CH 127

Kaspar’s confession continues. Why would the villain be so eager to talk about his crimes, even though they were first exposed by Alexandra? This is just guessing, but people tend to want to talk about secrets and dark things. I’m not familiar with psychology, but maybe it’s some sort of psychological phenomenon.

When I was on modern Earth, a person who was suspected of committing a crime from a certain powerhouse organization was interviewed on TV and covered up the crime. But there was a moment when he went into the bathroom and babbled about his crimes in front of a mirror, while he was still wearing a mic, and it became his confession. People tend to want to talk about secrets no matter what.

Kaspar continued to speak as if he were bragging about his crimes. And when he had finished speaking, he suddenly stood up and assaulted Alexandra. He shoves her down on the sofa and tries to put his hands on Alexandra’s body. My head was boiling when I saw that.

………………

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By the time I came to, Mother was holding my arm. In front of me was Kaspar, who was slumping half-upright in the wall. It’s obvious what I did while I lost my awareness.

“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 kill him here.”

“…… Mother.”

Mother? Don’t you always hit me with more force than I did just now? What do you mean by “ordinary people will die”? Shouldn’t I be dead, too? And yet you’re always hitting me with more power than I used?

Haa~aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa… I calmed down anyway. I almost ruined my own plans. Kaspar still has to face public judgment. If I killed him here, Amelie and the others would say, “This farce was orchestrated by Flora, so she quickly killed the criminal to shut him up.”

“Sir… Lady Flora!”

“Oh, Alexandra! Are you okay?”

When I calmed down and thought about that, Alexandra jumped into my chest. My large breasts and Alexandra’s large breasts push each other and mold to each other.

I want to comfort Alexandra more, but I can’t stay like this forever. When I stared at Amelie and the others, I started investigating. However, Amelie and Duke Nassam would not admit it so easily. Although they knew what happened, they started insisting that the testimony of a commoner criminal was irrelevant.

“Haa… is that so…?” I 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”

Even when I said that the two of them didn’t break their relaxed smiles. Kaspar’s testimony alone does not prove that the two were involved. In the first place, the two must be confident that they did not directly instruct Kaspar. Even if they ordered their subordinates to deliver the scheme to Kaspar, they did not give them directly to Kaspar. That’s why they probably think that as long as the family servants don’t spill, they can just insist that they have nothing to do with it.

“Katharina!” I yelled.

“Right,” Katharina said as she came from outside the room with certain documents.

When I receive them, I spread them out to Amelie, Duke Nassam, and other court officials and high-ranking nobles who were here. It’s small letters written on a normal document, so even if you spread it out and show it to the nobles, they won’t be able to read it. But there is meaning in presenting the evidence in such a dramatic fashion. Don’t say it’s useless because you can’t see or read it properly.

“This is the ledger of Nassam Lending Division, run by House Nassam,” I said.

At that, Amelie and Duke Nassam’s complexions turned for the worse. They were about to say something, but I’ll go first.

“In this ledger, the debts to Kaspar, Higgs, and Mulgy, the three perpetrators involved in the assassination of Count Nikolaus, Head of House Lingerburg, are recorded. It should be obvious who the culprits are.”

“What kind of proof is that!?” Duke Nassam interrupted me. “There are so many people who owe money to the Lending Division!”

But I will continue without panicking.

“Please see here,” I said. “Higgs has had his debts cleared in Carruthers territory and then transferred to the royal capital. Also, as you all know, Kaspar is here. In exchange, Dr. Mulgy closed his clinic in Carruzan after the incident and then disappeared.”

Even if I explained this far, no one seemed to get the hang of it. The attention is drifting. So I will explain further.

“The debts of Kaspar and Higgs were repaid by House Nassam the day after the assassination of Count Nikolaus. And the debts of the missing Dr. Mulgy are recorded as a loss.”

“…… And then?” Duke Nassam murmured.

Do you really not understand the meaning or are you trying to fool everyone? So I decided to explain.

