Adele Side Story 1: And Yet, The Blight Remains (3)

Jane's whole body was telling her that she needed to get out of here immediately.

Although the maid reassured her that there was nothing harmful, nothing threatening her life, she still felt her stomach churn from the entire landscape of this place.

'This is crazy!'

No one in their right mind would have thought of what Adele was now inwardly panicking about.

A variable had appeared. One that had never shown up in her plans.

And most importantly, it had to do with her sister.

'Josephine…!'

That's right.

She was now in deep anger—and more importantly...

Fear.

Her sister had always been predictable.

She could always guess what Josephine would do next based on the information she had of the future.

And yet...

Her sister had suddenly changed.

A few months ago, she started acting weird during her debutante.

And that was the cue. That was the source of all of Adele's recent worries.

Despite having already set up everything to take her revenge, her sister's change stirred up something in Adele.

Doubt.

If Josephine doesn't act based on what Adele knows, and if someone is helping her...

Then everything would be different.

But Adele knew better than anyone: Josephine had no allies.

Because Adele made sure of that.

She plotted everything from the very beginning. Everyone hated Josephine. Adele took every opportunity to grow into a formidable figure in the empire while Josephine was stuck rotting away in this spare mansion.

And yet...

Adele knew she was in denial.

Inside this mansion, she couldn't even stand up to the maid who served Josephine.

Right now, she was just sitting, deep in thought, not knowing what to do.

The maid had served her butter cookies and chamomile tea—because, apparently, that's all they had around.

Adele couldn't even argue. The maid was right.

It was one of Adele's schemes to cut the budget of the spare mansion. She oversaw the entire duchy's allocations.

So, at the very least, Adele could endure that shame. It was her fault.

And the maid had been very vocal about that in their earlier conversation.

"The lady has never done anything to you nowadays, but it seems as if you're trying to make her life as miserable as ever."

She wore a stern expression, her face blank, but her eyes glowed—just a faint shimmer of purple defiance.

"At the very least, this mansion is self-sufficient and everything is managed by my lady herself. There is no money coming from the main mansion, and my lady is the one paying my salary."

She led Adele into the living room. It lacked any decorations, but it was still elegant.

No expensive vases. No complicated architecture. No advanced facilities.

It was just a spare mansion.

"That's just the design my lady insists on, even if we have enough budget…"

The maid coughed, as if correcting her master.

It was one of the many things making Adele question what was going on.

Or at least... making her think something was going on.

"You're thinking that my lady is someone who flaunts her wealth, but you're mistaken."

'This maid…'

She knew what Adele was thinking without her saying a word.

"My lady simply wants to live a simple life where she is loved. But alas…"

'Hah!'

Even if the maid spouted these things, their beliefs were clearly different.

But for the sake of formality, Adele kept quiet.

And the maid did too.

She snapped out of her thoughts for a moment.

She couldn't call Oberon for some reason.

But she had a clue.

A god.

An evil god.

That had to be it. Domains were powers typically reserved for those at the peak of their classes.

"Has she finally sold her soul?"

That was the only explanation that made sense.

No one would help Josephine. Not after all Adele did to make sure of it.

Even the dark organizations, even the political landscape—everything was under her control.

But if Oberon was insisting not to interfere… then this was the only case left.

But gods were... hard to understand.

Their presence was barely felt. Even in the mortal realm, they rarely interfered.

Or so she thought.

There was divine power, sure—but even in myths, gods were the pinnacle. The untouchable.

But it was all just speculation. Unless she saw Josephine herself, it meant nothing.

Dark magic would be the best sign of that. One look, and she'd know if her sister was tainted.

And if she was? Adele would make her head fly off.

But the maid wasn't letting her near Josephine's room.

Out of privacy, she said.

Adele didn't argue. Her status as a Konrow meant nothing to someone who pledged loyalty to a person—not the duchy.

She also couldn't sneak out. The moment she tried, the maid was already there, staring straight at her.

Even though Adele had used invisibility magic.

'...Scary.'

This maid was serious.

So Adele resigned herself and just accepted the hospitality.

But then…

The maid was taking too long.

She said she was just getting something from the kitchen, but it had been over thirty minutes.

That didn't feel normal.

Normally Adele wouldn't pull rank. But this was no time to waste chances.

She was in the enemy's stronghold.

She had to know.

So she snuck down the hallways. No magic this time. Just silent footsteps.

Old-fashioned, Konrow-style.

When she reached the kitchen, she heard voices.

"You're only wasting food! My lady won't wake up very soon and you know that!"

"…"

She peeked through the slightly open door.

And saw something bizarre.

The maid—Jane—was glaring. Radiating pure killing intent.

At none other than Peter Edencrown.

Who was also radiating that same intense aura...

While wearing a chef's hat and apron.

'…'

Adele was speechless.

'...Peter?'

Now that she thought about it… Peter had disappeared a few months ago.

And if he's here…

No.

No.

No.

She acted without thinking.

"PETER!"

She threw the door open.

Jane looked confused but stayed silent.

Adele rushed over to Peter, trying to hug him.

"It's been a whi—"

But Peter avoided her.

Dodged her like she was diseased.

"Hey."

Adele's eyes lost their light.

"Why are you avoiding me? Why aren't you saying anything?"

Peter said nothing.

Didn't even look at her.

"Look at me, Peter!"

She grabbed him, started violently shaking him.

"I said look at me, dammit!"

She was breaking. Completely.

One of her biggest fears was happening right now.

Her breath grew ragged. Her tears streamed freely.

"Hey Peter… please…"

She sank to the floor, still clinging to him.

Begging.

If she lost Peter now, her plans would hit a wall.

And worse—her trauma would return.

Jane watched quietly.

And Peter…

Showed no remorse.