I Cured the Mastermind and Failed to Run Away - Chapter 19

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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 19

At least she’d managed to bring Sophia here.
Accepting Sophia’s refusal to become a Purifier and sponsoring her path as an herbalist so she could live a safe, stable life on her own terms—that had been fine.
But then.
‘What about our brother?!’
Arendt wasn’t killed because he became entangled with Sophia; he died because he got caught up with Chadwin, the mastermind behind it all.
Arendt had been the first to notice that Chadwin’s mind was collapsing from Magi contamination, and he’d rushed forward to save Chadwin after he’d been exposed to the Contaminated Zone—that’s how he died.
‘Chadwin was already contaminated with Magi back then.’
Even if Sophia didn’t awaken as a Purifier and never got entangled with the male leads, Arendt could still die.
And since Sophia hadn’t awakened as a Grade-2 Purifier, if anything, the danger had only grown worse.
‘I can’t go back and tell Sophia to become a Purifier again either.’
She’d been so focused on suppressing rumors about Chadwin that she’d forgotten about her brother.
‘There’s no one I can trust but myself.’
No matter how much she thought about it, the fastest path seemed to be creating a false identity and purifying contaminated people at the Commoner Purification Center.
‘I’d sent a letter to the Information Guild back then.’
They’d clearly said before that their schedule for the year was full and they couldn’t meet anyone else, but suddenly the Guild Master himself had written back that he wanted to speak to her face-to-face.
It had an official seal, but it seemed so suspicious that she suspected it was a forgery and burned it.
‘Should I take a chance and visit anyway, just in case?’
Rebelin had even planned out a perfect escape route in case anything went wrong.
“Um, miss?”
“Hmm?”
Rebelin, who’d been darting about gracefully in her imagination, lifted her head at the sound of her name.
Sophia, sitting at the table across from her eating dessert, brushed some crumbs from her lips.
“I, um, it happened yesterday too, but it seems like only I’m eating the whole time today. Oh, miss—aren’t you eating anything?”
Every dessert on the table had gathered in front of Sophia.
“It’s fine. Go ahead and eat.”
Normally, three male leads would have been there to dote on her carefully, but now there was only Rebelin beside Sophia.
So she had to take good care of her.
“You eat first for now. I can always eat later.”
Sophia glanced around cautiously before taking a small piece and putting it in her mouth. The sight of her working her small lips was so endearing that Rebelin’s cheeks twitched with a smile.
‘She’s almost my age, but she’s so cute!’
So this is what it feels like to be a parent watching a child in a nursery story!
Of course, Sophia wasn’t the protagonist of a nursery story but the protagonist of a mature reverse harem, and yet—should such a cute protagonist really be set loose in that kind of world?
“Um, uh, miss?”
“What? Did you want to order another dessert?”
“No! It’s not that. Um, I was wondering if maybe there was something you wanted me to do. You’ve been watching me this whole time.”
“No? There isn’t. I was just looking because you’re pretty. Besides, I have someone else to run my errands for me.”
Rebelin pointed to Lora, the maid standing at attention behind her. Lora nodded confidently with a face full of pride.
“I’m the one in charge of the miss’s errands. It’s a position I won through Rock-Paper-Scissors, so I’d appreciate it if you didn’t go after it, Sophia.”
“See?”
“Yes.”
My Mansion is full of people who get sulky if I don’t give them work. It’ll take years before it’s Sophia’s turn.”
Sophia nodded as if she understood, though her expression suggested she didn’t quite grasp it.
“Sophia, you don’t owe me anything, so don’t think you have to repay me. I told you from the start. You have leverage over me, and I’m watching you.”
“But you’re being so considerate to me.”
“Then think of it as me investing in your future. That’s how patronage works.”
“…My future.”
Sophia murmured softly, absently poking at her dessert with her fork.
“I’ve never heard anyone talk about my future before. And even if someone did, I’ve never met a single person who said my future was precious.”
“Does your future only become precious when someone else tells you it is?”
“What?”
You can tell yourself. That’s not something that gets decided based on what others say, anyway. You don’t need anyone else’s words to find comfort. The one who should treasure you most is you yourself.”
Rebelin pushed the dessert plate toward Sophia.
“By the way, in this place, there’s no need to yield desserts to each other or fight over them. If we’re short, we just order more.”
“That’s the most wonderful thing I’ve ever heard.”

