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~Chapter 36~
His hand was already resting on the sword sheath, as if he had been about to slash the werewolf immediately.
But Lucas suddenly barged in, so it seemed he stopped what he was doing.
“…Introduce me, Father.”
The boy who had been silent scratched the back of his neck, frowning.
The unexpectedly mild attitude from him left the old man dazed, but he quickly came to his senses.
“Oh, uh… right. I forgot to introduce him. This is Lucas Crost, the young master of the Crost family. This time…”
As the explanation continued, people’s eyes gradually widened.
“How fascinating. So that person is the Crost direct heir… It’s my first time seeing him.”
“I once saw him when I was three years old. He has really grown a lot.”
“And with such level of ability… Then the successor will naturally be Young Master Lucas, I suppose?”
Meanwhile, Lucas…
“Dandelion, are you okay?”
“Ah, yeah.”
He’s only looking at me.
“Sorry I’m late. I was going to attend the regular meeting properly, but the servants thought I was sick and didn’t wake me up on time…”
You were planning to attend?
I blinked in confusion.
“Young Master. Weren’t you planning not to attend this regular meeting? You said just seeing the nobles’ faces made you want to throw up and that they were scary.”
“Who said they were scary! I just said I didn’t like them!”
Seriously… apologize or get angry — pick one.
Young Master is always prone to sudden mood swings.
I puffed my lips slightly, and he crossed his arms, making a “hmph” sound and turning his head away.
“And! If you don’t participate just because you don’t like it, does that even make you a Crost direct heir?! Huh? Can just anyone be a direct heir? Only someone responsible like me can do it!”
“Then what about me?”
Lucas raised his eyebrows as if it was obvious.
“You too! With that pathetic little body, you participated in the heir candidate test in my place, didn’t you? Of course you’re Crost direct family! My little sister!”
“…!”
Whoa.
Hearing that from the Young Master made light burst from my huge eyes.
‘It feels new hearing it from Lucas, who was a direct heir by birth?’
At that moment—
“Impossible!”
Someone rushed down from the audience seats and ran into the arena.
It was Marquis Lilis, wearing a fur coat heavily decorated with jewels.
Maybe he was too agitated.
Or perhaps he had lost his composure, because he pointed at us without any hesitation.
“Suddenly Young Master Lucas appears? That makes no sense. Your Excellency, the young master was reported missing! Finding him should have been impossible. How on earth…!”
“Marquis.”
At first, I wasn’t sure who was calling the marquis.
From the authority and eerie tone I heard, I thought it was the old man.
But Lucas, who had been standing quietly while holding my hand, took one step toward Marquis Lilis.
As if telling me to look straight into his eyes.
“Don’t you remember me?”
At the boy’s question, the marquis’ excited face began to stiffen slightly.
“T-that… what do you mean…”
“Look carefully. You must check the quality of the product you sold.”
At the sarcastic reply, the gaze of the uncle who had been protecting me narrowed slightly.
“…Product?”
“What does that mean?”
The people watching were the same.
“Well… I, I don’t really understand what the young master means. It seems Young Master has lived outside for too long and can no longer distinguish between things he should and shouldn’t say.”
Marquis Lilis gave a dry, awkward laugh.
But Lucas had no intention of letting this matter pass easily.
After glaring at the marquis for a long time, he suddenly smiled and took something out.
“Will you remember if I show this?”
“T-That is!”
The marquis screamed as if his eyes would pop out and tried to snatch the paper—
Whoosh—
The old man was faster and snatched the paper from Lucas’s hand.
Standing up from his seat, the man silently stared at the paper for a long time.
[Slave Trade Contract]
The slightly confused crimson eyes slowly read the biggest word written on it.
[Slave No. 1242] [Signature: Luth]
Finally—
He slowly closed his eyelids while reading the transaction record that didn’t even contain Lucas’s name.
“…Slave? Surely it doesn’t mean the young master was sold as a slave, right?”
Someone far away, who had good eyesight and read the paper, started whispering.
“Wait. Are you saying Marquis Lilis sold the young master as a slave?”
“Wasn’t the young master reported missing? Even if all the clan heads in the north searched their territories thoroughly, they couldn’t find him…”
“No matter how much he wanted to make his own son a direct heir, selling a noble as a slave? That’s insane!”
The crowd’s reaction grew more intense.
In the perspective of other nobles, nobles being sold as slaves was something that usually only happened to defeated nobles fleeing after a war.
