episode_0432

“What about those people? Will it be okay?”

Even if it’s the place where Franc is the leader, isn’t it still considered a ‘cult’?

Nekis, who is well aware of the ominous rumors surrounding cults, couldn’t view the people coming from there favorably.

“To be honest, I think it’s enough to have those who protect us from the top, but the boss doesn’t seem to like them. So, I’m thinking of asking them for protection.”

“Hmm….”

It seems like Nekis is trying to endure something he doesn’t want to do in order to attend the coronation ceremony.

“It’s not a problem to ask the organization for help, but….”

It’s a bit uncomfortable for me as well.

Although those following Franc are gradually joining the organization, it’s still in the early stages and they are not fanatical followers of Franc yet.

There could be some troublemakers among them.

“How can an ordinary person predict the thoughts of crazy people?”

There might be someone with the crazy idea of getting rid of Franc’s birth mother to eliminate her flaws.

They are unreliable people.

“I’m a bit wary because I don’t know their capabilities.”

Do they have the skills to protect Nekis effectively?

That’s also a major concern.

With so little information about them, how can I entrust Nekis’ safety to them?

“It seems like not going would be the cleanest option.”

“It’s not like coronation ceremonies happen frequently, it’s something special.”

Is it necessary to attend the princess’s coronation ceremony?

“If I don’t go, the princess might feel hurt. But I can make up for it with the gift I prepared.”

By thinking of the coronation gift as a congratulatory gift, I can resolve any hurt feelings.

Although everyone is upset about not being able to attend the princess’s coronation, I am someone who doesn’t need to be upset.

I put in more effort than others to do so, and it’s not like I didn’t show respect to the princess since Erin Tina will attend even if I don’t.

“In fact, I found it bothersome too. Going back and forth to the capital is tiring. The travel time is too long.”

“I’ll just go with the boss.”

It seems like she suddenly changed her mind to go with me because she didn’t want me to not go because of her.

“No, if you can make an excuse, I’m fine with not going. Let’s just not go.”

“I heard that nobles attending parties is part of their job. It shouldn’t interfere with your work because of me.”

“Oh? You know that?”

Socializing with nobles is more important than anything for business.

Of course, commoners tend to think that nobles are just teasing them when they say that.

I know this because I used to be a commoner in the past.

“Someone told me before. The reason for attending parties is for work.”

“Ah….”

“If you come back reeking of women’s perfume and I feel upset, the nobles scold you for not knowing what they do.”

“What a jerk.”

“Haha!”

Nekis burst into laughter and continued speaking.

“I had no choice but to believe what that person said. I had doubts, but I just pretended not to know. Pretending to know was scary.”

It’s obvious why that guy said such things.

There hasn’t been any change from then to now.

“Betraying trust is a bad thing. Ah, he hasn’t approached separately, right?”

“No. He hasn’t approached me.”

“That’s a relief.”

“Right now, he’s meeting and hanging out with younger girls than me. There’s no way I would catch his eye. He’s probably not interested in meeting Fran, right?”

That’s unlikely.

The way he was stealing glances at me like a drama male lead was vivid.

He was feeling restless, and judging by the fact that he found a woman who resembled me as his new girlfriend, he didn’t seem like he would easily give up.

So, I was doing my best not to drift apart from him.

Of course, even so, I couldn’t spend 24 hours with him.

I couldn’t intrude into his personal life.

That’s why I asked if he had approached separately.

“Fran is living in a place where I don’t have to worry about him. It’s easier for that person to approach you, isn’t it?”

“If he wants to see Fran, he might come.”

It seemed like Negishi didn’t think the viscount would have any interest in her.

“When we met last time, I told you to treat Negishi well. Aren’t you worried about that?”

“No. It should be fine. That person has always been fragile.”

“Fragile?”

“Yes. He dislikes conflicts and is originally a timid person. He doesn’t have the courage to approach me when he knows there’s someone else by my side.”

Yeah, with that kind of personality, he probably can’t stand up to his own wife.

But don’t forget that such a guy came all the way here to steal glances at Negishi and couldn’t let go of his lingering feelings.

Perhaps when they meet again, Negishi was too beautiful to handle.

“Even though it was a long time ago, you remember it in detail.”

