CH 125

Warning: If Ghild Groomers, Pedophiles, and Attempted Sexual Assault on a Minor disturb you, be aware this chapter goes very hard into all that. Nikolaus’ assassination is an even messier business than you can imagine.

When the evening party was progressing as it was and the excitement was building, a pair of a man and a woman were sitting on sofas in a separate room, away from the event hall. The woman is Alexandra of House Lingerburg, a young lady wearing a blond wig with vertical drill curls, and a bright red dress with a tight skirt.

Sitting across from her was a middle-aged, greasy old man, Kaspar, who had been the coachman of House Lingerburg for many years, and had done everything from becoming a gardener to acting as a butler.

“Finally… has the time finally arrived, Miss Alexandra?” Kaspar said with a nasty smile.

“…………” Alexandra did not respond.

She sat so impassively that it seemed as though she had no emotion on her face. She, however, has the face of a villainess and her expressionless face makes it look as if she is angry.

“Fufufufu… if the marriage between me and you, Miss Alexandra, is announced at this evening party today, it will be impossible to cancel it. Even if they do, your reputation will be so damaged no one else will ever want to marry you. No decent noble House will be willing to marry into House Lingerburg.”

“………………”

“However, if you marry me, House Lingerburg will come under the protection of Queen Amelie and Duke Nassam, and they will continue to prosper from now on! The Lingerburgs will be treated so much better than they were under the Carruthers, who treated you so poorly, and then you’ll be able to restore your House! Isn’t it wonderful? Everything was arranged by me for the sake of House Lingerburg!”

“……………………”

Alexandra didn’t even say a word, whether she heard Kaspar’s words or not. But at last, Alexandra tilted the cup in her hand, took a sip of tea, and moistened her mouth.

“You killed my father for the sake of House Lingerburg? Hah…!” Alexandra scoffed. “You’re speaking such nonsense, it’s making my blood boil!”

“Wha…?!” Kaspar gasps in panic at Alexandra’s sudden change.

For several years after moving to the royal capital, Alexandra had been quiet. Kaspar knows that even when they were in Carruzan, she wasn’t the type to stand out and express her opinion.

Even when the children around her carried her on their shoulders, Alexandra’s true nature wasn’t the kind to stand out and be arrogant. Having seen Alexandra for many years, Kaspar knows her inner self well. He should know, but now Alexandra seems like a stranger.

“You think I don’t know anything?” Alexandra snapped. “Didn’t the Second Queen’s Faction and Duke Nassam use you to kill my father in order to sow chaos in the Carruthers Vassals? And then I was brought to the royal capital so you could deliver me to Duke Nassam’s hands without a second thought. Wasn’t this all at the behest of the Second Queen and Duke Nassam?!”

With Alexandra’s words… Kaspar looked surprised for a moment then his face twisted into a grin. The ugly and distorted smirk, a stark difference from the good-natured face he had been showing so far, would induce a sense of disgust from those who saw it.

“Kuh…! Kuhahaha! Yes, that’s right! Yes, Young Miss! No, Lady Alexandra! You belong to me! It was decided long ago!” Kaspar cried. “And yet that bastard Nikolaus would not hand you over to me, he told me I could not have you! That’s why I took Amelie and House Nassam’s offer and killed him! That bastard pig deserved to die at my hands! I’ve been watching over you your whole life, Alexandra! From the day you were born! That’s when you were supposed to be mine!”

Intimidated by Kaspar’s raising his voice and attitude, and still sitting calmly on the couch, Alexandra continued,

“You conspired with Higgs, a member of Carruzan’s town guard, to murder my father. Mulgy, a doctor in Carruzan who served as the medical examiner, wrote fake documents to declare my father’s cause of death unknown. And there was a witness to the scene. Didn’t you also kill Anette, the maid who saw you, after she helped you destroy the evidence?”

“… You know so much about it,” Kaspar said. “You’re not just guessing… no matter. Ah, no matter indeed! If you know that much, then explaining will be easy! If you want to know so badly, I’ll tell you everything in detail! Listen carefully!”

Kaspar then began to go at length about his scheme.

Kaspar was heavily in debt at the time. Kaspar thought he can only pay off all his debts if he acquires the Lingerburg fortune, and suggests to Nikolaus that his marrying Alexandra would benefit the Lingerburgs. However, of course, a Count like Nikolaus who takes so much pride in his nobility and family legacy would not let Kaspar, a mere commoner, marry his daughter.

Full of resentment, Kaspar worsened House Lingebrug’s notoriety and spread unfounded rumors, lowering their standing even more. He also carried out various maneuvers to make Alexandra isolated and hated by the other parents and children of her generation, and both House Lingerburg and Alexandra became more and more isolated.

All was well. If things went on like that, the marriage of Kaspar and Alexandra, who are the only ones who can keep House Lingeburg alive, will be decided. At first, Kaspar only wanted the status and property of House Lingerburg to pay off his debts, but before he knew it, he had become obsessed with Alexandra herself.

At that time, a young knight named Floto von Caan appeared. With the appearance of Floto, Alexandra was brought out of her isolation and found a friend. Therefore, Kaspar instilled in Nikolaus fear and suspicion of Floto, no, he made-up accusations about Floto and coerced him to separate the two.

That’s why when Alexandra first visited Floto’s hut, Kaspar glared at Floto with a terrible expression and he reported this and that to Nikolaus.

However, the strategy that seemed to have succeeded at one time failed in an instant, and in the end, Floto and Alexandra became closer and closer friends.

Kaspar thought he had to do something about it, and decided to accept Amelie and Nassam’s offer after they had been in contact with him for so long. He was introduced to his co-conspirators, the Carruzan Town Guard Higgs and the Doctor Mulgy, both deeply in debt like Kaspar was, and the three of them enacted House Nassam’s plan to the letter.

