Chapter 22

“It’s a pleasure to see you again, Lady Bleria. I heard you summoned me…”

The tailor’s previously confident voice wavered, and even the forced smile on her lips faltered when their eyes met. Realizing she couldn’t get through this quickly, she bowed deeply.

“It was my fault for failing to discipline my apprentice. I apologize. I will accept any punishment you deem fit.”

The tailor’s apprentice secretly left the first letter. However, that person didn’t have the opportunity to deliver the second one. It was clear that more than one person had been recruited.

Her head throbbed, but first, she needed to deal with the initial problem.

Bleria spoke.

“Your apprentice left a stranger’s letter in my dressing room for a few gold coins. They claimed they didn’t know what was written inside and thought it was a love letter. At least, that’s what your apprentice testified.”

“…I failed to teach them properly.“

“In the end, they left a letter, but it could just as easily have been poison, a bomb, or some other harmful item.”

“That would never happen!“

“Are you so sure, even though they didn’t check the contents of the envelope?”

The tailor’s lips pressed into a thin line.

“Calling someone from the wardrobe is inconvenient for you, I’m sure, but it’s also a matter of trust on our part. A house should be a place of utmost comfort. But with something like this happening, I’m questioning whether my trust was misplaced.”

The tailor’s face turned pale, and sweat began to pour from her.

“You said you raised your apprentice almost like your own child. A mere fourteen-year-old, still far from adulthood—it’s unfortunate.“

“Please, spare them, my lady!”

With a thud, the tailor collapsed to the floor, bowing deeply.

“They’re only fourteen. They know nothing! It’s my fault for being so focused on teaching them their craft that I neglected to teach them what’s more important. Punish me instead and spare the child!”

Bleria looked down at the woman and spoke.

“Did you send me a letter yourself?“

“Pardon…?“

“The only ways to resolve this issue are for the responsible party to take accountability or for the culprit to be found. If you bring me the person who sent the letter, I’ll overlook this mistake entirely.”

This tailor wasn’t exclusively employed by the Heavens family. Her skills enabled her to work for many noble households.

Rather than let this incident become public and ruin her connections, it was better to use those connections to track down the culprit.

“She wouldn’t have acted directly. She must have used an intermediary…“

“Then bring me that intermediary. I doubt they’d kill them over something like this, but if they did, I’d settle for knowing how it was done.”

“…”

“Is it too difficult? I’m not forcing you.“

“…No, I’m only grateful for the opportunity.”

Her bloodshot eyes gleamed with resolve. There was more sincerity in her expression now than before.

After bowing to Bleria, the tailor hurriedly left the drawing room as if every second mattered. Once the door closed, the butler who had escorted Bleria in spoke.

“Do you believe she’ll achieve results?“

“Unlikely.“

“Then why…?“

“She might at least catch the intermediary. Don’t you think she’d tell her mentor something she wouldn’t reveal to the Heavens?”

Even if nothing came of this, it was better than doing nothing.

If this stirred up the letter sender, that would be fine, too. Emotional people inevitably let something slip.

“What about informing your fiancé? This also concerns him, and the Allnight family is renowned for their information network.”

Bleria shook her head. No matter how close Gopher was to inheriting the duchy, the Duchess of Allnight wasn’t the kind of person to hand over her authority before the succession ceremony.

Just as she was about to explain, the door opened.

“Is this the voice of a Heavens butler or an Allnight spy?“

“You’ve arrived, young master.”

The butler remained unfazed by Damian’s sarcasm. Seeing this, Damian merely clicked his tongue as though he hadn’t been genuinely annoyed.

“Leave us. I have something to discuss with Bleria.”

Once the butler left, his piercing blue eyes turned to Bleria.

“What brings you here?” she asked.

“I hear you’ve received a twisted love letter. It only just reached my ears—what’s going on?“

“I received a letter meant to sow discord. I’m unsure if it was a love letter meant for me or Lord Gopher.“

“Show me.“

“It’s with the butler. It’s nothing significant. Harriet read the first one, anyway—on the day of the Redbirds’ ball.”

Leaning against the doorframe, Damian muttered his wife’s name softly.

“You weren’t planning on attending that ball but suddenly did, with Bleria in tow.“

“The letter said Lord Gopher might be unfaithful. Harriet was concerned, so I accompanied her.”

Bleria summarized the letter just enough to keep Damian from finding it suspicious. She had no intention of letting him learn about Eos Liche’s existence.

“So, is he cheating on you?“

“No.”

The silence with Damian felt heavier than usual. Slowly, he straightened himself from where he had been leaning against the door.

