She is the Daughter of the Villainess in a Ridiculous Novel - Chapter 92

‘I feel like I’ve seen Sigmund make that expression before…’

As Idel reflected on her memories with him, she quickly figured out the answer.

‘That’s the expression he often makes when he’s on high alert, right?’

Thinking that way, something felt off. He had lost a child, yet instead of showing sadness, he looked as if he was wary of something?

After glancing at the Emperor and Empress once, and then at the saint, Idel tilted her head slightly.

‘There seems to be some kind of reason behind this…’

What could it possibly be?

While Idel was deep in thought, the funeral for the Crown Prince followed its proceedings to an end.

The only remaining step was to place his coffin.

Unlike the first service, which required the attendance of all nobles, only the royal family and a select few close individuals could be present for the coffin’s placement.

It was only natural for the Duke of Clementine to attend, but that didn’t mean that Gianna and Idel had to go as well.

After confirming that the coffin was being carried outside the shrine, the Duke leaned toward the two children.

“You’ve done well. It must have felt strange being in such a crowded place for the first time.”

“Uh-huh, no! It was fine, Dad!”

“That’s a relief. Your mother and I have one more event we need to attend, so we have to follow the procession. It would take too long for you to wait for us, so go back to the mansion with Sylvia.”

“Okay!”

As Gianna brightly responded, Rowena gently patted her shoulder and turned to Sylvia.

“Sylvia, Kylon will come to escort you. It would be best to head straight to the carriage. There seem to be many eyes watching the children.”

“Yes, I noticed that too. Don’t worry too much, Lady Rowena.”

“With you around, I’m not worried.”

With a warm smile, she took her husband’s hand and left the shrine.

Just as Idel was gazing blankly at the Duke and Duchess stepping forward, a familiar voice spoke to her.

It was Count Bright and Ivan, who had been wearing friendly expressions since earlier.

“Lady Idel, Lady Gianna.”

“Wow! Count! Ivan! It’s been a while…!”

He smiled softly at Gianna’s warm welcome and nodded in response.

“Now that you mention it, I didn’t get to greet Lady Gianna separately last time.”

“Oh, if you’re talking about the wedding, I was a bit…”

Gianna trailed off with an embarrassed expression but quickly brightened her eyes and continued.

“Still, it’s nice to see you both together!”

“Yes. I’m also glad to be able to express my gratitude to Lady Gianna. And… who is this?”

“Ah, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Sylvia Mitchell, the head maid from the Duke of Clementine’s household.”

Count Bright naturally guided Gianna and Sylvia forward, giving Idel a wink, as if to create space for her to converse comfortably with Ivan.

As a gesture of thanks, Ivan smiled back at the Count and then whispered to Idel with a serious expression.

“Lady Idel, based on the information you sent me previously, I investigated a few more things. I found something interesting.”

“What is it?”

“Wherever information related to Nox can be obtained, strange incidents seem to occur. Like Farrell getting pregnant.”

“Ah.”

Hearing Ivan’s words, Idel gasped softly. So, there are strange occurrences where Nox is involved?

‘It’s not entirely nonsensical. Nox is closely related to desire, and when desire and stimulation are tightly compressed, that’s exactly what a mess is.’

Idel blinked for a moment, as if pondering something, then asked Ivan.

“Ivan, did you notice anything suspicious while watching the funeral?”

“It’s rare for the saint to personally preside over a funeral, and both His Majesty the Emperor and Her Majesty the Empress seemed to have wary expressions.”

After hearing Idel’s words, Ivan rubbed his chin and spoke.

“…Perhaps the royal family suspects that there might be foul play behind the Crown Prince’s death.”

“The royal family?”

“Because the Crown Prince died suddenly. However, among the nobles, there wouldn’t be anyone they could point fingers at. In the current political situation of the empire, there’s no one who would benefit from assassinating the Crown Prince. So…”

“You mean they would have sought the temple’s help to look for other possibilities?”

Ivan nodded seriously.

“The temple is cautious of dark magic, but they don’t immediately label everything as evil. Since the goddess Miette governs the balance and flow of the world, she believes that the magical power that arises from nature, even its negative aspects, is all part of the natural order. However, forbidden magic is different.”

“…”

“The royal family would want to be certain. They need to know whether the Crown Prince’s death was natural or if it was caused by those who have strayed from the natural order.”

Listening to Ivan, Idel quickly processed the information. His reasoning was logical, but at the same time, it was slightly off the mark. This was because he still didn’t know one crucial piece of information.

“The royal family is already convinced that there’s foul play involved. They might even know about Nox.”

“Really?”

“The deceased Crown Prince had a twin, and Nox has a history of trying to abduct that twin. The royal family cannot be unaware of this situation.”

“A twin? Wait, how do you know that, Lady Idel…?”

Seeing Ivan’s wide eyes, Idel silently moved her lips.

‘Sigmund.’

Reading Idel’s lip movements, he was momentarily at a loss for words. However, as if he couldn’t afford to be shocked, Idel quickly grabbed his hand.

“I’ll explain the details later. But Ivan, you mentioned earlier that there are many interesting incidents related to Nox, right?”

“Yes? Yes… That’s correct.”

“Is there any way to naturally approach those incidents and dig up information?”

Idel’s blue eyes sparkled.

From now on, she had to prepare to confront Nox head-on.

‘I’ve been thinking about this since I left Vilred’s shop.’

She didn’t know how it was in the original story, but the one who brainwashed Sigmund was Melisa.

‘In other words, Melisa has already become one of the important people in Nox.’

Although it might not have been Melisa’s intention, it ultimately meant that the situation she had previously mentioned—“the bug hiding in the bug’s nest”—had come to pass. Nox wouldn’t let Idel eliminate Melisa without a fight.

‘So there’s no choice. We’ll have to burn the bug’s nest together.’

To do that, she first needed to gather information.

‘Scale, personnel, relationships, funding, and so on.’

Thanks to Vilred, she had obtained basic information about Nox, but he also stated that he didn’t know much about the current state of Nox.

That was something from ten years ago.

‘Besides, today’s funeral indicated that there’s some movement within the royal family, right?’

In times like this, one must be more cautious. Just because they were targeting the same enemy didn’t mean they were aiming for the same fruit.

As Ivan seemed to vaguely understand something from Idel’s words and fell into contemplation, someone suddenly interrupted their conversation from behind.

“I just heard something interesting in my ear… Did that young lady express a desire to investigate some intriguing incidents?”

Both Idel and Ivan blinked simultaneously at the unexpected voice.

They exchanged quiet words after confirming that no one else was around, but how long had this person been listening?

Moreover, the person standing behind them was someone unexpected.

‘Dominic Knightley, father of Dante Knightley.’

And the one who established the media outlet “Shelami,” where Ivan worked under a pseudonym.

‘How much did he hear? Did he catch the part about Nox? Or…?’

As various thoughts suddenly flooded her mind, Idel pressed her lips together in silence. He shrugged lightly, as if to say not to be tense, and opened his mouth with sparkling eyes.

“Oh, my introduction is late. I am Dominic Knightley, head of the Knightley family. I’m also a devoted reader of Shelami and a close friend of the owner.”

A close friend, indeed.

‘He is the owner of Shelami himself.’

While she understood that he wanted to hide his identity after establishing a media outlet under a pseudonym, that felt too contrived.

‘A devoted reader and a close friend, huh?’

At that moment, as Idel secretly shook her head at how different he was from his son, an unexpected proposal came from his mouth.

“Having heard an interesting story, I couldn’t just let it pass. How about receiving intriguing stories in a submission format?”