I Reincarnated as the Daughter of a Runaway Sub Heroine - Chapter 81
The man slowly turned his body.
His face, filled with despair, looked younger and more naive than expected. Had he just become an adult? He might even be around Bell’s age.
“Bell!”
When I called out loudly, Bell quickly ran over.
“Look for any weapons.”
“Yes!”
Bell searched the man’s body thoroughly. Soon after, she showed her empty hands and shrugged her shoulders.
“There’s nothing.”
The man stiffened his neck to avoid being cut by the dagger and finally managed to say a word.
“Ah, I wasn’t trying to harm the lady. So please put away the knife.”
“Then why were you following me? What was your purpose?”
“That is…”
As I looked closely, the man’s face seemed somewhat familiar. It meant I had seen him at least once before.
If that’s the case, the range of possibilities narrowed significantly. In Rosen, I would only encounter commoners, excluding the duke’s servants, when shopping, like today, or when visiting the information guild.
As I stared at him intently, the man subtly averted his gaze.
“You’re from the information guild, aren’t you?”
The man took a small breath.
It was half-guessing, but seeing his pupils shake wildly, it seemed to be the right answer.
“Did Jakar tell you to follow me?”
“……”
“Did he ask you to find out my information and report back?”
When there was still no response from the man after asking again, I struck the back of his neck hard with the hilt of my sword. The man collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
“Why didn’t you ask more questions?”
I raised one eyebrow at Bell’s question.
“Why bother when he won’t open his mouth unless I resort to torture? It’s just a waste of energy.”
Seeing that he was unarmed, it must be true that he didn’t intend to harm me. And anyway, there was no need to question him further. Now that I knew Jakar was behind this guy, hearing an answer from him would only be a waste of time.
“I’ll hear the answer directly from the Master.”
“Ah, yes. Directly from the Master…”
Bell looked at me with a startled expression.
“Surely not right now, are you?”
“I’m going now.”
As I took a step, Bell immediately ran and blocked my path.
“You’re going right now? Just like this, suddenly? That’s too reckless!”
“The truly reckless one is that scoundrel Jakar. Think about it. Do you think His Majesty would secretly put a guy like that to follow me?”
Bell pondered for a moment, then shook her head.
“No, he wouldn’t. If he were to be caught, it would cause a major uproar.”
“Exactly. If His Majesty were caught monitoring me, even he couldn’t handle the consequences. Yet, that scoundrel Jakar did it to me!”
I had been curious about Jakar’s identity until now. Why he knew so much information about me and the Grand Duchy, and where he got that handkerchief.
I had known he was suspicious early on, but I was greedy for the ability he possessed. I wanted to make him my person if possible. However, that ambition ultimately led to this result.
I should have taken action right away when I found the handkerchief.
“If we’re going to move, we have to move now, before Jakar knows that his tail has been exposed. Go call a carriage. There’s no time. We must hurry.”
“Yes!”
After that, I moved quickly. I returned to the Ducal estate, summoned Derek, and gathered the knights from the Grand Ducal residence. Then, I led them and immediately raided the Information Guild.
☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓
The subjugation was fast and easy. Not only did we arrive without warning, but the previous incident had allowed us to figure out the locations of the guild members in advance.
After everyone was disarmed, I gave a faint smile towards Jakar, who wore a hardened expression.
“My apologies. I’ve arrived today without a reservation or any decorum, but I think you know better than anyone why I chose such a crude method.”
I gave Derek a look. Derek then grabbed the nape of the neck of the man who had followed me and threw him forward.
Jakar looked at him and let out a light sigh.
“I will explain. Please have your people withdraw.”
Derek immediately shouted.
“Do you think this is something that can be solved with an explanation? How dare you order someone to follow the lady!”
“I can explain. After hearing my story, the Duchess will certainly understand that there has been a misunderstanding.”
“Lady Ar, don’t listen to that scoundrel. You must pass judgment on him immediately!”
