I Won’t Accept Your Regrets

"How are Ellie and Carlisle doing?" Jeremy asked as soon as Jed sat down.

"Aren't you curious about why I came to you?"

"Haven't seen them for several days. Hope they are okay."

Jed smiled at Jeremy's melancholy chatter and sipped his beer.

Seeing Jed's carelessness, Jeremy became nervous and hastened to share his concern.

"Jed, the Emperor was right in front of us."

Jeremy saw with his own eyes how the Emperor came to the mansion.

Ellie could say as much as she wanted to take care of it, but his nerves had been on edge for the past few days.

Jed looked at Jeremy, who couldn't hide his concern, and clicked his tongue.

"Now they only dream about peace. There was a noise. The will of the Emperor is in itself a delicate matter, moreover, now Marquis Sios is following us."

"Marquis Sios?"

Jeremy frowned in displeasure at the sudden appearance of a new figure in the narrative.

"Marquis Sios found out about Carlisle."

"What? How do you… Do you know for sure that it was Sios?"

"More precisely, there is nobody except them. Lady Sios sent a letter straight to our secret mansion."

It wasn’t the best situation when the Emperor found out about Ellie’s son, but now even the troublemaker Sios found out about it.

And that Lisa Sios.

She looks like an infinitely gentle woman, but she always hides her fangs, charged with poison.

A person with ingenuity who will mercilessly cut down everything that blocks her path.

And if she found out about Carlisle…

There is a high probability that Carlisle is threatened by the intrigues of the enemy.

"This woman… This is a dangerous woman. I will never give her Carlisle."

"Ellie said the same. So we tried to figure out what our next step would be. Ellie went to meet with lady Sios to warn her."

"To warn, it means…"

Jeremy still remembered those shiny green eyes that threatened to kill anyone in the way.

“This is about the crown prince. If you keep him in check, Lisa won’t be able to move."

"But that won't cancel her plans permanently."

"I know. But now there is no convincing evidence that Marquis Sios could be removed."

Jed sighed, as if it were getting stuffy, and asked:

"What about Duke Drua?"

"Stay are quiet. The visits of nobles stopped. But he doesn't seem to trust me completely."

Duke Drua was forced to trust him with important information.

However, the paranoid duke was still watching him.

“Hmm, well, it would be weird if the Duke immediately felt confident in you. In the meantime, we need to focus on the move. Oh, and please send a letter to Ellie."

"Letter?"

"Hmm. Ellie wanted to meet with you and personally ask you about the Duke's movements. It will be more reassuring if you write to her."

"Okay. Well…"

Jeremy fell silent at the moment when he felt a sharp energy.

It seemed that someone was looking at him.

Since he lived for a long time as a mercenary, he was sensitive to the gaze of the enemy.

Jeremy turned his head.

"Hey, what did you just said!"

As soon as he turned his head, he saw two mercenaries arguing. It was a harsh atmosphere, as if someone was about to pull a knife from their sleeve.

He got up and looked around, but saw no one particularly strange.

Mistaken the mercenary brawl as a threat to himself?

Nevertheless, the premonition didn’t recede.

"Jeremy, what are you doing?" Jed asked suddenly.

Jeremy, who looked around over and over again, couldn't find anything and eventually sat down again.

"No, nothing. I was just imagining it. I'll try to send a letter to Ellie."

"Okay."

Jed, who didn’t feel someone else's gaze, raised the mug again, but Jeremy continued to glance around warily.

* * *

After deep night, the first glow appeared in the sky.

Early dawn.

At a time when people hadn’t yet woken up, an old carriage was leaving the capital square.

In the empty square, the carriage creaked extremely loudly.

Although the rattling carriage was uncomfortable, Lisa sat quietly and without unnecessary emotions.

Leaning her head against the wall of the carriage, she closed her eyes.

"Jeremy Drua will send a letter to Ellie."

This was information Lily had personally told her out last night.

I did the right thing to send Lily.

The heir of Drua had a henchman, it seems, they solved problems together.

Finally, we noticed his movement and followed him.

So Lily came forward on her own.

Lily, a killer who was trained and raised only to kill people.

Her skillful hands this time intercepted the sent letter.

"Find someone who can repeat the handwriting."

I finally figured out how to dig a hole for them.

"Milady. We arrived."

Lily's voice awakened me from my thoughts.

"Let's go out one by one.”

The place we arrived at was an abandoned warehouse in the woods.

When I got off the carriage, my steps continued along the weedy path.

Lily opened the warehouse door and Lisa went inside.

The warehouse contained nothing but clouds of dust. Her counterpart turned to Lisa and studied her with his black eyes.

"Duke Drua, sir."

Lisa greeted first and smiled.

It was a graceful smile that didn’t fit the interior of an abandoned warehouse at all.

And Lisa's smile made an impression on Duke Drua.

"I received a letter from the Marquis. Why is Lady Sios in front of me?"

The letter of the meeting bore the name of the Marquis.

Lisa responded when the Duke's face was stained with displeasure.

"I beg your pardon, sir. The letter was from me, not from my father."

"From you?"

"Yes. Dad will be busy for a while. From now on you can discuss everything with me."

"Hmm…"

Duke Drua just grunted in displeasure.

Lisa saw his faded reaction and drew conclusions.

The only thing left of Drua is ​​the mansion and the beautiful history.

I'm trying to give you one last chance to win back.

But Duke Drua was a funny idiot. He was unaware of the subject of our conversation and just stares at my face with displeasure.

I, too, found that I no longer wanted to deal with him, but we didn’t have another Duke lying on the road who could get rid of Ellie.

Lisa forced a smile.

"I still hope for your understanding. My father can't poke his nose out of the estate."

"Hm."

"First of all, the agenda is an urgent priority."

"Urgent? What's the matter?"

“Ellie Croft's hidden child.”

Duke's face changed in the blink of an eye.

"Don't tell me that this child… Is this the child of the Emperor?"

The woman, the former Empress, has a hidden child.

The Emperor will be the first suspect in conception.

"Yes."

There was still no convincing evidence of this, but Duke Drua had to be thoroughly scared.

At Lisa's firm reply, the Duke's breath caught in his throat.

"The Emperor has another successor besides the first…"

This is the most unexpected ambush for his entire conspiracy.

"So His Majesty will restore Lady Croft to the position of Empress."

"What?!"

"If Lady Croft becomes Empress and the child becomes the new Crown Prince, our plans will be seriously undermined."

And Lisa didn't lie this time.

From the very beginning, they didn’t want to usurp the throne by shedding too much blood.

In any case, since Edmund was the only successor to the Emperor, it was easier to try to put him on the throne, knock the Emperor out of the game and grab all the power.

After the tyrant is driven out, this will be as easy as shelling pears.

However, something began to deviate from the moment of Duke Croft's trial.

Duke Croft, who once stood on the edge of the abyss, regained his ministry, Marquis Paren, who lived as a hermit, is now also in the game. And what about Marquis Sios?

And in this situation, when Ellie becomes Empress, their plans will fly ashes in the wind.

Everything was almost ready.

If their enterprise is about to collapse, Duke Drua is ​​certainly no longer alive.

Lisa looked into the face of Duke Drua, colored with impatience and anxiety, and slowly spoke:

"We must take a step before they enter the Imperial Palace."

"What a step?"

"We will kill them."

The warehouse was cold and gloom.