The Abandoned Empress

I narrowed my eyes when he hesitated. Given that he usually had few changes in his expression, he must know something about the blessed criminal.

“I came to hear about him from others by chance. All of them showed some strange reaction like you.”

After hesitating a bit, I mentioned an assumption that had been lingering in my mind all along.

“Does he have anything to do with my family?”

“… ”

“Baron?” When I asked, tilting my head, he kept silent for a moment, then said, “Well, yes, but…”

“… ”

“Sorry, my lady. That’s all I can tell you for now. It’s because your father gave me a gag order.”

“My daddy?”

“That’s right.”

As he nodded heavily, I didn’t ask further and got to the point. If my father wouldn’t tell me about it even when I was curious, there must be some reason for it. And I understood him.

“Okay, did you find out anything new this time?”

“Yes, but…”

“Hummm…Did something go wrong?”

When I asked with a puzzled look, he hesitated for a moment, then picked up the documents and handed them over to me, asking me to review them first.

They were the documents that he obtained from Viscount Apinu that he had succeeded in bringing into my fold recently. Organized in chronological order, the documents recorded various intelligence tips such as the noble faction’s need to cajole the foreign princesses by using all kinds of ends and means, actively supporting the princess of the Eet kingdom that decided to cooperate with the empire in return for its economic aid such as lower tariffs and increasing the export of iron ores by citing the in-law relationship between the two countries as soon as Princess Eet became the crown prince’s concubine.

If the documents were written in someone’s handwriting, I could double check it against somebody else’s and find out who composed the documents, but I couldn’t. Given the curvy handwriting, it was obvious that these were secret documents that somebody ordered an illiterate man to copy from the original documents to cover up his handwriting.

When I put aside the documents with a sigh, I suddenly noticed a seal on the edge.

A shield and a sword and the phrase engraved under the rose were none other than Volente Castina.

What the heck is this?

I opened my eyes wide at that. Why is this seal here?

“What the heck is this?”

“Well, I’m kind of in a difficult situation because of that. Unless I have any specific evidence including the handwriting, I can’t prove Volente Castina’s connection to the Jena family, right?

Besides, as you know, Volente Castina is…”

“Yes, that’s actually Sir Lars’s seal. That gives me a headache.”

I sighed long. Of course, I didn’t know if Earl Lanier kept documents hidden to save him later, but in this situation it was useless to obtain the secret documents of Earl Lanier. Unless I could prove that the seal was the same as that of the Jena family, the heat would be on the Duke Lars family.

While pressing my stinging temper, I turned over other documents. It was a report about things like no big progress in finding additional information about Earl Lanier despite continued monitoring, no progress in the investigation of the poisoning incident since the last report, no one noticed anything, and the temple’s plan to hold a massive event to make Jiun the true child of God’s prophecy, as she was relatively unknown to the people.

“Oh, is this all?”

When I was about to close the last page of the document, Baron Carot nodded with a very regrettable expression. He seemed to be bothered by the fact that his findings contained nothing valuable.

“Thanks for your hard work. I think it was very difficult for you to obtain the information as much as this, but I’m sorry to keep adding your assignment.”

“That’s fine, my lady. I’m sorry I couldn’t bring you some good news. ”

“Oh never mind. Well, they would not have committed this crime if we could catch them easily. Let me tell my butler about this, so please handsomely compensate your informants working hard right now. Also don’t forget to push them a little more.”

When I spoke with a bright smile, the baron expressed gratitude by bowing, feeling more or less relieved.

“Thank you, my lady.”

“By the way, do you have any further information on Countess Dias’s volunteer work?”

“Oh, I’ve been paying special attention to that matter, but I put it on hold because I was not sure yet. Let me report to you as soon as I get more specific information.”

“Got it. Good. Shall we wrap it up now? I think I should go out to practice. ”

“Oh, I was told that they put up an official announcement about the knight selection. Cheer up! ”

“Thank you, Baron.”

After letting him out, I immediately headed to the training field with a sword.

I had only one month to go before the test.

I was determined to do my best to improve my fencing skills until that day because this was one of the few precious opportunities I had.

The next day I headed straight to the training center of the 2nd Knights Division as soon as I was done with my morning assignment. When I was about to go back home after hard training, I saw a woman in a dress pacing up and down at the entrance of my house.

The woman with blonde hair, who I saw somewhere a lot, was Grace, the daughter of the Whir family. She greeted me gladly, “Hello, Lady Monique, it’s been a while.”

“Yes, it’s been a long time, Lady Whir.”

When I nodded slightly, she paused a moment before saying, with an embarrassed look, “I’m here to tell you something. Could you please spare me some time? ”

“Sure. Can you wait for a minute in the break room? ”

“Will do.”

After politely bowing to Grace, I headed to the building of the 2nd Knights Division.

‘I wish she visited my house if she had something to say. Why is she here?’

I giggled when I thought about it. I didn’t think she came to the Imperial Palace just to see me. As the candidate for the empress’s concubine, she might have visited me after returning from the palace to see the emperor.

When I entered the break room after taking a shower, Grace, who was waiting for me there, hurriedly stood up. I said, looking around the lounge which was empty because of the upcoming reorganization of the knights division.

“As you can see, this place is a knight building, so I don’t have any refreshments to treat you. Do you want tea?”

“Oh, no thanks. I’m fine.’

“Okay, then.” When I sat down, slightly nodding at her, Grace sat down, tidying up the hem of her dress.

“I visited you to apologize because I didn’t say hello to you at your coming-of-age ceremony. Please accept my late congratulations on your coming of age.”

“Thank you. In fact, I received your letter that you wouldn’t be able to attend it because you were in bad shape. Are you okay now? ”

“Yeah. I’m alright now thanks to your concern. ”

“What a relief!”

Only

Was she really sick? It was definitely her best and most plausible excuse, but she looked too good for a person who was in bed.

In fact, it was rumored that the Whir family was openly challenging the Monique family because Grace didn’t attend my coming-of-age ceremony. Some of my family vassals were very upset, asking how a mere earl’s family could compare to my family, even though I withdrew my name as the candidate for the empress.

At first, the banquet was intended to filter out those who were friendly to my family, but I didn’t feel good when I actually went through it. It was me who initially promoted her for that position.

Did she appreciate my efforts? She hesitantly presented me with a little box, with an awkward smile and said, “I’ve brought it to you to express my apologies. Please accept it as a small sign of my appreciation.”

“Oh thank you… I appreciate it.”

After exchanging formal greetings, silence fell again. I sat down with her for a while in awkward silence and let out a sigh, feeling pitable about myself.

Come to think of it, I didn’t have to feel bad. As the saying goes, as one sows, so one reaps.

“Oh, it was a long time ago, but I don’t think I appreciated your help at last year’s National Founding Day festival. You helped me a lot at that time. Thank you for your help back then, Lady Whir.”