She asked Sarah, who walked in front of me, straight away.
“What happen?”
“The Duke asks you to come for a moment.”
“Now?”
“Yes.”
“All right.”
She nodded and got up from her seat. After watching the child taking class with concentration for a while, she walked over to the child’s escort knight standing nearby and said.
“When Lian asks where I went, please tell him I went to see the Duke.”
“All right.”
She lifted herself up and left the gym with Sarah. The place Sarah took her was to the Duke’s office. As she entered, she saw the Duke sitting on the sofa. She walked straight to the seat across from the Duke, sat down, and asked.
“Did you call me?”
“Yes.”
“Do you have anything to say?”
“There’s something you need to see.”
What should she see? What was that? The Duke tilted his head for a moment and took something out of his arms. It was a round bead, and it was large enough to fit tightly in the Duke’s hand.
“This is a video sphere. It is a magic tool made in the magic tower.”
“A video?”
“Yes.”
Nodding his head, the Duke tapped the video sphere lightly with his fingers. Surprisingly, the video sphere floated in the air and the opaque surface of the sphere gradually began to turn transparent. When the surface of the bead became completely transparent, what was visible was the appearance of a middle-aged man with a familiar face. Well, the human was Viscount Lawton, right?
“It’s my father, right?”
“They say that after being kicked out of the mansion, he continued to aimlessly wander the streets like a beggar for a while.”
In the video district, Viscount Lawton was arguing with a man on the street. At first, she thought it was just a scuffle, but she noticed something a little strange. She wondered if the man who was arguing with Viscount Lawton was glancing around him too much. At that time, the man grabbed Viscount Lawton by the collar and quickly thrust something into his arms.
“…That man. You didn’t accidentally bump into my father, right?”
Instead of answering, the Duke took something out of his arms and held it out to her. It was a small note. She opened the note and read what was inside.
[West, ship, midnight]
There were only three words, but she knew they were referring to a specific place.
“That day, the Viscount headed to Meikan Port, on the west side of the empire, and received something from a man who got off the ship that arrived at midnight.”
The Duke who said so lightly tapped the video port. Then the scene inside the video zone changed. Viscount Rawden was handing something to a group of people in a dark alley.
“It turned out that they were members of the Rayon Guild. The Viscount handed over the goods he received from the ship to them.”
“What is that thing?”
“It is a narcotic powder that causes symptoms of confusion. In case of overdose, it can even be life-threatening due to difficulty breathing.”
“Narcotic powder? What on earth are you planning to use it for?”
“Powder to be used by His Majesty the Rayon Guildmaster disguised as a nobleman at a hunting competition hosted by the imperial family.”
She couldn’t help but be surprised. Was this powder for the leader of the Rayon Guild to use while disguising himself as a noble?
“What the hell do you mean?”
“It means that the Marquis of Dior is planning a case to frame me. He is planning to use it on His Majesty, who is on the hunt.”
But the Rayon guild leader must have died… What happened? During the previous capital incident, members of the Rayon Guild disguised as knights were talking about the fact that the guild leader was dead.
“After investigating, I found that the current Rayon Guild is almost in a state of disintegration. They say it’s because the guild leader died in an unfortunate incident…”
The Duke was silent for a moment, then the corner of his mouth slightly curled up. So much so that it seems like a lot of ridicule,
“Actually, it was just a fake death, but he was alive and well. He was hiding like a rat in a villa owned by the Dior family.”
“So, you’re saying you faked your death on purpose and planned something else?”
“Yes.”
She was not surprised as I had already guessed that the mastermind was the Marquis. However, there was one catch. According to the contents of the original book, the hunting competition held this time would proceed very smoothly. After hearing from Duke that the original content was going to be changed, her anxiety rose again.
“Is it okay? It’s fortunate that the Duke knew in advance, but the Marquis is not a soft person.”
“Don’t worry. Nothing will happen to you.”
“…but. Even if it’s okay.”
She leaned back on the sofa in the relaxed posture of the Duke and tilted her head.
“…Um, Duke.”
She was wondering whether she should tell the Duke that or not. Wouldn’t it just be hurting his pride? But it would still be good to say it.
“Lian was almost in danger three times recently. It was all the Marquis’s doing. Of course, the Duke must have continued to pay attention. He must have been thoroughly reassured…”
She paused for a moment and swallowed her saliva.
“Although all of the incidents that have occurred so far have ended in attempts, it is an indisputable fact that it almost happened.”
“You want to say I’m incompetent.”
A self-deprecating mutter flowed from him.
“No. I don’t think I’m incompetent. I’ve never even thought about it.”
She immediately shook her head. But the Duke’s darkened face did not seem to improve.
“What I’m saying is you just have to think about different situations.”
She still thought she said what she had to say, but it was also true that she regretted it a little. She didn’t want to see him like this. While she was sighing inwardly, the Duke’s hand suddenly came into view. She looked at one hand resting on the table and impulsively stretched out her hand. She held her hand very lightly over the Duke’s hand. At the same time, his eyes fell on her. It was a strange gaze whose meaning she could not understand.
