The Teddy Bear Sends the Insomniac Villain to Dreamland - Chapter 17

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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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Chapter 17
***
The next day, I launched my plan without delay.
When I thought about it, the servants’ fear and dread toward Blake Leblanc was entirely justified.
“He’s honestly a beautiful man who radiates an icy aura, and he barely speaks.”
On top of that, rumors circulated that he’d killed a Social Club employee.
In the Human World with its class system, servants’ lives and rights were often treated rather lightly by the nobility.
Not that Blake Leblanc was that kind of person.
“Still, considering what happened at the Social Club, they have every reason to be frightened.”
No one was at fault.
Blake Leblanc and the servants were simply misunderstanding each other.
The greatest trap was that no one seemed willing to clear up this misunderstanding.
Why, exactly?
I couldn’t comprehend it.
If a misunderstanding arose, shouldn’t it be resolved?
If there were benefits to leaving it unresolved, I might accept it.
It wasn’t as though I were some angelic witch.
It was the look in Blake Leblanc’s eyes when I’d encountered him yesterday that weighed on my mind.
“Why does he just accept such misunderstandings without protest?”
My heart ached seeing his daily life—wronged yet silent—mirror exactly what was depicted in the novel.
It resembled the psychological state briefly described in the original story, though my memory of it was hazy.
‘A man who had been lonely his entire life.’
That was the description that followed Blake Leblanc’s name.
“I’ve already decided what to do first!”
All I needed to do was leave the room. I smirked at the firmly closed door.
“White-mustached butler. You’ll just keep standing guard there, won’t you?”
I glanced at Ronald, who had been standing before the door, pretending not to hear my muttering all this while.
“Please understand, Miss Vivian. It is my duty today.”
“Isn’t the work tedious?”
“How could it be? I am honored to serve you, Miss Vivian.”
Ronald was truly the perfect butler.
Ever since Blake Leblanc discovered my true identity, he’d been summoning Ronald to my bedroom whenever he went out briefly.
Naturally, it was to prevent me from wandering about secretly.
I looked up at the middle-aged Ronald, impeccably dressed in a black three-piece suit with his pristine white hair neatly combed back, and asked.
“Would you like to go out with me?”
“I wish I could, but… it’s difficult. Wouldn’t it be better if you went out together when the young master returns?”
“I don’t want that. I have something to do right now, which is why I’m trying to go out.”
At the mention of having something to do, his eyes narrowed. He seemed to be wondering what business a teddy bear could possibly have.
I quickly revealed today’s plan.
“Ronald, are you aware that rumors about Blake Leblanc have been circulating among the servants recently?”
“…I’m not sure what you mean.”
“I’ll just assume you know. Everyone’s been saying Blake is a murderer. Rumors are spreading that he killed a Social Club employee, and the servants are trembling in fear.”
“What? Who on earth would spread such a rumor…! How did you come to know of it, Miss Vivian?”
“No one told me. I overheard the servants chattering beneath the Terrace outside this room. I suppose Blake hasn’t been careful about keeping his windows open lately.”
I should probably give him a word of caution.
At my question, Ronald nodded obediently, his expression growing somber.
“Then does the butler also know that this entire incident is nothing but a misunderstanding? That the employee was actually an assassin?”
“Yes, that’s correct. I don’t know all the details, but… did the young master tell you about that as well?”
“Yes.”
Let’s just say I heard it that way.
Explaining my deductions and theories would take too long, so I decided to skip ahead and get straight to the point.
“I want to clear up this misunderstanding.”
“You, Miss Vivian?”
“Yes. I’ll handle it directly.”
Ronald looked at me lying sprawled across the bed with a suspicious gaze.
“…How exactly do you intend to do that?”
He was clearly trying to trust me, but he doubted how I could clear Blake’s name without any evidence.
However, I had no intention of finding clues or providing a logical explanation.
That sort of thing would be far better handled by Blake’s subordinates, who were undoubtedly quicker and more nimble than I.
“It’s possible if the mustachioed butler helps me.”
“Please explain what assistance you require.”
“Have you ever read the fairy tale about the king with donkey ears?”
“…Pardon?”
“I read it ages ago—centuries ago, in fact.”
When I mentioned a fairy tale I’d read long before my reincarnation into this world, not during my time as a witch, Ronald tilted his head in confusion.
“You mean the saying that idle gossip travels a thousand miles?”
“That’s also… I’m afraid my knowledge is limited. My apologies.”
“No, it’s fine. It’s natural you wouldn’t know. To put it simply, we counter rumors with bigger rumors.”
We would create a larger rumor to overshadow the terrifying gossip about Blake killing the Social Club employee.
“Everyone was curious, you see. How a woman could die without shedding a single drop of blood.”
