Chapter 144. One conspiracy breeds another
"Cedric's funeral is being held at the cathedral today."
The body is autopsied, and the funeral is held later.
The Grand Duke, who had been glaring at Count Wence with a cold gaze, clenched his fist into the air.
The vast mana at his fingertips pulsated. The mana, emitting a pale glow, rippled, then stretched out like a snake.
The fiercely surging mana seemed to be directed at the Count, but then quickly slithered into the ground.
The mana gushing from his fingertips faintly subsided.
The Grand Duke's face contorted, perhaps due to the sudden loss of so much mana. A wrinkle formed between his eyebrows, and beneath them, a frown appeared.
"I... overused my magic."
He transformed a field mouse into his own form and used teleportation three times. And that wasn't all? Just before, he had used quite a large amount of mana.
Having usually kept his magical abilities hidden, this was the first time he had used such excessive magic.
The Grand Duke seemed quite distressed by the unfamiliar turbulence of the mana.
The Grand Duke slightly lowered his head, then raised it again. He then muttered to himself, looking at Count Wence's residence.
"If I had just stayed quiet, I would have made it to the middle."
What a fool, oblivious to his place.
The mana flowed underground and crawled into Count Wence's residence.
The mana, in the form of a snake, moved for a long time through a long hallway before stopping in front of a massive door.
It was Eric's room.
The mana sneaked through the crack in the door and entered Eric's head.
In an instant, the Grand Duke's eyes flashed with a strange gleam.
Although he couldn't see it, he could feel his mana infiltrating Eric's body.
The Grand Duke's mana, which had been trembling faintly, began to tremble violently.
"Ugh..."
His entire body felt hot. The heat that began in his heart spread rapidly, as if it were going to engulf the Grand Duke.
It felt like his heart was burning. No, not just his heart, but his entire body was in a state of agony, as if he were being plunged into a pit of fire.
The Grand Duke, unable to bear the agony, gasped for breath. He coughed, then covered his mouth with the back of his hand. A thin mucus gushed out from his mouth.
It was blood.
The magic he had used on Eric had distorted the Grand Duke's mana. It pulsated violently, as if crying out for help.
Grand Duke Artaeum struggled to suppress the surging mana and exhaled softly. As if by magic, the mana within his body calmed.
However, the mana, once so clear as to be transparent, had suddenly become cloudy.
The magic the Grand Duke had used was forbidden magic.
It was a type of curse that constantly showed the subject what they feared most. This was the Grand Duke's first time using curse magic. After all, it was a magic he had only glimpsed in ancient books.
It was a magic no one could easily perform, but the Grand Duke, possessed by his innate talent for magic, was able to perform it with ease.
He felt his mana cease its trembling and silently looked down at his palm.
'It feels like it's straining my body, but...'
His words trailed off, and he clenched his fists, thinking,
'I must have this level of revenge.'
In the dark evening of the moonless seventh night, the Grand Duke's chilling eyes gleamed fiercely.
Hiding behind a large tree, the Grand Duke vanished without a trace.
He had returned to his prison, where he belonged.
A calm dawn breeze blew gently. As if nothing had happened, peacefully.
The Grand Duke of Artaeum teleported and opened his eyes in a corner bathroom.
'He'd been well, right?'
He quickly scanned the outside, searching for the field mouse that was probably doing his duty in his stead.
The field mouse lay quietly on the bed. The Grand Duke of Artaeum breathed a sigh of relief.
The clever field mouse, perhaps sensing the Grand Duke's presence, sniffed and sat upright. Then it entered the bathroom where the Grand Duke was hiding.
The Grand Duke paused for a moment upon seeing the field mouse in his guise.
"What is that?"
There was an unknown crumb stuck to the corner of its mouth.
"Quiet! Quiet!"
The field mouse nuzzled its head into the Grand Duke, as if emphasizing its quiet demeanor, as if begging for praise. It acted coquettishly, as if asking for a pat. The field mouse nuzzled its head into the Grand Duke's chest, causing the piece of cheese stuck in its mouth to fall to the floor.
