If You Are Suited for the Villain's Secretary - Chapter 72

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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 72
***
Basil Plebiae had been gone for quite some time, which was fortunate for Scott and me.
Thanks to his absence, we’d managed to coax the apologetic and flustered Butler into giving us a tour of the Phlibier Estate.
As I observed the Kitchen bustling with banquet preparations, I posed a question to the Butler.
“Who will be attending the banquet for the young master? If I may ask, I understand the Count has no close relatives.”
“Most of them will be guests of the Crimson Sub-Marquis, the young lady’s father.”
“I see… Then they’ll mostly be wealthy nobles, I presume.”
“Yes, that is correct.”
While I distracted the Butler with questions, Scott—who had been discreetly installing magical devices throughout the Mansion—gave me a subtle wink and pointed toward a location where a maid was continuously sweeping the spotless floor.
I nodded at Scott’s gesture.
The Butler, oblivious to our exchange, approached us with a gentle tone.
“Would the two of you perhaps consider attending the banquet if your schedules permit?”
“My, is that truly acceptable?”
“Of course. Your presence would be an honor. I shall speak to my master about it separately.”
“Thank you. We’ll check our schedules and let you know. In the meantime, could we trouble you for some refreshments?”
“Ah, yes! My apologies. I shall prepare them in your room at once—”
“No need, you’re busy enough as it is. Scott here has severe allergies, so there’s much to avoid. I’ll inform the maid directly. Please, go ahead.”
Right on cue, Scott scratched his arm theatrically and gave me a thumbs up the moment the Butler departed.
The maid approached once she confirmed the Butler had completely left.
“Oh wow, hello! My goodness, your nails are so beautiful! What did you use on them?”
She suddenly grabbed my hand and shook it in admiration.
Only then did I examine my own hand. My nails were crimson, as if stained with flower dye.
‘Is it from the poison?’
“I’ve heard so much about you from my brother! I never expected to meet you here, Secretary—or rather, Advisor!”
I quickly drank a dose of the standard Delphinea flower antidote I’d kept in my pocket and greeted her warmly.
“I’ve heard plenty about you too. It’s nice to meet you, Lena—or should I say, Sarah.”
Lena, an employee of La Mar who had infiltrated the Phlibier Estate under the alias Sarah.
She was Lenox’s younger sister, after all.
“For the record, I’m Scott, a legal specialist with Branch 3. My alias is Scotti.”
“Ah, yes. Nice to meet you.”
“Didn’t Lenox mention me? You haven’t heard any rumors about me either?”
“Not at all.”
“How unfortunate.”
After the brief introductions with Scott, Lena—true to her nature as a La Mar operative—got straight to business.
“From what I’ve gathered, Odette Crimson’s recent schedule is quite simple. She wakes, drinks tea, takes a walk, and then almost every day she summons merchants for shopping. She also meets with bankers frequently.”
“What does she usually buy?”
“Jewelers have been visiting often lately. But it doesn’t seem like she’s actually buying anything—rather, it looks like she’s selling things.”
Odette, who once indulged in such extravagance that she’d purchase items from the Empress and Empress Dowager at inflated prices, was now selling things off?
I tilted my head in confusion, but Lena added casually.
“Perhaps she’s grown tired of it? And occasionally she meets privately with Norbert and the Doctor.”
“How long are these private meetings?”
“About ten minutes with the Doctor, roughly an hour with Norbert?”
“…I can overlook Norbert, but she meets with the Doctor for such a short time?”
I couldn’t imagine how he could even conduct a proper consultation in that span, let alone perform a physical examination.
As I expressed my bewilderment, Lena shrugged.
“Apparently he throws such terrible tantrums that people can hear him from outside. He despises how his body has changed. So it seems he only undergoes a cursory examination before leaving. Well, after such brief visits, he spends almost all his time in the Vault Room.”
“The Vault Room?”
“Yes. Only Odette Crimson holds the key. No one else can enter. Besides, the superstitious people from the Central Region avoid even stepping into that corridor. The Family Crypt is right next to it.”
Since Odette Crimson had gained control of finances as a condition for paying off Count Plivier’s debts, it wasn’t strange that she managed the estate’s assets. But the fact that he confined himself solely to the Vault Room was peculiar.
As I pondered Lena’s words, I asked.
“Then he doesn’t spend time with Count Plivier?”
“No, I’ve rarely seen the two of them talking. At most, when they pass each other, they exchange a mere nod? Given how distant they are, it’s curious how they even had a child.”
Lena shrugged again.
Scott asked with curiosity written all over his face.
“Do they each have separate lovers?”
“I’m not sure, it didn’t seem that way…but who knows? Count Plivier has been leaving the Mansion frequently lately.”
“Oh? Since when?”
“Since the day he returned from attending a conference at the Imperial Palace. That is, right before the surprise inspection was conducted. But according to the coachman…”
Lena leaned in as if sharing a great secret.
