TFA~35

Chapter 35

The Duke of Rauhen looked directly at Izaya and said:

“Jeffrey Zarman was the aide and deputy of the late duke. It would be easy to forge a will by duplicating the seal exactly.”

At the word forgery, Jeffrey trembled.

“Forgery? This document bears not only the late duke’s seal, but also the seals of the witnesses! How could I possibly forge something like this…?”

“Are those witnesses not already dead? Then how can you claim their seals are genuine?”

Jeffrey clenched his fists tightly.

The witnesses had been varied—respected lawyers, the owner of a major trading company, and nobles who had been close to the late duke.

But all of them had died under mysterious circumstances.

And it had happened not long after the death of the late Duke of Rauhen.

Jeffrey was certain of it. They had all been killed by the current duke, Ruderic.

However, there was no proof that Ruderic was the culprit.

In the current situation, the only thing Jeffrey could do was point out flaws in the duke’s argument.

“There is no proof that it is fake.”

“Then why would there be none? This concerns our family—”

“Then let us compare it with their seals from when they were alive. It would be nearly impossible to forge so many identical signatures.”

It was indeed a valid argument.

Before long, the nobles began nodding in agreement.

But Duke Rauhen alone vehemently denied it.

“Shut up! You, who stole my family’s heirlooms and fled right after my master passed away—how can anyone trust you?!”

“I had unavoidable circumstances!”

“Nonsense! You’ve returned now only to sow discord between Her Majesty the Empress and me!”

The Duke turned to appeal to his daughter.

“Do you see this, Your Majesty the Empress? He has already betrayed us! Perhaps he even manipulated my grandfather, who was not of sound judgment, to alter the will according to his own desires!”

As the saying goes, the loudest voice wins.

Although the argument had drifted off topic, the duke’s confident attitude strangely shifted the mood in an instant.

“That he stole the heirlooms and ran away is suspicious.”

“And the fact that he only now reappears after all this time…”

The foolish crowd quickly turned their attention to new distractions, distorting the truth.

The Duke of Rauhen smiled in satisfaction.

‘Good. I can turn this around like this…’

But at that moment, someone interrupted him.

“I will verify whether that seal is real.”

Who dares speak such nonsense…?

The duke’s brows furrowed as he looked toward the speaker.

‘Izaya?’

Izaya calmly looked at the duke, wondering:

How does she intend to verify whether the seal is real?

While the Duke of Rauhen was still questioning this, Izaya removed the necklace from her neck.

“This will confirm it.”

It was a finely crafted necklace with a rose motif.

The duke’s eyes widened upon seeing it.

That… is the necklace the late Duke Rauhen gave her?

Izaya gently took the will from Jeffrey’s hands.

“This necklace was a gift from my late grandfather. It has been passed down through generations to the family’s rightful lady. And this—”

She placed the necklace over the dried seal on the document.

Incredibly, the faint rose pattern behind the sword-shaped family seal aligned perfectly with it.

The intricate craftsmanship of the necklace and the detailed rose engraving matched without even the slightest deviation.

“It was designed to pair with the family seal passed down to the head of the house.”

The Duke of Rauhen glared fiercely at his smiling daughter.

That old man never told me anything about this necklace… Did he only inform Izaya?

“If it were merely a copy, it would be nearly impossible for it to align so perfectly without any error. But as you know, the seal is always kept in the head’s private chamber.”

It was infuriating. He wanted to cover that mouth right then and there.

But his oblivious daughter continued speaking.

“Of course, it is understandable that you may have misunderstood Sir Zarman. Even I suspected him at first.”

Then Izaya turned her gaze to Jeffrey and continued:

“However, in situations like this, a normal person would not return willingly. They could easily lose their life. The fact that you returned must mean you are fulfilling the late duke’s will, is it not?”

At her words, Jeffrey’s eyes reddened.

As expected… trusting my lord was the right decision.

Before his death, the late Duke Osmund Rauhen had instructed his aide, Jeffrey:

“Ruderic will definitely try to eliminate my close aides after I die. So take the will and escape.”

The so-called “stolen heirlooms” were actually escape funds the late duke had allowed him to take.

Thus, Jeffrey had lived on the run for over ten years, burdened with false accusations and pursued by the current duke.

He was growing exhausted.

Will the Empress truly believe me? They say she listens only to her father…

Though doubtful, Jeffrey decided to send a letter to the Empress.

But before he could, someone came to him first.

“Are you Zarman?”

She looked like an ordinary woman, but her eyes were sharp and intimidating.

Jeffrey, once a retainer of a great noble house, instinctively recognized her as an assassin.

Has she come to kill me?

At the time, he thought it might be the end.

He assumed she had been sent by Duke Rauhen to eliminate him.

But what she handed him was a letter sealed with the Empress’s insignia.

When he opened it, his fear turned into shock.

It said she would protect him and told him to come to her.

But honestly, I couldn’t fully believe it.

Even after reading the letter, Jeffrey did not completely trust the Empress.

He had suffered too much to stake everything on such words.

The reason he finally decided to travel to the capital was solely to fulfill the late Duke Rauhen’s will.

I was prepared to die… I didn’t expect all of this to have been arranged.

Izaya met Jeffrey’s eyes and smiled softly.

As if thanking him for trusting her.

And Duke Rauhen watched the scene, his anger rising.

‘That foolish girl!’

At that moment, Izaya’s gaze met his.

Startled, he unconsciously stepped back—and Izaya approached him and whispered quietly:

“Don’t worry. I will follow Father’s will.”

At that moment, hope surged within him.

Yes… she won’t take my position away.

It was too early to despair. Had she not defended him just moments ago?

No—thinking back, Izaya had always been like this.

She had embraced his stepwife and stepchildren for his sake.

She had abandoned her ambition to become head of the family.

She had even married the Emperor despite all the rumors surrounding him.

And after becoming Empress, she had followed his wishes and earned the Emperor’s favor.

Such a “good daughter” would never remove him from his position as duke.

You will never betray me.

Izaya smiled brightly at her father.

Feel it for yourself—the feeling of being betrayed by someone you trusted.

Then she raised her voice so that everyone could hear:

“You promised, in front of Father and the family, that you would become a fine head of the house. That was when Mother passed away.”

The Duke of Rauhen felt as though he had been struck hard on the back of the head.

Why would she say something like that here? And bring up her mother…?

Before he could speak in anger, his daughter smiled.

“You always worried about me so much that you never even rested. So I wanted to lighten your burden.”

Incredibly, she was still acting as though she cared for him.

The problem was that her actions were dragging him into ruin.

You foolish girl!

At this rate, he would be forced to hand over the position of duke to Izaya. If that happened, he would no longer be Duke Rauhen.

In other words, he would become a powerless relic with no authority, no longer able to act publicly or privately, with all decisions left to Izaya.

“Y-You… Izaya, I—”

As he called out to her with a frightened expression—

Izaya wiped the smile from her face.