I Will Try to Save My Dad - Chapter 96

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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 96

“Lord Alexis, I regret that we must meet under these circumstances, but you may be released if this proves to be a case of mistaken arrest.”
The barren Interrogation Room. Demian Knox studied the man seated across from him.
Though Demian had faced countless nobles in this room, he had never anticipated finding himself across from Lucian Alexis—a foreign prince of royal blood.
Then again, when has life ever unfolded according to my expectations?
“If you would simply clarify a few suspicions, that is.”
Demian rested his hands on the typewriter, studying Lucian’s expression. In the Interrogation Room, even the smallest details—the pace of breathing, the subtle flick of a finger—could become clues to understanding a suspect’s true intentions.
“Since the Investigation Department head puts it that way, I shall answer with utmost sincerity. I am innocent, after all.”
Lucian smiled faintly, his hands resting openly on the desk—a gesture indicating his willingness to cooperate with the investigation. Demian began his questioning, fingers tapping across the typewriter keys.
“Why did you infiltrate the Trabel Estate disguised as a maid named Sherry?”
“I never infiltrated anywhere. I re-entered the Heishal Empire two days ago, and while traveling from the Embassy to my lodgings, I was attacked by assailants and lost consciousness. That was yesterday. I came to this morning. When I opened my eyes, I found myself at the Trabel Estate, somehow transformed into a maid.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“If you don’t believe me, I can only suggest you verify the immigration records. As for the attack I suffered, I trust you will conduct a separate investigation. This is a matter of diplomatic importance.”
Lucian had fabricated an absurd alibi with shameless audacity.
If his account were true, the Heishal Empire itself would face considerable embarrassment—a foreign prince kidnapped on imperial soil and mysteriously transformed into a maid was simply preposterous.
What made this ridiculous alibi even more insidious was that he could claim the potion residue found in his body had been administered against his will.
Demian’s brow furrowed deeper as he pressed forward with his next question.
“Why did you travel to Goldport by carriage with Berry, Theon, and Jeffrey?”
“That is also something I did not do. I have no knowledge of it. It felt as though my actions were being controlled.”
Lucian Alexis remained consistent in his claims. He was merely an innocent victim, knowing nothing.
He was skilled at wielding non-verbal expressions to his advantage. In diplomatic situations, such subtle details became tools to construct his narrative.
The creases in Demian’s brow deepened. If only I could peer into Lucian’s mind, I wouldn’t be struggling like this.
‘I’m finished.’
Internally, Lucian was breaking into a cold sweat.
Of all the cursed timing—the potion’s effects wearing off precisely when the carriage door opened.
This was the problem with Alchemist potions. Even ones used without issue ordinarily, one or two out of every three hundred batches would have shortened durations. Today’s dose had been one of those defective batches.
What should have lasted twenty-four hours had worn off in merely five. The maid I had impersonated was likely sleeping soundly in the basement storage of Stone House right now. She would wake at dawn tomorrow and leave on her own.
‘My plan was to keep that child with me until Reytan Quartz Trabel arrived. I never expected things to spiral this far out of control.’
I had been thoroughly outmaneuvered by children. If my mistake was underestimating them, then I bear full responsibility.
Merely six to ten years old. How could I have failed to anticipate that these children would be playing me like a fool? Blood truly cannot be deceived.
Lucian Alexis found himself recalling his conversation with his cousin—the relative who had sent him here.

“…Who are you bringing here?”
“My daughter.”
“That nonsense about having a daughter hidden away in the Heishal Empire—it was true?”
“Does that matter? What matters is that I need that child now.”
“Your Highness!”
“Don’t raise your voice. And you’re the one who will bring her. Without anyone knowing.”

The second son of King Valenhardt of the Edencia Kingdom had fathered a child—that was why his cousin, the First Princess, suddenly needed a daughter.
To solidify the position of Belesa Valenhardt, the material for the next queen. To show the people that she, too, had an heir to continue her line.
‘They’re going to find and bring back a child they’ve treated as nonexistent all this time for such a reason? No matter how much Belesa wants this, I’m against it.’
By Lucian’s standards, it was an incomprehensible course of action. Bringing a daughter here to use her for political purposes.
He couldn’t refuse a direct order, but he didn’t want to comply. Belesa seemed to have lost her mind, consumed entirely by the thought of holding onto her position.

