MHHC Chapter 70

Desperation

"I told you earlier that desperation must never be revealed. Please don't dismiss it as a lowly merchant's words, but always remember it. In the position Your Grace occupies, that will become important."

Adelheid gazed quietly into Luisa's eyes.

She knew that an ordinary Grand Duchess should rebuke such presumptuous advice from a commoner who didn't know her place.

But the current situation was entirely disadvantageous to Adelheid.

Luisa held information she desperately wanted, and Adelheid didn't have enough gold to satisfy Luisa.

Adelheid obediently nodded her head.

"I will. Then have I paid the full price now?"

"Oh, no!"

Luisa instantly collected her brief exclamation and cried out:

"There's still the information I promised to give you."

Luisa winked one eye. Adelheid leaned her upper body forward slightly over the desk, following her secretive gesture. Soon, as they brought their heads close together, Luisa whispered:

"How much do you know about the oracle you received?"

"The oracle Count Reichenau supposedly received? I don't know the exact contents."

Adelheid looked at Luisa with somewhat surprised eyes. The fact that an oracle had been given around the time of her birth was kept highly secret.

The only people who knew would be the Pope, Padre, Greta, and Count Reichenau.

Even Adelheid herself had been ignorant for a long time that she was the subject of the oracle.

If Count Reichenau hadn't made that drunken slip of the tongue, she might never have known even to this day.

She still vividly remembered Count Reichenau's expression immediately after spitting out those words.

She could never forget such a thing.

That face realizing he'd made an irreversible mistake, his hand raised high to strike her cheek.

That moment when his flushed, plump face had turned instantly pale and rigid.

'But how on earth.'

She could hardly imagine where or how information that even Count Reichenau tried to guard so strictly had leaked.

Perhaps the Count, frequenting alcohol as he did, had "accidentally" leaked secrets more often...

"For now, try telling me what you know. If there's any wrong information, I'll correct it."

"I don't know precisely. Only that some oracle was given concerning me, and that it's probably related to my ability."

"Hmm... Well, you're wrong from the start. That oracle wasn't given to Your Grace. To be precise, it was an oracle your mother received."

"...To my mother?"

Adelheid asked in bewilderment. Luisa shook her head as if she had no more information to give and answered:

"That's as far as I can tell you. I heard this information a very long time ago and researched it quite diligently. Her whereabouts completely disappeared at one point, making it hard to be certain... but synthesizing the information I've heard recently, everything ultimately points to one conclusion."

It was an enigmatic statement—too broad to be called important information for her.

"To give you one clue, you should verify the oracle's original text."

"You know the original text of the oracle?"

Adelheid thought Luisa would naturally know the oracle's original text. But surprisingly, Luisa scratched the back of her head.

"I don't know exactly either. I only know a few phrases that were passed down here and there."

"..."

"For certainty, visit the Great Temple. When an oracle descends, usually three priests hear and interpret it. Finding someone among the three who might leak the secret—that's the price for showing me the bracelet. Now, what remains is..."

Luisa tore half of the paper lying beside her, quickly wrote an address with the quill pen she'd dipped thoroughly in ink.

After waving it in the air a few times so the ink could dry well, she folded it neatly and held it out to Adelheid.

As Adelheid carefully accepted it and placed the note in her clothes, Luisa smiled broadly enough to show all her teeth.

"Does this make for a satisfactory transaction?"

"Of course."

"Please come back anytime. I'd be delighted to be of help to Your Grace."

"Thank you for your words."

Adelheid answered with a smile. As she rose from her chair, Luisa stood as well.

Luisa swiftly crossed the room as if performing a routine farewell, reaching the doorknob ahead of Adelheid.

"And before you go, this is... a bribe that's not a bribe that I'm giving Your Grace."

Though she said "this," there was actually nothing in Luisa's hands.

Just as Adelheid was about to tilt her head in puzzlement, Luisa brought her face close enough for her breath to be felt and whispered:

"Information has come in that Baroness Charlotte Linda Hegel von Reichenau's healing ability is disappearing with each passing day."

Adelheid jerked her head back slightly in surprise, staring intently at Luisa.

Even knowing Luisa had nothing to gain by playing such a trick on her, it wasn't easy to believe.

'Was that why Charlotte's expression looked especially anxious a few days ago? I thought it was only because of the engagement...'

If this information was true, it also made sense why Count Reichenau had recently been pursuing reckless actions regarding Charlotte's status.

