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Lunaria: Reborn Of The Bloody Empress - Chapter 11
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“…”
For a moment, the room was filled with silence.
Cervantes’s brows went up and he was doubting Blaire’s statement. “Are you sure, Blaire? You know this thing is not supposed to be a joke.”
“I’m sure, Sir! If you don’t believe it, then you can check the prison right away.” Blaire’s face was white as chalk.
Pap!
I unconsciously stood up and slammed my hands on the table. Blaire and Cervantes’ eyes were on me.
“What?” I asked in disbelief, looking dumbfounded just like them.
Blaire took a deep breath and repeated, “Gina … Is dead … milady. “
So …
Gina is dead. Looks like I could not play with her anymore. For real? I should have been harder in her if I knew earlier that she would have been killed instantly. That’s my fault, I have to admit.
To Blaire’s immense desperation, Cervantes black eyes flicked to Blaire and the door, and then back to looking at her. He looked like he was examining her face to check whether she was speaking the truth.
“I-I … shall be back, excuse me milady …”
Cervantes looked even more apologetic and exchanged uncomfortable looks with me. Then he bowed, making a mad dash to the door, murmuring something like, “Ridiculous!” and a loud ‘Bang’ could be heard as he closed the door behind him.
From the outside, we could hear his angry voice, commanding the knights and the guards to the underground — the place for the prisoners, prison.
“To the prison! Right away! Move —
move! Hey you, be quick! Don’t just stand there!”
There was utter silence, broken by the smallest of terified squeaks from Blaire. She let out a gasp and fixed her gaze on me.
I continued sipping my tea. I waved my hands and told Blaire, “Alright, you may leave now. “
But despite of what my instructions were, Blaire stood there, stiff and still.
She hesitated before speaking, “Milady, actually, I … have something to tell you.”
I looked up to her curiously and asked, “What?”
“Milady, this incident is a bit … weird, don’t you think?” asked Blaire in a more whispering voice. She was glancing right and left as though she was making sure if no one was picking ears on us.
“What do you mean?” I asked sharply, glaring at her.
“Milady, Gina was hanging herself, commiting suicide … Don’t you think this was even weirder? Why did ‘that’ Gina kill herself when we knew that she wouldn’t do that kind of thing like apologizing to people and stuff like that? Based on her personality, she is not someone who is going to atone for her crime if she did something wrong.”
“What Gina only knows to do is talking back behind others, spreading faise rumours, gossiping with other maids, thinking she was higher than the others, commanding around the new maids as though she was the higher maid … and making fun of me…” Each time Blaire spoke that, she counted her fingers.
“My, Blaire,” I fanned myself. “You … you’ve got such a wild imagination.” I shrugged it off, pretending as if I don’t have any idea about it because I was afraid of what she might say the next moment if I believed her.
You see, Blaire is such a curious girl that she won’t stop searching and investigating until the mystery is solved. Whenever she found another leads, she would do anything to find the other clues, even to some extent that it could lead herself to danger and involve her into something dreadful.
“It’s true, milady!” Blaire cried.
“Oh, Blaire … Such a thing will happen if the person realised she was committing too many mistakes in her life. Maybe Gina wanted a more peacetul afterlife and commited suicide to atone for her past crimes. Doing this, doesn’t this already makes sure that she was indeed a
good person?” I said indifferently, twirling the spoon in my cup.
“I-I … B-but …” Blaire muttered slowly in a disappointed voice.
I put down the cup gently andsaid tightened my grip around the holder. “I guess that’s enough, Blaire. You should just drop the act. You’re just a maid, nothing else. You’re not the one who will investigate the case even though you’ve higher title,” I said, my voice shaking.
Oh, Blaire … Please — Please — Please … I beg you … I don’t want you to suffer a tragic life this time! If you involved yourself in something dangerous this time, I could not possibly live my life without you and I might as well lose you this time, again! If only you could see the true meaning behind my words!
Blaire blinked, she did not give up on convincing me. “But milady! You see, there’s a lot of strange things that have happened before Gina’s death!”
For the second time, I slammed both my hands on the table and flashed my eyes dangerously to Blaire. The cups clattered and the soup spilled on my skirt, but I did not care. Blaire flinched when she noticed this and I, holding back my anger, tried as best as I could to control my voice.
