If You Are Suited for the Villain's Secretary - Chapter 71

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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 71
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Sherwood was bewildered.
“What in the world…?”
Upon arriving at the Mage Tower, before he could even set down his luggage, he received shocking news that Iliana Grecia had coughed up blood.
Hemoptysis was a symptom that appeared three hours after exposure to Delphin’s poison.
Yet when he’d conducted a preliminary test on the poison that had stained her clothes, only fast-acting poison had been detected.
‘Then the high fever she’d suffered from wasn’t shock from the impact, but poisoning?’
Wondering if fast-acting poison and ordinary poison had been mixed together, he’d immediately begun a detailed blood analysis at maximum speed.
But the results were strange.
“There’s no… magical power?”
What was detected in Iliana Grecia’s blood was only poison.
In other words, the magical power that should have been present in the magical poison had vanished without a trace.
“Then, was the preliminary test result wrong? Could it be that the secretary was poisoned with ordinary poison lacking magical power from the start…?”
But just to be sure, he took another sample from Iliana’s clothes he’d brought along and conducted a detailed analysis, and the result was even stranger.
“This one has magical power in it?”
Sherwood, staring blankly at the comparative results, had no choice but to accept an unbelievable conclusion.
The magical power that had existed in the poison when it was about to be consumed had disappeared the moment Iliana swallowed it. All of it.
In a way, it was fortunate.
There was no need to formulate a new antidote; the existing Delphin poison antidote he’d left behind would suffice.
But it was puzzling.
‘Did Siphron from the Northern Region make such a mistake?’
It couldn’t be explained away by saying the magical poison’s structure was unstable.
There was the example of an attendant who’d been coughing up blood for days now.
‘Then there must be another reason…?’
Ordinarily, Sherwood had always reminded himself that he was merely a pharmacist and not someone who pried into others’ affairs.
But as the situation unfolded this way, the scholarly curiosity inherent to mages slowly began to surface.
“You said she was interrogated by the Paladin Commander just before this. If he’s the Commander, his holy power must be quite formidable—could his holy power have rubbed off on her? Then drinking holy water beforehand might have had an effect… Or does the secretary possess holy power herself?”
As a mage, he didn’t know the details of holy power very well.
But he did know that the Church would never overlook someone with holy power. No matter how much Iliana came from a Rural Port Town, if she’d possessed even a trace of holy power, the Temple would have noticed immediately and inducted her into the faith.
Under the name of the ‘White Lamb’.
Sherwood, tilting his head in confusion, traced through his hazy memories.
‘Hmm, there was something else besides holy power—a special ‘blood’ that nullifies magical power, I think I saw it once.’
He’d glimpsed it in an old grimoire.
But his memory wasn’t precise, and besides, that ancient grimoire was in Siphron in the Northern Region.
The Mage Tower that Crimson had taken over. Just thinking about it made him shudder—it was material he’d seen while working at that tower.
After struggling to recall for some time, Sherwood shook his head.
‘I’ll research the secretary’s blood sample again later.’
For now, there was something he needed to do.
Though exceedingly rare, there were cases where mana didn’t dissipate entirely but pooled in a single location within the body—the heart, for instance.
Since there was no guarantee that wouldn’t be Iliana’s fate, Sherwood began preparing an antidote using the Sungsu he’d received. His hands moved with practiced efficiency.
***
“The blood test results showed that the poison Iliana ingested had no mana in it.”
-Yes, that’s correct!
“That’s not typical. What do you think caused it?”
-Ah, I suspect the Paladin Commander’s holy power, whom we encountered just before, had an effect similar to having consumed Sungsu beforehand….
Sherwood offered a brief explanation, citing it as the most plausible possibility, though his voice carried an oddly buoyant note.
-Still, to be safe, I’ve prepared an antidote and sent a prototype to Branch 11. The moment the Attendant shows signs of recovery, I’ll have it delivered to you as well.”
“Do that. Send a prototype to Headquarters as well.”
-Pardon? To Headquarters too? Has someone else ingested poison besides the Secretary?
“Thank you for your work.”
Aden cut the communication with Sherwood without answering.
It wasn’t a question that particularly needed a response, but more because he couldn’t quite suppress the sigh of relief threatening to escape.
Aden exhaled a long breath and murmured.
“…Thank goodness.”
Aden was coming to realize that emotions carried weight.
