Grand Duke Midelharnis rested his chin on one hand and pondered for a moment. His aimless gaze swept past the documents and came to a stop at the statue of the Goddess Ashif on his desk.
In that instant, a brilliant plan flashed through his mind.
‘Yes. That method will be excellent. Since Sun Day is approaching.’
A satisfied smile spread across his face.
Just as Lake had declared, Jason was stripped of all his memories and banished from the capital to the north.
Upon hearing that news, I felt a refreshing relief as if a blocked weight had cleared from my chest. Gaining Lake’s cooperation through this matter was great, but to be honest, I was secretly thrilled to have paid back a grudge from my past life.
I giggled as I imagined my father’s face, which was likely twisted in a hideous scowl right about now.
[Is there something amusing?]
“No. Nothing at all.”
The expression on the ghost of Ash Winterton’s face as he watched me was peculiar. For somehow, his gaze resembled that of someone looking at a person who was slightly lacking.
A few days later, I summoned Lake to the drawing room for a private audience.
Since the incident with Jason had been settled to some extent, it was now time to focus on finding Ian Winterton as I had promised the ghost.
I asked him point-blank.
“You mentioned that you dispatched more people across the Empire to locate Ian, right? Over the past few days, has there been any news from them?”
“There has been no news as of yet. I am terribly sorry, Marchioness.”
“It’s alright. If he were easy to find, he would have been found long ago. We just need to work hard from here on out.”
“Yes. Even if we have to comb through the entire Hartania Empire—no, this whole world—we will surely find Lord Ian.”
Lake answered with a face full of resolve.
I mouthed only silently toward the ghost of Ash Winterton standing beside me.
‘That’s what he says.’
The ghost smiled quietly. For some reason, it was a sorrowful smile.
Just then, a knock echoed. It was Viscount Carpenter, the butler of this mansion.
I immediately let him inside.
“What is it?”
“My Lady, a letter has arrived from the Imperial Palace.”
“A letter?”
Tilting my head in wonder, I received the letter held out by the butler.
Opening the envelope, I found an invitation inside.
In the Hartania Empire, the day Goddess Ashif drove out the demons and reclaimed the sun was celebrated every year as ‘Sun Day.’ The letter invited me to the service held in the Imperial Chapel on that day.
I subtly knitted my brows. For the events of that day from my past life resurfaced vividly in my mind.
‘Back then, the nobles openly whispered behind my back, calling me a pitiful woman who married a vegetative Marquis. They even gossiped whether my bad luck—due to my birthmark—caused him to end up like that. And my parents and sister ignored me entirely.’
At the time, thoroughly intimidated, I did nothing but walk on eggshells around them, attending the service seated not beside my parents or in the Marchioness’s seat, but squeezed into the very back row among the lower nobility.
And due to ‘a certain incident’ that occurred at the banquet held after the service ended, I had to flee back to the mansion.
Ruminating on the unpleasant and lonely feelings of that time, I let out a soft sigh.
‘It’s not as if I can choose not to go, though.’
It was an occasion where the Emperor himself had sent an invitation, commanding my attendance. Unless I wished to be punished for treason, I had to attend no matter what.
Addressing the butler with the heart of a prisoner facing execution, I spoke.
“Thank you for informing me. ……Please inform His Majesty’s messenger that I accept the invitation with a joyful heart. Also, ask the head housekeeper and Charlotte to prepare a new dress for me to wear to the service that day.”
“Yes, My Lady.”
Offering a polite bow, the butler withdrew outside.
I turned to speak to Lake.
“You may take your leave as well, Lord Lake. Thank you for making time despite your busy schedule.”
“Yes, Marchioness. I shall visit you again the moment a report regarding Lord Ian comes in.”
Once Lake, too, departed from the drawing room, only I and the ghost of Ash Winterton remained in the room.
Shifting his position, the ghost sat on the sofa opposite me and spoke.
[Your complexion is dark. Could it be that you are not at all pleased about attending Sun Day?]
“Yes, well…… But what can I do? I can’t decline His Majesty the Emperor’s invitation. I plan to read the room appropriately and slip away quietly.”
