Chapter 86
“It’s Olivia Willow.”
Mrs. Willow greeted perfectly with imperial etiquette.
“I’m Alie Bourbon.”
Alie also hurriedly followed the greeting.
“Let’s sit down”.
Alie and Renia sat side by side on the sofa in the living room, and Mrs. Willow sat opposite it. Chad naturally stood behind Alie.
“Thank you for taking your ti to talk with .”
Alie smiled to cover the awkwardness. Mrs. Willow looked at Alie’s face.
“….?”
“Have we t before?”
“Yes? No. It’s my first ti seeing you.”
“…You look strangely familiar.”
Mrs. Willow was lost in thought. But she didn’t seem to have any particular mory.
“You’ve t so many different people while traveling. Maybe you t soone similar?”
In the kitchen, her daughter shouted.
“That could’ve happened.”
Mrs. Willow accepted what her daughter said.
‘Is that why she looked at like that? I was nervous for nothing.’
Alie was relaxed and at ease.
“I read Manvers Young Lady’s letter. Is there anything you want to ask ? Why are you curious about it?”
Alie thought about how much she should say.
“Miss Alie is a victim. So, she wants to know the truth about the case and any other information.”
Renia intervened. She told Mrs. Willow what had happened to her on the imperial party day.
“It often happened in the imperial palace. But I think it’s the first ti for soone who’s not from the people of the imperial palace.”
Mrs. Willow was not surprised.
“If it happens often— have you ever seen people who were manipulated like that?”
Alie asked.
“Everyone was similar. They were all covered in blood, and they murmured as if possessed by sothing.”
“Did that happen often?”
“Even when I just entered the Imperial Palace, there was a saying to be careful on foggy days, so it’s been a ong ti ago. I think it’s been quiet since His Majesty took the throne, but it seems to be happening again.”
“I see.”
That was what Alie confird through the data.
“But why are you asking this? His Majesty would know better—”
“His Majesty? His Majesty said it’s sothing that he doesn’t know either.”
“Lady is so naive. To believe his word right away.”
“….”
Alie frowned. No one else knew, but Serwin had no reason to lie to her about the disaster.
‘It’s about soone who doesn’t know the situation. Let’s not worry too much about it.’
Alie comforted her emotional heart well. But Mrs. Willow didn’t stop there.
“If you want to learn sothing from , give up. I have nothing to tell you. I have only one thing to say. If you don’t want to waste your life, break up with that monster as soon as possible!
Mrs. Willow shouted loudly.
“What?”
“That’s all I have to say. The reason I decided to et Miss Bourbon today is to tell this story.”
Mrs. Willow turned her head with her mouth closed. It was an elegant expression that she didn’t want to talk about anymore.
‘Huh? Break up? Monster?’
Alie was perplexed. She did not understand why Mrs. Willow was saying this to her. Serwin isn’t a good man—but should she listen to this old woman she never t? No, we’re not even dating in the first place!
“He may look shiny on the surface, but His Majesty is not. Stop seeing him before you see the terrible truth!”
“I think Mrs. Willow is misunderstanding sothing.”
“What do you an by misunderstanding! If you know what he’s doing on a day like today—”
“Pardon?”
Alie tried to continue the conversation sohow. However, Mrs. Willow even expressed with her whole body that she didn’t want to talk. Eventually, she got up from her seat.
“I’m done with this. I have to go upstairs. I’m tired. Old people should sleep a lot.”
Mrs. Willow went into the room after finishing only what she had to say. The sound of the door closing echoed around Alie’s ear.
‘What? Did you really want to et up just to tell to break up?’
It was absurd and ridiculous. How can there be such a person?
“Huh? Did mother go inside? Ugh—I’m sorry. My mother is a bit stubborn—”
Mrs. Willow’s daughter jumped out of the kitchen in amazent. She was restless and knocked on Mrs. Willow’s door, but there was no response.
“We can’t talk anymore. Why don’t you go back for today—”
She looked into Renia’s eyes.
“What should we do, Miss Alie?”
Renia was perplexed. She didn’t know that Mrs. Willow was going to et Alie to say that. She wasn’t very excited when she made her appointnt by letter, but she agreed to et her anyway, so she knew she would at least give her an answer to Alie’s question.
Alie looked at the tightly closed door. No matter what she said, the door didn’t seem to open. But she felt bad just going back like this.
‘What do you an a monster! All bad things are the disaster’s fault! How could you say that? How hard was Serwin’s life? He alone is lonely. Thanks to that, you’re living a comfortable life right?’
Mrs. Willow said it without knowing, but the more she thought about it, the more angry and upset she was.
“Let’s go back. We can ask soone else.”
