My Sweet Deceiver

Chapter 23

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In a quiet office. 

A woman was sitting by the table, and another woman was kneeling in front of her with her head bowed deeply. 

“Okay. What are you going to do?”

The woman, sitting on the chair, looked down and asked. 

“Just let me do anything. I want to get back at Duke of Briem.”

The woman, kneeling on her knees, with bloodshot eyes and a desperate face, looked up at the person sitting in the chair.

“How can I trust you?”

The woman on her knees, without saying a word, pulled a dagger out of her arms.

Startled by the flashing blade, the escort knight behind her tried to step forward. But the woman raised her hand and stopped her. 

The woman on her knees untied her hair, grabbed a handful and cut it off.

She then politely offered her hair with both her hands.

“Instead of my neck, I offer my hair. If I do anything that offends the Princess, have my title taken next time.”

“…”

“Forever and ever, my life will belong to the Princess.” 

The woman sitting in the chair beckoned with a stern face, and Danielle took the hair.

“If so…”

As Tehez held the hair, the woman on her knees smiled happily as if she had heard an angel’s voice. She asked the woman with a face that looked like she had already achieved what she wanted, as if confirming again.

“Are you sure you can do anything?”

“Of course, at the cost of my life.”

“It’s never too late to discuss life after it goes wrong. It can be tough.”

“I will do my best.”

Tehez said, looking down at the woman’s determined face.

“Then I will wash your identity. First of all, go into the Duke’s house as a maid.”

“I will take orders.”

The woman answered without hesitation.

“I will tell you what to do later. It is most important to win the trust of the Duke.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

The woman bowed politely and walked out of the room. 

Tehez gently pressed her temples to see if she had a headache.

“Would you like some more warm tea?” Danielle asked Tehez.

“I’m feeling stuffy, so I want to eat something cold.”

“Then can I get you some ice?”

“Let’s go. Let’s stop by the temple for a while on our way.”

On the way to the carriage, Tehez pondered how to roll the card in her hand.

She knew the name of the woman she had met today. 

Fantine Creon. 

The eldest daughter of an aristocrat, who was almost wiped out due to Duke Briem’s ​​trickery.

The Creon family had been famous for gold mines since ancient times. 

When it comes to ‘Creon Gold Mine’ in Valloise, there was no one who didn’t know about it.

The amount of gold mined in Creon mines was half the gold in circulation in Valloise. 

It was the Duke of Briem who made Viscount Creon collapse in an instant.

It was a small and trivial reason why he coveted the Creon Mines. 

Tehez thought of the lowly greed of the Duke of Briem, who eventually drove Viscount Creon into the abyss.

“Have you heard the latest news from Viscount Creon?”

Tehez asked Danielle a question, and Danielle answered as she traced her memory.

“I understand that there has been no clear progress recently. I heard that he lost his counterfeit contract trial with the Duke of Briem, and that he was unable to pay off his mounting debts and put his title up for sale.”

“It seems that the title has not been sold yet.”

“Yes. I don’t think anyone offered to buy it.”

“Gold mines with dwindling yields would be unattractive.”

At Tehez’s words, Danielle nodded her head.

“Besides, the court case was seen as offensive to the old nobles, including the Duke of Briem.”

At Danielle’s words, Tehez recalled the trial of the Duke of Briem and Viscount Creon a few years ago.

The Duke of Briem brought out the old contract he had received from his predecessor, Viscount Creon, and filed a lawsuit against Creon.

The contract stipulated that Viscount Creon would provide the Duke of Briem with gold mined from the largest gold mine in the estate for a fee.

But the fee was subtle. It was supposed to pay 30% of the wheat harvested from the estate of the Duke of Briem as a commission. It was a remarkably small, unfair contract compared to the value of the Creon gold mine.

Then it was discovered that the contract offered by the Duke of Briem was a forgery. However, as a powerless low-ranking aristocrat, fighting the Duke of Briem, a great aristocrat, was like a battle in which victory and defeat were decided.

Viscount Creon, who lost the trial, shrank day by day due to the enormous legal costs, fees that were not paid to the Duke of Briem, and the reduced gold mine output.

That was how Fantine Creon decided to take revenge on the Duke of Briem.

Tehez checked the progress in her head. Some unexpected parts were in the middle, but it wasn’t bad if evaluated in a broad frame. If all goes as expected, Fantine Creon will be useful.

Tehez quietly shook her head.

***

“We’re here, Princess.”

A gloomy evening.

Tehez arrived at the temple. 

