episode_0105

“How do you do that? … .”

Priscilla looked at me, trailing off her words. I smiled slightly at that and looked down at the beaker containing the coffee.

“Okay. If you ask how… … . You could say it’s intuition and intuition.”

“So you figured it out like that?”

I shook my head as I looked at Priscilla looking at me with a slight frown, as if I couldn’t believe it.

“I didn’t find out exactly. I was just vaguely guessing that it might be something like that, but if the professor hadn’t told me, I probably wouldn’t have known about it until I entered the political world.”

“Is that so… … . I feel like a fool for being so nervous just to say this.”

As she said that, she sighed and took a sip of coffee.

After hearing that, I thought I could understand why it took 15 minutes to make two cups of coffee.

I was really nervous and it took me a long time to relax, and it took a long time to poison my coffee.

It’s one of the two, but personally, I’d rather it be the latter. If, as she said, she was really nervous and delayed coming out, it would be shameful for me to have been killed by someone like that.

As I was quietly sorting out the image of Priscilla that had collapsed in my head, Priscilla, who was drinking coffee, sighed and said.

“You may be wondering what this story has to do with my being related to Miss Charlotte.”

My mother, matriarch, and Priscilla. How does she explain this love triangle? No, why even say that in the first place?

I nodded slowly, thinking things would turn out interesting either way, and Priscilla lowered her gaze and opened her mouth.

“I… … .”

She trailed off, fiddling with the beaker with both hands, then sighed and lowered her head. Her long hair naturally flowed down.

“I was jealous of Miss Charlotte. No, more accurately, I was jealous of Miss Charlotte’s mother.”

Priscilla said and raised her head.

“Better appearance, personality, grades, and family status than me… … . She was far ahead of me in everything.”

Her eyes, which were so sharp that I thought they might cut me if I made eye contact, were drooping under the weight of regret and anguish.

“She was the perfect person. No matter how hard I struggled or tried, it was impossible to escape from her shadow. However, I didn’t think of it as a bad thing.”

Why is Priscilla making that expression? She obviously hates her mother for taking away the man she loved. That’s why you tried to kill me, my mother’s daughter.

Why does Priscilla look like she’s about to die, weighed down by a sense of guilt, like someone who has committed an irreparable mistake?

“Because that shadow was a shadow that protected me forever.”

Priscilla said that and covered her eyes with one hand.

“But, to her… … . Ever since my sister had that guy. Cracks are starting to appear in my sister’s perfection.”

no way. Probably not. When she poisoned me, she definitely said this. ‘It would be better if I were his wife.’

“My sister, who was kind to everyone, ended up focusing on only one person. My sister gave up everything she had achieved on her own for that one person. My older sister even gave up her right to succession to continue with him.”

okay. Probably not. That can’t be possible. I thought it couldn’t be so and waited for her to say anything.

“My sister, who was perfect, was completely destroyed by just one man. When my sister’s perfection crumbled and I realized that she was only one person. I realized at the same time.”

She sighed, brushed her bangs and smiled self-deprecatingly.

“I liked my sister.”

But the words that came out of her mouth were the kind that denied all cause and effect I had been thinking about from the root.

* * *

Because it took 15 minutes to brew the coffee, the conversation between me and Priscilla ended there.

The conversation ended with the conclusion that we would talk about the rest later, but her last words continued to linger in my head like an echo.

‘I liked my sister.’

oh my god. It turns out that the person who killed me was a foolish and terrible siscon.

I sighed, touching my forehead with complex emotions that I couldn’t express in words.

“Ha… … .”

“Charles, why are you suddenly sighing while eating? Is it because it doesn’t taste good? Should I go and cut the chef?”

“Huh? Ah, no. The rice is delicious. The reason I sighed wasn’t because of that, it was just… … . I’m a little worried about this practical exam.”

Even though Hermel took a part of my heart, he couldn’t tell me about his past life. I could only smile and preface it.

“If Charles is worried enough, I think most of them will die… … . No matter how much of a practical test it is, wouldn’t there be someone that strong?”

Hermel said that and shrugged his shoulders, and I smiled and nodded.

