WBSML 09

Chapter 9

“I have told Your Highness everything I know. That the Hagen family is conducting experiments to create weapons of their own and intends to seize control of this country’s military power.”

Her skin looked pale beneath the sunlight.

With a fragile-looking smile on her face, Eliza spoke firmly.

“But if Your Highness can help me, I may be able to tell you one more thing.”

“Tell me everything.”

“If Hagen continues practicing dark magic, I will die.”

Magnus paused.

For a moment, he tried to gauge Eliza’s intentions.

Was what lay within those sparkling eyes truly sincerity? He still couldn’t tell.

“What do you mean by that?”

“I told Your Highness that I want to live. I meant it sincerely. That alone is the reason I came before you.”

A cold breeze silently swept between them.

Magnus fell into thought.

How much of this should he accept as the truth?

How should he regard the daughter of a mere count who somehow knew of a divine revelation that should never have leaked?

And yet, the first clue he had encountered regarding the oracle was interesting enough.

If what those beautiful lips had uttered was the truth, the value of her assistance would be immeasurable.

So Magnus decided to set his suspicions aside for the moment and watch her.

“Bring me evidence.”

If she knew anything beyond what she had just revealed, it would be more advantageous to remain on friendly terms with her in order to uncover it.

After all, the name of God could sometimes serve as a justification powerful enough to push even an established position aside.

Magnus had no intention of leaving behind even the slightest pretext that could later become a flaw in his position.

Thus, he made the rational decision.

“If you can provide sufficient physical evidence, I, Magnus Elion, will support you and take the lead in driving out those who have acted insolently.”

The Crown Prince met her eyes one last time before leaving.

The moment he was gone, Eliza let out a long sigh.

Glances from the people around her poured in.

Her meeting with the First Prince today had taken place in a very public setting.

It didn’t matter that they had only sat together for a short while.

Since he was the First Prince, who rarely allowed women near him, people were bound to wonder whether this was some kind of meeting between a man and a woman.

Perfect. He’ll make an excellent excuse.

Her family would never allow her to break off the engagement simply because she had fallen in love with someone else.

But what if that someone happened to be the Crown Prince?

As Eliza returned to the mansion, she busily calculated the possibilities in her head.

They already saw us together at the party, too. If it’s His Highness the Crown Prince, even Leopold should be able to accept it.

But as her thoughts kept drifting back to a few days earlier, Eliza shook her head repeatedly.

For the past several days, whenever she thought of Leopold, her heart kept pounding.

It was because she was afraid.

It’s driving me crazy not knowing exactly when it will happen.

Before the original story began, Leopold had already awakened his powers.

But the exact timing of his awakening was never stated.

The only thing that was certain was that it happened before the beginning of the original story.

I have to run away before then…

Perhaps because the time when the original story would unfold was gradually approaching, Eliza had recently even begun dreaming that Leopold was taking revenge on her as an enemy of the Hagen family.

After waking from one of those dreams, Eliza added another thing to her plan.

She would run away.

Once Hagen’s dark magic was exposed and she no longer had to worry about being killed, she would flee as far away as possible—to somewhere Leopold wasn’t.

Even so, out of loyalty as his childhood friend, she intended to make sure Leopold at least survived.

Once he meets the heroine, he’ll forget someone like me completely.

Leopold already had a predetermined fate.

An unbelievably noble and beautiful woman—the true protagonist of this world.

Eliza resolved to stay hidden until Leopold met her and became completely captivated by her.

Just as rumors about Eliza’s meeting with the First Prince were beginning to spread, a guest arrived at the Valour estate.

“It has been a long time. I hope my sudden visit isn’t an inconvenience.”

“Not at all. You are always welcome here, Duke.”

Eliza peeked her head out from behind a pillar and watched her father from behind.

Unlike his usual self, Count Valour was warmly welcoming their guest.

The man walking up the stairs beside Count Valour was the current Marquis of Hagen, Ricardo Hagen.

Why did he come all of a sudden? Did he notice something?

Perhaps Hagen had realized that she had caught on to something.

Biting her lip, Eliza stationed herself in the hallway leading to Count Valour’s drawing room.

“Give that to me. I’ll take it.”

“Pardon? But, my lady, you shouldn’t have to do something like this…”

“I’m simply happy to see a guest we haven’t met in a long time. Give it to me.”

