Don't Trust the Heroine

CHAPTER 15

The early spring's warmth from when Madenna had brought Farren to her mansion had soon turned into the bitter cold of winter.

Sitting in the middle of her cozy office, protected from the cold weather, Madenna opened a green envelope while enjoying a cup of black tea.

Inside the envelope were two regular reports from the Stained Ravens.

Suzanne's name was written over one of the documents. About half a year had passed since Count Tassio began to sponsor Suzanne, and she'd been living with the Count ever since.

She seemed to have wrapped the Countess around her finger just as she had with Cavan, acting as though she was their child.

Cavan was also doting on Suzanne, sparing no money on his patronage for her.

Also, as expected, she'd begun to study magic, evidently infuriated by the previous incident with Farren.

But there was nothing out of the ordinary even after half a year of surveillance.

The same was true with today's report.

'...She's still not doing anything noteworthy?'

Madenna's biggest concern was the places Suzanne visited and the people she met.

But so far, it seemed like there was nothing to be wary of.

'I shouldn't let my guard down. I'll have to remind them to keep an eye on every little thing.'

Madenna scanned the report a few more times, before going over to the other page.

「Report on the activities of Lukas Sein」

A small smile graced her lips as she read the title.

'The time has come.'

Madenna was delighted, finally receiving the report she had been waiting for.

In the original novel, three of Suzanne's allies stood out on her path to empresshood.

The Sage, Sein.

The Mystical Researcher, Fosha.

The Master Diplomat, Bellin.

They were the most promising talents in their respective fields, making great contributions towards the collapse of the current empire and the establishment of a new country.

'Of course, I'm turning them into Farren's supporters this time.'

Unlike Fosha and Bellin, who were both commoners and therefore troublesome to locate, the information on the fallen aristocrat Sein could be found relatively fast.

After that, she could look into their situation and swoop in at the right time to recruit them.

'I don't think it'll be an easy feat to recruit Sein, based on my knowledge from the original novel. In any case, the novel isn't even trustworthy with how it ignored Suzanne's actual personality, so it might even be more difficult than I imagine.'

Still, the reason Madenna decided to hunt down the three of them was because of Farren.

She had calculated that with their help, even if they had problems like Suzanne, Farren would be able to overpower them.

'With the Blood Contract, I can completely trust Farren, and have security in my plans for the future.'

Madenna stood up after going over the report on Sein once more.

It was time to meet Farren.

***

After passing through a long corridor and strolling through the courtyard, the detached building slowly came into view.