Forgetting how he'd previously pretended to be leisurely about marriage, acting as if he treasured his daughter too much to send her into matrimony, he'd started pushing her everywhere as if desperate to sell her off...

The Emperor had probably eagerly taken that bait, wanting to attach Charlotte's influence to Valentin.

Her head felt complicated. Realizing Luisa was observing her changing expressions, Adelheid quickly collected her features.

"Isn't the information you've just bestowed on me priceless beyond measure, Luisa?"

Luisa, who'd been watching Adelheid with inscrutable eyes, finally smiled, showing her teeth.

"That's exactly why it's a bribe."

"Was the transaction satisfactory?"

As soon as they left the Hawk Claw mercenary band's building, Donovan grumbled his question.

Adelheid couldn't tell if "transaction satisfactory" was written on her face, or if he was being petty about being left behind.

After pondering briefly, she decided to answer honestly.

"It was satisfactory. I obtained the information I needed."

"What information could possibly require you to go to such a frightening place without even minimal escort?"

"That's..."

Adelheid considered deflecting, then sighed deeply and told the truth.

"I traded for information about Greta."

She felt not only Margaret but even Donovan hesitate momentarily. But she could no longer hide or delay this. She planned to head toward the address she'd just received immediately.

If the information Luisa provided had been imprecise or something requiring more time to investigate, Adelheid would have chosen an appropriate moment to reveal it subtly so they wouldn't be shocked.

Not exploding it like this, like detonating gunpowder.

Adelheid clasped both hands together as if in prayer, apologetic.

"I'm sorry for not telling you beforehand. Even apologizing won't completely ease your feelings, but..."

Having come this far, all she could do was offer an honest apology. But Donovan interrupted her mid-sentence with his usual blunt expression—a rare occurrence.

"Do not apologize or explain Your Grace's every action. Your Grace is our master."

"Since we're on the subject, receiving formal address is also embarrassing."

Margaret abruptly interrupted, as if this had always bothered her. Then after hesitating for a long while, she opened her mouth again.

"Actually, about that time..."

Adelheid immediately understood that the "time" Margaret referred to meant the years she'd been treated like a half-living ghost in Ansgar Castle.

As Adelheid's expression darkened, Margaret's face sank even more somberly.

"We all owe Your Grace an apology. We shouldn't have let it pass by hiding behind Your Grace's magnanimity like this."

"Magnanimity, you say. That's absurd. It's not like I don't understand your position..."

"No."

Margaret shook her head from side to side.

"Back then, none of us truly considered Your Grace the mistress of Ansgar. We were determined to endure even if we were beaten to death for disobeying orders, not to comply even if Your Grace brought down the whip to punish our disrespect... Everyone had made up their minds that way."

"..."

"But Your Grace did not do that."

So they'd been wary, then gradually relaxed their guard, and later treated her as if she didn't exist.

Presumptuously, not knowing their place. Margaret couldn't bring herself to say the words she'd omitted, but Adelheid guessed them all.

Once, she herself had experienced it all with her entire body.

"So I'm ashamed to say I always thought Your Grace was too weak for Ansgar. That you couldn't even notice your own maid embezzling, that with such a careless disposition you'd inevitably break before surviving the winter."

"Do you think differently now?"

Margaret smiled faintly and continued:

"Yes. It was my arrogant prejudice. Your Grace has endured three winters. And now... in many ways I think of you as a tranquil person."

"..."

"You're not easily shaken, and you don't act rashly. If I may dare say so, you possess the qualities Ansgar needs most. You lack nothing."

At the embarrassing and excessively direct praise, Adelheid flushed both cheeks bright red.

Throughout her entire life, this was only the second time anyone had told her she "lacked nothing." The first had been Valentin...

Margaret laughed as if to ventilate the slightly awkward atmosphere.

"Your Grace's happiness is Ansgar's happiness. Whatever you command, we'll gladly obey."

Adelheid knew this was Margaret's own form of apology.

That she'd wanted to air things out clearly like this, just once.

The Ansgarians were clear in their likes and dislikes, and as exclusive toward outsiders as they were, they possessed an unyielding firmness toward what they'd once accepted within their boundaries.

"..."

Each time they gradually accepted her, she'd sometimes suspected it was only due to Valentin's coercion.

Like an uninvited guest at an already full table, barely squeezing in by pushing aside someone else's place, she'd often felt lonely.

But now.