The sight of the field mouse flirting with itself sent a chill down the Grand Duke of Artaeum's spine.
Objectively speaking, he found his own appearance disgusting.
"How disgusting."
Frowning, he quickly dispelled the spell. The field mouse, now disguised as the Grand Duke, returned to its original form with a "pop."
Only then did the Grand Duke reach out to the field mouse. He then gently patted its head.
"I'll give you a reward for being so good."
Grand Duke Artaeum conjured something in the air and offered it to the field mouse.
It was cheese.
The field mouse sniffed at the cheese and then reacted indifferently.
It was quite different from its usual self.
"It seems you're still full."
The Grand Duke simply assumed the field mouse's stomach was still full, completely unaware that the field mouse, having tasted the finest cheese, would reject ordinary cheese.
When the Grand Duke tried to take the cheese back, the glum-looking field mouse blocked his hand. He then munched it down in one gulp.
It wasn't the finest cheese, but it was still a satisfying reward, the field mouse thought.
Next time I transform into a Grand Duke again, I'll crave even more cheese.
The field mouse, hiding its sinister intentions, rubbed its face against the Grand Duke's finger with innocent eyes.
Meanwhile, Beliana had been unable to sleep since Cedric's death.
'Oh, what should I do?'
She nervously bit her fingernails and made a terrified expression.
'W-W-what if my lies are found out... This won't do!'
After the nanny collapsed, Beliana wrote all the letters to the Marquis of Dikar.
Of course, she made them look like the nanny had written them. She wrote all kinds of lies and praised herself.
She said that Beliana was doing a great job as the Count's mistress and suggested that they arrange a meeting with her brother soon.
'If you come to the funeral... all my lies will be revealed.'
If that happened... she might not be able to meet her brother.
The nanny had not yet woken up.
If the Marquis of Dikar came to Cedric's funeral, it would only be a matter of time before he found out.
'Oh, no... no... no... no.'
Tears welled up in her eyes.
She had started this simply because she wanted to see her brother, but why did things keep getting more complicated?
'What did I... what did I do wrong...?'
She wept with sorrow. She fought to hold back the sobs that were escaping her lips and burrowed into the blankets.
She missed her family.
Her mother, her father, her brother, everything.
The faint sound of her sorrowful sobs echoed.
After Cedric's death, she spent each day in tears, unable to do anything.
Beliana, who had been weeping endlessly, wiped them away with the back of her hand and stared into space.
'Run... let's go.'
She had to run or die.
The Marquis of Dikar wouldn't let her live.
She knew she would feel fooled by the letters she wrote while pretending to be her nanny.
Her concern was for her younger sister, who might be held captive by the Marquis of Dikar, but her own life came first.
Determined to leave, Beliana bolted from her seat. She hurried to her desk.
Running away was right, but continuing like this felt unfair.
'If only I weren't here... Life in this mansion wouldn't be this hellish!'
I’ll frame you too. I’ll frame you so that they think… You killed me.
It’s okay.
This much is okay.
Beliana kept repeating to herself. She’s been treated well, so this much retribution is okay.
Beliana placed the note on the desk as if it were nothing. She even carefully placed a hairpin on it in case the note flew away.
There was no time to delay.
The sun would soon rise. Once the sun rose, it would be difficult to move without being noticed.
Beliana left the mansion bare-handed, without any belongings.
She looked around to avoid anyone’s eyes as she disappeared from the mansion.
Of course, no one in the mansion had missed Beliana.
‘Countess?’
Where on earth could she be going at this hour?
It was Serun, the Grand Duke's spy, who discovered Beliana stealthily escaping in the dead of night.
Serun found Beliana's behavior suspicious, but she wasn't a person of interest.
If she were Doana, he would have chased her, but because she was Beliana, he didn't.
Beliana's disappearance was quickly revealed.
