“If the head of the family can enter it, you might know its password, right? Where is it now?”

“Before I talk about it…” he said, cutting me off, with his purple eyes sparkling, “I think we have to make clear about the terms of our deal. If I let you know the location of the secret vault, do you accept my condition?”

“Let me repeat the three conditions you put forward. Namely, I’ll make sure that the current duke should give up all his power, including his title, and step down, I’ll help you succeed the title safely, and I guarantee you claim more than 70% of Duke Jena’s wealth and position. Correct?”

“Yes.”

“Well, I think I’m losing money, but let me take it.”

I had no problem with promising him what I just said. Of course, finding out the secret vault meant half the success to me, but it would be much better for me to find out the location of the secret vault. If I knew its location, I could try something to go and get it.

The man skeptically watched me nodding gladly, then said, “I don’t think the head of the Monique family is saying this as a bluff, right?”

“I’m serious, of course.”

“Okay, then. The secret vault is in my father’s library. You can find it by pulling out the pink book on the second bookshelf from the left.”

“Great. Thanks.”

“Let me warn you about just one thing. Don’t ever think about breaking into it recklessly because you know its location. You’ll pay the price for undermining the power of my family if you do so.”

“Well, we’ll see how it goes.”

When I pulled my mouth up slightly, the successor of Duke Jena quickly turned around after looking at me with an annoyed expression. Watching him walk away, I said in a relaxed tone, “By the way, Duke Jena Jr, I discovered something very interesting recently. One of your relatives got married to a commoner a few years ago, right? Her name was probably Delia? ”

At that moment, the man suddenly stopped at my voice, then shouted, as if he felt what I said was outrageous, “… Are you digging into that kind of stuff, too? I don’t care about what my relatives are doing.”

“Really? That’s surprising. Doesn’t your family highly value its family pedigree? I don’t think Duke Jena didn’t know your relative’s marriage to that commoner woman because he was bringing a commoner into your family. Oh my…I think in your family the successor’s power seems to be very limited. Do you think you can really control your family? Can I help you a little more?”

When I spoke sarcastically, he clenched his fists as if to hold his temper and breathed out roughly. Then, he closed the door with a bang.

I smiled, watching the tightly closed door.

‘I think I know why you got angry.’

Given his angry attitude a moment ago, it seemed that he probably did not know about her existence. That’s why he kept silent to find out why I mentioned it to him. If that’s the case, I could assume that Delia was safe.

But my time was running out. Given that he was not aware of the identity of the hostage or the genuine use of the seal of his family, Duke Jena Jr. was obviously not involved in the treason initiated by his father. But if he ever revealed to his father about his deal with me, or if he was caught by his father, things would be very complicated.

After disposing of the dagger dropped in the corner, I went out hurriedly. Time was everything to me from now on.

The rain began slowly and quickly began to pour down. I had the chills when the cold air touched my wet body.

When I entered the Central Palace, shivering from the cold, the maids who came to me in a hurry wrapped several towels around my body. When I was about to enter the emperor’s executive office after wiping off, what he told me recently crossed my mind. He scolded me for getting wet, asking me why I was too inflexible. He said he could not believe it anymore when I said I was okay.

I was bothered by his scolding somehow, so I went to the office only after I dried my wet hair and body.

“I’m honored to see the emperor, the Sun of the Empire.”

“Come on in.”

He, who I saw three days ago, greeted me casually, as usual. Two familiar men were sitting across him on both sides.

“Oh I’m glad to see you, High Priests. How are you, Your Eminences?”

“May the blessings of life be with you. It’s nice to see you, Lady Monique. We’ve been waiting for you.”

I let out a sigh of relief when I saw the two High Priests blowing slightly to me. In fact, I was nervous about seeing the emperor again after that day. Fortunately I didn’t have to see him alone here.

After looking at me quickly when I sat down, the gray-haired High Priest said, “Then, Your Majesty, let me continue. When are you going to handle this? Although I keep reciting prayers for neutralizing your poisoning, it is dangerous for you to get exposed to poison for a long time. ”

“I can’t do it now. I have to wait until the festival ends, so please wait a little longer. ”

“Okay. But you have to be extremely careful. Given your symptoms, it is clear that they must have given you a much higher dosage this time.”

“Well, it shows that they began to suspect. I will keep in mind. ”

Watching the blonde High Priest nodding heavily, the gray-haired High Priest asked, “By the way, what am I supposed to do exactly? As for the prayer for neutralizing your poisoning, someone else can do it.”

“Hmm. Aristia, can you explain? ”

“Oh, yes, Your Majesty.”

I explained, looking at the blonde High Priest, “As I said last time, what you are supposed to do is to testify.”

“Testify?”

“As you have witnessed the emperor’s condition today, you must have realized that he is currently threatened with poisoning. I investigated how they injected poison into the emperor and found out that those guys at the palace affairs office who are in charge of tasting the food for the emperor had symptoms of poisoning. ”

“Oh, I understood. In short, you want me to testify in an official setting that they were also poisoned, right?”

“That’s right. No testimony is as effective as when you do it, swearing on divine power. ”

“Hmm, swearing on divine power? Well, good. It doesn’t matter because I’m testifying a lie. But you have to repay my efforts, okay?”

“Of course.”

After hesitating for a moment, the blonde High Priest readily agreed with my suggestion.

When I broke into a smile at his consistent emphasis on my compensation, the emperor said, “Thank you very much. I think I owe both of you a lot this time.”

“You’re welcome, Your Majesty. We’re not doing this for free anyway. We are going to leave now. I don’t think it’s good for us to stay here long because we need to give the impression that we are also busy preparing for the festival,” said the gray-haired High Priest.

As soon as he said that with a faint smile, he stood up with the blonde High Priest and left.

When the two left, awkward silence fell as he and I were left alone in the office now.

A breathless atmosphere filled the office.

I silently fidgeted with the documents, with my head down. Since I decided that I could not accept him, I knew it was best to act as if nothing had happened. But when I faced him like this, I couldn’t think of anything. I got cold feet, with my heart beating fast.

As if he noticed my anxiety, he said with a sigh after a while, “Aristia.”

“Pardon? Ah, Your Majesty. ”

“I think you are very busy preparing for the festival. So, you may stop working in this office.”

“Ah…Thank you.”

Then, is this the last afternoon I will work with him?

Even a little while ago I was nervous about coming to his office, but I felt a bit sorry when he told me I didn’t need to come anymore. When I slightly bit my lips to hide my feelings, he said coldly, “However, please come and report to me about the update once a week.”

“Pardon?”

When I asked, raising my head unconsciously, he said, somewhat embarrassed, “Oh, I’m not saying I don’t trust you, but…”

“What do you mean, Your Majesty?”