Perhaps because it was not a holy day, only a few priests and individuals came to pray in the temple.

One of the priests met her and greeted her.

“Welcome.”

“Good morning, priest. I’m sorry for being at this late hour.”

“The temple is always open to believers.”

The priest spoke with a seemingly benevolent expression.

“Thank you. If you don’t mind, I’d like to share the tea with the Bishop.”

Tehez beckoned, and Danielle came out from behind carrying a small object wrapped in expensive silk. When the priest opened the silk, what was inside was a tea canister.

The tea in the tea canister was a commodity commonly consumed by nobles. However, the tea canister was made of sandalwood, which grows only in the southwestern part of Valloise, and a verse from the scriptures was embossed.

“Precious…”

The priest was speechless for a moment. Because that tea canister was a luxury that ordinary people would never see in their lives. 

The priest, who had a bright face, spoke louder.

“I pray for Nate’s blessing to the believers. The Bishop is now in the prayer room. I will let you know when he’s done praying.”

The priest led her to the central chapel of the temple and told her to wait a moment.

“Thank you.”

Tehez nodded and sat in the chapel, swiping her hand across the chair. The chairs, which probably existed since the time the temple was built, still looked shiny.

Tehez raised her head and looked straight ahead. The shortened autumn sun shone on stained glass, illuminating the statue of Nate hanging from the ceiling of the chapel.

God was looking down on her.

Tehez saw God looking down at her without moving. 

Even though she knew there was no such thing as a God, when she had to decide something, she found herself in the temple.

Tehez laughed at her own behaviour.

She once prayed hard when she was young. 

At that time, it was because she really believed that God was the one who could accomplish anything. But she never had her prayers answered.

She prayed to God to heal her mother, who had been ill for a long time, but her mother eventually closed her eyes.

She begged to change her father, but his abuse got worse with each passing day.

She prayed that she could do her minimum duty for him who didn’t love her, but her God did not grant her the blessing of pregnancy.

Perhaps she would never receive that blessing.

She stared blankly at the statue. 

The still face of God.

Whenever the things she wanted desperately were thwarted, Tehez used to become discouraged. She couldn’t understand why it always happened to her. After her countless setbacks, Tehez finally figured it out. 

If there’s anything you want, you have to do it yourself. 

Whether it’s right or wrong before God. 

So, she thought it wouldn’t matter if she wasn’t forgiven for the sins she had committed. 

She only knew that she just did her best to achieve what she wanted.

Tehez knew that she was doing the unforgivable to put him on the throne. 

However, she hoped that he could be crowned with the fruit of her sins.

‘Don’t let this all go in vain.’

It was her last wish. 

As long as he ascends the throne safely, she can leave her seat next to him without regrets.

“Princess, the Bishop has come out of the prayer room. Come here.”

Tehez stood up at the priest’s call. 

She went into the room where the Bishop was waiting.

The Bishop greeted Tehez with a gracious smile.

“May the Grace of God be with you.”

“And with you as well, Your Holiness.”

The Bishop was making tea. 

Tehez sat proudly at the table, wondering if the Bishop liked the tea canister she had gifted. 

“Why did you find me today?”

“I wanted to repent. I feel like I haven’t been able to keep holy days properly these days.”

Tehez replied, with her smile faded.

“You’re always welcome. What do you want to confess? Nate is a forgiver of any sin.”

“…That I’m working really hard …. He just needs to know that.”

“Nate knows your hard work.”

“Does he really know?”

Tehez asked the Bishop.

“Of course. He is looking at all things in the world.”

“Then I shall not be forgiven.”

Those were the most sincere words she ever spoke out of her mouth.

Tehez looked at the Bishop with a smile. He looked at her for a few seconds, wondering what she meant.

Squeak

The sound of boiling water came from the teapot placed on the brazier.

Tehez added, as if her previous comments were a joke.

“Because I am not faithful. If God is watching, that is enough.”

The Bishop answered her with a frown.

“There’s no way Nate would drop a faithful person like you into a brimstone fire. Believe it, believer. You will go to eternal paradise.”

Indeed, it was the Bishop’s logic to measure faithfulness by the size of the material offered to the temple.

“Thank you for those kind words, Bishop. Thanks to you, I will sleep peacefully tonight.”

“Of course.”

The Bishop cooled the boiling water a bit, brewed the tea and set it down in front of her. Tehez could guess that the colour between the ends came out very well. 

She took the tea offered by the Bishop as if it were precious. 

The tea smelled good. 

It was a five hundred Louis tea.

(To be continued in the next episode)

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