled at the startled Edith without opening her mouth.

“Well. I have a poor sense of direction, so I don’t know the address. I think we’ll have to go there directly to find out.”

“…..”

“I’ll have my maid contact that place, so let’s meet at Monsieur Café to confirm her identity first. Don’t bring His Highness the Prince. It might be a similar woman claiming to be your birth mother.”

That was why Henrietta had come here. Seeing that she wanted to lure Edith outside, it was obviously a trap.

But there was some basis to her claim about having Edith’s mother. The signature might have been forged, but Edith had long suspected her mother might still be alive.

Edith observed Henrietta’s demeanor. She had clearly come at Neil’s instigation.

The risk would be too great if Henrietta simply wanted to capture Edith again because she couldn’t stand seeing her living well. She must have truly come to the capital to marry Leonard Sachsen.

Henrietta’s bright pupils sparkled over her flushed cheeks. She smiled triumphantly, as if she had seized the upper hand.

Whether considering her bright future or the weakness she held, Henrietta was overwhelmingly superior to Edith in every way. She was the daughter of a noble who found satisfaction in such trivial things.

“I can’t go to the café. Tell me the address.”

“I told you I can’t. Are you so stupid that you can’t remember what I said just now?”

Henrietta grew irritated easily. It was truly fortunate that Neil hadn’t come himself but had sent the emotional Henrietta. Of course, if Neil had come, Edith wouldn’t have met with him at all.

“You’ve gained some weight since I last saw you, Henrietta. Well, they say women swell after giving birth.”

Edith suddenly attacked Henrietta’s weakness with a casual attitude.

“What? What nonsense are you talking about?”

Though she denied it outright, Henrietta’s face had already turned ashen.

‘So she didn’t know that I knew.’

“I heard from brother Neil. You had a child with a priest? Are you coming back after giving birth? Did you bring the child too?”

Crash! The teacup Henrietta was holding fell to the floor.

“No. It’s nothing, don’t come in.”

Edith stopped the maid who tried to enter at the sound of the breaking cup. Henrietta’s fierce eyes were glaring intensely at Edith.

“You came all this way to take me to brother Neil, Henrietta. But no matter how hard you try for brother Neil, he doesn’t care about you. He even revealed all your shameful secrets to a mere field mouse.”

“Y-you…”

Henrietta clenched her fist. Familiar memories made Edith flinch momentarily, but she composed herself to gather more courage.

Though tension accompanied by fear still constricted Edith, she continued speaking, putting as much strength into her voice as possible to keep it from trembling.

“Though I’m just an ignorant mistress, I know that great noble families don’t take women who have already given birth as legitimate wives. Especially the Sachsen family, the highest-ranking family. Wasn’t Leonard Sachsen even being discussed for marriage with a princess?”

Edith smiled. It was to provoke Henrietta. Though she smiled with her lips, her heart was already darkened with worry about her mother.

“Nonsense! Do you think people will believe what a lowly person like you says? You, a mere mistress?”

“True. No one will believe what I say.”

Edith readily agreed with Henrietta’s words.

“But what if His Highness the Prince says it? He’s the person with the most certain status in the Rom Empire.”

“If rumors spread, marrying Leonard Sachsen would be impossible for you. Even if it’s not the Sachsen family, if this fact becomes known among the nobility, you’ll be in a very disadvantageous position, won’t you?”

Now Edith began to threaten Henrietta. Though numerous threats had been exchanged between them over the years, Edith had never properly threatened Henrietta before.

Henrietta’s pupils dilated, and her face turned pale.

‘So you can make that kind of expression too.’

Though Edith had expended most of her energy and felt like she might faint at any moment, she summoned all her strength to confront Henrietta. She needed to recover her precious mother.

“Do you think brother Neil, who even tells such things to a lowly field mouse, will actively work to stop the rumors? Brother Neil won’t be able to stop the rumors, Henrietta. So tell me my mother’s address. If you want to marry a high nobleman without complications.”

“You… have you gotten cocky from drinking imperial palace water? You dare threaten me? A mere nothing of a field mouse? I can immediately tell the prince that you were a filthy pr*stitute who slept with your own brother in the ducal residence and make him cast you out. Understand?”