I looked into Jakar’s eyes. His red eyes, which showed not the slightest flicker.
A person who can remain composed in a situation where they might die is usually one of two things:
They have no attachment to life, or they believe they will survive.
“Everyone, withdraw.”
“Lady Ar!”
Derek immediately protested vehemently at my command.
“That cannot be allowed. We don’t know what he might do if you are alone with him!”
“If anything happens to me, everyone here will die. Not a single ant will survive, I believe.”
That was a remark intended for Jakar to hear.
“I assume you were prepared for that much when you dared to touch the Grand Duke’s heir.”
This wasn’t a simple threat. If any harm truly came to me, Jakar, and indeed the entire Guild, would vanish without a trace.
Not only would my father exact his revenge, but the king would not stand idly by either. If someone from the Grand Ducal family were to die again while in the capital, it would be a huge blow to the King as well.
“I know that well. If any trouble befalls the lady, I will suffer torment for life at the hands of the Grand Duke, unable even to die. And His Majesty will punish me thoroughly, if only to avoid suspicion.”
I looked at Derek and commanded again.
“Go wait outside with the knights. Don’t make me repeat myself.”
After everyone had withdrawn, I lifted my chin and said,
“Now, tell me, why did you put a man to follow me?”
“You may not believe me, but it was done out of concern for the lady.”
“Are you trying to die?”
Who does he think he’s fooling right now?
“You secretly assigned someone to follow me out of ‘concern’? You’re telling me to believe that right now? What kind of excuse is this, so utterly lacking in sincerity?”
“That’s why I told you beforehand, isn’t it? That you wouldn’t believe me.”
Even in this situation, Jakar answered with an extremely calm face. I couldn’t understand what he was relying on to act this way.
“Was your promise to clear up my misunderstanding with an explanation just an empty boast?”
“I will give that explanation now. My lady, you are investigating the counterfeiters, are you not? And you must have learned that Republicans are behind them. Stop that.”
I stared at Jakar, my body stiff. I hadn’t expected him to bring up something like that so suddenly.
“The true mastermind behind the counterfeiters is not the Republicans.”
“I know that there’s someone else behind them.”
“Yes, there is another entity supporting them to sow confusion within the kingdom. If you continue to dig into that, the lady will get hurt.”
“Do you know who it is?”
Jakar bit his lip lightly.
“Tell me. Otherwise, I will force you to open that mouth.”
Jakar smiled slightly at my threat.
“How will you force me to open my mouth? Do you intend to use torture?”
“Do you think I won’t?”
“If you were the type of person to handle matters that way, you wouldn’t have brought my subordinate back to me intact in the first place.”
“Should I have half-killed him? Would you have opened your mouth then?”
“No, if you had done that, I would have been disappointed, even if you are the lady.”
“Get your facts straight. The disappointed one right now isn’t you; it’s me.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“The lady also searched my desk last time because you suspected me.”
“Is searching a desk the same as putting a tail on someone?”
“In terms of criminal offense, isn’t theft worse?”
“Theft? What theft? What did I steal?”
“Perhaps I don’t know. You might have taken something. Hearing the rumors circulating these days, you seem to be stealing quite a lot.”
“What?”
“Stealing the hearts of this man and that man… Ugh!”
Furious at the senseless joke, I kicked Jakar’s knee. Jakar swallowed a groan and clasped his knee with his hand.
“This is more… No, it really hurts.”
“Consider yourself lucky that I don’t have a sword in my hand right now. Otherwise, I would have sliced that blabbering mouth first!”
Jakar lowered his eyes and let out a breath. The playfulness from a moment ago completely vanished, and a bitter smile, as if he had swallowed a bitter medicine, appeared on his lips.
“I know that you are someone who can cut down anyone if you set your mind to it.”
“From now on, if you say even one frivolous word, I will consider it a lie and call the knights back.”
He answered obediently.
“Ask away.”
“Who is the mastermind behind those scoundrels?”
