“You got evidence?”
I asked, crunching on the juicy apple.
'Wow. So sweet, so sweet.'
Just sitting in the room doing nothing and eating the fruits of the temple was like playing a goddess.
As I was humming to myself, the maid who brought me the news of the Duke.
“Yes, it was hidden in the book, just as the Saintess said.”
“I see. That’s good.”
I nodded as if it was nothing and took another bite of the apple.
“You are truly amazing, Saintess. How did you pinpoint the location of the evidence so precisely?”
“It’s all thanks to the goddess Hethel looking down on us.”
“Oh my! It seems the goddess is really with the Saintess.”
The maid looked at my expression with complicated eyes for a moment as she continued to exclaim in admiration.
“But the culprit who murdered the legitimate heir of the Duke’s family was blatantly acting as the master of the Duke’s family. How torn must the Saintess’s heart be...”
Oops.
'Look at my mind.'
Now, I was in a situation where I had found out that the person I had thought was my father my entire life was actually the one who had murdered my biological father.
But I was eating an apple with a calm expression on his face.
Worried that I might arouse suspicion, I swallowed the apple I was chewing and smiled faintly.
“When I think of my father who passed away unjustly, tears just flow. It feels like my heart is being ripped out.”
“Oh my, what should I do...”
“But now that I am the daughter of a goddess, I cannot waste time being entangled in personal feelings. The fate of Catalonia rests on my shoulders.”
“...Saintess.”
The maid's eyes sparkled with emotion.
I smiled softly at her, then quickly lowered my gaze to the floor.
“Still, I want to spend today completely remembering my father who passed away.”
“Yes, you should do so. Then I will leave now.”
"Thank you."
She looked at me with a bitter smile as if she felt sorry for me, and then quickly left the place.
Finally, the door closed and I lay down on the sofa again.
“Oh my, it’s comfortable.”
As soon as I entered Saintess's room, I tore everything from top to bottom, but there were only two things I didn't change: the mattress and the sofa.
“How many feathers did they put in it? It looks like I'm lying on a cloud.”
As I was rolling around on the sofa with my mouth open, I heard a tongue-clicking sound from somewhere.
“You lie so well without even licking your lips. Are all humans that conscienceless?”
It was Delton, lying face down on the sofa right across from me.
I just moved my eyes back to meet his gaze, still lying there looking at the ceiling.
“No, I’m a bit special.”
“If someone heard you, they’d think I was praising you.”
He burst into laughter as if he had been fooled, but then suddenly remembered something and snapped.
“And you should speak properly. It was I who looked after you, not Hethel. You should be thanking me!”
“Well, that’s true.”
I nodded coolly.
Certainly, this incident was largely due to Delton.
“You can hide this between the books in the study on the first floor of our house.”
“What book are you talking about?”
“Anything is fine.”
Before going to the banquet hall yesterday, I secretly handed Delton a letter.
It was the very same letter from my grandfather that put the trash in danger.
'Of course, I forged it by copying my grandfather's handwriting.'
I secretly practiced his handwriting as a child because I wanted to resemble my grandfather's handwriting, and now it's come to fruition.
As expected, anything you learn becomes useful.
Anyway, Delton, who had fallen for a plate of cake, faithfully followed my instructions, and thanks to him, I was able to put the trash away.
'Even looking back now, it's still amazing how he turned into a cat.'
It was truly amazing to see its large body gradually shrink and turn into a white cat.
'It seems that a thousand years of training was not entirely in vain.'
As I was looking at Delton with renewed eyes, he muttered with his lips pursed.
“Yes, don’t forget that gratitude. Do you know how much trouble I had to go to your house, which I had never been to before? The map you drew for me was such a mess that it didn’t help at all!”
“...A mess? Isn’t that too harsh?”
“Harsh? You can say that after seeing this?”
Delton, who had been shouting as if he was really angry, jumped up and ran somewhere.
He was rummaging through the trash can in one corner of the room, and then he finally brought out a crumpled piece of paper and threw it at me.
It was the map I gave him yesterday.
“...”
After quietly unfolding the map, I eventually had no choice but to keep my mouth shut.
'Even I think it's a bit harsh.'
The curves and straight lines were drawn haphazardly, making it difficult to tell at first whether it was a sketch or a doodle.
'Why doesn't this guy's drawing skills ever improve?'
After feeling embarrassed for a moment, I looked at him with an expression like, 'What is that?'
“So I gave you a whole cake. If you run an errand and give me a whole cake, isn’t that a profitable business?”
