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Chapter 15
As expected of a ducal house, even the prison door must have been expensive—the door opened smoothly and silently.
In novels, whenever someone descended into a place like this, there was always some creepy creaking sound, but apparently that was all fiction.
‘Well, it is a secret underground prison hidden from everyone. It would be stranger if they had a rusty iron door out in the open.’
Inside the luxurious-looking door was a short corridor, and beyond it, a staircase leading downward.
“Hm.”
Maybe this was dangerous after all…
As if warning me that this was somewhere I absolutely shouldn’t be, system windows began flashing chaotically before my eyes.
[Warning: Restricted Area – “Underground Prison of the Rosental Ducal Estate”]
[If identity is exposed, all quests will immediately fail and Fame –1,000]
Quickly dismissing the alerts, I stepped inside without hesitation.
How long had I been descending through the darkness? Since I hadn’t brought anything to use as a light, I had been groping along the wall the entire way.
Then at some point, a faint light appeared below.
It leaked out from around the corner ahead.
Along with agonized screams.
‘Ugh… so that’s the place. I can’t believe the ducal estate had somewhere like this…’
Even after living through a hundred lifetimes, this was my first time seeing it.
Not that I thought a place like this didn’t exist, but still—seeing it in person was another matter entirely!
Keeping myself hidden behind the corner, I listened carefully.
Someone’s cries became horrifyingly clear.
I frowned and turned my gaze away instead of peeking.
It wasn’t as though I suddenly felt sorry for them now, but that didn’t mean I enjoyed watching another person suffer either.
‘Well… not like there’s anything I can do about it anyway.’
Still, I should avoid looking directly. If I got startled and made a sound, that’d be a disaster.
“…confessed? …still haven’t given up?”
“I-I don’t know… please… Your Grace!”
Holding my breath and focusing intently, the voices gradually became clearer.
“Fabian, hm… He is a very loyal servant of His Highness the Crown Prince. Are you going to claim ignorance about him as well?”
“I don’t know! I really don’t! I-I don’t know why those documents were in my room, but… I’m being framed! O-Or perhaps the young lady planted them as a prank!”
Silence fell.
Why are you dragging me into this when I’m just standing here quietly?
…
After thinking for a moment, I nodded in understanding.
Well, if it were the usual Evelynn, falsely accusing someone of being a spy as a prank did sound plausible.
Okay, fair enough!
But the Duke apparently didn’t agree, because his voice turned even colder.
“…It seems you still haven’t had enough. Continue.”
“Yes, sir!”
Another dreadful scream rang out.
After some time, silence returned, broken only by Jonas’s ragged breathing.
It seemed the Duke was waiting for her to regain consciousness before he spoke again.
“Then let me change the question. Why did you infiltrate House Rosental?”
Oh, nice question.
I’d been curious myself. There was no reason for the Crown Prince to send a spy into our family.
But Jonas remained stubbornly silent.
“I-I… I merely entered the house I admired! I-I truly… Aaaagh!”
Something slammed to the ground, followed by choking gasps for air.
“Considering everything you’ve embezzled over the years, you’ve done rather well for yourself. Well, a financial aide skimming a little money could be dismissed as harmless…”
Excuse me? Since when was 500,000 gold “a little money”? That was the ducal family’s annual budget!
“…But why steal military documents related to the western border?”
“Th-That’s because I…”
“All operational records held by the main house during the Continental War vanished. Too cleanly, in fact. Someone intentionally burned them. That was your doing, wasn’t it?”
Jonas inhaled sharply in surprise.
‘But the Continental War…?’
Why would anyone need records from a war that had already ended?
Hmm. Was the Crown Prince preparing for some future crisis because he was the heir to the throne?
No, if that were the case, he could have officially requested the records.
Tilting my head, I pondered hard, but no answer came to mind.
“That expression says you never expected even that to be discovered.”
“Y-Your Grace, I…!”
“Very well. Speak now, and I’ll spare your life at least. More than that—I’ll even provide you with a way to completely escape the Crown Prince’s grasp.”
“…!”
“You think I don’t know? The reason you’ve kept your mouth shut all this time. Because the moment you betray him, you’ll spend the rest of your life running from him.”
The Duke continued in a low voice.