First, the three of them kill Nikolaus and destroy the evidence. Higgs, a town guard, is the first to rush to the scene of Nikolaus’ murder. After that, Mulgi forges documents declaring his cause of death unknown when it has clearly been a murder. Then, everything should be fine.

And yet, for some reason, the old maid Annette remained at the mansion on the day of Nikolaus’s murder. When she should have been gone long ago from the mansion, she noticed the noises in Nikolaus’ room and went to see how she was doing. There, she runs into his three murderers.

Annette tries to escape but is quickly caught and threatened to help clean up the room if she doesn’t want to be killed. So Annette reluctantly helped clean up the evidence but these three couldn’t let her loose in the end. So, she was killed alongside Nikolaus with her body disposed of so that it would never be found.

There was another eyewitness at this time. It wasn’t only Annette who hadn’t left that day, but also the young maid, Hannah. The two of them stayed at the mansion until a little late, and the two separated, Hannah went home, and Annette headed to report to Nikolaus. However, Hannah also noticed the noise, also went to Nikolaus’ room and happened to be another eyewitness.

Kaspar also thought it would be better to kill Hannah as well, as Annette was still there and she witnessed the crime scene. However, Hannah ran away immediately after seeing that Nikolaus and Annette had both been killed. After going to the royal capital immediately after, Kaspar tried to search for her but gave up and bet that she had seen nothing.

After that, Hannah didn’t know that Kaspar and the others were coming to the royal capital, thought it would be dangerous to stay in Carruzan, and ended up coming right where the criminals were planing to hide. Luckily, however, she never met Kaspar. The odds of them were very low, with Kaspar mostly staying in Manor Nassam in the capital and the usual haunts of the upper class, while Hannah hung around only in the downtown area and the slums.

And Hannah, who hadn’t met Kaspar and the others for several years, was discovered by Flora the other day and told her everything she had witnessed.

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“Now then!?” Kaspar yelled. “Does it matter now that you know about it!? Who do you think is going to be believed, an adult allied with Amelie and House Nassam or you, a stubborn child who doesn’t have any proper friends? Even if you tell someone about it, no one will believe you! You have no choice but to become mine!”

“Kyaa…! No-ooo!” Alexandra screamed.

Kaspar stood up and forced himself on Alexandra sitting on the opposite sofa. He forcefully pushes her and holds her down.

“Oops… if I tear up your dress, there will be trouble at the wedding announcement after this. Kukuku…! If I could have, I’d rip your dress to shreds, but I’ll give you a break. Now, let’s have some fun for now. Hihihih…!”

And when Kaspar was about to extend his filthy hands to the trapped Alexandra beneath him…

“Don’t you dare touch my Alexandra with your disgusting hands!”

“Huh… gupyah…!” Kaspar blubbered.

He could not understand what had happened. However, in an instant, he was blown towards the wall and crashed into it, then lost consciousness on impact.

The moment Kaspar was about to touch Alexandra’s chest, Flora reached the limit of her patience, launched herself at Kaspar, and punched him in the face, sending him flying.

But maybe it was luck. If he had been conscious, he would have been writhing around from the intense pain of the crushed bones of his face. Luckily, he’s fainted from the shock of colliding with the wall, so he feels no pain from the broken nose or shattered jaw.

“Fuuh… Fuuh… Haaah…!” Flora gasped.

And then… when Flora was about to chase after Kaspar after he was unconscious and lodged half-upright into the wall, someone grabbed her fist and stopped her.

“Don’t do it, Flora dear. A normal person would die if you hit him with this kind of power, you know? This guy is a bastard who is worse than garbage, but you can’t just kill him here.”

“… Mother.”

When Alexandra was assaulted, Flora forgot herself and almost killed Kaspar. If Maria didn’t stop Flora, she would have finished him off with the next blow. You could say he was on the brink of death already….

“Sir… Lady Flora…!”

“Aah, Alexandra! Are you okay?” Flora asked.

As she pushed herself up, Alexandra was about to say “Sir Floto,” but stopped, then jumped into Flora’s chest while calling her “Lady Flora.” Flora hugged her back tightly. Alexandra’s body trembled slightly. Flora caressed her and then glared at the door she had just charged through.

“Now then… is there anything you would like to say? Second Queen Amelie? Or how about you, Duke Nassam?”

At the limit of her patience, Flora charged in and now she sees the figures of Queen Amelie and Duke Nassam beyond the door. And so many others… the room is connected to this room and the next. And there was quite the crowd in the adjacent room.

King Wilhelm and Chancellor Dietrich, as well as those who hold executive positions like top court officials and ministers, or the heads of influential dukedoms and marquisates, and Amelie and Duke Nassam. Even Wilhelm is pressed for anything to say in front of so many witnesses.

“Fu, fufufu…” Amelie chuckled, fearless. “I don’t know what you’re talking about! Do you really think I’ve committed a crime after taking such a criminal’s nonsense seriously? I’m a member of the royal family. Don’t think you can get away with accusing me like that!”

After hearing Amelie’s resistance, Duke Nassam also opened his mouth.

“That’s right… it seems that this person tried to denigrate me and Queen Amelie, but what of it? There is no evidence that we were involved. This is just some bizarre ramblings by a commoner who has no idea what he’s talking about. You’re not trying to judge the Duke of Nassam with that level of evidence, are you?”

Convinced the evidence appeared to be little more than Kaspar’s insane ramblings, Duke Nassam stood with Queen Amelie.

“Haa… is that so…?” Flora asked. “Are you insisting that there is no proof…? If you took responsibility yourself, your sentence would have been lighter… well then, I suppose I have no choice”

With the blood in her head slowly flowing back down, Flora glared at the masterminds.