Chapter 49
Chapter 49
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 49
Chapter Title: Leti's True Identity
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The Leti standing before me was a completely different person from before.
Gone was her beaming smile, gone was the face I'd thought so innocent.
She wore a knee-length dress paired with boots, standing on the boundary between noble and commoner.
With her hair tied back tightly and glasses perched on her nose, she looked nothing like the maid she'd been.
No one would doubt she was a guild leader. So it was right to assume this was her true identity.
...Or maybe not. Perhaps Ryan, knowing I frequented the back alleys, had put her up to it.
He was petty enough for that.
I narrowed my eyes.
"Did Ryan tell you to do this too?"
I'd deliberately omitted his title as prince. If she called me out on it, I planned to clash head-on.
"No."
No matter how much I sneered, Leti didn't show a hint of reaction.
"I won't deny receiving help from Prince Ryan here. But my dealings with Lady Etwar began before his orders."
[She doesn't seem to be lying when I look into her eyes.]
The sudden thought made me widen mine. No, wait—Leti herself had been a lie from the start. What was I even thinking?
Even if she'd only been my maid for a short time, she must have known about me.
"I did well firing you. Must've been tough for a guild leader to play maid."
I saw no reason to mince words. Now that things had come to this, I decided to unload everything I'd held back.
"Was Leti even your real name to begin with?"
"It is. It's short for Leticia."
"Oh."
Honest in the strangest places. I had no desire to see the sincerity of someone who'd betrayed me.
The door behind her opened, and in rolled a three-tier cart. It was an afternoon tea set complete with tea, macarons, cakes, and sandwiches.
Once it was set on the table, Leti cautiously spoke up.
"I've prepared your favorite tea and macarons. I hope they suit your taste."
Her silently enduring my barbs was almost comical.
[What does she think this will change?]
Amid it all, the desserts and tea on the table were identical to what she'd prepared as my maid—a bitter realization.
[Let's get to the point.]
I didn't even sit on the sofa before opening my mouth.
"Why did you want to see me?"
"I wanted to sincerely apologize."
What nonsense was this? I was so baffled I could only blink.
"You think saying that now changes anything?"
I meant it.
"At least I can let you know my feelings weren't all lies."
Selfish words.
Her apology gained me nothing. Only Leti stood to benefit.
"To ease your conscience? I never want to see your face again."
Just to soothe her own discomfort.
Her calm acceptance, as if she'd anticipated even this, only fueled my disgust.
"I'm sorry. I just... never imagined Prince Ryan could be wrong."
For once, her careful admission that he was wrong brought me no joy. Even in those few words, it was her trust in him that shone through.
I recalled the palace scene—Leti leaning on me as we left.
Ryan was the type to cherish his people fiercely. He might have even saved her life.
"It felt like my world was crumbling, so it was too hard to admit."
She tried explaining again, but I cut her off.
"Your world seems perfectly intact."
She claimed to acknowledge Ryan's mistake, yet she still served him.
"But none of that's my business."
Even that, I didn't care to dwell on. To me, Leti was now just a waste of emotions.
Precisely because I'd trusted her so much, I wanted no more expectations.
Finally, I decided to ask the one thing I truly wanted from her.
I had no intention of seeing her again.
"How did you bring Darsi to me?"
Fair was fair—if she'd summoned me out of selfishness, I'd indulge mine.
Leti was how Darsi and I had met. She'd introduced him.
But Darsi wasn't a merchant, and he was a prince diametrically opposed to Ryan, whom she served.
A hidden prince, no less.
"..."
At Darsi's name, Leti's face hardened instantly. Seeing her stiff expression eased my mind a fraction.
She exhaled with a troubled look.
"...I'm sorry, but..."
Her complexion darkened.
"...I have no memory of it."
"...No memory?"
"Yes. I'm still trying to piece it together myself. I suspect it was something Lord Darsi did."
I'd half-expected as much... Darsi must have brainwashed her to bring him to me.
Otherwise, Ryan's loyal servant Leti never would have led Darsi my way.
Darsi hadn't been a merchant from the start.