Eventually, Alie was forced to leave Mrs. Wollow’s house without any result.
*****
Chad was in trouble as he guarded the carriage.
‘Fortunately or not, I don’t know—’
Contrary to his worries, Mrs. Willow didn’t tell Alie about Serwin’s secret. But instead, she said strange things to Alie and told her to break up with Serwin.
‘I have no idea what His Majesty will say if I report it to him.’
If the reaction has to be expected to so extent, the report must be prepared ntally.
Chad sighed. At that ti, sothing ran quickly in their direction.
‘A woman on a horse?’
He didn’t pull out the sword because the direction might have been the sa by coincidence. Instead, he instructed the coachman to turn. Then, the woman on the horse also turned around and followed behind the carriage. Chad put his hand on his sword, preparing for an unexpected attack. The knights were also nervous about the approach of a stranger.
“Miss Alie! Miss Alie! Please let talk for a second!”
The woman scread. She sounded so desperate that she scread.
‘What? Isn’t that Count Bowen’s Young Lady?’
The person running was Serina Bowen. When he checked her, his tension was relieved. Chad turned his back and stopped her. Serina didn’t seem like a dangerous person, but he didn’t make it easy for her to get close to Alie.
“Get off.”
“Yes?”
“First, get off of the horse.”
“But—”
Chad stared at Serina, still faced and stern. That alone discouraged Serina, and Serina ca down from her horse.
“What’s the matter?”
“There’s sothing I really want to say to Miss Alie. I thought she was coming to the hunting contest, but they said she wasn’t coming, so I went to the imperial palace and ca back. I think I’ve seen Young Lady Renia around here.”
Serina gasped and spoke frantically. In the anti, Alie’s carriage was moving away, so she was very nervous.
“It’ll only take a mont. I have sothing to tell her today. Miss Alie! Miss Alie!”
“Please be quiet.”
Alie’s carriage stopped, as if her desperate cry had reached. Renia ca out as she opened the carriage door.
“Young Lady Serina?”
“As expected! There was also Young Lady Renia! Please, I just need a mont.”
“Huh? Why is Young Lady Serina here?”
Alie also found Serena. She ran past Chad and ran to Alie.
“I’ve been looking for Alie all day today. I went to a hunting competition and waited there for a long ti, but you didn’t co. So I went to the imperial palace, but I couldn’t go into the palace—I rembered seeing soone who looked like Young Lady Renia near the teahouse over there—”
Serina talked as if she was in a hurry.
“A, anyways, I wanted to give this to you—”
Serina showed a package of paper she had been wearing on her side.
“Do you have ti? It’ll really be only for a mont.”
She looked very desperate.
“Let’s get in first.”
“Thank you!”
“Then I’ll leave.” Reina said, realizing that she had other business to take care of.
With Alie’s permission, Serina entered the carriage, and Renia went out.
“What’s the matter?”
“You rember my request last ti, right? I’d like to ask you to save my family.”
Is it that again?
Alie’s head began to ache.
“Young Lady. Didn’t I tell you that I had nothing to do with His Majesty’s work and Count Bowen? And it’s twice now that I’ve said it!”
Alie received Serina’s request and sent a letter after confirming the facts to Serwin. However, Serina didn’t believe what she said and ca to see her again.
“To said that—”
“This ti, I’m not asking you to do it as just a favor.”
Whatever Alie said, Serina’s faith in her new card was strong. Alie was on the verge of bursting into disbelief as to why she didn’t admit that the Count Bowen’s problem due to incompetence.
“I brought the information that you really need, Miss Alie.”
She stuck out a package of paper. It was a thick book.
“What is this?”
“It’s data on abnormalities in the imperial palace. It’s the original copy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ data, which has not been modified at all, and a renowned scholar’s study of abnormalities. Isn’t that what you need?”
Serina was confident. She doesn’t know how hard she worked to make this material. She used her grandfather’s connections to find the research data. It wasn’t easy not to be caught by Serwin. Even after finding all that she could, the data was so scarce she even went to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and stole the data on the pretext of eting her brother.
Alie was very surprised.
‘Young Lady Bowen… She really didn’t hear a word from .’
She thinks she told her several tis that it was not like that, but nothing worked. She had no idea how to make Serina give up.
“First of all, thank you for the data. Thank you so much— but as I said, I had nothing to do with Count Bowen, and even if it does, there’s nothing I can do about it!”
“I know! Miss Alie, you have to say that, right?”
“No—”
“Please look at the data first. I worked really hard on it. You’ll like it.”
It would be less frustrating to talk to a wall. Alie sighed and untied the string that tied the paper package. Since she had prepared the data, she was going to send Serina back after finding the right way to broach the subject.
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