“I can’t trust a word of it. Should I try a different interrogation thod? Or maybe persuasion instead.”
Maximilian muttered darkly, and Elodie fell into brief contemplation.
‘It’s probably true...’
Nyx Basilisk.
‘Him again.’
Just when things seem about to resolve, he appears like an obstacle and blocks the way.
The mont she tries to take a detour, he shows up again and interferes.
‘There’s not a single thing he doesn’t ddle in.’
So, to sum it up, he was serving as a bridge between the main perpetrator and the accomplices—the Emperor, the Empress, and the Prince.
Which ant that unless she got through Nyx Basilisk, there was no way to even guess who the main perpetrator was.
Unless another clue surfaced.
‘If I want to uncover the mastermind, I’ll have to make contact with that bastard sohow...’
Elodie recalled a plan she had scrapped a long ti ago.
Five years ago, from now.
Back when she kept her distance from Karon, just because he was from the Basilisk family and resembled Nyx.
‘I considered sneaking him into the Basilisk family as a spy for a brief mont.’
But after growing fond of Karon, she realized it would be unforgivable and abandoned the thought.
Elodie stepped out of the room with a troubled expression and sat on the reception room sofa.
“Elodie.”
“Ah—! You startled .”
How long had he been there?
Karon had approached without a sound, now standing just behind her and speaking up.
“Did you hand that bastard Daniel over to the knights?”
“Yeah.”
The boy replied listlessly, breaking into a soft grin.
What are you smiling for?
You paralyzed soone with poison on your own accord.
Sure, I asked you not to kill him, but he was barely clinging to life when I saw him.
Should I call that obedience or not?
Elodie looked up at Karon in disbelief—only to end up laughing quietly.
His smile, for so reason, was needlessly pretty.
Just then, soone suddenly clapped behind them.
‘What now.’
Turning around with a baffled look, Elodie saw the fox beastfolk, Paxi—soone she hadn’t spoken to more than a few tis.
He was a mage who knew how to repair things.
Since the Valkyrisen estate was overflowing with people anyway, he had been called in as a technician to repair the damaged temple.
“As expected, Third Young Master, you’re incredible. How did you know things would turn out like this and stubbornly follow her around... You’re truly an inspiration.”
“Huh?”
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
“Everyone was speechless, so I wondered what it was all about. I’ve learned a thing or two today.”
Paxi suddenly popped in, said sothing cryptic, gave a proud thumbs-up, and then disappeared without another word.
“...Do you know what that was about?”
“No idea.”
“What the heck.”
“No clue.”
Hmm.
Elodie tilted her head in confusion, and Karon naturally took a seat beside her.
He gently leaned his forehead on her shoulder and blinked sleepily.
‘Hmm...’
No.
Elodie imdiately dismissed the thought that had crept up on her.
‘I’m the one who pulled him out of that hellish life.’
That must be why he follows her like this.
To barely loosen his noose, only to throw him back into hell—
What kind of twisted hobby would that be?
That would be the work of a devil.
Elodie decided never to ntion even the “Ba” in Basilisk in front of Karon.
There had to be other ways.
***
The information the beastfolk of Valkyrisen had extracted from the spies was as follows:
Count Bluewood and the Bluewood Countess were still within the territory of the Terranolia Empire.
The exact mont they would cross the border would be when news of Elodie’s disappearance spread across Animallia.
At that point, Ratson, Valkyrisen, and Seraphina would be desperately searching all over Animallia for Elodie.
When no trace could be found and they were in despair, planted clues would be scattered, making it seem as though the Emperor of Animallia was the culprit.
Of course, Ratson and Valkyrisen wouldn’t believe it.
They wouldn’t believe it, but the seed of doubt would take root, and though they continued to cooperate with the Emperor, hesitation would settle in.
Ratson and Valkyrisen would know the Emperor wasn’t the culprit—but Seraphina wouldn’t.
Seraphina, in fact, would be enraged by the surrounding circumstances that so confidently insisted the Emperor wasn’t responsible.
“So Seraphina will try to find a way to contact the Emperor no matter what, and Count Bluewood is planning to use that opportunity to lure her in and kill her?”
