TPES 17

Chapter17

“Commander. Are you planning to attend the upcoming imperial banquet?”

Haren suddenly appeared in front of Trevis as he stepped out of the temple building after speaking with the High Priest.

“A banquet?”

“Yes. The imperial banquet held to mark the beginning of the social season.”

Seeing Haren suddenly bring up talk of a banquet so casually, Trevis let out a small sigh.

With how much work there was to be done in the Imperial Knights, how could he afford to attend something like a banquet?

From Trevis’s perspective, the banquet was not a day to enjoy himself but an even busier one—he had to arrange security personnel and deal with any incidents that might occur inside.

That was why he usually only attended briefly, greeted the Emperor, and left without spending much time there.

“I’ll attend to pay my respects.”

“Couldn’t you stay for the entire banquet this time?”

“Haren. Do I look like I have time to enjoy a banquet?”

Haren shook his head. As the one who stayed closest to Trevis, he knew better than anyone how busy his superior was.

“I know you don’t have time. But I was hoping you’d help my friend just once.”

“Your friend?”

At those words, Trevis immediately thought of the pink-haired young lady.

A naïve young noblewoman with a clear, innocent face, as if she knew nothing of the world.

Everyone thought of her as a victim, but a seed of suspicion had taken root in Trevis’s mind.

From his interrogation, Sebastian had been a swindler by nature.

Not a grand con artist, but a petty criminal who constantly committed small frauds.

Sebastian was the kind of man who would abandon love and friendship alike for money, so it made no sense to Trevis that he would engage in unprofitable stalking.

“Yes. You know Espin of House Leon, right? She was sitting behind us earlier.”

Just as expected, it was that lady.

When Trevis nodded, Haren put on the same pitiful expression he always wore whenever he asked for time off.

“I don’t know if you’re aware, Commander, but my friend has a lot of family issues. She doesn’t want to attend the banquet with her family, but she doesn’t have anyone to go with. Please, for the sake of my poor friend, if you could be her partner, I’d be truly grateful.”

Haren blinked his eyes. Already immune to that expression, Trevis looked at him without any change in expression.

“Fine.”

It was an impulsive decision. For some reason, he wanted to observe Espin more closely.

“Really? I’ll go tell her the good news right away!”

“Let’s go together.”

He wanted to see her expression. Each time they met, she avoided his gaze—he was curious what kind of face she would make this time.

“Will you?”

Haren led the way toward the garden with light, excited steps.

“Espin! I found your partner.”

Unlike Haren’s bright expression, Espin’s face visibly stiffened.

“Haren, what do you mean?”

“Our commander here said he’d be your partner at the banquet.”

“…Huh?”

Espin’s eyes wavered, and her gaze turned toward Trevis.

“You must be busy….”

Her eyes, a color reminiscent of the finest emeralds, were clearly pleading for him to refuse.

“It’s all right.”

“See, Espin? Who else do you even have to take as a partner? You don’t know any noble men besides me.”

At Haren’s teasing, Espin smiled and bit her lip.

“Do you dislike the idea of me being your partner?”

“Oh, no, it’s not that…. I was just worried it might cause trouble for Your Grace.”

“You don’t need to worry about that.”

Espin smiled without saying anything.

Watching her expression carefully, Trevis became certain of one thing.

Espin was avoiding him.

“I’m doomed.”

Claiming I was going to the powder room, I slipped away and punched the air as I thought of Haren.

After possessing this world and deciding to scam the scammers, the person I wanted to avoid the most was Trevis.

His eyes were constantly observing me—like he was determined to see through my true nature.

And now he wanted to attend the banquet with me, one he hadn’t even gone to with the female lead, Chloe.

That was a bad omen.

“I’ll have to avoid him even more from now on.”

“What are you trying to avoid?”

A silver-haired man appeared in front of me as I muttered to myself.

“Count Kidne.”

The very person I had been looking for—Count Kidne.

The face behind the mask, which hadn’t been described in the novel, was more striking than I’d expected.

“Shall we talk somewhere quiet?”

With a more polite tone than when he wore the mask, Robert gestured toward the nearby staircase.

I nodded and followed him.

Once we reached the quiet space beneath the stairs, far from the garden where the tea party was being held, Robert finally spoke.

“How on earth did you learn about my identity?”

He looked utterly unable to understand how a mere noble lady had discovered a secret no one else knew.

Of course, if I hadn’t read the novel all the way through the side stories, I would never have known either.

What he did wasn’t exactly illegal, but it wasn’t something nobles approved of. Proud aristocrats regarded information work as errands for their servants.

Unable to stain his family’s reputation, he had thoroughly hidden everything about his work and even his very existence.

Naturally, Robert was dying of curiosity as to how an ordinary noble lady had uncovered it.

“That’s something I can’t tell you.”

“Hah. Do you have an information network of your own or something? No, that can’t be. I control all the intelligence networks in the Empire.”

“But is that what’s important right now? That’s not the answer I’m waiting for.”

“It is important. How many people know my identity, and where it was exposed—this is extremely important to me.”

“It hasn’t been exposed anywhere. I’m the only one who knows.”

Robert stared at my face in silence.

One of his eyebrows twitched up and down, as if he were measuring whether he could trust me or not.

“No matter how much I think about it, I can’t understand. Espin Leon. A young lady of House Leon who has just come of age. Lost her mother at a young age, spent her life carefully watching her stepmother and stepsister. An ordinary lady. No remarkable talent in studies, music, or art—a frivolous lady with nothing but a good family.”

Robert recited everything he had investigated about Espin.

“A naïve lady who’s easily used by others and believes in fated love. She yields every eligible young noble to her stepsister and can’t say a word to her. She can’t even speak up to the servants and gets ignored—until she fired them all a few days ago, which prompted Count Leon to come up to the capital.”

Startled, I asked,

“My father—Count Leon—is coming to the capital?”

Robert laughed as if it were ridiculous.

“What, you didn’t even know that?”

After checking his watch once, he continued calmly.

“He should have arrived at the mansion by now.”

“Damn it.”

I couldn’t help but admire him, knowing even whether the Count had arrived.

At the same time, the thought of the Count being home made me realize things were about to get more uncomfortable. I wouldn’t be able to act as freely as before without worrying about others’ eyes.

The one saving grace was that this family had little interest in Espin.

‘The head butler will explain the servants’ dismissal properly. I probably won’t be scolded too badly.’

What mattered now wasn’t Count Leon, but the man standing right in front of me—and making him my ally.

“I see. So, have you thought about the proposal I made?”

“Is the information reliable?”

“Yes. Absolutely.”

A sharp glint flashed in Count Kidne’s red eyes.

“I see. And is this also information you obtained in your own way, my lady?”

“That’s right. So what will you do? Just as I’m the only one who knows you’re an information broker, I’m also the only one who knows that information. In other words, without me, you won’t even have a chance at revenge. What will you do?”

I held out my hand to him—an invitation to join me.

“What else is there to do?”

Robert took my hand.