“If a person with debts disappears, it is usually not recorded as a loss as if there were no debts. Until the person is found or the person’s death is confirmed, it should be maintained as a loan on paper with the deed. So why would they immediately dispose of the loan and record it as a loss on the day Dr. Mulgy went missing?”

“Ah…! I see… I understand now,” said one of the important nobles, Duke Alden, as he nodded in agreement.

Ordinarily, if a person who lends money has lost the debt, would he put it on the accounts as a loss? There can’t be such an idiot. It is common to find the person who has gone missing and ask them to return the money. And keep the evidence of having loaned the money until the debtor’s whereabouts can be found.

Nevertheless, Mulgy’s debt is recorded as a loss at the same time as his disappearance. Why? No need to think about it. Because they know that the money they lent to Mulgy will not be returned. In other words, Mulgy was erased by the hands of Nassam Lending, rather than him allegedly closing up shop and then disappearing. That’s why they know they won’t be getting the money back.

Immediately after the assassination, House Nassam, who were supposed to be unrelated for some reason, refinanced and paid off the debts of the perpetrators, and Mulgy’s debts, who just became a missing person, are recorded as a loss as they were certain he’ll never repay his debt. With this much circumstantial evidence, no matter who thinks about it, they will end up in the same place.

“What does it matter?!” Duke Nassam yelled. “Such things can’t be used as evidence!”

“That’s right,” I said. “This is only circumstantial evidence and cannot be considered proof by itself.”

“Fu-fuhn!” Duke Nassam huffed. “That’s correct!” he added, nodding in satisfaction.

Of course, this is only circumstantial evidence and cannot be decisive evidence. But I wonder what the people who heard the story would think. There is probably no one who thinks Duke Nassam and Amelie are irrelevant, who just insists that there is no evidence in this situation. And I wasn’t going to fight with this with circumstantial evidence alone. Now comes the important part.

“Certainly, this alone cannot be evidence. So let’s investigate the accounts of Duke Nassam and the Second Queen, Amelie. With this much circumstantial evidence, the public investigation request will pass, won’t it?”

“Uu, muh…” Wilhelm choked.

I wondered if he had second thoughts about agreeing, as he didn’t know what to do at this point.

The accounts and books of the nobles are usually kept private. The ostensible treasurer reports to the kingdom. Otherwise, the income cannot be determined and the tax to be levied cannot be determined. But of course, not everyone reports everything foolishly honestly. Rather, most nobles will have a back book and misrepresent the amount.

Accounting for such reported tables is usually closed to the public, but if they are involved in a crime, they can be requested to disclose it, or if there is a back book, they can be requested to conduct a public investigation.

If there is nothing, public investigations of high-ranking people such as Duke Nassam and Second Queen Amelie are not possible. But with this much circumstantial evidence and deep suspicion surrounding them, the investigation should be justified. In the first place, refusing to investigate because of this is equivalent to confessing that there is something wrong, and if there is nothing, they should have gladly cooperated with the investigation to prove their innocence.

“Wa-Wait a moment! Why do I have to be subjected to such a thing?!” Amelie yelled. “I have nothing to do with this!”

“If you’re unconnected, why don’t you just accept the investigation? You will be vindicated, after all,” I said.

She speaks to escape but there’s no way I’ll let her go.

Why are Amelie and Duke Nassam so upset? There is no evidence that Kaspar and Higgs were ordered to perform the assassination even if they conducted a public investigation. The only thing that comes out is that they lent money to three people, including Mulgy, and that they cleared the other two’s debts. It’s strange that the unnatural flow of money and debts were taken in as if on a lark, but it can’t be evidence that he ordered the assassination.

So why are these two in such a panic? The reason is simple: if the accounts are investigated, there will be a mountain of injustices that cannot be compared with the suspicion that they may have been involved in the assassination. There were many pieces of evidence of the fraud in the documents Dietrich gave me.

If an official government audit comes in and everything is investigated, the suspicion of being involved in Nikolaus’ assassination will be pennies compared to the mountain of financial fraud they’ll uncover. If that happens, it won’t be enough to demolish the House. The entire family will be executed. There are a lot of cases that would be quite dangerous to them buried deep within those back books.

