20. Rose’s Sudden Action  

‘It’s all thanks to kind-hearted Brother Darius, who personally held the loyalty oath ceremony and paid so much attention to her. With Brother caring this much, who wouldn’t be able to establish themselves at least to this extent?’  

Rose was lost in thought, fuming to herself.  

“Isn’t Miss Rose really funny? Every other word she says is ‘Southern woman, Southern woman’ about Lady Annette, but she’s actually from a vassal family of the Grand Ducal household.”  

“Right, who would do something as foolish as marrying their own vassal? Especially when it’s not even true love.”  

The maids of the castle, who were carrying laundry, gossiped about Rose, unaware that she was just around the corner.  

“She keeps going ‘Brother Darius, Brother’ all the time, but she’s no longer a child—she’s a fully grown lady…”  

“Hey, hey, shh!”  

“Gasp, Miss Rose!”  

“S-sorry, we didn’t know you were there…”  

“So yesterday you were badmouthing that woman, and now that the situation has changed, you’re badmouthing me instead, is that it?”  

Fire flared up in Rose’s chest. She glared fiercely at the maids.  

“We’re sorry. We won’t presumptuously chatter recklessly again. Please, forgive us just this once!”  

They weren’t even worth getting angry at. Rose shoved the maids’ shoulders roughly and headed toward Lady Ygret.  

The only one whose attitude remained the same as before was Lady Ygret.  

〈I also think a lovely young lady like Rose would make a wonderful mistress of this castle.〉  

A cultured lady who had supported Rose’s secret dreams. But…  

“I’m sorry, Miss Rose. Lady Ygret is currently busy reviewing documents to submit to the Madam.”  

“Reviewing documents?”  

“Yes, Lady Annette insisted on personally checking the approval documents that Lady Ygret has been handling so far.”  

“Does that have to be done right now?”  

Without Lady Ygret, who was Rose supposed to share her upset feelings with?  

Rose’s lips pouted in frustration.  

“Miss, it seems… you’ll have to come back another day.”  

“Oh, Miss Rose, so it’s you who came.”  

Lady Ygret, who looked visibly tired, greeted Rose. Ygret had been too busy reviewing documents to even attend today’s event.  

“It’s been a while. Come to think of it, it’s the first time I’ve seen you since we were ordered to copy etiquette books. I’m sorry about that. As this child already mentioned, I’ve been busy with work.”  

‘Did she really have to bring up something that would hurt my pride!’  

Being punished by Annette, whom she had ignored, had been a significant blow to Rose’s dignity.  

Rose, her face turning red, barely acknowledged Lady Ygret and stormed off.  

“Miss Rose!”  

“Let her be. I don’t have the energy to deal with Miss Rose right now.”  

How dare they treat me like this!  

From the maids to even Lady Ygret. Rose was on the verge of tears from the cold treatment she was experiencing for the first time.  

‘What? The etiquette book? As if I wanted to copy that thing! …If it weren’t for Father and Brother’s nagging!’  

It wasn’t because she was afraid of that woman. It wasn’t because she acknowledged that woman as the rightful wife of Brother Darius and followed her orders. It was solely because her father and older brother Lucion had pestered her so much that she copied it.  

‘At first, even that woman said she wasn’t fond of a woman from the Poche family. But then, just because she repaired the training grounds once, she was completely smitten. That fool!’  

Rose’s biological brother, Lucion Temeri, was also one of those who liked Annette.  

Rose remembered clearly how Lucion had initially treated Annette.  

〈For someone who’s just the daughter of a Marquis, to marry into the Grand Duke’s household… It seems the Poche family wants to climb the social ladder through marriage.〉  

The Temeri family, as the foremost shield of the Inkheart family, never opposed the Grand Duke’s decisions. They supported and carried out their master’s will.  

If not for that principle, the proud Lucion would have been the first to oppose Darius marrying into the Marquis Poche family instead of a royal or noble family.  

When Rose heard that Lucion had clashed with Annette at the training grounds, she was thrilled, even while copying mountains of etiquette books.  

‘Brother is showing the spirit of the Temeri family. As expected, Brother is a model knight second only to Brother Darius!’  

But that proud model knight was quickly subdued by the two pots of gold that Annette found.  

〈Lady Annette was not the person I thought she was. She is someone with a heart so broad that my narrow perspective could not possibly encompass it.〉  

Whatever that woman did, after meeting her once, Brother was utterly mesmerized.  

〈Why do I have to submit my punishment properly just so Brother Lucion can maintain his dignity in front of Lady Annette!〉  

Rose’s punishment was thus completed under strict supervision in an unexpected place.  