“Yes. And recently, those lunatics have shown up too. There are rumors circulating from the banquet that His Majesty has beco a mber.”
Howlf let out a heavy sigh.
Lately, there had been wild rumors spreading across the continent.
That if you registered at a certain academy, you could learn a special thod of training and accumulate holy power—complete nonsense.
But it had caught on like wildfire.
The claim was that just registering would lay the foundation to use holy power, and that advertising had made it popular.
Like Magic Cotton, which allows even those with zero magical talent to use basic spells.
People argued: if Magic Cotton exists in the world, who’s to say such a training thod couldn’t?
‘Everyone claid they registered.’
So believed it seriously, but among the nobles, it beca a trendy hobby.
Like astrology—fortune-telling through holy power, seeing your luck for the day.
Though the "fortune" was vague enough to an whatever you wanted it to an.
‘Even I can’t foresee the future. What makes them think so shady training thod can?’
In any case, it was a scam.
It disappeared overnight without a trace.
Elodie couldn’t predict the future, but she knew it.
If sothing ca and went that quickly, what else could it be but fraud?
Only then did those who had behaved like they were under a spell begin to wonder why they had believed such absurd lies in the first place.
Still, it had ensnared even high-ranking nobles, and in so areas, it nearly destroyed the credibility of temple priests.
If the Emperor of Animallia had joined in on that high-society trend, it could give a supposed motive for abducting the heir of the Ratson family.
‘Now that I think about it, even that might’ve been staged using the Evil God’s power.’
Or maybe it was just coincidence—a scamr showing up at the most convenient ti.
‘Then they plan to carry out the sche when the scam is at its peak.’
That ant the timing could be predicted—good.
‘No, actually... what if I use that scamr instead?’
Having reached a conclusion, Elodie decided to wait.
Casting the line, and waiting for a bite.
***
“The Emperor of Animallia?”
“Shh.”
When the Bluewood Countess involuntarily raised her voice, Cesare’s attendant sharply rebuked her.
“Do you still not understand where you are? Compose yourself.”
Gasp.
She looked around with a tense expression.
But the beastfolk around her only spared a passing glance at her direct ntion of the Emperor, then brushed by, disinterested.
The Countess exhaled and tightened her hood more securely.
“But this is the first I’ve # Nоvеlight # heard of it.”
She had already been inford that traces of Gracia Ratson’s abduction were scattered across the Holy Kingdom.
The real question was—who would be made to appear as the culprit?
That was the key.
“But why the Emperor, of all people... Aren’t you afraid of the consequences?”
“No one is more directly linked to the Ratson family than the Emperor. If betrayed, the damage would be devastating.”
That was exactly the point—once he was suspected, rationality would crumble.
It didn’t matter whether anyone believed the Emperor was actually the perpetrator.
What they had planted was a seed of doubt.
Even if it was later revealed he wasn’t guilty, until the Ratson Lady was found, the emotional rift would only deepen.
“When the Ratson Lady goes missing, there won’t be ti to break the curse. And the Bluewood Lady will imdiately flee the Holy Kingdom to seek an audience with the Emperor of Animallia.”
There’s only one thing you need to do.
The prince’s attendant lowered his voice even further, his tone turning chilling.
“During that ti, capture the Bluewood Lady.”
“Capture her? I was told she’d be eliminated.”
“There’s still use for her, though it won’t last long. Once everything is over, His Highness the Prince said she would be handed over to your family. So endure just a little longer.”
The Countess wore a displeased expression for a mont but eventually nodded in agreent.
“You’re certain her reputation will be completely destroyed?”
“Yes. Like the Ratson Lady, she must disappear without a trace.”
The only woman capable of lifting the Ratson family’s curse would vanish.
That would drive a wedge not only through the Ratson family, but also between Animallia and House Valkyrisen.
And they intended to exploit that fracture.
The prince’s attendant observed the gemstone he had been studying, now glittering with light.
It was a mark left by Ratson family spies after staging the kidnapping.
“It seems the operation has begun.”
He rose from his seat.
Reviews
All reviews (0)