Episode 142
“It must be that bitch who put the nameplate on! Yes? The one who prayed here all night is Elisha.”
Carola finally gathered her thoughts and said. The family head said coldly to Carola.
“How did you know where Elisha put the golden nameplate and put it here? Carola! The only people in the house who know where it is hidden are you and Jacob.”
The corners of Elisha's mouth went up as if they were barely visible. In the basement of the temple, there was a secret storage for the collections related to the holy relics. Carola was careless, opening her secret storage room in front of Elisha, and sometimes she even ran errands for her. In one of them, the nameplate of the head of household was kept.
“Besides, you and the High Priestess have the key to this temple. And it's just gay. Didn't you stir up the preparations for Elisha's sacrifice last night? Do you think I gave you an extra set of keys for this? If you have something to say, say it.”
Then someone burst into laughter. It was Prince Jewel who was forgotten by everyone.
“You, you? Haha. You are so pretty. Okay. I asked you to prepare a woman who looks like Elisha this time.”
However, Prince Jewel hadn't come to his senses yet. He was approaching Elisha with staggering steps while the servants' hands loosened. When Carola pointed out Elisha, she seemed to think she was her Cortizan from Carola.
“You seem to be out of your mind.”
Before reaching Elisha, Jewel was blocked by Lucerne. Lucerne mercilessly slapped Jewel on the cheek.
Match! It jerked back loud enough to make you wonder if Jewel's jaw had been shattered.
“Ahh!”
Jewel turned ugly. Lucerne's strike awakened Jewel's spirit. Only then did Joel come to his senses.
'Uh? I……. Now……. What just happened?'
Joel's face went white. Jewel met the expressions of the empress and Ilione looking at her.
Carola looked at Jewel and calculated her way to live. She cried out loud.
“In fact……. Prince Jewel raped Carola!”
Jewel was blinded by Carola's words, as she did.
“W-what are you talking about! Why am I raping you!”
“Carola didn't want to. The prince brought me here and molested me!”
“Do not be ridiculous! There's even a note you sent me!”
Coincidentally, the emperor who entered the place belatedly saw the whole scene. He looked at Jewel in disbelief.
“Juel, what is this!”
“Abama! Hey, it's not…….”
The emperor looked around. A servant whispered something in his ear and he immediately grasped the situation.
“Get that stupid bastard! Right now!”
The emperor shouted. Jewel was drawn to her bewildered face. Soon after, the head of the family gave the same order.
Carol was also taken by Jacob's knights.
* * *
Birds started chirping in the grove near the temple. People felt like they were watching a midsummer night's nightmare.
* * *
The wife of the first grandson, the de facto successor of the Duke of Cartier, and the eldest son of the imperial family had an affair. It is also the shrine of the duke. On the duke's most prized treasure.
If the two families started holding each other accountable, the entire empire could be shaken.
“What is this…….”
“Is what we just saw real?”
People gathered in front of the temple and murmured.
The right incident becomes a scandal that people can laugh about.
But when people witness an event so bizarre, they don't even realize it's a scandal.
“This……. If you do it wrong…….”
People were even afraid of this event. Those who were quick-witted left quickly, thinking that they might be angry with them.
The family head was also very rarely flustered and excited. Even Gail, who had followed the family tree, forgot to retrieve the family tree's nameplate.
Over the name, the cotton thread Carola was wearing was torn and scattered.
People slowly left their seats, and Lucerne and Elisha glanced at each other.
* * *
“Then what shall we do now?”
“What are you doing?”
Elisha whispered.
“We have to go see Carola's failed plan.”
* * *
Carola's number of Lucerne and Elisha was now in the palm of her hand. They headed towards the dormitory where the duke's knights stayed. There was a small barn behind the dormitory, but no one was around.
Ian and Nora, who were standing in front of the temple, followed Lucerne and Elisha.
“Heh, heh! How do you feel…….”
The woman who came out of the barn with a water bottle freaked out. She was none other than Pansy.
“Open the door.”
Lucerne beckoned. Nora slammed the door.
“Are you inside?”
“Yes.”
Early morning sunlight poured into the barn. Startled by the loud sound of the door opening, the man lying on the cot in the barn stood up.
“Who is it. You?”
It was Jain with a face that was still drunk. Last night Jain was waiting in this barn to attack Elisha.
Pansy brought food to Zain. Jain ate the pansy's food without question. The food contained sleeping pills that Pansy had put in it. Jain fell asleep after that. And it was already dawn.
'…… I hate it.'
Elisha felt that just looking at her Jain made her feel sick and about to vomit.