Early in the morning, shortly after sunrise, a maid knocked on Beliana's door.
"Madam, are you there?"
The maid, finding the lack of response suspicious despite several knocks, cautiously opened the door.
"Excuse me, ma'am."
Upon entering, she found the room empty.
"Huh? Are you getting ready already?"
Believing Beliana might have been out early in the morning because she had to attend Cedric's funeral, the maid thought,
"This is..."
She found a note on Belliard's desk.
[Dear Countess,
I would like to resolve the lingering resentment before the funeral.
I'd like to meet you alone. Could we meet briefly at the mountain behind the mansion?
-Doana-]
"Oh my... It seems like you two are getting along well."
They were both impatient because they couldn't get along for a while.
'Since the previous Count passed away... The atmosphere in the house has changed a lot.'
The maid who saw this note thought that the two women of the Count's family were planning to change the gloomy atmosphere.
Until then, the maid had no idea.
That this would be the incident that would tighten Doana's leash.
"Cedric's funeral is being held at the cathedral today."
The body is autopsied, and the funeral is held later.
The Grand Duke, who had been glaring at Count Wence with a cold gaze, clenched his fist into the air.
The vast mana at his fingertips pulsated. The mana, emitting a pale glow, rippled, then stretched out like a snake.
The fiercely surging mana seemed to be directed at the Count, but then quickly slithered into the ground.
The mana gushing from his fingertips faintly subsided.
The Grand Duke's face contorted, perhaps due to the sudden loss of so much mana. A wrinkle formed between his eyebrows, and beneath them, a frown appeared.
"I... overused my magic."
He transformed a field mouse into his own form and used teleportation three times. And that wasn't all? Just before, he had used quite a large amount of mana.
Having usually kept his magical abilities hidden, this was the first time he had used such excessive magic.
The Grand Duke seemed quite distressed by the unfamiliar turbulence of the mana.
The Grand Duke slightly lowered his head, then raised it again. He then muttered to himself, looking at Count Wence's residence.
"If I had just stayed quiet, I would have made it to the middle."
What a fool, oblivious to his place.
The mana flowed underground and crawled into Count Wence's residence.
The mana, in the form of a snake, moved for a long time through a long hallway before stopping in front of a massive door.
It was Eric's room.
The mana sneaked through the crack in the door and entered Eric's head.
In an instant, the Grand Duke's eyes flashed with a strange gleam.
Although he couldn't see it, he could feel his mana infiltrating Eric's body.
The Grand Duke's mana, which had been trembling faintly, began to tremble violently.
"Ugh..."
His entire body felt hot. The heat that began in his heart spread rapidly, as if it were going to engulf the Grand Duke.
It felt like his heart was burning. No, not just his heart, but his entire body was in a state of agony, as if he were being plunged into a pit of fire.
The Grand Duke, unable to bear the agony, gasped for breath. He coughed, then covered his mouth with the back of his hand. A thin mucus gushed out from his mouth.
It was blood.
The magic he had used on Eric had distorted the Grand Duke's mana. It pulsated violently, as if crying out for help.
Grand Duke Artaeum struggled to suppress the surging mana and exhaled softly. As if by magic, the mana within his body calmed.
However, the mana, once so clear as to be transparent, had suddenly become cloudy.
The magic the Grand Duke had used was forbidden magic.
It was a type of curse that constantly showed the subject what they feared most. This was the Grand Duke's first time using curse magic. After all, it was a magic he had only glimpsed in ancient books.
It was a magic no one could easily perform, but the Grand Duke, possessed by his innate talent for magic, was able to perform it with ease.
He felt his mana cease its trembling and silently looked down at his palm.
'It feels like it's straining my body, but...'
His words trailed off, and he clenched his fists, thinking,
'I must have this level of revenge.'
In the dark evening of the moonless seventh night, the Grand Duke's chilling eyes gleamed fiercely.
Hiding behind a large tree, the Grand Duke vanished without a trace.
