‘Neil…’

Just thinking about him made Edith feel as if a heavy rock had settled in her chest.

“Don’t worry too much. There’s no beauty in high society like you right now. If it were about taking you as a legitimate wife, he might have many concerns, but if he’s just thinking of you as a bedmate for one night, any man would be desperate for you. Leonard would be the same.”

The prince slowly stroked Edith’s hair with his large hand as she bowed her head.

“Your hair is so smooth. It feels like touching high-quality silk.”

“Your Highness, Lady Isabelle Dietrich has arrived.”

“Let her in.”

Suddenly, a servant announced a visitor from outside the door. The prince moved his hand away from her hair and rose from his seat to welcome the awaited Isabelle.

“Oh my, Your Highness. It’s been too long. You’ve become even more handsome since I last saw you.”

The woman had a very friendly demeanor. She was a woman with flirtatious expressions and movements that Edith, who was always gloomy and stiff, could never have imagined.

“Say hello. This is Edith Köhler. My mistress and your student.”

“And this is Baroness Isabelle Dietrich.”

The blonde woman was extremely beautiful. She reminded Edith of a doll made of melted sugar. Very sweet and gentle.

“Edith is an illegitimate child of the Köhler ducal family. She grew up alone in a room all her life and knows nothing. She doesn’t even know how to deal with men. So teach her well. Especially make her into a proper enchantress who can captivate bookworms with no experience with women. Understand?”

“Of course. But she’s truly beautiful. Where did you find such a gem, Your Highness?”

Isabelle examined Edith’s body thoroughly as she spoke. But because the woman wore such a kind smile, it didn’t feel particularly creepy.

“I picked her up along the way. They gave her away for free.”

“How amusing Your Highness always is with your words.”

It wasn’t particularly funny, but the woman laughed brightly while fluttering her fan.

Though Edith found this atmosphere awkward, thanks to Isabelle, the mood instantly became cheerful.

“She’s completely stiff. Probably because she doesn’t know men. If I send her like this, she’s likely to get stabbed to death. So teach her well. She needs to be deployed within two weeks.”

“Two weeks? That’s too rushed.”

Though Isabelle expressed concern, her face remained bright and radiant. How could that woman maintain such a sunny complexion?

“You’ll be giving additional lessons while the operation is in progress anyway. She has exceptional beauty and good eloquence. She’s also quite knowledgeable. So if we just change her attitude a bit, she can make a bookworm fall quickly. Since time is short, start the lessons immediately.”

After finishing his words, Ludwig left the two of them alone in the room to attend to his busy schedule.

Left alone with Isabelle in the large room, Edith had nothing to say and just hunched her body, keeping her head down.

“Lift your head and look at me. I’m not a scary woman. Don’t you see?”

At the gentle voice, Edith raised her head. Isabelle was smiling with crescent-shaped eyes, gazing at Edith.

“Yes.”

“Oh my, look at those sparkling eyes. This isn’t amethyst but purple diamond level. I’ve never seen such beautiful eyes before, truly. With eyes like those, just a glance would make as many men fall for you as there are spoons in the prince’s palace. However, extracting information from those men is another matter, Edith.”

Despite the time constraint, Isabelle immediately entered the main lesson.

“So you need to pay close attention to what I teach you. Understand?”

**

“His Highness probably told you to be prepared for intimacy, but Edith, your job is to be an agent, not a pr*stitute. So you don’t necessarily need to sleep with him. I believe His Highness merely presented the upper limit when handling his subordinates, but it’s not absolutely necessary.”

Isabelle was the kindest woman Edith had ever met. She had the power to instantly melt people’s hearts.

“The ideal situation is to bewitch a man and extract information without sleeping with him. Since you already have the tremendous advantage of exceptional beauty, I think you have a good chance.”

“Th-thank you.”

Embarrassed by the constant compliments about her appearance, Edith awkwardly expressed her gratitude. Observing Edith’s stiff attitude, Isabelle chuckled and continued speaking.

“Do you know what’s most important when trying to enchant a man and extract information?”

Isabelle asked Edith with a serious attitude, removing her smiling face. Edith quickly tried to recall the male protagonists from fairy tales and love stories she had read as a child. Those who floundered in love.

“Common ground? When hearts connect with each other?”

In books, people seemed to fall in love after their hearts connected.

Isabelle winked at Edith with her brown eyes.

“That’s very important too. From a man’s perspective, you need to make him think that you’re a woman who understands him. But our job is to make a man lose his mind and extract information from him. So there’s something more important for us. That is to not fall in love with that man.”

