9.
“You didn’t like me, did you?”
“Pardon?”
“Don’t tell me… don’t tell me you’ve been secretly nursing a one-sided crush on me, hiding behind a mask and observing me in such a shameless, gloomy way without even showing your face?”
Master remained frozen, stunned. Then, he let out a deep, ragged sigh and shook his head vigorously.
“Absolutely not.”
“Then why on earth are you so surprised that I’m getting married?”
“The partner is Ekian Mayous. Anyone would be just as surprised as I am.”
Since that wasn’t exactly wrong, Judith nodded readily.
“That’s true.”
“Besides, pregnancy? Isn’t that a bit of an absurd lie?”
Master shouted, venting his frustration. Judith shrugged and spoke nonchalantly.
“How would you know if it’s a lie or not, Master? Why do you keep insisting it’s a lie?”
“That is…!”
Master went to shout in excitement but stopped himself mid-sentence. He shook his head again and continued in a calmer tone.
“Lady Aylan, it hasn’t even been a week since you came of age. And yet, pregnancy?”
“Ah.”
Unlike the flustered Master, Judith remained calm and relaxed, nodding slowly.
“Kids these days are a bit wild, but I’ve certainly lived a diligent life, far from what you’d call ‘those kinds of kids.’ That’s a fair point, though. I’ll keep it in mind.”
“…It is a lie, isn’t it? Are you going to admit it now?”
“Please keep my secret.”
Watching Judith smile so casually, Master let out a long, weary sigh that made him sound ten years older.
“Well, at least it’s a relief that you weren’t actually targeted by an impostor.”
“An impostor? You have quite the imagination. Who would dare to impersonate Young Duke Mayous?”
Judith chuckled.
“But anyway, Master. Why did you call me here? Is it perhaps to thank me?”
“Ah.”
Only then did Master regain his composure and straighten his posture.
“Yes, that is correct.”
It was somewhat comical, given the vivid memory of him jumping up in a frenzy just moments ago.
“Lady Aylan, thank you truly. If not for you, I would have been doomed—me, my subordinates, and everyone in this alleyway as well.”
“It is also thanks to you, Master, for believing my words and conducting the investigation.”
Judith continued to sip her tea with the same relaxed demeanor she always held.
“And I’m sure you’ll handle all the ‘troublesome matters’ on your own, won’t you?”
The ‘troublesome matters’ naturally referred to the investigators. It was obvious they would make a fuss, questioning why such a bomb was there and how she knew about it.
Judith could slip away from all of that and focus solely on her own affairs. She knew Master would piece together the information and resolve it himself. Since the report had come from the Gray Information Guild—and not just any place—the investigators wouldn’t have any reason to find it suspicious.
“Still, it is the price of my life, so I must, of course, repay you formally. And so…”
Master spoke with the elegance of a smoothly flowing river.
“Lady Aylan’s debt, I will pay it all off for you.”
Master stated this firmly, clasped his hands together, and stared straight at Judith. It was a pose that suggested he was waiting for her to be moved with satisfaction.
“Pardon?”
However, Judith was not moved. On the contrary, she wore a look of utter astonishment.
“You’ll pay off all my debts? Do you even have that kind of money, Master?”
Her private debts were astronomical. It wasn’t without reason that her father had taken his own life. Even with Judith working herself to the bone as a highly skilled private tutor, she could barely afford to pay the interest. It was only because it was the Mayous Ducal House that the debt could be cleared; it wasn’t an amount an ordinary information guild could easily cover.
“Is the Gray Information Guild really capable of such cash liquidity? That’s impossible…”
Naturally, Judith couldn’t help but be shocked. This was merely an information guild led by a man only a few years older than her. She knew it hadn’t even been five years since they opened.
And yet, he had that much money? Master’s abilities seemed far more immense than she had imagined, and as that fact hit home, she even felt a tinge of respect.
“I can.”
Master said with a relaxed smile.
“It seems that you, who know so much, did not know this fact.”
