Meanwhile, in the imperial palace, the emperor summoned the first prince and ordered him to dissolve his engagement with Elodie.
The first prince was shocked. Why is Father suddenly breaking off the engagement?
The emperor explained that back when the dowager empress died, the empress and the second prince were both strongly supported by the nobles. So at that time he had needed Pedia to hold the situation. But now it seemed that Pedia was a power neither you nor I can control. So the emperor wanted the first prince to choose the more manageable Angelos family instead.
The first prince reminded his father that Angelos had already taken the second prince's side. But the emperor replied coldly that as long as there was profit to be made, Angelos would do it.
The first prince could only say through gritted teeth that he would give it serious thought.
Just then the empress entered and broke the tension between father and son. She reminded the prince that it was time for His Majesty's medicine. But no one expected that the empress did not have the emperor's best interests at heart.
Elsewhere, Elodie was spending more and more time at the mercenary company. She realized that Ryan and his people still had not found any trace of Estelle. She recalled the original story. Most of Estelle's tale took place in Walentia's capital, Somnia. As long as they investigated the area around Somnia, they should be able to pinpoint her.
But before that, Elodie decided to start brewing antidotes.
Meanwhile, the Duchess brushed past the mercenary company's attempts to stop her and insisted on seeing Elodie. She could not understand what on earth Elodie had been thinking lately, and combined with her son saying Elodie did not look well, she grew even more worried.
The moment the Duchess opened Elodie's door, the room was thick with the smell of poisonous drugs. Ryan only had to inhale a little to feel unwell at once. The Duchess vaguely realized that the secret Elodie had been hiding all along was probably here.
When Elodie woke up and opened her eyes that night, she found her mother at her bedside.
Looking at her face, the Duchess spoke heavily. "You look terrible and very weak." The Duchess asked directly, "Do you have to take poison first in order to create an antidote? So that's why you're holed up here drinking poison, isn't it?"
Filled with guilt, the Duchess had never known that Elodie was doing something so dangerous, and she decided to cancel her collaboration with her.
Elodie hardly protested. "But don't you need a capable alchemist?"
The Duchess admitted she did, but more than that, she did not want to watch her child drinking poison. The Duchess pressed Elodie in confusion. "Why do you have to go this far? Why do you need money so badly?"
With no other choice, Elodie explained her original idea, to leave the house and become independent.
Though shocked, the Duchess immediately started thinking back. When did Elodie start having that thought? Maybe it was from the first time she earnestly approached me of her own accord. The Duchess had never expected that she had already planned everything.
She told Elodie, "I don't oppose your becoming independent. After all, you've grown up and should have your own ideas. Maybe you feel we've put pressure on you and made you uncomfortable, but from now on I'll work hard to create an environment where you can relax."
At this moment, Elodie still did not realize how serious things were. First, she had completely lost her job. Second, if her identity was ever exposed, she would go from prodigy to fallen star.
Worse still, Carl suddenly appeared and nearly scared her half to death. She exploded on the spot. "What are you doing here?"
Carl said he had come to tell her that the whole family would be dining together tonight, and Mother had suggested they eat out.
After that, the whole family wore smiles. But Elodie just could not feel happy no matter what.
By coincidence, the Duke of Angelos also happened to see Pedia out dining with his family, and could not help remarking that he was surprisingly family-minded. Smiling, the Duchess teased him. "Duke Angelos, your wife hasn't been seen for so long. Has she perhaps caught some contagious disease?"
But Elodie noticed that the person standing behind the Duke of Angelos seemed to be a mage. Moreover, he deliberately avoided meeting her gaze, which made her feel something was very wrong. She could not figure out why the Duke of Angelos was treating that mage with near humility. This posture was completely unlike his usual style and struck her as bizarre.
Meanwhile, when Dorothia heard that Elodie could freely come and go to various places, she was so furious she lost control, her delicate face twisting with rage.
Just then the door was flung open and her father walked in. Hope flared instantly in Dorothia's eyes, and she threw herself into his arms. Her voice shook with urgency. "Father, have you found an alchemist yet? The invitation for the Ishtar Temple meeting day has already arrived. How am I supposed to attend looking like this?"
The Duke soothed her, telling her not to worry. He had already found a powerful mage for her.
Elsewhere, Elodie strode quickly toward Ryan's lodgings, utterly vexed. Because the Duchess had forbidden her from continuing their business, she was now penniless.