Chapter 2

Just a little while earlier, Lisicha had been sprawled face-down at the foot of the stairs, begging for mercy.

The person standing before him was the young and fearsome Imperial executioner, Grand Duke Asad Uliel. Thirty grim-faced guards stood behind him.

“Y-Your Grace, please. I beg you to extend the deadline.”

Asad approached Lisicha with the light, graceful steps of a swift leopard. He drew the sharp longsword at his waist.

Valentina, who had barely managed to remain standing on the stairs, let out a shrill scream.

“You want me to make an exception? Unfortunately, my mood has been absolutely terrible these past few days.”

The elegant tip of Asad’s sword lifted Lisicha’s chin as he lay sprawled on the floor. The man’s double chin, a testament to a life of comfortable living, was nicked slightly.

Dark red blood seemed to roll down the blade before one drop fell to the floor with a soft plop.

“P-Please, anything but the seizure of the estate! This mansion is my life!”

“Your life?”

Valentina, who had been watching the scene while nervously biting her nails, collapsed to the floor with a wail.

They called her the most beautiful woman in the Empire, and seeing her in tears truly was enough to tug at any man’s heartstrings. Even some of the knights Asad had brought with him looked at her sympathetically.

The sobs of a woman on the verge of fainting, the drops of blood, and the terrified expressions of the Lisicha estate’s servants.

Amidst this hellish scene, Asad murmured indifferently.

“Well, you should have thought of that before rolling those dice at the gambling table.”

“T-That…”

Lisicha’s eyes darted around anxiously.

“M-My daughter. How about you take her on as a maid? You don’t even have to pay her. Just until I can somehow get the money together…”

At the suggestion that he take his daughter, everyone present turned their eyes toward Valentina.

Perhaps sensing this, Lisicha hurriedly added an explanation.

“I meant my eldest daughter! Mia… I mean Mia. Valentina is out of the question. Valentina…”

“Lisicha, you really are…”

“I raised her with great care… If things go well, she could even marry into one of the Four Great Families!”

“You’ve already lost one of those options. The Uliel family has no intention of becoming involved with a man like you.”

There was not even a trace of responsibility in the man prostrating himself before Asad.

Worthless trash. That was the simplest summary of Asad’s opinion of him.

“You borrowed money from the Imperial Family using forged mining ownership documents as collateral, then gambled away the money? And in return, you intend to send your eldest daughter to work as an unpaid maid? Is the deadline perhaps until you win a fortune through gambling again?”

Asad withdrew the longsword that had been pointed at Lisicha’s chin.

He accepted a handkerchief from one of his guards and wiped the blood from the blade.

After sheathing the clean sword at his waist, Asad formally recited the Emperor’s decree.

“By order of His Imperial Majesty, the Lisicha family estate and financial records are to be seized—”

That was when it happened.

An unknown woman behind him suddenly pounced on him.

While everyone around them was horrified, the perpetrator took things one step further.

Her first words were,

“Wow, this is insane.”

And then she flashed a huge smile.

Watching this, Asad could reach only one conclusion.

“Is this woman an idiot?”

The woman’s cheeks instantly turned a bright flesh-red.

Her absurd behavior was certainly one thing, but what really caught his attention was the locket she was wearing.

Several strands of black hair visible inside the heart-shaped locket looked unmistakably familiar.

Asad recalled what had happened in his office before he came here.

“Your Grace, it is time to depart for the Lisicha estate.”

Adjutant Shuri had just entered the office of Grand Duke Asad Uliel when he unconsciously frowned.

In Asad’s hand was a familiar cream-colored sheet of paper.

“Another one of those strange letters? The ones asking you to get rid of your ugly adjutant?”

“No. Surprisingly, the contents are different this time.”

Asad handed the sheet of paper between his index and middle fingers to Shuri.

Shuri hurriedly accepted the letter and read it.

His expression quickly turned serious.

“This is… a threatening letter. Judging by the handwriting, it appears to be from the same person.”

“They say they’ll make me regret it if I don’t leave the capital and return to my territory?”

Asad crossed his legs, the corners of his mouth twisting upward.

Whoever this bastard was, he was undoubtedly insane.

What kind of place was the Uliel family?

They were members of the Imperial Family and one of the most powerful noble houses in the Empire.

There was practically nowhere within the Empire beyond the reach of its young head, Asad.

And yet someone was threatening him.

It was like a mosquito threatening to suck a tiger’s blood.

Annoying and ridiculous.

But apparently, his adjutant saw things differently.

“I will issue a wanted notice immediately.”

“Leave it. He’ll give up on his own. This isn’t the first time something like this has happened.”

“But, Your Grace! This person’s behavior is becoming increasingly excessive. This is obsession.”

Adjutant Shuri clenched his fists.

As Shuri had said, Asad had recently been plagued by a mysterious lunatic.

It had started with nothing more than an excessively persistent gaze following him around the streets.

Asad had considered it nothing serious. He had been accustomed to receiving attention since childhood.

