The Young Supporter of Darkness

“How annoying!”

Thump!

The pillow hit the door and fell.

Edia breathed heavily as if she could not relieve her anger, even after throwing the pillow as hard as she could.

“What the hell is that commoner doing!!”

She was overwhelmed with irritation.

“I’m not here to truly be a commoner’s lady-in-waiting!”

Yes, she followed her as a lady-in-waiting of a commoner who was certain to die because she was crazy.

It’s because there was a big picture.

“Rachel, have you heard anything?”

“Nothing.”

Rachel, who sat on the bed and combed her hair, shook her head.

Contrary to her seemingly calm behavior, she was also quite annoyed, with wrinkles formed between her brows.

“If I had known, I wouldn’t have sent Natelli away like that.”

Natelli.

She was a black-haired lady-in-waiting who was sent to the capital with her fiancé in the midst.

“I heard that she and her fiancé were locked up in a dungeon.”

“What? A-Are you saying they were locked up in a dungeon just for that?”

“It’s no problem to trample on the princess, but the emperor is a noble man.”

“No way, execution… Won’t they suffer?”

Rachel shook her head.

“Though, you won’t be able to get out easily.”

At those words, Edia’s face darkened as if she had been imprisoned in the dungeon.

Like a fool.

It would be nice if there was one less competitor.

They were all promised a reward, but the best reward was only for one person.

So it would be better if there were at least one less person.

‘No, it’s mine anyway.’

Rachel laughed inwardly.

“Yes, that princess.”

Not knowing what she was thinking, Edia paced around the room.

“It’s annoying, it’s annoying. How did that beggar cleverly brand the landslide as Natelli and her fiancé’s act? She even made it look like they violated His Majesty the Emperor’s orders!”

That was true.

But Rachel wasn’t so kind as to point that out.

Rachel brushed her hair without replying.

“Because of that, I couldn’t move at all by the princess’s words.”

After seeing Natelli and her fiancé dragged along like that, she naturally shrank.

Even if the commoner took away the carriage she received as a birthday present, the aristocrat herself could not protest, and was forced to ride in a livestock or law-evading load wagon.

‘But you’ve been quiet since then, haven’t you?’

Didn’t Daphne stay quiet during the long trip, just being served by Mariel?

No, she even looked timid.

‘Is it a coincidence?’

Doubts started creeping in.

“Rachel!”

“Why?”

“Do you really think the princess knew about the landslide?”

“I don’t know.”

Rachel’s eyes narrowed.

“I’m curious about that, too.”

Whether it was a coincidence or not at that time.

Do they still have the possibility of crushing the princess?

They were curious about that.

“I mean, us.”

Edia, sitting on the edge of the same bed as Rachel, blinked.

“Do you want to experiment?”

“What?”

“That princess…”

Knock knock!

As Edia continued to speak meaningfully, suddenly a knock was heard.

The eyes of the two turned towards the door.

“Who are you?”

“It’s me, Mariel.”

Edia burst open the door.

Standing outside, Mariel clasped her hands timidly.

Both of their faces were filled with sneers.

In particular, Rachel’s face was filled with glee.

“Who is this? Is it not Mariel, the loyal lady-in-waiting of Her Highness Princess Daphne Blake!”

“……”

At Rachel’s ridicule, Mariel’s lips twitched a few times before she opened her mouth.

“Is it okay to go in…?”

“Yeah, well.”

Edia shrugged and made room for her to come inside.

“What are you doing here, person who is always sticking close to Her Highness the Princess?”

“That’s right! Here, Your Highness! Here’s a pen and paper, Your Highness!”

“Kyahahaha!”

When Edia imitated Mariel in a funny way, Rachel burst into laughter.

Mariel’s face turned red.

“I-It’s not like I want to do that! You know it well.”

“I don’t know?”

Edia nudged Mariel on the shoulder and laughed.

Every time, Mariel’s body stumbled.

“We are not daughters of a poor viscount family like you. I heard your family sold their mansion last time? Where do you go to sleep now? No way!”

Edia widened her eyes exaggeratedly.

“Are you sleeping on the street? Like your master?”

“It’s a suitable accommodation for a poor family.”

Laughter broke out again.

Mariel was the only one in the room who couldn’t laugh.

“What are you doing here?”

After laughing so hard for a long time, Rachel asked again.

Mariel squeezed her skirt and managed to barely speak.

“I’m here to ask you a request.”

“You to us? What is it?”

It was an attitude of listening with generosity.

“Rachel, Edia! Please!”

Thud!

Mariel suddenly knelt on the floor and grabbed Edia’s hem.

“What are you doing!”

“Take me to the capital with you when you’re done with your task!!”

Tears streamed from Mariel’s eyes.

“I don’t want to die on this land because the person I serve is wrongly chosen! I want to live!”

Mariel wept bitterly as she held the hem of Edia’s clothes.

Edia’s face wrinkled, fearing that her clothes would stretch.

