Chapter 82

“The lake is a grave of those who died unfairly in the Imperial Palace.”

“A grave?”

Amelie recalled the human bones buried beneath the lake.

“It’s just a rumor. It’s a story that occurred because there are many people who died unfairly in the Imperial Palace.”

“Did you drink lake water even though you knew the rumor?”

“Because rumors are rumors.”

Marchioness Lewin smiled calmly. Unlike her, who doesn’t take it seriously, Amelie became complicated inside

‘It’s not a groundless rumor!’

Amelie glanced at Serwin. He was vigorously waving his tail as if he couldn’t hear the two of them talking.

“I guess I shouldn’t have said that. Miss Amelie must be bothered because you live in the Imperial Palace.”

“It’s okay. It’s fun because people around me don’t tell me things like that.”

In fact, Mrs. Enard or Milena never brought up a bad story first.

“I was more interested in that because I lived in the imperial palace. Do you know anything else?”

“Well, what else is there?”

The Marchioness was lost in thought.

“Did you know that bad things happen on foggy days?”

“Yes. I heard about that.”

“It’s Hunting Day soon. There is a custom of hunting on hunting days and sharing alcohol and games at night.”

Amelie learned something, too. So it was said that even the nobles went home after dawn.

“Originally, hunting competitions were held at the Grand Malt Hunting Grounds, but about a decade ago, the location was changed to the Imperial Forest, right?”

“Yes.”

“It is said that the reason is that the fog is too bad at dawn.”

“Fog?”

“Do you know what’s more amazing?”

“What is it?”

“After changing the hunting venue to the Imperial Palace, the same fog will start to form again. Every year on Hunting Day.”

“Every hunting day?”

“Yeah. That’s why people say that the souls of those who died on the Hunting Day roam there.”

What fog? Amelie felt uncomfortable. The Marchioness apologized while looking at Amelie’s expression.

After all, it’s fog. Amelie felt nauseous.

“Please don’t take it seriously. It must have been an exaggeration when everyone went home drunk.”

“It’s fine. It’s a fun story.”

Amelie turned back to the Marchioness with a smile and hid her internal panic.

“That’s right. Is there anything I can do for you on Hunting Day?”

She’s helping people in need, but Amelie also wanted to add a little bit of strength to help the kind Marchioness. In an instant, the Marchioness’ eyes fluttered. It was a feeling of guilt, but Amelie took it differently.

“Of course, because it’s what the Marchioness does, so there’s nothing lacking.”

“No way! Thank you for your help. In fact, there are many times when I regret it because I do it secretly from my husband.”

The Marchioness was delighted.

“It’s a good thing, but I’m glad I could help. Just tell me what you need.”

The two continued their friendly walk, talking about what they needed. Only Serwin, who was following from behind, noticed a subtle change in the expression of Marchioness. But he didn’t hear her story and didn’t know what she was aiming for, so he had no choice but to watch and be wary for now.

After the walk, when Marchioness Lewin returned, Amelie went up to the attic.

Woof woof!

Serwin wagged his tail and followed Amelie. Contrary to his worries, nothing happened at the lake.

‘When the Marquis first said that she wanted to go to the lake, I wondered if she had noticed something, but she was simply asking to go take a look.’

So he felt very good now.

“Please bring me the lake water.”

“Yes, Miss Amelie.”

Milena greeted her and left the attic. Serwin walked around the room sniffing.

“Be careful. There are things you shouldn’t smell.”

Amelie sat next to Serwin and blocked his nose with her palm. He looked down and eagerly smelled Amelie’s scent.

“Now, let’s come back as a human.”

Serwin shook his head as if displeased. He lifted his head and sniffed as he approached Amelie. Amelie hurriedly blocked his snout with her palm. If he does this, he might lick her face.

“Your Majesty!”

However, Serwin was drunk on the scent and was reckless.

“Ugh, you’re not even a real dog, so why are you like this!”

Amelie quickly turned Serwin back into a person.

Poof!

Serwin, who turned into a human, fell forward and clutched Amelie’s shoulder. Amelie’s hand was still covering his mouth.

As it was, the eyes of the two met. They were so close that she could even feel the opponent’s breath.

“….”

“….”

There was a short silence between the two. Amelie’s face became redder. The touch of his lips, which seemed as hot to touch as his hot breath, tickled her palm.

“Uhm…”

Amelie was at her loss for words.

Click.

At that time, Milena came into the room.

“Ah, I apologize.”

“No! We didn’t do anything!”

Amelie was surprised and pushed Serwin away, and hurriedly grabbed Milena, who was about to open the door and leave.

