episode_0095

“――That’s what happened.”

Earningstern told me a summary of the events before coming here.

A story about the bastard son of a baron who died with his head broken, and the legitimate son of the Durin family who appears to have been brainwashed. And who the dead student was with and what he was doing.

Everything from the information Earningston himself found out to the stories he heard from guards, professors, and other witnesses.

After hearing his explanation, the Crown Prince crossed his arms and filled in the missing parts of his reasoning. Soon, he felt the puzzles scattered in his mind starting to come together and fit together, and he quietly closed his eyes.

‘Now I understand what you said about yourself being defiled. They were brainwashed. That’s why I couldn’t resist.’

‘The magician who brainwashed them was probably the bastard son of a baron who died with his head broken. If I had truly been with that student instead of brainwashing him, there wouldn’t have been any stories of him being tainted.’

‘So, the daughter of the Earl of Argyll, who was the only one of the victims who was not particularly shaken, is still being brainwashed? It seems like she was brainwashed by a different magician than the other two female students.’

‘Then the other magician is probably… … .’

The Crown Prince opened his eyes again, uncrossed his arms and looked at Earningstern.

“I have to bring the Earl of Argyll’s wife.”

“Do you mean her? Certainly, unlike other victims, I felt a little different.”

“Yes, maybe the brainwashing hasn’t been lifted yet. Unlike the other two students.”

Erningstone, who had noticed that the Earl of Argyll’s daughter had been brainwashed, but did not know that the other two students had been brainwashed, blinked and questioned the Crown Prince’s words.

“You mean they were brainwashed?”

“I guess I didn’t tell you yet. That’s right, they definitely said ‘defiled’ with their own mouths. Those words coming out of a female student’s mouth don’t mean much.”

So scary. Earningstern frowned as an unpleasant word came to mind just by hearing it, and he summed up the situation.

‘The crime scene is clearly in the middle of the street street… … . At the time of discovery, the eldest son of the Durin family was riding on the bastard son of the dead Baron Galvarn, and the other three were standing nearby. Durin’s youngest child had no opportunity to touch other female students. That means… … .’

Earningstern shook his head and clicked his tongue, remembering the dead schoolboy. Yes, if you did something like that, you wouldn’t have anything to say even if your head got ripped off.

Normally, Earnings Stone would have prayed for the soul of a dead criminal, but he was not so kind as to mourn even a criminal who had terrorized female students by brainwashing them.

Earningstern sighed, thinking to himself that the scum had died well.

“The dead male student brainwashed and scared the female students… … . It’s terrible.”

“Okay. It’s a terrible thing.”

After a brief pause, the Crown Prince continued speaking while looking out the window.

“Anyway, the important thing now is not the bastard son of the already dead Galbaran Baron. There are already enough witnesses for their crime, so they can be punished at any time. The important thing now is the two people who still have brainwashing.”

“We need to find out the relationship between the daughter of the Count of Argyll, who is still brainwashed, and the legitimate son of the Durin family.”

The Crown Prince shook his head at Earningstern’s words.

“I think the first thing to do is to undo the brainwashing on her. Why not take her to Professor Draco first?”

“Definitely. It would be dangerous to leave someone who has not been brainwashed with the victim. All right. Since the heir of the Durin family is also with Professor Draco, we will be able to handle all the work at once.”

“I see. Thank goodness. Let’s go quickly.”

The Crown Prince, who was returning to his room, hastened his steps due to an inexplicable anxiety that came over him.

It didn’t feel good. There was nothing wrong, but I felt strangely unwell. He was a prince who did not rely on the uncertainty of intuition, but the bad feeling that kept coming made him stop.

‘What am I missing? I’m definitely missing something. Something important… … .’

Earnings Stone, who was following behind the Crown Prince, raised one eyebrow as he saw the Crown Prince suddenly stop.

“Why are you doing that? Prince.”

At his words, the crown prince lowered his eyes to the floor and opened his mouth.

“Did you say that the dead assailant was the illegitimate son of a baron?”

“Yes? Ah yes. That’s what I heard from the guard.”

“The perpetrator who killed the other was said to be the legitimate son of the Durin family. Is that right?”

“Yes, as I said before, it is, but… … . Why is it suddenly… … .”

‘The legitimate son of the Durin family, the illegitimate son of the Galbaran Baron… … . for a moment.’

The crown prince felt like he was putting together a missing piece of a puzzle.

‘Those two people are definitely sharing the same room. What this means is that if one side does something, the other side will naturally notice.’

‘Female students were terrorized, and the only place in the academy where something like that could be done was in the dormitory. This means that in order to solve this problem, one side needs to brainwash the other side.’

‘The bastard son of Galvarn and the legitimate son of Durang who killed him. The brainwashing that was released at the same time as the bastard died. However, the daughter of the Argyll family and the legitimate child of the Durin family are still subject to brainwashing.’

The Crown Prince, who quickly organized the thoughts that came to his mind, was able to arrive at one fact.

‘Double brainwashing. No, triple.’

‘The bastard brainwashed the illegitimate son, and the bastard brainwashed the eldest son. And here, someone else appeared and brainwashed the bastard to kill the bastard. So what’s left now… … .’

“Oh my… … ! Lord Earningstone! We need to get to Professor Draco right now! Right now!”