“I’ll take care of this matter. Hand it over.”

Bleria scratched the inside of her lip, tasting faint blood.

What if Damian took an interest in this matter and learned about Eos Liche? What if the silver hair and brown eyes reminded him of Bleria?

Even though she had the pendant—a decisive piece of evidence—in her possession, there was a chance he might sense something upon seeing his own blood relative.

‘No, that’s just baseless fear.’

Breaking off her thoughts, she answered before too much time passed.

“You don’t need to trouble yourself, brother. You already have enough on your plate.“

“So you’re just going to keep venting your frustration?“

“Venting my frustration? What do you mean?“

“If you suspect your fiancé, take it out on him. Do you think finding out who sent some trivial letter will fix the deeper problem?”

Was I venting my frustration in the letter? The word felt foreign, yet she strangely couldn’t deny it.

The first letter had been absurd but concerning, while the second one had made her angry.

Angry that it seemed to challenge her hard-won resolve to trust Gopher. More than that, she was enraged at hearing someone say that Gopher couldn’t love her.

Realizing this, she felt pathetic. Bleria’s resolve faltered.

“…Fine. Do as you wish, brother.”

Turning to leave, she grasped the doorknob. Just then, Damian spoke.

“Even if he’s cheating, he wouldn’t be stupid enough to get caught at a time like this. Stop worrying about irrelevant things and focus on your wedding preparations.”

Not that he’s letting me handle so much as writing an invitation.

Bleria clenched her jaw and lowered her head before stepping into the corridor.

Venting my frustration.

Thinking back on how she’d treated the tailor, she couldn’t tell if her actions had been appropriate.

***

“Another failure?”

Gopher chuckled dryly.

“At this rate, you’d think I’m trying to assassinate royalty or something.“

“I apologize, my lord.“

“Getting tired of hearing that.”

How many times had he heard the same thing?

They had tried poisoning Eos Liche’s meals, sabotaging carriage wheels, and releasing trained hounds during hunts. They’d even sent assassins when all those failed—only to meet the same results.

Worse, none of their attempts had left any trace of failure, as though the events had never happened.

What does this mean? He asked his subordinate.

“Why do you think nothing’s working, Zachary? Is their intelligence unit so superior that they block us before we start?“

“…I can’t say for sure, but I have my suspicions.“

“Go on.“

“There may be a spy in our ranks.”

At least it isn’t Zachary, Gopher thought, excluding him from suspicion.

“Do you have anyone in mind?“

“No specific individual, but the count’s responses were too fast. Almost as if he knew of our every move. If you permit me, I’d like to investigate.“

“Unmasking everyone will take too long. I don’t have that kind of time. Instead, it’d be better to talk to someone who isn’t wearing a mask.”

If he could plant a spy of his own, that would be more effective. However, a disposable tool would suffice for dealing with Eos.

“Go.”

After dismissing his subordinate, Gopher checked the calendar. The day he was to receive the prophecy was drawing near. No matter how quickly he acted, he seemed unlikely to achieve results in time.

What a spectacle, parading my incompetence.

Leaning back in his chair, he fell into thought, the subject being his fiancée.

Bleria Heavens was soft-hearted. When he told her he’d killed Dewey Robe, she didn’t even bat an eye, which made him wonder if she was more challenging than she seemed. He had been mistaken.

She was weak, overly sympathetic, and prone to unnecessary reflection.

If he told her he planned to kill Eos Liche to resolve the issue, she wouldn’t take it well.

Would she be scared?

He had intended to commit the act first and deal with her reaction later, but given the circumstances, he had no choice.

A promise was a promise. She’d have to get used to such things sooner or later if they were to marry.

Even as he thought this, he couldn’t shake a lingering unease.

***

The Heavens household staff was thorough. They left no corner untouched, retrieving fallen items from under the bed and brooches hidden at the bottoms of drawers, as there weren’t many places to hide things.

Carrying it around is too dangerous.

Bleria hid Eos Liche’s pendant inside a pillowcase. Thanks to her sewing skills, it was nearly undetectable.

*****

NOTE: Some of you who have read this story earlier might be confused with the current head of the Allnight Duchy (The ML’s Family).

For clarification, the head of the Allnight Duchy is Duchess Stella. There is no current Duke in line right before the ML. So, if you happen to read in the previous chapters that the current head of the Allnight Duchy is His Grace/Duke Allnight/Lord Allnight, please disregard them and consider them the female version of those titles. Those are entirely mistranslated. 

But for those who might not have encountered these mistakes, please disregard this note because it means you have read this story after I edited the whole error.