Just like in my past life.
I swallowed those words internally.
‘By the way, it’s true that the Marquis had nothing to do with that incident back then, right?’
Just then, such a thought suddenly crossed my mind.
Hoping to check just in case, I casually probed the ghost before me.
“Hey, by any chance…… do you know someone named Count Curtis?”
[Are you referring to Rhea Curtis? Yes, I know her.]
“……You know her?”
[Yes. She is my friend and a white mage. She is also the person who comes regularly to cast healing magic on me. Did you not run into her once in my bedchamber before?]
The ghost nodded readily as he answered.
‘She was one of the people wearing robes behind the butler back then?’
My eyes widened in surprise. Since I hadn’t paid close attention to them, I never imagined she was one of those people.
Sensing that the situation was far from ordinary, I subtly tested him further.
“I’m just asking just in case, but what would happen if something were to occur to that Rhea Curtis person, making her unable to return to the capital for the time being?”
The ghost knitted his brows as if the mere thought was troublesome.
[It would become problematic in many ways. Finding a healing mage as skilled and trustworthy as her is no easy task. If, by some misfortune, someone bribed by my political enemies were to snatch that position…… I might die.]
“……Oh dear.”
Knitting my brows, I frantically recalled the memories of that day.
At the time, while the banquet continued after the service, a commotion had broken out near the chapel.
In the Empire, there was a custom on Sun Day of throwing pouches filled with red paint at demon statues to pray for good fortune, but a child accidentally threw her entire share of pouches at the Goddess statue instead. And as luck would have it, that child was Count Rhea Curtis’s daughter.
Fuming with rage, the Holy Temple demanded the Emperor punish the child. The Emperor convened a temporary religious trial, and as a result, the child’s mother, Count Rhea Curtis, received the punishment of being confined to a monastery in her territory for half a year to repent before God.
‘I must stop it at all costs.’
Thinking about it now, the Marquis’s physical condition had deteriorated with each passing day after that incident.
I couldn’t let that happen.
At least for now, I couldn’t let the Marquis die. Until I safely escaped outside the Empire at the very least, he had to stay alive.
[Why do you ask that, though? Did you happen to obtain some information?]
“……A-Ah, no? I just asked.”
Glossing over my answer to the ghost’s question, I made a firm resolve in my heart.
Time flowed mindlessly, and the morning of Sun Day dawned.
After finishing my bath, I received the maids’ assistance and changed into a new dress prepared for today. It was a dazzlingly pure white gown fitting for the day the Goddess drove out the darkness and reclaimed the light of the world.
The maids tied up my long hair with a hairband decorated with cream-colored fabric roses and adorned my ears with diamond and pearl earrings.
Lastly, just as the head housekeeper was about to fasten a luxurious pearl necklace on me, Charlotte put on a troubled expression while reading my mood.
Intercepting the head housekeeper’s hands on her behalf, I spoke.
“The necklace is fine. Instead, wrap a scarf of a color similar to this dress around me.”
“Yes, My Lady.”
At my words, the head housekeeper flinched slightly and lowered her head. Following custom, she seemed to have been so focused on adorning me that she hadn’t thought to cover the birthmark on my neck.
A short while later, having finished my preparations, I exited the bedchamber with the maids. Walking toward the carriage, the ghost of Ash Winterton, who was following behind me, spoke in a low voice.
[Is there really a need to cover your neck to that extent? I don’t think anyone would say anything even if you revealed it proudly.]
‘That’s because you don’t know any better, Marquis.’
Bitterly smiling, I retorted silently to his words.
The carriage carrying me, the ghost of Ash Winterton, the maids, and the knights escorting me departed from the mansion and headed for the Imperial Palace.
A short while later, the carriage that entered the Imperial Palace came to a stop in front of the chapel. Supported by Lake’s escort, I stepped down from the carriage.
Ascending the stairs leading to the building and stepping inside the chapel, royalty and nobles gathered in groups chatting came into view.
Catching sight of me, they paused their conversations for a moment and offered greetings. Then, as I stepped forward toward the front-row seat prepared for me, they lowered their voices and whispered among themselves.
