Adopting the Male Protagonist Changed the Genre - Chapter 19

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 19

The lie detector glasses were one of the items in the ‘Good Child Making 4-Piece Set’ that was basically given when playing as Ophelia.

Proper growth and whatnot—it was an item that didn’t give a damn about the protagonist’s human rights, so I never used it when playing the game.

But now I’m using it after possessing her body. And not on Leo, but on someone else.

I put on the glasses and looked at Penandel. Then a steady waveform graph appeared above Penandel. It looked exactly like the screen of an electrocardiogram machine used in hospitals.

I took a light deep breath.

I was about to ask very, very rude questions to Penandel, who was supposedly the Duke’s aide. Even if Penandel glared at me menacingly, I wouldn’t be intimidated.

“Why does the Duke want ownership of the mine?”

“I cannot tell you.”

“Then I cannot accept the proposal either.”

As resolute as Penandel was, I answered just as resolutely. After a moment of silence, Penandel finally opened his mouth with a disapproving tone.

“His Grace… wishes to seal that mine.”

But why on earth? Even though mining involves many dangers, it’s no different from a goose that lays golden eggs.

If I hadn’t had the lie detector glasses, I probably wouldn’t have believed those words.

However, the waveform graph floating above Penandel was drawing consistently steady patterns. It meant he was telling the truth.

Good, next question.

“Is the Duke someone who kills people for money?”

“He is not.”

Truth.

“Is the Duke a lecher?”

“He is not.”

This was also true.

“Is the Duke someone who wouldn’t hesitate to behead those who defy his words? Wait, think carefully before saying no.”

“…He is not.”

Truth.

At this point, I’m starting to get suspicious.

Naturally, lie detectors aren’t something you can trust 100%.

Since they detect lies through various physiological responses like heart rate, breathing, and eye movement, they don’t function properly on people who show no physical or emotional reactions when lying.

‘Could Penandel be that type of person?’

His answers were mechanical too.

It was embarrassing how I’d been tense, expecting him to grab and shake me for being rude to his master.

I brought up the rumors with a somewhat indifferent tone.

“Did the Duke of Baluashten really kill his own family and usurp the title?”

Even as I spoke, I inwardly thought he’d give another parrot-like answer.

But for the first time, Penandel gave a different response.

“Why are you asking such a thing?”

This is it.

I felt it instinctively—the answer to this question would determine whether we’d make a contract or not.

“Answer me.”

For the first time, a human-like reaction came from him who had been like a statue.

His jaw tensed, and the eyes deeply hidden behind the mask seemed to darken to a deeper shade for a moment.

“…It is true.”

I looked at him silently.

To be precise, I looked at the lie detection indicator floating above him.

The graph’s waveform, which had been consistently steady, was going wild like crazy.

* * *

Dim moonlight shone into the dark room.

The man cast the shadow of a giant demon as he looked down at the splendid view of Monteo, the Royal Capital.

Eventually, the man removed the black half-mask he had been wearing all day.

What was revealed under the moonlight was a cold-featured handsome young man who looked as if he’d been carved from eternal snow.

The eyes that had appeared deep as the ocean depths under the shadow of the mask now showed a clear color like a pale sea surface shining under the full moon’s light.

The man remained motionless like a still life painting, as if recalling something.

“Did the Duke of Baluashten really kill his own family and usurp the title?”

Then, the moment he caught sight of his own face reflected in the window.

“Ah.”

He discovered his own eyes had turned red like a drop of blood fallen on white cotton cloth.

The man who let out an emotionless sigh rubbed his face dry.

When he lowered his hands again, what was reflected in the window were cold blue eyes that were transparent like glaciers but contained not a trace of emotion.

Soon the man’s steps headed toward the ornate birdcage.

When he tapped the birdcage with his fingertip, the bird that had been sitting on the perch with its head down as if asleep creakily raised its head.

