The Baby Raising A Devil - Chapter 167
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 167
Johan’s face hardened.
“Even if we investigate the orphanage, we can’t confirm whether our speculation is true.”
There was no particular way to confirm parentage in this world.
At best, they could compare with the parents’ characteristics, or use magic to check if the quality of mana or divine power was the same.
But Leblaine had no particular similarities to Dubbled except for her blue eyes.
Since thirty percent of the Empire’s citizens had blue eyes, it couldn’t serve as proof of Dubbled blood.
They couldn’t compare the quality of mana either.
All of Dubbled’s relatives were mana users, while Leblaine was a divine power user.
Unless Lisette, who possessed divine power, returned alive to compare qualities, there was no way to prove that child was Baby Bird.
“Unless we break Trigon’s alchemy, there’s nothing we can know.”
“But we could add credibility to our speculation.”
When Johan lowered his gaze below his knees, Theodore warned sternly.
“You investigate it yourself. No one should notice that I’m speculating.”
“I understand. If it ends as false hope, it would hurt Henri and Isaac, and… Leblaine too.”
“Right.”
Theodore, who had been gazing intently at Leblaine through the door crack, soon turned away.
* * *
Early in the morning, Trigon came to the mansion.
Wearing his hood pulled down low and entering through the back gate, he immediately presented me with a pile of documents he had brought in his arms.
“What is this?”
“That guy’s research materials.”
“Are you saying these are the real Trigon’s alchemy experiment records?”
I hurriedly flipped through the materials. The papers were so old they smelled moldy, and were densely covered with writing.
‘Right. These are records of those experiments.’
But why would such things be left behind?
If I were the one who ordered the memory manipulation, I wouldn’t have left such records. Absolutely not.
“That person… Lord Aragon was keeping them. Very secretly.”
Aragon, the real Trigon’s father.
Aragon, the previous Chief Court Mage, was the benefactor who made it necessary for Whale to pretend to be the fake Trigon.
Since Aragon suffered from dementia, if it became known that the real Trigon had died, his relatives would have taken all the wealth he had accumulated and thrown him out on the streets.
The reason the fake Trigon, Whale, took my hand was because I had told him about Aragon’s death that I had witnessed before my regression.
‘Aragon, who suffers from dementia, was secretly keeping this…?’
Trigon bit his lips tightly.
“Little One, perhaps… perhaps…”
“…So you’re saying that you father and son might also be entangled in Lisette’s case?”
When I accurately guessed his words, Trigon swallowed dryly.
“You said that in Little One’s past life, I died when it was discovered that I was a fake Trigon, right?”
“That’s right.”
“You said that Aragon had all his property taken away by relatives and ended up on the streets, and after my death, someone cleverly ruined Aragon’s reputation so that no one would take him in.”
“Correct.”
“If whoever killed Lisette also killed Aragon and me to perfectly destroy evidence, since we might have had alchemy documents…”
It wasn’t a story without any possibility.
No, it was a story that fit together like a puzzle too perfectly.
“I’ll kill them.”
Trigon’s bloodshot eyes held clear hostility.
Looking at him quietly, I sighed and sat down in a chair.
“So you’re asking me to help you get revenge? You sure make it complicated. Sit down first.”
Trigon’s eyes widened.
He seemed to think I would be just as excited since I had special affection for Dubbled.
However, I shrugged my shoulders with a calm attitude and said.
“You didn’t just bring a pile of documents for nothing, right?”
“Excuse me?”
“You found a way to solve Real Trigon’s alchemy, didn’t you?”
“…”
I struck the back of his hand with my clenched fist. Thwack!
“What’s going to change just by getting angry? We need to find the mastermind and find a way to get revenge!”
I know because I’ve lived four times and experienced all kinds of hardships – nothing changes by getting fired up with anger.
Instead of getting excited, we should plan what to do next.
‘So now what we need to do is─’
I spread my fingers and said.
“First, find the mastermind.”
“…”
“Second, find out the reason behind this series of incidents.”
“…”
“And third, cause a ruckus. In that order.”
After saying that, I gently unclenched my fist.
Trigon looked puzzled when he saw the candy I had been holding.
“What’s that?”
I whispered to Trigon.
“It’s so delicious that even if two people eating it and a third dies, you’d just accept it. Lea only gives me one a day saying it’ll rot my teeth.”
“So why are you giving that to me…”
“I thought you’d need something sweet, so I stole one!”
When I raised my head triumphantly, Trigon’s expression became strange.
“…Did you notice that I would come here in an excited state?”
“Vaguely.”
“….”
“You know. Trigon suits being just a miser. It suits him to live like a human being, even if he’s a bit greedy for money and narrow-minded.”
“….”
“Being a murderer doesn’t suit him at all. So leave the dirty and despicable work to me. Got it?”
Trigon’s pupils trembled finely.
He who had been quietly looking at me suddenly stood up and knelt down.
“Oath of Loyalty─”
“Cecilia already did that yesterday.”
I cut him off sharply and waved my hand dismissively.
“If it’s a different person, then I receive it again. How could a loyalty oath be first-come-first-served!”
