If You Are Suited for the Villain's Secretary - Chapter 86

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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 86
Aden surveyed the flower garden with indifference before retrieving a leather ledger from the desk deep within the basement.
This was no forged ledger like the one Kaileb Crimson had created—it contained the genuine transaction records.
The Holy Knight who had descended after him cast a dumbfounded glance between the scattered guards and Aden.
“How on earth did you know this flower garden existed here?”
During the two days when I was reported to be detained, I had been tracking the location of the Delphi Flower Garden, I explained.
“I traced the purchase history of firewood and coal.”
“Firewood? Coal?”
“It’s summer now. Yet purchasing heating coal in this season suggests a need to maintain a hot and humid environment.”
I gestured toward the temperature-control piping.
“I concluded it was likely a greenhouse for cultivating Dokuk plants, and as you can see, my assumption was correct.”
Having offered only the bare minimum explanation in a businesslike tone, I left the basement.
Rain was falling softly.
The investigation from here on was the Holy Knights’ responsibility. With only the ledger in hand, I boarded the carriage bound for Plibie County Estate. The distance was close enough to be visible from afar, so I would arrive shortly.
With moisture clinging to my hair, I gazed out the window and tilted my head.
‘It seems the Holy Knight Order has arrived.’
This was what one might call a rabbit drive.
The core of the operation I had devised with Iliana was crystal clear.
The hunting dogs would merely feint while driving prey into a corner, forcing the rabbits to tear at each other.
The sequence unfolded as follows.
I would spread word of my detention, causing Kaileb to lower his guard.
Using Basil and Odette, I would draw out both the Magic Tower Siphron in the north and Marquis Vito’s private soldiers, while simultaneously provoking conflict between them and Marquis Vito.
The Holy Knight Order would search Kaileb’s secret vault, which I had learned about through Odette, while I would contact the Dokuk merchant guild master who had been wrongfully blamed for the Delphi Flower trading matter involving Crimson, securing evidence in the process.
It was an exceedingly moderate plan—from my perspective, at least.
Yet there were always concerns. The first was the Holy Knight Order.
‘It was unavoidable cooperation.’
Crimson alone was not the problem.
To uproot in one sweep not only Crimson but also the nobles implicated in the charges found in Crimson’s secret vault alongside Marquis Vito, the Holy Knight Order was absolutely necessary.
But in many ways, they were unreliable. It was not merely my aversion to Ezekiel.
‘Are they not those excessively bound by formality and procedure? …Most critically, their judgment is slow.’
Yet I had to acknowledge this: there were aspects that progressed because of Ezekiel.
For instance, making the Crown Prince withdraw his inspection order.
Though admittedly, most of the credit belonged to Iliana.
The second concern was,
-…But Director, it would be better not to inform Odette Crimson that Kaileb Crimson was involved in the murder of the previous Count Plibie and his wife, wouldn’t it?
Odette Crimson herself—the very linchpin of the plan.
Surprisingly, the source of this information was not me. It was Iliana.
She said she had only just remembered hearing Norbert muttering something during her kidnapping. I believed her words even before hearing the conversation between Vito and Kaileb.
Or rather, I chose to believe them.
In any case, Iliana had instructed Basil to be informed of the information, but not to use it in negotiations with Odette.
She added that Basil had the right to know, but Odette did not.
‘Half of it seemed to stem from concern about the shock Odette Crimson would receive.’
Aden agreed with that assessment.
However, his reasoning differed—he withheld the information not out of concern for Odette Crimson, but because he did not trust her.
Yet during the process of persuading Basil, Odette had overheard everything, Iliana murmured as she relayed the news.
-I’m worried.
Aden suppressed the urge to say that he was more concerned about her, and instead asked for her reasons.
The answer that came back was quite unexpected.
-Of course, I’m concerned that Odette looked devastatingly shocked, but beyond that, I noticed she has an impulsive streak. The way she chose to flee without any plan is evidence of that… I’m afraid she might act differently from what we discussed.
Faced with such a statement—cold analysis tempered with genuine concern rather than mere sympathy—Aden could only agree.
As he gazed at the Plibie County Estate drawing ever closer, a signal chime turned his attention.
The moment he confirmed the caller’s identity, a smile flickered across his otherwise frigid lips.
Aden, holding the communicator, spoke with surprising tenderness.
“I’ve found her. I’ll arrive shortly, Iliana.”
But the words that came through the communicator made his smile fade.
“…Are you saying that Odette Crimson may have poisoned Kaileb Crimson?”
