The fact that it wasn’t uncommon for slaves to suffer from delirium or amnesia due to Rublefast’s poisonous fumes from made her case even more convincing.
Eventually, Tariq gave up on teaching her horseback riding and brought Ellier to his room, saying that she needed to be further educated to become the Duke’s errand girl.
“Have you memorized everything I’ve assigned to you as homework last week?”
“Yes! I managed to memorise the genealogy of the Imperial Family quickly, so I also memorized the genealogies of the Imperial Family’s collateral lines.”
“What? If it’s the side families, to what extent did you……?”
“I memorized up till the Emperor’s second cousins.”
“Here’s a piece of paper, write out the genealogy. I won’t let it go if you lied.”
“Yes!”
Actually, Ellier didn’t even open and look at the Imperial genealogy that Tariq had given her.
The Imperial genealogy was what the members of the Imperial Family had to constantly memorize, and all of those memories were still intact.
Instead of looking at that book again, she would rather use that time to do some more strength training.
She presented Tariq with the answers she had written down fluidly. It would obviously be given a perfect score.
And as expected, Tariq scanned through her answers with his widened eyes.
From the beginning of his lessons with Ellier, Tariq has already guessed that she didn’t belong to the lower class.
Even though not many commoners could read and write, her handwriting, despite it being slightly shoddy at times, was very aristocratic.
And the Imperial genealogy that she had written down after using only a week to memorize, was perfect without error. All except for one portion.
“…It was all written well, but where the hell did this come from?”
“Yes?”
“Here, the part underneath Imperial concubine Diana. The only children born from Imperial concubine Diana are the second Prince, His Highness Ravan Elkor Solen, and the fourth princess, Her Highness Lariette Maria Solen. But who’s this Liliette Syaard Solen written above Princess Lariette?”
Ellier stiffened at those words.
“It doesn’t seem like a misspelling of Her Highness Princess Lariette’s name…”
“Did you say that Imperial concubine Diana only has His Highness Ravan and Her Highness Lariette?”
“That’s right. Open the book and see for yourself.”
Ellier quickly opened the Imperial genealogy that she had received from him.
‘What he said was true!’
The name ‘Lilliette Syaard Solen’ couldn’t be found in this book.
‘If it’s like this… Isn’t it different from the past that I’ve remembered?’
She had considered the possibility that a woman named Lilliette Syaard Solen might not exist.
In comparison to that, she was leaning more towards the possibility of the existence of a Lilliette that’s very different compared to her previous life. In the end, however, there wasn’t a princess named Lilliette in this reality.
That fact made her anxious.
Although she was of no importance in the Imperial Family before the Emperor’s declaration of succession, she was troubled by the thought of a different future from what she had remembered unfolding if the small incidents she caused didn’t happen.
‘I had told Slarhan confidently that I would bring him good luck, but what would happen if everything from my memories had changed?’
Considering that the body of the former Duke of Ventiark had reached here at the same time she remembered it will arrive, it didn’t seem like most of the events occurring were very different from the memories of her previous life…
As she was lost in thought, Tariq pounded the desk with a cane to jolt Ellier into awareness.
“Well, you might have been confused since there are so many people. You’re learning faster than I had anticipated.”
“Tha–thank you.”
“However, it’s not enough to be the Duke’s errand runner. I don’t know what you’ll be doing after reaching the capital’s mansion, but until then, study hard. Don’t cause any trouble for His Grace!”
“I understand.”
Ellier gave a grin as usual, fully back to her senses.
After greeting Tariq respectfully, who seemed anxious as he couldn’t get anything to scold her about, Ellier returned to her room and started recording down what she could remember.
But she wasn’t sure if these events would happen, and if she helped Slarhan, the future would change too.
After vexing over it for a while, Ellier decided to think about it simply as per usual.
‘There’s no choice. I’ll give it further thought when the time comes.’
Not only her knowledge of the future, but her understanding of how the biggest competitor, Clyde Kassir, worked, will give Slarhan the upper hand.
This is possible as she could avoid the schemes Clyde has devised and grab ahold of his weaknesses.
“Nyaa.”
It could be because Ellier was deep in thought about something, Nox, who was blinking sleepily on her pillow, paced over and rubbed her head against Ellier.
“It’s okay, Nox, even if something changes, I will definitely make Slarhan the Emperor. Then, we’ll take a huge amount of money and go someplace far away together. A place where you can run around and have fun, okay?”
“Prrrr.”
As if it was in a good mood, Nox smiled satisfactorily.
∘₊✧──────✧₊∘
It was about a month before leaving for the capital when the owner of the outer coat that hung in Ellier’s closet appeared.
“It’s really hard to meet you. I’ve been looking for you in order to return this coat for a while.”
The servant called Vedell, scratched his head at Ellier’s greeting that was like a grumble and smiled apologetically.
He was a handsome young man with deep chestnut coloured hair and bright brown eyes, with an aura of trustworthiness.
“Ahh, I forgot about that, sorry. Actually, I am a servant from the capital’s mansion. I was moving the grain and potatoes from the estate to the mansion in the capital then.”
“Ah, is that so? What brings you here then?”
“I’m here to deliver a letter from the butler of the capital’s mansion. I’ll soon have to return to the capital again. But in the meantime, you’ve become quite famous, haven’t you?”
