Chapter 91
Accidents always arrive without warning.
Creak.
The stack of documents touching the tray—which should never have fallen—tilted sideways, and the surrounding items began toppling one after another like dominoes.
In the blink of an eye, objects tilted to the edge of the desk and simultaneously tumbled down from the corner.
From the moment the tray was set down to that point, mere seconds had passed.
As Riina’s eyes widened at the sight of the inkwell—a treasured possession that had belonged to her mother—plummeting toward the floor:
Tap, tap-tap-tap, tap!
Every single falling item found its way into Lione’s grasp.
A silence fell between them.
Amid the occasional sound of breathing, Lione looked bewildered, as if he himself didn’t understand how he had managed such a feat. Riina, however, calmly observed him before speaking.
“Lione.”
“Yes, my lady.”
“Put everything back properly first.”
“Yes.”
He returned all the items—remarkably, without having dropped a single one—to their original places.
Eventually, Riina picked up a bite-sized sandwich from the tray and asked.
“Swordsmanship, or rather, physical abilities weren’t exactly your strong suit, weren’t they?”
“What? Oh, yes.”
Lione nodded readily but soon awkwardly scratched his cheek.
“In truth, I’ve never properly learned formal swordsmanship. If I were to get entangled with such people…”
Riina nodded, understanding the unspoken conclusion—because they could overpower and do whatever they wanted to him.
“Yes. That makes sense. But you can feel it, can’t you?”
Despite the vague question, Lione provided a precise answer.
“Yes. I seem to have some aptitude for physical activities.”
“Some… aptitude. Well, I’m no expert either, so I can’t be certain, but it would be better to confirm.”
She had already prepared a test for him anyway.
Riina stood up and commanded Lione:
“Walk with me for a while.”
Around the time Riina was walking with Lione.
Jane greeted Hans with an unusually pleasant expression.
“Jane.”
“Hans, you’ve worked hard.”
She patted his arm with a gentle smile, and Hans, with his gaunt cheeks, beamed broadly.
Just a day earlier, Hans had sent a letter.
The contents were barely legible, a complete mess, but the phrase “succeeded” was unmistakably clear.
That’s why Jane could offer a genuine smile to this hulking fool.
“J-Jane.”
Hans’s eyes glistened with tears as he looked at her.
How long had it been since he’d seen her smile so brightly?
How long since he’d heard such a gentle voice?
As if reading his thoughts, Jane patted his thick arm and whispered:
“I’ve been quite sharp with you lately. I’m sorry. But it’s because I think of you as family that I’ve been acting spoiled.”
At her words, Hans shook his head frantically.
“No! It’s fine! You’re right, Jane! Because we’re family, you can be as spoiled as you want! It’s completely fine!”
Despite his intense reaction, Jane maintained her gentle smile.
The effect of using the word “family” to manipulate someone with such a terrifying obsession with it was truly remarkable.
“Fa…mily.”
Who knows why he found it so embarrassing and pitiful, but tears welled up in Hans’s eyes as he glanced at Jane.
Having no interest in indulging Hans’s sentimentality any further, Jane clapped her hands.
Clap!
With that sharp sound, Hans’s shoulders rippled dramatically, and Jane extended her hand toward him.
“You succeeded.”
Hans, who had been staring up at her with a dumb expression, hurriedly rummaged through his pockets and pulled out a small pouch.
A pouch so worn it shone, yet clean.
Jane reached for the pouch dangling before her eyes.
As she felt the hard, cold texture through the thin cloth, her eyes reddened and an even brighter smile spread across her face.
“Finally, at last…”
Her thin voice, which came out like a sigh, trembled slightly.
But completely contrary to her voice and expression, vile and filthy thoughts occupied her mind entirely.
To inject an undetectable poison into the impostor through an undetectable device, drive her mad, and ultimately kill her.
Thus, the fake would disappear, and the real one would reclaim her rightful place—a brilliant future.
As Jane anticipated the flowery path about to unfold, Hans suddenly thrust his face right in front of hers.
“Jane.”
