I Cured the Mastermind and Failed to Run Away - Chapter 10

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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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Chapter 10

Their eyes met. Rebelin smiled warmly, as if urging her to continue.
Later, when Chedwin began to doubt Rebelin, everything Mila had said today would serve as a shield against that suspicion.
“Miss!”
Just then, she heard the sound of hurried footsteps approaching from behind, accompanied by sobs.
At the familiar voice, she turned to see the maid and knight she’d left standing at a distance rushing toward them in a frenzy.
“Oh!”
She’d forgotten they were waiting.
The original plan had been to purify the Contaminated Area with Sophia and return quickly.
Chedwin handed off the supported Rebelin to the rushing maid and knights, then stepped back.
“Where on earth have you been, miss? We’ve been searching everywhere! Are you hurt? Are you hurt anywhere? Tell us?”
“A Contaminated Area appeared nearby, and we were so— ! We kept worrying that you might have gotten caught up in it!”
“Joph even considered going into the Contaminated Area to search for you!”
Arendt’s overprotectiveness, something that had existed since childhood, had permeated the Ethelieon Mansion, and the servants were always quick to roll up their sleeves at anything concerning Rebelin.
Rebelin brushed off their worried reactions with ease.
“I’m fine.”
She didn’t mention being in the Contaminated Area, since they would only worry.
But contrary to Rebelin’s hopes, Chedwin added a remark.
“The lady was caught in the Contaminated Area—have her see a physician.”
He couldn’t be so lacking in tact, so why was he broadcasting someone else’s business so carelessly?! Rebelin glared at Chedwin with sharp eyes.
The faces of the maid and knights went pale as a sheet.
“What?!”
“A Contaminated Area?”
“Miss! Are you all right?!”
It was deafening.
Rebelin assured the servants she was fine and tried to placate them.
Then a soft, mocking laugh came from beside her.
When she turned, she saw Mila holding her palm over her mouth, pretending to stifle her laughter.
“I’m sorry, Lady Rebelin. It’s just—the idea of a member of the Purifiers Guild getting caught in a Contaminated Area struck me as funny.”
“Funny?”
“Just amusing, that’s all. Though, if you’re a Purifier, you could have at least tried purifying from inside. Oh, but then again, a rank-10 Purifier would’ve been useless anyway.”
The servants beside her stiffened. The maid wanted to argue on the spot, while the knight clenched his teeth.
Rebelin stroked the back of their hands and smiled, telling them it was all right.
‘She’s really driving home that I’m a rank-10 Purifier and incompetent, so why—!’
At this rate, Chedwin wouldn’t suspect that Rebelin was the same person he’d met on the Banquet Hall Balcony.
But her breath caught as Mila continued.
“Or maybe you were paralyzed with fear? After all, you avoid Contaminated Areas because you’re terrified of Demon Beasts.”
Rebelin’s composed expression froze in an instant.
The smile she’d been directing at the servants vanished, replaced by a cold, sharp look.
She had been quietly tolerating the remarks about being a rank-10 Purifier and incompetent, trying to hammer that into Chedwin’s mind.
But this crossed the line.
As heat flooded her head, Rebelin’s lips moved before she could stop them.
“If you’d just kept quiet and stuck to what I needed, that would’ve been enough. But you just have to keep talking without any sense, spilling secrets left and right, don’t you?”
Rebelin tapped the back of the servants’ hands lightly and laughed.
Then she turned toward Mila.
“Yes. I avoid Contaminated Areas because I’m afraid of Demon Beasts. And you know why? Because someone deliberately touched a Demon Beast during the Academy graduation exam and nearly got me killed when it tore me apart.”
She couldn’t fathom what confidence the perpetrator possessed to broach this subject first.
She thought bringing up that memory might scare her into silence.
“You remember, don’t you, Lady Mila?”
What gave her such audacity?
“You touched the Demon Beast and ran away, leaving me to nearly get eaten alive.”
When Rebelin brought up the story that had been buried for so long, Mila’s face flushed deep red with shame and rage.
Rebelin smirked at the reaction.
‘Did she think I’d tremble in fear?’
She couldn’t comprehend her way of thinking. If she were the type to be understood, she wouldn’t have done such a thing in the first place.
The maids and knights’ faces registered shock and horror at this unfamiliar revelation.
