episode_0048

Harnier, who wanted to escape from Theresa Marquisate today.

She was busy playing with her pen again today.

“Harnier, a letter has arrived.”

Upon hearing the maid’s words about the arrival of a letter, Harnier paused her pen for a moment and replied quietly with a sigh.

“Mina, I told you to just throw away the letters. They won’t be of any help anyway.”

“But, Miss.”

“They are probably letters from nobles who only care about my appearance.”

Lately, it had gotten worse.

Rumors of an engagement had spread, but no one believed it, and the Marquisate did not stop the rumors from spreading.

As a result, men, like bees to honey, wanted to keep Harnier, considered the empire’s most beautiful woman, by their side, and letters sent in this manner had doubled.

Harnier’s expression seemed tired already.

“Well… I know that too…”

Mina looked back and forth between Harnier and the letters, then opened her mouth again, unsure of what to do.

“I don’t think we should just throw away this letter…?”

“Where is that coming from? The letters I receive as the Marquisate will all be addressed to the Marquis.”

“But, Miss… Just looking at the engraved patterns, it seems like we shouldn’t discard it…”

“You have no right to say such things, Mina… Why?”

Without looking in that direction, Harnier, who continued to play with her pen, asked again, and Mina finally revealed her thoughts.

“Wasn’t there anything like that among the letters addressed to you? Like, making an appointment or something.”

Harnier chuckled in confusion.

Mina, a maid brought in by the Marquisate, was her person, not the Marquisate’s.

There must have been a reason why Mina emphasized these letters like this.

“Was there such a thing?”

Harnier scratched near her lips thoughtfully.

She tried to recall if there was a place where important letters could come.

Suddenly, she remembered something.

“M-Mina. Was that from a certain family?”

Finally, swallowing nervously, Mina showed the pattern on the letter.

“Oh…”

With a short gasp, Harnier dropped her pen.

The letter bore the emblem of the most powerful family in the empire.

The crest of the Viscount Bagrand was clearly drawn.

“Ugh. I almost threw this away. Why am I like this lately?”

“Was it an important letter?”

“Yes. It seems I almost made a big mistake by sending it here.”

“By the way, the fact that Viscount Bagrand sent a letter to you…”

“Yes. It was a deal. With Viscount Bagrand.”

“Are you okay with this? He is ultimately a man too.”

To the maid who asked worriedly, Harnier nodded confidently.

“No problem. This man just wants to make a deal with me.”

“A deal?”

“Yes. Our situations are similar. We are both in positions where our families do not accept us as family, that kind of situation. Or maybe even worse. As a bastard, I can at least leverage the power of the family… ”

“Ah…”

Mina sighed sadly.

It was a well-known fact that Karcein Bagrand had picked up a child.

“Perhaps that’s why Lord Karcein has the same goal as me. In the process, he won’t harbor any ill intentions like other men.”

“He was the perfect match for you, Miss.”

“That’s right.”

Even though he was a picked-up child, he was still from the Bagrand Viscount.

Just hearing the name that shook the empire would be enough to intimidate most people.

“It would be nice to spend time with my fiancé as soon as possible. There happens to be a party for that!”

“I know I should… but after reading the letter today, it seems like I’ll have to wait a bit longer.”

“Pardon?”

“It seems I have to stay at the Marquis’s place for a while.”

Harney showed the contents of the letter to Mina.

“He’s a very sharp man. He’s not someone who wastes time on trivial matters like this.”

“Is that so?”

“Well… there’s a lot to teach, though. Haha…”

He’s a smart man, but there’s a lot to teach.

Mina tilted her head in puzzlement, wondering what to say.

‘Um… what should I say?’

In fact, Harney was pondering how to explain this situation due to Carsein’s intelligence.

***

That evening.

I found myself seeking the annex, thinking Claire must have really gone mad.

No matter what happened to me, this just didn’t make sense.

The number of businesses managed by the Marquis of Vargrand alone could easily count up to ten. Why would he close off the annex, even if guests weren’t staying there?

It didn’t make sense.

…But the unthinkable had happened.

That crazy Claire had actually sealed off the annex.

Feeling disappointed, I returned from the annex and ran into Shayden.

“I went to the room for treatment, but it seems you visited the annex in the meantime.”

Shayden seemed to have a rough idea of where I had been.

“No matter what happened, that’s just not right. Why seal off the annex?”

“Even if it’s not the annex, there are plenty of other buildings at the Marquis’s estate. Besides, even if guests don’t stay in the annex, it’s not a big problem. It seems everyone is cautious around the Marquis of Vargrand.”

Most people seem to stay at an inn near the Marquis’s estate.

Perhaps because he’s such a powerful Marquis, instead of staying in the annex, those people end up spending a day there.

Damn it.

Claire could have said something like that.

There was no need to think about why such a thing could happen.

Thanks to that crazy woman, as I returned to my room, I had to think of another way until I fell asleep.

“Hmm. It seems I’ll have to apply the medicine a few more times to get better.”

Today passed, and in the morning check-up, Shayden examined my cheeks and said, “Other ladies find it very painful when their mouths are sore, but you seem fine.”

“Just endure a few more days, that’s all.”

