LIGHTNOVELSTORY Chapter 32
Chapter 32 She was sitting alone on a bench in the garden behind the imperial palace, where people rarely visit, like the maids tired of banquets.I hurriedly pulled a white bead from my bracelet and put it on. The white bead was enchanted to prevent anyone from hearing the story, except for those who came within a meter of me.Because what I’m about to tell her is a story no one should hear.“Erinne!”I walked over to her, pretending nothing was wrong, and sat down next to her without asking for permission.“… Evelyn. You startled me, what’s going on?”“That is….”What I had to do was obvious. The only thing left was how to get her to talk.How do I get her to talk? After some thought, I decided to go with a direct line.“What are you doing here, aren’t you enjoying the banquet?”“I’m not really into banquets.”“Really?”Erinne turned her head indifferently. It was clear that she didn’t want to talk much.“But, Erinne. Even if you’re not interested in the banquet, shouldn’t you be interested in your master?”“What?”“Ah, is it because you don’t like to be around when there are a lot of people?”“… What are you talking about? I have a master. What kind of master are you talking about, what’s the problem?”The overreaction was enough to confirm my suspicions. I smirked again and said.“Of course we’re maids of the Crown Prince’s palace, and our master is the crown prince. Did you have another master in mind?”Erinne’s eyebrows twitched for a moment, but she quickly changed her expression. A relaxed smile appeared across her lips.“Are you trying to say that I am not interested in the Crown Prince? That way, Evelyn is also with me.”“That is because I am following my master’s orders.”“Orders?”“Uh… Let’s call it an errand.”Erinne’s brow furrowed.“Are you saying that the Crown Prince has ordered only Evelyn to run an errand?”“Yes.”“What kind of relationship does you have with His Highness?”“What kind of relationship? An employer-employee relationship.”“Don’t even think about going that way. I thought it was weird before, even before the theft incident.”Erinne was finally starting to get excited. Folding my arms lazily, I counted the seconds. It was time to get to the point.“It seems that Erinne is also running the master’s errand.”“Yes?”“The way you’re poking around, it’s like you’ve been sent on an errand to find out about His Highness the Crown Prince.”“…….”“Actually, I do know it.”I smiled proudly, raising my chin.“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”She jumped up, thinking that she was going to leave. Instead of holding on to her, I threw a word out of her.“You’re a spy.”“… What.”Erinne stood, stiffening. Her face began to crack under the guise of composure.“I don’t know what… you’re talking about.”“There is no use in denying it. Because I know everything.”Yes, Erinne was a spy.‘But, she wasn’t the Empress’s side.’“Isn’t your master… His Majesty the Emperor?”Erinne stared at me. She hadn’t expected me to know that much.“Your role is to monitor and protect the Crown Prince.”In the original story, after Caesar’s death on his fifteenth birthday, the Emperor also died of illness shortly after. Meaning that the Emperor was now suffering from a serious illness that could kill him at any moment.The Emperor’s attendance at the Crown Prince’s birthday banquet was an obvious sign.That he cared about Caesar more than he realized.I looked up at Erinne, who was speechless.“My first suspicion was the final test to become an official Handmaiden, and you passed it with a perfect score. There are only two people who could have gotten it right: either you’ve been with the Crown Prince the entire time, or you’ve been watching him closely.”If you’re the one who watched everything, you probably already know that they all relate to Caesar and my memories. which is why he asked me what my relationship with the Crown Prince.Erinne, who let out a smirk, countered.“You don’t think Your Majesty is the only one who watches over the Crown Prince, right? The Crown Prince is the next heir to this Empire. With common sense, wouldn’t it be right for the other with the opposite interest to monitor?”Erinne’s loyalty to the Emperor was obvious, and while she didn’t deny that she was a spy, she was trying to deflect the arrow to the nobility or the Empress.“At first, I thought, of course, that I might be the Empress’s spy. But soon I realized that wasn’t the case.”