Chapter 21
Chapter 21
I crossed my arms and gave him a suspicious look.
Seeing the corners of his lips twitch slightly, he seemed to find even this amusing.
“You seem to find this amusing?”
“Not at all.”
The Young Duke, his expression returning to its usual composure, spoke with surprising seriousness.
“Then, Young Duke, you should copy me exactly.”
I raised one arm, just as I had before.
The Young Duke hesitated for a moment before raising his arm to follow my lead.
“Let’s go, let’s go! Fighting!!”
“Betty, that……”
Ashamed to copy me this far, he glanced around furtively and said softly,
“Fighting….”
Heh, the Young Duke is embarrassed.
I found great amusement whenever he, who usually wore a bored expression, became flustered.
How many people could tease the empire’s Young Duke like this?
As I watched his slightly flushed face and smiled, a voice called out from behind me.
“I felt it earlier too, but you two seem to get along very well.”
“Ah, it’s that guide from earlier!”
I greeted him with a smile as innocent as could be.
“How did you find the lake?”
“It was so, so big! And beautiful! And sparkly!”
As I gestured with both arms to describe the lake, the guide smiled kindly.
“Actually, there are more areas to see besides the lake.”
“Wooooow! Really? Betty is so happy!”
As I jumped up and down, acting out my delight, the Young Duke scooped me up.
“Betty, do you like it that much?”
His voice, tinged with laughter, felt unfamiliar.
I looked up at him, and the corners of his eyes were crinkled.
I had only ever seen faint smiles from him before, so it felt strange to see his genuine laughter for the first time.
The Young Duke lowered his head slightly and whispered,
“If you like this place, I’ll give it to you as a gift.”
No, why does he keep trying to give things away like this?
The inexplicable warmth that had been rising with the Young Duke’s smile suddenly cooled.
Fortunately, the guide seemed to take the Young Duke’s remark as a joke.
“Haha, this place has been renovated not only to view the lake but also the mansion, so shall we go take a look?”
Soon, the guide gathered the few people present and led them towards the mansion.
There were just over ten people.
Everyone seemed captivated by the mansion’s scenery.
If it were me a few months ago, I would have acted the same.
But having been to the Duke’s Mansion, I couldn’t feel much excitement.
“Did everyone enjoy the tour? The last place we’ll visit is the underground storage. It holds many valuable exhibits…”
I had a hunch! This is it!
I could feel the Young Duke’s arm tighten around me, so he seemed to have sensed it too.
With very little lighting and a chilling atmosphere, it was obviously a suspicious place.
One might argue that underground storage areas are generally like that.
But this place exuded a particularly eerie aura.
The others also seemed to sense something was off, and they began to look around nervously.
The guide, however, seemed unfazed by their reactions and continued walking.
“Did you know, everyone? While Owen Lake is beautiful now, it was once a place filled with all sorts of ghost stories.”
A woman, pulling her child behind her, asked him,
“What kind of ghost stories?”
“Did you see the shrine near the lake on your way here?”
“……I think so.”
The guide, acting as if he felt none of the somber mood, chuckled heartily.
“There was a ridiculous rumor that people were sacrificed at that shrine, believing in a strange god.”
In the past, I would have thought, “Ah, there were more people like Duke Russell back then,” and dismissed it.
But now that I knew gods were real, the story sounded incredibly significant.
“Sacrificed? What do you mean?”
As if she couldn’t comprehend the awkward situation at all, I asked, wrinkling my nose,
“They say humans had to be sacrificed for the god’s resurrection. Of course, I’m just repeating what I heard.”
Was what the guide said just a story? Or was it the truth?
Most importantly, what I was most curious about was…
“Why are you telling us such stories?”
“Oh dear, little lady, you’re quite sharp.”
The guide shook his head left and right a few times and put on a sly smile.
“Even though this place is near where those dreadful events occurred, Owen Lake remained unharmed. Do you know why?”
The words “How would we know?” rose to my throat, but I suppressed my annoyance and asked,
“What is the reason?”
“That is because….”
The guide reached into his outer jacket pocket and fumbled for something.
His movements were so unnatural that I was certain something was about to happen.