The center of this incident.

Realizing that the man who currently had the most evidence could die, the Crown Prince started running.

* * *

Ah, ahhh. no. I didn’t mean to do that… … !

I didn’t know either. No, I couldn’t resist. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t resist its command.

There was nothing I could do. What can I do there? I, too, am a victim.

-No one thinks my brother did anything wrong.

-No one thinks oppa is wrong.

-No one blames you.

-No one blames you.

I felt like my brain was melting as they took turns whispering sweet words.

But the more you surrender yourself to that sweetness, the more Argyle… … . The memory of her forced me to wake up.

Wake. Don’t try to deny what I did. Accept it. And take responsibility. Don’t try to run away. That’s why that guy died.

I closed my eyes tightly, tried to ignore the sounds around me, and thought about what I was responsible for.

As a few hours passed, the sounds I heard around me disappeared like a lie.

“Ah… … .”

I was startled by the sigh I had made unconsciously and groped my neck with my hand.

And then I realized. Voices that had not been heard began to come out, and bodies that had not moved began to move.

Although it was still dark everywhere, the mere fact that my body was moving at will was a great comfort.

Is it over now? So now all I have to think about is getting out of here? As I was thinking that, I heard the same clapping sound from before behind me.

Clap, clap, clap.

I was startled by the sound of hand clapping, which was clearer and faster than before, and when I turned around, I saw someone wearing a dark red dress.

Although it was covered in darkness and I could only see up to the waist, it was clearly the same as the ‘thing’ I had seen earlier.

“I didn’t know it would come in person rather than a letter.”

The same distorted voice started to give me a headache, but I put one hand on my forehead and tried to look at the other person.

“It is an honor to meet you like this. His Excellency Taylor Durin.”

After saying that, it grabbed both ends of the skirt and bent down ever so slightly. It was an elegant greeting without any unnecessary details.

The thing that could still only see its mouth opened its mouth and laughed.

“This is the first time since I last saw you three days ago. Hehehe.”

As it said that, it covered its mouth with a fan that I don’t know where it came from.

“Why did you appear here? Where is this place in the first place? As for Argyle, she’s safe, right!?”

“Be quick-tempered. I’ll tell you everything even if you don’t shout like that.”

It laughed, folded its fan making a clicking sound, placed the folded fan in front of its mouth and said.

“The reason I appeared here is because I have something to tell you. This is your inner self. Lady Theadron Argyll… … . As you heard in the letter earlier, you are unable to do anything because you have been brainwashed.”

“I have something to tell you… … ?”

It nodded.

“Currently, you are being held on charges of murder and use of brainwashing. Well, it’s murder. If you have statements about what you went through and other female victims, you may be able to get your weight reduced. Brainwashing isn’t like that.”

“What do you mean… … ? I didn’t do it because I wanted to either! That little pig made me–”

“That pig. You killed the pig yourself that would prove your innocence. Isn’t that right?”

It chuckled and sat down somewhere.

“It’s a really big deal. ‘Brainwashing’, which is strictly prohibited to use on humans, was used on a count’s daughter who was not even a commoner.”

It was tapping its cheek with a fan, then tilted its head to one side and continued talking.

“You are also a noble with a reputation, so you will not be put to death, but at least you will be imprisoned. Meanwhile, your lovely girlfriend will be like a doll, unable to do anything.”

It was right. If I’m imprisoned, I won’t be able to undo her brainwashing. From murder to brainwashing.

No matter how bad the crime was, it was too bad. No matter how much I complained about the injustice, they wouldn’t listen to me.

“… … What are you telling me to do?”

“What do you want to do?”

It was asked back as if it could solve this situation.

After thinking for a moment, I lowered my head in shame and muttered.

“Even if I have to be imprisoned… … . I want to free her from her brainwashing. Because that’s something I have to take responsibility for… … .”

It was so quiet around here, so my words rang out quietly.

Soon it answered me.

“It’s truly a tear-jerking love… … . But, if that’s the case, there’s no need for me to tell you the answer.”

What are you talking about? I already know how to do that?

I raised my head and looked at it. It was standing there and looking at me, just like when I first saw it.

“You don’t seem to have noticed at all, so I’ll give you a little hint. When you killed Aguha Galvarn, the brainwashing of you and the other two girls was broken… … .”

It trailed off and didn’t finish the story, but I could understand the end of what it said.

“I just need to die… … ?”

It looked at me with a strange smile and said, as if what I said was right.

“Yes. That’s right. If you die, everything will be solved.”

The words it spoke were so sharp and direct, but on the contrary, its voice was so kind and gentle.

As I was thinking for a moment, it approached me and said:

“I will help you.”

Help me? Are you talking about helping someone die? Why on earth? for what reason?

I put all the questions that came into my head into one sentence and vomited them out.

“Why are you trying to help me… … ? Is it because that part is fun?”

“Hehe, no. It’s just because I’m impressed by your strong will. Is that not enough?”

After thinking for a moment, I slowly nodded.

okay. If there is no other answer than this. If there was only one option given to me, this would be it.

If this is the best, if it can produce the best results, if this action can break her brainwashing――

“No, that’s enough.”

okay. I’m willing to do it. For her sake.