CHAPTER 27: GRACE PLAN

"Madam, are you serious?"

When I told Edison about my plans, the poor old man thought I had completely lost touch with reality. There was no other way to explain this delusional request.

"Absolutely," I took a sip of black tea, "Prepare all the necessary documents as soon as possible."

Edward Edison looked at me suspiciously.

"I really don’t understand... Why do you want to make a commoner into an aristocrat?"

William Dickens left half an hour ago. After that, I immediately summoned the butler to my office for an important conversation. As soon as he heard the essence of my plan, he was perplexed. I was going to make Enoch, an ordinary forester from a remote village, a member of high society.

If some of my ideas had seemed "strange" before, now they were beyond the pale. Edison was probably the only person I could tell everything to openly. That was because he had worked with my father for many years.

He had also been involved in Angela’s abduction ten years ago.

"This concerns the girl I brought with me."

"Hmm?"

After the shocking incident that occurred this afternoon, Angela was still sleeping in my bedroom. According to the doctor, the girl should regain consciousness tomorrow morning. Of course, I was concerned about her health. But at the same time, it played into my hands. We will be able to resolve all important issues without her involvement.

Until she comes of age, Angela must not under any circumstances find out that she is a member of the royal family. I discussed this with the duke, and he had to agree. According to me, it’s all for her own safety.

"This girl is the crown princess of Eidelman," I stated bluntly.

The old man’s jaw dropped.

"What?"

I sighed.

"Haven’t you noticed? She has golden hair. Only members of the imperial family can have hair like that."

Edison held his breath. At that moment, he was replaying fragments of past events in his mind. He hadn’t participated in the kidnapping with my father that night, but he had helped organize it. In other words, he knew all the details from start to finish.

"Her Highness Angela de Stone...?" he finally said.

"Exactly."

The old man faltered.

"But how is that possible?! Ten years ago, didn’t the gentleman...."

"As you can see, she’s still alive," I took another sip of tea, "and in good health."

A brief silence fell over the office.

Edward Edison thought hard about my words and looked at me intently. It seemed as if a plan was forming in his head. Especially after I told him that all this time the princess had been raised by a commoner. In other words, no one knew of her existence.

"What are you going to do with her now?" the old man asked.

"Huh?"

"In that case, we might as well not send for a doctor. All we have to do is..."

The man demonstratively ran his thumb across his throat. I choked on my tea.

"Stop it. I’m not going to kill her!"

"But why?" the butler protested. "The former master worked so long to achieve this! And now the girl is in your hands. It won’t be difficult for you to seize power and..."

And now a second person was suggesting that I stage a coup. I sighed heavily. Really, did I look that much like a ruler? Although there was nothing good about it from my point of view. The more power, the more responsibility, which I was not interested in at all.

To be honest, I couldn’t care less about all this fighting for the throne.

But Edison didn’t understand how someone like me could be so unambitious. If it were up to me, I would be lying on a deck chair right now, smoking a cigarette. Instead of all this...

"I don’t need a reason. I just want to save her life."

The old man sighed discontentedly.

"Lady, remember this. Your kindness will not lead you to anything good..."

"Kindness"? I couldn’t help but smile at these words.

I’m just trying to save the world I live in. And at the same time, protect my own skin from danger. If it weren’t for that, I wouldn’t give a damn what happened to this little girl. Even if my father really did kill her ten years ago.

"Even if you’re not going to do anything... Why do you need this commoner? You can just send them back."

Bingo!

That’s exactly what I planned to do in the first place.

But the duke left me no choice. He was unusually uncompromising on this issue. Such loyalty to the imperial family was truly astonishing. Angela could no longer live as a commoner. And since none of us could accept her, there was only one option left. To raise Enoch’s status in society.

When I told the butler about this reason, he asked in surprise:

"In that case, wouldn’t it be better to give them money? Why assign a title right away...."

I sighed.

"If only it were that simple..."

A commoner is a commoner. When yesterday’s forester suddenly has a pile of money, won’t that raise questions? Such a person simply could not live in a mansion and ride in an expensive carriage for no reason. Even officials might notice such an unusual picture. Especially...

"If Enoch receives a large sum of money from me, won’t it look suspicious?" I asked rationally. "It will only attract unnecessary public attention."

"Ahem..."

"So this is the only way to do it discreetly."

When the old man realized that it was useless to try to change my mind, he resigned himself to my plan. Either way, he had no choice.

"All right... I’ll take care of it today."

In fact, "buying" a title was not that difficult. All you needed was a certain amount of money and connections. Everything depended on the privileges granted. For example, only the emperor himself could grant the title of duke. At the same time, anyone could become a baron or a minor marquis.

That’s what I was counting on. An insignificant aristocratic status would be enough for Enoch and Angela to live a decent life. Although even here I got carried away and wanted to write their biography as soon as Edison found a suitable aristocratic family.

"If that’s all, I’ll be going. Good evening, ma’am."

"Mm-hmm."

As soon as Edison left, I came to my senses for the first time and glanced at the clock. The big hand was approaching seven. It seemed that the heroine’s adoptive father would be arriving here very soon.

Sipping the remains of my black tea, I was proven right. Nura informed me of the guest’s arrival in ten minutes. I ordered her to let him in.

A middle-aged man with a short beard walked uncertainly inside. His appearance was completely ordinary and did not stand out among thousands of others. An insignificant character in the crowd who died in the prologue.

The heroine’s adoptive father. Forester Enoch.

The man was obviously in shock. He did not expect that the address he was going to turn out to be an aristocratic estate. And how did his daughter manage to get here?

Enoch searched for words excitedly before addressing me:

"H-hello, lady... I was told that my daughter is with you. Is that true?"

I smiled politely, stood up, and shook his hand.

"Yes. It seems you’ve drawn the lucky ticket today."

"Huh?"

The forester stared at me in surprise. Meanwhile, I continued to maintain a friendly expression on my face. This was a plan I hadn’t told anyone about.

In fact, in eight years’ time, I was going to kill Enoch with my own hands.