🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 9
I didn’t know much about magic tools, but it wasn’t an impossible theory.
‘If the Duke truly hated Kain, he wouldn’t have contacted him at all.’
But according to them, messages had still been coming through until recently.
Which meant the problem might actually have been with the messages sent from this side.
‘And this definitely wasn’t an accident.’
A purification stone wedged inside a communication magic tool? That made no sense.
‘Tristan must have done this on purpose to drive a wedge between Kain and the Duke.’
The moment I tried to touch the magic tool, he had overreacted and even grabbed my arm.
‘Because I can sense divine power. He was trying to stop me from noticing the purification stone.’
I placed the purification stone on the table and looked at Tristan.
“How could this happen?! Why is this inside here!?”
Tristan acted like he was completely shocked and knew nothing.
“You’re right. Could someone have deliberately placed it there? It must’ve been some pathetic, cowardly person who enjoys tormenting others!”
I played along as if I were equally clueless, and Tristan’s expression quickly stiffened.
“There’s no proof a person did it yet, so isn’t that going a bit too far…?”
“But it’s obvious. I heard the tool was perfectly fine when it was inspected for malfunctions. Someone must’ve removed it only during the inspection.”
Right?
At my words, Rain—who still looked too stunned to process things—answered blankly,
“That’s horrible…”
For a brief moment, Tristan clenched his teeth.
‘Good. Next step.’
Without missing a beat, I continued speaking.
“And since this happened, please send someone to contact the Duke directly. The magic tool might be completely broken because of the purification stone.”
“…Understood. I’ll send someone to inform the Duke.”
Even now, Tristan was still trying to stop me.
But it was pointless.
“That’s fine, but because of this purification stone, I honestly can’t trust anything anymore. If you fail to bring the Duke here, could you at least bring back his signed confirmation that he received the message?”
“…Yes. Understood.”
I furrowed my brows, trying my best to sound worried.
Unable to respond, Tristan turned away with a face so red it looked like he might burst a blood vessel.
Hmm. Maybe I pushed him too hard.
“Wait a moment.”
I stopped Tristan just as he was about to leave.
“You should apologize to the Young Master too. Because of your mistake, things almost became worse between the Duke and the Young Master. And you’re supposed to be the acting manager of the estate.”
At my words, Tristan’s face looked ready to explode.
“…I apologize, Young Master. I’ll be more careful in the future…”
Trembling, Tristan bowed before quickly leaving the room.
Of course, he didn’t forget to glare daggers at me on the way out.
“Please make sure the Duke receives the message quickly.”
I smiled brightly at him.
Just before leaving, Tristan’s face had twisted horribly.
Bang.
The door shut with a fairly loud sound.
Apparently he still didn’t dare slam it harder.
Thinking that I should never become an adult like that, I turned away from the door.
Then I smiled at Kain, whose eyes had widened in surprise.
Bang!
Tristan stormed into his office and violently slammed the door shut.
“That brat dares to make a fool out of me!?”
Fury consumed him. His face flushed red and blue with rage.
It was humiliating.
Remembering himself bowing and apologizing to Kain, he ground his teeth.
“She should’ve just asked for jewels or something. Why demand something like that as repayment?!”
Tristan didn’t want the Duke of Argent to hear about the commotion at the estate. His reasons were obvious.
He wanted to boast that the estate remained peaceful under his management.
He didn’t want Gerard’s son growing closer to the Duke.
And in the future, he intended to monopolize the Duke of Argent and become his new spouse himself.
Under normal circumstances, it wouldn’t have been difficult. Manipulating Kain was as easy as breathing to him.
In fact, the moment he hinted that the Duke would worry, Kain immediately agreed to keep the incident hidden.
‘But at this rate, the Duke will find out.’
Perhaps the fact that he had hidden a purification stone inside the communication magic tool would come to light as well.
No—not just that, but other things too…!
“I have to stop it. No matter what!”
Tristan muttered anxiously.
‘This is all because of that brat. If only that little girl hadn’t appeared!’
His anger circled back to Winiel.
From the beginning, her existence had irritated him.
A saint candidate? Saying she had something to discuss with the Young Master?
“I need to get rid of her. If I deal with that brat, I can still turn things around.”
He had tried to chase her away because she was obviously going to become a variable, but she ended up saving Kain and entering the estate anyway.
“Hah… though perhaps that’s fortunate.”