“What the hell is this business! No matter how I look at it, this is a business where I’m losing money. I’ve been running around for an hour and what the heck is this cake size?”
Delton complained, kicking a large strawberry cake on a plate with his foot.
A little while ago, the maid brought it to me at my request.
“What do you mean small? It looks like it’s twice the size of my face...”
“It’s small. It’s small. It’s small!”
Delton, who had been growling with a serious expression, soon turned his head with a sigh.
“Double it next time. This kind of stuff isn’t even worth a bite. It won’t even reach the liver!”
Then he literally ate the whole cake in one bite.
'Ugh. Is that a pig or a lion?'
I don't know why it's so hard to revere a thousand-year-old spirit.
Rumors of the Duke of Veloce's imprisonment spread quickly throughout the empire.
“Did you hear that? The Duke of Veloce was an illegitimate child?”
“That’s right. That mother gave the former Duke some bad medicine and jumped into bed.”
“And what’s worse, he killed the legitimate heir and took his place?”
“What a terrible man! How could you do such a thing to the person who saved you from slavery?”
“It was a mess from the start. I thought he was too much of a loser for someone who was the direct descendant of the Veloce Dukes. I guess it’s because he took after his mother.”
“That’s right. Alcohol, gambling, drugs. Among the Veloce Dukes, there hasn’t been anyone who has gone as far as that.”
The Duke of Veloce's often-rumored misdeeds, along with the fabricated evidence, gave great weight to Shayne's claims.
“Oh my, but what can I do about our saintly lady? She must have been so shocked to live thinking that the person who killed her father was her father.”
“That’s what I’m saying.”
“Wait a minute, so that means those appendages are also part of the same thing?”
“Huh? What does that mean?”
“Think about it. The real Duke of Veloce died thirteen years ago. But the current Duke of Veloce’s illegitimate child is seventeen years old.”
“I see. So that means they were on good terms before the current Duke became the successor.”
“Yes, then you would have known its identity as well.”
“Now that I look at it, these were all in one box?”
“Wow, those people with no basis are acting as the masters of the Duke’s household.”
Just as everyone was stunned, someone made a new claim.
“Wait a minute, by the way, it’s been 13 years since the Saintess’s mother passed away. Wasn’t it that guy who killed her?”
“Hey, no way...”
“What can I say? Even if His Excellency was so overcome with grief over the loss of the former Duchess that he didn’t notice that his son had changed, I don’t think you would have been the same.”
“Well, well. We’ve been living together for several years, so how could I not know?”
“This part also needs to be investigated, right?”
“Yes, we have to investigate. We have to uncover everything while we’re at it!”
The excited crowd rushed to the detention center where the Duke was and clamored for an investigation into the charges they had deduced.
The investigators, spurred on by the resentment, questioned the Duke even more harshly.
“Hey, stop being so honest. There are more than one or two crimes you’re suspected of committing! I don’t have time to waste on something that has such clear evidence. Do you understand? Huh?”
“Oh, well, didn’t they say that even if you wanted to confess, you had nothing to confess!”
The Duke pounded his chest as if he was frustrated.
He was going crazy and jumping around because they were making a fuss about confessing to such ridiculous things.
“I’m the true heir of the Veloce duchy! It’s all a lie, Shayne!”
It was at that time that the Duke was claiming his injustice, almost in tears.
Slam!
A loud friction noise echoed through the investigation room.
The investigator, who was fed up with the endless interrogation, slapped the Duke in the face.
“W, what the heck is this...!”
The Duke's eyes trembled without mercy.
He was born into the high nobility and grew up always being supported.
He's never been slapped in the face by anyone, even though he's been hit by someone.
Even to that strict father.
'But, to this low-level official, this rascal...!'
He was so angry and upset.
But he couldn't scream and run wild like he usually did.
It was funny because at that moment, he felt like his situation was hitting rock bottom and he was overcome with fear rather than anger.
It was at that time that his whole body was trembling.
The investigator, whose eyes had been shining coldly at him, suddenly sat up and bowed his head politely.
“Oh, why did you come all the way to a place like this...”
The Duke's expression became puzzled.
How can such a cruel man, who would not hesitate to slap the face of a Duke of a country, be so polite?
Who the hell came here to do this?
He quickly turned his head as if he thought the Emperor had arrived, but soon his eyes widened.
'Yeah, it's me.'
Because it was me, Shayne Veloce, who burst open the door to the interrogation room where the interrogation was in full swing and came rushing in.
'It's nice to see you again, you piece of trash.'
I winked at the gaping piece of trash.
