TVOWW 39

Chapter 39

Now, Let My Husband Step In

The sudden turn of events made the Countess of Hetel stop her daughter.

“Wait a minute, Lotte. To invoke Oblinte is—”

A vow sworn upon the family name: Oblinte.

This wasn’t simply a gamble where only honor was at stake.

Because it was a vow intertwined with the Imperial name itself!

If they lost the bet, the family’s honor would collapse completely, and according to the vow, the victor could demand three things from the loser.

They couldn’t demand the family title… but still.

Everything else was possible—estates, manors, practically everything.

If things go wrong, they could owe more than 100,000 gold.

On top of that, the Chancellor of the Empire, Chancellor Orteca, was here as the mediator. Once sworn, there would be no way to take their words back.

It might even be better to stall for time… Perhaps the Duchess Blanchet’s claim has some truth to it.

Just as the Countess of Hetel hesitated, Estelle tilted her head slightly and asked,

“Countess Hetel, is there some problem?”

“Oblinte must be decided carefully.”

“I understand your feelings, Countess Hetel. Honestly, even now I think it’s possible that both sides could be telling the truth.”

Estelle clasped her hands together and smiled sweetly.

“But even if that were the case, the truth still has to be revealed, doesn’t it? That’s why I think we must proceed with Oblinte. Don’t you agree, Countess?”

The Countess couldn’t answer right away.

At that moment, the Count of Hetel proudly declared:

“My lady, what’s there to hesitate for? Very well! I will swear upon the name of House Hetel!”

Flustered by her husband’s sudden action, the Countess nonetheless nodded.

“Fine. But can the Duchess truly swear Oblinte? Surely Duke Blanchet must grant his approval.”

“You needn’t worry about that.”

Just then, Johann placed a hand lazily on Estelle’s shoulder and replied,

“I will guarantee Estelle’s Oblinte. Even if it means the fall of House Blanchet.”

Johann twisted his lips into a smirk.

“In return, since I am stepping in, there will not be a shred of mercy.”

The murderous aura in his voice made the Countess of Hetel instinctively shrink back.

But there was no way out for her.

“Very well! Chancellor, please verify it quickly. Whose words are the truth?”

“Understood. Since both families have agreed, I shall carefully conduct the verification.”

Chancellor Orteca placed the documents into an envelope and activated the contract artifact ring.

A circle of light spread out from the ring, wrapping around the envelope. The blue gem of the ring grew transparent.

A silence so heavy no one dared to breathe.

Everyone stared at Orteca’s ring.

Before long, the Chancellor opened his eyes.

The gem’s color had changed distinctly.

Red.

That meant: falsified.

Everyone’s gaze silently turned toward the Countess of Hetel.

She seemed so confident, and yet…

What kind of fool tries such an obvious scam right in front of the Blanchets…?

The Countess’s face drained white.

“T-that’s impossible! Something’s wrong here!”

Her ice-cold hands trembled uncontrollably.

The Chancellor’s artifact is an Imperial treasure—it cannot be tricked by a scam…

At that moment, the Countess locked eyes with Estelle.

Estelle stood beside Johann, leaning gently against him with a look of relief.

“It was you! It was you, wasn’t it—”

“Countess Hetel, whatever are you saying?”

“That—that is—”

The Countess’s words were cut off by the crowd’s sharp reprimands.

Estelle smiled faintly, just enough for the Countess alone to see.

Yes. It was me.

The Countess collapsed to the floor in a daze.

Estelle lowered her head as if saddened and leaned against Johann’s shoulder.

But Countess, no one will believe you now.

After all, it was the Countess herself who had submitted the contract and the affidavit, and all the evidence was hers.

In short, everything had been orchestrated by her own hands.

The only difference was that Estelle hadn’t let herself be the victim.

Who told you to do something so vile? How foolish.

Of course, Estelle knew very well why the Countess had targeted her.

Duchess Blanchet was a lofty position. But Estelle had seemed laughably weak and easy prey.

And it was all because of those rumors.

Estelle recalled each insult she had heard whispered behind her back.

“That clueless fool adopted into Libertane.”

“A pretty but wicked woman.”

“A filthy fake.”

They all seemed to forget that even a foolish, pretty “fake” was still a living, breathing being.

But no matter how fake, as long as I’m human, I still think. I still act.

At least things had resolved easily this time.

Now that the Countess had lost her composure, she would only step on more traps of her own making.

The Countess of Hetel raised her voice, frantically denying reality.

“Chancellor, we are innocent! There must be some mistake. We should test it again, with House Hetel’s own artifact!”

I quietly watched her make a scene.

But it won’t matter what artifact you bring, the result will be the same.

Because—

I was the one who tampered with the documents.

Honestly, if it weren’t for Betty, I would have had to use another method.

But true to being the servant of a mastermind, Betty was incredibly capable.

“I’ve infiltrated other noble houses before, stealing information and altering documents.”

“It’s easy for me to slip in anywhere and take what I need.”

I applauded Betty when she brought me the envelope hidden in the Hetel family’s office.

Blushing, she scratched her cheek and said,

“The servants were all distracted elsewhere, so it wasn’t hard. Swapping out a document with a near-identical fake is my specialty. Anyway, milady, should I just destroy this envelope right away?”

It would have been easier that way.