“A tree was overturned, you say…!”

The whirlwind incident that occurred at the grand Aubaut Religion gathering.
It was Belesa’s warning, left not for Reytan but for Lucian Alexis.
A threat that if he didn’t give his utmost effort in this task, she would move herself and take the child from Reytan Quartz Trabel.

“You just need to place a part of the target’s body inside. It can change your appearance to match theirs for twenty-four hours.”
“How many bottles in total?”
“Seven bottles.”

Belesa had eyes watching him everywhere. For a week, Lucian stayed at the Trabel Family Estate, switching between different appearances to make it seem as though he were genuinely working to bring the child. To ensure that his efforts would be reported back to Belesa.
As the planned date drew near, he even sent a warning letter to Reytan under Berry’s name.

“Please, just catch on to my plan. You wouldn’t want your precious daughter taken away either.”

On the sixth day at the Trabel Estate, while he was spending the day in the guise of the head butler of the Main Estate.

“A letter has arrived for our young Miss Berry.”

Lucian had spent so much time at Trabel that he’d become utterly smitten with his niece Berry—the word “our” naturally slipped from his lips whenever he spoke of her. He’d nearly stuffed her into his pocket to take home with him.
Regardless, this had been Lucian’s ultimate objective all along.
Even Belesa had to admit it was the most thorough and meticulous plan imaginable.
Yet despite executing it flawlessly, the Grand Master Reytan’s overwhelming power had rendered it a complete failure.
‘If that’s the case, Belesa might postpone her plan to retrieve Berry as a secondary option.’
There were other methods to solidify her position as the queen’s successor.
Belesa always chose the most certain path among her options. If she could prove firsthand how difficult it was to take a child from the Grand Master, she would likely pursue an alternative strategy.
But Lucian’s plan had completely fallen apart.

【The Beautiful Face of Edencia Kingdom, Lucian Alexis’s Ugly True Self】

As Lucian imagined tomorrow’s newspaper headlines, his mood darkened considerably.
He, known as the right hand of the First Princess, had become embroiled in such a scandal in a foreign land. Belesa despised losing face above all else.
‘The problem is I have no connections with the press here.’
In Edencia Kingdom, he could have manipulated the media with his connections. But this was the Heishal Empire. There was nothing he could do.
Lucian gazed at the window that occupied one side of the interrogation room. Though nothing was visible through it, he was certain that Reytan Quartz Trabel was watching him from beyond.
‘Would he cooperate with me?’
The Reytan he’d observed at the Trabel Estate was someone who drew clear boundaries with those outside his circle. It was questionable whether he’d even believe him.
“Is there anything else you wish to say?”
“My innocence is obvious, so I’m not sure what more I could possibly say.”
Lucian smiled, crinkling the corners of his eyes. For now, he intended to maintain his position as the victim.
It was just as Demian’s eyes were beginning to darken.
Click.
[Lucian Alexis.]
A man’s voice flowed from the trumpet-shaped metal speaker mounted on the interrogation room wall. It was a device that transmitted sound between the interior of the interrogation room and the space beyond the window through tubes embedded in the wall.
Reytan Quartz Trabel’s voice. Lucian’s ears perked up.
[You—.]
[Dad! Are you here?]
The sound of a door bursting open and a child’s bright voice. Then a brief silence fell across both spaces.
It was Reytan who spoke first.
[Berry. Dad’s busy right now.]
[Oh? I had something to ask! Will you come back later?]
[Is it important?]
[A little!]
As the natural, everyday conversation between father and daughter flowed on, Lucian looked at Demian and asked.
“…What is it?”
“My apologies. It seems a friend’s daughter has arrived outside—.”
Even that supposedly cold-blooded investigation department chief let out an awkward cough. Lucian decided he needed to seize this momentum. He was desperate for any lifeline.
“Why should I continue to be interrogated in what amounts to a children’s playground—.”
[Berry caught a hamster! Can we keep it?]
“….”
[A hamster?]
[Yes! Its ears are black with fur! Its body is the color of a brown cookie!]
Squeak.
A melancholic hamster’s cry echoed through the air—Lucian’s subordinate mimicking the sound.

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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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