I asked, crunching on the juicy apple.
'Wow. So sweet, so sweet.'
Just sitting in the room doing nothing and eating the fruits of the temple was like playing a goddess.
As I was humming to myself, the maid who brought me the news of the Duke.
“Yes, it was hidden in the book, just as the Saintess said.”
“I see. That’s good.”
I nodded as if it was nothing and took another bite of the apple.
“You are truly amazing, Saintess. How did you pinpoint the location of the evidence so precisely?”
“It’s all thanks to the goddess Hethel looking down on us.”
“Oh my! It seems the goddess is really with the Saintess.”
The maid looked at my expression with complicated eyes for a moment as she continued to exclaim in admiration.
“But the culprit who murdered the legitimate heir of the Duke’s family was blatantly acting as the master of the Duke’s family. How torn must the Saintess’s heart be...”
Oops.
'Look at my mind.'
Now, I was in a situation where I had found out that the person I had thought was my father my entire life was actually the one who had murdered my biological father.
But I was eating an apple with a calm expression on his face.
Worried that I might arouse suspicion, I swallowed the apple I was chewing and smiled faintly.
“When I think of my father who passed away unjustly, tears just flow. It feels like my heart is being ripped out.”
“Oh my, what should I do...”
“But now that I am the daughter of a goddess, I cannot waste time being entangled in personal feelings. The fate of Catalonia rests on my shoulders.”
“...Saintess.”
The maid's eyes sparkled with emotion.
I smiled softly at her, then quickly lowered my gaze to the floor.
“Still, I want to spend today completely remembering my father who passed away.”
“Yes, you should do so. Then I will leave now.”
"Thank you."
She looked at me with a bitter smile as if she felt sorry for me, and then quickly left the place.
Finally, the door closed and I lay down on the sofa again.
“Oh my, it’s comfortable.”
As soon as I entered Saintess's room, I tore everything from top to bottom, but there were only two things I didn't change: the mattress and the sofa.
“How many feathers did they put in it? It looks like I'm lying on a cloud.”
As I was rolling around on the sofa with my mouth open, I heard a tongue-clicking sound from somewhere.
“You lie so well without even licking your lips. Are all humans that conscienceless?”
It was Delton, lying face down on the sofa right across from me.
I just moved my eyes back to meet his gaze, still lying there looking at the ceiling.
“No, I’m a bit special.”
“If someone heard you, they’d think I was praising you.”
He burst into laughter as if he had been fooled, but then suddenly remembered something and snapped.
“And you should speak properly. It was I who looked after you, not Hethel. You should be thanking me!”
“Well, that’s true.”
I nodded coolly.
Certainly, this incident was largely due to Delton.
“You can hide this between the books in the study on the first floor of our house.”
“What book are you talking about?”
“Anything is fine.”
Before going to the banquet hall yesterday, I secretly handed Delton a letter.
It was the very same letter from my grandfather that put the trash in danger.
'Of course, I forged it by copying my grandfather's handwriting.'
I secretly practiced his handwriting as a child because I wanted to resemble my grandfather's handwriting, and now it's come to fruition.
As expected, anything you learn becomes useful.
Anyway, Delton, who had fallen for a plate of cake, faithfully followed my instructions, and thanks to him, I was able to put the trash away.
'Even looking back now, it's still amazing how he turned into a cat.'
It was truly amazing to see its large body gradually shrink and turn into a white cat.
'It seems that a thousand years of training was not entirely in vain.'
As I was looking at Delton with renewed eyes, he muttered with his lips pursed.
“Yes, don’t forget that gratitude. Do you know how much trouble I had to go to your house, which I had never been to before? The map you drew for me was such a mess that it didn’t help at all!”
“...A mess? Isn’t that too harsh?”
“Harsh? You can say that after seeing this?”
Delton, who had been shouting as if he was really angry, jumped up and ran somewhere.
He was rummaging through the trash can in one corner of the room, and then he finally brought out a crumpled piece of paper and threw it at me.
It was the map I gave him yesterday.
“...”
After quietly unfolding the map, I eventually had no choice but to keep my mouth shut.
'Even I think it's a bit harsh.'
The curves and straight lines were drawn haphazardly, making it difficult to tell at first whether it was a sketch or a doodle.
'Why doesn't this guy's drawing skills ever improve?'
After feeling embarrassed for a moment, I looked at him with an expression like, 'What is that?'
“So I gave you a whole cake. If you run an errand and give me a whole cake, isn’t that a profitable business?”
