Ch.822Bound Hand and Foot

Haschal’s statement that she would throw Eleonora into the underground prison if she failed to prove her ability as regent.

It was merely a bluff to suppress the opposition of civil officials and encourage Eleonora to do her best, but…

‘…What if it’s true?’

Was it because of the strange pressure Haschal exuded at that time, or because Haschal’s achievements, stained with blood and slaughter, gave her words a violent weight?

‘…This woman might really try to imprison me. Just look at how she’s breaking her promise with Leopold by putting me at the forefront—it’s clear she doesn’t care about imperial authority at all.’

Not only the civil officials but even Eleonora couldn’t believe those words were false, which is why Eleonora had no choice but to prove her qualification as regent with all her might.

The result was a tsunami of endless paperwork and daily political meetings that only added to her fatigue.

For Eleonora, it was enough to make her grind her teeth.

Moreover, what grated on her nerves wasn’t just the hellish waterfall of work that piled up again no matter how much she cleared.

She could somehow create breathing room by distributing paperwork, political discussions, and business plans to others—mainly to Lambert—but…

“Eleo—ahem, Regent Elnora. Did you cough?”

She still had two more problems of a different nature. Worse, these were problems she couldn’t do anything about.

“The political meeting will begin soon. Please prepare yourself.”

“…I’m up. I’ll be ready in thirty minutes, so wait.”

Eleonora frowned as she felt unpleasantness wash over her half-asleep, drowsy mind.

An unpleasant voice.

Eleonora muttered curses under her breath as she got up from bed.

Was Haschal trying to provoke her by assigning a woman whose mere presence caused discomfort to be her guard?

‘Of all people, assigning Leonore as my guard. She must know about the relationship between us.’

The daughter of the First Empress who was sold off in a political marriage, and the daughter of the Second Empress who sold her off. It was a relationship that could never be good.

Eleonora harbored resentment and jealousy toward Leonore, while Leonore felt a slight sense of debt and guilt toward Eleonora.

Since the King of Panam only wanted a princess with imperial bloodline, if Leopold had had enough power to overwhelm Isabella at that time, Leonore would have been sold to King Danon instead of Eleonora.

Of course, Eleonora understood that resenting Leonore was irrational and misdirected emotional waste, but… when was the human heart ever so neatly cut like with a knife?

That’s why Eleonora found Leonore unpleasant and uncomfortable. Every time she faced her, she was forced to confront her own ugliest parts.

Jealousy toward her half-sister who had enjoyed everything denied to her simply because they had different mothers, and self-loathing for trembling with that jealousy.

Even though she had become an apostle through her contract with Feyrus. No, these feelings had grown even stronger since becoming an apostle.

Having to spend almost all day with someone who evoked such emotions.

Moreover, it was obvious that the guard position was merely a nice-sounding public justification, and the real purpose was to openly monitor and control her actions.

What could be more irritating to Eleonora?

‘Is this a ploy to provoke and shake me? Are they hoping I’ll make unconscious mistakes under mental fatigue and pressure?’

It was an obvious but effective tactic.

In reality, every time Eleonora faced Leonore, she felt her stomach tighten with rising stress.

And the surveillance wasn’t limited to just Leonore. Shadows always lurk beside beams of light. Having such an obvious monitor meant there must be another, more hidden observer.

Unlike the guard knight who could only monitor her public activities, there would be a true observer watching her every move.

Not just Eleonora, but Belnesia, who was playing the role of her maid, was also certain of the observer’s existence.

-It’s probably that half-elf.

Belnesia suspected Hush. She had no evidence, but her conviction was clear.

What better agent could there be for hiding in darkness and monitoring someone than a dark-skinned half-elf?

If she were Haschal, she would have used that half-elf as a spy or assassin too.

-This is troublesome. We can’t even contact the other apostles like this.

As long as Hush was secretly monitoring them, communicating with other apostles was impossible.

The moment they showed any suspicious behavior, that half-elf would run straight to Haschal and tell her everything.

It was an incredibly irritating situation for both of them.

The discomfort and humiliation of having their entire private lives observed.

The exhaustion of having to act all day as a diligent princess who works hard as regent, and a maid who serves her princess with sincerity, without being able to relax for even a moment.

And they couldn’t just find and eliminate the observer when they were already under heavy suspicion…without any special countermeasures, the two women couldn’t help but feel their nerves fraying.

-Is there no way to determine when the surveillance stops?

-Impossible. Perhaps due to racial characteristics, even I can’t detect their presence.

Eleonora had hoped to at least find moments when the observer looked away, but this too proved impossible.

That half-dark elf was so exceptionally good at hiding that even Belnesia, with her new body that transcended walls, couldn’t properly detect their presence.

They were truly cornered from all sides.

As long as they were disguised as an ordinary princess and maid, they couldn’t complain to Haschal or even discuss the observer.

Would an ordinary princess and maid notice the existence of an obviously well-trained observer? That alone would be tantamount to confessing that they were suspicious individuals.

Since they couldn’t tell where or when the observer was watching them, they had no choice but to discuss apostle matters or the observer through written communication rather than conversation.

Even then, since there was a high possibility of being monitored, they couldn’t simply write on paper but had to choose a method that couldn’t be observed and left no trace.

Therefore, the written communication method they chose was…

—-

“Hnngh…”

A thin moan. Eleonora slightly furrowed her brow and exhaled softly at the sensation of fingers crawling like a spider on her thigh.

A sensation similar to but slightly different from tickling. It was too stimulating for a body that had been developed but neglected. Even if it couldn’t be helped.

-Really, moaning in broad daylight like that.

Belnesia, with her hand under Eleonora’s skirt, rubbing her thigh, looked up at Eleonora with a face full of exasperation.

They were simply using their thighs as paper for written communication, yet she was responding like this. It was absurd to her.

-Just, just a moment. Let me calm down…

Eleonora’s fingers were also under Belnesia’s skirt, writing on her thigh, but Belnesia only felt a slightly ticklish sensation.

Yes. To avoid the gaze of the unknown observer, the two of them were writing messages with their fingers on each other’s thighs.

This way, with their hands hidden by their skirts, no one outside could tell what kind of communication they were having.

They couldn’t maintain this written exchange for long since Eleonora’s condition became increasingly unstable as they wrote long sentences, but…

For Eleonora and Belnesia, who had to continue acting while hiding their identities, this was satisfactory enough.

At least it was a hundred or thousand times better than fretting without being able to discuss apostle matters at all.

“…Personal maid in homosexual relationship…maid shows somewhat dissatisfied expression…possibility of forced harassment due to hierarchy.”

If they had known what the dark-skinned half-elf hiding in the shadows was writing in the report while monitoring them, they would have been kicking the innocent blanket in lamentation and regret.