“To the boss, it might seem funny, but that was the happiest time in my life. Even though the outcome wasn’t good.”

“Why is that funny? Everyone can have memories they cherish.”

“It’s funny to think of those moments when I was deceived as the happiest memories.”

Certainly doesn’t seem like a good thing.

That was the happiest memory in her life.

“It is a problem. Let’s make more good memories in the future. Then you won’t have to consider that time as the best memory.”

“Oh!”

Negishi, who seemed surprised by my words, hesitated for a moment before cautiously speaking.

“Can that really happen?”

“There’s no reason it can’t.”

I’ll help her make it happen.

For the sake of Fran’s mental well-being, Negishi’s safety had to be the top priority.

“You’ve had quite a few good days recently, right? Did you enjoy them?”

“No! I enjoyed them too.”

“Then, since you’ve started, the rest will fill up soon.”

After eating until my stomach was full and sightseeing, if she said she didn’t have fun, that wouldn’t be right.

Didn’t she brush off the sadness of parting with Fran?

“Thanks to the boss, I’ve been really happy lately. It was surprising, but I was happy to reunite with Fran, and now that the child is gone, I’m not lonely because the boss is by my side.”

It seems like it wasn’t in vain to stick by her side all this time.

“I’m happier now than I was then. I don’t know why I didn’t think of this sooner.”

Now that she realized it, watching her smile happily, a sense of pride washed over me.

If I handle only the internal and external affairs of the viscount well in the future, I won’t need to worry about her anymore.

And a few days later.

The news I had been waiting for came from my informant.

Things happen all at once, as they say, and that was when Damon brought me the news.

※ ※ ※

“The current son of the Viscount Hutton may not be his legitimate child…”

“We never imagined something this big would come out. Who would have known that such an elegant lady would be hiding such a massive secret.”

Information-wise, they seemed quite confident in the weakness they had discovered in the countess, as their noses were held quite high.

“The love for the count’s son is quite well-known even among the nobles. He’s been called a mama’s boy, always clinging to his mother. Usually, noble children are raised strictly, but in that household, the count doted on his son excessively.”

“Didn’t they say the son was good-looking and had a normal personality?”

“We didn’t just investigate the countess. This is a bonus.”

Information-wise, they pulled out another document.

Inside was information about their son.

“…His personality seems more sinister than I thought.”

As I read further, my brow furrowed involuntarily.

He looked fine on the outside, but inside, he was disgustingly repulsive.

“It’s surprising that he’s not the count’s son, isn’t it? They say he takes after him in behavior. It’s just that this side of the count’s son is a bit more dirty and vulgar. It’s not 100% confirmed that his father is a commoner. However, most of the men the countess played with back then were commoners, so the probability is very high.”

It seemed strange that an academy girl wasn’t popular. But isn’t it understandable?

A guy who hasn’t even become an adult yet is doing such things…

“But to find this kind of information… Well, there’s nothing we can’t do if we try.”

“Hehe. It was easy to get information about the son. The count’s son frequents a shop that is closely connected to us.”

“Let’s just stick to the information about the count’s son. The count probably doesn’t know that he’s not his real son, right?”

“That’s right. Probably only the countess knows. We were lucky to find this information. The countess killed all the men she mixed with back then. Only one survived, and we found him.”

“Good. Since you handled it so well, I’ll make sure to pay you extra.”

I asked for the countess’s weakness, but I didn’t expect to get such a clear weakness.

“But will you use this information separately?”

I requested the information, but Information-wise, they didn’t seem like they would only use such valuable information once.

Sure enough, Information-wise gave me a meaningful smile in response to my question.

“I believe we have done all the work we were paid for by providing the information. However, exclusive access to the information can be arranged for a fee.”

If I didn’t want to reveal this information, it meant I had to pay.

“Tell me the price.”

After hitting such a jackpot, would money really be an issue?

I had started dealing with Information-wise based on Erin Tina’s recommendation, wanting to see how far I could go with money to avoid any trouble. Information-wise was doing the job very satisfactorily.

Erin Tina had also advised me to have someone to handle the work by my side. Feeling the convenience of being able to avoid troublesome tasks with money, I wanted to keep the connection going.

Information-wise had no problem with a customer who poured money like water.