If You Are Suited for the Villain's Secretary - Chapter 42

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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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If the Villain’s Secretary Suits Me
Chapter 42
***
Tessa couldn’t fathom how everything had spiraled so catastrophically out of control.
It was infuriating. It was unjust.
She would have felt some satisfaction grabbing that wretched Iliana by the hair, but even that had failed, and now—
“What brings you here?”
“Not in the reception room, but out here on the street?!”
“As you can see, we’ve cleared all the tables and chairs for the company dinner preparations, so there’s nowhere to sit in the reception room. If you’d prefer, we could talk at that table by the barbecue grill?”
“You want me to talk in front of all those people? Are you mocking me right now?!”
“Caught.”
“What did you say?”
“Nothing. Anyway, I’ve lost count of how many times you’ve asked, but what exactly brings you here?”
Being interrogated under the guise of conversation in a corner of the garden—how pathetic.
Though their voices wouldn’t carry far, the La Marque staff had their eyes locked on us from a distance where they could easily see.
I only had this window to talk because Iliana had graciously sent someone away; otherwise, I would have been thrown out long ago.
Tessa sighed with exasperation, her glare fixed on Iliana.
“What did you do to my husband?”
“Do to him? Oh, are you referring to when I recorded our conversation and handed it over to Julius?”
“Not that!”
The Julius situation was infuriating, as was the Victor situation, but that wasn’t what Tessa was concerned about right now.
“What did you give my husband? A truth serum? A sedative? Poison?”
“No? I won fair and square with words alone. Why would I resort to something so incriminating?”
“You’re lying!”
“You can go to the Tea House and ask. I was the only one who drank anything there. But…”
Iliana’s expression remained impassive as she continued.
“I’m curious why you’d ask such a thing. Did Uncle happen to reveal his secret slush fund accounts or something?”
“That’s not it…! Randolph came back acting strange after meeting you!”
Tessa’s voice rose sharply, and she bit her lip.
“He said he was going out to meet you, but he came back much later than planned. When I asked what took so long, he couldn’t give me an answer. He was completely out of it, like he was drunk out of his mind!”
“He didn’t actually drink alcohol?”
“If he smelled of alcohol, I wouldn’t be saying this! And there was a large bruise on his neck—like someone had strangled him!”
Iliana, who had been listening with indifference, furrowed her brow at those words.
“So he has a bruise that looks like strangulation marks, but he has no memory of how he got them?”
“Yes! You’re telling me you didn’t do it?”
Iliana fell silent, her expression thoughtful.
Frustrated, Tessa struck her chest emphatically and continued.
“And it happened again today!”
Normally, Randolph shared everything with Tessa.
Today was no exception. He had started to open his mouth, hinting that this was a secret, when—
“He said there was good news, and then—huh—he suddenly grabbed his shoulder and collapsed, screaming in agony! I’ve never seen him in such pain before, not once in all these years…!”
“Darling? What’s wrong?”
“I… I absolutely cannot reveal this, but could it be that…—ahhhhh!”
Tessa’s voice trembled as she recalled his anguished expression.
When Randolph finally regained his composure hours later, he could not explain the sudden, violent pain. Rather, it seemed he could not explain it.
Even when asked to write it down, he remained obstinate, and he even refused to see the Doctor. Tessa, stamping her feet in frustration, had finally come directly to question Iliana.
“You must hate your uncle, yes, I understand. But there’s no need to torment someone like that! Whether it was medicine or poison, just tell me honestly what you gave him…”
“Wait a moment.”
I seized Tessa’s arm.
“You said his shoulder? He collapsed while clutching his shoulder?”
“Are you seriously worried about which part hurts right now?!”
Tessa cried out sharply, but I pressed on urgently.
“Did Uncle happen to meet with people from Crimson today?”
“That’s not the important—”
“It is important. So calm yourself and answer properly. Did he meet with them?”
There was something commanding in my tone.
Tessa answered uncertainly.
“W-well, yes. I saw him talking with Crimson’s secretary and some robed figure—three of them together as I passed by. Though I didn’t hear what they were discussing.”
“By Crimson’s secretary, you mean Norbert?”
“Y-yes, that’s right…”
“But Crimson was advising the Viscountess at the time. So strictly speaking, Uncle and Crimson are enemies. Yet if Uncle spoke with them and then mentioned ‘good news’…”
How did this girl know about the relationship between Crimson and the Viscountess?
Tessa stared at me, genuinely surprised.
“…They must have promised him the peerage that Victor Noel had once pledged, in exchange for his cooperation. And they sealed it with a ‘blood contract’ under the pretense of formalizing it.”
“Wh-what? A ‘blood contract’?”
“But the fact that they went to such lengths to silence Uncle means Crimson’s plan…”
My thoughts raced ahead, then I faltered, my face draining of color.
I clenched my fists tightly, gritted my teeth, and spoke.
“Stay here for a moment.”
“Wait! Then what about my husband…”
“I said stay! Director!”
I cut off Tessa’s words sharply—a sharpness I wasn’t sure where I’d learned—and rushed away.
Tessa watched my retreating figure with a dazed expression.
I hurried to the Director and explained something urgently.
The Director listened intently to my words. Was this the same person who had looked at me moments ago with a gaze so cold it made me want to sink to the ground? He asked a few questions, then immediately issued orders to his staff.
After the staff dispersed with military precision—so unlike people preparing a barbecue.
“Hello! Yes, it’s Iliana. Are you in the Capital City right now? …Thank goodness! Then I’m sending you an address right now…”
Tessa still couldn’t understand how events were unfolding.
But watching Iliana communicate with someone, she could discern one thing.
Randolph’s niece was far more capable than she had realized.
***
Rain pattered down in a steady drizzle.
Randolph wiped his eyes roughly as he gazed up at the moonless night sky.
In the distance, he could see the house surrounded by guards—the very house where Julius Noel and Victor Noel were likely dreaming of ten billion gold right now.
Randolph now stood near the entrance of a cliff overlooking the Sewers.
“…Yes. There’s no other way.”
A large bag containing explosives and a remote detonator hung heavy on his back.
“Ugh….”
As Randolph waded upstream through the revolting Sewers, he bit his lip.
He muttered to himself again, as if casting a spell of self-hypnosis. There was no other way.
“Would I have wanted this? Would I have wanted to resort to such methods? So this isn’t… my fault.”
He had been deceived once more.
But he refused to acknowledge that fact. He could not admit that he had been used like his foolish younger brother.
So Randolph chose the easiest path he had always walked. Self-rationalization.
“I only need to keep the secret. Then I can have the title and the mansion in my grasp. Yes, that contract… it constrains me, but it also constrains Crimson and the Viscountess. It’s the same. I stand on equal footing with them.”
The brand on his shoulder burned hot, as if urging him forward.
Even as he retched, Randolph continued speaking.
“There’s no risk of being discovered. Those La Mar fools think they’ve won and had materials standing by in advance. I can blame it all on explosives washed into the Sewers by the rain, say an accident occurred because of it.”
This district belonged to the Noel Marquis Territory anyway.
An investigation would proceed, but the Viscountess could bury it all.
Thoughts spilled from his lips, layering upon themselves. Words spreading across filth eventually became Randolph’s conviction.
“I… I just need to bury it all. That irritating bastard Julius Noel, that illegitimate Victor Noel, La Mar… and that wench Iliana who made me resort to this!”

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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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