The very thing he had feared had come to pass.
***
Ezekiel, who had escaped through a window from Basil’s bedroom, entered through the main gate alongside the Holy Knights.
A chaotic banquet hall and bewildered nobles greeted him.
The first person to rush toward him was, ironically, Marquis Vito.
“Sir Ezekiel!”
Marquis Vito cried out, gasping for breath.
“Don’t believe a word that bastard Kaileb Crimson says. It was all his doing! He switched the will and poisoned Basil Plebiae—it was Kaileb, that ungrateful wretch!”
“…”
“He shows no gratitude, and now he’s trying to frame me—the man who saved his own daughter!”
This was a far different demeanor from when Kaileb had blackmailed him over the murder of the previous Plibie Marquis.
Perhaps it was only natural. Then it had been blackmail; now it was reality.
His name had been invoked in the banquet hall before a crowd, at the solemn moment of will-reading—Marquis Vito had nothing left to lose.
“I understand, Marquis. The matter of Basil Plebiae’s poisoning truly has nothing to do with you.”
“Exactly! I knew you would believe me, Sir Knight…”
“The matter of ‘Basil’ Plebiae, yes. But what of the previous Marquis and Marquise Plibie?”
“…What?”
Marquis Vito flinched.
“How did you know the will was switched? You never would have seen the original will.”
“Wait, Sir Knight…”
“Are you not curious where the mercenaries you sent to rescue Odette Crimson are now?”
Click.
Shackles were fastened around his wrists.
It wasn’t just Marquis Vito. Shackles had been fastened around the wrists of the nobles who had gathered around Ezekiel.
Holy Knights encircled them, each reciting their respective charges. Bribery, incitement to assault, instigation of murder….
“W-what is the meaning of this!”
“Let go! I, I never did such things!”
“Who gave you permission to do this! Do you have evidence? I’m asking if you have evidence!”
“The Regent King has authorized this operation. And yes, we have evidence.”
Ezekiel, regarding the struggling nobles with disgust, added curtly.
“More than enough.”
Records and ledgers discovered in Kaileb Crimson’s secret vault, evidence uncovered by the Investigation Bureau, and audio recordings obtained from hidden devices scattered throughout the mansion.
But that wasn’t all.
‘…Aden.’
That man had handed over evidence of misconduct by Central Region nobles he’d been collecting.
The information was so meticulously organized, including the sources through which it had been obtained, that even Ezekiel—reviewing it—couldn’t help but whistle in amazement.
Ezekiel despised the “Information Guild” as a business.
He couldn’t fathom how prying into others’ affairs had become a legitimate trade in the first place.
Profiting from digging into others’ secrets was hardly something the Divine would approve of.
And yet… with information like this, he understood why people would pay handsomely to acquire it.
Aden had provided such information without accepting payment. Though it wasn’t entirely without compensation.
“There exists a loan-sharking organization in the Southern Region called Fang, closely connected to Crimson.”
“I’m aware. It’s our next investigation target. And?”
“That organization’s….”
As I recalled what Aden had said, a sharp beeping sound suddenly erupted simultaneously from multiple sources.
Communication devices. I checked if one was mine, but it wasn’t.
Glancing around, I saw the communication devices the arrested nobles hadn’t managed to retrieve all ringing at once.
‘Messages from their respective houses, no doubt. To inform the family heads of the sudden search warrants being executed.’
For a successful ‘rabbit drive,’ the rabbits mustn’t sense anything amiss.
That’s why I had borrowed signal-jamming magical artifacts from the Investigation Bureau at Iliana’s request—to prevent the nobles from communicating with the outside and understanding the situation.
‘But the device was turned off faster than the promised time.’
Originally, it should have remained active for approximately thirty more minutes.
‘Is there something urgent requiring external contact?’
The warning-like hum of the signals felt oddly ominous.
As I surveyed my surroundings, I froze.
“…Where is Kaileb Crimson?”
Among the nobles desperately struggling not to be dragged away, the guests who had been invited and still hadn’t grasped the situation, and the guards milling about in confusion, he was nowhere to be seen.
Of course, the mansion had been sealed off long ago.
But I had specifically ordered my Holy Knights to prioritize Kaileb Crimson’s arrest. Had they already apprehended him?
Yet the Holy Knight conducting a thorough search of the Banquet Hall had gone deathly pale.
“He’s not here, Commander.”
I began running at the words that followed.
“And not only that… Odette Crimson as well….”
***
“…This is the right choice.”
At that moment, Odette Crimson stood in the Bell Tower.

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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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