Chapter 127
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 127
The Duke dropped a final, shocking bombshell, then practically chased me out of the drawing room.
I must have misheard him.
I was utterly dumbfounded. If I had my way, I would have grabbed Pudding and bolted back to the Rohanson Mansion that very second. Agera was the one who cast the sorcery? What on earth was going on?
How could the Duke just drop a bomb like that and kick me out? As I stood there in sheer disbelief, I locked eyes with Rico, who was waiting outside the door.
"You came out early," she noted.
"He didn't have tea served."
Usually, nobles spent a long time beating around the bush to sound out their opponents or maintain polite appearances. That was why they typically served tea—to facilitate long conversations. The absence of tea was a clear sign that the meeting would be brief.
Since the Duke hadn't ordered tea and had kept his eyes glued to his paperwork, I knew he had no intention of indulging in a long chat with me. Of course, I hadn't expected to be kicked out the moment I heard such a massive revelation.
Rico hesitated, as if she wanted to ask me something. She was probably curious about whether the Duke had explained the incident.
"Your grandfather told me to get the details from you, Rico."
Rico had told me to get permission from the Duke, and now the Duke was telling me to pry the details out of Rico. They certainly had a tight bond of mutual trust, didn't they? I wanted to shake the whole story out of her right then and there, but we were still too close to the Duke's drawing room, and there were too many listening ears.
"If His Grace has given his permission, then I shall explain everything. Shall we head to my room first?"
"To your room? Is that necessary?"
I had a room of my own, after all. Even if it was the one Lady Amaranth used to stay in.
"...My apologies, but Mavka was very insistent on thanking you in person, My Lady."
Rico brought up Mavka as if that were her only reason. However, considering how reluctant she had been to let me use Lady Amaranth's room in the first place, there might have been another reason she was avoiding it.
Since I had no way of knowing for sure right now, I had no real reason to decline her offer.
Still, inviting me to her room suggested we had gotten a bit closer. The Duke was still a mountain to climb, but at least yesterday's campfire with Rico had paid off.
"Very well, then."
Rico seemed to dote on Mavka immensely. Since I had decided to win Rico’s favor, treating her daughter well would only work to my advantage. After all, they say the best way to win someone over is to win over the people around them first.
Humming to myself, I headed to Rico's room. When we opened the door and stepped inside, Mavka, sensing our presence, stumbled out to greet us, rubbing her sleepy eyes and throwing her arms around me in a tight hug.
"Welcome back," she mumbled.
Seeing her act so sweet and affectionate, she had clearly mistaken me for Rico. Even if she was half-asleep, our auras were too different to be confused. Was she really not afraid of me? I'd already suspected she was unusual when she approached me so easily yesterday.
"Mavka!"
Rico gasped in shock and quickly pulled Mavka away from me. Belatedly realizing that the person she was hugging wasn't her mother, Mavka turned pale and gasped for air.
She seemed startled by her mistake. Was she terrified? Yesterday, she had been crying too hard to care and had spoken to me easily, but realistically, it was bizarre for an ordinary child to cling to Evangeline, a young lady of notorious repute.
Still, she had clung to me just fine yesterday, and now she was suddenly acting distant? I felt a bit slighted, like someone had given me a gift only to snatch it back.
Worried she might start hyperventilating, I quickly greeted her to calm her down.
"Did you sleep well last night?"
"Hic."
She ended up hiccuping anyway. It seemed my attempt to speak to her had backfired. I was only trying to reassure her.
"H-hic... I'm s-sorry, Lady Rohanson... hic."
Her attitude toward me was far more cautious than yesterday. The fact that she properly addressed me as "Lady Rohanson" instead of "Angel" suggested Rico had given her a stern warning about me.
Mavka looked like she was on the verge of bursting into tears. She had cried all day yesterday; at this rate, she was going to dehydrate herself. I was terrible at comforting crying children, and unlike yesterday, I didn't even have any sweets to pop into her mouth. Left with no choice, I simply patted her head. Mavka froze instantly, her eyes trembling as she stared up at me.
"I would rather hear something other than an apology."
"Ah... Ah! Th-thank you... Thank you for yesterday!"
"You're welcome."
When I accepted her gratitude, Mavka beamed brightly, even with tears still pooling in her eyes. Seeing her grin from ear to ear just because I accepted her thanks—when she had been hiccuping in terror only moments ago—reminded me that she was, indeed, just a child.
Rico had brought me here under the pretext that her daughter wanted to thank me, yet when I actually treated Mavka kindly, she stared at me in sheer disbelief, as if witnessing something impossible.
"Lady Rohanson... you are surprisingly kind to children, contrary to the rumors."
"Did you expect me to mistreat children? Especially your daughter?"
What, are you disappointed that I'm not the mindless villain the rumors make me out to be? I kept the thought to myself and simply offered Rico a sweet smile. Surely she wouldn't spit on a smiling face. Though, of course, the Duke had a history of throwing a wine glass instead of spitting.
