Isn't Being A Wicked Woman Much Better?

173

C173

"Does it have the name of a person?"

Feeling a creepy sensation, I swallowed dry saliva.

Enrique nodded, clinging to my arms.

"What the hell is this...?"

When I dug into the garden and obtained the letters and the duchess's diary, I scanned everything inside and found nothing particularly suspicious.

Even the crossword puzzle Enrique said had a person's name seemed ordinary to me.

Crossword puzzles are a game that ladies and gentlemen play to clear their minds while enjoying teatime.

"Enrique, I can't understand it no matter how I look at it. Where is the person's name?"

"Here."

"Hmm?"

Enrique touched the intersection where the horizontal and vertical words of the crossword meet.

I squinted.

"J?"

1. PREJUDICE

2. INCANTATION

The answer to horizontal riddle No. 1 and the answer to vertical riddle No. 2 were the same as before, and the word at the intersection of the two words was J.

"Next... Here."

And at the intersection of word 3 and word 4, A was written.

As I moved my gaze diligently following Enrique's fingertips, I began to connect all the words at the points where the horizontal and vertical lines intersect.

The complete word is-

"J.A.M.I.L.L.A...?"

Jamilla.

Surprisingly, as Enrique said, there was actually the name of a person.

"Is this a person's name?"

"Yes."

"Jamilla..? Is that a woman's name?"

There was something that bothered me about the mere coincidence.

"In the novel, when Mia negotiated with Duke Seymour to escape from the twins, she only exchanged the letters."

So, when I discovered the existence of this diary, I was perplexed inside.

"Sister. But, there's something strange here too."

However, the feminine name 'Jamilla' wasn't the only thing.

The number of crossword puzzles is 22 instead of 12.

What came out of the intersection of the remaining ten words was even more significant.

"DEMON..."

Demon.

"Who the hell is Jamilla, and why is she related to the word demon?"

Could it have something to do with the sorcerer making a deal with the devil?

Enrique asked me, looking at the crossword like a warning.

"What is this?"

"It might be a code someone secretly planted."

It is very unlikely that the duchess made this crossword herself.

Most people who did these games were maids, and the royal family and high-ranking nobles enjoyed solving the crosswords they had prepared in advance.

"A secret code, I'm afraid...."