"I'm going to visit the members of the secret society!
The nanny's face grows confused.
"Pardon? Did you just say the Secret Society?"
"Yes", I answer cheerfully.
"But- how is that possible? The people who live away from the public eyes... The people who hate nobility and power...No one knows their true identities...Then How will you manage to visit them?" She asks.
"Yes it's true that the members of secret society hate nobility and I am the daughter of The Duke of Vorsack but- "
"But?"
"I have got this" I wave the letter I received at her.
On the envelope, it's written with shiny golden ink, "Secret Society".
The nanny is shocked, "How did you manage to get invited by them? Actually how did you even connect with them when they have managed to avoid even the best of the imperial knights!? "
"I have my ways" I smirk.
The nanny stops for a moment and says, "I don't know what ways you are referring to but I don't think it will be safe for you to visit them. They hate nobility and there's no guarantee that they will not try to harm you if you meet them..."
"I'll be carrying a magic device with me that will send you my location. In case I do not return before midnight, send the guards over immediately" I say.
The nanny agrees reluctantly.
I know that this is going to be unsafe but I'll have to go there alone!
The truth is the secret society are a group of highly brilliant people from different walks of life who are united by the hatred for power and nobility. No one knows their true identities but they are responsible for many of the crimes against the nobility including robbery and murder. They are known to rob nobles and give to the commoners, as they believe in true equality. The original novel described them as the 'revolutionary force of resistance against power'.
They were only mentioned in a small arc, where they planned to carry out the assassination of the crown prince Rion but he was saved by his fiance, the righteous nun Sophia, who punished them for their sins.
But now I know who's the real sinner, It's the nun herself!
I need to gather people by my side if I want to defeat the holy church which is controlled by Sophia.
And I know this for sure that the secret society also hate the church for what they do.
But of course they would never join hands with me, if I approached them directly because they would despise my Nobility and status.
So I used my pawn, Alan.
Alan is an impoverished commoner and on top of that a child who is shunned by Society. The secret society is very pitiful towards people who are struggling at the bottom of the society. Of course they would have extend their helping hand to him!
This was what I asked of Alan, to find the members of the secret society and give them my letter.
In the letter, I explained in detail whatever I know about the church and also about Sophia. I revealed my identity, but was a little doubtful that they really wouldn't help me because of my status.
But they reached out to me!
The contents of letter were very short, they only gave me the location and time to meet them. They also strictly mentioned that I must visit them alone.
The location is at the gambling
house of the capital where I first met Alan...
And the date and time is tonight after the sunsets.
It's afternoon now and I don't have any time to waste, I have to depart immediately!
The nanny gets the carriage ready, and I get dressed as an ordinary male merchant again. My real identity will attract too much attention to me, and that's the last thing I want!
I reach the gambling house but now how am I supposed to find them among so many people?
I sit at a table keeping my eye on the lookout for anyone suspicious.
But unfortunately I can't find anyone.
"Hey don't you wanna bet?" A man asks.
"Ah no I am good" I answer.
"But-"
Before he can complete his sentence, I stand up to leave, getting uncomfortable.
Attracting attention to me is the last thing I want. I pull my hood up and decide to just wait outside at a corner of the street.
As I'm waiting, I notice a blonde haired young boy looking at me from a distance. I immediately recognise him, It's Alan!
But just as I'm about to call him, he disappears in the crowd.
"Wait!" I chase him behind.
He runs very fast but stops in a quiet alley.
"Alan! I'm Caroline!" I say still huffing.
"Welcome Lady Caroline" Another voice says.
A tall and slender man with glasses, appears from the corners, as Alan turns around to face me.
"Who are you?" I ask.
"I am a member of the secret society, people call me Nine. I believe you received our invitation" The man says very politely.
"Oh yes I did. I'm sorry for coming in the disguise of a man but my true identity would attract a lot of attention" I say.
I undo my disguise and show my true identity.
"It's absolutely fine. Well then without any further ado let's go to our hideout" Nine says.
"Okay sure" I answer.
"But before that I would need to blindfold you"
"Wait what? Why-"
"We have to keep our location a secret so I hope you understand" he says.
I look over to Alan and he nods to me.
"Okay" I agree reluctantly.
Nine blindfolds me, then Alan holds my hand and takes me to a carriage.
I get on the carriage but all the time I stay blindfolded.
"Can I take off my blindfold now?" I ask.
"We must maintain absolute secrecy especially from a noble like you, The journey will take us 10 minutes only so I expect your cooperation" Nine says.
I sigh realising that this man although very well-mannered and polite,he is the 'straight to point' type and won't listen to me no matter what I say.