“Please, please. Huh? We were pretty close when we were children. Please think about that time…”

“You have to say it correctly.”

Rachel shot back sharply.

“You followed us around to the point of being annoying.”

She looked like she didn’t want to go down to the same level as Mariel.

Mariel nodded quickly.

“That’s right, that’s right. I did.”

Then, she bowed her head and cried loudly again.

‘What should we do?’

If the two people and the two families worked together, they could get rid of Mariel.

However, they did not intend to get rid of her.

‘Someone has to cover up the crime of hurting the princess, right?’

And since she is a princess, she needs to be buried with at least one person next to her to create a picture.

Looking back, Rachel nodded as if she was thinking the same thing.

“Good!”

Edia replied as if she was being generous.

“Instead, you have to obey everything we say. Like when you were a kid. You know that, right?”

“Yes, yes! I will. Thank you. Edia, Rachel!”

A satisfied smile appeared on both of their faces.

“Tell us in detail what the princess is doing. No matter how stupid you are, I believe you’ll be of use to that extent.”

“Okay.”

Mariel nodded immediately at Rachel’s answer.

“By the way.”

Edia opened her mouth. It was an opportunity to clear her doubts.

“The princess. Did she really know about the landslide incident?”

Mariel shook her head.

“No. Looking at it, she matched it by luck. She was very scared because she didn’t know when she would be retaliated against for yelling at you guys.”

“As expected! Look at that! She pretended there was nothing?”

Her speculation was correct.

Edia cheered. Then she wrinkled her face.

“The fox has deceived us! It’s also cunning.”

Mariel added, furtively noticing.

“That’s why she seemed to be trying to mooch off the people of Bertrand.”

“Aha. I see, for that reason?”

A nasty smile emerged on Edia’s face.

The first day after arriving at the castle.

She was so tired that she woke up a little late, and a fox-like thing was walking with Bertrand’s knights.

“You must think you can get away from us.”

Rachel laughed hysterically.

“I’ll have to show you tomorrow that you can’t.”

Edia also raised the corners of her mouth.

And that.

‘It’s done.’

Mariel was the same.

A smile appeared on Mariel’s lips as she bowed her head, pretending to sadly beg.

She had completed what Her Highness told her to do.

***

‘I slept well.’

It was a rare refreshing morning, as she slept soundly without a dream after a long time.

Daphne laid in bed and blinked.

Even though it was time to get up, she kept digging into the warm blanket.

Daphne yawned loudly and curled up under the covers.

She slept well, but somehow she didn’t want to go out of the covers.

“Mmm…”

Daphne stretched out her arms under the covers and hugged one of the pillows tightly.

The position became more perfect.

‘It’s soft.’

The bedding and pillows were so soft that her body could fall into them.

‘I’ve never used anything so good in the imperial palace.’

Not only during the orphanage and after being adopted, but also when living under Alan’s shadow.

If the adopted princess behaved extravagantly, the aristocrats would find fault with it.

It was because Alan told her to be a model for the common people and to live frugally as well.

‘I followed it like a fool back then.’

A wrinkle formed between Daphne’s brows.

Well, she’ll erase the stupid dark history by striking Alan’s neck this time.

Daphne yawned loudly.

Consciousness began to sink into sleep again.

But someone pulled the covers off.

“Are you still sleeping?”

Her body shivered from the sudden cold wind.

“You shouldn’t wake up this late, Your Highness.”

Who?

Through her thinly slitted open eyes, she suddenly saw the face of a lady-in-waiting pulling on the blanket and verbally abusing her.

One of the ladies-in-waiting who followed her was Edia.

“Hurry up and get up. Isn’t meal time just around the corner? You should go and wash up.”

Then she grabbed Daphne’s arm and yanked her forcefully.

‘Ugh!’

A scream broke out in her mouth from how strong she was.

A smile appeared on Edia’s lips as Daphne was in pain.

“Your Highness, I have brought you the water for washing here.”

In the place where Edia dragged Daphne to, there was water for washing as she said.

The white porcelain bowl was luxurious, as if she had put a lot of thought into it, and the towel next to it also looked fine.

The problem was the washing water.

She never dreamed of warm water.

At best, she thought they would fill it up with a lot of cold water.

“Ice?”

The bowl where there was supposed to be water was filled with only ice.

Clatter.

The ice made a sound, as if it was starting to melt little by little in the warm room temperature.

“Yes. Turns out that Bertrand’s specialty is ice.”

Edia looked down at Daphne without hiding her sneer.

“On top of that, if you wash your face with ice water, your skin will become white. You didn’t know, did you? That’s why I’ve brought a lot of ice for Your Highness!”

“……”

“Are you happy? Aren’t you happy? You have such a nice and kind lady-in-waiting like me.”

After that, Daphne blinked blankly as she listened to Edia’s words.

No.

Even if the reaction is fast, isn’t it too fast?