Nicole looked thoughtful for a moment, and Dagger thought she was nervous.

“This is too big a mission for you to take on; the Marquis of Sarathevee kills a man or two without batting an eye.”

“No, I can do it, I will do it, and even if I get caught…… I’m just a probationer, they won’t be able to find any connection to the Grand Duke, and even if they do, even if I get caught and tortured, I won’t be able to say anything since I know nothing.”

Dagger looked at Nicole. He’d send her out, but not on anything too important, and this was a good opportunity for him to teach her the ropes.

Finally, Dagger nodded.

“They say a knight who charges bravely either dies or rises.”

“That’s what Estoc said, isn’t it?”

“Yes. ……How did you know?”

“Because it sounds like something a knight would say.”

Dagger chuckled. He began his briefing.

“Let’s start with the political background. Right now, only Gaston Sarathevee and our Grand Duke have the power to move the troops within the Imperial capital. The imperial family hopes that this will drive the two houses further apart. But…….”

“If Gaston were to disappear, the Grand Duke would be the sole military commander.”

“I suppose that’s what we’re hoping for. Anyway, I’m hoping for the best with this one.”

Dagger said.

“Because he’s a real asshole – or rather, Sarathevee himself is an asshole.”

Nicole was surprised to hear Dagger show even a glimmer of emotion. Dagger seemed to genuinely dislike Gaston.

‘I’m not the only one with a personal grudge against him, am I?’

“He has many sins, I suppose?”

Dagger nodded.

“Do you know the fallen House of YvesChapel?”

The name was so unexpected that Nicole almost stiffened. But she managed a small nod.

“I’ve heard of them. I thought there were seven generations of them?”

“Yes. The Marquis of Sarathevee led the purge of the very same House of YvesChapel, and rumor has it that he led the charge of treason against the House of YvesChapel.”

“……What are the charges?”

Nicole already knew that the Sarathevee family had been responsible for the destruction of House YvesChapel.

But in her past life, Nicole hadn’t realized she was a member of House YvesChapel until she was captured. She felt no strong sense of belonging to her family, since by the time she realized it, her family had already been destroyed, so she didn’t hold a grudge against them.

‘Of course, I still don’t like the Saratheves.’

But Isabel, the one who got stuck with that Saratheve man, really……

Nicole felt like clicking her tongue out at the thought.

Anyway, Nicole only knew that the Saratheves were responsible for their family’s decimation, but she didn’t know the details of what they were accused of.

Dagger merely shrugged.

“Anyway, those mad dogs will bite anyone who does anything to the Imperial Family, and their teeth may well find their way to the Grand Duchy, which is where I intend to live and die.”

Nicole felt a strange connection with Dagger in that moment. It wasn’t the same as with Dahlia.

“Is that why the Grand Duke dislikes the Marquis of Saratheve?”

“Well, he already dislikes him, but the main reason…… is because he ran over and injured a man with his carriage in front of the Grand Duke last month, that bastard. The poor commoner had both his legs broken.”

“It must have been quite an accident.”

“No, it wasn’t. The commoner had just defeated the Marquis of Saratheve in a private gambling house, much to the gambler’s displeasure.”

“And that’s why the Grand Duke was so angry at the behavior, because he’d bullied the poor commoner?”

“Not that, either. After the accident, he used that as an excuse to block our Grand Duke’s carriage. For a whopping five minutes. He wasted fifteen minutes on the road.”

Oh, she’d forgotten.

The man who was her current boss and ex-husband in her last life was also a total asshole.

At least he was an asshole who didn’t hurt innocent commoners.

***

Things were going well. Raul was just joking around about her using the name Karen which is a good thing, so Nicole was given a fake identity.

Her name was Margaret, but that didn’t matter. Nicole got a job at a private gambling establishment that Gaston frequented. Nicole’s role was to serve tea and alcohol behind the bar.

“A cocktail for the Marquis. The usual.”

A waiter approached. Nicole stood at the small bar. Nicole nonchalantly pulled out a flask.

Gaston’s private gambling den was a sort of hideout where he brought his many guests.

The room was always thick with cigarette smoke, and it was so dark that it was hard to make out people’s faces unless you looked closely.

It made for some tongue-in-cheek comments from the staff, but Nicole was always nonchalant.

“Don’t forget to cover your face.”

“I know.”

Nicole immediately realized why she’d slipped in so easily. Gaston was quite into beauties. The problem was, he liked gambling far more than that.

So to keep himself from being distracted by beautiful women, he asked for women’s faces to be covered with a translucent veil who worked in his parlor.

‘I’m sure it’s some kind of bizarre working condition, but it’s good for me.’

After all, Nicole is an agent now. The less people could see her, the better.

“My favorite drink has arrived. Drink it and let’s continue.”

Gaston enjoyed his gin with lemon, floating ice and herb leaves. Nicole set the glass down in front of him. Gaston took a sip of his drink.

Nicole stood next to Gaston and waited. Gaston was handsome enough, but his overall appearance was too scruffy, and he looked like a municipal worker compared to Raul.

Nicole felt a surge of disgust as she remembered Gaston taunting her in the dungeon. Gaston had even glanced at Nicole and said.

“You’ve got better breasts and a better waist than the last girl. I guess it’s better to be young.”

“How do you know she’s younger with her face covered?”

“I know it when I see it, and I’m saving it for the day I take it off. Anyway, everybody look away. The gambling gods are angry if you take your eyes off the cards.”

Nicole gritted her teeth. But she had to wait until Gaston said there was nothing more to do.

‘He really deserves the name asshole. He’s got a good nickname.’

Nicole had one more unpleasant connection to Gaston. It was the memory of Gaston’s attempted murder of Nicole in her past life.

‘I’ve heard that the Saratheve family’s powers are limited to the ability to move animals at will.’

Of course, being able to control dozens of creatures as large as beasts could be quite intimidating.

Long ago, in the Holy Land, Saratheve’s ancestors were said to have had such powers.

But not anymore, and like Grace’s family, they only produced offspring with limited abilities.

‘Now he can only move small animals at will, so he’s been mocked as a circus manager.’

Anyway, that’s why the Marquis of Saratheve wanted the women of the House of YvesChapel.

‘I can’t believe the Saratheves think the YvesChapel women were stolen from them by the Valentines.’

Before being sent here, Nicole had talked with Dagger in the general store.

She learned of the long-standing feud between the Saratheves and the Valentines, and that the Saratheves had long wanted the women of YvesChapel.

The YvesChapel family has always produced exceptional people, so they hope that having a child through one of their women would make a difference.

At the very least, they might be able to deprive the YvesChapel of their healer lineage – that was their plan.

‘I suspected it, but now I’m sure.’

Nicole suddenly realized exactly why Gaston had done what he had done to her in her previous life, and why he’d been in league with Isabel.

‘So I’ve heard that the Saratheves wanted YvesChapel’s heir, their eldest daughter, in exchange for the destruction of YvesChapel.’

But Freya managed to escape. And the Saratheve family was next in line.

But Gaston did not give up. He was secretly searching for survivors of the YvesChapel family.

‘But he never found us.’

Nicole and Raul’s marriage, then, upset Gaston again.