"Appa, appa."
Duren called Lennox "dad."
"This is appa."
Pointing at the black thread stuck right against the pink line like a ball of yarn, Duren whispered.
"This one is dudugo."
"Did you just call me dad?"
Lennox's voice dropped low as well."Yeah!"
"Why?"
Just last night, he had insisted on calling him "mister." Why the sudden change?
"Appa only looked at mom!"
Duren answered with a bright smile.
"Appa is supposed to be the one who loves mom!"
Leaving those words behind, Duren ran to Estelle.
"Mom! I'm hungry!"
"Shall we have a snack? But since you made a mess, cleaning up is part of becoming a wonderful grown-up, right?"
"Clean up?"
"Don't pretend you don't know. Duke, would you say a word, please?"
"Uh… we-well, uh."
"Your Grace?"
"No. Don't mind this, just go on. You said you were hungry."
Estelle gave Lennox, who seemed somehow broken, a curious look, then nodded.
"We'll go ahead first."
Even after the two of them left, Lennox remained blank for quite a while.
I… only looked at Estelle?
In the middle of all that chaos?
[Appa is supposed to be the one who loves Mom!]
That line kept circling in his head.
Which meant Duren had called him "Dad" because he saw the way Lennox looked at Estelle.
Me… Estelle?
"It seems the storm has passed."
Lennox, who had been completely flustered, finally came to his senses at Pippin's voice.
The office was mottled with crayon marks.
The neatly stacked documents were scattered across the floor.
"We should call in the servants to clean the office."
"No, leave it."
From someone with obsessive cleanliness, what was that supposed to mean?
"There's no need to tidy up. Ah, yes. Especially don't erase the crayon marks. Absolutely not."
"Y-yes, understood."
After emphasizing this over and over, Lennox bent down to pick up the scattered papers. But in the middle of them was something strange.
"What's this?"
"Pardon? What is it?"
Pippin, coming closer, tilted his head.
"To my eyes, it looks like a cipher. Could it be a new code?"
On a palm-sized map, something that seemed to be encrypted was drawn.
Lennox and Pippin's eyes narrowed.
And then—
Pop!
Along with the code, a circular mark was drawn over a certain region.
"The sacred relic Libra, the Scales, which the temple has been lending to the Imperial Family at an enormous cost—it's a fake."
"…What?"
"The real one is here."
"What?! You can read this? No, more than that—if this information is true…"
Pippin's expression turned grave.
"It would certainly worsen relations between the Imperial Family and the temple."
"And the temple itself will be in chaos for a while. They won't even have the leeway to send out spies."
There could be no surer trump card than this.
"The problem is whether this information is genuine. Isn't it strange that this paper happened to be discovered just now?"
"Whatever else may be uncertain, the information itself is real."
Lennox spoke with conviction.
"The sacred relic Libra is said to discern truth from lies. In my past life, I once suspected that the relic was a fake."
Because it judged truth as falsehood, and falsehood as truth, Lennox had raised doubts.
But since there was no way to prove it, it had remained nothing more than his private suspicion.
"We'll go there at once."
The place marked as the true relic's location was near the River Gehenna, overflowing with demonic energy.
Which meant only Lennox, who could overcome miasma, would be capable of finding the genuine relic.
"Isn't this too hasty?"
"The site marked on the map is close by. At the earliest, tomorrow, and at the latest, the day after, we can finish the investigation."
"…"
"They dared to step foot in Winterren Territory without permission. It's only right we repay that courage a hundredfold."
"Understood. I'll have preparations for departure made at once."
After Pippin left, Lennox rubbed his face dry with his hands.
He had used the temple as an excuse, but the real reason he was rushing was something else.
Me… Estelle?
Normally, he would have laughed it off as nonsense.
But he kept thinking about it, denying it, until in the end it was the only thought left in his mind.
I need to sort out my thoughts.
And this had happened just when he had finally heard Duren call him "Dad."
