Chapter 30
Chapter 30
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: Exposure (3)
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Gaol Heimlich's actions were incredibly swift.
He immediately took soldiers with him and arrested Chelsea Goldpixie's servants.
Not only her bedroom, but also the businesses she managed and the shops she frequented were all thoroughly investigated.
As a result, they were able to round up a bunch of people who knew about Chelsea Goldpixie's relationship with the black mages.
The duke summoned torture experts and interrogated them.
“Y-Yes! Lady Chelsea Grand Duchess colluded with the bl-black mages!”
“H-How did they meet? I d-don't know! Lady Chelsea Grand Duchess suddenly brought them one day!”
“Th-The black mages helped Lady Chelsea Grand Duchess with everything! Ev-Even the tasks Your Excellency assigned were all handled by the black mages!”
The truth revealed through them was shocking.
First of all, all the abilities and achievements Chelsea Goldpixie had shown so far were fakes accomplished with the help of black mages.
Chelsea Goldpixie had expanded her influence within the family with the black mages' assistance.
“Th-There's more! The Gr-Grand Duchess used the bl-black mages' help to gain l-loyalty from her retainers!”
“W-We don't know what kind of black magic it was! We just heard that inhaling the scent made them devoted to the Grand Duchess!”
Chelsea Goldpixie had even used black magic to turn her retainers to her side.
There were plenty of retainers who sided with Chelsea Goldpixie because of the black magic.
The only silver lining was that none of the influential retainers were affected.
The duke dispatched soldiers to arrest all the retainers and knights under Chelsea Goldpixie's sway.
In truth, they were merely victims. But since they were still under the influence of black magic, they couldn't be left alone.
That was how the interrogations continued—until one day.
Word arrived that Chelsea Goldpixie had committed suicide.
* * *
Even on the day Chelsea Goldpixie died, Demian Haksen was immersed in his training.
He had received the mana crystal potion, but his current physical condition made it too burdensome to assimilate.
It was when he finished training and returned. He spotted the duke pacing in front of his bedroom.
“Your Excellency?”
Demian asked with a puzzled expression. Only then did the duke notice Demian's arrival.
“Ah, you're here. I've been waiting to see when you'd come.”
“Why didn't you send a servant to summon me?”
“I couldn't interrupt your training.”
The duke said with a smile.
“But what brings you here?”
“Oh, it's nothing much.”
The duke raised his arm. He held a bottle of wine in his hand.
“Do you like alcohol?”
* * *
The duke led Demian to a room in the corner.
“This is a room I made just for enjoying my hobbies.”
The room was filled with alcohol.
There was a wide variety. Wines, vodkas, whiskeys, and more. It was hard to find something missing.
“Have a seat and wait a moment. I'll bring out some snacks.”
With that, the duke took a chunk of cheese from the cupboard.
With skillful hands, he sliced the cheese and placed it in a dish.
“Angelic cheese from the Blanco region pairs perfectly with this wine.”
The duke poured wine into the glass in front of Demian. The red liquid gurgled out.
“Give it a try.”
Demian brought the glass to his lips. A rich aroma filled his mouth.
“Fine liquor.”
“Hahaha, thank you for appreciating it. It's not that expensive, but it's my favorite.”
The duke tilted his glass as well. He hadn't even taken a few sips, yet the glass was already empty.
“Whew, good stuff. Excellent.”
Then, the duke popped a slice of cheese he had cut into his mouth.
“In the end, we've decided to seek the Church's help.”
The duke said abruptly.
Demian found it odd.
Calling in the Church would inevitably invite their interference.
It was hardly welcome for someone as proud as the duke.
“Wasn't the decision made too hastily?”
Demian asked, popping a piece of cheese into his mouth.
He couldn't fathom the duke, who had always been so confident, so readily calling in the Church.
“Truth is, we let all the black mages slip away.”
The duke clicked his tongue briefly.
“We caught all of Goldpixie's close aides. But not a single black mage among them.”
“Really?”
“Yes, I can hardly believe it myself, but it's true. We couldn't even learn their names.”
The duke frowned. He seemed deeply ashamed at having let the black mages escape.
“Black mages don't scare me. My loyal knights are steadfast. But who knows what tricks they might pull?”
The most terrifying thing about black mages wasn't their combat power.
It was the sinister schemes they brewed using black magic.
If they hid in the shadows and unleashed a plague curse, the duke's territory would suffer massive casualties.
“The best way to deal with black mages is to call in the Church. That's why I'm handing it over to them.”
“Chelsea Goldpixie didn't spill the black mages' identities, I take it.”
