“Mock you?”

While blonde hair might not be rare, purple eyes were not easily found on this continent. Joseph had undoubtedly deliberately found and sent such a woman. It was to devalue Eva, whom Divlik kept by his side. To suggest that what Divlik had in his hands wasn’t that special.

“Finn.”

“Yes, Lord Divlik.”

“Prepare to depart in advance. I need to meet Grand Duke Joseph.”

“You’re going to meet him in person?”

“Since he sent a gift, I should properly return the favor.”

Judging by the fact that he deliberately sent a woman resembling Eva, this was beyond just testing him with a shallow trick. This man was confident he could maintain the upper hand even if Divlik discovered his true intentions.

Divlik ground his teeth in anger. He should never have avoided confrontation with that man, even if it meant prolonging the war.

In addition to that, he was curious about Joseph’s intention in using Eva’s existence as a card of mockery, setting aside everything else. This wasn’t something he could understand just by sending someone to get an answer. He would have to face those deceptively clear green eyes directly to know.

“Oh my! There’s a woman who looks exactly like the deposed empress!”

Finn, who had been examining the women closely wondering why Divlik would call the sending of women mockery, exclaimed. However, even after discovering that woman, he couldn’t understand why this would be considered mockery and was simply amazed.

Thanks to Finn’s shout, the woman resembling Eva made eye contact with Divlik and greeted him, but Divlik showed even greater displeasure than when he had figured out Joseph’s intention. He frowned while looking directly into the woman’s eyes.

“To say they look exactly alike is nonsense.”

“Don’t they resemble each other?”

“Not in the slightest.”

Divlik stopped there, but Finn felt as if he had heard that this woman couldn’t even imitate the shadow of the deposed empress. Finn scratched the back of his head with an awkward smile, feeling confused.

“What should we do with these women?”

“Sending them back as they are would be disrespectful to Grand Duke Joseph’s sincerity, so we can’t do that. Give them the east annex. After some time passes, we’ll send them out, and they can go wherever they want.”

“What? You’re going to keep them separately in the annex? If you want to bring them to your bedroom…… I’m sorry.”

Finn had thoughtlessly suggested that instead of trying to drag the deposed empress to bed, it would be simpler to sleep with this woman, and Divlik’s eyes grew fierce. Finn couldn’t even finish his sentence and apologized while correcting his posture to attention.

Divlik had never been picky about eating, dressing, or sleeping, but when it came to taking women to bed, he was so fastidious it seemed like he had a phobia.

What else could “well-trained” mean but that Joseph had trained them by sleeping with them repeatedly? To suggest that Divlik should sleep with women that had been with someone like Joseph—this was Finn’s mistake.

The more Finn thought about it, the more he realized his words were nonsense, and he even gave himself a light knock on the head.

“Everyone follow me. I’ll show you where you’ll be staying.”

“No.”

“Yes? Do you have different instructions?”

Finn, who was about to turn around with the women, stopped at Divlik’s mutter.

“Shouldn’t they at least greet the deposed empress? After all, new women have arrived here.”

“Yes? What…… Ah……”

Divlik didn’t add anything beyond saying they should be shown to Eva, but Finn understood the intention from Divlik’s pouting lips that seemed both smiling and angry. He clearly wanted to create tension. To show that Eva’s current position was not much different from these women’s.

“Yes, Lord Divlik.”

This made him think it was strange again. It was absurd that he wouldn’t accept women trained by Joseph, yet the deposed empress, who had been trained by Fabian, was making a fuss while holding the lives of servants hostage.

* * *

Eva had to receive the women who visited her bedroom herself. This was because Hannah, who should have been attending to her, had fallen ill with the shock that she might die as the appointed day approached.

Even Sophie, who came to report that Hannah had collapsed, seemed to be watching Eva’s reactions carefully, suggesting that Divlik’s threats would soon spread among the servants.

“We greet you, Eva.”

“Welcome.”

The women who visited Eva’s bedroom greeted her with courtly manners, placing both hands on their chests, but in reality, they were not so refined. After briefly pretending to be polite, they showed no further interest in Eva, twirling their hair with their fingers, looking around her bedroom, or whispering secretly. They probably realized that Eva’s situation was not much different from their own.

“You came from Elan?”

“Yes, Eva. We served Grand Duke Joseph at Elan Castle and have come here as tribute.”

Among them was one woman who pulled out a chair for Eva, saying she didn’t need to stand, and who answered with the utmost respect, keeping her gaze lowered without making direct eye contact, as if she were still an empress.

She was the blonde woman with purple eyes whom Finn had been surprised resembled Eva.

“You served Grand Duke Joseph?”

“Yes. I did.”

Eva couldn’t take her eyes off this woman who resembled yet differed from her. Though Joseph treated everything like a joke with a smile, nothing he did was unintentional. There must be a special reason why he sent a woman resembling Eva.