‘But the son of a war hero was sold as a slave.’
“Are you crazy?!”
Feeling the situation tightening around his neck, the marquis swallowed nervously.
He quickly turned his head to look for allies.
“…….”
Everyone closed their eyes and looked away.
In the end, the marquis, who had taken one or two steps backward, stammered.
“H-how can you prove that I did it? The signature says ‘Luth’. Don’t you all forget my name? I am Lilis, not Luth!”
That was a fair point.
“Bring proof that I am Luth! Until then, don’t accuse an innocent man! It seems Young Master is trying to sacrifice me because he has no one else to complain about!”
“Luth is just a nickname!”
Someone couldn’t stand it anymore and stood up abruptly.
“So prove that Luth is my nickname! You can’t, can you, huh?”
Marquis Lilis, thinking this tactic worked, placed his hands on his waist and spoke loudly in an arrogant, reverse-accusation manner.
But that would be the end of it.
“I have proof.”
Because I was here.
“…?”
“?”
As I suddenly raised my hand, everyone’s gaze fell on me.
I rummaged through my pocket.
“When Marquis Lilis invaded the Crost manor without permission…”
“Wh-who invaded…!”
“You left this behind.”
Taking out a golden pen from my pocket, the marquis’ face, who had been about to fiercely rebut, turned pale as if drained of blood.
Golden pen.
“Engraving here!”
I pointed with my finger to show the engraved part that read ‘Luth’.
“T-that’s proof that it’s mine…!”
Then I’ll show more.
Turning the pen around, I kindly pointed to the back.
“Here is even the seal pattern!”
“…….”
“…….”
“…Ha, seriously.”
Thud—
In the end, Marquis Lilis, who had been glaring at me hopelessly, slumped to the ground.
And then.
“He kidnapped my son.”
The voice of Calypse, who had been quietly watching the scene, carried a faint laugh.
It was not laughter from joy.
It was a self-deprecating, somewhat insane chuckle that went beyond anger.
“He even sold my son as a slave.”
But the murderous low voice that followed made the breaths of Marquis Lilis and everyone else stop.
Calypse said nothing afterward.
No, he answered with action instead of words.
“L-let me explain, there is a misunderstanding… ugh!”
Thud—
Using his long leg, the man strode over and kicked Marquis Lilis, who was kneeling and begging, in the stomach.
“Ugh, ah!”
The marquis’ dying screams continued, but Calypse didn’t move at all.
He simply kicked him again and again with irritated eyes, as if the man were a bug.
“P-please…”
The marquis, who was finally crying, tried to escape by placing both hands on the ground and crawling away.
But…
“…….”
No one helped the marquis or stopped Calypse.
They knew.
At this moment, Calypse was not the head of the Crost ducal family.
He was just a father of one child.
“I can’t believe it… I clearly sent him to a free country. How did he get here…? That can’t be…”
Even while being dragged away by the knights, Marquis Lilis kept muttering like a madman.
“That can’t be. This shouldn’t have happened…”
Seeing his hollow, hopeless appearance as he kept repeating that his plan should not have turned out this way, Tex sitting in the audience burst into tears.
“Dad—!”
Tex, crying with snot running down his nose, chased after Marquis Lilis late.
“Leave my dad alone, you bastards—! Give my dad back!”
It was truly pitiful, but… well, who told him to do evil things?
I snorted and crossed my arms.
Then the knights brought an unfamiliar man who had been trying to escape.
“Your Excellency. Regarding the werewolf who showed abnormal behavior during the match. This man seems to have injected something into the werewolf.”
“What?”
The knight held out something that looked like an empty syringe.
“…Huh?”
Wait a second.
I feel like I’ve seen that before somewhere.
Doo-doo-doot—
As if possessed by the familiar object, I ran toward the knight and stood on tiptoe between him and the old man.
“I know this. This is a madness enhancer produced by the Poesz Ducal family.”
“How does the young lady know that…?”
The knight looked at me slightly surprised.
“I was shown around.”
“Huh?”
“Before adoption, I was once taken abroad for a tour.”
The old man explained seriously with a completely absurd tone.
“…I see.”
The confused knight blinked.
“By the way, who is that guy?”
The knight, who had been lost in thought, finally came to his senses at the old man’s question.
“Oh, he’s the guy who had the syringe. But it turns out he is Marquis Lilis’ assistant.”
“…Damn it.”
Everything was explained now.
