Chapter 34

Iden jumped up and protested his innocence.

In that instant, with a ‘pop,’ a tail sprang out behind him.

“Ah.”

Flustered, Iden hurriedly hid his tail.

Seeing that, Kerbel clicked his tongue briefly.

“It seems it wouldn’t be surprising if that woman found out at any moment.”

“……It’s fine. Yvette likes me.”

Iden pouted and looked up at Kerbel.

He said it was fine, but his eyes did not look fine at all.

“That’s because she thinks you’re a human child and likes you.”

Kerbel answered cynically and pressed Iden’s forehead firmly with his index finger.

“If she finds out you’re a fox cub, her mind might change.”

“…….”

At those words, Iden clamped his mouth shut with a hurt face.

Watching him, Habert spoke in a low voice.

“Is something the matter, young master?”

“Why do you think that?”

“Because you’re being colder to Iden than usual.”

“You’re as quick-witted as ever.”

When Kerbel grumbled in displeasure, Habert smiled brightly.

“That too is thanks to you, young master.”

At that, Kerbel let out a small scoff and turned his head.

His sunken gaze turned toward the window.

“……She rejected me again today. She said she’d found someone she likes more than me.”

After a moment’s pause, Kerbel continued.

He did not say exactly who, but Habert seemed to already know everything.

“So what did you say?”

“What else. I said I understood for now, and then I found out who that person is.”

“……Do you plan to kill them?”

When Habert asked worriedly, Kerbel gave a light shrug.

“I thought about it. But it turns out that model is the owner of this house.”

“The owner of this house…… you mean Countess Blanche?”

“Yes.”

Kerbel tapped the sofa with his fingertip and continued.

“It seems she ran into her as well when she came to see me last time. What an amusing twist of fate.”

“So you came here to take out your anger, then?”

“As if. I wouldn’t do something so childish.”

Kerbel curled the corner of his mouth crookedly.

“I just came to take a quick look because I heard the two of them are meeting tomorrow. I don’t know what kind of flies might be buzzing around Yvette Blanche.”

“I see.”

Habert nodded with a careful face.

Whatever else might be the case, the ‘her’ that Kerbel spoke of was someone he could not treat carelessly.

It was then, as silence flowed between the two of them, that Iden, who had been sitting sullenly, sprang to his feet.

“Filia is coming.”

“……Filia?”

When Kerbel tilted his head, Habert hurriedly answered.

“She is the maid Countess Blanche recently hired.”

“Aha. Then that woman will be coming back soon too.”

Kerbel, who had risen from his seat before anyone noticed, snapped his fingers.

In the blink of an eye, he vanished.

“H-Habert!”

Not a few seconds later, Filia appeared in the reception room.

Having tidied the surroundings in the meantime, Habert calmly greeted her.

“What is the matter?”

“Th-the Countess! The Countess went off following some strange man!”

“……A strange man?”

“Yes! His name was Viscount Magnus or something? He suddenly appeared and took the Countess away.”

Filia, who had been rambling, suddenly clapped her hands as if she had just remembered something.

“That’s right! And the Countess said to contact Duke Averon. Right now, I need to write a letter to the Duke……!”

That was when it happened.

Filia, who had been looking around for paper, suddenly closed her eyes and collapsed to the floor.

“Miss Filia!”

“Filia!”

Startled, Habert ran to her side.

Iden, standing a step away, looked flustered as well.

“There’s nothing to worry about. I only made her faint for a moment.”

Kerbel, who had reappeared before anyone noticed, spoke.

At that, Habert, who had been examining Filia, asked in a bewildered voice.

“Why did you make this child faint?”

“Because if she contacts Duke Averon, things will get troublesome.”

Kerbel answered briefly and gestured with his eyes toward Filia.

“I touched her memory a little, so she’ll sleep for at least two or three hours. See that she’s looked after until then.”

“……What do you intend to do?”

“I should go see that woman. And take a look at some unwelcome faces while I’m at it.”

Kerbel muttered meaningfully and snapped his fingers once more.

At last, only Habert, Iden, and the deeply sleeping Filia remained in the reception room.

* * *

“I’ve followed you as you wanted, so now tell me. What is it you know?”

At the same time.

Yvette was sitting in a café with Viscount Magnus.

Perhaps because it was tucked deep in an alley and looked shabby, there were no customers besides the two of them.

When Viscount Magnus handed over a gold coin, the employee also left with an excited face.

And so only the two of them remained in the café.

