TPES 10

Chapter 10

What the—why is even the Grand Duke here?

Travis approached with an expressionless face, his sharp eyes gleaming as they assessed the situation.

Ugh. It would’ve been enough if only ordinary knights came—why did the Grand Duke have to show up…

I started to grow tense, worried that Travis might see through the whole affair.

Forcing my furrowed brow to relax, I greeted him.

“Your Grace, Grand Duke Holt.”

Travis nodded as he looked at Plaria and me.

“What is the matter?”

Haren explained in detail how Sebastian had barged into the Leon estate and caused a disturbance.

“And… this man appears to be the delusional patient I mentioned before, the one who’s been hanging around Espin.”

Without saying a word, Travis looked down at Sebastian, who was slumped on the floor.

“No! That’s not true! Espin and I were truly in love!”

“Hm…”

“It’s true. I came to this house every other day for a month to see Espin. Please believe me.”

The Grand Duke’s gaze shifted to the head butler.

“We’ve never seen this man before.”

“That’s a lie. Lady Leon spread falsehoods so she wouldn’t have to return my money.”

Sebastian bowed his head to the floor, appealing desperately to the Grand Duke.

Oh? Looks like he’s changing tactics.

Unlike earlier, when he was throwing a tantrum, Sebastian now spoke politely and cautiously.

He seemed to be trying to cleverly hide his fraud while emphasizing only that he was the victim.

“Your name.”

“…Pardon?”

“Your name.”

“…”

At Travis’s question, Sebastian clamped his mouth shut. It seemed there was a reason he couldn’t give his name.

As if no further questioning was necessary, the Grand Duke gestured toward Sebastian.

At his command, several knights grabbed the bound Sebastian and hauled him to his feet.

“W-wait! There is—there is!”

As if something had just occurred to him, Sebastian shouted.

“….”

“There’s someone in this mansion who knows me.”

Held by the knights, Sebastian lifted his head, his face full of hope.

“Jane. A maid here named Jane knows me. She can tell you who I am and what kind of relationship I had with Lady Espin Leon.”

Sebastian’s lips trembled.

That idiot.

How could he possibly act exactly the way I wanted?

Watching him walk straight into the trap, I forced down a smile that threatened to spread across my face.

“Butler, is there a maid named Jane in this mansion?”

“Yes, there is. However, she was discovered stealing from the estate yesterday and has been confined to the underground prison as punishment.”

“Bring her here.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

As the head butler headed toward the dungeon, Sebastian glared at me with a triumphant expression.

“Was my money really that tempting? You’re such a wealthy noble lady, yet you coveted my money that badly?!”

At Sebastian’s near-hysterical shouting, I hugged myself, trembling in fear.

“Plaria… I’m starting to get really scared.”

As I approached her tearfully, Plaria wrapped an arm around my shoulders and comforted me.

“It’s okay, Espin. Even if the knights can’t handle it, I will. Leave that bastard to me.”

“That’s right, Espin. Don’t worry. We’re here.”

At Plaria’s and Haren’s reassurance, I nodded.

“Thank you.”

“Hah. Go on, keep acting. Once Jane gets here, everything will come out.”

Just as Sebastian wished, Jane was soon brought up from the underground prison. She looked much more haggard after only a day, and the red mark on her cheek—left by Sebastian’s slap—was still visible.

“You are Jane, the maid who works in this house?”

At the Grand Duke’s question, Jane nodded weakly.

“Do you know this man?”

Jane, who had been staring at the floor, lifted her head and looked in the direction the Grand Duke indicated.

“Jane, you know me. You know what kind of relationship Espin and I had. Right? Unlike the others, you’re sane.”

Sebastian called out to her desperately, as if he’d completely forgotten that he’d slapped her the day before.

“…”

Jane said nothing. She merely stared at Sebastian with eyes blazing with anger.

Just as expected.

It was the reaction I’d anticipated.

Jane was grinding her teeth, fury welling up inside her as she grasped the situation.

Time to let her know how things stand.

Knowing exactly that it was my turn to step in, I approached Jane.

“Jane.”

At my gentle voice, her gaze shifted to me.

“I don’t know that man, but he keeps claiming we were lovers and that I took money from him.”

“…”

Jane glanced around, taking in the situation.

“And yet, no one here knows him. Still, he insists that you know him.”

“Jane, tell them the truth. You know better than anyone how often I came to this mansion.”

Sebastian looked as though he might rush at Jane at any moment.

“So. Do you know this man?”

At Travis’s question, the anger in Jane’s eyes faded, replaced by an icy calm.

“I don’t. I’ve never seen that man before.”

She answered firmly.

“Jane!”

Sebastian shouted her name, veins bulging in his neck.

Jane turned toward him and gave him a scornful smile.

“I have never once seen that man in this mansion.”

She emphasized each word as she stared straight at him.

“Y-you insignificant—!”

Sebastian struggled to break free from the knights, but the more he resisted, the tighter their grip became.

“Take him to the knights’ interrogation room.”

Having heard Jane’s testimony, Travis gave the order as if there were nothing left to consider.

“Y-you bastards! You damn con artists!”

That’s rich, coming from you.

Sebastian continued to scream and curse as he was dragged away by the knights.

Once he was gone, the once-chaotic mansion fell silent.

“Espin, are you okay?”

“Would you like to sit down?”

Plaria and Haren looked at my face with concern.

“I’m fine.”

I smiled at them, while Travis quietly watched me.

What is it? Why are you staring?

Worried that avoiding his gaze might make me seem suspicious, I looked back at him calmly.

“There will be a few questions later, for the sake of his investigation.”

Travis spoke without taking his eyes off me.

“Yes. If an investigation is necessary, I’ll cooperate fully.”

“…Then I’ll be on my way.”

After a long moment of locking eyes with me, he gave a brief farewell and turned to leave.

“Haren. You’re on duty. Return to the knights’ order.”

“I apologize.”

Despite the reprimand, Haren waved casually, as if this were nothing new, and disappeared.

“Espin, I’ll be going too. I think you should get some rest.”

“Thank you, Plaria.”

“It’s nothing. Of course. Let me know anytime you need me.”

“Haa…”

After seeing everyone out and returning to my room, I collapsed onto the floor the moment the door closed.

“Wow… that actually worked.”

An irrepressible smile crept onto my lips.

I’d taken down Sebastian, the man who tried to scam me. No—more accurately, I’d taken forty thousand ritas from him.

“What should I use this money for?”

Even after replenishing the ten thousand ritas Espin had once given Sebastian, I still had forty thousand left in my hands.

“Hmm… I want to use it somewhere meaningful.”

I hadn’t started this scam out of greed. I’d done it because I wanted scammers to feel the pain of being deceived—something I knew all too well.

That was probably why using the money for myself felt wrong.

“Helping scam victims would be best, wouldn’t it?”

When you’re scammed, the sense of betrayal is immense—but even worse are the self-loathing and the despair about the future. I knew that from personal experience.

Surely there were people like that in this world too.

“Right. I’ll help people who were scammed.”

I could create a charitable foundation or establish a trading company to support them.

However, there was a problem with doing it alone. I didn’t know how to launder this dirty money taken from scammers. If I used it directly for a business, people would start questioning the source of my wealth—and that could draw the Grand Duke’s suspicion.

And that kind of scrutiny would only get in the way of future schemes against scammers.

“In that case… there’s the perfect partner. Someone who’ll share my ideals.”