Chapter 38

19. — Maybe I (2)

Translated by Nabi

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“What, what are you going to do, Baron?”

Jo Malone shook his head as if annoyed at the servant’s question, a child with blood on his head has not dried yet*.

[ T/N: It’s an idiom which means ‘very young man’ or ‘immature.’ ]

He never dreamed that the young Grand Duke and the Emperor would have noticed what was happening in this shapeshifter village, putting him in a corner like this.

He paced anxiously around the room.

Jo Malone’s mind was complicated when he saw the knight of the baron, who was disguised as a servant. He could not get out of here.

…How did he end up here?

A lowly family.

No… Until he became the head of the household, there was no such thing as a family. So, in order to raise the family, he decided to take the hand of Marquis Black, not the Emperor, and eventually came this far. How dare the immature child disturb him while he was barely getting his attention? It was complete nonsense.

It did not matter if it was the Emperor or the young man who sold his brother to become a war hero who noticed his plan.

…He just had to kill him. All he had to do was kill everyone involved in this and destroy the evidence. That way, he could go back as if nothing had happened. Even if the Emperor found out about this, he would only know that he was involved.

Jo Malone’s eyes gleamed wildly after he had made up his mind. The eyes of the servants waiting for his order flowed towards him.

“Kill him.”

“….”

“Kill  The Grand Duke Destro and erase all traces of what was here, all right?”

At Jo Malone’s command, the eyes of the knights trembled anxiously.

The man who was in the dining room with Jo Malone asked cautiously, “If that happens, what will happen to the dog shapeshifter who was with the Grand Duke?”

Dog shapeshifter…?

Jo Malone’s lips twisted upwards at the man’s words.

That impudent puppy was no more than a human. Fragments of the glass bottle with a picture of a dog that had been broken on the floor of the waiting room came to his mind. He knew it the moment he saw the pieces of glass. It was definitely the Grand Duke’s finacée who stood in his way.

〈 “So, if he didn’t like it, you shouldn’t try to touch him like that. It makes you look like a villain.” 〉

The emerald-like green eyes were a rare color that could not be easily seen by shapeshifters. In addition, the fact that her hair, which was almost white, took on a pale pink color whenever the sunlight hit it…?

“If you sell that girl, it’ll be worth a lot.”

“…Girl?”

Jo Malone waved his hand as if he was nothing as he watched his subordinate ask with a puzzled face.

“Don’t kill the shapeshifter, keep it alive.”

“….”

“Perhaps, we can sell it to the nobles at a high price.”

At his words, his men nodded their heads invisibly.

He recalled the memories of Adelia at Ed and Enni’s house once again. He had never heard of or seen any woman who had such a rare hair color. With that thought, he wondered if she must have been a noble or a young lady from one of the local aristocrats even though he had never seen her. If it was a young lady from that level, it was something that could be dealt with on his own.

…Especially, if the only person she trusted in was Grand Duke Destro.

“No matter what, kill the Grand Duke of Destro here… Or else, all of us are going to die, all right?”

Those who exchanged glances for a moment at Jo Malone’s voice bowed their heads.

The door swung open between the determined eyes.

“Ba, Baron! The Grand Duke Destro and the dog shapeshifter are gone…!”

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“I think it’s here. I hear a cry from here.”

I stopped and turned around when the answer did not return. Cain, who was following me, was gazing at me while furrowing his eyebrows.

“Didn’t you say that you won’t take the lead because the first ones in the novel always die?”

I blinked at his unexpected words. The next moment, I rolled my eyes, embarrassed by the story I obviously said though I never thought he would remember.

Eventually, I smiled awkwardly.

“The, the situation is urgent right now. And, I have to listen to the voices of the shapeshifters held in this mansion to know where they are.”

“Is it a sound that could only be heard if you’re taking the lead?”

“…What are you trying to say?”

“Isn’t Young Lady avoiding me now?”

“….”

“A little while ago, continuously.”

Cain’s sharp eyes pierced me as though they were stabbing through my feelings. Nonetheless, I hurriedly opened my mouth to answer, “It, it can’t be. There are shapeshifters who need help, so I’m just trying to help as much as I can!”

“I didn’t know that the Young Lady was such a righteous person.”

I could not say anything back to him, who hit the nail on the head. Of course, I am not that righteous. I was a thorough pragmatist and a snob with a typical vigorous and weak mind!

“Aren’t you being too harsh on people who want to change their minds?”

Saying that, I smiled as innocently as I could at Cain, who stared at me suspiciously. After looking at me for a while, he opened the door I was pointing to and entered.

“Okay, then we’ll talk more about it later.”

…A little later.

Only then did the breath that had been suffocated leak out of my mouth after the short grace he gave me.