Lord Baby Runs A Romance Fantasy With Cash [EN]: Chapter 185

☆ Chapter 185 ☆

* * *

“I truly appreciate you responding to my sudden request to meet, Duchess Paeraton.”

“Not at all, Madam. How is the Count?”

Count Izel nodded, his expression stiff.

I took the offered seat, subtly observing the atmosphere.

‘I didn’t expect Count Izel to come as well.’

Both of them looked gaunt and filled with worry.

A moment of silence descended.

The secluded tea house in the suburbs had no other guests besides us.

It didn’t seem like a particularly popular place to begin with, given the unremarkable scenery, but today, it seemed the Count and Countess Izel had rented the entire place.

Perhaps, being a family connected to the Empress, they were reluctant to be seen meeting with me.

‘Still, it’s so quiet it’s almost unbearable.’

I considered speaking first but decided to wait silently.

There must be a good reason for them to request this meeting so urgently.

After a long silence, Count Izel finally spoke.

“Were you… were you acquainted with Ophelia?”

“Yes.”

“I see.”

The Count and Countess exchanged glances.

“How did you know each other? There’s quite an age difference between you two, and not much opportunity to meet.”

Huh?

Something was strange about the question.

This wasn’t like asking someone who had a connection with his daughter about fond memories—.

‘It feels like I’m being interrogated.’

I chose the safest answer for now.

“…I was indebted to Lady Izel.”

“Hah, indebted?”

Count Izel’s expression darkened. A hint of anger flickered in his eyes.

The Countess closed her eyes as if she had received confirmation of something.

Seeing that, I realized.

‘They didn’t just call me here to reminisce about their daughter after seeing my sincere mourning at the funeral.’

For some reason, they were wary of me.

I hesitated for a moment before speaking.

“It seems you didn’t call me here with good intentions.”

“…”

Silence spoke volumes.

“It doesn’t really matter.”

Countess Izel seemed somewhat taken aback by my words.

Count Izel, on the other hand, looked as if he was thinking, ‘So, she’s showing her true colors.’

“But I would like you to know what kind of person your daughter was to others, at least.”

“Are you saying I need to hear about my own daughter from you, Duchess? Are you implying you know my daughter better than I do?”

Count Izel burst out in anger.

“I just think you believe Lady Izel was a bad person to me.”

“What?”

“They say the most valuable thing one can gain in life isn’t money or fame, but a friend with whom you can fully open your heart.”

“Huh, are you saying Ophelia was that to you?”

Count Izel sneered at me. But his angry eyes were stained with deep sorrow.

“On the last day of the Dawn Festival [a major annual celebration], my meeting with Lady Izel was more precious to me than winning.”

Flinch.

Countess Izel, who had been silent, looked at me with surprised eyes.

“You knew Ophelia since then?”

“Yes.”

Countess Izel pressed her lips tightly together. A complex emotion flickered across her face as if she was contemplating something.

I straightened my back and stared at Count and Countess Izel.

“Lady Izel is a courageous person with firm convictions. She also has excellent observational skills and is very proactive.”

“Did she really……”

Countess Izel’s words were closer to a soliloquy than a question directed at me.

But I nodded emphatically.

“Yes, she was. Thanks to her, I received a lot of help from Lady Izel.”

“…I didn’t know.”

Countess Izel muttered softly before turning to me.

“It seems you recognized my daughter well, Duchess. Perhaps… better than her own mother.”

Her last words were full of self-reproach.

“They say children grow up without their parents knowing,” I said casually, and Countess Izel looked at me for a moment.

Her lips trembled hesitantly before forming words.

“Well, Duchess, actually—”

“It’s no use trying to deceive me with such words!”

Bang!

Count Izel cut off his wife’s words, slamming his hand violently on the table.

“I see you’re trying to win our favor with pleasant words to cover up your crime, but I know my daughter well! She… she wasn’t like that! She was rather endlessly lacking. She was just a worry if I let her out……. And in the end……. That unfilial thing!”

Count Izel’s eyes turned red.

Even though he couldn’t quite manage his trembling breath, the eyes with which he glared at me were ferocious.

‘……It hurts.’

But the Count must be hurting even more than I am.

I nodded.

“Lady Izel thought so too.”

“She said she had no abilities and was less capable than the other maids. So, she thought it would be enough to use this experience to find a decent marriage prospect.”

Count Izel’s eyes wavered.

In contrast, Countess Izel began to slowly calm her confused eyes.

A sharp glint appeared in the eyes of the seemingly weak Countess.

“Now, tell me.”

Although her voice was trembling, she continued without wavering.

“From the moment we exchanged greetings, it seemed you had something to say, Duchess. Now, I am ready to listen.”

I hesitated for a moment.

‘Should I say it now?’

I remained silent, meeting Countess Izel’s eyes.

Wet, but firm eyes.

‘She resembles her.’

Then there’s no reason to hesitate.

“…I came to this place to deliver Lady Izel’s last words.”

At those words, Count and Countess Izel stiffened and trembled as if struck by lightning.

Their lips moved, but no words came out.

As if the anger he had shown me was a lie, Count Izel was only looking at my lips.

Not believing me, wary of me, but still, perhaps, perhaps—.

Could he hear his daughter’s last words?

“She said she loved, she was sorry, she was grateful. And.”

“……”

“She asked that her… her corpse’s belly must be cut open.”

“……!”

In an instant, perfect silence fell.

Seeing their faces, my breath stopped.

Rather.

‘I wish I hadn’t seen it.’

If it’s that kind of face.

But I couldn’t turn away.

Screech—!

Clang!

Count Izel, who had jumped up from his seat, grabbed me by the collar.

In that fury, the tableware on the table broke, and one of his hands, which was holding the table, was stained red, but Count Izel didn’t care.

