Chapter 58
Chapter 58
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 58
Chapter Title: The Game is Still in Progress
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Baron Paris Emporus had been arrested.
An investigative team dispatched from the royal palace had arrived at his territory and castle, uncovering a litany of his crimes in detail: tax evasion, bribery, operating illegal gambling dens, kidnapping, human trafficking, illegal usury, and establishing brothels.
The Church had informed the royal family of Paris Emporus's ties to black magic and requested their cooperation, which was granted.
And Rachel...
"Two days left!"
She cheered, sprawled out on the bed in her guest room at the palace, arms and legs extended.
Overwhelmed with emotion, she clasped her outstretched hands in front of her and trembled all over.
The danger level hadn't reached zero, and the enemy Abyss was searching for still hadn't revealed themselves.
Even so, Rachel was thrilled that Paris Emporus had been eliminated from this endlessly looping time.
How many times had Evelyn died because of him?
'Now that he's gone, Mom won't die anymore, right?'
Knock knock.
A knock sounded at the door. She sat up.
"Come in!"
"It's me. You haven't gone to bed yet."
The one who opened the door and appeared wasn't a maid—it was Enoch. His silver hair was still damp from a recent bath, glistening wet.
"It's too early to sleep. I've hardly seen you lately. Have you been busy too, Enoch?"
Her blue eyes, curved like crescent moons, looked up at him.
Everyone who had accepted Paris Emporus's invitation, including him, had been hauled away. And those captured and brought to him had been rescued.
Rachel, who had exposed Paris Emporus's crimes during the arrest process, and Abyss, who had contributed to it, were recognized for their merits and awarded rewards.
They had come to the palace, but instead of receiving their rewards immediately, it had been three weeks of learning etiquette through the maids.
"Yes, I heard you were receiving etiquette lessons. It must be pretty tough, right?"
"What I learned at home wasn't etiquette at all."
She had thought she knew quite a bit from her repeated regressions, but that was limited to mere knowledge. There was an endless amount to learn.
Her life up until then had revolved around the mansion. She had never had the chance to visit the palace or mingle with other nobles, so her etiquette was lacking.
At her complaint, the corners of Enoch's mouth lifted. He wasn't even aware that he was smiling so warmly.
"I had a hard time when I first learned it too."
Rachel raised her head. From his words, it seemed he hadn't been occupied with etiquette lessons but something else.
"Have you had a lot of work?"
"I've had to go back and forth to various places."
The arrests during the operation hadn't been limited to the nobles who attended Paris Emporus's party.
The mercenaries he had hired to capture them, along with the undercover intelligence agents, had all been seized and transported away.
The dispatched holy knights had their identities verified by the Church, but the undercover agents had no way to prove their innocence, so Enoch had worked with Abyss to clear their names.
"You must have had it rough."
"It wasn't that bad."
"Anyway!"
Rachel got off the bed and looked down at Enoch, who was seated in a chair. At her suddenly raised voice, Enoch blinked his clear eyes.
"You didn't even tell me that Karl was His Highness Carion!"
On the day Paris Emporus's crimes were exposed, Rachel had realized that Karl was the second prince, Carion.
How startled she had been when, after dismissing the danger level fluctuation and checkpoint update messages, she saw Carion's gaze lingering on her?
It didn't end there. As the soldiers were escorting Paris Emporus away, he had approached her and whispered in her ear.
'I'll soon bestow a reward on little Lady Rachel.'
The words, uttered so casually, replayed in her mind, and she rubbed her ear.
"Urgh."
At her not-quite-interrogation, Enoch averted his gaze. Rachel grabbed his turning cheek and made him face her.
"Enoch, you knew, didn't you?"
"Yes."
Enoch answered honestly but trailed off. He looked like a puppy who knew it had done something wrong and was about to get scolded.
"But why didn't you tell me?"
"Well, since he hadn't revealed it himself, I couldn't just go blabbing about it."
He hesitated slightly on the honorific before explaining. Rachel nodded at his words.
"And if his identity had been revealed, you would've felt uncomfortable around him too."
"I can't deny that."
The reason she had been so casual with him in the kitchen before was because she thought he was just some random noble.
Had she known he was the second prince, she wouldn't have been able to treat him so freely.
"But for someone who says that, you didn't treat him casually, Enoch."
"I was extremely uncomfortable."
Enoch emphasized "extremely" in his response. It didn't seem like a lie, so she released his face.
"What is Abyss going to do now?"
"He says he's going to join my brothers when they interrogate the baron."
That's right. Abyss's ultimate goal wasn't the baron—it was the Black Sorcerer who had destroyed his hometown.
Since the Black Sorcerer's movements were linked to demon king summoning, the Church was also searching for him.
With a shared objective, Abyss and the priests went down to the prison together during the baron's interrogation.
"I hope we find out where the Black Sorcerer is soon."
Rachel believed the lingering danger level was definitely connected to that Black Sorcerer.
Knock knock.
"Someone else coming at this hour?"
It wasn't that early when Enoch had arrived. At the knock from the door, Rachel looked puzzled.
"No. Maybe it's because you're meeting His Majesty the day after tomorrow? They might have come to give instructions?"
Before Rachel could say come in, the door opened, and two men entered.
