Chapter – 57
It was a simple map that only marked the borders of the empire, kingdoms, and principalities across the continent.
Several dots were marked on it, but what caught Lexian’s eye were the two dots placed at the imperial capital and its outskirts.
“This location is….”
At first glance, it resembled the locations of the illegal gambling house he was currently in and another illegal gambling house near the capital.
Most of the red dots were placed within the empire, with one each also suspected to be in the capitals of the Kajas Empire, the Litten Kingdom, and the Holy Kingdom.
Lexian carefully folded the map and returned to the imperial palace, where he summoned Vens Famine, whom he had recently appointed as his aide.
“What is the reason you summoned me?”
“Compare the locations marked by these dots with the map and organize them. Make sure no one else sees this, just in case.”
“Yes, understood.”
If that map was the hidden base of this secret organization…
Then raiding those places might reveal the organization’s identity.
‘Perhaps I might even discover what Rosia is planning.’
Maybe she was once part of the secret organization and now wanted to leave it. Honestly, he couldn’t rule out this possibility.
‘Why do I hate the idea of Rosia getting hurt so much?’
He felt a sense of kinship with her, who struggled so hard not to reveal her weaknesses. And the incident at the hunting ground had probably shocked him as well.
The darkened flesh where his life had been threatened by an unknown man was still vividly etched in his memory.
“Well, there isn’t enough evidence yet, and if I want to uncover that incident…”
I won’t be innocent either.
Lexian gently stroked his left arm, the place Rosia had once clutched with a tearful expression as if she were about to cry.
The wound burned by flames before he created a shield of mana was already completely healed.
Since he had used medicine obtained from the illegal gambling house, he rationalized that mentioning Rosia would also make him not innocent.
Late at night, Lexian returned home and looked at the invitations placed on his desk.
Even though Charles had already filtered them once, there were still quite a few invitations since it was the social season.
After checking the invitations and politely writing rejection replies, he found the one sent by Merina.
‘She must have received one too.’
How would she respond?
Rosia cared about her reputation in social circles, so she would probably attend, but Merina was genuinely intent on tormenting Rosia.
If she said she would attend, he planned to accompany her and help keep Rosia from getting hurt. But what if she appeared like last time, holding another man’s hand?
Just imagining it made his chest ache, but protecting Rosia from harm was more important than that.
Since asking Rosia directly would probably result in a “Why do you care?” kind of answer, he chose an indirect approach.
A set of red diamond ornaments made for my family was completed.
For my father and Calvin, cufflinks were prepared. For my mother, there were earrings, a necklace, and a bracelet set.
Mine was the same in design but simpler than my mother’s.
“Rhys, yours is ready too.”
I placed a necklace around Rhys’ neck.
Though it was called a necklace, it was closer to a collar. Ted said that since Rhys would soon be taken outside, putting a collar on him was better.
Perhaps because she had sometimes tied a ribbon around his neck with a lace string, Rhys accepted the collar obediently.
Rhys’ piece was a necklace made of three strands of gold thread twisted together, with an oval red diamond set in the center.
The words “Rhys, property of Rosia Levian” were engraved on the string.
“Oh my! It’s really beautiful! Since its eyes are red, it suits him even more.”
Cassie, Rhys’ hair-brushing caretaker, fussed excitedly, and Rhys walked with an air of arrogance as if he understood everything.
What pleased me the most was that the Eastern materials I wanted were brought in through Prince Stein.
It was the luminous stone that could produce fire by itself.
The luminous stone is hard to obtain since it is used only by the imperial family of the Eastern Empire, but it was obtained in exchange for supplying blue diamond ornaments.
The condition to view the map to Delphi through the Mirror of Truth was that, on a moonless night, the light from the gem must be reflected into the mirror.
There are several other requirements as well, but creating such an environment is the basic step.
Although I learned the method to reach Delphi through Silra’s drawing, it’s better to cross-check using two methods.
I had already asked Ted to gather information about:
“A slender suspension bridge in front of a golden apple tree that bears fruit, a river of burning fire, and a cold forest where breath freezes.”
He made an odd expression after hearing my request.
Understandable, since it was very abstract.
“Rhys, do you want to go outside?”
“Miss, you shouldn’t come back too late. The dress and accessories have arrived.”
“Okay.”
I forced myself to ignore Cassie, whose eyes were shining too brightly, and gestured to Rhys.
Before my regression, I had not prepared many dresses.
After regressing, I had to attend many salons and parties, so I needed more dresses and had placed orders in several shops little by little.
If I ordered too much from one place, it would take longer for them to be finished.
The social season was almost over, but since many nobles would remain in the capital during the selection of the crown princess, I had prepared dresses even if it was late.
“Of course, I used the prestige of the Levian marquisate to move my order forward, but why are you looking at me like that, Rhys? Do you need clothes too?”
For a moment, I thought about dressing Rhys in a frilly dress because it would be cute, but since it would be inconvenient for running, I settled for the necklace.
As if remembering the garden he had visited only once, Rhys crossed it without hesitation.
Rhys stopped at the terrace table where I and Lexian had once sat. Rhys jumped onto the very seat where Lexian had sat and looked at me.
“What, Rhys? Do you know that your name comes from lisianthus?”
“Kyuu.”
“If something happens to me, I’ll send you to him, so don’t worry.”
Adding that Lexian had plenty of mana and might be a little disliked by Rhys, Rhys hit the chair loudly with his fluffy tail.
“You hate Lexian? Don’t worry. He is a kind person.”
“Kyuuuu!”
Rhys howled in protest and suddenly ran back to the mansion.
Helpless, I ended my short walk and went back inside the building.
“Miss, do you want to try the clothes on?”
Cassie and Maria, who had been waiting, lit up their eyes.
“Oh my, there are two dresses with the same design as Miss’s.”
“Yes, one is mine and the other is for my friends. Remember the masquerade ball I mentioned before? I’ll wear it then, so keep it safe.”
“You’re planning to wear such a loose and plain dress to the ball?”
“Yes. If I wear such clothes, people won’t know it’s me.”
I was certain that Merina hadn’t hosted a party before, but she couldn’t have invited me with good intentions.
If my original role was to shout “Merina, that woman? I can’t forgive her!” and grab Merina’s hair, then Merina’s role would be to choke up and say, “Rosia, that woman… again… sob.”
Judging by the letter I sent to Calvin, Merina seemed unchanged, so I expected something similar this time.
Even if Silra would accompany me, I didn’t know what kind of awkward situation might occur.
I couldn’t let all the effort spent framing Merina as the villain go to waste.
So I asked my friends for help.
On the day of the party, Stella and Pony came to the Levian residence, and the three of us wearing the same clothes rode in one carriage.
“Wow, this is going to be hilarious.”
“I almost regret not being able to see Merina Iquel’s expression myself.”
Stella, who had dyed her hair black, and Pony giggled.
Merina couldn’t have invited me with good intentions.
Everyone agreed, so we decided to make her feel troubled.
When I casually mentioned this to Violet, she happily agreed to join in teasing Merina.
Violet and one of her friends would dye their hair black and wear the same clothes.
Our plan was to have multiple people pretend to be Rosia Levian.
“Want to make a bet? Whether Merina Iquel will recognize Rosia at once or not.”
“I bet she won’t recognize her.”
At Pony’s suggestion, Stella answered quickly.
“I also bet on the side that she won’t recognize her. What will be the prize? I’ll bet my beloved topaz earrings.”
“As both of you bet on the side that she won’t recognize her, it won’t be a bet unless I bet on the side that she will recognize her at once.”
Still, as the heroine, I’ll look forward to it, Merina.