And so, with a sullen expression, Rose carried the copied etiquette books and headed to the Grand Duchess’s chambers. Her plan was to quickly leave them there while Annette was away and disappear.  

“Miss Rose. You can place what you’ve brought on the Madam’s desk in her office. The Madam has been handling so many tasks lately that her desk is quite cluttered.”  

As the maid said, Annette’s desk was cluttered with various documents.  

‘What kind of desk is this for a Grand Duchess? Honestly, there’s not a single thing about her that suits Brother Darius.’  

Rose placed the seven etiquette books in an empty spot on the desk.  

Thud. With a heavy sound, the piled-up documents slid down.  

“Seriously, is this a desk or a pigsty?”  

Annoyed, Rose picked up the fallen books and documents.  

‘Legends of the North and Their Interpretations,’ ‘Fairy Tales,’ ‘Geography of Forests and Rivers’…  

“What is this?”  

Curious, Rose examined the documents and found most of them were about Northern legends and maps.  

A note, seemingly written by Annette herself, caught her eye.  

It doesn’t seem to be the lake. Likely refers to the place where the wind begins, meaning a cliff. Possible candidates are two or three locations in the Oak Forest of the Fairy’s Woods.  

“What, is she seriously looking for some legend like a child?”  

The collection of legend-related materials Annette had gathered was something even Rose was familiar with. Anyone who grew up in the North had heard such stories as a child.  

Long ago, the founder of the Inkheart family gathered wealth and created a treasure vault to prepare for a crisis in the world.  

The treasure vault was said to be invisible and intangible, accessible only to someone destined to find it.  

A treasure sleeping until the day the world faced a crisis.  

Northern children often played treasure-hunting games in the woods, inspired by these tales.  

As children, they found the hidden treasure stories thrilling, but as adults, they knew it was all nonsense.  

‘If such a thing existed, would the Grand Duchy be this poor right now?’  

Rose sneered at Annette while trying to tidy the desk.  

‘But that woman is the one who found a hidden treasure in this castle that no one knew existed.’  

Could it really be dismissed as nonsense?  

What if that woman managed to achieve another seemingly impossible feat?  

That couldn’t be allowed. While Rose told herself she didn’t believe in such legends, she found herself scrutinizing the materials Annette had organized.  

‘These are all places I visited as a child… especially this one.’  

Rose suddenly covered her mouth.  

“Acc-according to the map…!”  

She might have made an incredible discovery.  

* * *  

By the time all the ceremonies were over, it was late afternoon. The sunset was already painting the sky in shades of orange.  

“I’m so proud of you, Madam. The sight of the knights kneeling before you with such discipline, one by one!”  

Apple, unable to hide her honest feelings, blushed and showered me with praise.  

‘While grand ceremonies are impressive, I have other things to do.’  

“More importantly, Apple, you grew up in the North, right? Do you know anything about the legendary treasure of the Inkheart family?”  

“Are you talking about the story of how, long ago, the ancestor of the Inkheart Grand Duchy received a prophecy that his descendants would fight the Demon King, and believing the prophecy, sealed away precious treasures somewhere in the North? Madam, come on! Everyone in the North knows that story. But we all know the same thing. If others don’t know more, neither do I.”  

Apple giggled. She clearly didn’t believe the story to be true.  

“If you remember anything, no matter how small, let me know. It might be a clue.”  

“Yes, yes, Madam, the one who discovered the hidden treasure in the castle.”  

Finding the golden pots had been a stroke of luck.  

The legend of the treasure prepared by the ancestor of the Inkheart Grand Duchy for his descendants.  

In the original story, when the heroine first arrived in the North, she was faced with an unexpected disaster and had no way to deal with it.  

Desperately searching for a source of money, she ended up looking into the legendary treasure vault of the Inkheart Grand Duchy, which turned out to be real.  

‘Although the treasure is originally meant to be found by the heroine, given the current state of the North, I’m sure the heroine would understand.’  

Without a foundation, how could one fight the Demon King?  

‘Heroine, I’ll prepare well with the money I borrowed in advance! When you arrive, the North will be a much better place to live!’  

The only problem was that the treasures, which were easily found in the original story, was proving difficult for me to locate.  

Lately, I had been asking everyone I met about the legend in my quest to find the treasures.  

‘Since I saw it being discovered in the original story, I have a rough idea. But I’m missing a decisive clue.’  

At that moment, Apple poked me in the back.  

“Madam.”  

When I turned around, Darius was waiting for me.