My voice was trembling. “Enough… I don’t want to hear any of this! One more word, and I will —“
“Gina was a spy sent by someone, ” Blaire blurted out with her nose crooked. “to spy on the duchy and report every news to her chief. Most likely the one who sent her was the duke’s enemy, or rather, our enemy, ” she added hurriedly.
I frowned, one of my eyebrows went up. “And do you have any proof?”
“Yes, truth to be told, I already had a mild guess that Gina was here was not for work, but rather to spy on the movements inside the duchy. I once caught her sending letters to someone secretly in the midnight using a bird. When I confronted her about this, she told me that it was for her family, but of course I knew she was lying because her eyes darted back and forth. It was the signs when people told lies.”
Blaire tilted her head and began to ponder over things, eyes closed each time she was trying to recall back her memories. “Ah, and there was one time that I noticed Gina was the richest among the maids and servants when I discovered a pile of golds in her room. Aside from golds, there were plenty of jewelleries too that commoners like us could not afford it. She hid it in a single box under her bed, and I found it, er– and she caught me searching for that, ” Blaire scratched her head, and continued, “but I made an excuse that my comb fell so I had to pick it up and accidentally found it. “
“Anyway, she seemed to not believe me as she hurriedly hid the box the next morning when I tried to search for it again. That’s why milady, wouldn’t it be weird if a maid, a low ranking maid, have tons of gold coins in her room? It think it must be like, what, 200 gold coins?” Blaire’s eyes bulged, waving her hands in the air to show how much the golds were.
“I tried asking the servants if they had lost anything, especially money, but to my surprise, none of them had. Then when you ordered me to searched for her body, I noticed that she wore a golden ring that had a crest of an ancient noble family which did not exist anymore, the Zarceno,” Blaire stopped. She took a deep breath and continued, “It was impossible for a mere maid to own such a precious thing, let alone the aristocrats. Because the only people who had the ring is the imperial family. I heard it was being heavily guarded by the knights in the palace from day to night. This even strengthened my belief that she was being corrupted to do her job flawlessly and perfectly by someone of a higher status. “
“You sure have higher knowledge when it comes to this,” I praised sincerely after listening to her for a long time. “How do you know about the Zarceno’s golden ring? “
Blaire hesitated. “I … had read it in a book before.” Then, she lowered her head in embarrassment. Her ears going slightly red.
“Well done. For such a maid like you to have recognised the ring is already a huge achievement. I’m proud of you. “
Blaire beamed. “Ah… Then… “
“But, that doesn’t mean I allowed you to have such speculation, ” I added, warning her. Blaire dropped instantly like a puppy.
“But milady, I personally think this is rather a serious issue!” She said stubbornly.
“Did you hear me? I said weakly.
“I — yes … milady … but I need to tell you the truth no matter how everyone goes around running their mouths to spread false rumours! You may hate me for behaving unscrupulous, but I just wish my lady to have a subtle life!” Blaire sighed, then she continued, “Milady … you are too nice sometimes that you don’t see the dark sides of things around you. Therefore, I, as your most trusted maid, can’t leave you hanging around not knowing anything!”
“I know,” I replied quickly. “I only do this because I can’t bear to lose you.”
“…What? What’s up with me?”
I sighed. Clasping her hands, I moved closer to Blaire before patting her back. I gazed at her deeply. The words that I had wanted to speak the most finally could be said. “Why? Isn’t it obvious? Because you are special to me. So precious that I cannot bear to lose you.”
“Oh, milady!” she said, touched.
“And another thing is … I … know the mastermind behind this incident,” I mumbled as quietly as I could.
“!”
“Y-you do? B-but h-how?” she stammered, looking in disbelief and taken aback.
I smiled painfully at her. Because I was reborn, Blaire. Because I was reborn. I know the things that will happen in the future and the secrets of some things that we are not supposed to know. Of course, I cannot tell her that.
“Well, since you know this milady, then why don’t you try to investigate it? Maybe we could find some clues!” Clasping my hands, Blaire looked even more brighter, maybe she did not need to pretend anymore and just said it directly. Or maybe because I already know the truth behind this indent and some things that she could not make a guess out of, so that was why she was so curious about it.
I shook my head, frowning. Just how should I convince this girl? In the end, I gave up.
“It’s simple, I just had a hunch. I don’t know if my guess was right, but I suspect it would be a powerful and cumming person to intrude into our duchy, seeing that this person already prepared this plan quickly the moment he heard the news.”
