Everyone but Me Is a Spy - Chapter 64

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 64
Whirr, whirr, whirr…….
In the room, only the soft grinding of the projector’s motor sounded before the image suddenly flickered to life.
“……!”
Nina’s shoulders, rigid with tension, jolted upward.
The Fake Family, who had been watching her quietly, flinched in startled unison.
Riquita on the screen wore different clothes from the first film.
In the first video, she’d worn a dark green cloak, but now she had on a crimson blouse.
The location where the video was filmed appeared to be the same as before.
A bookshelf packed with densely arranged volumes—whether books or documents, impossible to tell—and a lamp casting soft, silvery light.
Nina suddenly thought she’d never seen such a bookshelf in Riquita’s own room.
A shelf adorned with such distinctive embellishments—whether cobwebs or vines—that she would surely have recognized it at once if she’d seen it in person.
‘Where was this filmed? Where is that place?’
She’d explored every room in this townhouse, yet no matter how hard she thought, nothing came to mind.
-Nina Bonz.
Just then, Riquita turned her gaze directly toward Nina, as if she knew exactly where she was sitting.
“……!”
Before Nina could even flinch and avert her eyes, Riquita began to speak.
-If you’ve opened this second film, then you’re still alive. And the ones who’ve stayed by your side—they must still be there.
Nina’s gaze drifted toward her family for a moment.
Each time their eyes met hers, they offered an awkward smile.
Tap, tap—the sound of Riquita’s cane striking the floor rang out.
It was like a proclamation that something important was about to be said, and Nina found herself drawn deeper into the video.
-But from this second film onward, I want only you, Nina Bonz, to watch alone.
‘Only me……?’
Nina stole another glance at the others at these words, and this time they all wore expressions of gentle disappointment, as though they’d been primed for it.
Nina’s resolve to send them out wavered in that moment.
“No, no, that’s all right. Please, watch it with me. Grandmother wouldn’t know anyway.”
“What a considerate heart our Nina has. So kind indeed.”
As Natalisha laughed softly behind her fan, Riquita in the video lifted a frame to chest height.
-Everyone, look here.
Nina and the family stared at the frame with curious eyes.
What had been an ordinary still life suddenly began to swirl, spinning round and round.
A moment later, a piece of music filled with strange static—as if played on a broken gramophone—poured forth.
‘What on earth is this?’
Though bewildered, Nina kept her eyes fixed on the spinning image within the frame, following Riquita’s instruction. The others did the same.
After a brief silence, Riquita held the frame closer to the camera and spoke gravely.
-This is a supreme hypnotic device created by combining Demonic Engineering and Hypnosis. Those who carry my Bloodline will merely grow dizzy—but those who do not carry my Bloodline…….
Riquita’s voice took on a sinister tone.
-will fall under hypnosis, spill every secret they know to the enemy, and end up killing one another.
As Nina listened in silence, something felt off about her grandmother’s words.
‘How could there be anyone in this townhouse who isn’t Grandmother’s blood relative? Is she talking about the servants? But she chose such excellent servants that they all have the sense not to intrude on family time…….’
The moment that thought crossed her mind.
“Nina. Come to think of it, I really must visit the bank.”
Chayson jumped to his feet and rushed from the room.
“What? Uncle?”
Before Nina could even reach for him, Natalisha and the rest of the family rose from their seats in quick succession.
“I seem to have forgotten about a theatrical performance I reserved tickets for.”
“I cannot postpone my training time under any circumstance. I trust you understand, Nina.”
“I, well, yes. It’s time for my studies.”
“Auntie? Sister? Brother, too……?”
Left alone in an instant, Nina blinked blankly before turning her gaze back to the video.
And what greeted her eyes was…….
-Now this should mean you’re truly alone, Nina Bonz.
Riquita pushed the spinning frame to the side and smiled with evident amusement.
-Sit up straight, Nina Bonz.
“Oh, yes……!”
Without thinking, Nina answered and straightened her posture with a tilt of her head.
‘How on earth did she know I wasn’t sitting up straight?’
-You’re wondering how I could tell you weren’t sitting straight.
“……!”
Nina kept her face fixed on the screen, rolling only her eyes as she searched for any hidden camera she might have missed.
—Did you check if the camera was hidden?
At Riquita’s words—as if she had read her mind—Nina flinched in surprise.
“G-Grandmother? Are you here? Could you be a…ghost……?”
Nina’s voice trembled as she asked, and Riquita let out a soft laugh as though she were listening.
—Reading your thoughts is quite easy. You wondered if I was a ghost, then decided such things don’t exist in this world. You had no choice. After all, you are my only direct descendant.
There was a bitterness in Riquita’s voice as she spoke.
‘Does that mean Grandmother and I think alike? The way she speaks, it’s as though she’s peering into my heart.’
The moment the thought crossed her mind, her voice shifted—solemn now, heavy with authority.
—If you are still alive and still know nothing, then from this moment forward, you must listen to my words carefully.
—You believe by now that you’ve escaped loneliness and are waiting for nothing but happy days. But tell me—have you truly escaped loneliness?
“I’m not lonely anymore! I…….”
Nina cried out reflexively, as if to deny Riquita’s words, but found herself unable to continue.
—There’s probably no one in this world as foolishly cheerful as you. That’s because you were born to inherit only such traits from me.
‘Is it bad that I was born like Grandmother? Why does she look so dark?’
Nina kept staring at the video, clutching the unease that had been creeping up since before.
Even though no one was watching, she tried to change her expression, not wanting to look like Riquita.
It was futile—to any eye, they were identical.
—I told you not to search, but such words won’t stop your curiosity. Yes, this is about your biological mother.
“M-Mother……?”
Nina’s eyes went wide.
Remembering Riquita’s story from the first film she had opened before, she had thought her biological mother would never be mentioned.
Yet curious about her mother, Nina was.
—Nina Bonz. You have mountains to learn, but I cannot easily teach you any of it.
—However, regarding your biological mother, I can tell you this much: I killed her.
“……?”
Nina sat motionless, unable to trust her ears.
‘What are you saying? Why would Grandmother…… Why would she say such a thing……?’
She hoped it was a cruel joke, made no response, and kept her eyes on the screen—but Riquita did not grant her wish.
—It was an unavoidable choice. Your biological mother asked it of me. ……In truth, even without such a request, I would have killed her.
Instead, she only added something far more shocking.
“…….”
It felt like a nightmare, until suddenly a memory surfaced.

These were the words of Floben, Riquita’s steward and the notary of her will.
‘Those unimaginable things—could it be……?’
The fact that Riquita had tried to kill not just her mother, but her as well, seemed unreal.
Nina struggled to collect her scattered thoughts, listening to every word Riquita spoke.
After that day, Nina spent her time in the Projector Room every day.
Entering the Projector Room became the start of each day, just as it had been when she came and went to help Joel with his tests.
The only difference was that she no longer wore an expression of anticipation, her eyes no longer bright with hope.
As Nina spent several days in that hollow-eyed daze, she suddenly realized something.

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