Moreover, Eva was caught by the word “tribute.” Joseph congratulating Divlik’s victory? That couldn’t be. This empire had belonged to Joseph’s father, then to Joseph himself, and until recently to Joseph’s brother.

Especially regarding the part about it being “his brother’s,” Eva was puzzled for a long time.

Joseph was a man who considered everything “his brother’s” to be “his own.” He had merely handed over the position of emperor to Fabian because he found it bothersome. Even after moving to the western part of the empire and declaring independence because he disliked interference, he surely still considered this empire his own.

For such a man to give up the empire without even fighting once, and then send tribute to the man who took it—this was impossible.

“Given my circumstances, I may not be of much help, but if you have any discomfort during your stay, please let me know. I will help as much as I can.”

“Yes, Eva.”

In any case, the word “tribute” made Eva look at the women with compassionate eyes, pitying them for having been sent here after serving Joseph, but only the woman who resembled Eva received this look as goodwill.

“Eva, have you attended to Lord Divlik’s bedchamber?”

“How can you ask such a thing?”

“I’m just curious whether it’s satisfying or not. With that husky voice and beast-like body, doesn’t he treat you roughly? Grand Duke Joseph was quite kind in bed, at least. It’s not easy to give enough satisfaction while being gentle, but he managed.”

The other women even asked questions they would never have dared ask if Eva were still in the position of empress, saying they already missed Grand Duke Joseph’s embrace. Except for the one woman who resembled Eva, they apparently didn’t mind climbing into Joseph’s bed.

“What is your name?”

Blonde hair that was the same color as Eva’s but looked dry and unkempt from lack of care. Purple eyes that reminded one of well-crafted amethyst, just like Eva’s, but seemed to have lost their vitality.

“Mia, Mia Moore, Eva.”

Eva was concerned about the tired face of the woman who identified herself as Mia. Not only the color of her eyes and hair, but also the atmosphere emanating from her face was somehow similar to her own—not something to be taken lightly.

“Have you served Grand Duke Joseph for long, Mia?”

“Not long, about half a year now.”

“That’s quite long. How much must you have done everything the Grand Duke wanted…… They say you even sat in the Grand Duke’s lap in the dining hall where all the knights could see?”

At the words of the woman standing nearby, Mia’s hands, which had been hanging limply toward the floor, began to tremble. Mia silently clenched her fists, and Eva rose from her seat, approached Mia, and smiled at her.

“That will be all for introductions. You must be tired from your long journey, so please return and rest.”

“Thank you, Eva.”

Mia certainly seemed to be a woman who knew etiquette. Unlike the other women who quickly forgot proper greeting manners and simply bowed their heads before leaving the room, Mia placed her hands modestly in front of her chest and bowed deeply to Eva.

“It’s not perfume, is it? You have quite a unique scent. Herbs…… perhaps?”

Eva, who had approached Mia to see her off, noticed a unique scent coming from her that the other women didn’t have and asked about it. While the other women smelled of perfume with flower scents often used to seduce men, Mia had an additional slightly fishy grass smell along with the scent of perfume.

Mia, who was about to follow the other women out the door, stopped in her tracks with widened eyes, as if this was an unexpected question.

“How did you know? It is an herbal scent.”

“I see. I recognized it because it was a scent I often smelled in my hometown.”

“I can’t risk getting pregnant suddenly…… I’m using herbs that help prevent pregnancy during s*x, so the smell remains on my body.”

“Do you know herbs well?”

“My father was an herbalist. I may not know as much as my father, but I used to go to the mountains with him to gather herbs, so I can use the herbs I need myself.”

“You weren’t always doing this…… this kind of work.”

Even being generous, she didn’t look like a woman who would fall for a single coin. Except for Mia, the other women appeared to be nothing more than street women who had been selling their bodies from an early age. Perhaps moved by Eva’s hesitation to even ask about such things…

“My father…… lost a large sum of money to a con artist who traveled around different parts of the continent committing fraud. Since it looked like both our home and herb shop would fall into the hands of that swindler, I went to Grand Duke Joseph to plead our case…… Grand Duke Joseph said he would repay the debt and help us, and then brought me into his castle.”

Mia told her story while showing tears. Eva bit her lip with a small sigh. Though it was for her family, the hardships Mia must have endured in the unfamiliar embrace of Joseph were all too clear.

Eva firmly held Mia’s hand to offer comfort. Who was comforting whom—if Divlik had seen this, he would have laughed in disbelief.

“At least while you stay here, Grand Duke Joseph won’t be able to reach you. I hope you can rest comfortably.”

“Thank you, Eva.”

“And…… Mia. Even if it takes time, would you grant me one request?”

“A request? That’s absurd. Command me right away. What do you wish of me?”