“It was a matter that ended in a mistake. Don’t attach any other interpretation to it, Lady Rebelin.”
“Yes, a mistake. You mean the mistake where I finished the graduation exam first, but then carelessly entered the Contaminated Area, touched a demon beast, and left?”
The memory of that day came flooding back.
It wasn’t only Rebelin—Mila’s expression had also hardened like stone.
“Ha. So I died? No, I didn’t. I heard the scars healed completely, so why……”
“Miss Feyle.”
Just as Mila was about to object, Chedwin cut into the conversation.
He bit the fingers of his gloves to remove them, tucked them away, and pulled on a fresh pair.
“Who started the Purification of this Contaminated Area?”
“Me! It was me!”
As though she hadn’t been furious moments before, Mila’s face brightened and her hand shot up.
“I was worried about the Duke, so I led the other Purifiers in and began the Purification!”
It wasn’t unusual for Purifiers to follow the orders of the highest-ranked Purifier at the scene.
Chedwin’s eyes swept over the four Purifiers standing behind Mila.
“Miss Feyle, do you know the ranks of the Purifiers who accompanied you?”
“What? Ah, well, two fifth-rank Purifiers and two seventh-rank Purifiers. Since I’m a third-rank Purifier, I used the most power, which means……”
“Right. Didn’t you learn that starting Purification before a demon beast is fully dealt with creates thick miasma, which burdens lower-ranked Purifiers? Moreover, I never sent a signal that the demon beast had been dealt with, nor did I give any order to begin Purification.”
The subject of the dispute shifted in an instant.
At Chedwin’s question holding her accountable, Mila’s face went deathly pale.
‘Was he trying to take my side?’
No. He’d lied about his name at their first meeting anyway—that couldn’t be it.
“I was… I was worried about the Duke……”
“I was worried.”
Chedwin firmly echoed her words.
“Miss Feyle. In your eyes, I must look like a fool who can’t even handle a demon beast alone, one who charges in recklessly and puts people in danger, isn’t that right?”
“No, no! How could I ever presume to think of the Duke in such a way! Absolutely not!”
“You said you were worried I might be harmed by the demon beast and acted on your own, ignoring proper procedure.”
“That’s not what I meant—”
“I didn’t realize I was such an untrustworthy man. I beg that His Majesty withdraw the title of ‘Hero’ he bestowed upon me.”
As the matter escalated, Mila’s face turned a sickly blue.
“Duke, Your Grace. It’s a misunderstanding! My concern was rooted in affection for you……”
“Then does that mean my hundreds of subordinates felt no affection for me, which is why they waited without worry?”
Mila realized that Chedwin wasn’t looking for an answer and lowered her head without objecting.
Once Mila stopped defending herself, Chedwin brushed at his soiled clothes matter-of-factly.
“Miss Feyle.”
“Yes, yes. Your Grace.”
“Explain why Purification must not begin if there’s no signal from the knights sent in first.”
Like an unmoved commander harshly disciplining a reckless subordinate, Chedwin’s tone was businesslike.
“It could create chaos, and……”
“And what else.”
“And… and there might be unreported demon beasts that appear……”
Mila answered quietly, her face flushed red.
“Exactly. So tell me why such procedures exist.”
Instead of answering, Mila bit her lower lip hard.
She seemed humiliated by this treatment in front of so many people.
Mila’s lips remained sealed as if locked shut.
“Miss Feyle, you are a third-rank Purifier working in the field.”
But Chedwin showed no mercy.
“If you were deployed to the scene without knowing basic protocol and procedure, that’s a grave problem. Answer me.”
Everyone present—the other Purifiers among them—glanced at Mila.
Feeling the weight of all those gazes, Mila clenched her trembling fists. Her face flushed with shame all the way to her neck.
“If a Purifier enters recklessly before the team sent in first has dealt with all the demon beasts… there’s a risk of death.”
“Good. I’m glad you know. Then you understand how dangerous your actions just now were.”
Chedwin reproached Mila coldly.
“Because Miss Feyle disregarded procedure and acted on impulse today, the lives of two fifth-rank Purifiers and two seventh-rank Purifiers were put in danger. Do you understand this?”

“If you didn’t trust me, if you were truly worried I might be harmed by the demon beast, then you absolutely should not have entered the Contaminated Area.”

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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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