The Return of Lilietta - Chapter 33

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 33

“It’s possible, but it might not be.”

“What do you mean? Tell me in detail.”

Lindsey took out a neatly folded paper and placed it on her desk.

“First, there was nothing particularly noteworthy about that maid’s relationships. She’s lived at Birch Tree Castle her whole life, so she barely meets anyone. She has no friends or acquaintances besides the other maids in the castle. She doesn’t go out to the city very often either.”

The paper had a clear summary of the maids Hanna was close to and the places she usually visited when going out to the city.

After waiting a moment for Rita to look over the paper, Lindsey took out other documents.

“But when I looked into her family relationships, especially her unknown father’s side, it got quite complicated.”

The new documents contained testimonies and investigation materials about when Hanna’s deceased mother became a maid for the Raskail Family.

“22 years ago, before maid Hanna was born, her mother Joanna came to Birch Tree Castle. At the time, she was already pregnant with Hanna, but her belly wasn’t showing yet, so she hid the fact and applied to be a maid.”

Lindsey pointed to a section of the documents as she spoke.

“Joanna worked as a maid and secretly gave birth to and raised Hanna, but she was soon discovered by the other maids. This is Joanna’s statement from that time.”

Rita read the text where she pointed.

“It was an unwanted child! I thought I might die because of this child, so I ran away from my hometown, and while working as a maid here to earn money… I tried to get rid of the baby with magic. But in the meantime, I felt the baby move… *sob*, I just, I just couldn’t bring myself to get rid of it…”

When Rita finished reading the statement and looked up, Lindsey continued.

“At the time, the merciful Duke and Duchess guessed the circumstances of the common girl who had fled her hometown alone with child, and accepted her as she was. They even helped her raise the child. However, as a precaution against any potential problems, they ordered our jewelry shop to investigate Joanna, and the results are here.”

She opened the next page of the documents. It was an old report.

– Investigation results confirm that maid Joanna’s hometown is indeed the Adikel Duchy as she stated, and she was a maid responsible for cleaning stairs at the Ducal Castle.

– According to those around her, she worked diligently and had a quiet disposition, so she didn’t particularly stand out.

– She was a hunter’s daughter who became an orphan at a young age when bandits broke into her home. The village chief took pity on her and raised her, and after she became an adult and got a job as a maid, she sent more than half her earnings to the elderly chief.

– The chief was unmarried and died of old age three years ago. Other than him, Joanna had no family or blood relatives. She appears to have had no lovers or fiancé either.

– Joanna left the Ducal Castle suddenly without proper resignation procedures, leaving only a letter saying she was quitting her job.

– From the circumstances, it appears she had an unwanted relationship with someone of high status or dangerous nature and became pregnant, then fled without informing the other party as soon as she realized the situation.

Lindsey spoke in a stiff tone.

“This is the same material your parents received at the time. After seeing these results, the two of them decided after discussion not to dig deeper into Hanna’s father and to bury the matter. Joanna also said she had no intention of revealing the child’s father until she died.”

“…So in the end, Joanna really died without revealing who Hanna’s father was?”

“Yes, she didn’t even drop a hint until she died of illness over ten years ago. Hanna herself knows nothing about her father either.”

“Someone she had to hide so thoroughly, and moreover, someone so fearsome that she couldn’t even discuss responsibility or punishment…”

Rita pushed the documents aside and looked at the royal family tree that had been underneath. Adikel Duchy. Duke Adickl. She had definitely just seen that name on the family tree.

“…It’s likely someone with enough power to consider a maid and her illegitimate child as disgrace and erase them from the world.”

Her gaze fixed on one part of the royal family tree.

Percival el Adickl Kairam, father of the current emperor Lawrence el Redert Kairam and the Former Emperor.

And Fergus, the Former Emperor’s older brother who, despite being the eldest son, had the throne taken by his younger brother Percival and became an adopted son of his maternal family, the Adickls.

It wasn’t a civil war between princes. The great-grandfather emperor simply chose the second son as successor between the incompetent, dissolute eldest and the capable, diligent second.