“But from what I can see, the Crown Prince has already lost interest in someone like you. Who clings to a discarded card? He probably never intended to save you in the first place.”
“Th-That can’t be…!”
When you thought about it, it made perfect sense.
The moment a spy’s identity was exposed, they were as good as abandoned.
For a while, it sounded like she was hesitating.
Then finally, the sound of knees hitting the floor echoed out as she bowed down.
“…Y-Your Grace, please spare my life! I swear, I never did any of this willingly!”
“A wise choice.”
“His Highness the Crown Prince… no, the Crown Prince never intended to ally with House Rosental from the beginning!”
Hmph. Just as I thought.
I could feel fury rising from deep inside me.
Maybe it was the resentment accumulated toward him over a hundred regressions.
“He has secretly been working with Grand Duke Kashien for years already. E-Even the engagement with the young lady… it was merely bait to lower House Rosental’s guard! He never intended for it to reach marriage in the first place!”
“…Continue.”
Was it just my imagination, or did the Duke sound angrier than before?
“My orders were to slowly siphon funds from House Rosental and burn all military records without leaving a trace. Other than that, I truly know nothing else!”
“Why burn the military records? What threat could records from a finished war possibly pose to him?”
“Th-That, I don’t really…”
“Are you mocking me right now?”
The Duke’s voice turned glacially cold.
“Not one thing you’ve said is new information beyond what I already uncovered myself. Do you really intend to beg for your life with nothing but this pathetic wordplay?!”
His furious shout echoed through the prison.
I rubbed my chin thoughtfully.
‘Could he be wary of Rakiel?’
Rakiel was the Empire’s war hero.
Not that he was the type to boast about himself, and thanks to the Crown Prince, the truth had never been widely known.
Still, it was true that he had returned after achieving countless military victories.
‘Or maybe…’
Destroying war-related records meant there was something hidden there someone desperately wanted concealed.
This definitely required further investigation.
Jonas was only a low-level spy and clearly didn’t know much.
At that point, I turned away.
If I stayed any longer and got caught, that would truly be the worst-case scenario.
Climbing the stairs, I threw off the robe and hat and transformed back into Lady Evelynn.
Ordinarily, I absolutely shouldn’t reveal myself as Evelynn here, but…
‘Hehe, I discovered a loophole in the system.’
Grinning, I ran to the door and began pounding on it furiously.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
“Open this door right now! Is nobody there?! Have you all lost your minds?!”
Warning windows began exploding across my vision.
Red lights flashed before my eyes.
[Warning!]
[Warning!]
[The gaze of others has been detected.]
So noisy!
The startled knight outside opened the door, and before the system could announce my identity exposure, I charged straight at him.
“You idiots! I got lost wandering around, and not one of you bothered to stop me?! Have you all lost your senses, or do you simply not respect me?!”
I viciously jabbed a finger into the bewildered knight’s chest.
“M-My lady? Why are you…?”
“I’m going straight to Father and demanding every last one of these incompetent fools be replaced! How dare you attend the daughter of House Rosental like this?!”
“E-Excuse me?”
This was the perfect method—tricking the system by acting exactly the way the real Evelynn would!
At that moment, the system window flickered as though bugging out. Strange characters appeared briefly before glitching away.
It was obvious even the system itself had become confused.
‘Success!’
While the brown-haired knight stood there blankly with his mouth hanging open, the people inside the prison heard the commotion and hurried up toward the entrance.
The Duke appeared behind them.
“Evelynn! What are you doing here?!”
He looked utterly shocked.
“Father! I opened the wrong door, and can you believe it? There was this filthy, damp place inside! And these useless fools didn’t say a single word to stop me!”
“What? I clearly stationed knights at the entrance!”
“There was nobody there! What, do you think I’d walk in willingly if guards were standing there? Do I look insane to you?!”
The Duke turned toward the brown-haired knight with an angry expression.
The knight lowered his head helplessly.
“M-My apologies, Your Grace! I thought I sensed someone nearby and stepped away briefly to investigate. During that time, it seems the young lady… entered.”
Sorry…
I’ll make sure to get you a bonus later, sob sob.
“You are suspended for one week!”
The Duke roared furiously.
It was the first time I’d ever seen him shout so loudly.
