Chapter 378
At the sharp edge in Cecilia’s voice, Wilhelmina, who had been standing blankly, snapped to attention and hastily grabbed Cecilia’s outer coat.
She quickly picked up Cecilia’s shoes and set them in front of her as well.
At that, Cecilia’s eyes became even sharper.
“Are you joking right now? After all this time, I finally get a chance to see Sir Michael again, and you want me to wear these?”
Wilhelmina hurriedly bowed her head.
“…I apologize.”
But on her face, turned toward the floor, there was not a trace of apology—only annoyance.
Cecilia hounded Wilhelmina several more times to bring other clothes and shoes, then dressed and followed the man outside.
‘At least I have less luggage to carry. That’s a relief.’
Before closing the door, Wilhelmina glanced at the bags left in the room.
A month ago, Cecilia had been forced to flee from the Kingdom of Visconti almost as if in exile.
That was because things she had gotten away with, thanks to her overwhelming power and the influence of her supporters, were now coming to the surface.
“The Knight who was with the princess at the time testified! They pushed my daughter to her death!”
The man was a noble from another kingdom. He had a daughter who was a third-rank Purifier.
And his daughter had been killed by a monster in a dungeon.
…Or so it was believed.
But the truth of the evil deeds Princess Cecilia had committed began to come to light one day, when the dungeons suddenly vanished.
Artifacts also began to disappear without reason overnight.
The country hit hardest by this was, without question, Visconti.
Until now, the Visconti Kingdom had used Princess Cecilia’s overwhelming purification power as a weapon to acquire countless artifacts, and had subtly threatened other kingdoms and nobles to extract tributes from them.
But once the dungeons disappeared, her purification was useless, and once the artifacts vanished, Visconti’s threats also lost all their force.
So, the long-suppressed discontent rose to the surface again, and Cecilia’s misdeeds began to be exposed one by one.
All those who had suffered under Cecilia’s tyranny stood up together, and the King of Visconti finally decided:
Princess Cecilia would be expelled from the royal family.
He also made it clear that this was solely Cecilia’s affair and that the Visconti royal house had nothing to do with it.
Thus, Princess Cecilia was kicked out of Visconti.
Of course, she did not leave empty-handed.
She managed to sneak out the most valuable treasures among all the gold and jewels she had hoarded, so at first, Cecilia was full of bluster.
“How dare they! After all the luxury I let them enjoy! When the dungeons reappear, it’ll be too late for them to beg!”
Grinding her teeth, the princess cursed the Visconti royal family.
Up until then, she was confident.
She believed the disappearance of the dungeons was only temporary, and when they reappeared, everyone would once again bow before her.
But the world did not go as Cecilia expected.
The dungeons dried up more and more.
They vanished not only from the Fortresses, but even the lowest-level dungeons in remote territories disappeared without a trace.
The artifacts from other kingdoms also vanished.
Meanwhile, Cecilia sought out those who had once proposed to her.
Though each had their shortcomings, given the circumstances, she planned to recover her status by marrying one of them.
She hadn’t thought it would be difficult.
“I am already promised to someone else. Please leave.”
The man who had once knelt and pleaded at her feet now treated her like a bothersome peddler and turned her away.
At first, she thought he was simply rude.
But after being rejected in similar fashion several times, even the arrogant Cecilia had to accept the situation.
There was no one left who would marry her.
At first, she had been followed by a dozen or more maids, but that number gradually dropped to eight, then five, then three.
Then, unexpectedly, she came upon some news.
“Sir Michael was there?”
“Yes, they say it was definitely him.”
One of the maids reported having seen Michael near the place where artifacts had disappeared.
At that moment, Cecilia was certain.
Michael must have been involved in the disappearance of the artifacts.
‘Sir Michael must be the one holding them.’
If that was the case…
After that, Cecilia began desperately searching for Michael.
And she thought.
‘He’s already tasted the pleasures of the world, so he must be thoroughly corrupted by now. By this point, he must be getting tired of that woman, too.’
And so, following the man to where Michael was, Cecilia smiled when she saw Michael alone, without Irene.
She was convinced her guess was right.
