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Chapter 142: Rabiennes Invitation (III)

Rabienne ignored Esther because she was an adopted child, but she received several pieces of information that the grand duke was particularly fond of her.

So, under no circumstance should Esther be allowed to go through something suspicious inside the temple.

First of all, she was thinking of actually having tea, and putting Esther to sleep for a very short time via sleeping pills in the tea.

Right now, it was sufficient to have enough blood to take the qualification test.

‘Father will take care of the next one.’

Thanks to the carrier pigeon, Rabienne knew that a separate guild had been hired.

Although she was worried about whether they would be able to break through the grand duchy’s escorts, she didn’t think that they would fail.

“I can use the sleeping pills I already have.”

Rabienne’s eyes as she made detailed plans were redder than usual, as if stained with blood.

She summoned her personal maid and gave detailed instructions on the tea party’s preparations.

“…Be prepared for that. There will be about seven people. They are children from precious families, so bring all the special teas.”

To this tea party, she deliberately invited several other noble daughters besides Esther.

It needed to be decorated more luxuriously to deceive everyone.

“You mean, to prepare for a tea party in the inner hall of the temple?”

“That’s right. If you’re not sure, ask High Priest Lucas. It will be supervised by Sir Lucas.”

Again wearing her saint mask, Rabienne gently coaxed the maid with a gentle voice.

Originally, the use of the halls of the temple for other purposes had to be approved at monthly meetings.

However, Rabienne ignored the procedure. Since the maid was ordered by the saint, she, too, decided to skip it.

“It’s very important, so pay special attention to it.”

“Yes, Saint.”

The maid who received instructions from Rabienne went out.

‘A tea party at a time like this.’

Gathering the children of high-ranking nobles in the situation where people continue to die from infectious diseases.

The maid tilted her head, wondering if the saint was lacking in maturity. Then she ran into Lucas in the hallway.

Lucas was on his way to see Rabienne with Kyle.

Habitually lowering her head, the maid remembered Rabienne’s words to ask Lucas and approached.

“Um, High Priest Lucas, the saint told me to start preparing for the tea party. Is there anything else you want me to do?”

“Ahem, did she? I want it to be as quiet as possible so that not many people inside know…”

Kyle, who heard this all for the first time, had a puzzled expression.

‘Tea time, is this a suitable time?’

Besides, Lucas’ words to prepare quietly caught his heart.

He listened to every conversation between Lucas and the maid.

After a while…

As soon as the maid said goodbye and disappeared, Kyle rushed in.

“What does this mean?”

“It’s as you have heard. The saint said she wanted to hold a tea time.”

“Huh, tea time… I know there’s a mountain of overdue work, does she have to do that?”

Seeing Kyle shaking with agitation, Lucas hesitated for a moment whether he should tell the truth.

‘All high priests will know eventually anyway.’ So Lucas looked around and lowered my voice.

“Actually, the saint has found the person who is expected to be the owner of the revelation.”

“What? Really?”

Kyle asked with a flinch, having been to Tersia to see Esther.

“Yes. She is almost certain. It’s a tea party disguised to ascertain.”

“Oh, I see. W-Who is it?”

“You will find out soon. Please wait for it.”

Lucas didn’t say it was Esther right away, keeping it a secret.

It was because it wouldn’t be too late to reveal it after confirming at the party.

It was not that he didn’t trust the other high priests, but he decided that it was better for less people to know in preparation for an unexpected situation.

‘How did she find her?’

Kyle erased the guilt of not telling Lucas when he found out.

Instead, he decided to see if Esther was really among the teatime guests.

He moved on, thinking of a way to get the guest list without Lucas noticing.

★★★

After brainwashing, Lucifer was sent to the Duchy of Brions.

Ben took him there.

“…I need to send him back?”

“That’s right. He is from our territory. Even if you want to punish him, we will do it in our territory.”

“Okay.”

Duke Brions nodded with a confused expression.

‘If they are going to bring him back, I can’t kill or torture him.’

It was a pity, but he thought positively that he finally got Lucifer in his grasp.

“I will send it in a week.”

“Okay. I’ll be back then.”

Duke Brions dragged Lucifer to the cell prepared in advance and took off the black cloth covering his face.

“Ugh…”

Lucifer frowned as his view suddenly brightened.

Anyone could see that he was frightened. He was very tired from his long prison life.

“Are you Lucifer?”

Duke Brions gave strength to his sharply opened eyes, glaring at Lucifer.

Shaking all over, Lucifer looked emaciated.

‘He doesn’t seem to be completely sane.’

Duke Brions scanned him from head to toe, then clicked his tongue and crossed his legs.

“Answer me.”

“Yes, that’s right. This is Lucifer.”

Lucifer responded quickly, showing that he would cooperate with Duke Brions in everything as Deheen had ordered.

