CH 19

The Lie-Detector Glasses were one of the four items included in the “Good Child Creation Set” that was given as a basic item when playing as Ophelia.

Whether it was about proper growth or whatever, it was an item that gave no consideration to the protagonist’s human rights, so I had never used it while playing the game.

But now I’m using it through a possession. Not on Leo, but on someone else.

I put on the glasses and looked at Sir Penadel. Then, a steady waveform graph appeared above Lord Penadel’s head.

It looked like the screen of an electrocardiogram machine in a hospital.

I took a deep breath.

From now on, I planned to ask Sir Penadel, who is the Grand Duke’s subordinate, some very impolite questions.

Even if Sir Penadel glares at me menacingly, I won’t be intimidated.

“Why does the Grand Duke want ownership of the mine?”

“I cannot tell you.”

“Then I cannot accept the proposal either.”

As firm as Sir Penadel was, I answered firmly as well. Sir Penadel, who had been silent for a moment, finally opened his mouth with an uneasy tone.

“His Grace wants…… the mine to be sealed.”

No. Why?

I know mining involves a lot of risk, but this is a goose that lays golden eggs.

I probably wouldn’t have believed him if I didn’t have my lie detector glasses on.

However, the waveform graph hovering above Sir Penadel remained consistently steady.

That meant he was telling the truth. Alright, next question.

“Does the Grand Duke kill people for money?”

“No, he does not.”

Truth.

“Is the Grand Duke a lecherous man?”

“No, he is not.”

That was also the truth.

“Is the Grand Duke someone who does not hesitate to cut the throat of those who defy him? Wait, think carefully before saying ‘no.’”

“…….No, he is not.”

Truth.

At this point, I was getting a little suspicious.

Of course, lie detectors aren’t 100% reliable.

A lie detector detects lies based on various physiological responses, such as heart rate, respiration, and eye movement, so it doesn’t function properly on individuals who show no physical or emotional reactions when lying.

‘Could Sir Penadel be such a person?’

His responses were also mechanical.

It was futile to have been tense, expecting him to grip and shake me, calling me rude.

“Did the Grand Duke of Baluasten really kill his own family and usurp the title?” I blurted out the rumor, rather bluntly.

Even as I spoke, I knew I was going to get a parroted answer. But for the first time, Sir Penadel gave a different answer.

“Why do you ask such a thing?”

This was it.

Instinctively, I sensed that the fate of our contract depended on the answer to this question.

“Answer me.”

For the first time, a human-like reaction emerged from the statue-like figure.

His jaw tightened and his eyes, hidden deep within his mask, seemed to turn a dark color.

“……It’s true.”

I stared at him wordlessly.

More precisely, at the lie detection indicator hovering above him.

The waveform of the graph, which had been consistently steady, was now wildly fluctuating.

* * *

Dim moonlight illuminated the darkened room.

A man, casting a gigantic shadow of a demon, gazed down upon the splendid view of the royal capital.

Finally, he removed the black half-mask that he had been wearing all day.

Under the moonlight, what was revealed was a young man with a cold countenance, as if sculpted from everlasting snow.

His eyes, which had been shaded and dark as the depths of the ocean behind the mask, were now as clear as the surface of the sea, shining pale in the light of the full moon.

The man stood motionless, like a figure in a still-life painting, recalling something in his mind.

“Did the Grand Duke of Baluasten really kill his own family and usurp the title?”

Suddenly, he caught sight of his reflection in the window.

“Ah.”

He discovered his own irises, which had turned red as if a drop of blood had fallen on the white canvas of his eyes.

With an emotionless sigh, the man wiped his face with a cloth.

When he lowered his hand again, the reflection in the window was of a cold wall, transparent as a glacier but devoid of any emotion.

Soon, the man’s steps led him towards a splendid birdcage.

As he lightly tapped the cage with his fingertips, the bird, which had been sitting with its head bowed as if asleep, suddenly lifted its head with a chirping sound.