He had returned to his prison, where he belonged.
A calm dawn breeze blew gently. As if nothing had happened, peacefully.
The Grand Duke of Artaeum teleported and opened his eyes in a corner bathroom.
'He'd been well, right?'
He quickly scanned the outside, searching for the field mouse that was probably doing his duty in his stead.
The field mouse lay quietly on the bed. The Grand Duke of Artaeum breathed a sigh of relief.
The clever field mouse, perhaps sensing the Grand Duke's presence, sniffed and sat upright. Then it entered the bathroom where the Grand Duke was hiding.
The Grand Duke paused for a moment upon seeing the field mouse in his guise.
"What is that?"
There was an unknown crumb stuck to the corner of its mouth.
"Quiet! Quiet!"
The field mouse nuzzled its head into the Grand Duke, as if emphasizing its quiet demeanor, as if begging for praise. It acted coquettishly, as if asking for a pat. The field mouse nuzzled its head into the Grand Duke's chest, causing the piece of cheese stuck in its mouth to fall to the floor.
The sight of the field mouse flirting with itself sent a chill down the Grand Duke of Artaeum's spine.
Objectively speaking, he found his own appearance disgusting.
"How disgusting."
Frowning, he quickly dispelled the spell. The field mouse, now disguised as the Grand Duke, returned to its original form with a "pop."
Only then did the Grand Duke reach out to the field mouse. He then gently patted its head.
"I'll give you a reward for being so good."
Grand Duke Artaeum conjured something in the air and offered it to the field mouse.
It was cheese.
The field mouse sniffed at the cheese and then reacted indifferently.
It was quite different from its usual self.
"It seems you're still full."
The Grand Duke simply assumed the field mouse's stomach was still full, completely unaware that the field mouse, having tasted the finest cheese, would reject ordinary cheese.
When the Grand Duke tried to take the cheese back, the glum-looking field mouse blocked his hand. He then munched it down in one gulp.
It wasn't the finest cheese, but it was still a satisfying reward, the field mouse thought.
Next time I transform into a Grand Duke again, I'll crave even more cheese.
The field mouse, hiding its sinister intentions, rubbed its face against the Grand Duke's finger with innocent eyes.
***
Meanwhile, Beliana had been unable to sleep since Cedric's death.
'Oh, what should I do?'
She nervously bit her fingernails and made a terrified expression.
'W-W-what if my lies are found out... This won't do!'
After the nanny collapsed, Beliana wrote all the letters to the Marquis of Dikar.
Of course, she made them look like the nanny had written them. She wrote all kinds of lies and praised herself.
She said that Beliana was doing a great job as the Count's mistress and suggested that they arrange a meeting with her brother soon.
'If you come to the funeral... all my lies will be revealed.'
If that happened... she might not be able to meet her brother.
The nanny had not yet woken up.
If the Marquis of Dikar came to Cedric's funeral, it would only be a matter of time before he found out.
'Oh, no... no... no... no.'
Tears welled up in her eyes.
She had started this simply because she wanted to see her brother, but why did things keep getting more complicated?
'What did I... what did I do wrong...?'
She wept with sorrow. She fought to hold back the sobs that were escaping her lips and burrowed into the blankets.
She missed her family.
Her mother, her father, her brother, everything.
The faint sound of her sorrowful sobs echoed.
After Cedric's death, she spent each day in tears, unable to do anything.
Beliana, who had been weeping endlessly, wiped them away with the back of her hand and stared into space.
'Run... let's go.'
She had to run or die.
The Marquis of Dikar wouldn't let her live.
She knew she would feel fooled by the letters she wrote while pretending to be her nanny.
Her concern was for her younger sister, who might be held captive by the Marquis of Dikar, but her own life came first.
Determined to leave, Beliana bolted from her seat. She hurried to her desk.
Running away was right, but continuing like this felt unfair.
'If only I weren't here... Life in this mansion wouldn't be this hellish!'
Her reddened eyes were filled with resentment.
