Isn’t Being A Wicked Woman Much Better? - Chapter 173

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 173
“A person’s name exists in it?”
An uneasy sensation crept over me, and I swallowed dryly without meaning to. Enrique nodded, clinging tightly to my arm.
‘What on earth is this all about….’
When I unearthed the Rose Garden and obtained the Duchess’s letters and diary, I had thoroughly examined every word within them and discovered nothing particularly suspicious.
The crossword puzzle that Enrique mentioned containing a person’s name appeared perfectly ordinary to my eyes. Crosswords were merely a pastime that noblewomen and gentlemen enjoyed during tea time, so there was little reason to suspect anything unusual about it.
“Enrique, no matter how hard I look, I can’t figure out where a person’s name is hidden.”
“Here, sir.”
“Hmm?”
Enrique pointed precisely at the intersection where the horizontal and vertical words of the crossword puzzle met. I narrowed my eyes.
“J?”
The answer to puzzle number one across and puzzle number two down were as described above, and the letter at the intersection where the two words crossed was J.
“And next is… here.”
At the intersection of puzzle number three and puzzle number four was the letter A.
I eagerly traced my gaze along Enrique’s fingertip, beginning to connect all the letters at each intersection point where the horizontal and vertical words crossed. The word that emerged was—
“J.A.M.I.L.A….”
Jamila.
Remarkably, just as Enrique had said, a person’s name had truly been completed.
“This is a person’s name, isn’t it?”
“Yes. It really is.”
‘Jamila…? Is that a woman’s name?’
There was something that troubled me too much to dismiss as mere coincidence.
‘In the novel, when Miya negotiated with Duke Simour to escape the twins’ clutches, she traded only the letters and deliberately withheld the diary.’
That was why I had found this diary puzzling at first. But if Miya had discovered something she wished to conceal within the Duchess’s diary, the reason for trading only the letters became easily explained.
“Sister. But there’s something strange here too.”
However, what lay within was not merely the woman’s name ‘Jamila.’ The crossword puzzle contained not twelve problems but a total of twenty-two. The meaning hidden within the intersections of the remaining ten words was far more sinister.
“DEMON….”
A demon.
‘Who exactly is Jamila, that she would be concealed alongside the word demon?’
Could it be connected to the Black Mages who contract with demons? As I gazed intently at the crossword puzzle, which felt like a warning, Enrique asked me.
“What could this be?”
“It might be a cipher deliberately planted by someone.”
The probability that the Duchess herself had created this crossword puzzle was virtually nonexistent. Those who crafted such games were almost always Maids, while members of the Imperial Family and high-ranking nobility merely enjoyed solving the quizzes they had prepared in advance.
“A cipher… that’s frightening….”
“Enrique. You know your sister is the strongest person in the world, don’t you? If you’re frightened, stay with me today. And could you lend me your mother’s diary for a moment?”
Enrique nodded vigorously, and I gently stroked the child’s soft hair.
“Our Enrique has such keen observation skills. It’s easy to overlook something like this and let it pass by.”
Of course, if someone had something nagging or pricking at their conscience, they might spot it immediately.
“It’s mother’s only keepsake, so I’ve looked at it many times. And it’s also a precious gift that sister gave me.”
I gazed briefly at the diary, its pages worn from being turned over repeatedly, then settled Enrique onto my lap and read to him from a collection of poems, grateful that the Duchess’s diary had not been discarded by Miya but had instead fallen into the child’s hands.
After a while, the round head droops forward in drowsy nods. Watching Enrique fall asleep on my lap despite his protests of fear, I gazed intently at the crossword puzzle game concealing the words ‘Jamila’ and ‘demon’.
‘…First, I need to find out who Jamila is.’
* * *
“Where are you going without resting at home?”
As I descended the stairs in a thick robe to submit a request to Blanche, Beleck Simour blocked my path and asked bluntly.
“You have excess energy—shouldn’t you just stay in bed?”
“The mastermind behind the Royal Library terror attack hasn’t been caught yet, so here we are.”
In truth, I was heading out to investigate a crucial clue I’d discovered about that mastermind.
“I’m planning to stop by Armand first. And it’s ridiculous for someone bearing the Simour name to cower away.”
“Hmm. That’s true enough.”
“But brother, your expression suggests you have much to say?”
His expression grew somewhat serious.
“Rumors are spreading that you possess remarkable holy power. Father simply told me to ask you directly. What’s the truth?”
