The Lady Only Deals With the Real Ones - Chapter 41

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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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Ailen stared intently at me as I turned pale in an instant.

His gaze was deep like the ocean but excessively calm, revealing no emotion whatsoever.

“There won’t be a second reprieve. I inform you that if you refuse the search, we can execute it by force and immediate disposition is possible.”

I gulped and nodded my head.

“I have no intention of refusing. I’ll open the door for you, so please see for yourself.”

When I glanced back at Alter, he was frowning.

I slightly waved my hand to signal that things were still okay and took out the key to the 2nd floor while thinking.

‘The first time I saw the article was because of the name Hugo. But even after learning it was someone with the same name, the reason I kept reading the article was…’

[…the mysterious tragedy that occurred in the office…]

‘Because the circumstances were too strange!’

A few months from now.

Ailen Hugo Radeian would be found late at night in his office as a corpse with his entire body clawed up.

It was said to be a horrific sight, as if he had been attacked by a beast.

‘But how could there be beasts or monsters roaming around the Imperial Palace? Even if there were, would the captain of the Royal Knights have fallen to such a thing?’

Moreover, it was said that the scene was very clean.

Except for some black sand and thin glass fragments scattered here and there.

It seemed others also thought it couldn’t have been the work of a beast.

Based on testimony that knights heard explosive sounds, opinions were gathering around it being a terrorist attack by mages.

However, the investigation results revealed a plot twist.

‘…They said there were no spell formations. No traces of mages using magic power at all.’

Meanwhile, what was discovered in his house was none other than black magic books.

‘They said illegal magical tools and forbidden books were piled up in a secret space.’

[…Ailen Hugo Radeian, captain of the Imperial Palace Royal Knights, shocking revelation that he died while attempting to use forbidden black magic…]

Thus, the most brilliant sword was instantly buried in shame, becoming the disgrace of all knights.

All his achievements were dismissed as accomplished through black magic, and even his records were erased.

To think a viper had been hiding in the middle of the Imperial Palace!

The enraged royal family immediately disbanded the Royal Knights, and what filled that position was…

‘Knights personally selected by Regent King Crodil.’

Click.

I opened the door to the 2nd floor and stepped back.

Watching Ailen’s back as he examined the pawned items, I bit my lips.

‘No matter how I think about it, it doesn’t make sense.’

Since I heard that he, as captain of the Royal Knights, had magic power, the circumstances somewhat fit together.

But I couldn’t believe that newspaper article.

It wasn’t that I vaguely thought the captain of the Royal Knights wouldn’t do such a thing.

‘Would he be crazy enough to use black magic in his own office? At minimum, he would have used it in a secret hideout or his own house!’

I judged rationally.

Would he openly perform something in his office when getting caught would obviously cost him his head?

Moreover.

‘Things proceeded too smoothly after that. As if someone had planned it all.’

Count Crodil.

He filled the vacant position of the Royal Knights with his own people as if he had been waiting.

Even though it would be reasonable to verify them for a long period after Ailen’s incident, he did it swiftly as if he had pre-selected them.

There was only one conclusion I could think of.

‘Crodil knew about it. That Ailen was scheduled to die dishonorably. Then…!’

Crodil, that bastard is the culprit.

He’s the mastermind who not only orchestrated Ailen’s death but also fabricated evidence.

The forbidden books and magical tools must have been secretly placed there after he died.

As I was biting my lips, Ailen, who had been examining the pawned items while holding the brooch, turned around and looked at me.

“This holy relic.”

He pointed at the ring in the storage case from a distance.

The ring I had borrowed from the temple.

“Through what route did you acquire it?”

While racking my brain, I answered calmly.

“Ah, that ring? I borrowed it from the temple.”

“A holy relic borrowed from the temple… For what purpose did you borrow it?”

“For a similar reason as others, to receive blessings. There’s also a rental certificate next to it, would you like to check it?”

“I’ve confirmed it. However.”

Ailen’s eyes gleamed sharply.

“You don’t appear to be a devotee of the Temple of the World Tree. Isn’t there no symbol or carving of the World Tree in this pawnshop?”

“Are symbols important? What’s truly important is the faith kept in one’s heart.”

“If it’s simply a borrowed holy relic, why didn’t you speak honestly about it during the last inspection?”

“Because you didn’t tell me exactly what you were looking for. Besides, it’s a holy relic borrowed through proper procedures, so I had no idea it would be a problem. So are we done now?”

