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Chapter: 12
What the boy said was the ending I wanted least of all.
And yet…
Why did Adrian’s words sound to me like, “You’re going to abandon me in the end anyway. Aren’t you?”
Why did those blue eyes look as though—even while acting cruel—they were silently begging me to help him?
Maybe it was all just my imagination.
But there was one thing I knew with absolute clarity: what I had to do right now.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“…What?”
“That’s something my future self will deal with. The only thing I know right now is that I have to help you. That’s all.”
Adrian’s hand slowly tightened around my neck.
As if testing me, as though asking, “Even so? Even then?”
What was worse than being strangled unconscious right here was this: the moment I showed even the slightest hesitation, the fragile, glass-thin trust Adrian had built up would shatter completely.
If I showed fear, it was over.
I straightened my shoulders and neck and met Adrian’s gaze head-on.
One second passed like ten minutes as we stared each other down.
Just as his fingers dug in, right before my airway was cut off—
“…You win, Utel.”
The hand that had been slowly choking me loosened.
“I’ll play along with you. So go on—let’s hear this amazing plan of yours.”
[QUEST: Bring food to the starving male lead ‘Adrian,’ who is locked in the basement. (2/3)]
[SYSTEM: ‘Adrian’s’ affection has increased by 3.]
[SYSTEM: ‘Adrian’s’ corruption rate has changed.]
With a ding, ding— sound, a bright golden system window flooded my vision.
It was my victory.
“Welcome back, Rasha.”
Facing Melisandra, who greeted me warmly, I put on an especially bright smile.
“It worked, Duchess. Adrian said he’ll do exactly as you instructed.”
“Oh my, really?”
“Yes. He’s finally given up his stubbornness and agreed to obey.”
Watching Melisandra light up with delight, I slowly began to steer the conversation.
“Then… does that mean you’ll release Adrian now?”
“…Hmm?”
“He’s repented, hasn’t he? Locking up such a young child in a place like that is far too cruel.”
[SYSTEM: Due to the effect of Lv.3 ‘Deception,’ your face is filled with deep compassion.]
Melisandra looked flustered for a moment, but quickly wiped the expression from her face and feigned innocence.
“Well… I’m not sure if that would be appropriate. Adrian’s confinement was His Grace the Duke’s decision, after all…”
Of course it was.
When she wasn’t looking, I curled one corner of my lips into a mocking smile.
She couldn’t very well admit she’d imprisoned a child for unjust reasons, so she blamed the absent Duke instead.
How vile. How despicable.
But when her gaze returned to me, I immediately put my smile back on as if nothing had happened.
[SYSTEM: Due to the effect of Lv.3 ‘Deception,’ your expression is filled with innocent trust.]
Naturally, Melisandra wanted to keep Adrian locked away.
She wanted to hide her disgrace of abusing the Duke’s son for as long as possible.
But my goal was to bring Adrian out into the open.
And for that, I needed a tool.
Pretending to adjust my posture, I casually slipped my hand into my sleeve.
My fingers brushed against the hypnosis orb I had stolen from the Utel family warehouse.
Lexia, listen to me.’
‘Lord Erden…’
‘Duke Bellas broke your heart, didn’t he? And that wretched chancellor was completely useless.’
‘But…’
The woman’s pitiful golden eyes shimmered with tears.
The red-haired man smiled darkly as he rotated a fist-sized, perfectly round orb between both hands.
As the hemispherical shell turned, a colorless, odorless vapor spread throughout the room.
Before she realized it, Lexia’s pupils lost focus.
‘The only one who will truly protect you and help you with all his heart… is me.’
His words seeped into her clouded consciousness.
When she obediently leaned into his embrace, Erden Utel smiled in triumph.
…
…
Ugh.
Combining the contents of the book with my feelings toward my real-life older brother made the scene from The Sacrifice of the Thorned Goldfinch utterly unbearable to witness.
What the hell are you doing to Lexia, you piece of trash?!
Still, there was something useful for me right now.
The novel described the usage of the hypnosis orb in great detail.
First of all, the orb was a kind of fumigator containing an alchemical potion known as Elixir of Hypnosis.
It released a colorless, odorless vapor that placed the target under hypnosis—but anyone holding the orb was immune to its effects.
Additionally, those with a certain level of alchemical training were unaffected by the vapor.
That was why novel-Erden had so easily hypnotized Lexia, who knew nothing about alchemy.
And conveniently enough, Duchess Melisandra was also completely ignorant when it came to alchemy.
