Mess 186

186.

Tok, tok.

With every tap of Seraphie’s fingers, Lady Baglosa held her breath, her body trembling in tiny spasms.

This was a scenario she had never anticipated.

No matter how high and mighty Validus had become, to her eyes, Seraphie was still just a scrawny, unimpressive woman.

‘And yet…!’

Why was she forced to bow her head, unable to meet her gaze, holding her breath lest she even make a sound, suppressing her ragged breaths to the barest whisper?

The humiliation and shame of it burned inside her.

“H-how can you say—!”

She squeezed her clenched hands together for courage and tried to protest.

“Did I give you permission to speak?”

“……”

“Do you know why you’re still alive?”

Seraphie graciously revealed the pitiful reality to her.

“It’s because I chose not to kill you.”

Her ice-bound words pressed cold steel beneath the proud and wretched lady’s chin.

“If I’d wished it, you’d have died the moment you set foot in this house. That small body of yours would have been torn to shreds and discarded in the Kiah Sea, with no one the wiser.”

Is that not so?

With a chilly smile, Seraphie’s blue eyes glittered sharply.

“……”

Lady Baglosa could not answer.

The deathly pallor of terror on her face, and the utter silence it wrought, were answer enough to Seraphie’s question.

“Yes.”

Seraphie let her smile fade.

“You are someone whose life could be snuffed out at a whim.”

Regrettable, perhaps.

It wasn’t as though Seraphie herself felt entirely at ease about this.

There was no need to spell it out: Lady Baglosa was now a lamp flickering on the edge of a storm. No one would bat an eye if she were killed at any moment.

With her family facing extermination, Baglosa was a burdensome weight to the Crown Prince—no, more like a dangerous time bomb.

‘That’s likely why they killed Count Baglosa.’

She didn’t know why the Baglosa heir had killed his own father.

But she was certain the Crown Prince’s faction was involved.

They had ensured completely that none who might reveal their secrets remained. Even now, surely, they were searching for Lady Baglosa.

Knowing this, Lady Baglosa had come not to anyone but Seraphie.

She was the only person capable of opposing the Crown Prince.

Fate could play cruel tricks.

But Seraphie felt no pity.

She, at least, had earned that right.

“You must ask me for help.”

This wasn’t a negotiation, but a duty to show due recompense for past wrongs, to beg forgiveness and request aid.

“If you continue this way—keeping your pride and refusing to bend before me—”

“……”

“What reason could I possibly have to help you?”

As Seraphie’s cold words fell, Lady Baglosa’s face twisted, her eyes shining red with held-back tears.

But in the end, she could not hold them back—large, sorrowful tears began to fall.

‘Damn it, I’d like to cry, too…’

I can barely manage my own troubles, so why am I laboring to spare the girl who insulted and ignored me?

But in the end, what could she do?

“Lady Baglosa.”

The kind and good Count Validus decided to show mercy.

“I will give you one last chance.”

Seraphie raised a finger. The sniffling Lady Baglosa stared at it, dazed.

“One. If you hand over the letters to me, I will guarantee your safety and a measure of compensation. That’s what you were here for, after all? Of course, I will be the one to determine the price. I will not tolerate any objections.”

Another finger opened.

“If you don’t like that, then two: leave my estate immediately.”

“……”

“Of course, there’s a significant chance you’ll lose the letters on your way out. What might happen to your life at that point—need I say?”

“……”

“I won’t give you much time.”

Seraphie reached for a small hourglass from the decorations in the room and set it on the table with a solid click.

Then she turned it over.

“Think it over until the sand runs out.”

“……”

“And if—”

Her hand, which had been toying with the envelope, froze.

“If you tear up the letters, I can always piece them back together. But remember, your body might be torn apart in much the same way.”

If you try to swallow them, I’ll cut your throat to recover them.

With this chilling warning, Seraphie folded her arms and closed her eyes. Watching any longer would only further sour her own mood.

Some time passed.

When the hourglass emptied and two minutes more had slipped by—

‘I wonder what’s for dinner tonight?’

As she calmed her anger and mused about the evening meal, Seraphie heard a sound.

“…Please…”

Opening her eyes, she saw Lady Baglosa sobbing—tears and snot streaming down her face.

“Please… save me…!”

---

“To think, with that temperament, she’d beg for her life…” Luni reflected with some sympathy, after hearing Seraphie recount what had happened with Lady Baglosa.

Having been active in society since early on, Luni couldn’t bring herself to entirely hate Lady Baglosa.

“Things must have been terribly hard for her.”

So, even without seeing her, Luni could imagine how thoroughly the once-arrogant young lady had been broken.

“Were you close?” Seraphie asked, pulling the letters from their envelope.

“We would just greet each other in passing. I’ll have you know I was quite famous in social circles. When it comes to connections, I was at the very top.”

“Hm…”

“The best connection of all, of course, is our Count Validus.”

“Flatterer.”

