# 40
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“What a foolish boy.”
“Madam...”
Hirose's brown eyes twitched with pity.
If he didn't have such a handsome and attractive face, I wouldn't feel this burden.
“Don’t look at me like that, I will really leave you behind.”
At those words, Hirose lowered his trembling eyes.
As he growled menacingly, I tightened my grip on the vine wrapped around Hirose's neck to untie it.
“Damn, I never thought my father would grow something like this.”
Let me explain why we were doing this ridiculous thing now.
Elmior's palace was so spacious, that I had trouble reaching some places even when he was alive.
Most notable was his private office, which contained secret documents.
(I burned it to erase the records of the revolution.)
Next, there was the family belongings vault, which no one had the right to enter except the Duke himf.
(Of course, I sold everything that was useful to invest in Montella.)
Finally, it was his personal greenhouse, a secret place where even the gardener or servants were not allowed to enter.
I thought he simply liked to take care of the bonsai in secret.
Everyone needs a space for their hobby, I think.
-I've never been there myf before.
The greenhouse didn't seem to contain anything valuable, but out of caution, I asked Hirose to break down the door to check.
The moment he smashed the door, vines shot out and pulled Hirose inside.
In my panic, I grabbed a fallen pipe and began hitting the vines that were pulling Hirose away, managing to push them away and free him.
However, even after they separated, the vines continued to writhe around his body.
“Ah, there isn't.”
Hirose squirmed and let out a groan as the vines wrapped around his thigh.
“Ah...”
‘What is this sudden shift in story classification?!’
The greenhouse was filled with writhing green plants.
‘Is this...? What kind of revolutionary claws?'
I remembered some novels I had read the other day, so I shook my head vigorously to get rid of these thoughts.
But to describe it as a plant was generous – these are clearly claws!
“Ma’am, ha, if the worst happens, please...run away, hey, without me.”
"Be quiet."
The vines crawling out of the ground continued to wrap around Hirose's body.
“Ha, but...”
“Don't breathe like that, breathe slowly.”
“Ah… ma’am.”
“Don't talk!”
“How… huh, take it off?!”
No matter how much I tore them away, the vines would grow and come back again.
'The Duke of Elmore... Don't tell me. …’
The possibility disappeared from my mind, so I gathered my strength and focused on freeing Hirose.
Chrome claws quickly slid out of his sleeves and touched his skin.
“Ah...”
A harsh sigh escaped Hirose's mouth, and his cheeks burned red with pain.
“Get a hold of yourf, Hirose!”
It was impossible to remove all the claws that came close.
'but … . Why don't you turn around?'
As I tossed aside a bundle of vines, an idea suddenly occurred to me.
Now that I noticed, the vines didn't come close to Hirose where I'm sitting.
Even when I reached out to the writhing vines –
'She's avoiding me?'
Suddenly it occurred to me.
'I am waiting … . Do these claws not harm women?'
'No, maybe... Because I am a descendant of Elmior?'
This was more reasonable.
Since the Duke of Elmior is the owner of these claws, perhaps they would recognize me as his blood and not attack me.
“Ah, ma'am...”
She watched the vines slowly try to hide Hirose completely, took a deep breath, then pressed and lifted his body.
I felt Hirose's body tremble violently beneath me as the vines wrapped around him.
“Stay still.”
When I ordered him to calm down, his choppy breathing got worse.
“N-yeah, huh.”
'Ah, these claws stink.'
Between Hirose and me, the flow of squirming slowed and changed direction.
As she expected, she began to withdraw from Hirose's body.
More preciy, she was avoiding me.
All the claws quickly retracted, and I slowly raised my head to meet Hirose's gaze.
His face was still red from stress, and he was breathing hard from the pain.
". … my lady."
"Are you well?"
He was a complicated man in many ways, but he was still my servant.
I couldn't let creatures like the claws torture him.
". … Yes."
His voice was faint, as if his energy had been completely drained.
I slowly got up and pulled him with me.
“Stay close behind me.”
Then, after we left the greenhouse, I ordered Hirose to reinstall the door.
With the dark greenhouse closed, we could no longer see the claw plants inside.
“I'm sorry, I didn't prepare things well, I almost put you in danger, ma'am.”
Although his hair and clothes were a mess, his eyes and voice were calm again as he bowed in apology.
“There was nothing to be done, my father never told you about that either.”
I wiped the remains of claws and dirt off with my hands and feet, and made the image of the Duke of Elmore manipulating plants against his enemies disappear from my mind.
“But, what is this thing anyway?”
“Most likely... Kerria plant, it is a temperate perennial plant that likes to harm humans and spread on their bodies.”
“It wasn't just 'love'.”
She frowned, recalling Hirose's pain surrounded by vines.
“However, it is an extremely rare species, almost impossible to find, and there are probably no more than three roots of it in the entire empire.”
“In short... it has financial value.”
I wouldn't refuse money, but even I wouldn't think of ling something like that.
“Another legend concerns Kiriya plants, where it is said that if they came across a noble person worthy of reverence, they would be inspired by his kindness and create a unique sacred beast.”
“Holy beast?”
That was interesting.
“Just an ancient legend, legends of ancient heroes often include sacred monsters, right?”
I've seen paintings of huge sacred dragon beasts many times.
From what I knew from previous legends, divine beings do not arise through natural generation, but I did not know that they could form from plant origins.
This was very strange and unique.
It seems that the Duke of Elmore did not raise her out of the desire to win the championship title for himf.
She looked at the closed greenhouse door and ordered Hirose.
“Leave her there, just put a warning not to come in.”
Anyone could end up like Hirose if he got in.
“Yes, ma'am.”
* * *
After washing the remaining claws and dirt from my hands and feet, Catherine sat in the office chair.
Meanwhile, Hirose placed today's reports on her desk.
‘Marquis Regalo collapsed due to anger disease, he deserves it.’
It was a little disappointing that they didn't seize the rights to the failed businesses and incur greater losses, but the large sum they paid was free money for Catherine.
With Velius's bail depleting their funds and mounting debts, their family was partially destroyed.
‘Filius has been kicked out of the Imperial Office and has become penniless, never daring to approach illegal drugs again.’
Although he was not imprisoned, with the charge of giving illegal drugs to Ethios, he would not escape purge after the revolution.
His freedom will not last long.
As Catherine smiled faintly at the moment the Regalo family fell, she suddenly addressed Hirose.
“Hirose.”
“Yes, ma'am.”
Hirose appeared immediately when he was called, and was now dressed in clean clothes after changing his clothes.
“Is Fadelman’s arrest hearing still pending in Parliament?”
“Yes, ma’am, no results yet.”
Unlike the Regalo case, this took a long time—possibly due to political interference.
“Find out who's holding it up.”
"present."
He bowed deeply, then left Catherine's office and slowly placed his hand on his chest.
He felt his heart beating hard.
'I'm the only one who thinks like this.'
The image of her violet eyes, manipulated by Chrom's illusion magic, never left him.
A soft sigh escaped his lips, and his brown eyes shook with painful emotions.
". … my lady."