Chapter 164
“So, your name is…… Heath, is it?”
“Well, no, that’s not it.”
Erika glared at Jason. During their argument, he had habitually called her Heath.
She sighed and took off her hat. Light purple hair spilled out from under the hat.
“My real name is Erika. Heath is just a name I use here.”
As you can see, I often dress as a man. She shrugged.
Roina nodded. Erika, Heath, she intended to remember them. Erika was a person whose light purple hair and green eyes created a combination reminiscent of wildflowers.
“You’ve seen me at the Crown Prince’s palace, right?”
And she abruptly got straight to the point. Jason seemed to be momentarily gauging Erika’s reaction.
Erika groaned. She didn’t expect to start with this story. For Veronica’s sake. It was time to face one of the misdeeds she had committed with that one justification. But she didn’t avoid it. This was her responsibility and her share to bear.
“……Yes. That’s probably right.”
She seemed somewhat uncomfortable. Roina scrutinized her face. Since the maids had no direct interaction with her at all, there were very few people she knew. Maili was a special case.
“To be clear, I won’t accept any words of thanks.”
Erika said bluntly. Her gaze naturally avoiding Roina’s, she looked at the wall at a slight angle. Roina simply remained silent, as if to tell her to continue. Jason was just reading the room between the two of them.
“I once asked some servants to break one of your limbs. But I heard that those people tried to r**e you.”
Jason’s eyes widened at those words. Roina was also slightly taken aback by what she said. She remembered the two servants who had attacked her a long time ago, when she was working as a maid in the Crown Prince’s palace. Maili had appeared and saved her from a terrible situation. Could it be that Erika was the one who had ordered it?
“So please don’t thank me. I’m just helping you as much as I wronged you in the past.”
“Why?”
Roina asked, looking at Erika with clear eyes. Erika hesitated at her direct gaze.
“Why did you try to make things difficult for me? Did you want to vacate the position of the Crown Prince’s bedchamber maid?”
Roina’s voice sounded cynical. The old Maili briefly flashed through her mind. Back when Maili had aimed for the Crown Prince’s side, she had been hostile to her. She had even tried to confirm whether or not she had slept with him. But eventually, they had grown fond of each other…
She had never imagined that she would end up becoming good friends with her.
“……Yes.”
“I see.”
Erika answered with difficulty, and Roina simply nodded. Silence fell between the two women and the one man who was left out of the conversation.
Erika’s green eyes and Roina’s black eyes stared at each other. A unique sense of closeness between people who had overcome a crisis together mingled with tension and wariness about past connections. Erika seemed to be at a loss for how to continue the conversation.
“What about you?”
“Yes?”
“You supposedly disappeared from the Crown Prince’s palace suddenly. There are no traces of you left now. And the Crown Prince has been acting strangely since you disappeared.”
Hearing that, Roina snorted softly. So that’s what happened in the end. She had heard some of it from Maili, but this was the first time she was sitting down and having this conversation seriously.
“What happened? And why were you captured there? Were you caught by slave traders again and sold off?”
“……”
Roina had a feeling that she would be having a long conversation with this person.
[……I need to go to the Revolutionary Army’s hideout myself.]
Yoseph left his office with only those words. An aide, unable to leave him alone, followed, but he paid no attention.
{ Movement, unknown transaction. Rose provided information to someone, it is presumed that the target stole something through that, planning to approach Rose’s transaction partner. Danger expected. – Heath }
He had to confirm the contents of this note. Yoseph pulled his dark gray robe, worn for disguise, even deeper over his head. In this note, Rose is Veronica.
One of the Revolutionary Army’s spies, who had fortunately gained access to her, had been continuously sending information whenever there was anything unusual.
Veronica provided information to someone, and the target stole something through it. It was only partial information, not knowing who the target was or what they stole, but it coincided exquisitely with the timing of Yoseph and the great mage losing Roina.
What if the target was Ryuhyeon, the envoy from Ryeo Kingdom, and what was stolen was Roina? Wouldn’t that fit the current situation too perfectly?
There wasn’t much evidence. But for Yoseph, who had been anxiously searching for Roina without any clues, this was finally a reason to move. Anything would be better than just sitting in that office, receiving reports about her one by one.
Yoseph entered a clothing store not far from the Heric estate, pretending to be a customer, and greeted the owner there. The owner was cooperating with the Revolutionary Army.
Going inside, a passage leading to the basement appeared. He entered the underground passage with cautious steps, unable to erase his impatience.
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