Putting future consequences aside, I walked back the way I came, excitedly holding the pouch of jewels in my hand.

I was planning to go straight to the carriage and hide the jewel pouch before Count Ferial discovered me.

It was when I entered the Imperial Garden, even humming a tune.

“Ah, are you also here looking for Lady Ferial? My goodness. I expected it, but the competition is indeed fierce.”

Hmm? Why are my ears tingling?

“W-why are you stopping?”

I signaled Taro to be quiet and then tiptoed toward the place where the conversation was coming from.

“What are you talking about?”

Wait a minute…

This is Adriel’s voice?

Looking through the bushes at the garden path, I could indeed see silver hair gleaming in the moonlight.

And in front of Adriel were nobles I had never seen before.

“Let’s not pretend. You’re also prowling around here, aiming for the position of Lady Ferial’s lover, aren’t you?”

“I wonder when Marquis Berto managed to seduce such a gloomy and vain woman.”

“Isn’t it obvious? She must have crawled into Marquis Berto’s bedroom. Heheh.”

What’s with them? They’re talking badly about me!

“……”

It’s a bit surprising that Adriel is among that group, but…

I shrugged my shoulders and was about to leave.

I didn’t particularly enjoy the hobby of listening to people badmouthing me.

Especially if Adriel was among them…

“That woman is certainly capable of doing that and… M-my Lord?!”

Hmm?

“What are you doing!”

A sharp scream pierced my ears. Startled by the unexpected scream, I lowered my posture again and looked at the garden.

“…!”

I saw Adriel holding a sword to the throat of a young nobleman.

As the sharp sword dug in, bright blood flowed from the man’s neck.

“What are you doing, Lord Adriel!”

“Would you like to continue?”

“W-what do you mean…!”

“I mean, continue spewing those worthless words.”

Despite his words, Adriel emanated a murderous atmosphere as if he would swing his sword the moment the man opened his mouth.

But what made him so angry?

It’s not like they were insulting him?

The young nobleman being interrogated by Adriel seemed to have the same thought as I.

He looked dumbfounded, as if he had lost his words out of sheer bewilderment.

Adriel spoke intimidatingly toward the man.

“Have you forgotten how to speak properly? Then I’ll help you open your mouth again.”

Despite his polite tone, the tip of his sword was pointed directly at the man’s mouth.

“Gasp…!”

I covered my mouth in shock.

He’s not just angry; his eyes are completely crazed!

The other young noblemen standing behind the man, not knowing what to do, began to jump up in alarm.

“My Lord! How dare you use such rude words…!”

“Rude, you say.”

As a chilling voice that gave me goosebumps just by hearing it flowed from Adriel’s mouth, the men swallowed nervously with tense faces.

“If what you said wasn’t rude, then what would you call it…”

“You don’t seem to understand.”

Adriel twisted his sword slightly to the side.

“Eek…!”

The man let out a shrill scream, apparently feeling pain as the sword grazed the corner of his mouth.

“My Lord, put down your sword! Do you know who you’re pointing your sword at?”

“That’s right! Don’t you realize that you’re threatening the only heir of the Renel Count family?”

Despite their angry shouts, sadly, none of the young noblemen stepped forward.

Adriel ignored the trembling young noblemen and continued with what he wanted to say.

“You were the ones who first uttered those incomparably rude words. Don’t you remember that?”

Hmm. What should I do about this?

Honestly, it felt satisfying, but from the conversation, it seemed that the person Adriel was pointing his sword at was the son of a Count family.

Even though Adriel was once the heir to a duke’s family, now he’s just a commoner.

I belatedly worried that Adriel might be dragged away for the crime of insulting nobility.

“Is that all you have to say?”

“Lord Adriel!”

The young noblemen all had expressions as if they had encountered a huge beast in the mountains.

Just as I was about to stand up, unable to watch anymore:

“Are you being so bold because you trust Holy Knight Captain Daniel?”

At the words muttered by the Renel heir, who was said to be the only successor of the Count family, the other young noblemen also flinched as if they finally understood the situation.

“No matter how much the Holy Knight Captain has the infinite trust of His Majesty and the Empire, even the Holy Knight Captain wouldn’t…”

Speaking of Holy Knight Captain Daniel…

Come to think of it, Adriel once mentioned that Daniel was a knight who received respect beyond the Grand Temple and throughout the Empire.

If those nobles speak like that, Daniel must be a person with greater influence than I thought.

I looked at Adriel’s back and thought.

So he did have someone he could rely on.

“W-what foolish humans.”

“…?”

Taro, in the form of a bird, whispered to me from the side.

“Taro, you were still here?”

“What? I-I’ve been here the whole time!”

Taro grumbled, asking if his presence was that insignificant, and then continued.

“T-there’s no need to be hurt, human. I have placed a curse on those fellows.”

“A curse?”

“Didn’t those humans insult you?”

When I silently blinked my eyes, Taro puffed out his bird chest and proudly said.

“A-are you moved? I’ve told you many times, you’re the contractor I’ve set my sights on.”

Contractor? Who decided that?

Until now, I thought Taro was just saying things, but it seemed he was very serious about the contract with me.

“I-I can’t throw stones at those humans like Wit does, but I can place curses.”

“What kind of curse did you place?”

When I tilted my head in question, Taro asked me back.

“Human, who am I?”

“What? Well… you’re Taro.”

“Th-that’s right. I am the one and only Fairy of Wealth, Taro. What kind of curse do you think someone like me would place on those worthless humans?”

A curse befitting the Fairy of Wealth? If it’s that…

My contemplation didn’t last long.

“Bankruptcy?”

Taro placed his wings firmly on my back as if I had given the correct answer.

“You understand well, human.”

It’s correct?

“I-I completely removed all the flow of wealth from those humans.”

Is such a thing possible?

I was inwardly shocked, but tried not to show it while firmly resolving.

Never. Never get on Taro’s bad side.

“W-well? Are you pleased?”

“Yes…”

My goodness, what a terrifying and frightening curse.

I asked Taro to wait here, then stood up.

“Perhaps you should calm down first, My Lord.”

“That’s right! Aren’t you reacting too sensitively to a mere joke? Besides, we didn’t insult you, but Lady Ferial—”

“Me, you mean?”

“Yes, that’s right. We were talking about Lady Ferial… Aack!”

The young noblemen, who had been distracted by being wary of Adriel, jumped in fright at my appearance as if they had seen a ghost.

I looked at them with contempt.

“L-Lady Ferial!”

The Renel heir urgently called out to me as Adriel, who had first noticed me approaching from a distance, lowered his sword.

“Since when have you been here… F-from where did you hear our conversation…”

I stared expressionlessly at the young noblemen who were breaking out in cold sweat, then twisted one corner of my mouth.

“Well, I wonder. From where? Would you like to guess?”

The men, who had turned pale as if they had encountered a demon, opened and closed their mouths.

“We’re sorry, so sorry, My Lady! We got carried away by the atmosphere of the banquet and our words became careless.”

Well, they’re probably not apologizing because they’re afraid of me.