Until now, only Isidore and Father had known that I’d awakened holy power, but it was becoming impossible to hide any longer—and I no longer wished to.
“That’s right. I’m far more remarkable than you imagine, brother. Don’t you feel the urge to call me sister?”
I playfully conjured a pristine spherical mass of holy power above my palm and blew it toward Beleck’s face. He, who had been mercilessly exploited for labor all this time, gaped in shock at my demonstration.
“A-are all the saints dead?! Divine Lord… have you truly abandoned the Empire?!”
Leaving him behind as he tore at his hair in alarm, I boarded the carriage and headed toward Armand.
Upon arriving at Blanche through the magic circle in the Underground Cavern beneath Armand, I spotted Isidore concealing his beauty with Polymorph magic, apparently occupied with work.
“It’s pleasant to see you so frequently.”
The doll-like face, which I never quite grew accustomed to seeing, smiled gently.
“It feels like ages since I’ve seen you.”
“The fact that you’ve come here instead of the Visconti Town House suggests you have a request?”
“Yes.”
I settled into a seat while stroking the yawning Cookie, and he served warm black tea as always.
“Master, have you ever heard the name ‘Jamila’?”
He tilted his head slightly.
“Jamila? It’s a name with a distinctive accent. I remember the names of most nobles, but this is the first time I’ve heard such a name.”
I retrieved the crossword puzzle and explained that I’d discovered suspicious ciphers in Mother’s diary. I also mentioned that in the future I’d witnessed, Miya had discarded this diary containing the crossword.
“According to the diary, Mother was close to the Empress and frequently received invitations to tea parties held at the Imperial Palace.”
“….”
“What if one of the maids in the Imperial Palace knew the identity of the Black Mage within the Imperial Court and made a covert internal report through the crossword puzzle?”
“Jamila….”
As Isidore snapped his fingers, a thick scroll listing the Imperial Family and nobility materialized in mid-air.
“This contains everyone from the Emperor down to the eighth cousin of his in-laws. The informants have continuously revised and organized this data over the past three years, so no names should be missing. Let’s search through it.”
“There are so many nobles in the Empire.”
The fortunate thing was that the names were arranged alphabetically. Yet no matter how thoroughly I combed through it, I couldn’t find the name Jamila anywhere.
‘Then what is that name from the crossword puzzle?’
Slumped in defeat once more, I found myself staring intently at the name “Astella Hystech” listed as the Fourth Empress, and slowly opened my mouth.
“Isidore. Is it possible to obtain a list of the maids who served under the Fourth Empress around nine or ten years ago?”
“You suspect the Fourth Empress as the likely mastermind, don’t you? Yet she’s an empress from a foreign land with virtually no maternal family influence….”
Isidore tapped his fingers slowly against the table, his face clouded in thought.
“Think about it. Though overshadowed by my brother Rozard, the Third Prince could have become a war hero through the rifts if circumstances had aligned differently.”
“….”
“Moreover, Miya’s debutante partner was the Third Prince. Given her saintly aura, she should have received escort requests from countless prominent families’ heirs, yet her partner happened to be the Third Prince. Quite the coincidence, wouldn’t you say?”
“….”
“If we investigate the Fourth Empress, we might uncover Jamila’s true identity.”
“I’ll conduct a thorough investigation of all the maids who served the Fourth Empress.”
Several days later.
After persistent inquiries, I discovered a woman who had once served as the Fourth Empress’s maid. She now lived in poverty, having taken refuge in a small convent where she performed menial tasks for meager wages.
“If you’d served in the Imperial Family, your compensation would have been generous. Why did you leave the Fourth Empress’s service midway?”
The woman, who had been greedily clutching the bundle of silver coins I offered, suddenly paled the moment the Fourth Empress’s name was mentioned.
“Speak freely. No one will harm you for telling the truth.”
When I placed a purse of gold coins and the Simour seal before her, she glanced nervously left and right before finally opening her mouth.
“Two of the maids who worked alongside me died. She was a woman with cruel hands even from childhood.”
“Was she the Fourth Empress’s maid since childhood?”
“She’s been with the Fourth Empress since she arrived from the Nerman Kingdom to the Empire at fifteen years old.”
“Then, do you happen to know the name Jamila?”
At that moment, the woman’s eyes widened in shock.
“How does the Lady of Simour know the Fourth Empress’s true name?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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