I Just Wanted Revenge, But Everyone Loves Me - Chapter 45

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

Episode 45
A place even more secretive than Aunt’s Guild.
The oldest guild in Brosia, one that appeared in all manner of conspiracy theories.
The Arabesque, precisely.
‘No one keeps secrets like they do.’
I couldn’t trust the others, honestly.
There was no way the avaricious Count, drunk on power, hadn’t already shaken hands with some guild or other.
‘He’s probably turning the city upside down looking for me right now.’
Which meant the other guilds might already know of my existence. I couldn’t afford to move carelessly.
But the Arabesque was different.
‘Damn it! How in blazes do you even contact that cursed Arabesque!’
The Count who once disciplined me had shouted exactly that when he heard the report. Since that was before my death, it was clear he’d never managed it once in his life.
‘Well, it was as secretive as Bancadium, after all.’
A guild that kept appearing in the discarded history books the Count had left behind. No one knew its true nature, but because so little information had ever come to light, people’s speculation filled the pages entirely.
I’d thought that guild would never reveal itself to the world. And yet there was one moment—just one—when it stepped into the light…….
‘The Lohaife Auction.’
They appeared for the first time at the auction hosted by Marquis Lohaife, that devotee of the arts.
Of course, not to participate in the bidding, but to steal away the very item being auctioned.
‘Their motive never came to light.’
But the card they left behind bore the symbol of the Arabesque—a serpent’s head.
Moreover.
‘It wasn’t just one person. At least three or four people were involved, they said.’
According to eyewitness accounts, after a sudden explosion rang out, in the chaos that followed, multiple perpetrators stripped the auction house bare.
‘That was probably the Arabesque’s work as well.’
It was such a sensation at the time that every newspaper the servants discarded carried the story.
‘It feels like it was around this time.’
It must have been late autumn, at the earliest.
I could check the exact date if I looked at the newspapers.
‘I need to approach them around that time.’
There would be only one chance. They were far too careful about staying hidden.
“It’s just a hypothesis, but…….”
There were supposedly two main ways to place a job with the Arabesque.
Either you had a connection to the Guild Master.
Or you offered up a Sacrifice of Trust.
A Sacrifice of Trust, as they called it, meant your most treasured possession.
Typically it was something of great monetary value—vast sums, land, buildings, and the like. But I’d heard that in some extreme cases, people even sold their children or parents.
Of course, the Guild Master still had to approve of the sacrifice.
‘But I won’t sell a person.’
I couldn’t sacrifice another soul for my own ends.
If I did, how would I be any different from the Count, thinking only of his own greed?
‘No matter how much I crave revenge.’
I didn’t want to abandon my conscience.
Which meant I had to think of a different sacrifice.
‘The thing most important to me.’
Of course, there was only one.
I was absorbed in laying out my plans when it happened.
Knock, knock.
“Karin. Want to go read the Fairy Tale Book with me?”
My sister’s voice drifted through the cracked-open door.
I quickly folded up all the papers I’d been writing on so densely, put them away carefully, locked the drawer firmly with the key the maidservant had given me, and then dashed toward the door.
“Or if you don’t feel like fairy tales, should we go play Coco?”
“Yes!”
I nodded eagerly, nestled in my sister’s embrace.
Maybe because I’d worked out a rough plan.
‘Everything seems to be falling into place.’
So I was a bit uneasy, but—
‘Things going well is a good thing.’
I told myself not to indulge such ominous thoughts.
Having rationalized it to myself, I headed to the room with my sister.
But ill omens rarely deceive.
Two days later, at dawn.
A sudden urgent report arrived.

A variable had emerged.
* * *
“This is a setup.”
My sister, having read through the letter, spat out a single word flatly.
That dawn, after receiving the urgent report from Hyacinth, the Duke summoned my sister and me to the Reception Hall.
I carefully pointed to the letter in my sister’s hands.
“Can I read it too?”
“Of course, sweetling.”
My sister readily handed me the letter.
I took it quickly and scanned through Hyacinth’s report.

And the single line written on that note.

“That’s…….”
A passage from the Fairy Tale Book.
There was a line like this in one of the fairy tales Veronika had read to me.
A story of a child setting out on adventure, overcoming hardship, and returning to the embrace of family.
The phrasing was so striking that I’d remembered it.
“True enough. Someone who’s managed to stay hidden all this time, avoiding everyone else? They wouldn’t just die so suddenly.”
I agreed with that assessment.
‘It doesn’t add up.’
For someone who’d hidden so well until now, the death seemed too meaningless.
“What does the cipher point to?”
“That’s the question. The fairy tale mentioned one of the bells breaking suddenly.”
“Hmm.”
Examining the characters one by one, I narrowed my eyes.
Fairy tales, unlike other books, had ambiguous phrasing that left you confused.
They didn’t just lay out the facts clearly; they were full of metaphorical language.
‘Wait.’
Metaphor?
“Karin?”
Ignoring my sister’s call, I headed straight to the Study.
I found the Fairy Tale Book I’d seen before and hurriedly flipped through the pages.
‘Found it!’
The advantage of a fairy tale lay precisely in its charming illustrations.
Finding the page that matched the content in the letter, I checked the accompanying illustration.
A dimly lit night, yet a gleaming white street. Beyond the corner, an old tower reflected in the moonlight.
An old clock hung from the tower. It clearly showed one o’clock. Twelve bells hung from cords attached to the tower’s column.
“Karin!”
My sister entered the Study right after, calling my name. I spun around—the Duke had come with her.
“The cipher in the letter!”
I showed them the page I’d just opened.
“It’s right here!”
* * *

Looking at the description alone, you’d wonder what it meant, but paired with the illustration, the picture changed entirely.
“The twelve bells represent the hours!”
“The hours?”
“Yes!”
I pointed to the old clock tower.
“If it’s a dark night, that’s the middle of the night, and the time shows one o’clock. The date……seems to be expressed through one of the twelve bells being shattered.”
Which would mean the date the maidservant indicated was.
“Tomorrow.”
I quickly pointed out other illustrations as well.
“And the place with the eastern tower clock in view seems to be a location…….”
“A gleaming white street would be White Street, then.”
The Duke, who had been silent until now, spoke suddenly.
I looked at him in surprise.
“Such a street exists?”
“It was once a bustling avenue frequented by nobility. Now it’s all fallen to ruin.”
The Duke narrowed his eyes.
“And there is a clock tower there. Though I’m uncertain if it’s on the eastern side.”
“!”
So it actually existed!
As I marveled at this, my sister’s lips curved into a smile.
“Then, let’s piece it together.”
One o’clock in the morning.
At a corner on White Street where the eastern tower comes into view—
“But how did the maidservant leave this message…….”
My sister trailed off, pausing mid-thought.
I smiled softly.
“The sun represents the Imperial Court, after all.”
When the sun sets, that means—
“The royal family has fallen.”
The sun mentioned here, in other words, pointed to the Crown Prince himself. How many people could leave a message like this?
“Perhaps the person who set fire to the cemetery was that maidservant herself.”
To leave this message.
And.
“To appear dead.”

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