"Since our conversation might take some time, shall I prepare some tea?"
"No, it's fine. I'm not in the mood for anything."
I had no desire to use tableware in a place crawling with rats. If I told her the real reason, she'd probably mock me for being overly fastidious, so I simply brushed it off as having no appetite. It wasn't like I was being dramatic; if I caught some disease from those rats, I would be doomed, since holy water didn't work on me.
When I had stopped Sir Azazel's sword with my bare hands before, it had taken over a fortnight for the wound to heal. Fortunately, my recovery speed was quite fast—perhaps a perk of being a transmigrator—but the fact that holy water had no effect on me was a massive weakness.
It went without saying that I had to be careful. If my food were poisoned, I wouldn't have the holy water cheat code to save me, meaning I would die on the spot. Now I had another reason besides rats to watch what I ate.
Of course, Bishop Marik wasn't the type to poison me; she was the type to drag me out and execute me under some other pretext.
When I declined the tea, Rico didn't press the issue and quickly took a seat.
"Then, where should I begin..." Rico started.
Wait, Mavka was still in the room.
"Is this a conversation we should be having in front of a child?"
"Mavka is a clever girl."
"No matter how smart she is, she's only six. She doesn't need to know everything."
Especially since she had experienced so many bizarre phenomena just yesterday. While I generally believed in not hiding necessary truths from children, it was a different story when it came to the dark secrets of her own family.
Moreover, what we were about to discuss involved sorcery. It was far too heavy a topic for a young child to hear. Besides, there was no telling when the Temple might try to approach Mavka again, so it was best to be as cautious as possible.
"Then, Mavka..." Rico hesitated, debating whether to send her daughter out. Having spent all of yesterday searching for her, she seemed reluctant to let the girl out of her sight.
"If you're afraid of leaving her alone, you can entrust her to someone else."
"But... we don't know who else might be in the same position as Nigella. I can't trust anyone right now," Rico replied anxiously.
Indeed. With Lady Agera being the one who cast the sorcery and a fellow maid eating rats, it was deeply ironic that I, an outsider, was the only one she could trust.
In that case, I just had to assign her a reliable bodyguard who was also an outsider.
"Pudding."
The moment I called his name, Pudding appeared without a sound. My lap instantly grew heavy. Rico's eyes widened when she saw the cat, but just like yesterday, she seemed to assume he had been there all along and she had simply failed to notice.
"The cat again..." Rico covered her mouth, her hands trembling.
Was she afraid of cats? Or perhaps she had an allergy? Or maybe she was just easily spooked. I made a mental note to summon Pudding less often around Rico. Unlike her mother, Mavka was absolutely thrilled to see him.
"It's Lord Cat from yesterday!"
"Mavka, would you mind playing outside with Pudding for a bit?"
"Yes! Is Lord Cat's name Pudding?"
"Yes, it is."
"That's a cute name! Not as cute as Kiki, though!"
Mavka hugged Pudding tightly. She seemed to have distanced herself from me because of whatever Rico had told her, but the cat was innocent.
"With a cat around, the rats won't dare come near. You can feel safe now, right?"
Agreeing with my words, Mavka turned her sparkling eyes toward Rico. It was a full-on puppy-dog eyes attack. Having been on the receiving end of it yesterday, I knew firsthand how difficult it was to resist. Left with no choice, Rico let out a sigh and nodded.
"But you must be careful of other people. Be on your guard against Nigella, of course, and even those you usually get along with. Understand?"
"Yes, I will! I'll only play with Lord Cat."
Rico gave her a few more warnings before finally letting her go. Pudding meowed pitifully, as if protesting being used as a babysitter, but I resolutely ignored him. Sorry, Pudding. I have a heavy mission to fulfill.
Once the cute child and the cat left, the atmosphere in the room turned icy cold.
I almost thought winter had arrived early. Had I known it would be this chilly, I would have asked for tea just to warm my hands. But that ship had sailed. It would be bad manners to ask for tea now when I had no intention of drinking it, so I decided to break the frozen silence like an adult.
"Now, let's get down to business."
Ah, my mistake. I had gotten so used to discussing only business with the Duke that I had jumped straight into it out of habit. Fortunately, Rico also seemed eager to talk, as she quietly nodded in agreement.
"How much... did His Grace tell you?" Rico asked, her voice trembling.
In fact, it wasn't just her voice; her hands were shaking too. When my gaze drifted to her hands, Rico clasped them tightly together and lowered them.
"Only that Lady Agera was the one who cast the sorcery."
"He gave you the absolute core of it, then..."
Core, my foot. The Duke just dumped all the explaining on you. A sudden urge to drive a wedge between the two of them welled up inside me, but I suppressed it with patience.
"Then I shall explain. I only pray that, once you know the full story, Lady Rohanson, you will find it in your heart to forgive and embrace Lady Agera."