“There is nothing in this world that can be determined. No one can guarantee what will happen in the future. Sadly.”
“…yes. Like my sister death.”
“Duke, that matter…”
“I’ve never been complacent. But… yes, just like you said, sometimes there are gaps. No matter what I do.”
“…”
“I apologize late for what happened when I was a maid. If I had listened to what you said back then, it wouldn’t have happened.”
“Duke.”
“It may sound like an excuse, but I was watching Sinner at the time.”
She was a little surprised by those words.
“Surveilled?”
“I was keeping an eye on that maid because she thought she might be in a conversation with you.”
“But then, I don’t think the Duke wouldn’t have felt something suspicious about that maid.”
“I would have done so if the watchman attached to the maid had not given me a false report.”
“So, are you saying that even that guard was a spy planted by the Marquis or something?”
“Yes.”
A look of bitterness appeared on the Duke’s face as he answered. At that moment, a question arose. Even though the Duke prepares for the situation so thoroughly, why do gaps keep appearing? How on earth does the Marquis create a gap so easily? The Marquis’ resourcefulness was too good to be attributed simply to using curse-type magic. It’s as if he was a person standing on top of the Duke’s head and was able to understand everything. It’s not some kind of god. The moment she unconsciously had that thought, strangely enough, she got goosebumps.
What a ridiculous thought.
“…Whew.”
She couldn’t help but sigh because she kept having strange thoughts.
“Why do you do that?”
“…You know, Duke.”
She really couldn’t decide whether she should talk about this or not. The reason she kept hiding the existence of the ‘white bird’ from the Duke was because she was not sure. She was not sure if she could even believe the Duke’s story about the ‘white bird’. But wouldn’t it be okay now?
“When I met His Majesty not long ago, the Duke told me not to worry about it.”
“Yes.”
“But what if, really, if what you say is true, what will you do?”
The Duke’s eyes slightly widened at her words.
“There was something I kept hiding from the Duke and didn’t tell him.”
“…What is that?”
“The first is that my fingernails, toenails, and hair are not growing. I don’t know the exact reason, but I guess it has something to do with the fact that the Tower Lord said I don’t have my own mana.”
The Duke was not very surprised. It may be because he heard and knew everything about the conversation she had with the Mage Tower before.
“The second is that I saw a vision at the temple.”
“Excuse me?”
“Yes. When I visited the temple with Ladiana and Lian. When I came into contact with the stone statue in the central chapel, I saw a strange vision. The same statue was standing in a completely different place…”
After pausing for a moment, she took out some of the blackened feathers he had kept in his bosom and showed them to the Duke.
“I picked this feather up near the statue in the central chapel when I went to the temple recently. When I saw the illusion, a white bird with feathers appeared. Its entire body was white, and even its eyes were white.”
At that time, the Duke’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“…A bird with even its eyes turned white?”
“Yes.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. That’s right. It was actually that bird that asked me to go to the main chapel at the temple earlier. It acted like it was asking me to follow it.”
At that moment, she felt a certain confidence in the Duke’s eyes.
“Do you know something?”
“In an old book I saw a while ago, it was said that Pezetion’s alter ego were in the form of animals whose bodies were all white birds.”
She couldn’t help but be surprised by those words.
“Pezethion’s alter ego?”
“Yes. It is definitely as it is written in the old book.”
She finally felt like she was getting some sense of it. After receiving information about the existence of the white bird, she felt like something was gradually coming to her mind. But at the same time, another question arose. Did she see there the alter ego of ‘Pezethion’, not ‘Karmadan’, the god worshiped in the Temple of Erubir?
“But isn’t it a bit strange? The god worshiped at the Rubir Temple is Karmadan.”
The Duke thought for a moment and came to a conclusion.
“I guess I need to do more research on Phezetion.”
“Yes. I think that would be good too.”
But she didn’t know whether the investigation would end soon or not. They couldn’t just wait without a promise… Or should they talk about the mine?
“One thing about the imperial hunting competition held this time: I want to make a suggestion.”
“Suggestion?”
“Yes.”
“I’m sure the Duke has something in mind about the trick the Marquis is trying to pull, but wouldn’t it be nice if we added a little more energy?”
The Duke’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“In what way exactly?”
“First, please actively accept my proposal. No, I hope you will listen to my request. I’ll tell you later the reason.”
“You can’t tell me why, but you want me to do you a favor?”
“Yes. What is clear is that it will be of great help to the Duke in some way.”
The Duke, who had been staring at her in silence, spoke.
“Okay. Tell me.”
The moment the Duke gave permission, She swallowed her saliva and opened her mouth.
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Translator Note:
Hello there! This is RJR. I hope you liked it <3
If you like my work please support me with Ko-fi or Patreon. Next post will be released on February, 18.
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