Episode 151
After dinner, Lucerne ordered Ian.
“I'm going to inspect the nearby forest. Moderately make an excuse that the monster was found. And among the knights to be recruited, let Jain join us.”
“Yes. Okay. I will prepare a seat.”
Ian smiled and nodded his head. Ian was very quick-witted, and upon hearing Lucerne's tone, he knew that it was not a simple 'take out' order.
“When did I take care of it again? I heard that he is the one who insists that he wrote a marriage contract with my madam?”
“Okay.”
“I thought you left it to handle it carefully.”
“I kept him alive because he had a place to use him.”
“Where to use……. Are you talking?”
Lucerne nodded his head. He remembered Elisha, who looked at him in horror whenever he saw him from afar.
Last night, in particular, Elisha burrowed into him like a baby animal.
Lucerne licked his lips.
'That was pretty good.'
Sadly enough to be illogical. It was. If this little body clings to me. If I keep this for myself. I feel like I would pay any price for him.
It was such a dangerous and sweet time.
“When that woman sees him from afar, she gets scared and goes looking for me.”
“…….”
“That was pretty good. I let her live, and she presumptuously talks to my wife.”
“…….”
“Now that I've written everything, that's it. Do you dare to pay the price of being my girl's nightmare?”
Besides, Lucerne had a real reason for keeping Jain alive. He treats Jain well. After giving him hope as if he would spare him, he intended to kill him brutally. The despair that a person feels when he falls from hope to despair is the most destructive.
Lucerne was a skilled hunter and predator. He knew very well how to suffocate a lowly hedgehog most terribly.
* * *
“Heh, heh…….”
Jain was running through the woods. He couldn't believe what he was going through.
'How did this happen?'
It was said that a beast presumed to be a monster was found in the forest near the duchy.
Jain, who was called out to the inspection team to investigate monsters, made up his mind. I decided not to offend Lucerne as much as possible today.
Lucerne entrusted Jain with the role of skirmisher. Jain went ahead and inspected the forest.
But something flashed in front of his eyes and a terrible pain ran through his body. A crossbow was fired from behind. And the arrow pierced Jain's shoulder at once. Jain was running through the woods, staggering and clutching his shoulders.
At this point, Jain couldn't help but notice.
He said, 'Today's prey was me, not the monster!'
Just then, a soft voice rang out in the woods.
“Where are you?”
It was Lucerne's voice.
Jain held back his pain and started running. He heard a low laugh and the sound of galloping horses echoed behind him.
“Seeing that you're not accustomed to being punished, do the knights under Jacob live a comfortable life?”
“Ugh……. Ugh…….”
Jain felt like he was going to cry. He shouldn't have gotten involved in the duke's affairs in the first place. He shouldn't have messed with them.
The sound of his horses' hooves drew closer.
“Have fun with me. So try to hold out for a while.”
Ping!
Another arrow flew from behind. At the same time, the pain of breaking his shoulder hit him.
“Ahh!”
Jain was shot in the shoulder opposite him by an arrow. Ian, who rode along behind Lucerne, whistled.
“Did you do that on purpose? You missed the vital point.”
“I can't die easily. My girl trembles just looking at this guy. As much as she is a long-standing grudge. Should she pay it all off and die?”
Lucerne pulled the reins.
“Yes. This is your word.”
Seeing that he did it with his bare hands without using the power of the shadows, it seemed that Lucerne was very angry. Ian replied with a smile.
Lucerne licked his lips. He approached Jain, who was squirming on the floor. He pulled the dagger from his waistband.
“Then, let's begin.”
Lucerne smiled.
Jain's scream of death cut through the dark forest.
* * *
“Dispose of the body.”
“Yes. All right.”
Ian answered refreshingly, as if he had already expected it. Lucerne was wiping his dagger with a handkerchief with a calm face.
“Oh, I can't even use this as an excuse for being attacked by monsters. What kind of monster kills people so brutally?”
“People are crueler than monsters in the first place. This guy was cruel to my wife too. There will be nothing to be ashamed of.”
“Ah. Is that so?”
Ian smiled brightly, not befitting the situation.
“This thing dead, don't let it get into her wife's ears. It can be treated as missing.”
After the work was over, Lucerne said with an expressionless face.
“Because I can't just think that he died because of me. This guy is already on bad terms with my wife, so don't give him another nightmare.”
“Yes.”
But. It seemed like she wouldn't even blink an eye at her. Lucerne smiled. Her vengeance for her was enough to keep her secret.