“Why?”I stared at Erinne’s beautiful face. A face that was so beautiful, it was impossible to imagine any other possibility.“Because I realized that you were the maid who was standing next to Marriott back in the day.”The day I first met Marriott, the day I seduced her by telling the story of Mumu and Chocho.The maid with thick horn-rimmed glasses who laughed at Marriott’s side. That was Erinne.“The thick glasses covered your face, so I couldn’t recognize you right away. And normally I wouldn’t expect such a beautiful face to be hiding behind glasses.”“With something like that….”“I’m sure if you ask the people who used to work at the crown prince’s palace, they’ll testify that you were the maid back then, because it would be hard to change your voice.”I asked, driving a wedge into her lips, which were twitching as if she were about to retort.“The maid’s name was… I think it was Evanse.”Her eyes widened, and she let out a long, deep sigh. She realized I’d already done all the research on her.Erinne plopped back down on the bench and said with a look of resignation.“That’s right. I’m that maid.”‘Of course!’I had been certain of it, but hearing the confession come out of her own mouth gave me an incomparable sense of pleasure.“But what does that have to do with me not being the Empress’s spy?”I spat out my prepared answer to the question I’d been expecting.“Because if you were one of the Empress’s spy, you wouldn’t be here.”“What?”“Marriott was kicked out. Her Majesty knows she did something stupid, but she doesn’t know that it was me who made it happen, so why didn’t she kick me out or search my house? I had Marriott’s ledgers in my desk drawer in my room.”“Ah….”Erinne smiled invisibly, as if realizing what I wanted to say.“You’re the only witness who knows I met with Marriott that day, and the fact that I wasn’t thrown out must mean that you didn’t tell the Empress about me.”“What makes you so sure I’m one of the Emperor’s people? Just because I’m not from the Empress doesn’t mean I’m from the Emperor.”“You changed from Evanse to Erinne. Which means you have someone of high enough status behind you to make identity laundering possible.”I smirked, adding the last word.“When I said that the stolen item was His Majesty’s dagger, you didn’t respond. You should have known already. that His Majesty’s belongings were not stolen.”Erinne shrugged her shoulders at my answer that appeared as if she had been waiting for it.“It’s funny to say something like this on a subject that you found out, but it’s your plan, isn’t it?”“Hm….”I smiled without denying anything.“Exactly, which is why I was going to wait until I had hard evidence…”I checked the time. It was just over an hour before the second part of the banquet started. The conversation took longer than I expected. I said hastily.“Actually, I need your help right now. To do that, I had to get your confession.”Erinne’s eyes widened. She thought for a moment and asked.“My help…. No, are you referring to the help of His Majesty the Emperor?”“That’s rght.”I hesitated for a moment, then decided to tell her everything, because I didn’t think my life would be in danger as long as she was one of the Emperor’s people, and I had no choice but to trust her now.“Your Majesty the Crown Prince is in danger. something is about to happen at this banquet, I need your help.”She looked momentarily surprised by my words, then slowly shook her head.“I don’t know what to do, I’m sorry, but I can’t help you.”“… Huh? Can’t you help me?”I was stunned by the unexpected answer.“But… but, didn’t His Majesty the Emperor care about the Crown Prince, and at this rate, he’s in danger–”“Evelyn.”Erinne continued speaking in a lower voice than before.“Do you think His Majesty really cared for the Crown Prince?”“What?”“Then why did he hide my existence from the Crown Prince?”I couldn’t answer easily. In fact, that part bothered me the whole time.‘If she’s a spy to protect Caesar, she could at least tell Caesar herself.’The Emperor never showed his affection for Caesar in public. Hearing Caesar’s story, it didn’t seem like he was particularly loved by the Emperor.Why did he have to be so cold to his own son? A little more sincerity would have made Caesar’s childhood much less painful.Erinne spoke on behalf of me, who couldn’t answer easily.“That… Because Your Majesty the Emperor doesn’t want any conflict.”