Chapter 10
…Huh?
“What? What did you just say—really?”
“She said she’s a Saintess candidate, didn’t she? And now it’s dark magic?!”
In an instant, contemptuous gazes surrounded me.
‘What is this all of a sudden? Why are they lying…?’
I sprang to my feet and shouted.
“No! I didn’t do it!”
“Don’t play dumb! I saw it all!”
“Even if your eyes were on the soles of your feet, no means no! Stop lying—!”
“Shut up! I’m telling you, I saw it!”
This old man—!
I glared furiously at the knight.
But just as I was about to argue further, I noticed Rain collapsed on the ground.
“Ugh…”
Rain was groaning, his face twisted in pain.
‘Ah—wait.’
I grabbed Rain’s hand again. Clearing up the misunderstanding was important, but purification came first.
‘If he was exposed, an ordinary purification stone won’t be enough. I need to purify him with holy power, even just a little!’
That was when—
“Stop it right now! Are you trying to kill him outright?!”
The knight grabbed the back of my neck and hurled me backward.
“Ow…!”
I rolled across the floor.
It hurt—badly.
“Someone call the physician! I’ll isolate this child!”
But before I could even react to the pain, the knight forcibly yanked me to my feet.
“What in the world is all this commotion?!”
At that moment, Tristan came running over, his face filled with shock.
The knight saluted and reported swiftly.
“This child summoned a monster, and Rain collapsed because of it.”
“Lady Winiel did that? That’s impossible. Lady Winiel is a Saintess candidate. She couldn’t possibly use dark magic!”
Tristan shouted at the knight, looking aghast.
The knight bowed his head and continued.
“But I saw it clearly with my own eyes.”
“That can’t be… Is this truly so, Lady Winiel?”
Tristan looked at me with eyes full of deep disappointment.
No matter what the knight reported, how could his attitude change so completely in an instant?
And then I saw it.
Just for a split second—but the corner of Tristan’s mouth lifted.
Ah.
‘So it was a trap. You set me up.’
Realizing the truth, I violently shook off the knight’s grip and stepped forward toward the servants.
“I didn’t use dark magic! I even got rid of the monster! This is—”
“Can’t you be quiet?!”
The knight barked, cutting me off.
“Haa…”
Tristan let out a headache-filled sigh and pressed his fingers to his forehead.
“I understand what you’re saying, Lady Winiel.”
“…What?”
Why are you suddenly on my side?
Someone completely unexpected had spoken in my defense.
“However, since the words ‘dark magic’ have been uttered, we cannot simply leave you be. Please cooperate until this is verified.”
Of course, it wasn’t truly for my sake.
“It’s regrettable that such a disturbance has occurred.”
With a look of pity, he shook his head from side to side and ordered the knight to take me away.
I stiffened my body and resisted being dragged off.
“No! I didn’t do it—mmph!”
But the knight subdued me with ease.
With my mouth covered, I stared at Tristan as he receded into the distance.
‘I’ve been completely played.’
I was thrown into the underground prison.
On a completely absurd charge.
It wasn’t hard to guess why this had happened.
‘They’re trying to shut me up before Duke Argent arrives.’
Still, I never imagined they’d go this far.
Dark magic, of all things.
‘Wait—then could the dark magic that attacked Kain back then also have been Tristan’s doing?’
The type of summoned monster was suspiciously similar for it to be mere coincidence.
‘But even if I know that now, I’m already locked up.’
I looked around.
A torch mounted on the wall, iron bars sturdy despite the rust, moss growing in the corners.
‘This looks just like the temple’s prison.’
It wasn’t unfamiliar. The temple folk had often locked me up for ridiculous reasons.
She’s in the way during ceremonies, or she was told to stay still but played with a cat that wandered into the temple—things like that.
‘Still…’
Just because I was used to it didn’t mean this situation was okay.
I hugged my knees and buried my face.
They hadn’t tied me up, probably assuming I couldn’t escape, but it still felt suffocating—as if I were bound all the same.
‘At this rate, I’ll die before I even save my brother.’
I jutted my lips out in a pout, then forced them back in.
‘…No. Moping won’t solve anything.’
This was the time to focus on clearing my name, not wallowing in frustration.
I took a deep breath and calmed myself.
‘What should I do? Saying I didn’t do it didn’t help at all.’
They hadn’t even given me a chance to speak, just piled on false accusations. There was no way to respond.
Even if I tried to argue, if the knight lied and Tristan backed him up, it would be over.
An unknown Saintess candidate versus Tristan, acting administrator of the ducal house.
It was obvious which side the servants would take.
‘Then that means I have to find proof that I was framed and prove my innocence myself.’
To do that, I had to escape from here first.
Only then could I do anything.
‘But how…?’
“Khhrr…”
A loud snore echoed through the space. It was from the knight assigned to watch me.
‘You throw someone in prison on a lie and then fall asleep?’
I frowned at the sight of the knight slumped in a chair, drooling as he slept.
He was probably acting on Tristan’s orders. I didn’t even want to look at him.
‘…Huh?’
Just as I was about to turn away, something glinted under the chair the knight was sitting on.