“She never got the chance. The girl died on the first day.”
Demian paused mid-chew and looked at the duke.
It had been over five days since Chelsea Goldpixie was captured. And the news of her death came today.
The first day?
“She bit her own tongue and ended her life the very day the soldiers arrested her.”
“Then you've been keeping it secret until now?”
The duke nodded at Demian's question.
“If word got out that Chelsea Goldpixie committed suicide, all the accomplices would flee. So we kept it under wraps.”
Demian clicked his tongue inwardly.
Even so, it was his own flesh and blood who died. He hadn't expected such cold rationality.
“Chelsea Goldpixie is dead, the black mages all escaped, we don't even know who they are... It's a disgrace.”
The duke leaned back in his chair and sighed.
Demian stared at him intently before speaking.
“You look exhausted.”
“Do I? How embarrassing.”
The duke smiled faintly. But he couldn't hide the fatigue under his eyes.
“Chelsea Goldpixie's mother was a commoner.”
Then, out of the blue, the duke spoke.
“In my youth, I went hunting with my knights and got stuck in a rural village. That's where I met her mother.”
It was common for nobles to seek commoners for a night.
The outcome was predictable.
“That woman got pregnant with Chelsea right away. But in my youthful folly, I was disgusted that a mere commoner carried my bloodline. So I cast her out when she came to me.”
The duke's face was utterly emotionless as he recounted the past.
No regret, no remorse—nothing.
“Time passed... and one day, I grew curious about the child I'd abandoned. I sent people to investigate, and learned her mother had died of plague, leaving the girl to survive alone.”
The duke brought Chelsea Goldpixie, who had been living by herself, into the family.
No one knew why. Perhaps not even the duke himself.
“Chelsea wasn't particularly bright. Even accounting for her long life as a commoner, she lacked sharpness. She had leadership, but no real talent.”
Nothing was more dangerous than an incompetent leader.
That's why the duke never promoted Chelsea Goldpixie greatly.
“I hoped she'd live and die as an ordinary noble lady. But one day, she started showing promise bit by bit.”
Just as he enjoyed testing his retainers, the duke delighted in testing his children.
And Chelsea Goldpixie aced every trial he set for her.
“At first, I found it strange. No matter how I looked at it, those trials were beyond her abilities. I was suspicious, but found no proof.”
So the duke granted her the title of Grand Duchess.
He acknowledged her as his successor.
“It was odd, but... I never imagined she'd gotten help from black mages...”
The duke let out a long sigh.
“She should have just lived modestly within her means.”
The duke silently tilted his glass. Demian stayed by his side for a long time.
* * *
The duke emptied three bottles of wine and passed out right there.
Demian called servants to carry him away.
Then he returned to his own bedroom.
‘As expected, not a single one was caught.’
Back in his room, Demian sat in a chair, lost in thought.
He hadn't told the duke, but Demian Haksen knew the black mages' identities.
Yulan.
That was the group that had allied with Chelsea Goldpixie.
‘As the rumors say, they're thorough. They left no traces whatsoever.’
The duke believed Chelsea Goldpixie had committed suicide, but Demian thought otherwise.
She had been killed by a curse.
Yulan would never leave her alive.
They must have planted the curse in advance to cover such contingencies. ‘In the end, Chelsea Goldpixie was just a pawn for Yulan.’
The duke said Chelsea Goldpixie had colluded with the black mages.
But Demian saw it differently.
Dangerous black mages like Yulan wouldn't ally with someone like her.
There had to be another agenda.
‘Probably a plan to swallow up the duke's family.’
Elevate Chelsea Goldpixie as the next duke, then take control of the family.
Whatever the plan, Demian Haksen had utterly foiled Yulan's scheme.
‘They probably haven't fled far.’
Ordinary black mages would have escaped to distant lands the moment their identities were exposed.
But Demian was certain Yulan was still lurking near the duke's estate.
‘They're surely waiting for a chance to kill me.’
Demian Haksen had killed Yulan's executive, Agito, and handed his head to the Church.
Not content with that, he had smashed Yulan's plot in the duke's family.
Yulan would definitely come for Demian.
This wasn't mere speculation—it was near certainty.
‘No one holds grudges like black mages.’
Demian had spent a long time with Archlich Dorgo.
He knew the breed well.
Black mages were meticulous about favors and grudges.
There was no grand reason. Black mages had enemies everywhere. To survive, they had to stick together.
The best way to foster solidarity was strict adherence to favors and grudges.
Repay every favor received.
Avenge every grudge incurred.
That was the black mages' fundamental mindset.