Seraphie gave a small chuckle, fending off Luni, who hung on her shoulder giggling, with a finger pressed lightly to her forehead.

“How long do you plan to keep Lady Baglosa here?”

On the opposite sofa, Orkis looked far from pleased.

To have to protect a criminal’s daughter at a time when they needed to be most cautious—she feared something might happen to Seraphie.

And Luni’s persistent presence at Seraphie’s side was equally irksome.

“She’ll stay as long as the business isn’t finished.”

“Another guest, then.”

Karl offered a bitter smile.

“It’s as if this estate is cursed to gather all the world’s outcasts.”

“Honestly, Karl.”

To call themselves an outcast out loud—Seraphie found herself newly moved by Karl’s matter-of-fact jest.

“In any case, don’t worry too much.”

Seraphie finally tore her gaze from the letters.

“Lady Baglosa has brought us something truly significant.”

She handed the neatly folded letter beside her to Luni.

Luni’s eyes grew round as she read.

For something brought at the risk of one’s life, the value had indeed exceeded expectations.

“Didn’t Pura say it best?”

Seraphie sneered as she recalled the departed friend.

“Never write curses even on paper.”

The letters contained details of the smuggling and distribution of counterfeit gold bars—every step of the process, meticulously recorded.

“Well, she’s earned her keep.”

Orkis, having received the letter from Luni, smirked.

“…More thorough than I’d expected.”

Karl, too, was amazed as he finished reading.

Lady Baglosa had brought a total of eight letters. The senders were exactly as anticipated: Tiphion, Mars, Gramene, and Rodo.

‘And Catio…’

Three of the letters were from Catio. Mars sent two, and the others—one apiece.

They had discussed and planned every part of their crimes in correspondence. No wonder previous investigations had unearthed no evidence.

The letter Karl now read discussed the import of materials necessary for minting the counterfeit gold bars. The sender was House Rodo.

Others detailed the distribution of fake bars, routes for smuggling them to the Kingdom of Apocita, emergency contingency plans, and more.

There was even outright mockery of the Emperor.

That bravado came from Count Mars, the sender of one letter in particular.

‘This one deserves special attention.’

How delighted His Majesty would be to see it.

Even as she reviewed the letters, Seraphie kept glancing at Luni.

What did Luni think of all this? It was always a concern of Seraphie’s.

“…How much can I siphon off?”

Fortunately, her secretary was wonderfully composed. Luni was already busy calculating how much she might extract from the Mars estate.

“Seraphie, may I write a separate letter to His Majesty?”

“Should be all right.”

“Send it with these.”

Right then and there, Luni drafted a letter to the Emperor, her eyes bloodshot with intense effort to plead, in the most roundabout way possible, that when Mars’ assets were confiscated, her own share be spared.

Seraphie was sincerely relieved.

“Where are Pura and the Kiah Trading Company now?” Orkis asked.

“They arrived in Gramene’s territory yesterday afternoon, so we’ll probably get word from them today or tomorrow.”

“Gramene will be followed by Tiphion, I suppose…”

Consulting a mental map, Orkis confirmed Pura’s next destination.

Tiphion’s lands were about a day’s travel from Gramene.

“All the letters indicate Tiphion as the point of origin for distribution.”

In other words, the counterfeit gold mint was hidden in Tiphion.

‘Finally found it.’

They had finally tracked down that accursed factory.

‘But…’

Wrinkles gathered on Seraphie’s brow.

The problem was how to get these letters to the Emperor.

With the nobility’s council suspended—an extremely rare occurrence—by a murder case with a noble killing another, indeed a son killing his own father, things were more dangerous than ever.

Council members were refraining from outings and acting with marked caution.

‘I most of all.’

She had to be more cautious than anyone.

Ordinarily, it wouldn’t have been necessary to be quite so careful.

Just last year, to expose the Baglosa heir’s stalking, she’d visited the council chair, Marquis Castane, in person.

But after the heir had tried to kill her in person at the Consilium, caution was paramount.

“Hm…”

Seraphie pondered ways to get the letters to the Emperor.

“What about using the phone?”

Luni raised her hand as she suggested.

“All you can do by phone is say proof exists—he needs to see it for himself.”

These letters were the evidence Seraphie had sought, and the most potent weapon for undermining the Crown Prince’s influence.

The Emperor himself would need to see and verify them.

No matter how favored a servant, he wouldn’t gamble on mere words by dispatching troops.

Especially not with a decision that would mean setting a blade at his own son’s throat.

“…The letters must be delivered to the Emperor,” Seraphie said more firmly.

“We have to move quickly. There’s no telling what our foes will try next.”

Her companions nodded somberly in agreement.

“First,” Seraphie began, sharing the plan that came to mind.

“We kill Lady Baglosa.”

Luni’s mouth fell open.

“And, Luni.”

Seraphie tipped up Luni’s dropped chin and asked,

“How much stock do we have left in the shop of the porcelain dolls?”