“Odette Crimson also went to the Imperial Palace that day? Separately from Count Plivier.”
“You don’t know what she went for?”
“I don’t know. The coachman won’t say either. But what matters is that when Odette Crimson returned, her complexion was extremely pale. And since that day, she’s been spending even more time in the Vault Room. What do you make of that?”
“Huh?”
“Everyone’s been whispering that Odette Crimson must have witnessed Count Plivier’s infidelity.”
“But if she witnessed an affair, wouldn’t she have immediately reported it to her father? Out of spite, if nothing else… Oh.”
Scott inhaled sharply and looked at me.
“You don’t think…that’s why the poison was…!”
The Northern Magic Tower had begun developing poison long before this.
But the timing didn’t matter. Kaileb Crimson had already intended to eliminate Count Plivier anyway, so this merely added another justification to his purpose.
Yet doubt crept into my mind. If that were the reason, why would Odette Crimson confine herself to the Vault Room?
‘If it were simply disgust at seeing an unfaithful husband, Odette Crimson had just defended the Count in front of Kaileb Crimson moments ago.’
Moreover, the last thing Odette Crimson had said troubled me.
“The child could miscarry, or…it could be born but sickly, and something could go wrong. Then…”
The conversation that followed was lost as the two of them whispered, but it didn’t sound like mere vague worry.
Considering the situation, if the Count were actually killed and the heir became compromised, Kaileb Crimson would lose his justification for controlling the Plebiae family, so she might be concerned about that.
‘But somehow…’
As I pondered this, Lena tilted her head and added.
“Oh, and sometimes I smell something burnt coming from Odette Crimson when she leaves the Vault Room. I wonder if she’s burning something in there…”
A burnt smell?
Just then, a loud voice echoed from afar.
“Welcome, sir!”
Count Plivier had finally arrived.
I exchanged a glance with Lena before moving forward with Scott.
There was something urgent I needed to confirm from Count Plivier.
***
A few hours later.
Scott, who had just exited Count Plivier’s study with me, let out a long sigh.
“Well, at this point… it’s worth the ‘investment’, wouldn’t you say, Advisor?”
“Indeed, Mr. Scott.”
“It’s an attractive piece of land.”
Plebiae County was, as Scott said, land worth investing in.
If things went well, I’d want to examine it formally.
But Scott frowned as he added his next comment.
“The lord himself, though, isn’t particularly attractive.”
“Hmm… he does seem to be quite cautious.”
Cautious was a polite way to put it—Basil Plebiae was excessively tight-lipped.
While nobles in general don’t reveal their true thoughts easily, his reticence was extreme.
“He nitpicked every single insignificant phrase until I thought my head would explode. I doubt he’d scrutinize his own will with such detail. Ugh, how frustrating.”
Scott muttered his complaints before clearing his throat.
“Anyway, Advisor, here’s the draft contract.”
Scott handed over the papers he’d been waving about.
Of course, it wasn’t a real contract. I couldn’t simply stamp it under Julius Noel’s name.
And we needed an excuse to stay until the banquet.
So this was a tool to buy time, and—
“Be careful, the edges are quite sharp.”
—a tool to obtain a blood sample from Basil Plebiae.
I couldn’t exactly ask outright, “My lord, have you ever ingested poison?”
So I’d deliberately prepared very stiff paper, and as expected, when Count Plivier cut his hand while reviewing the contract, I was able to obtain his blood sample smoothly.
“That was a brilliant plan, Advisor.”
Scott whispered, giving me a thumbs up.
“Then please go inside first, Mr. Scott. I need to deliver this contract to Mr. Julius.”
“Of course.”
Scott chuckled and headed to his assigned room, while I crossed the estate, now shrouded in darkness, toward the main gate.
Just moments ago, I’d received word from Sherwood that the antidote was complete.
So I planned to collect the antidote from him and hand over the contract stained with the count’s blood.
I confidently passed the guards and approached Sherwood, who was disguised as a servant in the distance.
“How are you feeling?”
“Remarkably well. So far, at least.”
“I see… Well, that’s a relief. Still, you should drink this antidote.”
I took the antidote vial from Sherwood and drained it in one gulp.
“Ah.”
I had convinced myself there was time before the poison took effect, and I trusted that Sherwood, a capable alchemist, would prepare an antidote for me. Yet fear remained inevitable.
Concealing my emotions was second nature, so I had maintained composure throughout. Only after drinking the antidote did I realize how tense I had been all along.
My body relaxed. I exhaled a sigh of relief and gazed down at the empty vial.
Had Aden felt this way when he first drank the mana suppressant?
‘No, perhaps he felt even more anxious. The mana suppressant was only a temporary measure, after all.’
Sherwood, who had been watching me intently, spoke up hesitantly.
“The Director… was very worried about you.”
“What?”

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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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