The bird made of mechanical devices and springs blinked its eyelids several times, then opened its beak with chirping sounds.

-Your Grace! Why haven’t you contacted me until now! Do you know how worried I was!

It was an unbelievably rough and coarse voice to come from such a small bird.

The man sat down on the sofa as if tired and answered.

“That’s why I’m contacting you now.”

-That’s not what I mean… Oh well, forget it. What’s the point of me talking to Your Grace about this. You’re doing well, right? I’m diligently climbing mountains of document hell every day as your substitute. Hahaha, thanks to that, I’ve gained the dream of being born as a high-ranking noble in my next life and having a subordinate like Your Grace to boss around…

“Penandel, you’re noisy.”

Only then did the mechanical bird’s beak snap shut.

After a moment of silence, the mechanical bird opened its beak again without being discouraged.

-I’m asking out of concern, but you’re really not doing anything, right? Think of it as being exiled for about a year, don’t do anything, and rest deeply until mold grows on your body and mushrooms sprout.

“…”

-Your Grace? Why aren’t you answering? Your Grace?

“…I got a job.”

-Pardon?

“I also got engaged.”

-Pardon?

“I got a new job and I’m getting married.”

-That’s quite a happy new beginning. So who is it?

“…”

Heavy silence continued.

The mechanical bird, which had kept its beak tightly shut, opened its mouth again after quite some time had passed.

-…Pardon?

“You heard everything.”

-I forcibly sent you on vacation to take a sabbatical, but why did you get a new job there… No, more than that, marriage?

Even Penandel—no, Cesar, the lord of the Northern Territory who had come down to the Royal Capital hiding his identity—had nothing to say to that.

Certainly, until he had received a verbal promise from the late Marquess Blanche to transfer ownership of the Herington Mine, it hadn’t been such a complicated problem.

Even though the Marquess had weakened in his final years and couldn’t keep his eyes open for long, he didn’t forget his promise to Cesar and prepared a contract to transfer the mine.

However, what actually came to Cesar was an empty contract and the Blanche family’s lawyer announcing the Marquess’s death.

The Marquess had died before stamping the contract.

The mine became the Blanche young lady’s dowry as it was, becoming frozen assets that no one could touch until she married.

For Cesar, who needed to completely close the mine as soon as possible to prevent ‘that thing’ inside the mine from escaping, it was like waiting indefinitely.

Cesar, who had been pondering how to get his hands on the mine, finally came up with a method.

By bringing up the romantic method of proposal and the realistic problem of divorce.

The reason he specifically made divorce a condition was because he had no intention of fulfilling his duties as a husband.

Cesar had no intention of having an heir.

Cesar summarized all these circumstances in a single brief sentence to his aide Penandel.

“That’s how it happened.”

-…Your Excellency, I just had a very bad feeling. Something did happen, didn’t it? I’ll head to the Royal Capital immediately!

“Stop talking nonsense and look into Belinda Blanche.”

Saying this, Cesar recalled the woman’s hair that was red enough to hurt his eyes.

In the North where everything was bleached white, it was rare to see such a vivid color.

He had heard she was so wicked that she didn’t even show her face at the Marquess’s funeral, desecrating the deceased’s death….

The Belinda he saw was completely different from the woman in the rumors.

Far from being extravagant, she wore simple dresses every time they met, and when he met her the second time, she was alone in the dilapidated annex as if confined there without a single proper servant.

There, she was mourning her family’s death by herself.

While rumors and reality can sometimes differ, wasn’t this gap far too large?

As if someone had deliberately spread false rumors.

‘And that necklace….’

Just as Cesar’s thoughts were deepening.

-So she’s the one who will become our lady!

Penandel’s voice, which sounded somewhat excited, brought him back to reality.

-If that’s the case, Your Excellency, there was something I wanted to ask you.

The words that followed somehow carried tension.

When Cesar nodded, Penandel poured out his words as if he could see that gesture.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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