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Episode 123

"Absolutely not."

At Janet's firmness, César blinked.

Then he calmed his excitement and sat back down.

"I see. I apologize—I've long been a devotee of Lady Veronia, so I got carried away."

"Ah, I see."

"Ahem."

César cleared his throat awkwardly.

But even after he calmed down, Janet couldn't easily relax.

'His eyes are still the same—his eyes.'

Looking at César's sparkling gaze as he stared at her made her sigh involuntarily.

A reincarnation of the saint.

'……The problem is that it doesn't seem entirely wrong.'

Now that it was known Janet was the Marchioness's biological daughter, everyone would know she was the child born with Veronia's fate.

But——

'They don't know that I died and was revived through Veronia and Lord Dake's power.'

That influence had even changed her appearance to resemble Veronia's.

So in a way, it wasn't wrong that she carried some of Veronia's power—the power of a 'saint.'

'Reincarnation' might be a bit much, but——

'Anyway, since I carry part of Lady Veronia's power.'

It wouldn't be wrong to consider herself a fragment of Veronia.

Janet deliberately averted her eyes from César's burdeningly sparkling gaze and resolved not to let him or the Temple learn about her past.

If they did, they might drag her off to the Temple, saying 'She has the power of a saint!'

---

Chapter. The Reincarnation of the Saint

"What is the meaning of this? Hm? If you have a mouth, say something."

Merian's eyes flashed dangerously. Her gaze was fixed on none other than Princess Evadne of the Yuperion Magical Kingdom.

"You said this time was certain. You boasted it would be different from last time."

"……."

Evadne couldn't answer.

She only clenched her fist tighter on her knee.

'It was going smoothly.'

The epidemic spreading across the Empire was Yuperion's doing.

At first, they had a few Yuperion spies infiltrate the Empire to work in secret, and after Evadne and Mateo arrived, Evadne actively moved to spread the disease.

At the hunting party, she had infected many nobles.

Especially those who could become pillars of the Empire.

The highly contagious disease began to spread across the Empire without her needing to lift another finger, and soon the entire Empire was trembling in fear.

'I was sure this time would succeed.'

Even he had been half-certain of this plan's success.

But——

'To interfere again……!'

Just as Evadne was grinding her teeth—

"I hear Lady Janet Ortega was involved again this time."

At the name Janet, Evadne frowned.

It was the very face she'd been thinking of just moments ago.

Soon, flames of anger and resentment blazed in Evadne's eyes.

Whether she noticed or not, Merian continued in an irritated voice.

"She secured most of the Velfia tea leaves from the farm she invested in, I hear. Ha. To think Velfia of all things would be the cure."

"……I have no excuse."

"Of course you don't! Do you know how much money I invested to help with this plan?! Those who were supposed to be eliminated are still alive……!"

Merian, who had been shouting in excitement, flinched and clamped her mouth shut.

Even knowing that the source of the 'epidemic' that could greatly harm the Empire was the Magical Kingdom, Merian had remained silent and assisted because she too stood to gain from this situation.

'The death of the First Prince Oscar and the Grand Duke.'

In fact, both men had been bedridden until a few days ago.

The epidemic that had struck the Empire had reached Ludwig as well.

With the two pillars of Ludwig bedridden, the house naturally fell into a state of emergency.

Merian had also pretended to be worried, calling priests and putting on a show of trying to heal them, but in reality——

"It seems the priests' healing isn't working."

"Cough! That's strange. I heard others recovered with the priests' divine power—why…… cough!"

"Calm down, dear. I heard that the stronger one's innate power, the less effective priests' healing can be."

Having lived coldly toward the Grand Duke, Merian began playing the devoted wife the moment he fell ill.

The weakened Grand Duke also began to soften.

He had been cold to his children and even to his wife Merian, but he gradually started to rely on her.

"It's not entirely hopeless, dear."

"Cough! Do you have a good idea?"

"Zephyr is engaged to the Yuperion princess now."

"Hm, yes."

"I hear she's skilled in healing magic. In fact, our Zephyr also caught the disease, but the princess healed him in one go with her magic. In my opinion, it was far superior to the priests' divine power."

"Cough! Cough! Is that so……?"

"Yes. So how about asking her for healing?"

The Grand Duke agreed to Merian's suggestion.

He was still in his prime.

Having lived a vigorous life, moving between battlefields and meeting various women, being confined to bed was a trial for him.

The endless coughing and the accompanying pain were also unbearable.

With the Grand Duke's permission, Princess Evadne of Yuperion began visiting his room discreetly.

Evadne did indeed treat the Grand Duke.

After her visits, his condition improved markedly.

But a few hours later, the coughing would start again.

His condition would worsen at night, and he would recover when Evadne healed him during the day—a pattern that repeated.

The Grand Duke began to call for Evadne more frequently.

Since he only felt well after her visits, he grew increasingly dependent on her.

"If we hold out a little longer, he'll soon be unable to live without me."

"Yes. Then, to receive your healing, he'll have no choice but to recognize Zephyr as his successor."

Once the Grand Duke was completely dependent on Evadne, she could use healing as leverage to manipulate him at will.

They planned to secure Zephyr's succession then.

Things were progressing smoothly, and they were just one step away.

Yes, that was what they thought.

Everything went wrong when Rosina and Julietta returned with an armful of Velfia tea leaves.

The two met with the Ludwig butler, handed over the tea leaves, and made sure the Grand Duke drank them regularly.

They also gave Velfia tea leaves to Oscar, who had caught the disease like the Grand Duke.

After he started drinking the tea, the Grand Duke no longer sought out Evadne.

The tea's efficacy was far better than expected.

No matter how many times they secretly reinfected him, the Velfia tea cured him.

To think that the carefully crafted magic of the Magical Kingdom was undone by mere weed-like tea leaves!

Of course, Evadne had known that the fatal weakness of the epidemic was that it could be cured by Velfia tea leaves.

Not long after the epidemic began spreading, 'he' had noticed the connection between Velfia and the disease.

But——

'He said he would eliminate all the Velfia tea leaves.'

Where on earth did all those Velfia tea leaves come from!

She was so incredulous she felt nothing but anger.

What was even more infuriating was learning that this time too, 'Janet Ortega' had been involved.

That woman again?

'……Perhaps the one who needs to be eliminated first is none other than that woman.'

A list of people to eliminate from the Empire scrolled through Evadne's mind.

Mostly individuals who could become pillars of the Empire.

The Marchioness of Ortega, the Grand Duke of Ludwig.

Richard Ortega, and the many Ludwig children born with blessings.

'People who need to be eliminated so that when the Magical Kingdom wages war again, victory will be easy.'

But now, her mind was filled with only one name.

Janet Ortega.

Evadne made up her mind.

'I will get rid of that woman by any means necessary.'

Just as she clenched her fist—

"Tsk. If I'd known this would happen, I would have had my son betrothed to that handmaiden instead of you."

At Merian's lamenting voice, Evadne's eyes narrowed.

Watching the Grand Duchess compare her—already seething with anger—to someone else made her fury rise.

"Rather than a useless one, it would have been better to have a useful one by my son's side."

"……Please don't be too harsh, Mother."

"Ha! We haven't even held the engagement ceremony—calling me 'Mother' is a bit premature."

At Merian's irritated reply, Evadne forced a smile.

"Since we've joined hands, isn't it better to get along? We can't let go of each other now anyway."

"That sounds like a threat."

"Not at all."

Smiling, she pulled something from her bosom and handed it to Merian.

"What's this?"

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