Historically, it’s recorded that Crown Prince Fergus ‘yielded’ the throne to his younger brother Percival. But no one thinks it was really a voluntary yielding.

That ‘dethroned crown prince who yielded the throne’ is the former Duke Adickl. The current Duke Adickl is his only son, making him cousins with the current emperor who is Percival’s son.

Rita traced with her finger the line that branched off from the great-grandfather emperor and led to House of Adickl.

“The highest-ranking person maid Joanna could have encountered at Adickl Duchy would be Duke Adickl. Whether the former duke or the current duke who would have been the ducal heir at the time.”

If it was the duke or ducal heir who laid hands on maid Joanna at the Ducal Castle, then Hanna would be a child with royal blood flowing through her.

It was certainly a secret that Joanna wouldn’t dare expose and would take to her grave. There would be no way for a child of royal blood born unintentionally from a maid to live peacefully.

“It’s a highly probable theory, my lady.”

Lindsey nodded and continued.

“However, it’s also possible that Joanna simply didn’t mention it because that incident was a nightmare she wanted to forget. And for a common maid, even a lower noble or knight who frequented the Ducal Castle would be high enough status, so what Joanna feared wasn’t necessarily the duke.”

“…That’s true too.”

“In the first place, no one came looking for Joanna during the 22 years Hanna was born and raised. Whoever Hanna’s unknown father is didn’t care that Joanna ran away and doesn’t even know of Hanna’s existence. So who knows. Unless we actually verify Hanna with the royal family tree…”

Lillieta understood that the ‘family tree’ Lindsey was referring to was a different tool than the paper she was looking at.

“…But if by any chance Hanna really is Duke Adickl’s daughter, if the duke has no idea about it at all, and if Raskail has been keeping such a child as a maid… My lady, now you understand, don’t you? How complicated this could become.”

“…Yeah, I understand.”

Her head was spinning from the unexpected results. Rita sighed while holding her forehead.

“So this is why we studied the family tree first today. I can see why my parents didn’t dig deeper and covered it up at the time. I also understand why they said it was a complicated matter…”

“I also think this is something we shouldn’t dig into further. Unless Hanna herself is proactive about it, but she doesn’t seem to want to know either. She seems to understand what kind of relationship she was born from.”

Lindsey sighed and added.

“But if there’s a reason the mage who kidnapped you specifically chose Hanna as a body to possess, if it’s related to her father’s bloodline… we can’t just pretend to ignore this. Perhaps a mage belonging to the duchy is Hanna’s father and an accomplice of this Pascal who kidnapped you.”

“…Ha.”

“In that case, the mastermind behind your kidnapping would be Duke Adickl, and there might have been political reasons. As a result, the disappearance of one Raskail duke’s daughter caused this great family to completely lose its strength and go into seclusion. If it really was Adickl’s conspiracy, it was an excellent and efficient check.”

Lindsey Dyce spoke boldly even though she was in front of the Raskail duke’s daughter, who was both the victim of the incident and her master.

It was because she had already grasped her master’s personality over the past few days, but it was still rude language to the victim. The master could be hurt or angry and punish her. Lindsey glanced at her master’s expression.

“Damn it…”

Lillieta only let out a sigh mixed with profanity and wasn’t particularly shaken. She just frowned and asked back.

“What reason would Duke Adickl have to check Raskail?”

The new master is indeed a cool-headed person. Quick to understand too.

‘This will be rewarding to serve.’

Lindsey opened her mouth with a proud feeling.

“My lady, would you look at the family tree once more?”

She pointed to the names with crowns drawn on the family tree and continued.

“As you can see, the Former Emperor loved and made empress a young lady from a humble baron family that didn’t even have a title attached to their name. The only son born between them, His Majesty the Current Emperor… even had a son with a common maid who didn’t even have a family name.”

That was the current Crown Prince. A Crown Prince with precarious bloodline, born from a maid and adopted by the current empress.

Rita looked down at the name wearing a crown slightly smaller than the emperor’s.

Gideon el Redert Kairam.

‘It’s a name that reminds me of Gid. Though that’s impossible.’

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