“I guess so. It’s just that I wasn’t feeling well today. Come on, let’s eat.”

“Well, if that’s the case with Charles, that’s probably the case.”

I looked at Hermel, who nodded and started eating again, and put my complicated thoughts in order as I cut the meat with a knife.

Could it be that the reason Priscilla tried to kill me was not because of my mother but because of the matriarch… … .

I was too hasty in my judgment based solely on the story of me liking the same guy and the story of when I passed out after drinking poison.

I was even thinking of slandering my mother to attract her to me in case she didn’t change her mind later, but if I had done that, I would have only needlessly increased my enemies.

“It’s delicious today as expected.”

“Hehe. Thank goodness.”

If this happens, plans related to Priscilla will have to be completely revised.

First of all, the direction of her hatred will change automatically without me having to touch it.

This was certain because when we had a conversation in the lab earlier, I did not feel any negative emotions such as murderous intent or hatred towards me.

The important thing now is how to get rid of her after the death of the matriarch… … .

“Hmm.”

I guess I can think about this slowly later. Because there are many ways.

As I ate the cut meat, I put away thoughts as complicated as the pile of documents.

“Charles!”

“Huh?”

“By the way, where are you taking the practical exam?”

“Last time, Priscilla――”

When I called her name, her face came to mind again, but I continued speaking naturally.

“――You know that mountain we went to during the professor’s practicum? I’m going there.”

“Hmm, that’s unexpected. I thought they would use a place like a training hall or a grand training hall. Taking a practical test in the mountains.”

” Since it is a practical test, I think the place was chosen with the actual test in mind.”

Hermel, who was nodding, put the soup-covered spoon in his mouth and closed his chin.

“M, as soon as I hear it, I will hear it.”

“The only person who calls Sir Germa grandfather is Hermel.”

Hermel, who blinked at my words, laughed and took the spoon out of his mouth.

“Well, he is actually similar to my grandfather. The person who guided me when I first picked up the sword was Sir Germa.”

“Really? I didn’t know that either.”

She nodded and smiled faintly.

“I learned a lot… … . Starting with how to hold a sword, how to efficiently defeat an opponent, and how to deal with a knight… … .”

“After learning all that, did you say that when dealing with an enemy holding a shield, you should use force to push them down?”

Hermel, who had been blinking at my words, pouted his lips.

“Grandpa taught me that… … . Since I have natural strength, I said it would be better to use my strength to push it down rather than using my head for no reason… … .”

“Ah… … .”

If that’s the case, there’s nothing you can do about it. I nodded, and Hermel scratched his cheek and stretched.

“Ugh… … ! Paha. Will I wake up soon?”

“Okay. Let’s go for a walk to help digestion.”

“Good!”

I smiled and headed to the walking trail with Hermel.

* * *

The royal palace’s underground laboratory.

A person entered a secret place known only to a few within the royal palace, which could be accessed by activating a hidden device on the stairs leading down to the dungeon.

“… … .”

The person who entered the laboratory was none other than the Crown Prince.

He headed into the lab without saying a word and activated a device. Then the second door, which had been tightly closed, opened, revealing the figure of an old woman examining something.

The Crown Prince tapped the stone wall with the back of his hand and called out to the old woman.

“Agnis Fell Lord Draco.”

“… … .”

The old woman’s identity is none other than Agnes Fell Draco. He was a professor of Jeju Studies who was reported to have gone missing.

“Has the debt identification been completed?”

“It’s all finished… … . That fan is definitely a fetish. It’s the kind of fetish that can withstand even a decent curse.”

“Is there anything else special?”

She shook her head at the crown prince’s words.

“I don’t have the level of ability you are looking for. It’s not even close to causing the twists of providence that I’ve seen.”

“Then… … .”

“Mediation of curse. Nothing more, nothing less. Are we done now? Now then, leave me alone. I am… … . I have to study something that is outside of that providence.”

She said that and handed the crown prince a fan.

He looked down at the fan, sighed quietly, took the fan, and put it in his arms.

“Good luck.”

From the Crown Prince’s mind, the suspect’s name, Charlotte, was erased.