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“You didn’t… have feelings for me, did you?”
“W-what?”
“You wouldn’t have been peeking at me from behind your mask, falling in love while never even showing your face, would you?”
The Master stood frozen in place, then sighed deeply and shook his head. “Absolutely not.”
“Then why were you so surprised when you found out I was getting married?”
“Because your groom is Ekian Mayus. I’m not the only one who’s shocked.”
He wasn’t wrong, so Judith nodded in agreement. “True.”
“And what’s this about being pregnant? Isn’t that too much of an absurd lie?”
The Master almost sounded as if he were protesting, but Judith merely shrugged and replied calmly, “How do you know it’s a lie? Why are you so sure?”
“Because…!”
The Master started to raise his voice, but then suddenly stopped. He shook his head again and spoke more calmly, “Lady Ailan, you’ve only been an adult for less than a week. How could you be pregnant?”
“Ah.”
Unlike the agitated Master, Judith remained calm and nodded slowly.
“Well, kids these days are pretty wild, but I’ve lived a rather responsible life, haven’t I? That’s a good point. I’ll keep that in mind.”
“…So you admit it was a lie, right?”
“Keep it a secret, okay?”
As she smiled nonchalantly, the Master sighed deeply, his voice sounding like he had aged ten years.
“Well, at least it wasn’t an impostor pretending to be Ekian.”
“An impostor? What a funny idea. Who would dare impersonate the Young Duke Ekian Mayus?” Judith laughed softly. “But Master, why did you call me here? Was it to say thank you?”
“Ah.”
The Master straightened his posture, as if remembering something.
“Yes, that’s right.”
It was almost amusing to see him try to act dignified after having been so flustered earlier.
“Lady Ailan, I truly want to thank you. If not for you, we would all have been dead. Myself, my subordinates, and everyone in this alley.”
“You believed me and looked into it. You deserve some credit too, Master.”
Judith sipped her tea calmly, as usual.
“And you’ve taken care of all the troublesome matters for me.”
By ‘troublesome matters,’ she meant the investigator’s inquiries. She was sure the investigators would dig into how the bombs ended up there and how the guild found out about them.
Judith had neatly distanced herself from that, leaving the Master to handle it all. After all, it was the information guild that had made the report, so the investigators wouldn’t find anything suspicious.
“Still, I owe you my life, so I must repay you properly. That’s why…”
The Master continued with the elegance of a flowing river, “I’ll pay off all your debts, Lady Ailan.”
His tone was firm, and he interlaced his fingers as he gazed at Judith, clearly waiting to see her reaction of gratitude.
“What?”
But Judith didn’t look grateful. Instead, she looked shocked.
“You’ll pay off my debts? Do you even have that kind of money?”
Her debt was enormous. It wasn’t for no reason that her father had taken his own life. Even though Judith had been recognized as an outstanding private tutor, working tirelessly day and night, she could barely keep up with the interest payments.
Only a family like the Mayus ducal house could afford to pay off such a debt. An information guild like this one wouldn’t be able to handle such an amount so easily.
“Does the Grey Information Guild really have that kind of liquidity? That’s impossible…”
So it was only natural that Judith was surprised. After all, the guild was run by a man only a few years older than her, and she knew it hadn’t even been around for five years.
How could it have amassed so much wealth so quickly? The Master’s abilities seemed more impressive than she had thought, and Judith found herself feeling a new level of respect for him.
“Yes, it does.” The Master smiled confidently. “You seem to know a lot, but I guess you didn’t know that.”
She hadn’t known. In the original story, this guild was supposed to disappear.
Judith had thought only the Mayus family could repay her debt in one go!
‘If I’d known, I wouldn’t have had to go to the Mayus family!’
For a moment, a sense of injustice washed over her. But it was too late to undo what had been done. She couldn’t just return to the Mayus family now and cancel the arrangement. If she did, she might find herself “disappearing” quietly, without a trace.
So, in the end, Judith just stared at the Master and muttered, “I already paid it off.”
“…What?”
“I said, I already paid it off.”
Judith sighed, feeling a bit deflated. At that moment, there was a knock, and one of the Master’s subordinates entered the room.
He quickly handed over a report, and the Master asked for Judith’s permission before hurriedly reading it.
“Hmm.” He frowned as he muttered, “I see. On your way here, you… paid it off using a check from the Mayus family?”
It seemed the information had just come in, even though it had happened only a short time ago. Of course, the speed at which the news had arrived was still impressive.
The Master paused for a moment, as if lost in thought, before drawing a conclusion.
“Don’t tell me… did you receive the money in exchange for pretending to be pregnant with Ekian Mayus’s child, just to delay the death declaration?”
Hearing this, Judith couldn’t help but think that the Master’s ability to amass wealth so quickly wasn’t without reason. He had pieced together the situation swiftly, saving her the need to explain.
“Keep it a secret.” Judith grinned as she spoke, “If you want to repay me for saving your life.”
Considering how grateful he seemed—enough to offer to repay her enormous debt—he would likely keep the secret. Judith felt at ease, confident that the Master wouldn’t spill the truth. But the Master sighed and crossed his arms.
“This lie won’t last forever. You can’t give birth to a non-existent child.”
“It’ll hold up for a few months, at least.”
“And after a few months, you’ll be a divorcee. The entire empire will know you once claimed to have been pregnant.”
“So what if they know? Honestly, I wish the whole empire had known about the hell I went through being crushed under all that debt.”
“Lady Ailan, but still…”
“Oh, and I think it’s about time you stopped calling me Lady Ailan.”
Judith shrugged and added, “I’ll soon be the Young Duke’s wife. You can call me something like ‘the young duchess’ or…”
“That’s… no.”
The Master recoiled visibly, then sighed and said, “Can I just call you by your name? I think we’re close enough for that now.”
“Sure, go ahead.”
“Alright then. Anyway, Judith, I’ll keep your secret. And if there’s anything else you need, don’t hesitate to ask…”
“I do!”
Judith interrupted him, her eyes gleaming. She had, in fact, been planning to ask him for something.
“I need information on the Mayus family.”
“I don’t know much about them. We don’t have any agents in the Mayus estate,” the Master answered firmly. “But since you’ll soon be entering the Mayus estate as the Young Duke’s wife, you’ll be able to gather information yourself, won’t you?”
“You don’t get it. Once I’m inside, I’ll be under constant watch. There are things I need to take care of before I enter.”
In truth, Judith had already achieved her main goal.
She had successfully taken on the role of the wicked supporting character from the original story, carving out a new path for herself.
But… she couldn’t just stand by and do nothing when she knew the villain would continue to torment people.
Even though she had been just a private tutor, Judith had taught many children with sincerity for the past three years. She couldn’t tolerate adults harming children.
“As things stand, the second son of the Mayus family is in danger.”
As soon as she said that, the Master stiffened. After a moment’s hesitation, he asked in a low voice, “Is that true?”
“Yes. But if you don’t know much about the Mayus family, I can always ask someone else…”
“Tell me everything.”
“You know, since you said you don’t know much about the Mayus family…”
“I’ll help you.”
“I appreciate the offer, but since you said you don’t know much…”
Suddenly, the Master, clearly agitated, exclaimed, “No! I actually know a lot!”
“Oh my.”
