~Chapter 145~
“This really is… tricky.”
If you think of it simply, it goes like this:
Say Seraphina and I fought over a money-lending issue.
And let’s say I had a notarized record, in the Lady’s name, proving I lent her the money.
Now, if I revealed that record without the Lady’s consent, wouldn’t that put her in an awkward position too?
If you replace me with House Claudius, Seraphina with the Temple, and the Lady with the Imperial family—
that’s basically the same story.
Which means—
“The moment we release this evidence, it will look like the Imperial family is openly siding with Claudius.”
The Imperial family wanted to stay on good terms with both Claudius and the Temple.
From their position, it was a heavy burden.
“Besides, the timing isn’t great for throwing the documents out there either.”
“What do you mean by timing…?”
“Well, since it was that kind of newspaper, some people do say we should wait and see. But…”
The Duke smiled bitterly.
“Watching someone who was rising so high suddenly plummet—that’s always entertaining, isn’t it?”
“…”
I couldn’t say a word. Honestly, I couldn’t deny it either.
The Duke’s bitter smile deepened.
“No matter how strong the evidence, it only matters if people accept it. And right now… we’re under suspicion.”
That was the problem.
The accusations had come from a tabloid rag, so things weren’t as loud as they could’ve been—
but the public’s eyes were on Claudius now.
To clear ourselves, we’d need flawless proof, without a single crack.
“More than anything, I can’t understand why the Temple made such a reckless move.”
The Duke’s thoughtful face grew shadowed.
“Sure, it’s noisy now because the accusations just came out. But Claudius will naturally issue a rebuttal soon. The Temple knows that too.”
His blue eyes narrowed.
“They know we can fight back. So what could they possibly gain?”
“You’re right.”
“The only benefit is spreading doubt, tarnishing our integrity. But…”
He shook his head.
“Yes, damaging our reputation hurts—especially since this is about a childcare foundation. But it won’t destroy the foundation itself.”
“It does seem strange.”
I agreed carefully.
“If their goal was truly to attack Claudius, they should have backed Priest Pedro’s accusations more strongly. But they didn’t.”
“Exactly. It’s like they’re dragging down Claudius’s reputation but still acting as if they have a way to clean things up afterward.”
His suspicion lingered only a moment.
“Well, the Imperial family asked us to wait a little.”
The Duke curved his lips into that confident smile I loved so much.
“But I won’t wait long.”
Priest Pedro walked deep in thought.
“Something really is strange.”
He admitted it—at first, he’d rushed into exposing Claudius without much thought.
It was out of pity and anger for the starving children, and the promise of support from none other than the Chief Priest himself.
That had pushed him forward.
But now that his head had cooled, the situation felt all too suspicious.
“Chief Priest Evans is clearly avoiding me.”
He was always “too busy” to meet.
And yet… he still saw Lady Lopez.
“In that case…”
After a moment’s hesitation, Pedro turned his steps toward the newspaper office where he’d first made his accusation.
“Why, if it isn’t Priest Pedro!”
The office reeked of smoke.
A journalist lounged with his feet on a desk but stood quickly when he saw Pedro.
“Do you have more information for us?”
“N-No, actually…”
Pedro hesitated, then asked:
“Could I take another look at the materials I gave you at the beginning?”
“Ah, sure.”
The journalist looked disappointed but guided him to the records room.
“There, over there.”
“…”
Pedro’s eyes darkened as he saw his documents stuffed in a corner, neglected.
So this was a yellow rag after all.
They cared nothing for evidence, only for sensational stories to make money.
The supposed slush fund of Claudius, the children still starving in orphanages—
none of that mattered to them.
“Take your time.”
The journalist left him in the records room.
Pedro stared down at the papers, troubled.
“The evidence seems flimsy. Do you have anything stronger?”
“With only this, it doesn’t clearly prove a slush fund exists.”
“You said they siphoned donations from orphanages. Have you verified with the orphanages themselves?”
The reporters’ sharp questions rang again in his ears.
Pedro clenched his fists.
“Damn it…”
He had trusted Isaac Evans. Surely there would be no errors in documents the Chief Priest himself had provided.
At the time, he believed getting the article out quickly was the only way to help the starving children.
But—
“I was too careless.”
If that was true, then it was his duty to correct it now.
Glancing around, Pedro slipped the documents into his robes.
Moments later, he stepped out.
“I’ve seen enough. I’ll take my leave.”
“Sure, take care,” the journalist replied without even looking at him.
The streets were dim at dusk.
Pedro hurried toward his tiny rented room, his wrinkled face set grimly.
The young Lady and I sat side by side, reading together for the first time in a while.
Well—she was the one reading.
I was watching her.
“Milady, you know you have to write a review today, right?”
I quickly reminded her, making sure she didn’t slack off.
I’d already had to nag her five times.
“Eeehh…”
She whined, but still buried her nose back into the book.
At least she wasn’t completely uninterested—the pages turned steadily enough.
There was a reason I was pushing her so much.
The reading circle was this week.
“Hasn’t it been three times now that we’ve missed it?”
Sigh…
I held back a groan.
Welcoming the Rossburn delegation, the Claudius Foundation exposition—
we’d been so busy that we’d neglected the circle unintentionally.
The members had been understanding, but still—
we couldn’t keep ignoring it.
“We finally have time. We have to attend this one.”
I firmed my resolve—when suddenly,
“Oh, come on. What is this?!”
The young Lady, who had been lounging with her book, leapt up in frustration.