Elisha in her previous life had many terrible moments in her life. But the first and most deeply etched fear was the night her father's head was carried by her father.
The shock and scar she suffered at that time left an afterimage of her fan deep inside Elisha. Even after that, Jain was a fear and nightmare imprinted on Elisha. Elisha in her past life would always run away if only to discover her identity.
'There's no need for me to interrogate him myself.'
So Elisha left it up to Lucerne and the knights to enter the barn.
“Zain!”
Pansy tries to enter the barn, but is stopped by Nora's cold eyes. Elisha looked at the pansy.
“Awesome, Pansy. Jacob and Carola must have given Jain a 'special order' last night. He disobeyed the order and robbed the man. Even the quiet fanzies don't care about my office work.”
“Do you know me?”
“I don't know how. You. Carola's ladies-in-waiting would break into the laundry and harass the collateral.”
“…….”
Pansy twitched her shoulders. She looked like a deer, and she gave the impression of being timid. When she bullied others, she used to glare her unusually large whites.
“That, so. What do you mean? Zain is not guilty of anything!”
“I know it hurts. I have to speak right.”
Elisha bent over her pansy and spoke affectionately.
“You committed the sin.”
Pansy gave a hiss.
“…….”
“But don't worry. An underling who disobeys Carola's orders usually goes undetected, but this time will be an exception.”
“…… What do you mean?”
Elisha wanted to bite her tongue. Apparently, Pansy didn't have the mentality to handle the hardships that awaited her.
“The world will change when you step out of this barn.”
Lucerne raised the corner of his mouth. He rarely gave kind advice.
“What this woman says is generally wise. She'd better listen.”
“Don't scare me. Lucerne. It's pitiful. Be prepared or firm in your heart. There will be a lot going on in the future.”
Elisha said, removing her hand from her Dan and bringing it to her mouth.
Elisha recalled memories from her past life.
Human nature was revealed to the weakest at the bottom. She is an ugly looking Elisha who is poor and lacks even a guardian.
It was her stepping on her, and none of Carola's family members felt guilty about her.
Elisha hated her pansies more than her mimosa in some ways. Mimosa was simple and violent, so it was rather constant. However, she had a quiet personality that Pansy had a reputation for being nice to everyone.
Such a pansy usually pretended to pity Elisha, then picked on her little quirks and harassed her. Turns out, that was Pansy's way of venting her anger.
In her past life, Elisha's real title was Jacob's secretary. But she didn't like having Elisha by Jacob's side for long.
She would often use some pretext to bring Elisha in and make her do her job. When she was busy, she told her maids to give Elisha her job instructions instead. She was in effect instructed to harass Elisha.
'Wipe it again. Again.'
'Rearrange it.'
One day, at Pansy's command, she polished all of Carola's shoes. Even then, there were days when she kept caving in and polishing her shoes all night because there was still dirt on them.
Her shoe polish got on her hands and didn't come off for a while. Her wrist has been sore for a month. It was winter then, so her hands were swollen. The memory of her was still vivid.
Around the time Elisha took on Jacob's sins. Their hatred and harassment of Elisha reached its peak. On the day that her pansy bullied Elisha like that, Carola praised her pansy for doing her job well.
“He resembles the owner and doesn't notice. Get on her knees.”
Lucerne said languidly. His tone, along with the memory she had just recalled, gave Elisha some pleasure. Pansy trembled and fell to his knees.
“What are you doing. Get that bastard out.”
Lucerne beckoned to his knights. Ian and Nora went inside the cabin.
“What, what is it? Who are you…….”
“How did I live in this family without recognizing my face?”
Lucerne clicked his tongue.
Zain was still unconscious from the remaining energy of the sleeping pills. Then, when he saw Lucerne, he suddenly came to his senses.
Lucerne thrust the blade into Zain's neck.
“Stay still.”
Lucerne lifted Jain's face with the blade.
“It's you?”
“What…… Uh, what…….”
“I heard you claimed to have married my wife.”
Lucerne stared at Zain like that, then slapped him on the cheek. Her Jain's jaw had turned so badly that Elisha thought she might have broken her neck. She took a step back.
Ian asked cheerfully.
“Oh, are you starting already?”
“I wanted to hit one.”
“…….”
“Before I got here. So when I saw her face, I couldn't stand it.”
Puck!
“None.”
“Ugh!”
Zain was kicked by Lucerne in an instant and fell to the ground.
“I heard you went into the bridal room with my wife.”
Lucerne leaned over and whispered so only her Zain could hear.