Henrietta was trembling. Though she was making threats, her weakness had already been exposed, and she was on the verge of tears with frustration no matter what she said.

“I’ve never done such things with brother Neil. I’m not like you. Do you think you can stop me with such slander? I’m already living a lowly life, Henrietta. I won’t be easily affected by your malicious rumors. Even if I am, I have nothing to lose. But you’re different, aren’t you?”

Edith summoned her last strength to corner her. She absolutely needed to find out her mother’s whereabouts now.

“Tell me where my mother is. I’ll bring her myself. Unless you want to end up as a mistress like me, unable to marry properly.”

She had to save the information about Neil for later. It wasn’t the right time to use it yet.

“A mistress? How dare you!”

“Ugh.”

Henrietta’s body always moved faster than her mind. Suddenly, she rose from the table and lunged at Edith.

In an instant, Henrietta began to strangle Edith’s neck.

It was a familiar motion, but as always, Edith couldn’t immediately stop the woman’s actions.

Henrietta was born with superior physical abilities. She was strong and agile.

“How dare a mayfly of a pr*stitute threaten me? Do you have any evidence? Do you think you can do anything with brother Neil’s delusions? Listen carefully. If you run your mouth carelessly, your mother is as good as dead that very day. Understand?”

“……”

“I’ll kill her. If you say even one word, I’ll cut her into pieces so that not even a corpse will be found.”

Edith’s eyes reddened as her neck was being strangled. She was still being choked, and despite the terrible threat to harm her mother, she had no more weap*ns to bring out.

Henrietta smiled and removed her hands from Edith.

“Cough, cough.”

“Strangling your neck just this much still leaves no mark, our little field mouse. If you want to get your mother back, send a message. If you make this a big issue, your mother will completely disappear from this world. Understand?”

Though she seemed to speak confidently, Henrietta’s voice was also trembling slightly.

‘Am I still a field mouse?’

There were no more words to counter with. She needed to intimidate Henrietta further right here to find out her mother’s location as quickly as possible, but her mind was foggy, and she had nothing left.

Using Prince Ludwig as an excuse to threaten would be difficult too, as he was already struggling with his own situation. Besides, she was merely a subordinate who could be sold off at any time.

It was pathetic. Edith couldn’t even think of removing Henrietta’s hands that were still choking her neck. The familiar subconscious fear that resistance would be followed by harsher punishment kept Edith’s body immobilized.

Her body remembered who she was. Just a field mouse before the legitimate daughter of a noble ducal family.

Despite steeling her resolve to threaten with words, Edith was still afraid of Henrietta.

After making her loud declaration, Henrietta turned and left the reception room, perhaps fearing future consequences.

**

“Mom…”

Edith sobbed alone in her room. She needed to find a way, but she had no power at the moment. Obviously, going to the café as Henrietta suggested would only result in her own kidnapping, not finding her mother.

That’s the kind of people the Koellers were.

The only person she could turn to for help was Ludwig, but Ludwig was busy with his investigation and hadn’t come to see Edith.

Even if Edith tried to visit Ludwig’s room for an audience, she couldn’t meet him. They weren’t close enough for her to ask for favors first. She was merely a subordinate who had to follow orders on the condition of not being sent back to Neil.

“Surely not…”

Edith recalled Henrietta’s image as she unhesitatingly committed cruel acts against her. Was she doing the same to Edith’s mother?

“Please, please. I must find a way to rescue my mother. Somehow.”

Edith spent the entire night contemplating how to rescue her mother.

**

“You couldn’t get her to agree to meet?”

Neil’s eyes bulged. Madness was overflowing from the man’s eyes. Neil, who usually seemed normal, emitted a strange gleam from his eyes whenever the topic of Edith came up.

But despite Neil’s threatening appearance, Henrietta wasn’t nervous. Instead, she raised her eyes and was busy confronting her brother.

“It’s not my fault. It’s yours, brother.”

“My fault?”

Neil sneered with his arms crossed, as if he found it absurd.

“Yes. What were you thinking, telling that girl about me? Huh?”