“What the hell is this business! No matter how I look at it, this is a business where I’m losing money. I’ve been running around for an hour and what the heck is this cake size?”
Delton complained, kicking a large strawberry cake on a plate with his foot.
A little while ago, the maid brought it to me at my request.
“What do you mean small? It looks like it’s twice the size of my face...”
“It’s small. It’s small. It’s small!”
Delton, who had been growling with a serious expression, soon turned his head with a sigh.
“Double it next time. This kind of stuff isn’t even worth a bite. It won’t even reach the liver!”
Then he literally ate the whole cake in one bite.
'Ugh. Is that a pig or a lion?'
I don't know why it's so hard to revere a thousand-year-old spirit.
***
Rumors of the Duke of Veloce's imprisonment spread quickly throughout the empire.
“Did you hear that? The Duke of Veloce was an illegitimate child?”
“That’s right. That mother gave the former Duke some bad medicine and jumped into bed.”
“And what’s worse, he killed the legitimate heir and took his place?”
“What a terrible man! How could you do such a thing to the person who saved you from slavery?”
“It was a mess from the start. I thought he was too much of a loser for someone who was the direct descendant of the Veloce Dukes. I guess it’s because he took after his mother.”
“That’s right. Alcohol, gambling, drugs. Among the Veloce Dukes, there hasn’t been anyone who has gone as far as that.”
The Duke of Veloce's often-rumored misdeeds, along with the fabricated evidence, gave great weight to Shayne's claims.
“Oh my, but what can I do about our saintly lady? She must have been so shocked to live thinking that the person who killed her father was her father.”
“That’s what I’m saying.”
“Wait a minute, so that means those appendages are also part of the same thing?”
“Huh? What does that mean?”
“Think about it. The real Duke of Veloce died thirteen years ago. But the current Duke of Veloce’s illegitimate child is seventeen years old.”
“I see. So that means they were on good terms before the current Duke became the successor.”
“Yes, then you would have known its identity as well.”
“Now that I look at it, these were all in one box?”
“Wow, those people with no basis are acting as the masters of the Duke’s household.”
Just as everyone was stunned, someone made a new claim.
“Wait a minute, by the way, it’s been 13 years since the Saintess’s mother passed away. Wasn’t it that guy who killed her?”
“Hey, no way...”
“What can I say? Even if His Excellency was so overcome with grief over the loss of the former Duchess that he didn’t notice that his son had changed, I don’t think you would have been the same.”
“Well, well. We’ve been living together for several years, so how could I not know?”
“This part also needs to be investigated, right?”
“Yes, we have to investigate. We have to uncover everything while we’re at it!”
The excited crowd rushed to the detention center where the Duke was and clamored for an investigation into the charges they had deduced.
The investigators, spurred on by the resentment, questioned the Duke even more harshly.
“Hey, stop being so honest. There are more than one or two crimes you’re suspected of committing! I don’t have time to waste on something that has such clear evidence. Do you understand? Huh?”
“Oh, well, didn’t they say that even if you wanted to confess, you had nothing to confess!”
The Duke pounded his chest as if he was frustrated.
He was going crazy and jumping around because they were making a fuss about confessing to such ridiculous things.
“I’m the true heir of the Veloce duchy! It’s all a lie, Shayne!”
It was at that time that the Duke was claiming his injustice, almost in tears.
Slam!
A loud friction noise echoed through the investigation room.
The investigator, who was fed up with the endless interrogation, slapped the Duke in the face.
“W, what the heck is this...!”
The Duke's eyes trembled without mercy.
He was born into the high nobility and grew up always being supported.
He's never been slapped in the face by anyone, even though he's been hit by someone.
Even to that strict father.
'But, to this low-level official, this rascal...!'
He was so angry and upset.
But he couldn't scream and run wild like he usually did.
It was funny because at that moment, he felt like his situation was hitting rock bottom and he was overcome with fear rather than anger.
It was at that time that his whole body was trembling.
The investigator, whose eyes had been shining coldly at him, suddenly sat up and bowed his head politely.
“Oh, why did you come all the way to a place like this...”
The Duke's expression became puzzled.
How can such a cruel man, who would not hesitate to slap the face of a Duke of a country, be so polite?
Who the hell came here to do this?
He quickly turned his head as if he thought the Emperor had arrived, but soon his eyes widened.
'Yeah, it's me.'
Because it was me, Shayne Veloce, who burst open the door to the interrogation room where the interrogation was in full swing and came rushing in.
'It's nice to see you again, you piece of trash.'
I winked at the gaping piece of trash.
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