Hidden Faces And Desserts (6)

“I don’t understand human stories.”

After returning to the dining room, Rurin spoke with a complicated expression. Unlike me and the Greek boy, she showed no empathy.

“Is that why you’re upset? Just kill that Count Dedran. It’s simple.”

“Well, it sounds simple when you say it like that, but just killing him would be too bland. The world needs to know what he did. And…”

I laid the head-tilting Rurin on the bed and sat next to her. Her eyes were full of sleep, probably because she was forced to wake up at a time she never did, but she seemed to be holding it back. Yet, she still clung to my clothes.

Is she worried that I might suddenly disappear like before?

Of all things, that won’t happen. It won’t.

“And you don’t understand Berna’s story?”

“Yes.”

“Think of that woman as you.”

“Why should I be such a worthless human? I don’t want to.”

“It’s just a hypothesis. And Count Greek is me. But the Dragon clan poisoned me, making me unable to do anything. I can’t recognize you. I’m just blank. I can’t cook for you, hug you, or punish you if you don’t listen. And we can’t talk like this.”

“……”

Rurin’s expression twisted. She had considered Berna’s story as that of a worthless crawling bug, but when she applied it to herself, it seemed she thought a little differently.

“It’s you, but not you?”

“Of course. If you’re poisoned and become unable to do anything…”

“That can’t happen! I don’t want that. It’s nonsense. You’re strong, so that won’t happen!”

“That’s why it’s a hypothesis. That woman is in exactly that situation. So how sad would she be?”

“Is that so? I think I understand a little.”

“Right? So don’t interfere and just stay still. I’ll let you take revenge.”

“If it were me… I wouldn’t stay still! I’d turn everything upside down. I’d destroy this world! A world without you!”

“That’s foolish talk. That won’t happen to me. This time, you got too emotional again? Come on, go to sleep.”

I covered her with the blanket and tried to leave, but Rurin still didn’t let go of my arm.

“Your eyes are full of sleep, so why are you holding on? Sleep, you fool, we have to move early tomorrow. Or you’ll stay here alone.”

“I’m going too. Somehow, I want to see that woman’s end.”

For the first time, Rurin showed interest in someone other than me. Applying her situation to ours seemed to have worked quite well.

“So sleep, Dragon.”

The dragon raised her upper body and looked at me with teary eyes.

“But… can’t you stay with me? Because of you, I’ve become strange. Today… I’m too strange. I can’t sleep alone. You…”

The revenge plan of Count Greek’s family.

The first step is for the Greek boy to fall ill with the same disease as his father and collapse.

This requires thorough acting. The Greek boy, who had always seen his father’s condition, must replicate it exactly for the plan to proceed.

He doesn’t actually take the medicine, but he must act as if he did.

He has to perform as if he deserves the lead role in a drama. Because this is the script of a drama.

Other than Berna and I.

And the Greek boy, no one else knows the truth.

The butler will be half-doubtful.

Our dragon seems to have some interest, but since she’s thoroughly on my side, she’s excluded.

When the Greek boy collapses, the informants who are under Count Dedran will naturally report it.

Berna doesn’t need to do anything here. Contacting Count Dedran directly would only create a sense of incongruity; it’s best for him to hear it from someone else.

Through this false act, I intend to let everyone in Greek City know about Count Dedran’s evil deeds. That’s the first big blow to Count Dedran.

Since the day before yesterday, the Greek boy sat on the bed, dazed, looking blankly at the ceiling. The sight of drool dripping down made it obvious that he wasn’t normal.

The rumor that the Greek boy had contracted the same disease as his father spread quickly. The nobles loyal to the Greek boy, who had volunteered to be the acting Lord, showed signs of unrest everywhere.

To deceive the enemy, you must first deceive your allies.

The Lord’s castle was noisy with the story every day, and those who sincerely accepted it all showed shock on their faces. This way, the exact story would be conveyed to Count Dedran as well.

The Greek boy’s dazed acting was superb.

“Master, am I doing well?”

“It’s fine. You’re doing better than I thought. Count Dedran has probably already received the report. He’ll think that Berna, driven to a corner, succeeded in giving you the medicine. Because he threatened her to do so.”

“I…”

“It’s going well. The real thing starts now.”

The next day, according to our plan, Count Dedran headed for Greek City.

As soon as I received the report, I gathered all the nobles affiliated with the Count’s family, stating that the Countess, who could be considered the highest authority in the Greek Count’s family, would make an important announcement on behalf of Count Greek and the Greek boy.

Of course, the nobles of the Count’s family are viscounts and barons.

