The small box, wrapped in fine velvet, looked luxurious at first glance.
Taking the box, I opened it without delay.
"Wow! The color is so beautiful!"
When the round gem, a deep blue like the depths of the ocean, was revealed, Emily exclaimed in admiration on my behalf.
Lapis Lazuli usually contains small specks of gold or white. The fewer the specks and the deeper the blue, the higher the quality.
As we passed the box around to check, not a single flaw existed on the dark blue gem.
"I like it."
I placed the box on the desk with a satisfied look.
It was worth paying the high price to the boastful jeweler.
"Are you going to give it as a gift to the Duke, Miss?"
Emily, looking at the large cufflinks set with lapis lazuli, asked with an innocent face.
'No way.'
I replied indifferently in my mind and then brought up another topic.
"Can you go and bring me any one of the jewelry boxes?"
"Jewelry box? Yes, Miss."
Emily, though puzzled by the instruction, followed without a word.
Thud. A moment later, she placed a large, heavy wooden box on the desk.
I stared at it, pretending to think and stalling for time, then spoke at the right moment.
"I have a task for someone else to do on my behalf."
"Yes? What is it?"
"Have you heard of an information broker in the merchant district?"
"An information broker...?"
Emily hesitated for a moment before answering.
"I don't know much, but my roommate, who used to work as a messenger in the merchant district before coming to the mansion, would know a lot."
"Is that so?"
I paused for a moment and then asked.
"What's her name?"
"Rena... Rena, I think..."
"Where is she now?"
"......But, I can do it better than Rena, Miss!"
Emily hastily added before she could finish her answer.
"That girl talks too much because she knows a lot."
She rolled her eyes, looking for my reaction, seemingly afraid that I might dismiss her and call the other girl right away.
"Emily. This task must be carried out very secretly and carefully. There may be times when you need to act on your own initiative."
In fact, I had decided to use her as my personal maid for this task, so from the beginning, there was no one else suitable besides Emily.
"But what about you, who has looked down on me, a fake noble, all this time?"
But I deliberately created a sense of crisis.
"Can I really trust you?"
"P-Penelope, Miss!"
It was a topic I hadn't brought up in a while.
Emily's face turned pale as she recalled the past.
"I, I haven't had any disrespectful thoughts since then, Miss! I've served you so devotedly, how could I...?"
"Anyone in the Duke's mansion could say that, Emily."
Emily, who had been sobbing and pleading her innocence and sorrow, fell silent at my cold words.
"I, I..."
After a moment of sobbing, she began to think and changed her approach.
"You've seen how sharp my intuition is, Miss."
I was impressed by her quick change in attitude.
'Impressive.'
Indeed, Emily was more cunning than the other extras.
That's why she had been meticulously tormenting Penelope for years by hiding a large needle in her hair.
Unaware that I was thinking such things about her, Emily pleaded with a desperate look.
"Remember, Miss. I've never made a mistake in any task you've given me."
"......"
"Yes, Miss! I can do it! I'll find the person you're looking for right away."
A long silence followed.
Tap, tap. The only sound in the room was the tapping of my fingers on the desk.
Just as the maid's anxiety was about to melt away,
"......Alright."
I finally agreed.
"I'll trust you this time."
"Miss..."
Emily looked at me with a grateful expression.
Honestly, I never thought she had any good feelings for me after threatening her with a needle.
However, the possibility that her master's trust might shift to someone else was enough to make her swear loyalty.
"Thank you, Miss! I won't let you down!"
I nodded casually at Emily, who was bowing repeatedly.
"Open the jewelry box."
Perhaps fearing that I might change my mind, she moved quickly as soon as I finished speaking.
"From now on, until my probation ends, go to the information brokers after you finish your morning duties. You'll be entrusting them with a request to find someone."
"Someone? Who...?"
"I'll write down the details separately. Just show them the paper. You can use any of the jewels in this box to pay."
The box was filled with shining jewels, symbolizing the extreme luxury of the fake noble.
Unfortunately, Penelope didn't have a large amount of cash, so the only assets she could use were jewels.
But even if she used all of them, it wouldn't matter.
There were many more jewelry boxes in the vault where the noble's valuables were stored.
"Yes! I can do it, Miss! I'll find the person you're looking for right away."
"However, it can't be a regular information broker who finds people."
Emily's eyes widened at my words.
"Then, what kind of...?"
"Places that deal with very rare information or items. High-end information brokers that only high-ranking nobles would use. I'm sure you can find one discreetly."
"Yes! Of course!"
In the game, it was described that the largest and most famous of such brokers was run by Bauter.
'So you should be able to find it easily.'
Of course, I already knew that he was a marquis, a mage, and secretly ran a brokerage.
If I wanted to meet him, I could just attend the banquets he was likely to attend.
However, Bauter was one of the potential male leads after Eclis.
To create a more dramatic meeting, I decided to reverse-engineer a normal mode episode.
[The heroine, upon returning to the Duke's mansion, searches for the benefactor who helped her find her original family.
All she knows about him is that he is a mage wearing a white rabbit mask.
However, at a debut ball she attends as the 'real noble,' she meets Bauter and immediately recognizes him as her benefactor by his eye color.]
'Does that make sense? How can you recognize someone just by their eye color?'
The days when I was delighted and ecstatic about such easy solutions now felt distant.
I had no intention of attending every banquet just to meet Bauter.
'I'll make him come to me.'
I spoke to Emily again, in a calm tone.
"And one more thing. You need to subtly let it be known that you are a maid to a high-ranking noble lady."
"Huh? How...?"
"Act as if you're secretly searching for a man a noble lady has fallen in love with at first sight."
"Oh, Miss!"
At my low whisper, Emily jumped up from her seat.
"Maybe it would be faster to ask me about it."
I frowned at her reaction.
"The only thing maids talk about is the high-ranking nobles. Especially unmarried noble men with outstanding appearances, they all know them well..."
"Emily."
I cut off her chattering without asking.
"Can you do the task I'm giving you, or not? Just answer that."
"Please, Miss! I will definitely find out who your lover is..."
"It's not that."
I firmly denied it. I could see her making wild assumptions.
'How clueless.'
But her eyes sparkled with excitement, as if she didn't believe me at all.
"Spring has finally come to our Miss..."
I had to bring her back to reality, so I rolled up my sleeve and showed her the back of my hand.
"Be careful. This task will determine the fate of your needle."
"Ah...!"
"This is a clear opportunity for you, Emily. If you do something you weren't asked to do and get caught, you might be dismissed this time."
My hand, once marked by the needle, was now completely clean and flawless.
But Emily, who seemed to remember the needle threat, quickly composed herself and looked solemn.
'Has she developed some affection?'
I felt a bit guilty at the sight.
Just then, there was a knock.
"Miss, it's Penel."
The butler announced his presence with a knock.
The days of doors bursting open were over, but I always waited a few seconds before responding.
"......Come in."
Finally, the butler carefully opened the door, bowed, and entered.
"What is it?"
"A letter of invitation has arrived for Penelope, Miss, from the palace."
"For me?"
I tilted my head. Since the second prince's birthday banquet had just ended, there shouldn't be any invitations from the palace for a while.
"Yes, Miss. It seems there will be a simple banquet at the palace on the last day of the Founding Festival to commemorate the empire's victory."
My brow furrowed involuntarily.
Why does the palace keep hosting banquets?
"Didn't they already hold a grand welcome banquet?"
"This one is being hosted by the Crown Prince himself, Miss."
At the butler's words, my neck turned stiffly like an unlubricated robot.