She hadn’t. Because in the original story, this place was supposed to disappear anyway. She had thought the only place capable of paying off her debt in one go was the Mayous Ducal House!
*‘If I had known, I wouldn’t have had to go to the Mayous Ducal House!’*
A wave of injustice washed over her. But it was too late to undo it. She couldn’t possibly go back to the Ducal House and ask to cancel the arrangement. If she did, they might decide to eliminate the one who knew their secrets, and she could disappear from the capital without a trace.
In the end, Judith stared at Master and muttered blankly.
“I’ve already paid it.”
“…What?”
“I said I’ve already paid it.”
Just as Judith said this with a sense of emptiness, a knock sounded, and one of Master’s men entered. He hurriedly handed over a report, and after asking Judith for a moment of patience, Master read through it quickly.
“Hmm.”
He furrowed his brows and muttered.
“I see. On your way here… you paid it off… with a check from the Mayous Ducal House?”
Perhaps because it had happened just moments ago, the information was only reaching him now. Even so, that was incredibly fast. Master paused as if thinking, then deduced the truth.
“Could it be… money you received in exchange for pretending to be pregnant with Ekian Mayous’s child? To delay the death process?”
Hearing his words, Judith thought it was no wonder Master had achieved such wealth in such a short time. In any case, it was a relief that Master had grasped the situation so quickly, saving her the trouble of explaining.
“Keep my secret,” Judith said with a smirk. “That is, if you really want to pay me for your life.”
He seemed immensely grateful—enough to pay off her massive high-interest debt—so surely he would keep the secret. While Judith thought this leisurely, Master sighed and crossed his arms.
“This lie will have an expiration date. You can’t give birth to a child that doesn’t exist.”
“It will still hold up for a few months.”
“And after a few months, you’ll be a divorcée. The entire Empire will even know that you were once pregnant.”
“And what if the Empire knows? Come to think of it, I wish the whole Empire had known that I was struggling to death under a mountain of debt I didn’t even incur.”
“Lady Aylan, even so…”
“Ah, and I think it’s time to change from calling me Lady Aylan.”
Judith shrugged.
“I will soon become the Young Duchess. Young Duchess Mayous, or something like that…”
“That’s a bit…”
Master showed a vehement reaction of rejection. Then, he sighed and said:
“May I just call you by your name? I feel like we’re on those terms now.”
“Go ahead, then.”
“Understood. In any case, Judith, I will certainly keep your secret. Aside from that, if there is anything else you would like to ask of me, at any time…”
“There is!”
Judith interrupted his words, her eyes shining. After all, there was something she had intended to ask him.
“I need some information on the Mayous Ducal House.”
“I don’t know much about that place. We don’t have any informants there,” Master said flatly. “Aren’t you going to enter the Mayous Ducal Mansion as the Young Duke’s wife soon, anyway? You’ll be able to obtain information directly from there.”
“You don’t understand. I’ll be under even closer surveillance inside. There’s something I need to resolve before I go in.”
In truth, Judith’s goals were already mostly achieved. She had hijacked the role of the villainess from the original story and carved out her own life. However… she couldn’t just stand by knowing that the villainess character was continuing to torment someone.
Even if she was just a private tutor, she had taught many children with all her heart for three years. If there was one thing she couldn’t condone, it was an adult bullying a child.
“If things go on like this, the second Young Duke is in danger.”
As soon as her words ended, Master’s body stiffened for a moment. He paused, then asked in a low voice.
“Is that true?”
“Yes. But well, if you say you don’t know much about the Mayous Ducal House, I’ll just have to ask someone else…”
“Please tell me the whole story.”
“I know the story, but since you said you don’t know much about the Mayous Ducal House…”
“I will help you.”
“I appreciate the offer, but since you said you don’t know much about the Mayous Ducal House…”
At that, Master suddenly shouted in excitement.
“No! As a matter of fact, I know a lot about them!”
“Oh my.”