Chapter 44
It was obviously a ridiculous situation, since it wasn’t something I had imagined in the first place.
“What on earth….”
Floria’s gaze, fumbling at her lips, naturally shifted toward the space beneath the desk.
Her heart was still pounding from the strange event that had just occurred, but for some reason, it was accompanied by a voice she felt she had to trust.
She leaned forward slightly and scanned under the desk as if in a trance. Then, her hand brushed against a thick piece of paper.
“No way…”
She quickly pulled it out, and to her surprise, it was a thick folder. Its cover was dark green, just as Caspar had said.
“…….”
Floria stared blankly at the cover, feeling certain that inside would be everything she and Caspar wanted.
Her eyes rolled slightly.
“How… could this be?”
Only one thought crossed her mind.
The soul of the villainess.
Every time she went to the confessional, her mouth moved on its own. Perhaps a fragment of the original soul of this body remained before the possession.
Honestly, she hadn’t really believed it. She thought she had merely spoken out her thoughts bluntly while reflecting at the confessional.
Since possession usually brings about at least one strange phenomenon, she had rationalized it as nothing more than the villainess’s soul causing mischief.
But what had just happened was far too bizarre.
She had muttered facts she had no way of knowing.
“Does it really… exist?”
Her heart continued to pound. She placed her hand over her chest, attempting to communicate with whatever was inside, but of course, it remained silent.
…This wasn’t the time to hesitate. First, she needed to verify it.
The ticking of the clock cut sharply into her ears, snapping her attention back. No matter how much she thought now, it wouldn’t help her find out anything new.
She hurriedly flipped the cover open. As expected.
From the beginning, the pages were packed with names and amounts. At the very end, unpleasantly, it even read “n people.”
It was a list of nobles who had purchased slaves—the ledger of Count Ridante.
At the very top were the names of Marquis Barmore and Baron Beanel Narjan Youngshik, who had recently visited the confessional to complain!
Floria flipped through the papers rapidly, her hands moving faster with each page.
Finally, on the last page…
―✕✕. ✕✕. High Priest Elio of the Temple……
The evidence she had been desperately seeking was there.
“That damn High Priest.”
Ridante or the High Priest—it didn’t matter. Both of them were the same kind of vile man.
They could put on kind, gentle expressions, but behind the scenes, they were committing atrocities like this.
Even when she had read the reports Caspar had given her, she had doubted it. Seeing the proof now made her blood run cold.
“Let’s go back.”
But there was no time to be swept away by emotion. She quickly gathered the fallen papers and tidied up the clutter on the desk.
Clutching the ledger tightly, she was about to leave when—
Squeeeeak—
The door suddenly opened.
“……!”
Floria froze, one foot stepping forward, rigid with fear.
She couldn’t lift her gaze; the floor before her revealed a pair of men’s shoes.
“Oh no.”
She closed her mouth tightly, instinctively sensing the end was near. Her eyes grew hot, and tears threatened to spill.
But then—
“Floria.”
A very familiar, strangely reassuring voice reached her ears.
Caspar’s low, languid voice.
“……Ah! You startled me. You really did!”
Floria exhaled sharply, wiping the faint tears from her eyes.
Though she spoke with a hint of reproach, she was genuinely relieved by his appearance. But when she looked up, something felt off.
Caspar was in his original form—not as a woman, nor in his previous disguise.
He wore a mask, though she had no idea when he had put it on.
“…….”
She was momentarily stunned, seeing Caspar back in his real form after having seen him in disguise so often. It almost felt like a hiccup might escape.
When he had been cross-dressing, his height and bulk had made her want to poke her eyes out. Now, even with a mask, his solid, commanding presence could captivate anyone.
“Let’s get out of here.”
Snapped back to attention by his sharp voice, Floria blinked rapidly.
“Right… no time to hesitate.”
Grateful she had something to hold onto, she clutched the ledger tightly.
The corridor was still quiet, allowing them to move quickly.
“But why are you here, Your Grace?”
“I stayed here longer than expected. As the potion’s effect began to fade, the Count looked up in surprise.”
Caspar frowned, a little troubled.
“So, I had no choice but to punch him in the face. He’s lying flat, so it’ll take him some time to get up.”
“…….”
Floria blinked. Was he really talking so casually? She had expected some clever trick, but he had simply punched him flat out. Truly a remarkable plan.
As she scanned him, Floria noticed that his uniform was unusually extravagant today.
The accessories were flashy, but it was a crisp, white uniform.
“W-what about the uniform?”
“I stole it.”
“Excuse me?”
It felt ominous.
“The Count had something that didn’t even fit me, so I wore it. I can’t go around in a dress.”
She swallowed her words about the person who had been wandering around in just a dress earlier.
Caspar spoke nonchalantly, but this wasn’t a trivial matter. They had to leave before the High Priest woke and the knights tried to seize him.
Still…
Floria glanced back. They had just passed the room they had been locked in earlier.
She worried about the people left behind, whose eyes seemed to have lost focus, as if giving up on life.
The same went for those trapped behind the bars outside.
“……We can’t free those people, can we?”
Of course not. Still, she whispered it quietly, as if at least saying it might help.
Caspar tilted his head, as if he’d heard something strange.
“They’ve already been freed on the way here.”
“What?”
Floria, who had half given up, stopped in her tracks, momentarily forgetting they had to move quickly to escape.
Now that she thought about it, something seemed odd. Sure, he had knocked out the Count, but what about the knights guarding the exits?
And he had even taken the time to release the slaves safely.
“How did you lose the knights and slave traders who followed the Count?”
Caspar turned slightly as the footsteps behind him stopped.
Furrowing one eye thoughtfully, he soon grinned.
“I didn’t go out the door. I moved to a distant window instead. I couldn’t let my identity be revealed this time.”
W-window? Floria imagined Caspar sneaking along the window.
The idea of this massive man pressed against a window, moving cautiously, seemed absurdly ungraceful.
“You look disappointed imagining it. Fortunately, there was a long enough ledge to walk along in front of the window.”
“Oh… okay.”
Floria winced but responded nonchalantly. Caspar was just the sort of person who did whatever he pleased and narrated it aloud.
“It felt like playing a fun game. You have no idea how many teleportation crystals I prepared for today.”
Caspar pulled a small blue crystal from his pocket, a sly smile tugging at his lips.
His yellow eyes sparkled with excitement as he looked at the magic crystal. Yet Floria felt uneasy.
They had come to the slave market to find evidence that the High Priest had illegally purchased slaves.
She hadn’t expected him to actually free the slaves. Almost giving up herself, she hadn’t even considered it.
But freeing the slaves, and bringing countless expensive teleportation crystals to move them safely…
“Is he really doing it just for fun, or is there another reason?”
No, it couldn’t be the first. Behind his excited gaze, there was a strangely lonely air—as if recalling some distant past.
If she kept staring at him, she might get caught up in that emotion herself. Floria deliberately cleared her throat and changed the subject.
“How do we rescue the people outside?”
“We just go now. The Count will probably wake soon…”
“Aaahhh!”
Before Caspar finished speaking, someone screamed from the upper floor.
Soon after, heavy footfalls thudded rapidly.
Floria and Caspar exchanged a glance.
“Run.”