With her rosy vision shattered and the dull face filling her sight, Jane reflexively scowled intensely.
It was just for a moment, but Hans’s mouth fell open at her expression, which was fierce enough to rival a malevolent spirit.
However, it truly lasted only an instant.
“Hans? You’re a bit close.”
Jane addressed him calmly as usual, with a gentle smile on her lips.
“Huh? Oh, ah. I’m… sorry.”
“It’s fine. You worked hard.”
Jane’s reward for the device Hans had brought at such tremendous effort was just that.
Graciously overlooking his mistake once.
She clutched the pouch containing the device and jerked her chin.
“I just need to follow the instructions you gave me before, right?”
“Huh? Y-yeah. And the precaution is…”
“I know. It could backflow.”
“R-right.”
As Hans nodded, Jane, still smiling, pointed at him and then directed her finger toward the door.
“I’d like to be alone now.”
Hans obediently began to bow his head but stopped abruptly.
Jane was undoubtedly someone as good as family to him.
Yet why had he just now been about to treat her like a noble master?
But he didn’t even have the chance to ponder this dissonance.
“Hans, leave.”
Jane had mercilessly ordered him out.
Hans gaped sluggishly before finally slumping his shoulders and disappearing down the corridor used by servants.
Only after leaving the Bolshevik estate and walking for quite some time would he recall that he should have asked whether the Third Prince was no longer necessary, but one can’t catch a carriage that has already passed.
Click.
“Tsk.”
Jane clicked her tongue in displeasure at his rough manner, always closing the door loudly, and stood up.
If preparations were properly in place, any task should be executed swiftly without delay.
Now that she had obtained a definitive method to eliminate the impostor, she needed to proceed with adding the supplementary seasoning to the plan.
After assessing the documents she needed to handle today, she promptly left the mansion.
Not long after leaving the Bolshevik estate, Jane found herself seated across from the Third Prince.
“What brings you here?”
Of course, the Third Prince made no attempt to hide his discomfort as he blatantly looked her over.
After all, collaborating with her—or rather, using her as a tool—wasn’t something he could proudly announce or gossip about openly, so he had given her instructions.
‘Whenever necessary, come to this reception room and ask for me.’
And there was only one reason for saying such a thing.
To salvage even the tiniest fragment that could become a weakness for Riina, or more broadly, for Bolshevik.
Though rationally it was an understandable and excellent reason, Smith felt twisted inside when Jane actually summoned him.
How dare a commoner summon him.
Even if she was Bolshevik’s shadow, she was still just a commoner.
Already in a foul mood after the princes’ gathering, he advanced his skewed thinking one step further.
Was even this insignificant commoner looking down on him because she carried the Bolshevik name?
Of course, Jane was indeed looking down on him.
But for a different reason than he presumed—simply because Smith himself was lacking.
Perhaps it was fortunate they couldn’t read each other’s thoughts.
“Bolshevik.”
The voice that Smith ground out between his teeth was so quiet it didn’t even reach himself, and quickly dissipated.
He strengthened his resolve even further.
On the day he became Crown Prince, he would make that damned Bolshevik crawl on the ground.
And to become Crown Prince, he first needed to use this impudent, presumptuous tool sitting before him.
“What is it? Has Riina committed some grave error?”
Smith explicitly implied that she shouldn’t come unless it was about such matters, but Jane let it go in one ear and out the other.
After all, he was the one who needed her, not the other way around.
If she were to get up and leave right now, the Third Prince would stop her.
He would hide his impatience and forcefully detain her, but his true intentions would be obvious, which would be amusing.
However, deliberately scratching at such a person’s pride wasn’t the best choice.
Why did those with no real ability but overflowing greed always have such sky-high pride?
She decided to soothe this fool gently.
“About that plan you mentioned.”
Jane’s eyes were crescent-shaped as she smiled elegantly, hiding her contemptuous and mocking gaze, but Smith’s mouth twisted.
Though he hadn’t noticed her disrespectful look, it wasn’t the answer he wanted.
But before he could say anything, Jane quickly opened her mouth.