“It may not be such a simple pain…”

While applying the medicine, Shayden looked at me with surprise as I showed no reaction.

‘There’s no way it would hurt now.’

What we commonly call gingivitis.

My cheek was swollen and inflamed, making it difficult to eat, but having experienced worse, it wasn’t that painful.

Before the possession, I used to get gingivitis fairly often.

It could have been due to various reasons, like being stressed out, studying late into the night, or working hard at part-time jobs.

So, I was quite accustomed to this kind of pain.

‘…Or maybe it’s because of that modern medicine.’

The pain or pleasure (?) that comes when you dip a cotton swab in and apply it directly.

I seemed to have adapted more to that pain.

“Well then, I’ll see you tomorrow, sir.”

After finishing the treatment, Shayden bowed and turned away.

It was time to tell the old man.

“You don’t have to come from tomorrow.”

“The wound is still there…”

“It’s almost healed anyway. Besides, I won’t be here starting tomorrow.”

At the mention of not being here, Shayden caught on.

“But sir, you can’t enter the annex.”

“Oh, I checked it myself.”

“Then… Are you planning to sleep on the street?”

“Don’t worry. I don’t have any intention of sleeping on the street either.”

“Well then…”

I signaled Shayden to stop with a hushing motion.

Although it seemed like my worries were dissipating, thinking that sleeping on the street was not really an option this time around, unlike during adulthood, I had found the answer this time.

“After all, our destination is originally the training ground.”

If that’s the reason we won’t encounter those girls, it should be enough.

***

Dressed and ready, I moved at a time when my family wouldn’t notice.

To summarize the current situation:

I overcame the crisis in the early part of Episode V and tied Emma’s feet.

For the next 3 days in the training ground episode, Flora, who could be a hindrance, will not come looking for me.

Likewise, other families won’t either. Since they are considering some means in the training ground, I won’t encounter them.

The most annoying thing here is undoubtedly Emma.

▶Emma is trapped in solitary confinement!◀

▶She is not being harassed by the maids!◀

Although Claire has been framed as the culprit, there is no evidence to support this side.

Even if I were to provoke her immediately, she is a noblewoman. Nobles hold a certain status and power.

If I were to try to frame Emma for a crime beyond this point, it would backfire on me. I tried to deal with Emma in the game in various ways but failed each time.

In other words, as the adopted child of a noble, Emma is still at the stage where she is ‘suspected of a crime’ and cannot be driven away.

“It’s not going to be easy. But I can’t waste this time either.”

As she was one of the most formidable opponents in the game, thorough preparation was necessary.

Beyond this point. A weapon to capture solid evidence and bring down the opponent was needed.

That’s why I decided to step into this place myself.

“Is this the line.”

Between the nobleman and the training ground.

I stood on the boundary line that separated the two.

In the game, the moment you pass through this line, the name of the map changes.

Once you cross this line, Episode V, the troublemaker of the training ground, will begin.

“The training ground… Phew. It’s a big hurdle.”

How long has it been since I triggered Camilla’s Dead Trigger?

It couldn’t have been more than a week.

But once I step across this line, the Dead Trigger will activate immediately.

I will have to find and deal with it myself to survive.

Examining the status window cautiously, I confirmed that the episode was in progress and the stats were dire, so I took a deep breath to calm myself.

And then, I took a step.

-Ding!

▶Episode V. The troublemaker of the training ground is in progress!◀

▶Enter the training ground and finish your conversation with the knights!◀

With the notification sound, the progress window that hadn’t appeared until now showed up.

Truly, it was a brutal development.

Not only do I have to enter the training ground, but I also have to converse with the knights.

Since I had already taken the first step, there was no turning back.

I walked, and walked again.

There was no choice but to face them head-on.

“Hey. Look over there.”

“Wow. Who’s that face?”

As we headed towards the entrance of the training ground, the wide-open training field turned its gaze directly towards us.

It was a chilling look as if all the sweat shed during training had instantly dried up.

“That makes sense. Karceine did kill someone in the training ground.”

In the game’s story, killing a person is not something to overlook.

Especially knights.

They are proud knights, entrusted by the Vagrant Grand Duke.

Just the fact that their comrade was killed would anger them.

Moreover, luckily, it was a commoner picked up by the mentally ill duchess who supposedly committed such an act, which would surely enrage them just by hearing about it.

No, perhaps the knights themselves did not allow it.

As if to prove that, their intimacy boxes were quite different from those of the nobles.

A slightly elongated gray diagonal line is drawn on the left side of the typical white box.

That’s not a typical intimacy box.

The gray box that becomes more difficult to restore to its original state after causing a bigger problem at 0%.

It was commonly known as a minus state.

“What’s going on in the training ground with the young master of the distinguished Bagrand?”

A challenge comes as if to provoke.

Approaching with disdain, the man did not blink an eye and showed contempt.

However, despite his smiling face, the fact that he bristled with feathers indicated that if he said something wrong, he might do something immediately.

“In reality, yes. If you touch it in that state, it would be a bad ending right away.”

Therefore, I cannot act as I did at the Duke’s residence.

But that doesn’t mean I can just sit still.

▶ The knights of the duke threaten. How will you act?

Options have appeared.