Chapter 47
Chapter 47
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: Servant Cedric (12) - Anxiety and Handshake
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The lord's manor was thrown into utter chaos.
Assassins had reached the lord's very bedroom, after all. It was impossible for it not to be.
"...It seems some of the guards, resentful over the former deputy lord's dismissal, cooperated with the assassins. We've captured all of them who tried to flee upon learning of the failure and thrown them in prison."
Head butler Vestian spoke up with a rigid expression.
"Lady—no, my lord. This is no trivial matter. We must hold the guard captain accountable and restore discipline to ensure it never happens again."
At Vestian's words, the guard captain's face darkened sharply.
Yet he offered no counterargument. In truth, he had none to give.
The breach in security already threatened the lord's life—a grave issue on its own. But the cause being betrayal from within the guards left him speechless, even if he had ten mouths.
Claudia gazed at the guard captain, who hung his head like a condemned prisoner awaiting judgment, then declared her verdict.
"The guards on duty today will have one month's pay docked. As for the captain, three months without pay. That's the ruling."
The guard captain's eyes widened in shock, and the other retainers showed clear signs of dismay.
The punishment was far too lenient compared to the incident's severity.
There were nobles who would behead an entire guard detail for the slightest scratch on their charge, yet this was mercy beyond words.
"My lord, but—"
"It's decided. No arguments. And don't mistake this for letting it slide lightly. There'll be no mercy for the actual collaborators."
The guard captain dropped to his knees before Claudia, his face flushed with emotion, while the trembling guards behind him bowed their heads as well.
"Thank you, my lord! From this day forward, I stake my life on my loyalty!!"
"We pledge our full loyalty!!"
"Good. I'll expect it from now on."
Claudia replied indifferently, but it was just for show. Inwardly, she was quite surprised.
'...I was honestly planning to smash them all.'
She had been trying lately to embody dignity and mercy, but her true nature didn't change so easily.
And this time, she even had solid justification.
Yet the reason she opted for this outcome was Cedric's advice.
Claudia had thought such matters needed iron-fisted handling, lest her subordinates undervalue her life. Cedric's approach of drawing loyalty through mercy rather than punishment felt utterly novel.
Grateful for their lord's mercy(?), the guards interrogated the traitors and assassins with bloodshot eyes, but unfortunately, the results were lackluster.
It wasn't that the traitors and assassins had iron wills refusing to crack or took their own lives with deadly poisons to hide secrets.
On the contrary, their mouths opened quite readily.
The problem was that the information they spilled was utterly useless.
"The contract was 'scare her as much as possible without killing her.' The client belongs to a different criminal organization from theirs. If we press that group, they'll likely name another. Delegation upon delegation, you might say."
Claudia frowned at Cedric's words as he shrugged.
"Information came out, at least. We raid the group that hired them, then the one that hired that group, tracing it back until the real culprit surfaces, right?"
"If they're going to such lengths, the middlemen are probably fictional from the start. The trail would fizzle out during the backtrack."
"Tch."
Claudia clicked her tongue in dissatisfaction.
Cedric then said to her,
"Besides, you already have a rough idea who the culprit is, don't you, miss?"
"My siblings, obviously. They get the shakes whenever things start going well for me."
Even as she called them siblings, not a trace of familial warmth colored Claudia's voice.
No tangled love-hate—just pure, unadulterated disdain.
At this point, it was fair to say they were family in name and lineage alone, worse off than strangers.
Claudia let out a deep sigh.
"I half-expected it, but damn, that was fast. And it doesn't feel like it'll end with just this once. Should I recover some blood beasts and station them as my guards?"
Cedric shook his head.
"That would just play into their hands. It'd undermine Eched Territory's growth engine."
"...True. Fair point. Then how about you stick right by my side as my guard instead? What if we move your room next to mine?"
Despite the grave topic of her own assassination countermeasures, Claudia's voice held a hint of excitement.
She saw this as a perfect excuse to keep Cedric close.
"As your servant, protecting you holds no complaint from me. But if I relocate just to focus on your guard duty, the actual guards will feel deprived. They'll say they accept forgiveness with their mouths but sense a lack of trust in action."
No need to discard the trust and respect he'd earned through bold action, Cedric refused her proposal.
"Hmm."
Claudia puffed out her cheeks.
She wanted to snap that who cared if those failed hacks were disappointed, but she held her tongue.
Acting that childish might make Cedric disappointed in her.
"So you're saying you won't bother with guarding me?"
"I'll bother plenty. And since it happened inside the manor, being nearby or not makes no difference. If you call, I'll come running."
"R-Really?"
As if her prior grumbling was a lie, Claudia's face brightened again.
His words—"I'll come running if you call"—sounded rather sweet.
They even reminded her a bit of a line from Rose and Pocket Watch.
Surely after that, the two trapped in a villa on a rainy day would embrace each other and...
"Miss? Miss Claudia?"
"...Huh? Yeah? What?"