* * *

The next day, Rebelin set out for the Information Guild, her mind churning.
The guild was disguised as a bookstore, so coming and going felt perfectly natural.
Whether one knew what this place truly was or not, nobles moved through it without the slightest suspicion.
Rebelin arrived at the bookstore with her escort, pretending to browse for rare books.
“Miss, might I suggest visiting another bookstore instead?”
Her escort, who knew this was the Information Guild, offered the advice with a smile.
She claimed ignorance about the black-market auctions, but there was no chance her father and brothers didn’t know about the Information Guild. It was only natural that her escort knew as well.
“Why not? They have rare ancient texts here that you can’t find anywhere else.”
Rebelin had deliberately brought her escort along.
She acted as though she didn’t know it was the Information Guild, approaching it as naturally as any noblewoman would visit a bookstore—no need for deception.
“I see several nobles reading alone here. If I enter with my escort, it might make them uncomfortable. Wait here for me.”
Her escort surveyed the interior once and sighed. She couldn’t allow a guard to enter a space where nobles relaxed during their leisure—it would only breed anxiety.
“Very well, miss.”
With her escort dismissed, Rebelin pulled the prepared robe low over her face and stepped inside.
She’d often hidden her face when going out to avoid prying eyes, so there was nothing unusual about it.
Once inside, Rebelin wasted no time heading for the counter.
“I’m looking to purchase a book that isn’t in this store’s catalog.”
The moment she spoke the words written in the guild master’s letter, the clerk smiled.
“Everything is prepared in the back. Please, follow me.”
This is actually working?
Rebelin hesitated, moving forward uncertainly. Behind her, she heard an annoyed man’s voice demanding to see the bookstore owner, complaining that she got in but he couldn’t.
‘They said appointments were closed for the year. Why has that changed?’
And in the back room, following the clerk, Rebelin found someone she had absolutely not expected.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you again, miss.”
What was he doing here?
“I preferred not to seek you out directly, so I waited for a natural opportunity for us to meet.”
Rebelin blinked, caught off guard.
The Information Guild’s master—who was said never to show his face—stood before her without a mask, his features completely exposed.
Moreover, he had recognized her instantly, despite the robe concealing her face.
“I came here to meet the guild master.”
“Yes, miss.”
The neatly dressed elderly man spoke. And then it struck her—a few days ago, this was the shopkeeper at the general store and workshop where the Contaminated Zone had appeared.
That small workshop she’d borrowed briefly to meet Sophia. The proprietor of that workshop, who in the original story had died caught in the Contaminated Zone alongside Sophia.
“I am the guild master of the Information Guild.”
The shopkeeper who had owned that small store was sitting in the seat of the Information Guild’s master!
‘How did this happen?’
A man she’d saved on a whim was the master of the empire’s largest information network.
Was this luck, or something else entirely?
Rebelin’s shock gave way to a sudden panic. She’d come to create a false identity; she couldn’t let her cover slip.
“Ah, I think you have me confused with someone else.”
She pulled the robe even lower, hiding her face, and feigned ignorance.
“Miss, if your purpose in coming to the Information Guild is to conceal your identity, well—if that is your wish, might I accommodate it?”
The old man smiled with courtesy, refusing to let the matter drop.
It was true. Coming to the empire’s largest information guild and trying to hide her identity was absurd in itself. The moment she’d entered this place, her cover was as good as blown.
“I never expected to meet you here again.”
Rebelin sighed in surrender, and the old man bowed respectfully.
“Please, speak freely. Allow me to reintroduce myself, miss. I am Karl, alive because of you.”
To see the guild master’s face and hear his true name—only a handful of senior officials within the guild would know this.
“Had it not been for you that day, I would surely be dead.”
It was true enough. The old man had indeed been a dead man walking that day.
“I saved you by chance, nothing more.”
“I understand. None could have planned and executed such a rescue without knowing that a Contaminated Zone would appear in that very spot.”
Rebelin tensed. Her composure slipped, but fortunately she still wore the robe, so her expression remained hidden.
“Yet the fact that you saved my life does not change. You are my benefactor, miss. The guild stands ready to serve you at any time. Should you need anything, you have only to ask.”
To have the Information Guild’s master as an ally—could anything be more reassuring?
Her heart raced with anticipation.
“Well, then… I need a false identity.”
“A false identity.”
Karl showed no hesitation at being asked to forge credentials.
“What sort of identity would you require, Miss? A royal one is dangerous—forging imperial blood carries an instant death sentence—but if you wish, I can prepare something safer, backed by a legitimate genealogy record.”
He spoke with such fervor that had Rebelin asked for the throne itself, he would have eagerly outlined the path to treason.

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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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