He didn’t seem to feel the shards piercing his palm.

Unlike the hand that was tightly gripping my neck, his voice trembled terribly and didn’t come out properly.

Count Izel, gritting his teeth, shouted as if vomiting his heart out with bloodshot eyes.

“Dare, dare you not only kill my daughter but also desecrate that poor child’s body?!”

Count Izel firmly grasped the shards that were piercing his palm.

And at the moment he raised it,

“Wait, honey!”

Countess Izel clung to her husband’s arm.

“Let go of me!”

“Duchess Paeraton, I hope you’re not saying this as a child’s prank. No matter how young you are, you must know what it means to desecrate a corpse.”

There was only one case in the Empire where a body was not allowed to rest in peace.

A serial killer who had murdered dozens of people.

A parricidal patricide [one who kills their father] who had committed filicide [one who kills their child].

Or a traitor who threatened the Empire.

It was only in the case of such heinous traitors who would be recorded in history books.

Cutting open the belly was nothing less than insulting and disgracing the deceased.

I bit my lip tightly.

“How dare I do that? Not to Lady Izel of all people.”

“Are you still babbling with that mouth?!”

Count Izel’s cry was closer to a scream.

The Countess blocked her husband with her whole body and pleaded with me.

“For now, for now, please go back. Today.”

“Go back where! That’s the one who killed my daughter!”

“Please go back quickly. Otherwise……”

Countess Izel’s gaze was strange as she said that.

It was directed behind me rather than at me—.

‘Could it be?’

I quickly turned around.

And.

“Oh my.”

The tea house door opened completely, and a gentle voice echoed.

[Sudden Quest!]

A notification window popped up in front of me.

But I didn’t have the luxury to pay attention to it.

“Muriel Savonne!”

At my shout, Muriel gave a seductive smile.

“Oh my, I didn’t know the Duchess would welcome me so enthusiastically.”

“…This was your doing.”

“Isn’t it the Duchess who plotted something, not me? To brazenly come to meet the parents of Lady Izel after murdering her. Did you want to cover up your crime that much?”

I understand what happened.

‘She coaxed Count and Countess Izel, saying that I killed Lady Izel.’

I gritted my teeth.

Muriel waved her hand at Count and Countess Izel.

“You’ve worked hard. You can go now. I’ll avenge your daughter.”

“Then I’ll trust only in Lady Savonne. Let’s go!”

“Honey!”

Countess Izel tried to stop her husband, who was pulling her hand.

“Let’s go quickly! We can’t stand against the Paeraton ducal family with our power! We don’t even have proper evidence!”

“But……!”

Countess Izel looked at me.

Her eyes were complicated.

I nodded.

“It’s okay, please go quickly, Madam.”

Countess Izel looked at me with bewildered eyes.

“Duchess—.”

“Next time. Let’s talk next time. So please go now. It’s dangerous here.”

Countess Izel’s lips moved as if she was about to say something more.

It seemed she thought that ‘next time’ wouldn’t come.

But she couldn’t bring herself to say it, fearing that it would become a reality if she said it.

In the meantime, the Countess was dragged out by her husband.

Only Muriel and I were left in the empty tea house.

“……”

Dear Reader!

It doesn’t seem like Muriel planned this scheme just to have a conversation, does she?

Right now, an unpleasant evil energy is vibrating from all sides of this building!

It seems like she has done some preliminary work.

To think that Muriel Savonne would approach Count and Countess Izel!

She is extremely heinous and wicked!

How could she go to the parents of the person she killed and coax them, saying she would avenge them instead!

We must punish her!

We must annihilate her!

We must beat her up!

Let’s remove Muriel Savonne from her life entirely so that there are no more frustrating situations caused by her!

– Condition: Remove Muriel Savonne from her life

– Reward: 100,000 Cash Gacha Ticket

“……”

To think that this would suddenly be a battle situation.

But I didn’t feel like refusing.

Throughout reading the quest, the faces of Count and Countess Izel came to mind.

Even in the midst of being angry and furious with me, they were the ones who suffered the most.

Muriel had killed the couple, who were already despairing from the grief of losing their child, twice over.

[Quest Accepted.]

* * *

Seeing Ruatisha staring blankly into the air, Muriel smirked.

‘No matter how much of a Duchess Paeraton she is, she didn’t expect this situation, did she?’

How much trouble had Ruatisha caused her in the meantime?

It felt good to see that leech properly caught off guard this time.

Tap, tap.

Muriel confidently walked towards Ruatisha.

Her gaze towards Ruatisha was like looking at a mouse caught in her hand.

“You shouldn’t expect any humans to help you.”

Ruatisha’s secret guards are already wandering in a fantasy, intoxicated by evil energy.

No matter how much they fly and kick, ordinary humans can’t help it.

‘She’s been lucky so far, but today is the end of Duchess Paeraton.’

She will fall into endless despair to the point that it would be better to die.

‘Whatever the source of her power is, it will all be offered to that person and become nourishment for that person.’

“You’re not even running away. You’re still not afraid. Or, is it that you couldn’t run away this time?”

It was definitely a good idea to bring in Count and Countess Izel. To think that that quick-witted girl would be deceived like this.

Well, even if she had noticed, she wouldn’t have been able to escape once she entered this place.

But.

“Why would I run away?”

Ruatisha asked with wide eyes.

“I was looking for you all this time, wondering where you were hiding. Seeing how you hid without showing a single strand of hair, weren’t you the one who was scared and ran away?”

Ruatisha spat on her palm, “Ptooey.”

The greatsword that appeared in an instant was snugly held in the child’s palm.

Ruatisha said in a rebellious manner, holding the greatsword, which was as big as her body, crookedly.

“It’s good to see you.”

Huh?

She’s so confident?

The confident expression on Muriel’s face cracked.