Ignorant enough to mistake a random potion I handed her for a love elixir.
Keeping my hand hidden inside my sleeve, I subtly manipulated the orb.
Just as described in the novel, the effect was immediate—Melisandra’s pupils slackened after inhaling the vapor.
“Please listen carefully, Duchess. Let me explain why releasing Adrian is far more beneficial than keeping him imprisoned.”
“…And why is that?”
“Which family currently holds the greatest power in the Empire?”
It was a question that pricked at her pride.
“Why, the Bellas Ducal House, of course!”
“Is that really so?”
When I lightly provoked her, the fogged eyes of the Duchess sharpened.
I seized the opening.
“The Bellas family is certainly respected, but the current trend at court is…”
“……”
“…Isn’t it the Stewart family?”
The Stewart Marquessate—the family of Nathaniel, one of the male leads.
If the Bellas family embodied the Empire’s sword, stern and mighty, then the Stewarts, as chancellors, valued refined charisma.
As a result, in etiquette, social finesse, and the ability to command people, the Stewart family held a slight advantage.
That background was one of the reasons the male leads from the two families clashed in The Sacrifice of the Thorned Goldfinch.
Add Erden Utel of the alchemical family into the mix, and the situation spiraled rapidly into ruin.
But that was a future that wouldn’t happen—thanks to the system and my efforts.
For now, I would use the rivalry between the two houses to manipulate Melisandra.
“If you continue running the family so closed-off—and keep Adrian locked away—the Bellas family’s reputation will begin to decline.”
Strictly speaking, that wasn’t true.
The Bellas Dukedom was literally the Empire’s sword.
As long as Duke Bellas continued to repel the monsters coming down from the north, the people of the Empire had no choice but to revere his house.
Even now, wasn’t the Duke away on a monster-subjugation campaign?
And while he’s gone, this mess happened.
Anyway.
My silver tongue spewed lies without hesitation.
“Right now, the ducal house still has the upper hand.”
“……”
“But if things continue like this… what about three years from now? Five?”
[SYSTEM: Due to Lv.3 ‘Deception,’ your words—despite lacking plausibility—gain persuasiveness.]
[SYSTEM: Your speech flows as smoothly as running water.]
Suspicion and anxiety surfaced on Melisandra’s dazed face.
That meant I was almost there.
“You need to show everyone that your house has an heir who rivals any other.”
“…That’s… true…”
The Melisandra I knew was the archetype of a selfish, greedy woman.
Which meant she believed she had to stand at the very top, possess everything, and defeat everyone.
And now, she perceived the Stewart family as a threat to her position.
“Hold a banquet, Duchess.”
Now all that remained was action.
“Host a charity banquet like the Stewarts do. Invite a few members of the imperial family as well.”
“……”
“And there, present Adrian to everyone.”
I drove in the final nail.
“They say Nathaniel of the Stewart family is already being praised for his outstanding talent.”
“…Nathaniel?”
Melisandra, who had been nodding mechanically, suddenly widened her eyes.
“Who is that?”
“…What?”
She didn’t know Nathaniel?
For a moment, I was so shocked I couldn’t speak.
Nathaniel was one of the three male leads—a direct heir of the Stewart family.
I hadn’t met him yet, but I’d assumed he was growing up cherished by his family.
The fact that Melisandra, who had surely visited the Stewarts, didn’t even know his name…
What is going on?
But now wasn’t the time to dwell on that.
“Ah—my mistake. I meant Carlisle. He’s the one receiving attention.”
Carlisle? Who the hell is that?
Completely baffled, I nonetheless maintained my smile and wrapped up the conversation.
“In any case, you’ll let Adrian attend the banquet, right?”
Melisandra slowly nodded, her expression blank.
Thankfully, perhaps due to the hypnosis, she didn’t seem to pay much attention to my slip of the tongue.
“You must be tired. Please get some rest, Duchess.”
I placed a cushion against the back of the sofa and gently supported her head.
She soon closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.
Exhaustion claimed Melisandra—but the words I’d spoken would seep quietly into her subconscious.
Just as Lexia had come to obey Erden’s words in The Sacrifice of the Thorned Goldfinch.
A massive ivory-white tower, also known as the Ivory Tower.
The very top floor of the Mage Tower.
“Hypnotizing the Duchess, hm.”
Elios Anatole, the master of the Mage Tower, murmured with interest.
“I guided things through a quest, but I never expected her to go this far.”
A girl with no connection to magic whatsoever—one who hadn’t even debuted in high society.
And yet, she was the key to saving the world from destruction.