“The Countess is impatient. The tea hasn’t even come out yet, and you’re already getting to the point.”

Viscount Magnus smiled brightly and leaned back in his chair.

His attitude was so full of ease that it bordered on arrogance, and Yvette furrowed her brow inconspicuously.

“Anyway, you didn’t call me here to actually drink tea, did you?”

“Why do you think so? How delightful would it be to share tea with a woman as beautiful as you?”

At the whisper that seemed slathered in butter, Yvette’s complexion visibly worsened.

She barely suppressed the goosebumps rising all over her body and continued.

“You said you know where my uncle is.”

“More precisely, I asked whether you wanted to know.”

Viscount Magnus corrected her words and smiled lightly.

“And if I say I want to know, will you tell me?”

Yvette asked carefully.

Truthfully, she was not particularly curious about Baron Larishi’s wellbeing.

Whether he was starving because of gambling debts was none of her concern.

But if Viscount Magnus was controlling him, that changed things.

‘He must have some purpose.’

Viscount Magnus and Yvette Blanche were characters with no point of contact in the original work.

Yet Viscount Magnus had deliberately approached her using Baron Larishi from the start.

There was clearly something, some purpose she did not know.

“Telling you where your uncle is isn’t difficult.”

Viscount Magnus continued in a leisurely voice.

Seeing his consistently relaxed expression, he seemed to think he held the upper hand.

“But simply telling you wouldn’t be fun, would it.”

“……Are you saying you’ll set a condition?”

“There’s nothing to worry about. It won’t be a difficult condition for you.”

At Viscount Magnus’s smiling words, Yvette swallowed a sigh inwardly.

When Noel said that kind of thing, it had been fine.

Hearing it from the mouth of a villain felt completely different.

“What is the condition?”

Yvette asked, thinking she would at least hear him out.

At that, Viscount Magnus’s eyes gleamed, and he leaned toward her.

“I hear the most magic stones in the empire are mined in your territory. Is that true?”

“……Magic stones?”

Yvette narrowed her eyes and looked at Viscount Magnus.

‘Why is he suddenly bringing up magic stones?’

It was true that there was a magic stone mine in Blanche’s territory.

But all magic stones in the empire were managed by the imperial family.

So it would be a stretch to say the mine belonged entirely to Blanche.

“It’s true that there are many magic stones in my territory. But what does that have to do with my uncle?”

“If you hand over a portion of those magic stones to me, I’ll tell you where your uncle is.”

“……What?”

Yvette stared at Viscount Magnus in disbelief.

‘So magic stones were the goal all along?’

Magic stones were stones that naturally contained mana.

They could store mana, and conversely, mana could be drawn from them.

That was why they were indispensable to mages.

‘I didn’t think a man of Viscount Magnus’s caliber would covet magic stones.’

Madman though he was, Viscount Magnus was nonetheless an outstanding mage, just like Kerbel.

The fact that a man with at least five times the mana of an ordinary person coveted magic stones was a little strange.

“……How many magic stones do you need?”

Yvette asked, intending to probe him for now.

Of course, she had not the slightest intention of actually handing him magic stones.

She simply wanted to know why he wanted to get his hands on them.

“We’ll decide the details after I hear your answer.”

But with the years he had lived, Viscount Magnus was no easy opponent.

“Here, sign this contract. Then I’ll answer all your questions.”

Viscount Magnus said this and pulled a stiff sheet of paper from his coat.

Seeing it, Yvette wore a fed-up expression.

‘He even prepared a contract already?’

This made it clear that he had deliberately approached her from the start.

‘I don’t think I should sign that carelessly.’

If it was Viscount Magnus, he might have placed some magical device on that paper.

When Yvette showed a moment’s hesitation, Viscount Magnus’s eyes narrowed.

“Aren’t you curious where your uncle is?”

“I was taught not to sign contracts carelessly.”

Truthfully, she was not in the least curious about where Baron Larishi was or what he was doing.

But to find out Viscount Magnus’s true intentions, she felt she should play along to some extent.

“There’s no need to worry. I have no intention of harming you at all.”

Viscount Magnus smiled brightly and held the paper out toward Yvette.

Yvette, who had taken it without thinking, furrowed her brow inconspicuously.

‘No intention of harming me, my foot.’

The very fact that he had tried to control Baron Larishi was already harmful to her.

“……I’m not so sure. That doesn’t sound like something a person trying to trade on my uncle’s safety should say.”