Since it was a large guild, the service of delivering the results directly to my home was nice, but the problem was the contents.
[Unable to find the child you requested. We conducted a broad investigation into children in similar situations, children with different names, and even children already deceased, but found no child who could be considered the same individual.]
It wasn’t phrased as a mere guess or possibility, but in a tone of complete certainty.
Clutching the note, I read it over and over again, thinking I might have misunderstood something.
But no matter how many times I reread it, not a single stroke of the text changed. The meaning of the note, that is, the results report, was clear.
‘There is no such child.’
It was the exact same result as when I had commissioned the mid-level information guild before.
Back then, I had arbitrarily decided that the guild simply lacked skill, but this guild was one whose competence couldn’t possibly be doubted.
Moreover, these were people who made their living by finding information and people.
‘If two different places are saying the same thing, then there is a very high chance that it’s the truth.’
The shock made my head ring, and I staggered slightly before collapsing onto the bed.
‘Why…? A child who was supposed to be perfectly fine, why doesn’t she exist…? Where on earth did she go?’
Did I truly not regress, but instead come to an alternate world where Rosie didn’t exist?
Thinking about it, wasn’t there an Ifrit here who didn’t exist in my previous life?
‘One person who existed before disappeared, and one who didn’t exist before appeared…’
As I thought that, I pulled up a familiar concept from my confused mind.
‘Causality.’
If, according to the laws of this world, Rosie disappeared and an Ifrit came into existence in her place.
‘It would make sense. But…’
I bit down hard on my lower lip.
‘If this is a world without Rosie, then why did I come back at all? What am I supposed to do?’
Hot tears burst out all at once, and the two fists resting on my knees trembled violently.
“Hngh…”
After silently sobbing for a while, my emotions calmed down a little.
I slowly took deep breaths, settling the trembling of my entire body.
‘Alright. Let’s acknowledge the possibility that Rosie doesn’t exist in this world. But only after checking one last time.’
The timers on the bombs I had planted were nearing their end.
‘Soon, they will start exploding on their own.’
After that, there was a way to strip House Lansval far more thoroughly.
Even while thinking that Rosie might truly not exist, I decided to cling to one final chance to confirm it.
Because if I were to accept right now that the child had never existed in this world at all, I felt like I would collapse on the spot.
The next morning. When I went to the dining room, Rastan, who had already been seated and reading the newspaper, greeted me.
“Did you have a good sleep…? You do not look well. Are you feeling unwell?”
Perhaps because I had cried myself to sleep the night before, my face seemed a little swollen after all. Of course, I played it off.
“Is that so? Maybe it is because I ate salty food yesterday. When I looked in the mirror this morning, my face was a mess.”
“A mess? You look nothing but pretty.”
Fortunately, Rastan didn’t pry any further. Instead, he brought up another matter.
“I received word from the person we had placed near Dona Hagen.”
“Oh, what did they say?”
I perked up my ears and focused intently on his mouth.
“They say Dona Hagen has entered the Lansval estate.”
At the welcome news, the muscles in my face spread into a broad smile without me realizing it.
“Did it match the schedule you wanted? It seems the actors kept the intensity of their performance moderate at first, then pushed it to the maximum at a certain point.”
“Yes. It was worth even mobilizing actors to fuel her vanity.”
Her money had run completely dry, her inflated vanity had raised her standards, and after flailing helplessly every day, the moment she heard that Gerald had annulled his engagement, she must have charged straight into the Lansval estate.
“She is not even a fiancee, just a mere mistress. How did she manage to get in so easily?”
“They say she is claiming she is pregnant with Baron Lansval’s child.”
I barely managed to suppress a laugh that almost burst out.
‘Just like the past.’
In my previous life, that story had shocked me deeply. But now that I looked at it, it was nothing short of a farce.
Because I knew that even if Dona were the grandmother of the goddess of fertility, it would still be impossible for her to bear Gerald’s child.
“Oh? Is it true?”
“Who knows. One of my informants said they saw Dona Hagen separately hand money to the physician who delivered the news of her pregnancy to House Lansval.”
‘Of course she did.’
She must have thought that once she forced her way in and secured her position, how could they possibly drive her out? As for how to deal with a fake pregnancy?
‘She must be calculating that after settling into the Lansval household, she can pretend to miscarry, or that if she becomes genuinely pregnant within two or three months, it will all work out.’
In my previous life as well, she had entered the Lansval household like that, even though the legal wife, that is, I, was perfectly present.
And then she showered Helga with all kinds of flattery, catering to her every whim.
‘From Helga’s perspective, it wouldn’t have been easy to simply cast out Dona, who was carrying Gerald’s child, even if he was a bastard.’
Not because Helga was soft-hearted, but because of the possibility that the child in her womb might be a son.
On top of that, Dona had coordinated her story with Gerald and told Helga that she wasn’t a commoner, but a relative of a low-ranking noble from some distant region.
‘So if she gave birth to a son, the plan must have been to make me divorce him and marry Gerald to Dona.’
Of course, this too wasn’t out of consideration for Dona, but purely to prevent Gerald’s son from becoming a bastard.
In my previous life, Helga often deliberately put on a show of doting on Dona right in front of me.
‘To suppress the prestige of a daughter-in-law from a prestigious family.’
Contrary to her intentions, I had never craved Helga’s affection, so it didn’t hurt me at all.
But from Helga’s point of view, she must have considered it a good plan, using one detestable thing to keep another detestable thing in check.
Recalling that time when everyone had gone mad made me shake my head unconsciously.
Dona had willingly thrown herself into that trashy drama I had escaped from.
‘Should I mourn this, or should I congratulate her since things are going according to her wishes, at least for now?’
If things went according to my plan, her arrogant act as Baroness would come to an end in just a few weeks.
And it would end in the most absurd and miserable way possible.
‘All that’s left is for her to cling to the worthless man I discarded and fall together with him. It will be a short time, but enjoy it while you can.’
As I let out a quiet snort while imagining her downfall, a satisfied smile appeared on Rastan’s face as he watched me.
‘Oh, right.’
I remembered another matter I needed to ask Rastan about.
“Rastan. Could you check Melanie Lansval’s wedding date again? And whether it will proceed as scheduled without any issues.”
“Alright.”
Rastan nodded readily.
After finishing our meal, we moved to Rastan’s office to continue discussing the plan to bring down House Lansval.
Not long after we sat side by side on the sofa, a crow flew in through the window.
Wondering what kind of bird it was, I looked at it, then realized the crow looked strangely familiar.
“Oh, those purple eyes…!”
It was the sharp-looking crow with purple eyes that I had often seen around the Lansval estate.
Then, the crow landed on the floor of the office. And in the very next moment, it transformed into a handsome young man with black hair, pale skin, and purple eyes. In other words, into a human.
Seeing such a sight for the first time in my life, I screamed in shock.
“Kyaaak!”
Mid-scream, I suddenly realized belatedly that I actually knew him.
Still utterly startled, I covered my mouth with one hand and pointed at him with the other as I shouted.
“W-what, what is this? You… you were that fake doctor!”
At that, he laughed as if amused and gave a light bow.
“Yes. I am Raven, whom you met back then. I was outside for several days carrying out tasks His Grace assigned me, so this is our first time meeting here.”
His utterly unfazed attitude left me a little dumbfounded.
‘No, this isn’t the time to be talking about your name or where you have been!’
I shuffled closer to Rastan until I was right beside him, pressed my shoulder against his, and asked.
Rastan seemed to turn toward me with an amused smile, but I had no time to pay attention to that.
“S-so, Raven. What exactly are you?”
