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~Chapter 38~
“What are you saying? You’re still—”
The Grand Duke tried to stop him, but then he noticed Dane’s glance at the Baron and hesitated.
If Dane got the authority to lead the knights now, he would be above the Baron and could control everything.
If the Mowin Baron tries to use our family to crush Everitt, Dane can stop him.
But the Grand Duke still thought Dane had other duties left.
“Dane, did you forget your birthday party is tomorrow? Now is not the time for you to lead a search.”
“Please cancel the party. Finding her is more important than a birthday.”
“No, I can’t do that.”
The Grand Duke looked down at his son with sharp eyes and said,
“Finish the party properly, then I’ll give you the right to command the knights. Until then, I’ll handle the questioning myself.”
That day, the Grand Duke’s knights raided the Everitt baronet family.
The family head insisted they were innocent, but the investigation went on, and the Everitt kidnapping case shook high society.
Camilla opened her eyes.
She felt a strange coldness on her wrist. When she tried to get up, chains rattled and held her back. Her blood ran cold.
I’ve been kidnapped.
She thought of the last face she saw. It was…
“Ares!”
Camilla called out with a hoarse voice. She was tied up in a dark place, but she hoped if she shouted, someone would answer.
But the one who appeared wasn’t Ares.
Click, clack.
A seductive woman with her arms crossed walked up and lit a lamp.
Whoosh.
The antique lamp flickered, lighting up the room. Camilla realized she was in a very luxurious room.
She was sitting in an old, fancy chair—fit for a noble, except for the chains. The woman across from her whispered,
“Hello, young lady.”
She had a beauty mark under her eye and her hair was up. A strong musk scent surrounded her.
“…Who are you?”
“Oh, instead of crying, you ask who I am?”
The woman laughed and flicked Camilla’s chin.
“I like girls who aren’t childish like you.”
Camilla tried to figure out who this woman was.
Was she in the original? Maybe just a nameless extra. I need more info anyway.
“Did Ares tell you to do this?”
“Who knows?”
The woman grabbed Camilla’s chin, forced her mouth open, and poured a vial down her throat. Camilla struggled, but she swallowed the potion.
Is this… a muscle relaxant?
The herbal scent was familiar—her body quickly lost strength.
The woman watched Camilla go limp and chuckled.
“Now even talking will be hard. Let’s see… You have quite a pretty face.”
She opened a makeup box and started putting makeup on Camilla with chilling hands.
She brushed on rosy lip color, sprinkled glitter near her eyes, and smiled in satisfaction.
“The dress is high-quality, but it doesn’t fit the mistress of the underworld.”
Mistress of the underworld?
The woman freed Camilla from the chains and dressed her in a fancy red gown.
She even forced a fan into Camilla’s limp hand.
“This is it, this is perfect!”
She dabbed blush on Camilla’s lips to make it look like she was smiling.
“All done, my lady.”
She clapped her hands.
“Come in.”
Men rushed in from outside. They dragged in—
Nina!
Nina, with chains wrapped all over, was pushed forward. When she saw Camilla, her eyes grew wide.
“S-sister!”
“Sister, you say?”
The woman grabbed Nina’s chin and pointed at Camilla.
“How dare you be rude to the lady who brought you here!”
…What?
She yanked Nina’s hair roughly.
Don’t!
Camilla wanted to shout, but the woman’s next words made her shiver.
“Lady Camilla came here on orders from House Everitt!”
“No!”
What?
The woman lied to Nina, dressing Camilla as the villain.
So, Camilla’s current situation was…
“Don’t you get it? Your sister ordered your kidnapping.”
This is insane.
Ares was trying to trap her, framing her as the Everitt spy who kidnapped Nina.
Big, muscular men acted like guards.
“Yeah, yeah, little lady. Beg our fine mistress here for mercy if you want to live!”
“No! My sister would never do that!”
“Kekeke, still don’t get it!”
At last, Camilla realized—the woman only wanted to scare Nina, not hurt her.
The men were rude, but they didn’t get violent.
It was a crude play.
And Camilla was made the villain.
Ha.
Her head cleared, and she thought quickly.
The woman’s musk perfume wasn’t sold in this city.
There’s only one city famous for it—
The nearby city Ail. It’s the Baroness’s family’s specialty.
So, the Baroness was behind all this.
At the woman’s nod, the men dragged Nina away again.
Camilla understood Nina wasn’t in real danger.
“I thought you thugs were dumb, but you’re pretty good at acting,”
the woman laughed. One muscle-bound man, left behind, nodded.
“Hey, don’t call us dumb. We don’t like that.”
“Why? The boss gets mad? Your mercenary guild is just full of street thugs anyway.”
“Hmph! You guys don’t understand romance.”
“Romance or not, today’s the real test. Make sure that lady doesn’t escape.”
“Don’t worry. After all that medicine, she’ll be limp until tomorrow.”
“We’ll see.”
The woman snorted and left.
When the door closed, only Camilla and the mercenary boss were left.
“I asked for a big fee, but she keeps picking fights… Tsk.”
The boss sat down next to Camilla.
“Forget it! That crazy woman isn’t even right in the head… I’m just going to sleep.”
He yawned and leaned against the wall, closing his eyes.
Camilla watched quietly, her eyes sharp.
A little while later, as the boss snored—
“Mmm… mmm…”
“Wake up.”
Still half-asleep, the boss turned his head. Then, a pale hand slapped his cheek.
Slap!
“What?!”
“I said, wake up.”
“W-what?!”
The boss’s eyes widened, and he tried to punch, but—
Clank! The chains rattled.
He looked down and saw he was tied up.
Above him was…
“Sleeping before the job’s done? You’re not a mercenary, just a thug.”
Camilla looked down at him coldly. The boss’s jaw dropped in shock.
That girl was just sitting there!
“The drug shouldn’t have worn off yet!”
Who are you talking about?
Camilla snorted. To someone who survived poison, a muscle relaxant was easy to resist.
“It never worked. I just acted limp.”
“What?!”
Camilla put her finger to her lips.
“Be quiet.”
“No way! Hey, guys—!”
When he shouted for his men, Camilla sighed and gagged him with a cloth.
“Mmph, mmph!”
He struggled, the chains clinking. Camilla looked down at him and declared,
“Triple.”
The boss stopped moving. Camilla whispered coldly,
“I don’t know what she promised you, but I’ll pay you three times as much.”