The necklace hidden in my dress felt heavier.
This was the first time I'd felt Darsi using his powers firsthand. She glanced at my unsurprised reaction and continued softly.
"Lord Darsi is, as expected..."
"Don't touch Darsi."
I warned her.
Back-alley guilds dealt mostly in illegal dealings. Being for Ryan, they'd surely try to sabotage Darsi by any means.
A warning was in order.
"If you're truly sorry to me, then do that."
Though I doubted she would.
As expected, Leti looked troubled and cast her eyes down.
"That's not for me to decide."
She spoke as if she had no self of her own.
"I thought I was talking to Leticia, but you've been Prince Ryan's puppet all along?"
I pressed her.
"Does the prince you admire so much think it's fine to do illegal, inhumane things for his lover?"
Despite my ongoing barbs, Leti neither got angry nor defended herself. But she didn't affirm it either.
"You, who saw it all up close—who kept calling me villainess even after I changed—you know better than anyone, right?"
Leti, who'd watched my transformation from right beside me over the past year. And yet, the Leti who'd betrayed me.
I gripped the gem pouch on the table and offered her one last piece of advice.
"Don't let the past blind you to the present."
I sincerely hoped she'd change.
"Anything else? I want to go now."
"...I'll open the door."
Leti confirmed I'd finished preparing to leave and gave the order. Steam still rose gently from the untouched tea.
I turned away without regret. A small, clear voice came from behind.
"...It was hard for me too."
Leti had approached me at some point. Her voice trembled.
It was the pure face she used to show while attending me.
"...The person I believed I'd respect forever—the one convinced you were a villainess—turned out to be completely different."
Which version of her was real?
Wrinkles on her brow hinted at the agony she'd endured bringing me here just to apologize again.
"It was contradictory, but at some point... I truly hoped Lady Marso would be okay."
But her words weren't enough for forgiveness.
Talk was cheap. Apologies, atonement—all of it.
"And yet you can't show it with actions."
If she couldn't sever her ties to Ryan, she'd remain bound to him.
Leti bowed her head deeply.
"...Let me see you out."
With that gloomy voice as the end, I left the place.
Only once inside the carriage did I check the pouch.
[She wouldn't have stolen from it, right?]
I'd been too caught up in the conversation to check. A bit late, but...
At least the Leti who'd apologized so profusely wouldn't stoop to theft, I thought.
I'd trust the humanity I'd sensed in her.
It was as I'd hoped.
Counting the gold coins and gems inside, it matched the magic crystal's market rate perfectly.
I divided the money into a spare pouch I'd prepared.
[Why do back-alley operators have so much guilt?]
Recalling Leti's final expression, I shook my head.
[I have more important things.]
No more dwelling on Leti. If Ryan and Darsi clashed later, I'd run into her naturally.
With enmity inevitable, distance was best.
Then I remembered why I'd planned to convert the magic crystals to cash.
In the village of mages—filled with elders, young adults, and children—the first targets I'd chosen to approach and prepare for were the kids.
I knew how precious adults considered children.
They were the ones to be protected simply for existing.
But in this world, mages were shunned. The survivors had hidden themselves to escape endless battles.
Sending kids outside was impossible.
They were confined to their hideout.
Just like I had been.
Children kept indoors forever had limited possessions—and experiences.
Early experiences were crucial. They shaped dreams and values most profoundly.
I could give those children experiences, dreams, hope.
That was my aim.
[First, sweep them up, think later.]
Getting out at the capital's largest toy store, I headed to the first floor. The moment I entered, staff who'd been pre-notified lined up.
"It's been a while, Lady Etwar!"
This famous store, one I'd frequented as a child Marso, remembered me despite the long absence—a thoughtful touch.
The moment had arrived.
I placed the pouch in the hand of the store owner who'd come to greet me.
And delivered the line that always thrilled.
"I'll take everything here."
The staff, thrilled to serve a VIP after so long, bustled into action.
The other nobles inside stared at me in stunned silence.
I replied with a victor's smile, settling onto the sofa to leisurely await the end.
The leisure of the winner.