It Turned Out She Wasn't a Favored Concubine - Episode 70

“What are you talking about now?” I furrowed my brow and raised an eyebrow. Seeing my expression, Ortland cleared his throat and interjected.

“Parsen is originally from the Kingdom of Jaren. Although he’s currently under the Lord’s protection, the world believes he’s already dead. If Parsen is revealed to be alive, it would cause trouble not only for him but also for the Lord. If the high nobles catch wind of it, it could become a serious issue.”

“So we need to be able to explain everything without involving Parsen?”

I couldn’t understand why someone who was clearly alive had to be considered dead.

Though I showed signs of curiosity, neither Parsen nor the other two seemed willing to explain further.

“That’s why we’re urgently searching for a Motus engraver to replace Parsen. Someone we can persuade. But we need more time.”

That was only natural. They said it had only been a couple of hours since I fainted. No matter how powerful the Edelheit family was, could they really find and convince a trustworthy Motus engraver in the middle of the night? But Giscal’s response was firm.

“No. We must find one tonight.”

Ortland bowed his head. His shoulders looked small. I stepped forward in his place.

“It’s impossible to find one tonight. To make it convincing, they’d need to be able to engrave at least a level-4 Motus. How could we find someone like that so quickly?”

“That’s… not necessarily true.”

I thought I had made a perfectly reasonable point, but their reactions were oddly hesitant. Giscal and Ortland turned their eyes to Parsen.

“We don’t need to consider the engraver’s skill. I can teach the engraving technique tonight.”

“How can you teach it so quickly? The books say it can take decades.”

“I have my own secret method.”

Parsen spoke decisively.

“I’ll teach not only the level-4 Motus engraving technique but also how to trace teleportation traces from a dead Motus. We need to identify the assassin who targeted Your Highness.”

“…Assassination?”

That word felt so distant from me. I paused, more stunned by the unfamiliar term than anything else.

“Did they really try to kill me? Maybe they just wanted to scare me, not actually murder me?”

Giscal’s red eyes wavered. His expression was filled with sorrow and guilt, and I could guess his answer.

“There was chaos right after you disappeared. His Majesty was the first to notice and personally searched through the shards of the cup. He found a Dimotus fragment, but no one could teleport to where you were. Its power had already been exhausted.”

“You mean the last teleportation was when I was sent to the forest?”

“Yes. It was a meticulously planned trap.”

Giscal clenched his fists tightly, his knuckles turning white.

“You said you encountered a large gray wolf in the forest, right?”

“Yeah.”

“There was something embedded in its paw. A black stone-like object. Probably a matching Dimotus to the one in the cup. The ones targeting you didn’t stop at sending you to a forest at night—they embedded a Dimotus in the wolf to make it attack you viciously.”

“Th-then…”

“It’s a cruel truth… but their intent and purpose were clear.”

I already knew. Why else would they go to such lengths to drop me in a dark, deep forest? It wasn’t for a midnight stroll.

There was only one goal.

To kill me—Arne.

A chill ran down my spine. There were people in this world who hated Arne enough to want her dead. Of course, Arne’s misdeeds had earned her plenty of resentment. But everything has its limits.

That applied to everyone in this world. No one is loved by all, and no one loves everyone.

I was no different. Even in my original world, I couldn’t claim to be liked by everyone. I must’ve annoyed or angered some people, just as I didn’t like everyone.

But I had never hated someone enough to want them dead. I had certainly never tried to kill anyone. That would be crossing a line as a human.

Yet someone who hated Arne had crossed that line. They threw her into the jaws of a beast, to be torn apart by claws and teeth.

“Do you have any idea who targeted Lady Arne? Was it the high noble faction?”

Ortland asked seriously. Giscal answered without hesitation.

“Most likely. That’s the problem.”

“What do you mean?”

“For them, erasing evidence, silencing witnesses, framing someone else, and coordinating false testimonies is easy. That’s why we need to act fast. The longer we wait, the worse it gets for us.”