He began to find it strange when his belongings started disappearing.

At some point, small items such as pen nibs and handkerchiefs began vanishing. Even napkins he had used to wipe his mouth at cafés in busy shopping districts and pamphlets he had left on theater seats would disappear whenever he stepped away for a moment.

“Obsession.”

Asad fell into thought.

“Even if I overlook the other incidents, what happened in the plaza yesterday afternoon was definitely strange.”

Shuri continued angrily.

“No matter how crowded the festival was, someone actually grabbed and pulled out the hair of Grand Duke Uliel!”

Asad shrugged.

“Shuri, that was done by a baby.”

“We didn’t catch the culprit in the act, so that is merely circumstantial evidence. It could have been the work of the person sending the threats. Someone agile enough could certainly have done it.”

At Shuri’s forceful insistence, Asad let out a quiet sigh.

“When my adjutant recklessly draws his sword in front of a woman holding a baby, rumors start spreading that Grand Duke Uliel is cruel.”

“T-That…”

Shuri lowered his eyes in embarrassment.

On the desk sat a thick stack of similar cream-colored stationery and envelopes tied together with twine.

Shuri’s wandering gaze suddenly stopped on one particular spot.

His expression changed in an instant.

“Your Grace. Look at this.”

What Shuri picked up was the envelope containing the threatening letter that had arrived that day.

“It looks like an ordinary envelope.”

“But it seems something else came with the letter this time.”

Shuri tapped the envelope lightly.

Several strands of black hair tied with a thin golden thread slipped gently from its edge and fell onto the desk.

Asad’s expression instantly turned cold.

“This…”

“This is beyond something we can simply overlook.”

“Just give the word. I’ll rip the culprit’s throat out myself.”

His adjutant was always excessively loyal.

At Shuri’s words, the faintest hint of warmth returned to Asad’s expression.

“Before that, there’s something we need to do.”

When Asad glared at the locket, the quick-witted Adjutant Shuri placed his sword against Mia’s neck.

“Shall I cut it off?”

The moment Asad gave a slight nod, Shuri’s sword moved.

Snap.

The sound of the metal chain breaking weakly echoed through the room, and the cheap locket flew into the air.

Asad caught it, twisted it open, and a mass of black hair spilled out.

“Looks like I’ve caught the culprit who tore out my hair in the plaza yesterday.”

Every eye in the room turned toward one person in shock.

The woman who had been wearing the locket until moments ago.

Mia Lisicha.

Of course, the person most horrified of all was Mia herself.

‘This crazy… woman… Mia Lisichaaaaa!!’

Apparently, after going out until late last night, the original Mia had followed Grand Duke Asad Uliel around.

She should have realized it the moment Mia immediately got a job as the hidden mastermind’s secretary in the original novel.

This woman was a complete lunatic obsessed with Grand Duke Uliel.

Of course.

There was no way someone who knew the hidden mastermind’s habits and even his clothing preferences down to the smallest detail could possibly be normal.

But there was nothing she could do about it now.

The milk had already been spilled.

‘I can’t be branded a psycho the moment I transmigrate!’

Getting a job was no longer the issue.

This was a matter of survival.

Mia shamelessly changed her expression.

There was not even a trace of the interview smile from earlier on her face anymore.

“Your Grace, are you suffering from an overinflated sense of self-importance?”

“What?”

Asad let out an incredulous scoff.

Mia continued her desperate performance.

“That is fur from a black dog I used to raise.”

“Is that so?”

Asad’s eyes narrowed.

Mia interpreted that as a good sign, and her face brightened.

“He was a very intelligent dog. He could fetch sticks and…”

“Quite a handsome dog, I see. His features are very well-proportioned.”

“Yes, exactly. His ears were pointed, and his muzzle was sharp…”

Mia continued lying without pause, as if she had a motor attached to her.

Then, suddenly, her mouth stopped moving as though something had broken inside her.

Asad was holding up the locket in front of her with a mocking smile.

Inside it was an unmistakable portrait that looked exactly like Asad.

Having gained the upper hand in their argument, he now pointed toward the floor with his chin.

“Oh, I see. You must have loved that dog so much that you even embroidered his initials on your handkerchief.”

The handkerchief Mia had dropped when she fell was lying at her feet.

It was made of fabric far too luxurious for the impoverished Lisicha family.

Clearly embroidered along the edge were Asad’s initials and the crest of the Uliel family.

“Your Grace, we found this in the suspect’s room.”

As though things weren’t already bad enough, one of the Uliel knights was coming down to the first floor carrying an old box.

It was a box carefully trimmed with lace around the edges.

A pink piece of paper cut into the shape of a heart was attached to its lid.

“Oh, please…”

Mia let out a low groan.

Whatever was inside, there was no doubt it would contain something horribly embarrassing.

Asad accepted the box and raised one eyebrow while maintaining eye contact with Mia.

Slowly, he opened the lid.

And when he dumped the contents onto the floor—

Mia finally squeezed her eyes shut.