Chapter 19

Chapter 19

***

“Serena, how was your trip?”

Sven immediately asked Serena, who returned from the Duke of Icard’s.

“Yes, I enjoyed it.”

Serena answered cheerfully, swiped her curly red hair with her fingers.

“She was just cute.”

While Sven petted the black cat, Serena began to report what happened today.

“But the Duke of Icard knew she had a disease that she would die within the age of twenty. She told me to lie.”

“Hooo?”

Serena blinked and continued strangely.

“The Duke of Icard was not surprised to hear that… but he knew it was painful, so he gave her to the little boy. She was also thinking about putting him in civil service, and I was like, ‘what the hell is going on here?’”

The more he heard the details, the more interested Sven was. He just scratched his chin and smiled knowingly.

“I think she has the potential to hold and shake the Imperial family later on.”

When he first heard about her, he wondered if the child knew the weight of her words well.

Marriage is the easiest way to hold and shake the Imperial family.

When the Duke of Icard let Laria and Evan get married, the people’s opinions were divided into two.

Most people said Duke Icard wouldn’t be that greedy and that he was just on guard. A small number of people think there will be something more elaborate than that.

Though this made it clear.

Laria, the person who was actually in charge, was among the latter.

She was thinking that Duke Icard would abandon her. So, she thought about running away while pretending to be on time with her deadline.

Divorce is not recognized in the Empire. Therefore, the easiest way for Duke Icard to abandon Laria is to…

It was surprising that at that age, she was thinking about it and setting up measures.

She seemed to be able to act well enough to deceive the world’s greatest Duke Icard.

He saw Laria at the racetrack. She was very happy to be with Duke Icard and Evan.

“That’s unusual for her age.” Sven mumbled thoughtfully.

“You need to be on the watch.”

Serena finished her report, fiddled with her hair, and looked up.

“If I keep an eye on her, where do you think I should keep looking?”

“Look, maybe even our master.”

“What?”

Sven looked down at the black cat sitting on his lap and said.

“Neo reacted.”

You could see she was shocked by her facial expression.

“R-really?”

“Yes.” Sven spoke with a thoughtful face.

Although he looked like a cute cat, Neo is a devil who had been staying in the human world for a while.

Neo’s reaction meant that the wavelength of the devil and Laria was right. The fact that the wavelength is correct means that it is somehow related to black magic.

“I’m going to have to observe carefully.”

“But aren’t you still too young?”

“A decade or so isn’t a long time for us.”

“It’s hard to find someone with this kind of condition. Especially if Neo reacted.”

Sven stroked Neo’s back, the black cat. Neo yawned languidly and then closed his eyes.

“I think I am born with the ability to see things, the ability to see things ahead of time and deal with them… and see if I actually have the guts to move things around.”

“I’ll keep an eye on you.”

Serena twinkled her eyes as if she was interested.

“Because I’m going to stay with you.”

“All right, keep an eye on her. I didn’t put a VIP like you on her for no reason.”

In fact, Serena is also the deputy guild leader of the Vestian Dark Information Guild.

At first, she was paying attention to Duke Icard, but it was quite good that she could naturally recruit new guild members.

But now, she was much more curious about Laria than Icard’s inner thoughts.

“Oh, yes. Sven, Laria asked me to tell you.”

“What do you mean?”

“The last time she came to our cafe, she smelled something burning in the back building… find the source.”

“What?” Sven’s forehead frowned.

It was that moment when he remembered a suspicious wizard who rented a space in the lower house level of the building, where his mother was staying.

“We’ve banned experiments with fire, but we should check it out just in case.”

“Yes… You can just let it go, though Laria said our relationship is precious and that she cared for us.”

“…Really? A precious relationship?”

“Yeah, since she’s somewhat locked up in the Duke of Icard’s… so she says every relationship is very precious to her.”

“I see…”

Sven stroked Neo and thought for a moment.

He thought she was a cool and cold-hearted kid, but she had a warm-hearted personality, caring about such trivial things. So, he naturally felt that he wanted to continue to be connected with her.

“Hmm, but I’m afraid about Miss Laria…” Serena squinted and whispered.

“You think she’s going to pop, don’t you think so?”

Sven fiddled with his chin for a moment.

Definitely… to create a borrowed name, purchase land, and pretend to be ill, should be considered a dark intention.

Avoiding boundaries by pretending to be time-bounded.

I’m sure she has made more thorough plans in the future when she could see ahead this far.

“Maybe?”

“Then… she’ll break up with Evan eventually, right?”

“Perhaps?”

“Oh, good for you.”

Serena clapped her hands and said.

“Marrying someone she hasn’t seen before at fourteen… that’s the worst thing I would ever feel, but I suppose she would break up with him. She will have the opportunity to meet a lot of guys in the future.”

“Don’t be so petty. What kind of men does she want?”

“She can be the master. Excuse me.”

Serena’s face was lively.

“Why is she tied up in a political marriage if they are going to break up, anyway? It’s possible that you could find that out step by step and make connections with others.”

“Hurrah.”

Sven shook his hand.

“If Evan had Laria in mind, he would experience a real stabbing.”

“Hey, it’s a political marriage.”

“The Duke of Icard was also in a political marriage.”

Sven’s voice was solemn.

“However, even with Matilda, it stood out that much… I don’t want to imagine it. This might be all over the continent.”

“He would have found it if she wasn’t gone.”

“From what I hear, Evan only trains swords all day long. I don’t think he’s very close to Laria…”

“That’s something to keep an eye on. Ah…the man reminds me of another possibility. Something strange happened here, too.”

“Something weird?”

“A commoner came to see me, and he said he was the one who got the money from the black horse.”

“Hmm?”

“And with that money, he wants to buy Hanua territory with his title.”

“Oh, my.”

“He was short on money anyway, so he could only buy the land Laria didn’t buy. He’s a little ashamed to hear that half of them have already changed their owners.”

“Handsome?”

“He was quite obedient.”

Serena removed her finger from her hair and frowned thoughtfully.

Now, the two people who won money at the horse racing event were doing the same thing at the same place.

“…Maybe she’s got a very capable stalker? She’s got someone who has the same plans as her.”

“Well… that’s most likely, but we’ll have to wait and see. Report this fact to Laria, but I don’t know how she will accept it.”

“Okay, I’ll judge it for myself.”

Serena said slowly, her green eyes glimmered.

“I don’t know if she’s the one Sven has been waiting for.”