Lucerne had never entered the bedroom. He lingered around the temple just in case and kept an eye on anyone entering or leaving.
And it was Nora who was lying in Lucerne’s bedroom. As planned, when Carola approached with an incense stick, Nora easily overpowered her and knocked her out.
“Prince Jewel was a weakling, right? He’s a far cry from his Majesty the Emperor, who has a magnificent body,”
said Ian, whistling.
“Of course, because he’s adopted,”
Lucerne noted.
The note Jewel received. The message hinting that a courtesan would come to him dressed in white was penned by Ian, skillfully imitating Carola’s handwriting.
Likewise, the courtesan whom Jewel met was Ian, dressed as a woman. He was gifted at this kind of espionage.
The techniques used when exchanging notes, and an example of her handwriting was provided by Mimosa. Nora searched the body of an unconscious Carola. Inside her clothes, she found a package of medicines in capsules made of glue.
“Wow. Is this drug still in circulation? How terrible. If you use all of this, even the monsters will taste good.”
remarked Ian as he inspected the drugs.
“Foolish. There’s no way you can subdue Lucerne with only drugs.”
Elisha said quietly.
‘Well, Carola did the same thing in the previous lifetime.’
She was the same in this present life. Carola desperately wanted Lucerne.
In her previous life, Lucerne had a bad relationship with the fortuneteller Muto. Muto knew for a long time that a child of Lucerne’s with ‘Ramun’ would be born. Even so, he kept quiet about it for years.
Instead, Muto leaked information to Carola for years. The fortuneteller wasn’t an evil person, but he was shallow. For at the time, he was quite friendly with Carola, who constantly bribed him.
So she decided to rape and steal Lucerne’s seed.
‘What a crazy woman, Carola.’
But the operation could never have been successful. Lucerne’s body was protected by his guardian deity, ‘Shadow.’ Lucerne took hallucinogens because they were harmless to his body. So Shadow didn’t skip the mind-altering effects.
‘Unless Lucerne’s body is not in its normal state… … . They say drugs like aphrodisiacs can’t work.’
Elisha already knew a lot from her previous life experiences.
However, Carola in her past life, did not give up her goal of having Lucerne’s baby easily. Considering her persistence independent of everything else, it was remarkable. At one point, the plan really worked. If it hadn’t been for that—
‘Besides, this time I encouraged Carola through Mimosa. So it’s no wonder she came up with this trick.’
Elisha had lost herself in the past. Her memory almost spilled over to the part she shouldn’t think about. She flinched.
“Elisha.”
Lucerne was staring at her.
“As promised.”
Lucerne leaned over her.
“I’ll do whatever you want this time.”
“… … .”
“What can I do for you?”
he whispered sweetly.
“Shall we at least dress up Prince Jewel and Carola’s joint suicide?”
Elisha shook her head.
“Do nothing.”
“Then?”
“Let’s fulfill Carola’s intentions.”
Lucerne’s brow furrowed.
“What? Everyone will see it tomorrow morning.”
Elisha put her hand to her mouth. She smiled. It was such a lovely smile that it was chillingly creepy. She didn’t usually smile, so Lucerne stared at it as if he was possessed.
“That would be great. But… … . shouldn’t I return Carola’s belongings?”
Elisha spotted the package of capsules had been found in Carola’s pockets.
“Will that work? It could make things even worse.”
“Do I really need to attack her myself? Jacob, unlike Marco, is not sincere with his wife. Jacob’s will kick Carola out. The end of a daughter-in-law of the Cartier family, who is abandoned by her husband is miserable.”
After exchanging stories like this, it seemed that Elisha and Lucerne had already come to a conclusion. Ian and Nora stared blankly at each other, unable to understand all of their intentions.
“Quietly go back to your lodgings,”
Lucerne instructed.
And he held Elisha’s hand.
“Then, shall we make an alibi first?”
Elisha nodded.
***
Gaju slept deeply for the first time in a long time. And he woke up feeling refreshed and clear-headed. He had dreamt of his long-deceased wife.
At the Head’s advanced age, his sleep was not deep, and he woke up early in the morning. The household’s servants started to prepare for the day from around dawn.
With the sudden visit of distinguished guests, Gail was also awake at dawn. He came in politely to serve the family head.
“Gail, did anything happen last night? Did Elisha go home after completing her prayers at dawn?”
Recently, the Head had a deep affection for Elisha and checked on her safety as soon as he woke up.
“Uh… … .”
Gail had a strange expression.
“What happened?”
“The madam returned home after praying for a few hours.”
Gail cleared his throat and reported Elisha was back in her room around 2:00 AM. Gaju thought that it wasn’t a big deal.
‘It must have been scary staying up all night. But that’s enough. Arien wasn’t some great person.’
The Head regarded every action of Elisha’s with generosity, so he was about to praise her for doing well enough.
“So she went back earlier than expected, yes?”
“Well… … . It seems that it was not the madam’s will.”
“What do you mean?”
The housekeeper hesitated.
“It seems that the general opened the temple door, went in and dragged his wife away. The lady protested that she should do her prayers. But he said no. It is said that the sound of the two walking while arguing was so loud that the whole hallway of servants woke up. Moreover, loud moans came out of the general’s room all night… … .”
Upon hearing the story, Gaju felt a sense of deja vu. He recalled when Lucerne married Elisha after having an awkward premarital affair. He remembered what happened that night. Looking at it, it seemed that he wanted Elisha so much that he couldn’t keep his dignity or his hands to himself.
“He can’t stand it for one night and does such a loud thing. Besides, it’s not once or twice!”
“He’s young. Even at dinner with the imperial family yesterday, he couldn’t take her eyes off his wife.”
“Unsightly bastard. He’s very crazy about women. I’m disappointed,”
he said that, but it was just empty words. The Lord was not sincerely angry.
He didn’t want Lucerne to break down and weaken emotionally. Had it been judged that Elisha was covering his eyes and ears, he might have tried to kill her. But this case was an exception.
‘Since their marriage is so good, they’ll soon have great children.’
Besides, Elisha was now his favorite. If Lucerne saw his offspring from such a clever and superior woman, it seemed probable that a child with Ramun would be born, just as the fortuneteller Muto foretold.