After sending Iliana to Plibie County Estate, something had felt like it was pressing down on my heart. It was a sensation distinct from the pain of mana backflow.
So this was what anxiety felt like.
Yet the moment I heard that the antidote prototype was complete, that heavy weight pressing against my chest—that viscous, swamp-like emotion dragging me downward, ever downward—vanished as if washed away.
“Thank goodness.”
Aden, who had been washing his face, lowered his hands.
He stared at his pale hands, where cyan veins stood prominently, before closing his eyes.
‘The poison Iliana drank had no mana in it…’
Thanks to ‘that’ Ezekiel.
Unlike my own mana, he possessed holy power—a strength capable of aiding Iliana.
Regardless of my feelings toward the Holy Knight Order and Ezekiel, it was something I should be grateful for. Yet a bitter smile crossed my lips.
Shamefully, I found myself wishing it hadn’t been because of Ezekiel.
‘…I’m not in my right mind.’
Aden, reproaching himself, habitually drank the mana suppressant and continued thinking.
Iliana is kind, yet simultaneously far too forgiving, and she’s lived an ordinary life.
Even if it were the Crimson Family who sought to harm her, witnessing them being brutally ‘disposed of’ might shock her. Especially given that she’s already mentally and physically exhausted from the poisoning itself.
That was why. That was why I couldn’t reveal the plan. Aden had reasoned thus.
Until I heard what Iliana had to say.
“But you were planning to kill Odette and Kaileb anyway, weren’t you? Weren’t you?”
Only after hearing those words did I realize the truth: my ‘consideration’ wasn’t for Iliana’s sake.
I wanted Iliana to know only the facade I presented. I wanted her to remain ignorant of what lay beneath.
Because if she learned who the ‘Aden’ she trusted, whom I sought to protect, truly was, she would surely come to fear me.
…Just as everyone who knew ‘Calix’ had turned away from me.
It was such a selfish, contemptible reason.
‘But then….’
Why don’t you avoid my gaze?
Aden, who had been staring blankly at those eyes, gave an answer that was utterly unlike him—clumsy and unguarded.
“If that were the case.”
It was a foolish thing to say, practically a confession.
But I wanted to confirm it. I wanted to know why he didn’t simply assume, but instead asked me directly.
Was it because he agreed with me? Because there was something in my depths that resonated with him?
Yet at my response, Aden became completely lost.
“I want to talk and convince you. If you want to stop something like that.”
Why, even as you deny me….
“I’m The Director’s secretary, after all.”
I couldn’t understand why he wouldn’t turn away.
Looking back, it seemed Iliana had always been that way.
“But you can be honest with me too.”
Her words were like finely breaking waves—ripples that only touched the edge of the shore, light enough to brush past without notice.
But waves never tire. They never break. Aden watched as that summer sea, which had once merely dampened his ankles, came crashing down upon the sturdy sandcastle of his world.
What was truly absurd was that even as one corner of his world crumbled, it didn’t feel like something bad.
“So please, just trust me this once and let me go. I’ll do well.”
And so Iliana spoke when he could say nothing at all.
Only after she left did Aden think—he should have said something different instead of telling her to get treatment if she was hurt.
That it wasn’t because he didn’t trust her. That he did trust her.
That his hesitation came only from his own fear.
But I am always too late.
“….”
The seat across from Aden’s table had remained empty except for one occasion.
Yet why did it suddenly feel vacant now? Aden gazed at the empty chair with darkened eyes before closing them at the sound of his communicator’s call.
“Yes. This is Aden.”
-Director, everything is prepared as you instructed.
The message was that the Prison, the explosives, and the kidnapping plan were all ready.
Aden had planned to bring down the castle on the day of the succession ceremony for the heir of the Plivier family.
And he intended to kidnap the Crimson Family and throw them into a Prison where no light could reach.
If the Holy Knight Order caught his trail, he would simply eliminate them as well. Outwardly composed, Aden’s mind was seething with terrible rage. His reason had been paralyzed.
-Shall we proceed?
Opening his eyes again, Aden stared quietly at the empty seat before slowly parting his lips.
“Just keep it prepared.”
-Sir?
“I’m putting it on hold for now. Until I hear from my secretary.”
“So please, just trust me this once and let me go.”
It was a belated answer.
But perhaps… there might be one thing he could tell her before she even asked.
After ending the call, he summoned Lenox.
“This is Aden. How is the investigation into Ruben Grecia progressing?”

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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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