In her last life, when Nicole was Raul’s wife and the Grand Duchess, they were in their second year of marriage.

During this time, Nicole was not entirely confined.

After learning the truth about her father’s death, she and Raul had fallen out. Although she was mostly confined to her room, she would occasionally go for walks alone.

During this time, she remembers spending a lot of time in silence, staring at the sky.

‘Of course, even then Raul didn’t let me out or do any public ducal duties, so it was lonely…….’

At least then, Jay was alive to keep her sane.

One of the most traumatizing things happened to her.

Around that time, a big banquet was being held at the Grand Duke’s house.

Nicole was stuck in her room all day, so she snuck out to the back garden.

‘I was carefree then. I didn’t even know the truth of my father’s death.’

It was an accident that she ran into a drunken Gaston. Gaston recognized Nicole immediately.

<You are the eldest daughter of House YvesChapel? You’re prettier than I thought. Do you realize you could have given birth to my child? I’ve fantasized about fucking you a few times, but the whores of YvesChapel are a dime a dozen. I’ve spent a fortune searching for you, but I’ve come up empty-handed, and now it’s that bastard Grand Duke Valentine who gets all the goodies!>

Gaston muttered something unintelligible, then grabbed Nicole hard, forcing her to the ground.

<Let go of me, please, don’t do this!>

<I’m not going to tell anyone, but if you did, Grand Duke Valentine, that cocky bastard, would beat you to death, it would be a disgrace to have his wife taken from him, so keep your mouth shut if you don’t want to be found out!>

Nicole stiffened at his words, unable to speak.

When Nicole finally regained her senses and tried to crawl away in desperation, Gaston chuckled.

<You’re as good as a rat in YvesChapel, you little bitch.>

Gaston crushed the back of Nicole’s hand, which made him…… excited; he enjoyed tormenting the weak.

‘I don’t even want to think about it.’

But it came back to her: the sensation of her clothes being ripped off, the way she’d been pushed into the bushes and taunted…….

‘Luckily…… I was found by people then.’

No. Who was it that saved her then?

<A worm.>

When she came to, Gaston was lying on the ground, and Raul, his white gloves stained with blood, was staring at her coldly. His eyes were filled with contempt.

<Nicole, get up, now.>

It was so strange, even then.

‘Then Jay died, and things fell apart between me and Raul. After a long time, I began to resent him for the insult I’d received from Gaston. I was insulted because he hadn’t treated me like a grand duchess…….’

She was shocked by that.

However, in retrospect, Raul had saved Nicole’s life, something that hadn’t occurred to her until now.

She had no idea why she hated him so much.

“Hahahaha!”

There was a loud roar of laughter.

“Royal straight!”

Gaston exclaimed merrily, putting down his hand. He gestured toward Nicole, pointing to the glass.

Nicole picked up the glass without a word. Just as she was about to turn away, Gaston spoke.

“That’s a nice drink for a change.”

Nicole smirked, invisible behind her veil.

“I put a little sugar in it to help you focus on the game – sugar makes you more alert – and to wish you victory.”

Nicole changed her tone of voice and spoke calmly. Gaston felt better, so he told his subordinate to tip Nicole.

Gaston won three games that day, and was so excited that at the end of the last game, he turned to his entourage and said

“That girl, I think she’s a good luck charm. Bring her to the game at home tonight.”

“No problem, and if you’re interested in her, why don’t you lift her veil so we can see her face?”

He can always let Nicole into Gaston’s bedroom. Gaston understood what his aide meant.

For a moment, greed flashed in Gaston’s eyes. He glanced at Nicole working the bar in the distance and shook his head.

He had reason to stay away from her for now.

“Leave her alone. There’s no shortage of women, so why touch the lucky one.”

And so Nicole slipped into Gaston’s house with ease.

***

When Nicole wanted to be involved in direct surveillance of Gaston, Raul assigned her to Gaston’s private gambling house.

‘I know she’s ambitious, but she has a talent, so she should be cherished. I can handle this kind of work myself.’

Dagger liked Karen. From the time she walked into the training center, through the test, to becoming a shadow, she was incredibly calm and smart. And she baked amazing …… cookies.

There was definitely something fishy about Gaston’s private gambling house. But with such a large mansion, how much could a small parlor be fancied up?

Moreover, Gaston had been gambling like crazy the entire time he’d been there, so Dagger had placed her in relative safety and kept her off important duties.

‘I’m afraid, noona, you’re going to have to behave yourself this time.’

Dagger planned to tell Nicole that when he saw her again.

Until she met the woman who had come into the house with the maids this morning.

‘Karen……noona?’

Dagger’s eyes widened. Nicole was ushered in by the maids.

“This is the maid who will be in charge of the Grand Duke’s drinks from today. She’ll be entertaining the dignitaries in no time, so please give her a quick lesson in etiquette, and make sure the kitchen is stocked with a few quick bites to eat, since there will be games in the evening.”

Nicole walked away, brushing past Dagger, who stood dumbfounded on the window sill. Nicole looked into Dagger’s eyes. Invisibly, her lips twitched into a faint smile behind her veil. Dagger’s eyes widened in recognition. Nicole slowly stepped in front of Dagger.

‘I told you, I want to make a contribution.’

Nicole’s expression seemed to say so.

***

‘Still, having been fooled once, I guess that’s why I recognize him right away this time’

Dagger, disguised this time as a young servant, was polishing the clock in the hallway.

‘If Dagger had the ability to infiltrate right here in the first place, he could have sent me here as well.’

But Nicole was not ordered to infiltrate the mansion. She had no choice but to come on her own.

‘He says he played well after drinking my cocktail? Of course. I laced it with drugs.’

Nicole recognized Gaston as soon as she saw him.

‘His eyes are red and his hands shake sometimes. He’s not an addict, but he does drugs often.’

Feeding a drug-addled body a cocktail of achok grass and raw reagents can give a person a short-term boost in concentration, as well as a racing heart and an overwhelming sense of well-being.

However, this was a harmful drug. Trace amounts are undetectable, but if you take it for more than a year, it damages your organs.

Before she was sent here, Nicole read everything she could about Gaston. It was information she’d already gathered from the Sith.

Gaston had a childhood similar to most children of the Seven Houses. Expectations of unrealized abilities and an education that bizarrely suppressed emotions.

As a result, Gaston was moody and unruly. He was obsessed with gambling, and his likes and dislikes of people changes quickly.

‘I’ve seen him do this before, fawning over employees and then firing them arbitrarily because their luck ran out.’

Of course, sneaking drugs into Gaston’s drinks wasn’t easy.

The bar was open to the public, and there were often henchmen watching closely.

But Nicole had gotten her hands on the herbs Gaston was slipping into his drinks in the first place. The herbs looked very similar, and Nicole had simply replaced them with pre-marinated achok grass.

It probably wouldn’t show up on a poison test. Chances were he didn’t even know what an achok grass was.

‘Herbs only known to House YvesChapel, they are our family secrets. Secrets that have been kept throughout the long history of the Empire.’

And that knowledge would help Nicole in the future.