"No, you just went blank and quiet all of a sudden. I must have been inconsiderate. After such a nighttime ordeal and diving straight into cleanup, it's no wonder you're fatigued."
"No, I'm fine. Really fine."
Claudia cleared her throat repeatedly to dispel her embarrassment, then swiftly changed the subject.
"Anyway, assuming guards are handled that way, anything else we should do? Should I just hire assassins and send them packing?"
"We don't know exactly which sibling it is, right? And with our power base still weak, overreaching could backfire spectacularly."
"Tch, so just sit tight and do nothing?"
"Not doing nothing. We increase blood beast numbers and govern the territory well."
"That's too ordinary."
"Ordinary is good."
Cedric grinned.
"Keep at it, and it'll be them burning up inside."
Even upon hearing that the criminal groups sent to Eched Territory had gone silent, second son Erwin and third daughter Mira remained at ease.
The field operatives had no idea who their true employers at the top were, after all.
Even if captured alive, Claudia had no evidence to uncover.
A one-sided strike: success was a bonus, failure carried no risk.
Thus, the siblings' conversation seemed almost cordial.
"How's Claudia reacting?"
"Quiet. No moves to recover blood beasts, no rampaging for revenge."
"Hm, odd. With that temper, she'd never stay meek after a preemptive strike."
"Probably just stubborn pride. Wait a bit more. We're prepping new ones already."
"This time, I'll send some too. Force-feed them blood day and night, and even that mongrel bitch will break eventually."
They exchanged sinister smiles and dispatched fresh assassins.
And, predictably, they failed.
"Ha, they blocked that? Her guards must be decent enough."
"Jeez. Taking our money and barely managing a threat. Hate dealing with trash."
"Next time, only grade-3 or higher. Even well-trained grunts have limits."
"Scrolls as backup would help."
The third attempt: equipped and elite-selected.
Result: failure, as expected.
"...She got a proper knight or something?"
"At least a grade-4 expert attached? What the hell does that nasty bitch have going for her?"
"Still, she's Redbell blood. Must have some fool loyal to the name. No choice—change tactics."
"Held back to avoid accidental death, but now... poison, sniping, bribery. Use everything."
Now approaching assassination in earnest.
As always, failure.
"......"
"......"
Regardless of tactics, elites, tools, or funds, not a single success report came.
No, not even failure reports.
Checks via spies on Claudia yielded the same updates.
Blood beast numbers in Eched Territory weren't dropping; Claudia actively joined high-risk public events, her fame and influence rising daily. Many subjects didn't even know of assassination attempts.
Yes.
The assassins they'd sent weren't just failing to intimidate Claudia—they were being utterly ignored, treated as nonexistent fictions.
As if not worth acknowledging.
"Can't rely on outsiders anymore."
Mira flinched at Erwin's grim declaration.
Both Erwin and Mira knew.
They had their own "true blades" for dirty work.
Elites incomparable to hired external help.
But reasons existed for not using them until now.
"B-But deploying our direct forces is too risky, right? If they're captured..."
Criminal groups acting on an unknown client's orders differed vastly from Redbell main forces moving openly.
Failure then would be truly irreparable.
Yet Erwin wouldn't yield despite his sister's plea.
"Neighboring lords bordering Eched are begging that damn mutt to send blood beasts their way too. Leave it, and she'll build a massive faction around her."
"W-Wait. Sure, diluting individual strength lets you mass-produce blood beasts easily, but limits exist. Fine for one territory, impossible for others. She'll fail if left alone!"
"Eched's security is already mostly stable. Shifting internal blood beasts elsewhere would suffice for show. She'd have bragging rights at minimum."
The siblings didn't truly believe Claudia could multiply her blood beasts.
They deliberately ignored the possibility.
They handled blood beasts too, but nowhere near her scale.
Admitting that thieving bitch and her mother surpassed them in anything bruised their pride intolerably.
"No more soft 'if she dies, oh well.' We move with 'she must die' resolve. Before the family head takes interest in her."
Mira, who'd shown unease, finally nodded in resignation to Erwin's repeated vows.
The pair had taken pains to act discreetly, convinced they wouldn't be found out. But their efforts were for naught—their moves reached Redbell's true ruler intact.
And the marquis's assessment?
"Doomed. Failure's already sealed."
"...Is that so?"
The marquis's confidant looked puzzled.
Claudia had just started building power, while the siblings had done so far longer.
Hesitant from risk aversion, they'd suffered setbacks, but going all-in would overwhelm her.
Yet the marquis flatly predicted Claudia's victory with indifference.
"No thorough scouting to outmatch her forces, no beastly instincts piercing gaps. Sneaking in token forces while underestimating her, then scrambling when it fails. Utter idiots. She'll devour them all."
Confirming the incompetence of his expensively raised children wasn't pleasant.
But also intriguing.
"Hard to say how far she foresaw. If she played them from start to finish in her palm... she's a monster beyond imagination."
The marquis felt curiosity stir.
And he was a powerholder who needn't restrain it.
"Been a while since a cozy family gathering. Not a bad idea."