Episode 93
I slowly looked back at him again. He was bringing up work at the top, now.
‘… What is it? Is it a question?’
I only thought about creating a situation where I recognized him first, but I never thought he’d reveal his identity. Besides, I can’t believe He’s talking like this.
I thought for a moment what to say. Vuinter was still neither an insurance nor an X. I finally answered vaguely.
“I don’t think anything will happen again.”
“As expected, you knew.”
The answer came straight back. As expected, I was right to ask.
“…I tend to remember people’s characteristics well.”
I smiled vaguely and glanced at him.
“Ah.”
It was an unexpected blow, and a faint groan leaked from it.
It was an excuse for the way in which in normal mode, FL bought the favor of Vuinter at once. The setting that the Marquis and the Wizard are the same person only by eye color.
However, after experiencing it in person, there was a possibility in the world of this game. Proud aristocrats who ignore merchants don’t even remember the color of their eyes in masks.
“If you’re worried about mouth care, you can erase the memory of the children.”
“It’s not like that.”
I said without regret that he had roughly guessed about this who had been glancing at me. Vuinter shook his head strongly.
“Not like that….”
Blurred at the end of his speech, he suddenly stretched his hand toward me.
“…..Lady, you seem to be hurt every time I encounter you.”
A long, solid finger brushed against the neck.
“Ah.”
A stinging pain caused a groan to pop out unknowingly. Vuinter flinched at my brief groan and raised his hand.
This time, instead, I raised my hand and touched the spot. I felt a chill in my hand. This is where Leonard applied the medicine because I had a scratch.
I didn’t feel any sensation at that time, but this time the burning pain rose. The same spot seemed to have been swept away without me knowing it.
As he stroked the wound, Vuinter spoke in a solemn tone.
“Don’t touch it. Just in case, you can go to the clinic…….”
“Penelope.”
It was then. Someone called me. The head that was directed at Vuinter was reflected back.
[Favorability 29%]
restored favorability, as before the fall, thanks to quest compensation. Derick was coming with a stiff face.
‘The Duke must have gone first.’
Looking at the empty side of him, I thought it was a little surprising.
“Hello, Little Duke of Eckart.”
Vuinter greeted Derick with a slight nod of respectfully. Derick, who was trying to push the business straight to me, hesitated and reluctantly bowed his head to greet each other.
“Thank you for your testimony earlier.”“No, it was the right thing to do.”
“I don’t know what you want to talk to my sister, but I’m afraid we have to get together as family for a long time.”
“I see.”
Despite Derick’s rather rude remarks, Vuinter simply backed away with a friendly smile.
“Lady, then maybe next time I’ll tell you what I’ll…..”
“No, you don’t have to.”
It was none other than me who tried to break up the conversation with him that gently grabbed him by the wrist.
“Let’s have a conversation, Marquis.”
“Penelope Ekart.”
Derick called my name in an icy voice. Favorability began to flicker slowly over the dark hair.
“… …what are you doing?”
Derick’s face, when he found my hand holding Vuinter’s wrist, turned negligible. Leaving behind the subtle expression of Vuinter, I looked at Derick with cool eyes.
“I told you I had nothing more to talk about.”
“… …there a lot of eyes watching.”
Derick’s jaws were inflamed.
“Leave that hand and follow me right away.”
The moment I heard the sound, the first thing that came to my mind was this.
‘Why should I take that order?’
I really had nothing more to say to him. No harm has been done to the family, and what has been done has been completely solved.
“When did you distinguish between eyes you see and eyes you don’t?”
I couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
“”Everyone sees me and know I’m a person just a short time after I got up from the hospital. Don’t worry.”
“You…”
As I sarcastically made fun of what he said was my defense, blood veins rose on his neatly turned forehead.
Vuinter was a pretty good shield. Whether it bothers other people’s attention, Derick didn’t rush to drag me in. He managed to soften his anger with a big breath.
“Yes, I admit.”
“……what?”
“There was a mistake in my opinion.”
“……”
“But look back on your behavior so far. Given your reputation and impudence so far, anyone will have no choice but to judge so.”
“Ha.”
There was a burst of laughter.
‘I was wondering what he had left to say.’
