79. Mutual Suspicion

Larael’s smiling face turned serious in an instant.

Ever since she persuaded Hobbs and agreed to produce the cure together, Larael had been busy. They needed to mass-produce the Krauf disease cure before winter arrived. But it wasn’t as if a facility for large-scale production could be built overnight. She was searching for a way to produce the cure without Herwen finding out.

“As Your Highness said, the best way is to use existing facilities that can already produce medicine. But the key issue is whether secrecy can be maintained…”

Kali half-closed her eyes, lost in thought.

“Find a merchant group with such facilities that’s not doing well financially.”

“Are you thinking of acquiring a merchant group?”

“If that’s what it takes, then yes, I must do it. This is truly important.”

If things became impossible, Larael planned to ask Edward for help as a last resort. She hoped it wouldn’t come to that, but not everything could go her way.

“And, Your Highness, lately there have been people watching our office.”

Larael frowned.

“Joy discovered that there are people keeping watch. I didn’t know he had that kind of skill.”

‘Could it be Herwen?’

There was no one else but Herwen who would have a reason to watch her. The news that Kali Layton had been hired as her personal aide would have inevitably reached the Empress Dowager’s palace through Lillian. Lillian, after all, needed to provide useful information to survive. Larael understood this, but she had no intention of letting it go on forever.

‘I should feed Lillian false information.’

“I have a good guess who it is. Kali, always be careful with your words and actions, and next time you come into the palace, buy some bulky luxury goods and bring them in.”

She needed to make them think she was obsessed with her aide and buying luxury goods, so they’d let down their guard.

“What kind of luxury goods?”

“For example, something as flashy as fur coats.”

“All right. Understood.”

***

After being assigned a guest room, Dean looked around the modest space, then gazed out the window. He saw people busily walking through the small, simple garden.

“So this is where our imperial consort lived until recently?”

Dean looked oddly excited. He imagined a young Larael strolling through the garden with a bright smile.

It was partly true that he’d come here because he had something to investigate.

It was well known that Herwen and Larael had first met in Hedway County. Their chance encounter and eventual engagement had even been written about in articles, spreading across the empire.

Recently, Dean had grown suspicious of Herwen and Larael’s relationship and ordered his informants to investigate their first meeting, but the findings were no different from what was already known. Still, Dean wasn’t satisfied. He was convinced there was something hidden. That’s why he decided to visit Hedway County himself. With that in mind, he happened to run into Kali and learned that Larael was currently in Hedway County.

It was all a complete coincidence.

Dean stared out the window for a while, then slowly closed his eyes and let out a long breath.

“Joy, come out.”

As Dean muttered in a low voice, Joy popped his head in through the window with a grin.

“You noticed me? You really aren’t just an ordinary person, are you?”

“You’re clearly not just an errand boy, either.”

Joy opened the window and nimbly slipped into the room.

“You know that Her Highness the Consort saved me, right?”

Joy grinned innocently as he spoke. Dean found him so annoying that he clenched his fists. If this weren’t the Hedway count’s manor, he’d have grabbed the boy and smacked him on the back of the head.

“Yeah. You said you were a slave?”

“No, I wasn’t a slave—I was about to be sold as one. That’s why I want to repay the Consort for saving me. But your blatant stare is really uncomfortable.”

“I just find you very suspicious.”

Joy shook his head.

“I meant your blatant stare at our empress consort, not at me.”

With that, Joy’s smile vanished and he glared at Dean, radiating hostility.

Dean almost laughed in disbelief, but didn’t. The hostility Joy gave off was not something to be taken lightly.

“What are you, really? If I put my mind to it, I could find out everything about you.”

“I’m just an errand boy.”

Dean stared hard at Joy, who smiled innocently back at him. Dean prided himself on being shameless, but Joy was just as good.

“Where did Her Highness even pick up someone like you?”

“And why would Her Highness keep someone with such sly eyes around?”

As Dean’s gaze grew sharper, Joy playfully shrank back and slipped out of the room. Dean felt oddly insulted by the gesture, as if Joy was looking down on him. He stared at the door Joy had exited, then found the mirror in the room and stood in front of it.

Dean peered closely at his own reflection.

“My eyes look sly?”

He recalled Joy’s words, tilting his head with an innocent expression.

“Not at all…”

***

After finishing her report, Kali was planning to return to the capital right away. But since she was already in Hedway County, Larael insisted she stay at least one more day. Though she remembered unfinished business, Joy, who always accompanied her, also pleaded sincerely, so Kali reluctantly unpacked again.

Larael planned an outing for them, together with Sasha and Joanna, since they would be leaving soon. While they were discussing where to go, Sasha and Joanna suggested Leto Hill. For anyone living in Hedway County, it was the first place they’d recommend visiting.

“Yes, that sounds perfect.”

Larael answered without hesitation. It was also her favorite place as a child. At the top of the high hill overlooking the whole county stood a large tree that had been there for ages. Its branches, heavy with the weight of years, were like a symbol of Hedway County. Memories of sitting beneath that tree with her mother, looking down over the county, came back vividly.

Of course, not all the memories there were good. Some, like those involving Herwen, clung like dirty stains. That was the very place where Herwen had proposed to her.

It had been an unusually clear day, with a red sunset painting the sky and a sweet scent drifting from all directions. Or perhaps her heart was so full of sweetness that day that everything seemed that way. Under the great tree, Herwen had proposed, and Larael had felt as if she owned the world. As she recalled that day, even the sensation of the cold wind biting her skin came back as vividly as ever.

The fact that she still remembered it so clearly made her shudder with disgust. Still, she didn’t want a cherished place to become tainted just because there were memories she’d rather forget.

Now, the old temple there, long since abandoned and overtaken by nature, made Leto Hill even more mysterious and beautiful. Vines tangled around the temple, and rather than looking eerie or ugly, it gave off an air of mystery.

As soon as the outing destination was decided, Sasha and Joanna went to the kitchen to ask for some simple food to take along.

Left alone, Larael flopped onto her bed. She turned her head to look at the empty space beside her.

“I wonder if Edward misses me, too?”

Thinking of Edward, Larael felt like she might go mad with longing. She wanted to stroke his soft hair and nuzzle her face against his smooth cheek right away.

Knock, knock.

At the sound of someone knocking on her bedroom door, Larael sat up.

“Yes, come in.”

The door opened, and Dean poked his head inside.