Chapter 21: Conspiracy

Lian finally understood.

This head maid was nothing like the cool, indifferent figure she usually appeared to be… She was clearly a demon who delighted in toying with others!

“I can sense your thoughts are getting more and more impolite. Let me guess: are you perhaps thinking of me as some sort of devil who manipulates people’s hearts?”

“Can you read minds?… No, that’s not the point—why are you even here?!”

Obviously, as the head maid, she wasn’t here to change shifts.

Could it be that she came all this way just to mess with him for fun?

“Did you forget? I told you this morning when I brought you here, I’d come to fetch you later.”

“Oh, right… you did say that. And I think you also mentioned the Duchess would come along.”

Feiyin’s reminder brought it all back to Lian at once.

Meliya would come to see her after work—this was what had powered her through the whole day.

“So where is she?”

Lian, unable to wait any longer, searched anxiously for Meliya’s figure.

“My, you’re in quite the hurry. I’ll take you to her right away.”

Feiyin clapped her hands, and a maid appeared in the corridor behind Lian.

It seemed she had been waiting at the stairway for a signal from Feiyin before entering the corridor and approaching.

“Sorry to keep you waiting… I’m here to change shifts.”

This girl was obviously not Meliya.

She wore an apologetic smile.

It seemed she’d been here for a while, arranged by Feiyin as cover for her little scare prank.

Realizing this, Lian shot Feiyin a fierce glare—

“What are you doing just standing there? Aren’t you coming? I’m going to leave you behind, you know. You didn’t really think the Duchess would disguise herself as a maid just to see you, did you?”

She was already far ahead, waving at Lian from the stairway at the other end of the corridor.

Forget it, forget it… Meeting Meliya is more important right now.

With veins popping on her forehead, Lian hurried after her.

…

……

…………

“So, ‘Brother’? Are you enjoying the sightseeing and entertainment in the enemy’s lair?”

“…The maid outside is gone. You don’t need to call me that anymore, Selene.”

Inside the suite, Nolan’s ‘Prince’ and ‘Princess’ sat facing each other at the tea table in front of the fireplace.

The fireplace wasn’t lit, and the tightly shut windows were covered with heavy curtains, casting the room into darkness.

With the imagined ‘observer’ gone, neither seemed willing to keep up their brother-and-sister act—disdain for each other obvious in their words.

“Looks like you’ve strengthened the Barrier again. So what should I call you now? Your real name, or just stick to ‘Princess’ as before?”

“Enough nonsense. Her Highness has gathered some important information.”

Aoke impatiently cut off their conversation.

He sat at the dining table, presenting only his tall back to the others.

“For you to insist on waiting until the person outside left before speaking… This had better not be something trivial.”

Vlad lounged against the fireplace, idly tossing an old coin.

Even so-called ‘important information’ didn’t seem to stir his interest.

Or perhaps, he simply didn’t believe these two could gather anything of worth.

“I’ve already made contact with the target.”

“Oh? You mean the Hero’s Daughter? Wasn’t she under confinement before?”

“We went to the Training Ground, and that girl just happened to be there, attending a swordsmanship lesson. It seems her confinement has been lifted… Or perhaps, even when confined, she still has to attend lessons.”

“How interesting. Could it really be, as the intel said, that the humans want to train her as the next Hero?”

“I believe so. The person teaching her matches the intelligence we’ve gathered… It’s that Sword Saint.”

“Sword Saint? You saw her with your own eyes? Here in the Duke’s Household?”

Hearing that title, Vlad caught the coin in midair.

Even the always arrogant ‘Princess’ Selene set down her fan.

“At the very least, that’s what the maid assigned to watch us called her. And that maid seems to know her—they’re quite close.”

“What did you say?!”

Selene shot to her feet, fine sweat beading on her brow: “You fool! Why are you only saying this now, when it’s so important? Are you trying to get us all killed?”

A terrible demonic aura erupted from her, and her form twisted and distorted—signs of a Mimicry losing control.

But before her emotions could spiral further, Vlad stepped forward and gripped her trembling shoulder.

“Calm down, Selene. If this guy had exposed us, we’d already be dead.”

“Hah, hah… I know… I lost my composure.”

Vlad’s reassurance, and the wary stares of the others, finally calmed Selene.

She sat back down, though her body still trembled instinctively.

“The maid does know the Sword Saint, but I doubt she was sent to monitor us. And even if she was, I don’t think we revealed ourselves in front of her. Otherwise, as Vlad said, we wouldn’t be alive now.”

Compared to Selene’s obvious panic, the ‘Princess’ she always mocked remained calm.

“So you intend to proceed as planned? You must’ve gauged the girl’s strength at the Training Ground, right?”

Vlad asked ‘Princess’ in a probing tone.

Since this team had formed, it was the first time he’d seriously sought her opinion.

“That girl isn’t weak. Any one of the four of us would have a hard time defeating her alone. But our goal was never to beat her, but… to kidnap her.”

“But the Sword Saint is at her side. How do you plan to get around that woman?”

“Just as we arranged at the start—act during the Crown Festival. By then, the girl and the Duchess will leave for a farm outside the city to attend the celebration. There’ll be guards, but nothing as tight as the Duke’s Household. As long as we think of a way to lure the Sword Saint away… we can easily take the girl. And as State Guests of Nolan, neither entering the farm nor luring the Sword Saint away should be difficult.”

“Sounds doable. So, who’s going to lure away the Sword Saint? If Aoke or I invite her, she’d likely ignore us—she is a Princess, after all.”

“Then it’ll have to be me, disguised as the Prince, or Selene as the Princess, who invites her.”

“I’m not going!”

No sooner had ‘Princess’ turned her gaze to Selene than Selene shook her head vigorously.

“…Then let’s discuss it further. We still have a few days before the festival officially begins. In this time, we need to perfect our intel—for example, the guest list for the Celebration Core Venue at the farm, and the security arrangements for the day… all these are essential to know. Vlad, can I ask you to handle it?”

“I don’t like taking orders from you… But since it’s necessary for the plan’s success, I’ll listen this time, ‘Princess’.”

Leaving these words behind, Vlad melted into the shadows of the room.

The three remaining fell into silence.

In that awkward quiet, Selene, still unable to shake off the terror of the Sword Saint, gave a snort and slowly retreated into the bedroom.

“Your Highness, shouldn’t you tell them about that maid?”

Aoke sent his question to ‘Princess’ via spiritual sense.

During the discussion, he’d noticed she hadn’t mentioned the maid at all.

He’d meant to bring it up before, but seeing as ‘Princess’ didn’t, he figured she must have her reasons.

“That maid… She seemed much weaker than the Duke’s daughter. As for her supposedly taking a punch from the Sword Saint, the Sword Saint must have held back. There’s no need to pay her special attention. If she turns up at the venue, we’ll just deal with her then.”

At this moment, ‘Princess’ still didn’t realize that this judgment would become her only mistake in this operation, and would completely change the course of their plan… and even her own fate.