Collaborating with the butler, I gathered them all in the room next to the Greek boy’s bedroom. That room was converted into a reception room.

Of course, there was a commotion.

“Soon, Count Dedran will arrive, and His Excellency and the Countess will make an important announcement there, so please wait a little.”

“What?”

“What do you mean? Why is His Excellency Count Dedran involved in Count Greek’s affairs?”

“It’s obvious. His Excellency is the Countess’s father!”

Fingers pointed here and there. But because of that, it was very easy to distinguish between friends and foes.

Of course, I had already made a list of nobles who had sided with Count Dedran along with the Greek family.

I had also selected the maids and servants working in the Lord’s castle as much as possible, so now it was just a matter of exposing everything.

And finally, the villain of the drama appeared.

Count Dedran himself appeared. From here, Berna’s role was crucial. Her acting had to make everything spill out of Count Dedran’s mouth.

Lead role 1 was the Greek boy, acting dazed.

Lead role 2 was Berna herself.

When I last asked her, she answered like this.

“Can you do it?”

“I’m scared. But I tried to die. I think there’s no greater fear in the world than death.”

Berna said that and stayed by the Greek boy’s side.

I returned to the reception room.

As soon as Count Dedran arrived, he announced that he would visit the sick Greek boy.

Anyone could have predicted that he would want to confirm it with his own eyes. The more someone thinks of others as tools, the more they need to see the situation with their own eyes to accept it as true.

“Baron Dylan, what on earth is going on here?”

Count Dedran feigned ignorance and approached the Greek boy’s proxy. He observed closely. Drool was flowing from the Greek boy’s mouth.

The condition was indeed similar to the symptoms of the poison. In the room were only himself, his daughter, and the Greek boy.

Then he had to confirm it more definitively.

Count Dedran took a dagger out from his bosom. The surest way to confirm if someone was poisoned was to stab them with a knife.

Since he had his eyes open, a human naturally shows a reflex reaction when stabbed with a knife. He couldn’t help but show a pained expression.

“Father…? Didn’t you say you wouldn’t kill him? Why…”

Berna approached with a terrified expression. But Count Dedran only smiled faintly.

“It’s not to kill. Just to confirm.”

Then he stabbed the dagger into the boy’s thigh.

Thrust!

Berna was genuinely shocked. This was not acting. Watching her, Count Dedran burst into a hearty laugh.

“Hahahahaha!”

It was a laugh of satisfaction. When he pulled the knife out, blood was on it. But the boy’s face showed no pain.

That’s exactly the nature of this poison. It paralyzes the nervous system in the brain, making one unable to feel any pain.

Then he had definitely taken the poison. Not even flinching when stabbed with a knife could only be explained by the effectiveness of the poison. At least as far as Count Dedran knew.

But if you looked closely, no blood was flowing from the boy’s thigh even though he was stabbed. The reason was simple. The Greek boy was under the 10th-class spell of time stop.

In the suspended time of the Greek boy, even the blood flow in his thigh had stopped.

But because of the clear sensation of stabbing with the knife and the blood on it, Count Dedran dismissed any doubt and looked away from the Greek boy.

And he was about to leave the room.

Berna wasn’t sure what had happened, but she thought she had to do what needed to be done.

Her whole body was still trembling.

She had resolved to die and even hung herself. So she had told El there was no greater fear than that, but she thought that perhaps the fear imprinted on her body for life might be greater than death, and she felt ridiculous.

But nothing would be resolved like this.

She had to deal with the seed she had sown. Berna called out to her father in a voice squeezed out after countless self-encouragements.

“Is this enough, Father? Now can I…?”

“Enough? What enough? The work starts now. How much do you think you’ve set back what could have been so easy if you had produced an heir?”

Count Dedran, who had turned to leave at his daughter’s call, approached Berna, grabbed her by the hair, and rolled his eyes.

“Don’t think that you’re free just because you gave him the medicine. All the evidence of embezzling taxes in Greek City points to you. So if you want to live, just stay quietly in this lord’s castle. Understand?”

“But Father… Can I ask just one thing?”

“You dare to question me?”

Berna still couldn’t look directly at the Count’s face. And Count Dedran, as usual, threw her to the ground by her hair.

Berna, who had fallen to the ground, began to shed tears.

“I want to know, Father… Please tell me. Did you… give my husband the medicine too?”

Count Dedran, who was about to leave again, grabbed his daughter’s hair. She trembled all over and lowered her head.

The count smiled slyly and grabbed his daughter’s chin with his other hand.