The bird, made of mechanical devices and feathers, blinked its eyelids a few times before opening its beak.

-Your Grace! Why haven’t you contacted me until now! I’ve been so worried!

The rough voice that came from the small bird was unbelievably loud and coarse.

“That’s why I’m contacting you now,” the man replied as he tiredly flopped down on the sofa.

-That’s not what I meant… Oh well, never mind. What can I say to Your Grace? Are you doing well? I climb the mountain of paperwork in the hellish office every day as Your Grace’s substitute. Hahaha, thanks to that, I’ve given up on my dream of being born as a high-ranking noble in my next life and having subordinates like Your Grace…

“Penadel, you’re being noisy.”

Only then did the mechanical bird’s beak shut tightly.

After a brief silence, the mechanical bird opened its beak without being intimidated.

-Just out of curiosity, you really aren’t doing anything, right? Please think of it as being in exile for about a year and do nothing until mold grows on your body and mushrooms sprout. Do you understand?

“…….”

-Your Grace? Why aren’t you answering? Your Grace?

“……I got a job.”

-Huh?

“I also got engaged.”

-Huh?

“I have a new job, and I’m getting married.”

-That’s a happy fresh start. So, who is it?

“…….”

A heavy silence followed.

It was a while after the mechanical bird shut its beak before it opened its mouth again.

-……Eh?

“You heard the whole story.”

-I forced you to take a leave of absence so you could have a break. Why did you find a new job there… no, more importantly… you’re getting married?

There was nothing to say to that, neither as Penadel, nor as Cedric, Lord of the Northern Territory who had hidden his identity and descended to the royal capital. 

Certainly it hadn’t been this complicated until he was promised, at least verbally, the transfer of ownership of the Herrington Mine by Marquis Blanche.

The Marquis, in his later years, was frail and could barely keep his eyes open, but he did not forget his promise to Cedric and prepared a contract to transfer the mine.

But when Cedric arrived, he was greeted by a blank contract and a notary who informed him of the marquis’s death.

The Marquis had died before the contract could be stamped.

The mine remained in the possession of the Blanche family, becoming frozen assets that no one could touch until Lady Blanche’s marriage.

To Cedric, who had to seal the mine as soon as possible to prevent ‘it’ from escaping the mine, it was an endless wait without any guarantees.

In his desperate pursuit of gaining control over the mine as soon as possible, Cedric eventually came up with a solution.

He combined the romance of a marriage proposal with the practicalities of divorce.

The reason why he insisted on divorce as a condition was because he had no intention of fulfilling his obligations as a husband.

Cedric had no intention of having an heir.

Cedric summarized all of these circumstances in a few words to his subordinate, Penadel.

“That’s how it turned out.”

-……Your Grace, I just had a very bad taste in my mouth. What’s going on with you after all? I’m coming to the royal capital at once!

“Don’t talk nonsense. Find out about Belinda Blanche.”

As he said that, Cedric recalled the woman with reddish hair so vividly that it hurt his eyes.

In the Northern Territory, where everything was bleached to a pale color, it was rare to see such vivid hues.

He had heard that she was a wicked woman who caused a commotion at Lord Blanche’s funeral, insulting the deceased.

But the Belinda he saw was so different from the woman rumored about.

She wore a simple dress when they met, far from extravagance, and the second time they met, she was alone, as if deserted, in a dilapidated annex without a single servant.

There, she mourned the death of her family all by herself.

Rumors and reality can sometimes diverge, but this gap seemed too wide. It felt as if someone had intentionally spread false rumors.

‘Besides, that necklace is…….’

As Cedric was deep in thought.

-So that’s who’s going to be our mistress!

Penadel’s voice, sounding somewhat excited, interrupted him.

-Your Grace, there was something I wanted to ask you.

There was somehow a hint of tension in the words that followed.

Cedric tilted his head, and plentiful enough that it was also as if Cedric could see them, Penadel began to pour out an endless stream of words