‘Isn’t that the cell key?’
Now that I thought about it, the knight had put the key into his pocket after locking me up. It must have fallen out.
‘If I can just get that, I can get out!’
I reached my hand through the bars—but it didn’t reach.
I suddenly felt resentful of my short arms.
‘This won’t work. I need a tool.’
But there was nothing inside the cell. Not even a twig.
The only thing that might work was the knight’s sword, but that was leaning against the wall outside the cell.
‘If I knock it over, I might get caught. I need something to throw… Ah!’
The temple insignia!
I took off the temple emblem dangling from my wrist and aimed at the sword.
‘Calm down. I only get one chance. I need to hit the lower part so it falls this way.’
After taking a deep breath, I threw the emblem.
Clack!
‘I hit it!’
The sword wobbled, lost its balance, and fell.
I quickly stretched my arm through the bars and caught it before it hit the ground.
Then I checked the knight.
“Khhrr… hnng.”
Fortunately, he was still fast asleep, his head lolling back.
‘Phew…’
I let out a sigh of relief.
‘Let’s get out of here. My heart can’t take this.’
The rest was easy.
Using the sword, I dragged the key closer, unlocked the door, and slipped quietly out of the cell.
I put everything back where it had been and dashed out of the underground prison without looking back.
‘Thank goodness. I made it out!’
It felt like my first breath of fresh air in hours.
I inhaled deeply, then exhaled. My breathing was still uneven from the tension.
‘It’s already night. I was locked up longer than I thought.’
After glancing at the darkened sky, I ran toward the main building of the ducal estate.
If I wanted to prove my innocence, I had to catch the real culprit.
And judging from the circumstances, the one who used dark magic was most likely Tristan—or that knight.
‘I don’t know the knight’s quarters, so I’ll start with Tristan’s office.’
I did have something I could use as evidence.
‘I just need to find it.’
Dark magic was a type of magic that used magic circles.
The mage had to draw the circle personally, but anyone could activate it.
Moreover, within a three-day time limit, it was possible to preset when the magic would activate, and the paper with the magic circle would burn up, leaving no need for disposal.
But even such powerful magic had a flaw.
‘Using dark magic leaves traces.’
‘Because it’s often activated by ordinary people rather than mages, right?’
Before activating the magic circle, the activator had to sign it.
In the case of an ordinary person, traces of dark magic remained on the pen used for the signature.
‘Unlike mages, ordinary people can’t handle even the mana sealed in the circle, so it leaks out.’
A minor, easily overlooked phenomenon.
But the consequence was fatal.
By closely examining the traces, one could even identify the signature used in the dark magic.
For those who wanted to leave no evidence of using dark magic, it was the worst possible drawback.
‘But this flaw is only discovered later, when Kain confronts the dark magic trafficking organization.’
At this point in time, it wasn’t known yet.
Which meant the culprit might still be carrying a pen with traces on it, unaware.
‘And since there’s no mage in the ducal estate, it has to be an ordinary person.’
As soon as I entered the main building, I headed straight for Tristan’s office, which I’d been keeping an eye on.
It was late, and there weren’t many servants around, so I didn’t run into anyone.
“Alright. I’ll find everything.”
I rolled up my sleeves and thoroughly searched the office.
After a while, I found three pens.
‘Now, let’s check them.’
I focused holy power at my fingertips—just enough to sense energy, not enough to purify it.
Then I carefully examined each pen.
But—
“None of them…”
All three were clean. No trace of dark magic.
‘Doesn’t look like there are any more. Was it the knight who signed it?’
The thought of having to track down the knight’s room made my head spin.
‘Let’s take a breather.’
I sat down on the sofa to calm my unsettled mind.
That was when—
‘Huh? There’s another pen over there.’
There was a pen under the sofa on the opposite side.
I lay down on the floor, reached under the sofa, and pulled it out.
A luxurious fountain pen.
‘There’s a name engraved on it!’
[Tristan Nelson]
‘Custom-made? It looks expensive.’
I didn’t know why it was there, but what mattered was that I’d found another one.
I quickly gathered my holy power again.
‘Please—let this be it.’
The moment I used my holy power, I felt a murky energy.
“!”
This was it.
‘I finally found it—evidence!’
With trembling hands, I clenched the fountain pen tightly.
All I could tell was whether there were traces of dark magic or not; to identify the signature, I’d need to ask a mage.
But my heart felt much lighter.
Even if the signature turned out to be someone else’s, it would at least prove it wasn’t me.
Still, I couldn’t imagine someone lending such an expensive fountain pen to anyone else.
I slipped the pen into my pocket and, in high spirits, tidied up the mess I’d made while searching.
“All done. That’s everything.”
I shut the drawer beside the desk with a thud.
Flutter.
“Huh? What’s this?”
Something fell out of the drawer—it looked like a letter.
I carefully opened the envelope and read it.
‘Oh… this is—’
I should keep this.
I tucked the letter into my pocket. It looked like it could be useful.
‘Alright, then. Let’s go.’
After giving the room one last careful look, I dusted off my hands and left the office.
“Just what do you think you’re doing here?”
And the very next moment, I ran straight into Kain.