“Yeah? Uh… I don’t think that’s a good thing.”
As Vedell mentioned, in the period of time that he left, there wasn’t anyone in the castle that didn’t know of Ellier.
She, as a slave, had a room within the castle, she became the Duke’s errand runner, and that she was allowed to raise a cat in her room and ride horses, all of those became a controversial topic.
In addition, some of the servants who murmured that she was Slarhan’s momentary object of fixation were expelled from the castle without a letter of recommendation.
Thanks to that, the rumor that Ellier was a bedroom slave became even further established, and though they dare not talk about it out of fear towards Slarhan, the envy and contempt in the gazes directed towards her increased.
On the other hand, rumors circulated that she was a descendant of a fallen noble family as Slarhan’s attitude toward Ellier wasn’t that of a superior.
“I heard that you’re the last descendant of a fallen family that the Emperor has wrecked as it supported the Duke of Ventiark?”
“Hah, hahaha…”
Far from being a supporter of the Duke of Ventiark, it was difficult to reply, as she was the one who overtook Slarhan Ventiark and took the throne as the Emperor.
As Ellier smiled awkwardly, Vedell suddenly leaned closer and asked.
“Don’t you have a special relationship with the Duke?”
“What? That isn’t true! What does someone like the Duke have to regret…?”
“Hm, well that is true.”
“Admitting it so easily is a bit…”
Vedell laughed at Ellier’s sulky expression, and ruffled her head mischievously, leaving her with dishevelled hair.
Ellier, who was embarrassed for some reason, changed the topic sneakily.
“During the Spring Banquet, I’ll be following the Master as well. Is the capital far from here?”
“Huh? You’re also going? I’ll also be following the Lord to the capital!”
“Is that so? It must be hard, having to come and go so often…”
“What are you talking about! It means that I’ve been recognized by my superiors. Still, I won’t feel bored as someone I know is also coming along.”
“That’s true.”
It really was the truth.
It would have been quite awkward when there were only bloodthirsty knights, but since Vedell, who treated her favourably, was present, it would become more comfortable. Vedell had even secretly comforted Ellier.
“You have to be a little brazen to rise above others. Don’t worry about what others say. Understood?”
“Thank you.”
“Then I’ll see you later.”
“Thank you for lending me your coat.”
Ellier waved her hand to Vedell and bowed again as he walked away, once again thinking that he was a good guy.
As time passed, the snow in the Ventiark estate slowly started to melt, and it was time to head towards the capital.
Meanwhile, Ellier gained weight and recovered her physical strength to the point where she was barely a shadow of her former self.
Unlike in the past where she had only looked like a skeleton, her cheeks now have gained some flesh.
She didn’t look weak anymore, with muscles in her arms and legs.
Slarhan glanced at the group getting ready to depart, before turning his head to the commander of the Knights of Ventiark.
“While I am away, pay special attention to the castle’s defences. It wouldn’t be strange even if the Emperor’s army invaded.”
“Yes, Your Grace. I will protect Ventiark until the day Your Grace returns, with my honour on the line.”
“Uhm, I’ll leave it to you then. Are you all ready to depart?”
At Slarhan’s voice, the party that was heading towards the capital shouted with a loud, “Yes!”
The party comprised seven young and talented knights from the Knights of Ventiark, including Tariq, as well as Vedell and Ellier.
“Let us depart!”
When the order to depart, the men, led by Slarhan, guided their horses in the direction of the capital.
Without a carriage or a cart, the party moved at speeds similar to that of a squadron of horsemen.
While knights riding on war horses were used to this speed, it was surprising that Ellier, who had never ridden a horse before, was able to keep up with the knights’ pace.
It was also surprising that Slarhan and Ellier talked about other topics when they were by themselves.
The conversation that is usually about checking Ellier’s stamina lengthened on the day before their arrival at the Imperial capital.
The party that decided to stay in an inn took a bath and rested for a while, in preparation for their arrival in the capital.
Slarhan looked up and down Ellier, who came to collect the plate of food that he had eaten, checking if she had suffered any injuries.
“You must be quite tired…”
“I can handle this much! I can endure well. Master, is there anywhere that feels uncomfortable?”
“I keep saying this constantly, rats shouldn’t worry over cats.”
Ellier snorted inwardly, thinking that the identities of the rat and cat weren’t clear yet.
In fact, Ellier did look tired at first glance.
Even the healthy fat that she had gained disappeared a little, and her half closed eyelids made her seem as if she was about to fall asleep at any moment.
However, Ellier still had vivid memories of living on the back of a horse for several months in her previous life. Admitting that her body was unable to withstand such a journey was a blow to Ellier’s self-esteem.
“I really am fine! Anyways, we’ll finally be entering the capital tomorrow!”
“That’s right. Take care not to fall off the horse while looking around.”
“Am I a child?”
Ellier stood on the tips of her toes and pretended to be taller, but Slarhan had only snorted in response.
“Mas–Master, aren’t you only twenty-three?”
“You should say that after you turn twenty.”
Although she looked her age now after diligently recovering, Slarhan’s eyes still didn’t change, continuing to view her as a child.
In any case, the main point here was not a fight about her being a child or an adult.