“Do you know who I am?”

“No, just a high noble…”

He knew roughly where he was going when he was getting brainwashed, but he shook his head, pretending not to know, as Deheen’s aides ordered.

“Is there a reason you’re looking for me even though you’ve never seen me before?”

“Yes. I have something I want to ask you. If you answer correctly, I will save you.”

“Ah, of course. Whatever I know, I will answer wholeheartedly.”

“Only the truth.”

Brions held on to Lucifer’s jaw without losing his coercive attitude.

“You know a woman named Catherine, right?”

“What? Yes. However, since there is more than one person named Catherine, which Catherine…”

Lucifer pretended to flinch and deliberately replied loudly.

“I heard you kept calling Catherine’s name. If I say that she was the woman who ran a teahouse, would you know right away?”

‘As I’ve been told, this guy is also after Catherine.’

‘I shouldn’t have gotten involved at the time.’

What kind of woman was she that made the two of the heads of the four great families so upset?

Lucifer bitterly regretted his actions in the past and answered Duke Brions.

“The Catherine who ran a teahouse, yes, I definitely know one… Why is a high noble looking for a Catherine I know…”

“Stop talking nonsense and tell me in detail where you met the woman and what condition she was in.”

Intensity and agitation grew when Duke Brions was finally able to hear the story of Catherine.

“It was a coincidence. I found Katherine in the alley, and she was very hurt, so I helped a little.”

Lucifer continued speaking slowly, pretending to retrace his memory.

Deheen had drilled the decided answer into his head, so he just roughly responded.

“But why are you looking for Catherine? Is it because she is the woman you liked…”

“Don’t you dare question me.”

Annoyed for a moment, Duke Brions shouted and raised her voice, and Lucifer fell flat on the floor.

“I’m sorry. I was wrong.”

“Did she have a baby with her?”

Tension glimmered in Duke Brions’ red eyes, which looked just like Rabienne’s.

The truth he wanted to confirm so much.

And at Lucifer’s answer that followed, he gritted his teeth.

“How do you…? You’re right. She had a newborn baby by her side.”

“Shit. I should have removed it properly. Shouldn’t have let it go like that. To think she ran away and gave birth to my child…”

Duke Brions could not stand the rising anger and jumped up and started muttering to himself.

He was so agitated that he seemed unaware of what he was saying.

“……!!”

And when Lucifer registered the contents of the murmur, his eyes widened to the point they could pop out.

He was very surprised, but he forcefully kept his composure at the thought that he would die the moment he revealed he heard it.

“Where did Catherine, who was said to have been injured, go? Is she alive now?”

“No. She died.”

Thinking that it was fortunate, Duke Brions’ expression slightly softened.

“What about the baby?”

“I… I took care of it for a while and then handed it over to the temple. As a child with divine power…”

Duke Brions clenched his fists when the words ‘divine power’ and ‘temple’ came out.

“Are there any lies in that?”

“Really, no. Why would I lie about something like this?”

“Good. Then, were there any mementos left by Catherine? Even if it’s a small thing, if she has anything left, tell me.”

It was a question to confirm once more that it was really the right Catherine.

However, because Lucifer had already been brainwashed to not talk about the necklace, just thinking about it gave him a headache.

Lucifer quickly shook his head to escape the pain.

“I don’t remember anything that could be considered a keepsake. Aside from being beautiful, she was an ordinary woman.”

“What about the child? Have you ever told anyone about the child?”

“Never. I do miss Catherine every now and then, but as for the child… I completely forgot. I barely remembered it when you asked.”

Only then did Duke Brions feel relieved.

Since Lucifer had never met Esther, he must be ignorant. Also, Duke Brions came to believe that Deheen did not know this either.

Even after that, Duke Brions continued to question Lucifer.

Lucifer had been brainwashed, and because of the firm spell, he didn’t say anything about Deheen.

Other than that, there was no room for doubt because he told the truth as it was.

Thanks to this, Duke Brions was convinced that Esther was his child.

‘Lucifer must be kept alive.’

He intended to have Lucifer as a witness if it went to court.

It was troublesome that Lucifer had to be imprisoned in Tersia, but it was better than having no witnesses at all.

“You shouldn’t tell anyone what you said to me today. Never, even after returning to Tersia. Got it?”

Threats continued that if he heard even a bit of it, he would find and kill him, risking his honor.

“Instead, if you help me out later, I’ll give you enough money to live well for the rest of your life.”

“…Yes.”

Lucifer lowered his head to live. He had to please both Deheen and Duke Brions somehow.

‘I can’t believe that the child I sold is the child of a duke…’

And deep in his heart, regret followed.

He couldn’t help lamenting the irreversible consequences of one wrong choice.

Credits goes to Kushi for raw providing and Ame for translating.