CHAPTER 35
“Let’s get back to the point. Let’s talk again. The numbers in the ledger don’t add up, do they?”
“…”
“Shall we talk about other issues that have been troubling you lately, Duke?”
Linaria listed them off dispassionately.
“Regarding the mining industry—Brimstone pays the imperial family for using the divine beast’s abilities. The rising fee, let’s set that aside for now.”
“…”
“Brimstone isn’t the only one in the mining business. Everyone pays the same fee.”
Even the Obel family owned a mine. Whether it was a profitable one was another matter.
“You’ve sold off a lot of mines recently, haven’t you?”
“You’re the first person to complain about mines I sold at fair value.”
“I’m bringing it up because they weren’t sold at fair value.”
Resources in a mine aren’t infinite.
So selling a mine with dwindling reserves wasn’t all that strange.
But the problem was—
“I heard a large emerald was recently unearthed at one of the mines you sold. Not only that, but the mine’s reserves are said to be far from depleted.”
In short, someone else reaped the rewards.
Was it truly a mine with little left in it? Had he received false reports? If so, that meant there was a traitor on the inside.
Those kinds of thoughts must’ve been running rampant in his mind.
But he couldn’t talk about them openly.
Not when he wasn’t sure who was friend or foe.
“Was any of that incorrect?”
“Did Dante send you?”
Duke Brimstone muttered as if biting down his fury.
“Planted a spy, did he? That shady bastard!”
Bang!
He slammed his hand on the desk.
“I never liked him from the start. Knew he’d try something like this eventually. Filthy little worm.”
“My father didn’t do anything. If anything, he barely pays attention to you.”
“And you think I’d believe that after you just listed off internal information like that?”
“You’re short-sighted, Duke. Why is it that you can’t imagine I figured it out on my own?”
“That’s because…”
“Because I wasn’t chosen by a divine beast?”
Linaria let out a small laugh.
A scoff.
“What kind of fool would go through all that effort to plant a spy, only to admit it outright? Not even a child would do that.”
Only then did Duke Brimstone begin to realize something was off.
“Since you seem to think I’m a total idiot, shall we make a bet?”
She could tolerate being treated like a fool—she’d endured worse.
But—
“One month.”
Linaria grabbed the glasses Duke Brimstone was wearing.
“Let’s bet on whether or not I can repay the hundred million runes within that time.”
But insulting her father—that she couldn’t let go.
⋯⋯⋯
“Y-you! You looked me in the eyes, didn’t you?”
A fluffy white ball came flying.
After leaving the duke’s office and making her way outside, Linaria was already regretting it.
“You did! You did, right?”
She tried desperately to ignore it, but the fluffy white creature kept clinging to her.
From the moment they met, she’d had a feeling—but yes, it was an extreme chatterbox.
Though thanks to it, she’d learned a lot about Brimstone’s internal affairs.
It seemed the divine beast didn’t lie.
Which meant Duke Brimstone’s recent hair loss was also…
“We made eye contact earlier! Why won’t you look at me now? You can hear me, right? You can, right?”
They hadn’t left the mansion grounds yet.
She couldn’t be seen talking to thin air, not with so many eyes on her.
People would think she was mentally unstable—or worse, they might figure out she had made a pact with the divine beast of time.
Better safe than sorry.
“You looked at me! Look at me again! Look at me!”
“Linaria! You’re leaving already?”
Auguste approached.
“Yes. I’ve finished what I came to do.”
“Did things go well with my father?”
“Thanks to you.”
Linaria ignored the chatty fluffball and spoke calmly with Auguste.
Perhaps realizing she truly wasn’t going to respond, the divine beast grumbled and flew off toward the mansion again—seemingly back to Duke Brimstone.
Good riddance.
“Even if my father said harsh things, I’m sure he didn’t mean it. Not just because he’s my father—he just has a specific bias against the Obel family.”
“Don’t worry. I know someone similar.”
“Someone similar?”
Linaria thought of Magnus.
The tower master would scold her for saying that.
“Yes. Someone like that.”
Brushing it off vaguely, Linaria walked toward the carriage Duke Brimstone had prepared for her.
Auguste, by habit, escorted her to the carriage.
Linaria, naturally accepting the gesture, climbed aboard.
Kaas stood nearby awkwardly. He could wield a sword, but etiquette was still beyond him.