His mind was in turmoil.
Phew, thank goodness.
Hearing the sudden news of Lennox's departure, Estelle secretly broke into a cold sweat.
I was worried he might dismiss it as scribbles or nonsense, but thank goodness he didn't.
[Duren, want to try drawing this?]
[Yeah!]
Holding the note that Duren had innocently copied without knowing anything, she deliberately went to find him.
Because the night before, while pretending to sleep, she had overheard a servant speaking to Lennox.
If I want the temple to leave me alone, I'll need to cause a major uproar. For that, the Duke has to be able to find the real relic…
In other words, she had laid the groundwork to prevent the temple's interference in advance.
And so, late that night—
After putting Duren to bed, Estelle quietly stepped outside.
As always, she leaned against the door in case Duren might wake in the middle of the night—when she noticed a figure in the distance.
Long black hair.
A loose, wavering gait.
It was Glesia.
Her height, nearly that of a grown man, and her frail, skinny frame made her immediately recognizable.
Where is she going alone?
Her staggering steps looked unsteady.
And there wasn't even a maid attending her nearby.
Worried, Estelle quietly followed after Glesia.
And then she saw it.
Clunk.
Clunk.
Clunk, clunk, clunk.
She was trying violently to force open a locked door.
"Hello. What are you doing?"
Glesia glanced sideways at Estelle and replied offhandedly.
"It's locked."
"It must be because of Duren."
The door she had been trying to open was none other than the kitchen door.
Ever since Duren had snuck sweet potatoes, the head chef had been locking the kitchen thoroughly.
"Duren?"
"Lady Glesia's nephew."
"Ah."
Clunk—
Glesia answered absentmindedly, then gave the door another tug.
And the door came off.
While Estelle was startled, Glesia reacted as though it were only natural.
Stride.
She stepped inside and immediately grabbed a carrot that was in plain sight.
Apparently very hungry, she began eating the raw carrot that had only been washed.
"Should I call the head chef?"
"No."
Soon after, she didn't stop at the carrot—she began grabbing and eating whatever was within reach.
Crunch, crunch.
…But isn't she eating a bit too much?
Green onions, potatoes, almonds, onions…
At that moment, as Glesia devoured anything she could get her hands on, Estelle felt something was wrong.
Urp.
She covered her mouth and gagged.
"Lady Glesia? Are you all right?"
Glesia gave a small nod.
But she looked anything but fine.
I should have called the head chef and made sure she had a proper meal!
"Please wait here for just a moment!"
Sensing that something was seriously wrong, Estelle rushed off to call a maid.
"It seems Lady Glesia has eaten too much food."
"What? Is that so?"
A few middle-aged maids appeared and went with Estelle back to the kitchen.
Even though the reclusive Glesia had suddenly come out in the middle of the night and behaved so strangely, they didn't seem particularly surprised.
They quickly cleaned up the traces of what she had vomited and, as if used to it, supported Glesia on either side.
"My lady!"
Having heard the commotion, Pippin came running out in his nightclothes.
"My lady, are you all right?"
"I'm fine. More importantly, has Lady Glesia recovered?"
"What? Wait—surely the Duke hasn't told you?"
"What do you mean?"
"There was only enough mandrake medicine for a single dose, so all of what was produced was given to you, my lady."
Estelle's eyes widened in shock.
"I was never told anything like that."
"It seems the Duke didn't want to burden you with guilt. For once, he made a delicate decision."
Pippin was surprised—he had fully expected Lennox to make a show of taking all the credit.
"So you're saying Lady Glesia's share was given entirely to me?"
"That's correct."
Estelle's expression darkened."Does Lady Glesia know about this?"
"No."
"…What?"
Pippin made a flustered face.
"It's highly likely she doesn't know."
Hearing that, Estelle pressed her hand to her forehead.
READ MORE CHAPTERS HERE: https://payhip.com/pokemon1920