But after all the trouble the Hetels had caused me—harassing me constantly and now stooping to this—I couldn’t possibly let them go unpunished.

“Betty, this envelope’s contract magic—it’s already complete, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it shows as unaltered and genuine, milady. Is this truly authentic?”

“I was once forced to sign an affidavit in Libertane, but not with the Hetel family.”

“Then this must be…”

“Exactly. They must have tampered with the contract magic, forcing it into this state.”

“Normally, if a contract magic is faulty, it all registers as forgery… this is truly strange.”

Indeed, that was why nobles treated such magical contracts as treasures.

“But the solution is simple. If we deliberately apply another layer of forgery over it, the contract magic will display an error.”

Of course, Betty hesitated.

‘But, Madam, won’t Count and Countess Hetel notice before the banquet? They’ll probably check again before entering the banquet hall.’

It was true. If the Hetel couple checked the document before the banquet and discovered it was fake, that would be troublesome.

‘Then what about putting it back as it was for now, and after they’ve already gone into the banquet hall, we swap it with the tampered contract?’

‘Since it’s important, they might carry it with them into the banquet hall.’

‘No. Absolutely not.’

Knowing the Hetel couple’s personalities, there was no way.

Count Hetel was weak-willed, and Countess Hetel had immense pride as a noble.

Since they wanted to make it public in front of everyone at the banquet, they would never start questioning with the document in hand beforehand.

That wasn’t the noble way.

‘But honestly, Betty, you could get caught if you slip up in the middle of this. You’ll have to tamper with it without leaving any trace. Can you handle that?’

Betty nodded confidently.

‘A count’s household without proper manpower like theirs? Sneaking in and swapping something out is nothing to me.’

‘Ah, and one more thing.’

I handed Betty the document I had taken from Baron Fenula.

‘Hide this near the contract magic tool, just beneath it, as if it’s some hidden secret.’

After that, I played my part, pretending not to know anything, like a victim blindsided, so that the Hetel couple would be less cautious when they checked the contract again.

‘It won’t be long now.’

Countess Hetel grabbed Chancellor Orteca and pleaded her innocence.

“Chancellor Orteca! Please, use our household’s contract magic tool to verify it! Our tool clearly showed it was genuine!”

“Even if that’s the case, it doesn’t erase the fact that you tried to frame Duchess Blanchet.”

“But it will at least prove that we didn’t do it intentionally. Please, I beg you.”

In the end, Chancellor Orteca accepted the request and went to fetch the Hetel family’s document.

‘He’ll find the Libertan document I planted along the way.’

As smart as he was, he would realize it wasn’t the Hetel couple’s.

And Orteca wasn’t the type to ignore an important document he had discovered, even if it wasn’t what he’d been looking for.

“I’ve just returned from the Hetel estate. The contract magic tool was stored rather deep inside, so it took a little longer.”

Orteca spoke with a faint smile on his lips.

The Hetel couple looked at him with eyes full of hope.

“So, Chancellor, how is it? Our magic tool shows it’s genuine, doesn’t it?”

“Indeed, something unexpected has happened.”

Nodding, Orteca handed the documents back to the Hetel couple.

“Not only does your contract come up as fake with the tool, but there was also a document showing that the Hetel family bribed Libertan in exchange for dealings—using illegal goods banned by the Empire, no less.”

‘This is the end.’

At that moment, Johan gently patted my shoulder.

“Are you all right, my lady?”

“Huh?”

“You must have been under a lot of stress.”

I flinched and turned to look at him, as I had been so focused on the Hetel family.

Now that I thought about it, Johan, who usually would have acted first, had stayed quiet this whole time.

‘When the forgery was first revealed, what did Johan do?’

Johan—

‘He just kept watching me.’

As if there was nothing else in the world worth looking at.

A chill ran down my spine.

Johan bent down and whispered softly into my ear.

“From now on, tell me everything. What you’re thinking, what you’re planning.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Ah, I suppose it’s hard to be honest right this moment.”

Johan’s elegant brows furrowed slightly in thought.

“Then I’ll just show you directly.”

My heartbeat grew louder, pounding in my chest.

“It’s going to be very entertaining.”

Almost entranced, I looked into his crimson eyes.

Johan raised his hands before me, spreading all ten fingers. Then, slowly, he began folding them down one by one.

‘Is he… counting down?’

The closer the number came to zero, the more tense I became.

‘What on earth is he planning?!’

Meanwhile, the Hetel family collapsed in wails, throwing themselves at Chancellor Orteca’s feet. The gathered nobles in the banquet hall murmured as they tried to grasp the situation.

Only Johan remained perfectly at ease.

Finally, when all his fingers were folded down, he whispered softly:

“Showtime.”

Bang!

The banquet hall doors slammed open violently.

The first thing I saw was Raymond, the captain of the Blanchet knights.

He hurled an older man with a battered appearance into the hall.

The man rolled across the floor and clutched desperately at the Chancellor with a bloodied hand.

“Sp… spare me…”

I looked at his face and gasped.

‘Baron Fenula?’

Though covered in blood, it was unmistakably Baron Fenula.

‘Since when did Johan know Fenula was here? Was it never that he missed him?’

At that moment, Johan seized my chin, met my eyes, and placed a light kiss on my cheek.

“Now it’s time for your husband to step in.”