Her resentment was directed at Doana.
Doana is a thorn in her side.
If not for Doana, she might have already seen her younger sister.
The nanny wouldn't have collapsed so easily. If not for Doana...
If not for that government...!
Beliana, with a tearful look in her eyes, wrote a crooked letter.
Truthfully, she had harbored ill will toward Doana, but it wasn't as easy as she'd hoped. She could have engaged in childish bullying. But she wasn't someone who would harm anyone.
She was just like any other ordinary, timid girl his age.
Unlike Doana, who lied without a care and felt no guilt even after killing animals, she was an ordinary person with a different nature.
However, she was capable of framing others to survive.
Beliana's hands trembled as she wrote the letter. She put a period at the end and dropped the fountain pen with a thud.
"Oh, I can't help it. If I don't do this... I, I might die."
A voice trembling with fear echoed softly.
"You, you... are carrying the Count's child... You won't die."
Belliard muttered to herself, unheard.
To ease her guilt, she justified her actions.
“You... framed me... for killing a cat...”
Her resentment was directed at Doana.
Doana is a thorn in her side.
If not for Doana, she might have already seen her younger sister.
The nanny wouldn't have collapsed so easily. If not for Doana...
If not for that government...!
Beliana, with a tearful look in her eyes, wrote a crooked letter.
Truthfully, she had harbored ill will toward Doana, but it wasn't as easy as she'd hoped. She could have engaged in childish bullying. But she wasn't someone who would harm anyone.
She was just like any other ordinary, timid girl his age.
Unlike Doana, who lied without a care and felt no guilt even after killing animals, she was an ordinary person with a different nature.
However, she was capable of framing others to survive.
Beliana's hands trembled as she wrote the letter. She put a period at the end and dropped the fountain pen with a thud.
"Oh, I can't help it. If I don't do this... I, I might die."
A voice trembling with fear echoed softly.
"You, you... are carrying the Count's child... You won't die."
Belliard muttered to herself, unheard.
To ease her guilt, she justified her actions.
“You... framed me... for killing a cat...”
I’ll frame you too. I’ll frame you so that they think… You killed me.
It’s okay.
This much is okay.
Beliana kept repeating to herself. She’s been treated well, so this much retribution is okay.
Beliana placed the note on the desk as if it were nothing. She even carefully placed a hairpin on it in case the note flew away.
There was no time to delay.
The sun would soon rise. Once the sun rose, it would be difficult to move without being noticed.
Beliana left the mansion bare-handed, without any belongings.
She looked around to avoid anyone’s eyes as she disappeared from the mansion.
Of course, no one in the mansion had missed Beliana.
‘Countess?’
Where on earth could she be going at this hour?
It was Serun, the Grand Duke's spy, who discovered Beliana stealthily escaping in the dead of night.
Serun found Beliana's behavior suspicious, but she wasn't a person of interest.
If she were Doana, he would have chased her, but because she was Beliana, he didn't.
Beliana's disappearance was quickly revealed.
Early in the morning, shortly after sunrise, a maid knocked on Beliana's door.
"Madam, are you there?"
The maid, finding the lack of response suspicious despite several knocks, cautiously opened the door.
"Excuse me, ma'am."
Upon entering, she found the room empty.
"Huh? Are you getting ready already?"
Believing Beliana might have been out early in the morning because she had to attend Cedric's funeral, the maid thought,
"This is..."
She found a note on Belliard's desk.
[Dear Countess,
I would like to resolve the lingering resentment before the funeral.
I'd like to meet you alone. Could we meet briefly at the mountain behind the mansion?
-Doana-]
"Oh my... It seems like you two are getting along well."
They were both impatient because they couldn't get along for a while.
'Since the previous Count passed away... The atmosphere in the house has changed a lot.'
The maid who saw this note thought that the two women of the Count's family were planning to change the gloomy atmosphere.
Until then, the maid had no idea.
That this would be the incident that would tighten Doana's leash.
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