Besides, this guy took up even a tiny bit of weight in Elisha's life.
I really hated it. To the point where my teeth tremble, I can't stand it. So it was with great satisfaction that Lucerne met the death of her husband, the unknown.
“After showing the corpse to Carola's ladies-in-waiting. Finally send it to Carola. Give me some stimulation.”
* * *
Meanwhile, after Jain is assigned to Lucerne.
Mimosa and Pansy wanted to go home, but their request was not granted. Because they, Carola's maids, also had to pay the price.
'Elisha. How would you like them to be done? Carola tried to hurt you. I won't leave it up to you to deal with those close to Carola.'
Elisha thought about it for a while before answering gently.
'I wish I could keep hiring them. I hear they both come from poor families. If you kick them out, you'll be in trouble. So, wouldn't it be good for them if I keep making them work and paying them?'
Elisha smiled softly and then she said.
'But Carola's ladies-in-waiting are nobles. Didn't you do very little other than wait on Carola? I can't give you such comfortable and elegant things anymore. Anyway, it seems like I should be punished at least for show.'
Elisha previously worked in the laundromat at her mansion. The laundry was a small stream near Jacob's annex. The stream flowed up to the mountain near the duke's house.
'Elisha. I've organized everything there so that people don't argue about you being from the laundry.'
The people of the duke's family at least used to give generously to those they loved. The duke arranged the 'collateral' he worked at the laundry.
'My lord. Thank you so much. However……. What happened to the collateral from the laundry?'
'They belong to Jacob, so I cannot set them free. But I don't treat them badly.'
They said that they were now living quietly, cleaning and serving at the local temple sponsored by the duchy.
And the family head promised that Jacob would not sell them. You will never be free in your lifetime. At least they avoided the future of being sold to Changgwan, so it must be great luck for them. Even if they stopped, everyone was one step away from hell.
Elisha sincerely thanked the householder. I wasn't far-reaching enough to go out to help them in a situation where they weren't free. But, if possible, I wanted them to be comfortable. Because they were once the same collateral.
So when Elisha said that the householder would take care of her ladies-in-waiting. Without hesitation she said:
'I think we can send Carola's ladies-in-waiting to the laundry. Although the outbuilding where I worked was closed. You can do laundry somewhere else, right? Salary…….'
Elisha removed her hand from her mouth and said.
'One silver coin a day. I can give it to you like that.'
A silver coin was Elisha's daily wage while working at the laundry.
Gaju said a word.
'You are too generous. A woman from my family shouldn't be so weak-minded.'
Even so, the governor did not dissuade him. So, Pansy and Mimosa ended up doing laundry all day long.
* * *
'This is hell.'
Pansy whimpered and thought. In front of Pansy was a pile of dirty laundry.
“Mimosa, how did we end up in this situation?”
“It would have been different if you had let Zain attack Elisha. That's why Carola-sama fell!”
“Mimosa, how could you say that…….”
Pansy was shocked by Mimosa's words. Mimosa has been overly curt these days as they do the laundry together to make her hands swell.
She hardly spoke her words like someone who was being chased by something in her. Even when she spoke, her thorns were often set up.
Mimosa, just like her mimosa, her mind was complicated.
'I will become the wife of a high-ranking man in the future. Sid? Okay. Sid is fine, but once you have a fortune, it's possible to surpass real nobility!'
Mimosa gritted her teeth and scrubbed her laundry. She thought she was not in a position to be here. She has turned from Carola's side to Elisha. But Elisha said.
'If the head of state finds out that you betrayed Carola, she won't be alone. She betrays a member of the Cartier family, and her family dies anyway, no matter the reason. So I need a reason to bring you. For the time being, I'm holding my breath while working at the laundry. Then, when the time is right, you will take it out of there.'
As for Mimosa, she had no choice but to believe it. Besides, Mimosa was quick to notice her. Although she was blinded by her ambition and she hit the job. She knew the situation was not serious.
The head of the family strictly forbade Carola's maids of honor to leave her mansion. Being trapped, Mimosa had no choice but to trust and rely on Elisha's words.
Previously, when they saw the collateral working at the laundry, they would go and kick the laundry and throw it into the water.
They were women from poor families whose only names were aristocrats. So he had a kind of inferiority complex to women of noble status. It was because among the collateral there were women of such great status that they dared not even look at them.
But unfortunately, they are now working as collateral. Was there
