Chapter 81 …………………………………………………..
Terence spoke as if troubled, addressing Riena, who had been exercising her right to remain silent since the interrogation began.
“You are currently suspected of ordering the various crimes committed by the Iver Merchant Guild.”
“……”
“Were you aware of the secret chamber discovered at the Iver Guild’s headquarters?”
“……”
“It has been four days since the chamber was found, and the investigators are still reviewing the documents recovered from it. That speaks to the sheer volume of criminal records. As the true owner of the Iver Guild, what do you have to say about this?”
“……”
“A warehouse of smuggled goods was also discovered in the territory of Cassius. Should we take that to mean the Duchy of Cassius cooperated in smuggling as well?”
“……”
“If you continue to remain silent, I’ll have no choice but to assume you admit to all charges. Is that acceptable to you?”
“……”
Riena’s lips showed no sign of opening. Since she had been brought to the Imperial Palace, interrogations had been held daily, but they had yielded almost nothing.
Terence had questioned her on the first day. On the second and third days, different interrogators had taken over. Each tried their own methods—soothing her, subtly threatening her—but the result was always the same.
It’s not as if we can torture her. Terence sighed inwardly and tapped the desk.
Riena Cassius was a member of a meritorious family and one of the most powerful houses of the era. When a high-ranking noble of that stature committed a serious crime and was arrested, custody was handled at the Imperial Palace rather than by the city guard.
‘Thanks to that, I won’t even get to see the annex of the capital’s guard headquarters.’
Since the Emperor was treating the case with utmost seriousness, most of the investigation was conducted within the palace. The guard annex was used only for auxiliary duties—and for the detention of Elliot Rood. The latter had been Idel’s suggestion.
“It would be better to imprison Riena and Elliot in separate buildings. If they’re physically close, who knows what extraordinary means they might use to communicate? We need to be extremely cautious with Elliot.”
Terence recalled the letter Idel had sent him yesterday. Apparently, Elliot and Count Miloam had clashed fiercely from their very first meeting. Since then, the Count had been visiting Elliot daily, giving him relentless trouble.
Frankly, Terence didn’t care what happened. No—he felt sorry for Idel, but he almost wished her efforts would come to nothing.
‘Genius or not, he gets on my nerves.’
The way Idel paid so much attention to that man. The way she spent long hours in the same space to monitor him. The way she worried so much about him that she could barely eat properly.
Of course, Terence understood her concern about Elliot’s inherent danger. Still, for reasons beyond that, he now found himself wishing that Elliot would simply disappear from the world. Forever.
“Did Your Highness seduce Idel?”
It was then that the woman who had been silent as though she had forgotten how to speak finally opened her mouth.
“Answer me. Did you lure away our innocent sister-in-law?”
Her gaze, sharp as a honed blade and filled with hostility, cut toward Terence.
Ha. Terence let out a dry laugh.
“I was wondering what you were talking about.”
He signaled to the others in the interrogation room. Soon, only the two of them remained.
“Answer me.”
Riena pressed him again. Terence leaned back comfortably in his chair and replied.
“No.”
After a beat, he added,
“Not anymore. She’s not your sister-in-law now.”
“Then that means you did lure her away.”
“Well. It would’ve been nice if I could have.”
“Stop playing with words.”
“I’m only stating facts.”
“…I’ll never let you take her.”
The young lady shoved her chair back and stood abruptly. The chair clattered to the floor.
“I’ll never let you take her from me.”
She looked resolute and determined, like a soldier defending the last remaining fortress from an enemy army. After making her arrogant declaration, she stormed out of the interrogation room at her own whim.
Terence let her go. He was too exhausted to continue a fruitless interrogation with that woman.
“Riena Cassius.”
Left alone, Terence muttered her name. He felt an urge to rinse his mouth, as though something filthy had touched it.
He had felt something off about her from the first time he saw her at that shabby hotel where he’d taken the room next to Idel’s. Even from a distance, merely watching Idel converse with that woman had unsettled him.
What he disliked most was how she troubled Idel and clung to her obsessively. But beyond that, Riena Cassius herself evoked in Terence a strange, inexplicable revulsion.
From head to toe, she felt fabricated. It wasn’t just her appearance or personality—it was as though the very world surrounding Riena Cassius had been artificially constructed.
“Why is your body so stiff? You need to bend more. Come on, follow me!”
“Argh! Don’t push! I can’t bend any further!”
Haha. They’re both quite healthy.