“Quiet~! Do you have time for this? Hurry up and go find a way to break the alchemy! Don’t even come near me until you’ve broken the alchemy cast on Cecilia and Lea!”
As usual, we bickered back and forth.
Trigon couldn’t help but chuckle as if he had no choice.
“Lord Aragon was keeping Real Trigon’s alchemy experiment records along with that guy’s diary. According to the diary, that guy seems to have been blackmailed.”
“Really?”
“Yes. It was written that the person who blackmailed Real Trigon was ‘one with red spots on the back of his hand.'”
Suddenly, I remembered what Seria had said when investigating the person who bought the children from House of Hope.
[I was able to find a clue about the person who bought the children from the House of Hope manager. It’s someone with red spots on the back of his hand.]
That’s when it happened.
Knock knock, a thin knocking sound was heard.
When I turned my head, Father was standing in front of the greenhouse with Johan, holding several sheets of parchment.
“May I join the conversation too.”
“Of course.”
I smiled brightly and ran toward Father.
Father also responded to my enthusiastic greeting with a smile and handed me the parchment.
“This is….”
“It’s an investigation report on the orphanage where Cecilia’s niece Triloni, that is, your friend Tree, stayed.”
“You already investigated?”
Johan answered my question instead of Father.
He must have heard the truth about Lady Lisette’s death from Father.
“Dubbled’s intelligence network is excellent. We discovered an interesting fact during the investigation.”
“What is it?”
“The person who brought Triloni to the orphanage had red spots on the back of his hand.”
The one who sent Jacob to Dubbled Castle when I was four to orchestrate my kidnapping.
The one who helped Duke Valois with demon summoning.
The one who became the connection between Duke Marche and Duke Valois.
‘They all had red spots on the back of their hands.’
Then the answer to the first problem has already been found, hasn’t it?
Don’t I know who was behind Duke Marche?
Father, Johan, and I all said in unison.
“The Temple.”
“It’s the Temple.”
“It’s the Temple.”
I crumpled the edge of the parchment and twisted my lips.
We didn’t say it out loud, but everyone knew.
That the flames of war were burning.
‘Did you enjoy manipulating us from behind?’
But not anymore.
I gripped Etoile tightly and thought.
‘I won’t let this slide.’
* * *
Now we need to find out why the Temple killed Lady Lisette and is targeting Dubbled.
‘And revenge too.’
Father also informed Henri and Isaac about this matter.
His reason was that as family members, they shouldn’t be unaware of what happened to Lady Lisette and Baby Bird.
“Those bastards…!”
Isaac, his eyes bloodshot red, let out a roar.
Henri was frozen stiff as if rooted to the ground.
Isaac ground his teeth with a grinding sound.
“Let’s storm the Temple right now! We need to find out why they harmed Mother!”
Henri spoke in a sunken voice.
“Do you think the Temple would tell us their reasons just because we do that?”
“But we can’t just stay like this…!”
“We can’t stay like this, so we’re thinking together. Is there anyone here who’s not as tormented as you?”
“…”
“I’m furious too, but we still can’t wage war against the Temple and win. The moment we point our swords at the Temple, the nobles will conspire together. They’ll rejoice, saying it’s the perfect chance to bring down damn Dubbled.”
“Damn it!”
Isaac slammed the table and ground his teeth.
Father’s expression wasn’t good either.
“Where did Eldest Brother go at a time like this?”
When Isaac asked Father, Father answered after a few seconds of silence.
“I sent him down to the territory because there’s something to investigate. He’ll be away from the Imperial Capital for about two months, so you don’t need to worry about your brother’s whereabouts.”
“What’s so important right now that you sent him to the territory…!”
When Isaac burst out shouting, I quietly raised my hand.
“Um… I want to create a rift between the Temple and the Imperial Palace first.”
“What?”
“What did you say?”
“….”
My family stared at me.
“What do you think is the reason the Temple has been able to run wild in the Empire all this time? It’s because of Imperial support.”
“Right. The previous emperors coddled the Temple for the stability of public sentiment.”
I smirked at Henri’s response.
“But Current Emperor Alexandre thinks differently. He believes the Temple’s power has grown too bloated and it’s time to reduce it.”
“But kiddo, now that the Empress Dowager who protected the Temple has withdrawn her support, won’t the Temple inevitably weaken?”
“That’s not the case. Empress Yvonne’s faction is much stronger than the Empress Dowager’s, and Empress Yvonne and her maternal family, the Marche Ducal House, are in collusion with the Temple, right? That’s why the Emperor can’t readily weaken the Temple either.”
“So what’s your plan?”
At Henri’s question, I answered with sparkling eyes.
“I’ve prepared someone who would be perfect as the new Imperial Consort.”
“Cecilia Olga?”
“That’s right.”
“How will you get her into the Imperial Palace? Marche probably thinks you’re on their side, but if we create a new Imperial Consort, they’ll try to check us.”
“We just need to make it look like we didn’t create her.”
“…?”
I grinned mischievously and placed the communication stone on the table with a thunk.
“Are you ready, Cecil?”
[Yes. I’ve just arrived at the street where the Emperor is currently out in disguise.]
Operation ‘You’re the First Woman to Slap My Cheek’ begins.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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