And Auguste, sensing eyes on him, glanced at Kaas and was surprised.
“Now this one’s interesting too.”
Kaas was subtly mimicking Auguste’s gestures.
When their eyes met, Kaas tensed, but Auguste just gave him a small smile, pretending not to notice.
“Ah, by the way, Linaria.”
Auguste turned to her again.
“I think you’ve misunderstood something. I’d like to correct it.”
“If it’s about Duke Brimstone, I think you already explained it.”
“No, not that.”
Auguste shook his head gently.
“When I said I wanted to borrow a day of your time—it wasn’t just an offhand comment.”
She’d thought it was just a convenient excuse.
That thought froze Linaria in place—she couldn’t respond.
Thud.
Kaas coldly shut the carriage door.
“…?”
Auguste looked blankly at Kaas, unable to process the situation.
They had been in the middle of a conversation. And yet, he closed the door?
It wouldn’t be odd to scold such an impertinent servant.
But Kaas seemed unaware he’d done anything wrong.
Unbothered, he walked around and entered the carriage through the opposite door, sitting across from Linaria.
And the carriage departed.
“Hah!”
Left alone, Auguste burst out laughing.
Before Linaria could reply, she was already on her way home, left with only Kaas in the carriage.
“Why did you do that?”
Kaas looked at her with innocent eyes, as if he didn’t know what the problem was.
True, it was a difficult topic to respond to.
Maybe he noticed her discomfort and stepped in for her.
She let it slide.
Leaning back in the seat, Linaria closed her eyes.
“Even though I sleep well lately, I keep feeling tired.”
She planned to take a nap before arriving.
Since the carriage was provided by Duke Brimstone, there shouldn’t be any issues.
That’s what she thought.
But then—
Whinny—!
With a loud cry, the horse suddenly stopped.
“What’s going on?”
Startled, Linaria quickly pulled back the curtain near the driver’s seat.
“Something seems off with the horse. I think you’ll need to switch carriages. Is that alright?”
“If the horse is acting up, there’s nothing we can do.”
Linaria, unsuspecting, reached for the door—only for Kaas to stop her with an outstretched arm.
“Don’t get out.”
He exited alone.
Before doing so, he drew the curtain shut, as if to block her from seeing outside.
But Linaria wasn’t one to just sit still.
She peeked through the curtain.
And saw Kaas confronting the coachman.
It was the same coachman who had said something was wrong with the horse.
But no ordinary coachman would carry a sword—especially an assassin’s blade like that.
Unlike a knight’s, an assassin’s sword was short and thin.
Just like the one the coachman held now.
They were planning to kill me all along.
Using the horse as an excuse, they meant to lure her outside and eliminate her.
If Kaas hadn’t noticed—
She would’ve been helpless.
Linaria fixed her gaze on Kaas, who skillfully took the coachman down.
He mouthed something.
She couldn’t hear it, but she could read his lips.
“Five?”
Just as she furrowed her brows—
Bang!
The rear door was ripped open, and a black-gloved hand reached for her.
There wasn’t just one assassin.
At that moment—
“Four.”
Kaas yanked the attacker back and slammed him down. The masked assassin rolled across the ground.
I almost died.
Thanks to Kaas’s swift action, not only was she unharmed—no blade even touched her.
But as Linaria rubbed her arm, now cold from the adrenaline, she saw Kaas fend off another attacker with ease.
How many are there?
Three, maybe more.
“Three.”
Each time Kaas took one down, he counted.
“Two.”
Backwards.
“One.”
Linaria counted the bodies herself.
Five.
Exactly five.
The others had been hidden from the start.
But he sensed all five, even when they concealed their presence.
No ordinary person could do that.
“Kaas.”
Goosebumps ran across her skin. Linaria approached the man who had mercilessly taken them down.
Kaas was panting heavily.
Not from exhaustion—but from the thrill of killing.
“Look at me.”
Standing in front of him, she gently cupped his cheek. But her voice didn’t seem to reach him.
The golden eyes were slightly unfocused.
He’s killed before—many times.
But living in bloodlust was a thing of his past life.
“Kaas.”
She laid her hand over the one gripping his sword. He flinched as if burned.
Still, Linaria didn’t stop.
She slowly brought the blade to her own neck.
“…!”
Directly to her throat.