Sitting in my personal chair, I watched Count Miloam and Elliot bicker inside the barred cell.
“What on earth is the purpose of that?” Vineta, standing beside me, asked. Even she—who rarely bothered to question anything—seemed curious about the farce unfolding before her.
“According to the Count, he’s personally going to train Elliot.”
“For what reason?”
At that moment, Count Miloam, who was pressing down firmly on Elliot’s bent upper body, shouted loudly:
“A sound mind resides in a sound body! I’ll help you be reborn as a new man!”
After several tumbles, he had figured out how to distinguish between pain the artifact reflected and pain it didn’t. As a result, Elliot was now subjected to a moderately painful yet health-beneficial training session.
“So that’s his reasoning.”
Even with both my explanation and the Count’s enthusiastic demonstration, Vineta’s confusion didn’t seem entirely resolved.
“It is not my place to judge, but I am unsure whether this process is necessary for your objective, Lady Idel.”
“I understand what you mean.”
Until this morning, I too had my doubts about continuing to let the two of them meet.
“But look at that.”
I gestured with my chin toward Elliot, currently suffering under Count Miloam’s ministrations.
“S-Stop! Stop! My bones are going to break!”
“They won’t break from this much! Stop exaggerating!”
I leaned closer to Vineta and whispered:
“Even though he hates it, he’s still following the Count’s instructions.”
“Well, that’s because he’s being forced by strength…”
“Mm, I wasn’t talking about physical strength. I meant compatibility between people.”
“Compatibility?”
“In life, there are people you naturally click with, and people you dislike from the first moment you meet them. Similarly, I think there are people who make you weaker when you deal with them—and people who make you stronger.”
It wasn’t directly related to strength or intelligence. Even someone strong and clever might find themselves unknowingly listening to someone weaker.
“For example, when someone stubbornly insists on their own opinion, I feel rebellious. But when someone speaks as if they need my care—like a child—I grow soft-hearted and feel like giving in, even if their argument is weak.”
“I see. I roughly understand.”
“I think everyone has people who make them weaker and people who make them stronger.”
“So you’re saying that Elliot Rood becomes weaker in the presence of Count Miloam?”
“Yes. If you look closely, he’s constantly getting swept up by the Count.”
If Count Miloam were merely strong, Elliot would have already charmed him with his eloquence. But the Count was so illogical and headstrong that none of Elliot’s words took root.
If he were a logical man, he wouldn’t show up here every day just to train someone he disliked. And besides…
I recalled the brief conversation I had with Elliot last night.
When I probed whether he disliked Count Miloam that much, I had expected him to snap. Instead, he wore a strange expression—like someone reminiscing about a past he could never return to.
“…I do dislike him. He’s the same type as my uncle. I’m sick of that type.”
“Your uncle—the one who raised you?”
“Yes. I’m grateful he raised me, but whenever I sat at my desk studying, he would scold me for being ignorant of the world. And he never stopped lecturing me about becoming someone useful to society.”
“From the sound of it, he seemed like a good man.”
“He was. It’s quite regrettable that he passed away so early.”
“You must’ve been very sad.”
“Well, yes. After my mother left, I became an orphan, and he raised me like his own child. Though our values never aligned.”
“……”
“Oh, and for the record, my mother didn’t die. She simply couldn’t endure living in a foreign land and left me behind. It was a hassle explaining, so I just told people both my parents had passed.”
I looked at the man who appeared immersed in sentiment and spoke.
“Elliot, if you’re trying to manipulate my actions by drawing out my sympathy, it won’t work.”
“…You caught me.”
Emotional manipulation only works when it suits the person. Hearing someone like Elliot rattle off his tragic past only raised suspicion.
“Still, it wasn’t bad. You transitioned naturally from talking about Count Miloam. But your acting needs work. It was too awkward.”
“You… judging by how sharp you are, you must have been pretending to be foolish back then.”
Elliot looked thoroughly disenchanted. As if there had been much to lose in the first place.
His intentions may have been impure, but it didn’t feel like he was lying.
If Count Miloam reminded him of his uncle, perhaps in Riena’s first life, Elliot had served the Count for that very reason.
But it was still weak. The compatibility between the two seemed fairly good, yet not strong enough to overturn Elliot’s blind loyalty to Riena.
‘All right. Let’s try shaking Elliot a bit.’
The next day, a timely opportunity presented itself.
Multiple newspapers had rushed to publish exclusive reports about the Iver Merchant Guild and Riena.