“Agreed. If we’re not careful, this horrific incident could end with only a scapegoat punished, while the true mastermind goes free.”

“I won’t let that happen.”

Giscal’s red eyes gleamed with determination. I watched him as if he were making a vow to himself.

My heart beat a little harder. I didn’t want to die either. I had already experienced enough fear of death in that dark forest. I had tried to rationalize death as a way to return to my original world, but that was just a selfish excuse. It wasn’t something to attempt in a sane state of mind.

More importantly, Giscal had been injured. He got hurt trying to save me from their trap. If things had gone wrong, both of us could’ve died in that forest. I couldn’t forgive that.

“To do that, we need to find someone quickly. A Motus engraver who resents the high nobles and whose weakness we can exploit. Skill doesn’t matter.”

Parsen added. If skill wasn’t a factor, then it was possible. While Ortland searched, the moon’s position kept changing. Whether or not they found a suitable engraver would determine what happened next, so they hadn’t sent any message to the autumn hunting grounds yet.

What was happening in Gilberan Forest now? A concubine had been teleported during the final ritual—surely chaos had erupted.

Of course, some people were probably secretly smiling. The high nobles, the concubines, Rosadel and Jenia.

Only now did I understand Rosadel and Jenia’s strange behavior. Why Jenia had been so anxious, why Count Leten had brought back prey beyond his skill…

Suddenly, I remembered Rosdel’s warning as she scratched my shoulder with her nails.

Didn’t she say she’d drag me into the mud? If things had gone slightly differently, her words would’ve come true. I’d be lying in the mud, torn and bloodied by a wolf.

In Gilberan Forest, the only one who would worry about me was Louie. I only now remembered that crucial fact.

“Ah! Louie must be worried. Isn’t there a way to contact her, at least?”

I cried out in concern, and even in the midst of his busyness, Ortland smiled reassuringly.

“Don’t worry. The Lord has already informed Lady Louie that you’re safe. She cried a lot, so please comfort her later.”

“Thank goodness. But when did he contact her? Gilberan Forest is far from here.”

The distance from the mansion to Gilberan Forest was considerable. It would’ve been hard to send word quickly by ordinary means. At my question, Ortland looked awkward and hesitated.

“Well, that’s…”

“We used Motus to communicate. Louie and I share Motus fragments.”

Giscal spoke up in Ortland’s place.

“With Louie?”

I was surprised by the unexpected answer. Louie was precious to me, but to Giscal, she was just a maid of the Edelheit family. Yet he shared a valuable Motus with her.

I didn’t know why, but my heart sank a little. Just moments ago, I had been worried about Louie, but now she felt a bit distant. I couldn’t define the feeling, and Giscal quickly added, almost defensively:

“Louie is your personal maid. If something happens to you, I need to know immediately.”

That tangled feeling unraveled in an instant. Giscal’s words made my emotions swing wildly.

“And you probably didn’t know this, but you and Louie also share a Motus fragment. She secretly stitched it into your dress near the waist. That’s how I was able to teleport to Gilberan Forest—thanks to the Dimotus Louie had.”

The mystery was solved. Now I understood how Giscal had appeared before me so quickly.

He had used the Dimotus Louie carried to reach me. That Motus had saved me, but I couldn’t feel entirely happy about it. Giscal felt the same.

“Sorry I didn’t tell you earlier.”

Giscal didn’t offer excuses about doing it for my sake. But his voice was filled with guilt and worry. I brushed my hair aside and asked:

“Was it after I disappeared from the library?”

“Yes.”

I sighed softly. It was unpleasant to learn that a Motus fragment had been secretly planted on me, but I could understand the sentiment. Even if it wasn’t my intention, I had a history of disappearing.

Back then, I wasn’t the only one who suffered. Louie and Giscal must’ve been shocked and worried. But I had been so caught up in my own situation that I hadn’t considered their feelings.

Now that I thought about it, it was strange. The same thing was happening again. Just like before, I had been teleported without warning, and a major incident was unfolding. This time, it was because of the high nobles; last time,

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