Proofreader: somnium

Liddell waved her hand and sent out the bewildered-looking coachman.

“When is Kahel coming?”

“He will visit at 11 am the day after tomorrow.”

Even if he was convinced that Santella had intervened in Lena’s disappearance, it is not enough that Kahel had sent an attendant to question the matter. He seemed quite upset seeing as he stormed into Viscount Rosenheim into the middle of the house and ruined the garden of the house.

But even so, that Kahel Luave, who is indifferent to everyone, moves directly because his close maid is gone…….

“Thanks to the maid, I can see Kahel, who was difficult to see.”

“Duke Luave seems to be very anxious. He seemed to really love that close maid.”

“What? Love? Ahahaha!”

Liddell burst into laughter at Maria’s guess. As always, it was a bright and cheerful laugh, and if it hadn’t been for the situation, it was so pretty that everyone would want to laugh along. But no one laughed with her.

“Ah…… Maria made me laugh a lot. But it can’t be, Maria. How could Kahel feel such an unfamiliar feeling? The reason Kahel is desperately looking for her, is that she is the womb that will bear Kahel’s child. It should not be easy for him to find another woman who is not possessed by his devilish power.”

Liddell knew that Kahel loved Lena more than a usual close maid, but she firmly believed that it wouldn’t be in the form of ‘love’. Because Kahel was as educated as a head just as she was, and she learned that love was worthless. She recognized Kahel as her only competitor, and she never doubted that he would be swayed by such a worthless thing as love.

Capturing her laughter, Liddell gave orders again skillfully,

“Sir Ashton, Sir Avalon. You both keep an eye on Lian. Lian doesn’t know that Sirs are mine, so pretend you know nothing about this and watch his range of action. Because he could have devised something other than stealing the girl. Maria. Meanwhile, you find the girl. And I’ll write a letter, so give it to Nadia.”

“Yes. Understood.”

“Yes, lady.”

When all the orders were finished, Liddell sat down on a chair in her office, as if nothing had happened, and pulled out a piece of letter paper. She might look like a noble girl who writes a letter asking people to come over for tea, but she had never written such a letter with her own hand.

* * *

Lian, whom Liddell was looking for, was nervous as he saw Lena’s condition getting worse and worse. From the time she was captured, the lady’s condition, which had developed dizziness and ringing, was getting worse day by day.

“Miss Lena? Are you okay? You seem to have had a worse headache than before…….”

“I, I’m fine, uughh…….”

Lian looked at Lena’s pale white complexion, and he knew that this wasn’t a gimmick. Unlike before when she was only dizzy, it was now accompanied by a headache. Besides, for whatever sounding in her ears, she occasionally slapped her own ear.

“If she is sick like this, you should have asked for medicine.”

The man who had been guarding Lena made excuses to Lian.

“The headache pills were brought yesterday as well, but they don’t seem to be working very well.”

“You mean when she’s sick like this, you just let her be? Get some medicine!”

“Yes, I understand.”

When the guard disappeared, there were only the two of them left in the room, Lena and Lian. Seeing cold sweat rising from Lena’s forehead, who was grabbing her own head, Lian pulled out her handkerchief and wiped her forehead.

“You are in very bad shape. You said you drank tea when you were kidnapped? Do you remember the smell or taste of tea?”

There were several types of drugs used to stun people, but none of them left such aftereffects for several days. However, if the poison was given for the purpose of injury rather than stun, it would be a different story. Lian knew of some poison that caused a terrible headache, and he could recognize the poison by its smell, and then could ask for medicine for it.

But the moaning Lena only grabbed her own head and there was no answer. And strangely, the sound of her breathing was also calming.

‘Are you feeling better now?’

When Lian bowed his head a little more to look at Lena’s face, Lena suddenly stared at him with strangely calm eyes.

“The Magi…… It is coming.”

“What?”

Lian knelt down on one of his knees without realizing it. She was exuding a strange sense of intimidation as he unconsciously tried to look up at Lena.

“The curse of the two beasts……is in the wrong direction…….”

“What…… do you mean…….”

“Protect …… Logos.”

“Ah…… I, I will.”

Lian nodded his head in affirmation, not even understanding what Lena was referring to. It kind of felt like he had to.

However, that was the end of Lena’s strange state. She grabbed her head again and collapsed. Lian quickly grabbed Lena as she was about to collapse from the chair and laid her down on the bed. Just then, the guard from earlier was bringing a headache pill.

“Oh! Did, did she pass out?”

“Yes. She’s in very bad shape…… I’m at loss.”

Lian shook his head lightly, and felt that his own condition was also a bit strange. But that thought was only a fleeting moment, so Lian didn’t really care. Rather, he feared that if something happened to Lena, she would never see Kahel again at this rate.

‘Probably…… I have to return her.’

Loyalty to the family is important, but it shouldn’t be taking the life of an innocent person. It was difficult to find a way to convince Liddell and his father, and besides, this young lady was Kahel’s never before ‘lover’.