"It's okay Lady, do not worry because they aren't bad people!" Alan who is sitting beside me assures.
"I see. By the way how are you Alan?" I ask.
"I'm good Milady" he says.
"And how's your mother?"
"She's doing better thanks to you. Because of the money you gave me, I could buy medicine for my mother and also move to another place away from those bad people, I cannot thank you enough!"
"Since you have kept your promise it's only natural that you are rewarded. I will also keep my promise take care of you and your family from now on, do not worry" I smile.
"Thank you so much Milady!"
Nine who was watching from the opposite seat felt surprised to see a noble lady that too the infamous cold and cruel Villainess, the spoilt daughter of the Vorsacks, being so kind to a mere little boy.
The carriage comes to a stop and we get out.
I can barely walk properly as I'm blindfolded but Alan holds my hand and takes me through.
We come to a stop and Nine opens my blindfold. I open my eyes to see a room with a many people sitting around a long table.
"Welcome to the Secret Society" Nine says.
"Did we really have to bring noble here?" A red hair girl complains.
"Geez Six, will you shut up?" A black haired man sitting beside her retorts.
"You are the one that needs to shut up Seven!" She argues back.
"Six and Seven, quiet down!" The old man man sitting at the end of the table orders. It looks like he's their leader as the two instantly shut their mouths.
Then turning back to me the old man says, "Take a seat Young Lady".
I sit down on the empty chair before me.
"You may wait outside Alan" the old man says.
Alan walks outside the room and Nine sits in his place.
There is a heavy silence in the room, all the people sit in their places with their mouths completely shut.
"I am Zero, the leader of the secret society which currently consists of 17 members as you can see. Before we begin, I would like to ask a few questions to you..." The old man breaks the silence.
"Okay" I answer.
"Well you are Caroline Vorsack, daughter of the Duke of Vorsack and also the Crown Princess right?" He asks.
"Yes" I answer.
"And you are aware that we are the members of the secret society and our goal is to overthrow the nobles and the imperial family right?"
"Yes..."
"Then why did you as a noble reach out to us? We could have certainly killed you here...." The old man's gazes at me sharply.
I also feel everyone's sharp gazes on me.
But I'm not that stupid grandpa! I have the magic device that sends my location to the Vorsacks and they will definitely get here if you try anything funny.
But of course I can't say that...
"This is not a matter of our rivalry Sir...If the Elf rule returns back, there won't be any nobles or commoners. All of us will be slaves tortured by the elves just like we used to be many years ago" I answer.
The old man pauses for a second and then says, "That is true, but why us? You have your powerful family and not to mention that you are also engaged to the Crown Prince himself! You are the future Empress of this country, so you have enough power in your hands already then what do you need our help for?"
"True power is in the hands of the common people Sir. I may become the future Empress but my power is useless without the people. That is why I need people by my side! I need the common people to get aware of the evil that is the church and also how the half blood is going to take control of the world!"
The old man is actually surprised with my answer. Not once in his life did he see a noble who is not selfish and greedy but here this young lady opened his eyes.
"Very well then. I have come to a decision that, we the secret society are going to offer you the assistance you require. But do remember that our relations end after our goal of exposing the church and this half blood you mention are over. Because after that we will return back to being the enemies we are" he says.
"Okay I understand." I nod in agreement.
"Since its getting late, let's end our discussion for today"
"Now but we haven't even-"
"We'll send you another invitation within two days, then proceed with this matter" he says.
I sigh and reply, "Okay thank you".
I couldn't even get anywhere today but at least we came to an agreement.
"The meeting's done for today." The old man gets up and all the members also follow.
"Until we meet next time." The old man smiles.
Then Nine blindfolds me again and takes me back to the gambling house where we met.
"You will receive another letter soon, Please wait" he says.
"Okay, I'll be waiting".
"Then I'll take my leave" he turns around and disappears in the streets.
Tired, I also walk back to my carriage.
Today feels like such a long day. I have been journeying all throughout and my body is extremely tired.
Unable to keep my eyes open, I doze off.
I don't know how long I was passed out but...I wake up from a loud scream followed by the cry of a horse.
I open my eyes in shock to find that the carriage has come to a stop.
"What is going on?" I call out to the driver but there is no answer.
I get out to take a look but what I see makes my heart drop instantly.
Outside the carriage, lies the body of the dead driver and the horse.
And before them stands a man with a sword dyed red with their blood.
His red eyes are oddly calm as they look down at the dead body before slowly looking up at me.
His gaze changed into a loving one as it falls upon me...
"I have finally found you Carrie".
"Eric...!" I gasp with shock.