Kain still kept his distance from the Duke.
If Tristan fed him a few more rumors and guilt, Kain would stay silent forever.
So as long as he silenced Winiel somehow, he could still cover everything up.
A method. He needed a method.
After venting his fury while thinking about Winiel, Tristan suddenly froze.
‘Come to think of it… I still have that left.’
He opened his safe and pulled out a piece of paper hidden in a secret compartment.
A complicated magic circle was drawn across it.
Staring down at the paper with a sinister expression, Tristan scribbled his name over it.
‘With this, it’ll be certain.’
Tap. Clatter.
Even as the fountain pen rolled off the desk, Tristan’s lips curled upward.
Several days passed after the purification stone was discovered in the communication magic tool.
During that time, Kain had finally started receiving purification treatments he’d long refused.
Tristan had strongly recommended it, probably afraid the Duke would find fault once he arrived.
I didn’t like how suddenly he changed his tune, but purification was still a good thing, so I didn’t stop it.
‘Still, I wanted to be the one to purify him and make him indebted to me.’
Unfortunately, Kain insisted on using purification stones instead.
Tristan eagerly supported him too, probably because he hated the idea of me being near Kain.
It annoyed me, but thanks to that, I became certain of one thing.
‘So Tristan really was the one brainwashing Kain into avoiding purification.’
He’d probably been worried that if anyone saw Kain receiving purification, they’d realize how serious things were and inform the Duke.
‘Like that maid. Rain, was it?’
There didn’t seem to be anyone else likely to speak up, but even one witness was important.
Later, when I told the Duke everything, she could testify.
Besides that, Rain had been incredibly helpful to me.
‘She agreed to contact the Duke for me. And after that, she started taking really good care of me.’
Not that she’d neglected me before, but now she cleaned my room until it sparkled every single day. She also brought me freshly made snacks several times a day.
Even this chocolate muffin I was eating now was from Rain…
“Huh? Where did all the muffins go?”
I frowned at the empty plate that no longer showed even a trace of them.
There was no need to search for the culprit.
‘…I ate them all.’
I climbed down from my chair.
‘She looked busy, so I should return the dishes myself.’
Honestly, it seemed like Rain managed the entire mansion alone.
This was a ducal household. How could there possibly be so few servants?
‘Was that Tristan’s doing too?’
Whatever it was, I was going to report everything.
Originally, I’d planned to hint at things subtly, but after the communication magic tool incident, I completely changed my mind.
‘I’m just going to say everything outright.’
Keeping quiet wouldn’t help Kain. Even if he hated me for it at first.
‘And honestly, I’m too frustrated not to.’
I arrived at the kitchen, washed the plate, and set it aside.
The few servants passing by merely glanced at me before returning to their work, apparently used to me by now.
‘Where’s Rain? Cleaning somewhere else?’
I thought she’d be here since lunchtime was near.
After looking around the kitchen, I headed back to my room.
Even when I offered to help, Rain never listened.
‘I’ll insist on washing the dishes later.’
Just as I returned to my room—
“Hm?”
I felt a murky energy.
Could this be…?
A chill ran down my spine.
“Aaaah!”
Before I could think further, a scream rang out from the first floor.
Startled, I hurried down the hallway.
And the moment I descended the stairs, I came face-to-face with the same black slime-like monster I’d seen before.
“!”
The situation was even worse than I thought.
Not only was the monster there, but Rain and a knight were too.
The scream from earlier seemed to have come from the knight, and Rain already appeared collapsed after being attacked.
‘Black magic inside the ducal estate?!’
Questions flooded my mind, but defeating the monster came first.
I poured divine power into the temple emblem and threw it at the monster.
Fwoosh!
The creature burst into white flames and vanished.
Without even pausing in relief, I rushed to Rain.
“Excuse me, are you alright!?”
She’d been perfectly fine when she brought me muffins earlier, so seeing her collapsed terrified me.
‘She’s not dead, is she?’
With trembling hands, I checked her condition.
‘She’s… breathing!’
But part of her arm had already turned gray where the monster touched her.
‘I need to purify it quickly…!’
I placed my hand over the corrupted area.
“What’s going on?!”
“Rain collapsed!”
The servants, having heard the scream, rushed over at the same time.
‘Thank goodness. If I ask them to carry her to a bed—’
Then the knight beside me staggered backward and shouted,
“Th-this girl summoned the monster with black magic!”