Blocking the maid’s trolley, Eliza practically snatched hold of the handle.

The maid looked confused for a moment, but quickly accepted Eliza’s excuse.

“It will be heavy, my lady. Please be careful.”

“Don’t worry.”

As she pushed the trolley toward the drawing room where Marquis Hagen and her father were meeting, Eliza’s mind raced.

First, she needed to find out why the Marquis had come.

Eliza knocked on the drawing-room door before entering.

“Eliza? What is it?”

Count Valour looked at his daughter with a deliberately stern expression.

It was Marquis Hagen, however, who welcomed her with a gentle smile.

“It seems the young lady has come to prepare tea for us herself.”

“Hmph. You didn’t have to do something you weren’t asked to do…”

Count Valour looked Eliza up and down disapprovingly.

Eliza straightened her back and carefully adjusted her posture as she approached.

“I was happy to see our guest, so I asked to bring it myself. I hope I haven’t been rude.”

“Oh, of course not. You’re always welcome.”

Eliza answered Marquis Hagen with a smile and began arranging the tea set.

Meanwhile, Count Valour spoke to the Marquis.

“Her skills may be lacking, but I hope you’ll indulge her.”

“Lady Eliza is quite skilled at brewing tea.”

As he spoke, the two men gathered the documents that had been spread across the table and neatly stacked them together.

Eliza glanced at them before setting down the teacups.

“What were you talking about?”

“Nothing you need to concern yourself with.”

“But I’m curious.”

Eliza widened her eyes innocently.

Then she blinked at Marquis Ricardo, who responded with a good-natured laugh.

“Haha, you’re still as curious as ever. I was proposing an investment.”

“To Father?”

“Hmph. Marquis Hagen, you needn’t indulge every little whim of hers.”

“There isn’t really anything worth hiding.”

The sound of tea being poured filled the room.

Taking advantage of the brief silence as they enjoyed the tea’s aroma, Eliza naturally took an extra cup from the spare tea set and placed it in front of herself as well.

When Eliza sat down beside him, Count Valour’s expression hardened.

However, taking Ricardo’s presence into consideration, he didn’t scold her.

“I’ve suddenly become quite interested in domestic affairs lately. Perhaps that’s why I find discussions about handling money rather interesting, too.”

“Yes. I suppose you’re already old enough for that.”

“You always make good proposals to our family, Marquis. What kind of investment is it this time?”

“I proposed that Count Valour invest in a mana stone mine. It was recently discovered.”

Eliza knew about that place.

In the original story, it had been used as an opportunity to showcase the heroine’s intelligence.

Mana stones were valuable minerals, but mining them required not only advanced technology but also enormous amounts of money.

The lord who couldn’t afford those expenses would receive investment to cover the mining costs and, in exchange, give the investors a portion of the mana stones that were extracted.

“It’s the Saxen territory, isn’t it? That’s…”

“A good opportunity. As you know very well.”

Count Valour cut her off before she could accidentally say something she shouldn’t.

The corner of his mouth twitched.

Apparently, even that stone-faced father of hers was pleased at the thought of making a substantial profit.

But the mine had a fatal flaw.

Although the stones were undoubtedly mana stones, their mana absorption rate was less than ten percent of that of ordinary mana stones.

It’s an investment destined for a huge loss. They’ll end up mocking it as the ‘Saxen Pebbles.’

Once the Magic Tower classified them as defective, the Saxen mine would lose all of its value.

The families that had invested in it would, of course, suffer enormous losses as well.

Even the Duke of Dominique almost invested in it, but the heroine saved them.

Eliza lifted her teacup to hide her expression.

Meanwhile, her mind was racing.

When she fell silent again, the conversation naturally returned to simple business matters.

And then she heard something that immediately caught her attention.

“…so you have nothing to worry about. As always, Hagen will be more than willing to provide Valour with whatever funds you need.”

Eliza suddenly realized the reason behind all of Hagen’s kindness over the years.

Her fingers tightened beneath the table.

So it was deliberate.

They deliberately fed Valour information about investments with a high probability of failure, weakening our family.

In reality, Valour’s debts to Hagen had been steadily accumulating day after day.

So that, little by little, Valour would become increasingly helpless before Hagen…