The pressure was palpable as he relentlessly pressed me with his rigid tone.

Ailen stared at me as I countered each of his points.

‘I’ve already removed and hidden Lina’s pendant. In a place where Ailen can never find it.’

The holy relic tracking brooch cannot detect only specific holy relics.

Ailen boasted confidently that he could track it, but that’s a problem for later.

So for now, I just need to get through this interrogation well.

However.

“No. It’s not over.”

“…Excuse me?”

“Because everything you just said is a lie.”

After freezing momentarily, I soon smiled and asked.

“Do you happen to have grounds for making that judgment?”

“There are contradictions. The contradiction of bothering to borrow a holy relic while saying what’s important is the faith kept in one’s heart.”

In a calm but sharp tone, Ailen pointed out each detail.

“The contradiction of deliberately issuing and conspicuously placing a certificate with no date, making it impossible to know when it was borrowed.”

“I’m sorry, but that still sounds like insufficient evidence.”

“Is that so? Then how do you explain the trembling around your eyes? Open the 3rd floor door.”

‘Damn it.’

He’s not the captain of the Royal Knights for nothing.

‘Isn’t this guy’s intuition too good?’

But the reason I’m not as composed as usual is.

‘Because I know about your final moments!’

I wanted to prevent Ailen’s death. Because…

‘If Crodil and Ailen had the same opinions, Crodil wouldn’t have bothered to harm this man!’

Ailen is definitely standing on the opposite side of Crodil.

Wasn’t he trying to eliminate him because he absolutely couldn’t be won over? Just like what Rosaline did to Hanna.

‘That means Ailen is someone who poses a threat to Crodil just by existing. So I need to keep him alive.’

They say the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Even aside from Lina’s matter, Crodil was no different from my enemy.

‘William sent a telegram this morning.’

Found out who’s behind the permit form renewal.

It’s Regent King Count Crodil.

They said it was something they did after hearing a story at teatime? They’re investigating who attended the teatime.

I don’t need to hear the results to know. Rosaline must have been there. Crodil and Rosaline are on the same side.

But how can I stop Crodil’s scheme?

I recalled the conversation I had with Emma.

***

This morning.

Emma told me not to get involved, but I persuaded her, saying I needed to know in order to deal with it.

So Emma reluctantly opened her mouth.

“Simply put, that guy is in a state of mana poisoning. Like Lake in February? A precarious lake where you never know when the ice might break.”

Emma swept her hair back and crossed her arms.

“But there probably isn’t any crazy mage who would dare cast magic directly on the Knight Commander. So it must be a method of injecting mana using mana stones.”

“You mean they continuously exposed him to mana from mana stones?”

“Exactly. They must have used very high-purity mana stones. They probably cast concealment magic to make them look like ordinary stones. Whoever it was must be a very skilled mage.”

Thinking about it now, the reason there was no spell formula makes sense.

It wasn’t magic, but mana poisoning using mana stones.

It was nothing short of a curse fatal only to Knights.

“But it’s strange that he readily accepted those mana stones. Even if they made them look like ordinary stones, to receive stones and treasure them.”

“They probably hid them in everyday objects and gave them to him. But are there everyday objects that would contain stones?”

Emma continued as if troubled.

“One piece wouldn’t be nearly enough for a Knight. Even if they compressed the size, there would need to be an enormous number, so is there such an object?”

An everyday object that contains many stones?

As I was thinking deeply, Emma said casually.

“Anyway, that guy probably can’t do his Knight duties properly right now.”

“Really? Why?”

“Because it would be painful to come into contact with holy power. It’s a vicious cycle. To purify mana poisoning, you need holy power, but since contact with holy power is painful, he’ll unconsciously avoid it.”

She added.

“And yet he acted politely. Ugh…”

“Is that a problem?”

“Of course. Can you imagine what a tenacious person he must be to suppress himself like that? He’s not normal.”

***

Emma probably said that as a warning, but I had somewhat different thoughts.

Ailren not being normal is correct.

‘Because he’s sick. He’s practically a patient.’

A patient suffering from a disease with no cure and no apparent solution.

It was an inevitable progression for me to think of Grandfather from that story.

‘But he doesn’t seem like he’d easily listen to my words. He doesn’t seem like he’d believe me even if I told him.’

Then what strategy can I take?

‘I have no choice but to show him directly!’

Having finished my thoughts, I smiled brightly at Ailren.

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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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