KTEESH Chapter 125

Seeing my tense expression, Raven’s eyes curved slightly in a playful way.

“Who knows. Someone who can transform?”

“S-so, your human form is the original one, right? You are not some monster or demonic beast or anything like that?”

“Hmm, shall we call it a beastman…?”

As he rolled his eyes in a somewhat comical way, it was clear that wasn’t a complete answer. As far as I knew, there had never even been a mention of beastmen existing in this world.

“Just think of me as a person who has the ability to change into a crow.”

Even most mages couldn’t change their appearance this freely.

I quickly compared him against the various categories of ‘people with special powers’ in my mind, but this ability didn’t fully fit into any of them.

I turned to look at Rastan, who was observing all of this with a calm expression.

I tried to ask with my eyes for an explanation of what in the world was going on, but his expression seemed to say, what is the problem?

“Evelyn, you have an ability too. I do as well. We can just assume everyone has one ability each.”

Stunned, I parted my lips slightly, and Rastan’s gaze flicked to my mouth for an instant.

Then, as if nothing had happened, he immediately looked away and continued speaking casually.

“See? Raven over there wasn’t even surprised when he learned you have an ability. You should open your mind a bit and take a more accepting stance toward various abilities.”

‘It sounds like very plausible nonsense, though?’

But thinking about it, it wasn’t entirely wrong.

My ability too, I had only taken it for granted because it manifested regularly in my family, but to others it was an extremely rare and fascinating power.

As I watched Raven bow once more toward us and head over to his own desk, a thought suddenly came to mind.

[There are beings around you who are not human.]

Was this what Frederick, the ghost from the underground crypt, had meant?

‘Then for now, that makes Raven one.’

Frederick had clearly said ‘beings’, plural.

In that case, it would make sense to also put Rastan on the list of suspects, someone with some kind of special power who even kept a crow beastman under his command.

I shot him a sidelong glance and asked, deliberately making it sound like a joke.

“You even have an aide like that… Rastan, what exactly are you?”

“Who knows. The Head of House Blake and the Lord of my territory. Someone who was recognized for his merits in the Malia War and awarded the Prasen Medal…”

Seeing him count off each item on his fingers as he answered left me speechless.

“That is not what I am asking right now!”

At that, he pulled up one corner of his lips into a grin, and for some reason it felt inscrutable.

“I will tell you everything once we are engaged.”

So when he said he would keep proposing, he really meant it.

“I told you, I only came to stay here for a while.”

“I know. But you need a reason to stay here freely, without constraints, and without drawing strange looks from others. And I need you.”

Everything he said was true, and yet at the same time, there was something off about it.

“Whatever it is, how can you say you will only tell me something important after we are engaged? You should tell me beforehand and then ask whether I still want to get engaged.”

“What does it matter? As you said, it is merely a contract engagement with a fixed term. Ah, or are you actually considering a real engagement? Even marriage, with me?”

Startled, I instinctively denied it.

“No! Absolutely not!”

“…That is a shame. But then it does not matter, does it?”

“How does it not matter? If we are engaged, I would be living in the same place as you…”

I was about to say that an engaged couple was supposed to move into the fiance’s household and live together, and what if he turned out to be strange or frightening.

‘But I’m already living here.’

Of course, not as his fiancee but as a guest, but wasn’t I already using the Duchess’s room, no less?

If we entered into a contract engagement, it didn’t seem like much more would change here.

“…I am already living here.”

When I had no words left and could only blink, Rastan smiled as if to say, see?

“Does it feel dangerous, anxious, and frightening to live in the same place as a monster whose identity you do not know?”

I shot him a glare for saying such nonsense.

In truth, although it had only been a few days, the days I had spent here were the most peaceful and comfortable of my life.

“If not, that is a relief. Then let us say I will answer your question after the engagement contract is completed.”

I opened my mouth a few times, then gave up on saying anything.

‘Well. There have been no problems or strange signs at all while I have been here so far, and he says he will tell me everything later.’

However, at the time, I failed to realize something.

That it truly was something I should have known before deciding on something as important as an engagement.

And that despite thinking that, I had still been swept along by Rastan’s words and let it slide.

Perhaps I had been entranced by those captivating blue eyes.

***

A few days before Melanie’s wedding, I quietly sent someone to House Arden. It was to deliver a letter and a wedding gift to her.

[I enclosed the gift I mentioned in my previous letter. I hope you have a pleasant and comfortable time. Forget everything that was difficult until now, and live happily in the Arden household from here on.]

The gift was a top-tier luxury cruise ticket. In modern terms, it was essentially a cruise honeymoon.

The purpose was to have her travel for an extended time, cut off from the world out at sea, so that at least during her honeymoon she wouldn’t hear any news about the downfall of House Lansval.

Melanie likely wouldn’t be particularly saddened by the collapse of House Lansval, but even so, I wanted her to enjoy a happy time without worrying about anything else, at least during her honeymoon.

‘And as a bonus, it also cuts off any chance of Gerald and Helga clinging to Melanie for help.’

A few days later, Rastan’s informant brought news that Melanie’s wedding had gone off without a hitch.

Along with the news that her status had safely and completely transferred to House Arden.

‘Good. The countdown is over now.’

It was time to destroy House Lansval. The beginning of their downfall would be weak, but the end would be quite a sight to behold.

***

The tea party regularly hosted by Countess Boren was the most popularly attended social gathering among the noblewomen of the Capital.

The haughty high-ranking ladies didn’t often attend, but among the wives of families with lower titles, it was extremely popular as the place where one could hear the most interesting rumors the fastest.

In short, it meant that all the bored, loose-lipped wives who loved meddling in other people’s affairs gathered here.

The Lady of House Criden, one of the vassal families of House Blake, was also a regular at this gathering.

While chatting with several ladies known for their love of gossip, she casually brought up the topic at just the right moment.

“Have you heard? You know that Baron Lansval who had bad rumors going around recently.”

Lady Criden opened gently, but the mouths of those echoing her were light and cruel.

“Oh my? That scumbag, you mean? Did he cause trouble again?”

As expected, it had been worth choosing people who would bite so easily. She hid the satisfied curl of her lips behind her fan and lowered her voice slightly.

“Rather than trouble… I heard this from somewhere. Apparently, he got engaged while hiding his health condition?”

This country, the Prasen Empire, was a trust-based society with a very strict attitude toward lies.

As such, failing to properly disclose important matters like one’s health or finances before marriage was considered sufficient grounds for annulment.

The listeners’ eyes immediately lit up. They sensed that a new, hot piece of gossip had appeared.

“What is wrong with the Baron’s health?”

“Well, this is a secret, but. The Baron…”

Viscountess Criden deliberately emphasized that it was a secret and dragged it out. Rumors labeled as ‘secret’ spread the fastest and easiest, after all.

Confirming that the eyes of the many ladies who had gathered were now completely fixed on her lips, she finally spoke at her leisure.

“…They say he is a ‘cucumber.'”

In this world, the phrase ‘seedless watermelon’ was often euphemistically expressed as a ‘cucumber,’ likening it to the lack of hard seeds inside a typical cucumber.

“Oh my, oh my!”

“My goodness…!”

The noblewomen’s eyes widened.

It might have seemed like an indecent topic at first glance for elegant ladies to be discussing, yet not a single person objected.

No, if anything, their expressions were closer to saying, ‘I want to hear more.’

Viscountess Criden, satisfied with their reaction, drove the final nail in.