"You two, alone at this hour?"
"Greetings, Your Highness Carion."
Instead of answering, Rachel recalled the etiquette she had diligently learned and greeted him.
The ones who entered the guest room were Carion and a man she had never seen before.
Unlike the man who looked pleased at Rachel's greeting, Carion snorted in dissatisfaction.
"I'm hurt? No sense of who's watching, and you're acting casual."
'Is the guy behind you just decoration?'
Rachel swallowed the words that nearly escaped and smiled brightly instead.
She trusted Enoch, but she didn't know who the man behind Carion was yet.
Even if Carion told her to be casual, who knew what others might nitpick later.
"How could I? If I didn't know your status, maybe, but now I do."
As demurely as possible, without straying from the speech and etiquette the palace maids had taught her, Rachel spoke.
Carion clicked his tongue.
"The maids only teach useless stuff..."
"It's not useless! They'd be hurt if they heard you say that."
Not too exaggerated, not too blunt. Rachel smiled, lifting only the corners of her mouth as the maids had taught her.
At that smile, Carion recoiled and covered his eyes.
"Please, no, don't smile like that. It reminds me of the ordeal at the banquet hall, and it's scary."
He shuddered, apparently having quite a history of being hounded by women.
"I really prefer your honest self from when we first met? Please don't act like other noble ladies."
"Can I really treat you casually?"
The man standing behind Carion glared as if to say no. He didn't speak, but his eyes conveyed a single word.
'How dare you!'
"The guy behind you has a murderous glare."
"Louis."
At Rachel's tattling, Carion called the name of the man behind him. With that one word, Louis's glare softened.
"There, happy? I'm higher status than this guy, right? So don't mind him and listen to me."
What an incredibly cheap and casual tone.
At the words that made the dignity he had shown three weeks ago vanish in an instant, Rachel nodded.
"Got it. I'll be casual when no one's else around."
"As expected, you're different from the other ladies—easy to talk to."
"But what's the occasion for visiting tonight? You didn't come just to say I'm different from other ladies."
As the small talk dragged on, Enoch cut to the chase.
Rachel was surprised at how aggressive Enoch's tone was compared to usual.
Even with the slightly mocking sound of it, Louis didn't glare at Enoch or show any hostility.
"This little lady did us a huge favor! The reward's gotta be worth the meal."
At the mention of "meal cost," Louis glared at Rachel.
She wasn't scared, but she figured she should at least pretend, so she hid her head behind Enoch's back.
Enoch glanced at Louis over the Rachel hiding behind him, and Louis lowered his gaze.
"Louis, I told you not to. What are you doing to this little lady?"
"We investigated, and she doesn't even have a title..."
"You know the reason for that."
Carion tossed a scolding remark at Louis and turned back to Rachel.
"Anyway, when we bestow the reward, we'll reflect your opinion as much as possible, so if there's anything you want, say it freely."
"Really?"
"Doesn't even know the virtue of modesty..."
Louis muttered at Rachel's question, but she ignored him. Carion ignored him too.
"Yeah. You and Abyss, was it? Thanks to you, we resolved a huge headache."
At that, Rachel asked about her biggest concern.
"Will this incident bring harm to my father by any chance?"
The crimes of Paris Emporus that had come to light were grave. So grave they involved forbidden black magic and even designs on overthrowing the state—treason, in other words.
"The baron's crimes are serious enough to wipe out three generations. Normally, that would make not just your father, his brother, but his entire family subject to punishment..."
Rachel swallowed involuntarily. She bit her lip at Carion's words, which echoed her exact fears.
"...But since you're the whistleblower and connected to him, and our investigation revealed that the only decent one among them has no title because of the baron Emporus's schemes, he's been excluded."
A sigh of relief escaped her. At the same time, anger surged.
'Don't beat around the bush like that. If he weren't a prince, I'd have smacked him.'
"If things come to it, your father could even inherit the family."
"Absolutely, absolutely not! Confiscate all the Emporus family wealth, territory, and title. Make sure the name Emporus never echoes again!"
"That's enough testing."
As Rachel objected, Enoch warned in a low voice.
'Testing?'
Rachel's mind raced quickly.
The Church had revealed Paris Emporus's black magic connections. Meaning Carion knew too...
"You know the contract termination conditions too, then!"
And even knowing that, he had tested her. Rachel's eyes immediately turned fierce, and Carion grinned.
"Sorry, sorry. We were talking rewards, and there was talk that maybe your father, being decent and all, was eyeing the title and used his daughter to set a trap."
"Who's spouting such nonsense?"
Enoch got angry on her behalf, deeming it an insult to Rachel.
At Enoch's retort, Carion flicked his eyes toward Louis behind him.
Enoch and Rachel clearly caught the gesture screaming, 'This guy's the one!'
'No wonder he's been hostile to me.'
"Absolutely not. Rachel acted according to her own convictions and struggled to survive. And this is the result."
"Of course, I believe you, I believe you. Even if someone else said it."
As he said it, he flicked his eyes toward Louis behind him again.
Louis, standing behind him, completely missed Carion's gesture pointing him out.
"Enough useless talk. Let's discuss the reward. What do you want?"
The answer to that question was already decided.
Rachel knew exactly what she needed right now.
"Money."