“Is that so?”
“That’s exactly what we’ll exploit. We’ll give the servants hints, one by one. We’ll make them find the evidence themselves and draw their own conclusions about why there was no blood.”
Then I scribbled hastily on a notepad on the nearby table and handed it to Ronald.
A hidden secret behind
the Billiards employee’s death!
→ If curious, find the next note
“The next note will contain information about how to kill someone without spilling a drop of blood. The one after that will be about types of poison, then the skin color of poisoned victims, and so on.”
“And the final note will guide them to the conclusion that the young master Blake is not the culprit, I see.”
This way, we’d spark curiosity and stimulate their interest, creating an even bigger rumor.
‘Since they found the evidence themselves, they’ll be all the more inclined to believe it.’
I flicked a thumbs-up toward Ronald, who had guessed correctly.
Whether true or not, once people began searching for plausible evidence and drawing their own conclusions, rumors would inevitably spread further.
“So, what do you think of my plan?”
Ronald carefully turned through the papers I had painstakingly written out, reading each one thoroughly.
Then he murmured softly.
“Heh, I cannot deny it. You appear to be quite the strategist, Miss Vivian.”
“Thanks for the compliment.”
I shrugged my shoulders and sprang up from my seat.
Then I paused and turned back to Ronald.
“Oh, by the way, Butler. Can I ask you something?”
“Of course, Miss.”
“Do you know much about the Social Club that Blake went to?”
“I don’t know the details, but what aspect are you curious about?”
Ronald straightened his posture, saying he could tell me everything within the scope of his knowledge.
I brought up something that had been bothering me since yesterday.
“What’s the gender ratio of the staff at that Social Club?”
“The gender ratio of the staff, you say….”
Ronald stroked his chin for a moment before speaking.
“From what I understand, all the staff at that Social Club are women. They say they scout exclusively experienced maids who have served the upper echelons for five years or more.”
“…I see.”
“Why do you ask?”
“Oh, it’s nothing. Just something that’s been bothering me.”
As I suspected.
There was something off about that maid who claimed to have heard the rumor from a male “servant” friend.
Why would she fabricate a nonexistent friend just to spread such a rumor?
‘I need to find that maid and confront her.’
Now that I had finalized my plan, it was time to put it into action.
“Come now, white-mustached Butler! Let’s embark on our adventure.”
Ronald smiled warmly and nodded, gripping the papers firmly in his hand.
***
“Where does this path lead?”
“The Dining Hall, sir.”
“And this way?”
“The Guest Room.”
“Where’s the Laundry Room?”
“Behind the Mansion. Shall we head there?”
“Good. Let’s go.”
And so the alliance—colloquially dubbed “Operation: Expose Blake’s Misunderstandings”—though Ronald hadn’t officially agreed to that name—sailed smoothly toward its destination.
I was nestled snugly inside Ronald’s formal jacket, quietly pulling the strings.
Uncomfortable, you ask?
Quite the opposite. It was perfectly pleasant. Ronald was perceptive and docile, after all.
“I’ve already placed the fourth note on top of the laundry pile in the Laundry Room. Only one left now….”
That’s when Ronald’s mouth snapped shut.
He’d noticed something and turned to me in a panic, whispering urgently.
“I completely forgot—today is the day Sir Rein visits.”
Sir Rein?
At my questioning gaze, Ronald maintained his mouth’s shape and spoke through ventriloquism.
“He’s the vice-commander of the Monster-Hunting Army alongside the young master. He’s on his way back from leave and said he’d stop by briefly….”
It seemed he’d completely forgotten because Blake had asked him to guard the room.
Ah, as Ronald explained, a face suddenly flashed in my mind.
The blonde man who was with Blake at Count Everett’s Banquet Hall when I first fell into the Human World!
He’s coming here?
Just as I was about to poke my head out to greet him cheerfully—since he’d already discovered I was a talking teddy bear back then—
Ronald spun around and yanked me out of his jacket like pulling a radish.
“Oof?”
“My apologies, Miss Vivian. If Vice-Commander Rein finds out, the young master will be furious. Please return to your room while I buy us some time.”
“Wait, hold on….”
“I’ll handle it!”
With that, he shoved me into a corner of the hallway and disappeared rapidly toward Rein.
No, wait! I know that blonde human!
He knows me too! You don’t have to abandon me here!
I watched helplessly as Ronald greeted Rein in the distance.
Standing alone with the remaining notes clutched in both fists was only momentary.
I turned and headed toward my next destination.
Ronald had told me to return to my room, but well.
I’d never intended to do that anyway!
“The servants’ favorite rest area is my final target!”
Okay, that’s where I’m headed.
I’ve still got one note left.

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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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