She had a very bewildered face as she thought that Milena had interfered with the two of them together.

“Ah, shall we prepare to analyze the lake water now?”

Amelie was about to die of embarrassment, so she went to the workbench for nothing and looked at this and that.

“Should I go out now…?”

“It’s okay.”

When Milena noticed, Serwin stood up and said. He also swept up his hair, turning his eyes toward the wall for no reason.

‘I was surprised.’

It wasn’t the first time he had looked closely at Amelie’s face. It was dark at night and looking at her face, he would unintentionally get closer. But this time, his heart was beating as fast as it was going to explode. Her eyes and the gaze he faced in a short moment kept coming to mind.

“I apologize.”

Milena hurriedly stood next to Amelie, apologizing. She felt like she was an uninvited guest. Amelie said nothing happened, but seeing the faces of the two close together, she must have ruined the atmosphere.

“I brought the water from the lake.”

“Thank you.”

Milena set the barrel of lake water down on her workbench.

‘Hmm, let’s focus.’

Amelie tried to push all the thoughts out of her head. However, she couldn’t easily erase his golden eyes that were too close and the nervous feelings they caused her.

‘Serwin has very pretty eyes.’

The mint-colored eyes reflected in it were very clear and beautiful.

‘It’s like a jewel… No, what am I thinking right now? Ha ha!’

Amelie shook her head and picked up a bottle of lake water.

‘Is it about a liter?’

At first glance, it was transparent and clean. There were no foreign substances, so it was to the extent that it was mistaken for drinking water.

‘The effect of purification magic is wider than I thought.’

Amelie divided water into three types in a glass bottle.

“What are you doing?” Serwin asked.

“The water seems to be clear, but I am going to test it for an accurate analysis. If it’s there really any medicinal effect.”

“You can make someone do this.”

“I’m curious.”

Serwin didn’t like that Amelie continued to care about the lake, but he didn’t decide to say anything more. He sat calmly on the sofa and watched what Amelie did.

Ameliee continued her experiments by putting herbs in the lake water or mixing them with reagents without caring about Serwin. And she carefully wrote down the changes on paper. After repeating similar experiments for a long time, she came to a conclusion.

“It has become very clear and clean water! It has an effect on the body like mineral water or hot spring water, but it is difficult to see it as medicine.”

“Then?”

Milena asked.

“It’s just like a health supplement.”

“I can see that! It’s amazing! It’s always mysterious what witches do.”

“It’s nothing.”

Amelie blushed at Milena’s words. Her magic skills were not very good to be praised as being great.

Thanks to her hard work, she was able to use the magic she used frequently, but it didn’t work well even if she tried to use other magic because of the limitations of self-education.

‘I want to use multiple spells at the same time—’

It would be nice if someone could teach her. Amelie felt bad that she couldn’t meet another witch.

*****

The Hunting Day has been held in the forest inside the Imperial Palace for ten years. However, the truth is that the forests of the Imperial Palace were not suitable for hunting. This was because the imperial knights periodically patrolled and removed dangerous animals, so there were not enough prey. So the knights had to deliberately release the animals in the forest a few days before the hunting contest.

The assistants were especially passionate about the hunting contest. It was because Serwin liked to hunt.

Before she knew it, time passed, and the hunting day was a day away. Amelie and Serwin decided to spend the day leisurely. He set a day aside for Amelie, who has had a hard time following Serwin.

“Navia, let’s look here! There’s a mouse.”

Amelie is obsessed with playing with her new cat. It was a charming cat with yellow eyes and black fur. It was not only clever, but how clever it seemed to understand humans.

As Amelie was busy playing with the cat all morning, Serwin didn’t like the cat. He was a little uncomfortable with it from the beginning, but he didn’t like it more because it monopolized Amelie’s attention.

‘Isn’t a dog better than a cat?’

After thinking casually, Serwin fell into a sense of shame as he felt he was too petty.

“Amelie.”

He called her for no reason. Only then did she look away from the cat and look at him.

“What time did you say you’ll meet Young Lady Manvers tomorrow?”

He found the right question. Amelie answered brightly whether she didn’t know he intentionally asked questions to catch her eye.

“The place I was supposed to meet with Young Lady Renia is a really famous pie restaurant. May I buy something for you, Your Majesty?”

“Yes, pie is good.”

Serwin lied calmly. He had never liked sweet food in his life.

“Meow, meow.”

The cat tapped Amelie’s hand. Amelie made an ecstatic expression at the touch of its paw, as thick as jelly. Then, Serwin’s eyes burned with jealousy. He thought it would be more comfortable to keep the cat and Amelie apart.