“Milady, you also think the same thing just like me!” Blaire let out a squeak, beaming.
A smile spread across my lips. This was not a surprise. Rather, I already knew beforehand that she was a bright woman and this thing could be easily guessed by her.
“I’m not saying that we should drop this investigation immediately. Just … doing it secretly so as not to alert our enemies. I’ll notify Cervantes about this and he will know what to do,” I explained.
“Oh, I see!” Blaire nodded in understanding.
“But that doesn’t mean we are less powerful than this person. It’s just our carelessness that attracts there rats to sneak into our duchy. That’s why Blaire, I need Cervantes to alert the special knights about this so that we can take action against this incident,” I added. “This is a serious crime. But this incident should be investigated secretly and deeply so that our enemy will think they are not being suspected and lower their guard to us. Therefore, we need to just pretend this is only an accident to catch off their guards, and nothing more.”
This is a perfect choice. I should not risk attracting trouble than more I could have. It would be a nuisance if they already discover my capabilities and wit. If that happens, they will increase their guards towards us. For now, let’s just lay low as possible as I could.
“And… And then?” She asked eagerly. Her eyes shine brightly in excitement.
“Some things are better left being unsaid,” I replied, grinning. Blaire pouted in response, then shaking her head in disagreement.
“I … well, that’s your decision for not telling me then I, as a maid should have respected it and should not cross the boundary,” she said in disappointment.
“The person who gave her the ring is probably the one who has a direct access to the treasure room in the palace. Most likely this person bribed her using it to do her job,” I told her.
And of course this person was the second prince himself. I gripped my hands.
Just as I expected, Rexiald really moves fast, huh? He even going as far as to silence Gina and that would certainly be his idea in case the secret is out.
Well, I don’t surprised in the slightest bit at all. I shrugged. Judging from his personality, I bet that he had already killed plenty of people who blocked his way in the past and up till now.
“Milady, you… truly have changed…” Blaire muttered in a low awed voice. She did not blinked.
I flinched. “Wh-what do you mean? “
Did she … perhaps know something?
“Milady, you have became much smarter if you compare in the past,” Blaire praised, still in awe.
“Do you mean, I was an idiot before?”
“No! I did not mean that!” She waved her hands hurriedly, looking panicked.
“In the past, you will not believe me if I make this kind of speculation, and you might even say I’m a crazy woman. But now … I’m glad that you can reason with things like this calmly and handle it more maturely. “
I flushed. “No … this … I … should have done this earlier … ” I explained quietly.
Blaire giggled and she smiled sweetly at me. “Whenever I see milady like this, my heart soothed. I could not describe my feelings in words, but … milady’s change is a truly a shock … Even for me. “
I blushed even redder. Coughing, I said, “You praised me too much … These are only steps for precautions to secure our defense. It’d natural if someone behaves like this, after all, terrible things happen right under the nose. It’s a natural reaction when something bad occurs. “
“Yeah, I guess so, ” Blaire replied, still staring at me with a gentle smile on her face.
“You know … If you stare at me like that, you already could burn my face into a hole, ” I said jokingly.
Blaire smirked, seemingly enjoying the expression I made.
“Imagine Blaire, if this person could easily enter our duchy and kill people inside it, don’t you think it would be more dangerous to us if he could do something beyond our control? For example, what if he do something to my brother and father? … Or me?” I deliberately changed the topic.
“Milady! Don’t worry, if that time comes by, I would do my best to protect you! Your safety is my top priority,” Blaire swore enthusiastically.
“…”
I could not answer her, instead I stared down at my cup, unable to meet her gaze.
I suddenly remembered the scene of Blaire’s dying in my previous life. The awful feeling of losing someone dearest to you and the guilt of being the cause of her death still haunts me up until now even though it was in the past and it did not happen yet.
I knocked her head lightly.
“Ouch!” She looked at me dumbfoundedly.
I giggled. “Don’t day this. It’s like you are inviting this person into our duchy.”
“Hehe,” Blaire joined in the laughter, and then her expression change. She was being serious now. “Rest assured, milady. Like I said, I would protect you even if I need to sacrifice my life because of it.
Ah… Once again, the bloody scene flashed before my eyes. My stomach leapt uncomfortably.
“..I know,” I smiled weakly.
It’s alright, Blaire. In this life, you don’t need to lose your life because of me. Instead, I will be the one to protect you and take care of you for just like what you did to me for the rest if your life.