“Young Duke, be careful……”
“It’s this!”
What was that? I stared at the small object dangling from the guide’s hand.
“……An amulet?”
“That’s right! This amulet…”
It was from that moment on.
The guide began to spout nonsense as if possessed, without even taking a breath.
“Just by possessing it, it wards off evil spirits, brings all sorts of fortune…”
The guide rattled off impossible benefits, talking non-stop for tens of minutes.
I thought I’d find a clue to the crime, but were they just street vendors?
In conclusion, if you wanted to leave this lake safely, you had to buy the amulet.
I listened, hoping for a clue to the incident, but there was nothing special.
It didn’t matter to me since I was only physically a child, but other children started crying at the vendor’s words.
Had they been selling things like this all along?
It would be a waste of time to keep listening.
I raised one hand and pointed at the guide.
“The event is also illegal! You fraud!”
“That’s right, Betty. That’s exactly what a fraud is. You’re smart.”
The Young Duke patted my head as if I were commendable, then turned sharply and headed for the exit.
The other people, who had been watching for their chance to leave, began to follow us.
“You fools! You’ll be taken as sacrifices without a trace!”
The guide turned and hurled all sorts of curses at the departing crowd.
“Brother, that man looks pitiful too.”
His gentle expression vanished, and his snarling, shouting face was repulsive.
It was suspicious that such a common peddler was running such an obvious scam in a place owned by the country.
He seemed like an ordinary person with neither the wealth nor the ability to orchestrate disappearances.
Perhaps someone was helping him?
Besides, he didn’t seem capable of kidnapping so many people alone…
This made the shrine near Owen Lake seem suspicious.
As the surrounding people dispersed one by one, I asked the Young Duke,
“What do you think, Young Duke? Do you think there’s something at the shrine?”
“I think so.”
My thoughts were the same.
Tourists visiting the town had disappeared.
Quite a lot of them, too.
But no one knew the whereabouts of the missing people after they left the plaza.
A location that allowed them to avoid the villagers’ eyes while making abduction easy.
Therefore, a shrine located on the outskirts of town where foot traffic was sparse, or near Owen Lake, seemed likely.
Now, I had to visit the shrine…
Besides, the child I met earlier said he was at the shrine, so I had a sufficient excuse to visit.
\ \ *
“What? You came back empty-handed?”
Aristelle was teasing his master in an annoying tone.
“What did you just say?”
“…I will compose a nine-line poem.”
As the Young Duke’s expression became twice as grim as usual, he quickly changed his words.
“Beth, this is how I live.”
He slumped onto the chair and let out a low sigh.
I approached the Young Duke and patted his shoulder.
“Indeed… you’re going through a lot.”
He was performing his duties without proper rest even at the lodging.
With the day he would inherit the Dukedom not far off, he was already handling all of Duke Russell’s affairs.
An ordinary person would have collapsed more than ten times over by now.
On top of that, the investigations themselves were taking a long time.
No matter how strong the Young Duke was compared to others, he was still human.
His health would surely show signs of strain soon.
In fact, it seemed like it already had…
The best course of action was to return to the Duke’s Mansion as soon as possible.
Looking up at the Young Duke, his face wasn’t just pale; it was already ashen.
I had always thought he didn’t look human, but now his face looked inhuman in a different sense.
If the goal was just to investigate, not to solve the case, couldn’t I go alone?
I was sure he would monitor me all day if I said something like this.
Still, if a dangerous situation arose, I could at least take care of myself.
More importantly, perhaps because the Young Duke was accompanying me, I couldn’t investigate as freely as I wanted.
It was probably because I hadn’t earned his trust…
Feeling dejected, I quickly resolved myself.
If I brought back useful information myself, wouldn’t he consider me a useful person and trust me?
Besides, the shrine might not be as dangerous as I thought.
The child I met earlier looked very neat and tidy.
If that’s the case, it’s worth a try!
This time, I’ll earn my keep!
I packed my belongings with burning determination.
At that time, I had no idea how the Young Duke truly felt about me, regardless of my usefulness.
Nor did I know that I would be scolded by him for days because of it.
To be continued in the next chapter ▶