“Love…”

Love was such an unfamiliar emotion to Edith.

“You must not fall in love with that man until the end, so that you can objectively see his actions. You need to be able to analyze and predict his actions objectively to manipulate him as you please. But what happens if you fall in love with that man? Then only that man will be reflected in your eyes. Everything he says will feel like truth, and he will become your entire world. If that happens, it’s you who will be played, not him. When you fall in love, you hide yourself behind a wall of truth. Only when you’re abandoned and dying do you realize you were a blind person in love.”

Isabelle frowned as if such an abandoned woman was right in front of her.

“Edith, do you perhaps think that Leonard Sachsen, the young duke you’re trying to seduce, will fall for your beautiful appearance and take you as his mistress? Over the princess?”

“What? I’ve never thought that at all.”

Edith knew well. She remembered how her father had treated her mother, who had been the most beautiful pr*stitute. She remembered her father’s indifferent attitude even at her mother’s death.

Edith knew better than anyone how high-status men viewed low-status women, no matter how beautiful. Even if she succeeded, she would be nothing more than that to Leonard.

“You shouldn’t. There has never been a single case in the Empire’s history where an illegitimate child mistress became a duchess. Not once. For hundreds of years, many beautiful illegitimate children have coveted the position of legitimate wife, but they all failed. Because no matter how beautiful something is, men get tired of what they’ve already had. No matter how beautiful you are, there are many women with different charms in the world, and all men have selfishness as their nature. In dozens of years of sending many beauties as agents, there hasn’t been a single exception.”

Edith listened attentively to Isabelle’s words.

“Occasionally there were women among the agents who betrayed us, but I never had to take action to deal with them. Do you know why?”

At Isabelle’s question, Edith tilted her head.

“Could it be…”

“That’s right. They were dealt with by the men on the other side before His Highness the Prince could eliminate the traitors. Despite all the education, there were occasionally naive agents. Women who were swayed by the desperate attitude of men confessing love to them and admitted they were actually agents of Prince Ludwig. And most of those women were killed on the spot. Well, sometimes they were dealt with elsewhere to make body disposal easier.”

“I see.”

Edith readily agreed. Looking back at her first meeting with the prince, it had been the same.

Though the prince later said he was physically attracted to her, he had tried to drive her away at that time, saying she was useless. Even taking her from the ducal household wasn’t out of compassion but solely for her utility in using Neil.

Ludwig wasn’t in love with her.

“If you manage to avoid falling in love until the end and bring back the information well, His Highness will probably acknowledge you and give you a generous reward. He’s quite a fair person, never forcing himself on women and providing houses and money for agents who complete their missions so they can live separately under his care. Just like me.”

“So you too?”

Edith’s eyes widened at Isabelle’s gesture pointing to herself.

“Yes, I was one of His Highness’s early agents. He discovered the first three of us, and I brought back information well without even sleeping with the target man. His Highness was pleased and provided me with sufficient money and a house. So now I’m living well as a proper baroness. I married the man I wanted.”

With Isabelle’s words, a streak of golden light began to rise in Edith’s mind, which had been filled only with darkness.

“At that time, the man I extracted information from was a marquis, and if I had mistaken his temporary affection for love and given my heart like other women, I probably wouldn’t be here now. I would have died then. So remember, Edith. If you don’t fall in love with the target man until the end, you’ll have the opportunity to escape the life of a persecuted illegitimate child and live like a human being. Understand?”

“Yes.”

Gentle hope began to gradually fill Edith’s clear eyes as she looked at the woman. The hope that perhaps she too might recover her mother and live a normal life.

**

“What did he say?”

The formal lesson began. Isabelle started asking Edith for detailed memories of her meeting with Leonard, down to the smallest detail.

“He asked why I was going to such lengths for a lover who would eventually be discarded.”

“Wait, he said lover? Without any hint of mockery?”

“Yes.”

Come to think of it, Leonard had never once referred to Edith as the prince’s mistress. It was such an unfamiliar expression that Edith remembered it well. The man consistently called Edith Ludwig’s lover.

Isabelle’s eyes brightened after hearing about Edith’s meeting with Leonard.

“Hmm. Either he’s careful with his words or he pitied you and avoided using the term ‘mistress’.”

Isabelle rolled her eyes as if counting something.

“He’s a man of integrity, as I’ve heard. I heard he occasionally visits orphanages to make donations. I thought he was just trying to create a good image as the next Duke, but perhaps he’s sincere.”

Isabelle smiled pleasantly as if she had discovered something interesting.

“But will he really fall for my seduction? He must think I’m His Highness the Prince’s mistress.”