* * *

“Welcome, Kahel! It’s been a long time since Kahel came to my house!”

Liddell welcomed Kahel, who had never been here after his last visit to Duchy Santella, when he was about fifteen. Kahel, standing in the middle of Duchy Santella, which was decorated on all sides only with bright colors like the breaking sunlight, was like black ink dropped on white paper.

“It was exhilarating.”

Kahel, who was overly expressionless compared to Liddell, only uttered a dry word despite the welcome greeting. There, the faces of Liddell’s handmaids and escort knights stiffened slightly.

“I didn’t know what Kahel would like, so I prepared red tea, green tea, black tea, and white tea. What would you like?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Um, so how about white tea? I just bought a new leaf.”

Liddell smiled and prepared white tea, and a glamorous and sweet-looking refreshment was quickly prepared on the table. But Kahel didn’t put his hand to it, and as if she knew he would, Liddell picked up her tea, not paying attention to Kahel’s side.

“It’s good to see you after a long time, but what kind of wind made Kahel come here?”

At the question of the naive Liddell, Kahel glanced at her instead of answering straight away. Dazzling platinum blonde, sapphire-blue eyes, lovely cheeks and rosy lips…….

His friend was still as beautiful as an angel as in his childhood. She was obviously a friend who was once like an angel. She was a friend he cherished very much, who kindly reached out to him first, talked to him, and smiled. So, he had to say a final goodbye.

“Liddell. We’ve been calling each other ‘friends’ for a long time.”

“Of course. Kahel has always been my proud friend.”

“Liddell was also a proud and lovable friend of mine. I don’t think I ever told you…….”

Liddell’s eyes widened as if surprised by the completely unexpected words, and then smiled softly.

“What is really going on, Kahel? It feels good, but it’s a bit sudden.”

If it weren’t for the current circumstances, it was a smile that looked so innocent that it would be believable that Liddell knew nothing. Rather, it seemed to Kahel that he knew exactly who Liddell was today.

Liddell is quick-witted, has a good head, and has insight and a wide field of vision. But her overly narcissistic attitude doesn’t allow her to think better of him, and her overly goal-oriented approach misses out on what’s really important. More than anything else, she’s underestimating Kahel Luave.

Kahel sighed in a shallow sigh, letting go of his lingering attachment to ‘his friend’.

“I bid you farewell.”

“What? Farewell? Where are you going?”

“The next time we meet, we will…… be enemies, not friends.”

Even Liddell didn’t know that a declaration of war would be made after saying goodbye. A cold silence descended on the brightly lit living room.

“Kahel…… ? What does that mean?”

“If you stole someone’s valuables, you should have expected this kind of outcome.”

The corners of Liddell’s lips moved momentarily. There was a small incontinence on her perfect mask. She genuinely did not understand Kahel.

She understands that the maid is an important resource for Kahel. But it has not been a year or two, they competed and argued with each other for resources. They had had fights worse than this before, but Kahel had never been so revealing. This wasn’t the ’elegant’ fight that Liddell knew.

Besides, she didn’t really like Kahel’s rejecting attitude towards her. He has always been a competitor and an enemy, but there was definitely a part in Kahel who accepted Liddell leniently. There were times when she felt inferior because it seemed like he was looking down on her, but on the other hand, it felt strangely good that Kahel, who was cold and indifferent to anyone else, was generous only to her.

However, because of his close maid, who is nothing more than the Queen’s successor, without even powers, he was trying to completely cut her off. It was quite embarrassing for Liddell, who thought she was better than the Queen.

Because of that. She spoke about the close maid, which she had been ignorant of.

“Are you talking about the maid who left your house? Oh my god…… It’s not my fault, but it’s surprising. I think you really cared about the maid. Or is there another reason……?”

As she asked in a semi-playful tone, Kahel’s gaze swept on her face again. But his gaze no longer showed any emotion. No anger, no ridicule, nothing……It was just the way he looked at other people.

“Well then, goodbye.”

Kahel left those words behind and turned his back on Liddell.

Until Kahel disappeared, Liddell didn’t even think of seeing him off, just staring at the door he had left through. Obviously, it was Liddell who turned him into an enemy first, but when she heard Kahel’s declaration of war, a strange sense of uneasiness grew. All plans to destroy Kahel and take her place as queen were being worked out step by step.

‘It’s okay. Angels overcome devils. That’s natural.’

Liddell comforted her inside by chewing on the words she had always memorized like an incantation. She didn’t even know that perhaps this anxiety was because she had lost Lena. She had to hurry to find Lian and get Lena back from him.

However, the rest of the work was being prepared faster and more perfectly than expected. After Kahel left, in front of Liddell, answers to the orders she had recently given began to appear one after another.

First, the butler informed her of her father and Margella’s side of the situation.

“This is the message. Her Majesty’s condition is so serious that it is said to be at most a month. Margella said everything was ready, she just asked you to send a signal at any time.”