‘I feel bad keeping it from the duke... but to draw them out, it's necessary.’
Demian had concealed Yulan's existence to lure them.
The less the duke's family knew, the more openings there would be. The more bait scattered before Yulan.
But the most important reason was something else.
‘Disgusting scum. I'll slaughter you all with my own hands.’
Demian loathed black mages.
The mere mention of Yulan ignited murderous intent within him.
He wouldn't be satisfied unless he dealt with them personally.
‘Come anytime.’
Walking the dark hallway, Demian’s eyes gleamed.
* * *
“Damn it! Damn! Daaaamn!”
In a dark corridor of the outer castle.
A man clutched a liquor bottle, spewing curses.
The man's name was Ernst Horwitz.
He was a mid-class knight of the duke's family.
In the recent interrogations that swept through the duke's household, Ernst Horwitz had only faced a brief questioning.
He hadn't even known about Chelsea Goldpixie's collusion with the black mages.
Yet he couldn't rejoice at that fact.
“You idiot! You bastard! You should have died right there! You should have protected her!”
That afternoon, Ernst Horwitz heard the news of Chelsea Goldpixie's death.
In that moment, something inside him crumbled.
“Aaagh! Uwaaaagh!”
Ernst Horwitz pounded his chest with his fists. Still, the guilt wouldn't fade.
“Lady Chelsea Grand Duchess...”
Ernst Horwitz collapsed to the ground and gazed up at the night sky.
Suddenly, he recalled the day he first met her.
A spirited, confident girl.
That was his first impression.
Her bright demeanor left an impression, and he found himself watching over her often.
At some point, Ernst Horwitz developed feelings for Chelsea Goldpixie that exceeded his station.
He had fallen for her.
“Ugh... Uwaaa...”
As Ernst Horwitz let out a pained groan.
“Sir Ernst Horwitz, so this is where you were.”
A voice came from the darkness. Ernst Horwitz looked up.
“R-Rebecca?”
The woman before him was Rebecca, Chelsea Goldpixie's close aide who had served her right by her side.
“You... you wench...!”
Ernst Horwitz's eyes sharpened. He circulated his mana, blowing away the alcohol's haze.
Rebecca had vanished the moment Chelsea Goldpixie was captured.
Meaning she was one of the black mages who had collaborated with Chelsea Goldpixie.
“You wench... It's because of you that Lady Chelsea Grand Duchess... consorting with devils like black mages!”
Ernst Horwitz reached to grab her throat.
Just before he did, Rebecca spoke.
“Sir Ernst, we seek to avenge ourselves against the duke.”
His hand froze at her words.
“What... do you mean?”
“You've heard the news. Lady Chelsea Grand Duchess has passed. The duke's family hasn't disclosed the cause, but it's obvious.”
Rebecca took a breath before continuing.
“She died during interrogation.”
Ernst Horwitz's mouth opened slightly, then closed.
For the duke he knew, it was entirely plausible.
He was the type to discard even his own blood for the family's sake.
“But we can't avenge Lady Chelsea Grand Duchess alone. We need your help, Sir Ernst.”
Ernst Horwitz pondered briefly before saying.
“...What must I do?”
A smile crept onto Rebecca's lips.
* * *
After Rebecca's explanation ended, Ernst Horwitz vanished somewhere.
Left alone, Rebecca stared in the direction he had gone.
“Good thing I persuaded him well.”
A man emerged from the alley.
It was the man Chelsea Goldpixie had called Mustang Fury.
When dealing with Chelsea Goldpixie, he stuttered and seemed timid.
But the Mustang Fury now had eyes as cold as frost.
“I never thought Chelsea Goldpixie's name would work this well.”
“Love makes a man strong, they say?”
Rebecca covered her mouth as she laughed.
“How foolish. Fuming like that without even knowing who really killed Chelsea Goldpixie.”
Chelsea Goldpixie hadn't died during interrogation.
She had taken her own life due to the curse Yulan had placed on her.
“Still, boss, I'm not thrilled about this. Do we really have to kill Demian Haksen?”
“Are you saying we should just sit back and take it? That bastard didn't just kill Agito—he ruined our great cause.”
Mustang Fury scowled as he spoke.
“‘His’ orders were to seize the duke's family and sow chaos in Apple Kingdom. He interfered with that. How can I endure it?”
Mustang Fury ground his teeth.
“Demian Haksen and the duke's family don't know our identities. We can use that to create an opportunity to kill him.”
Mustang Fury's eyes darkened.
“I'll make sure Demian Haksen begs for his life.”