It was just an excuse and a fault. About driving me as a ‘patriot’ without trusting me to the end, and not even thinking about checking with me whether it’s true.
ML, the rational cold-hearted man I admired when I played the game, was such a mean fellow.
“It’s so easy for Little Duke.”
“…what?”
“The false charge of the murder of noble families, the charge of driving them to the unwholesome thunderbirds.”
“……”
“If you blame everything on me, it’s easy to solve.”
Derick’s eyes glared at my sarcasm. Favorability gauge began to blink dangerously.
“What you’re saying to me, am I framed for my wrong behavior or are you just telling me not to blame others?”
“Penelope Ekart.”
‘Favorability -2%.’
[Favorability 27%]
The easy rise and easy fall of favorability impressed me no more. With this feeling of crawling on the floor, it seemed fine to fall down to one ten percent at a time.
His face was horribly distorted. On the other hand, I grinned with a smile on my face.
“Don’t worry. I know it’s my fault. That’s why I took care of course.”
“Was your own arrangement, after all, a disgrace to Eckart’s name? Confiscation with the Crown Prince. You had nothing to say…”
“Then what should I have done?”
I really couldn’t figure it out, so I shrugged.
“During a struggle with the bear that was met unexpectedly, the Crown Prince, who was passing by, accidentally cut off the bear’s head and was chased together by an assassin….”
“…..”
“Should I have said this?”
I recited exactly what I told Derick the night before. I’m just telling him the truth, but no one would have believed me if I had said this. That’s how Marquis Ellen would have driven me.
“So would you feel better if I were an imperial assassin?”
“Don’t make a leap.”
He was barely holding back his anger, and Derick kept chewing on it over. The eyes that were shot at me began to show a wretched life.
“If I had told you there was evidence earlier, I could have solved it without a scandal that tarnished the reputation of the family.”
“Who made up such a ridiculous scandal?”
I clenched my teeth and answered back.
“Did you give me a chance to say that I have evidence?”
It was hard to control my facial expression. I knew I was barely lifting the corners of my mouth with a messed-up face. I could feel the gaze of Vuinter from the side. Still, it couldn’t stop.
“You didn’t hear anything. No slander, no solution, no hard truth.”
“…Penelope.”
“You’re the one who didn’t hear it. Why, you’re gonna blame me for this, too?”
Maybe it’s because I’m too heated. I couldn’t even recall in front of others that I said to the ‘Brother.’
—Little Duke. This is a clear slander. I have a solution. Actually, I…
—……don’t you think I was self-defense for some reason?
—The Crown Prince, who was passing by, helped me cut the bear’s throat while I was in trouble.
Crown Prince, lover. It was me who most wanted to avoid putting them in the mouth. But I racked my brains all night, but that was my limit.
Maybe, there was a better way. Had Derick’s clear head and Eckart’s name been borrowed, they could have kissed with a much better testimony. To do that I had apparently decided to hand over the assassin’s vouchers to Derick.
But it was Derick who ignored them and finally made me take care of themselves.
“When you’re done talking, I’d like to finish talking to the Marquis. You know, we’ve been talking about the testimony of the trial.”
“There was a lack of dialogue.”
Derick stopped him and replied rather hastily, as if he was about to leave right now.
“As you know, the situation was very urgent and the information on our side was extremely limited.”
“…..”
“They kept driving Ekart behind the assassination of the Imperial Family, and the absurd myth that you trained the crossbow for assassination became a fait accompli.”
Derick continued with a look of frustration. I felt it was an extension of yesterday.
“To get you out of jail right away, I just thought it was best to get things done quickly.”
“I don’t know what you’re trying to say, but I’m fine, Little Duke.”
I answered immediately in a determined tone.
“Because I didn’t expect even a word of it anyway.”
At that moment, Derick’s face crumpled horribly. The reason was unknown.
Rather than anger on his always expressionless face, there was an indescribable feeling.</p>
“……Penelope.”
He called me in a tight voice. And…
[Favorability 32%]
Blinking favorability swelled. I looked at it a little surprised.
But I quickly shook off the interest I had for a while. And soon I was greeted with a short silent salute.
“Come on, Marquis.”
Derrick stood tall, stiff as a stone statue, as I walked past with his hand in his hand.
He never held me back.