So what will Amelie and Duke Nassam do? The answer is simple: rather than refusing to admit a minor sin in front of us and causing a big sin behind them to come to light, they should admit a small sin in front of us and hide the big sin behind them still. So what happens next…

“Please wait! I ordered Kaspar, Higgs, and Mulgy to do this! This is something that neither my Master nor the Second Queen knows! They are completely unrelated to this!”

“Andre!?” Duke Nassam cried.

The butler who was standing next to Duke Nassam suddenly started shouting. I knew it would turn out like this. Duke Nassam and Amelie will slide past as not knowing a thing about the case, and since it will be a problem if an audit comes in, they will deal with Nikolaus by telling someone else to take the blame. Only the butler called Andre came forward as the culprit.

This would be perfect. Even if I try to pursue this further, there is not enough conclusive evidence. Also, if it becomes a public accounting investigation as I said earlier, other frauds will come out and both House Nassam and Amelie will fall from power. In that case, if they die, the rest of their faction will get desperate and civil war erupts.

Even if the butler did it on his own and things settled down, House Nassam and Amelie would not be blamed because they had nothing to do with it. Besides, the influential nobles who were watching today’s exchange would not take it at face value. You’d think Duke Nassam got away with his crime by treating Andre as a lizard’s tail, a sacrifice to save the rest of him.

Even if the crime of being directly involved in the assassination of Nikolaus cannot be prosecuted, Wilhelm will probably give Andre a certain amount of punishment and imprisonment, and Duke Nassam will also be left with a big scar on his reputation. From now on, even if House Nassam and Amelie try to ingratiate themselves with other noble families, even more nobles will shy away from them because of this incident. These are the limits of the damage that can be done and the things we can address. If I try to pursue this further, Wilhelm and Dietrich will conversely regard me as dangerous and come to crush me.

“I’m sorry, Alexandra. This is the limit of my current power…” I said quietly.

“No, Lady Flora. You’ve avenged my father’s death,” Alexandra said as she shook her head.

If I could have, I would pursue it more properly and earn a suitable reward. However, if we suddenly stepped into that point now, it might develop into a big war splitting the country. This is as far as we can go.

“Now then! The case is over!” Mikoto yelled. “In the future, do not try to retaliate against any of the overseeing parties. Mikoto Vandenlissen witnessed this incident. If you do, you will have me to answer to us as well!”

Now that it was finally her turn, she was so enthusiastic. You may wonder what effect such a declaration has. But Amelie bit her handkerchief and stared at me and Mikoto in turn. The royal family of another country saw it and helped settle the matter. Trying to overturn this would mean defying a member of Vandenlissen, a royal family, and thus, the Kingdom of Del’s mediation and bearing witness. If that happens, it will be a war with the Kingdom of Del, as if they could not be trusted. Therefore, the King will never allow this ruling to be challenged.

The butler of Duke Nassam, Andre, is being investigated as the mastermind behind the assassination of Nikolaus. Although there is no evidence that Duke Nassam and Amelie directly instructed him, they will be suspended for the time being for poor supervision of their subordinates.

There won’t be any direct damage if you’re careful. But this time, many aristocrats saw the attitude of Duke Nassam and Amelie. What did the nobles think when they saw them refusing an investigation even though there was so much circumstantial evidence? And how did they decide what to do next? At least they must have understood that the Second Queen’s Faction had no future.

“Johann,” Wilhelm said. “I thought you would surely make this country a better place… I am so deeply sorry it turned out this way.”

“–Your Majesty!” said Duke Nassam. “This is a mistake! I have nothing to…”

“Silence!” Wilhelm shouted. “You still insist on such a thing after everything that’s happened, do you!?”

Duke Nassam fell silent. “Everything that’s happened” being, Wilhelm knows Nassam was giving instructions, but he’s still going to make excuses when he’s already being spared judgment. Hearing that, Duke Johann von Nassam simply bowed his head quietly.