Belle’s eyes trembled endlessly.
Her pitiful gaze and wounded lips, seemingly tormented by teeth, were visible, yet I felt no sympathy.
She might have been a victim of the monster, but she was also the root cause of the Duchy’s tragedy.
I spoke with an emotionless face, like a statue.
“I’ll get straight to the point. We’re tracking down the real culprit behind the Duchy massacre.”
Belle, who had been looking down, abruptly lifted her head and stared at me.
Her eyelashes quivered like leaves caught in the wind. She seemed utterly shocked, perhaps thinking we had captured her as the true culprit.
“Don’t feel relieved. There is testimony that you acted suspiciously at the magic stone management office on the day of the tragedy. You have no way to escape as an accomplice.”
For a moment, she looked stunned, lowering her chin as if sinking into deep thought.
“But you still have a chance to atone for the victims.”
At those words, a faint glimmer of hope appeared in her eyes. At least it meant she was willing to repent.
“Tell me everything you know. The details of the incident, and everything you know about him.”
“Mm…” Belle clenched her lips tightly, suppressing a groan from her throat.
For several minutes, a silent battle unfolded between me, trying to make her talk, and her, stubbornly refusing to speak.
It was frustrating. She showed no sign of giving in, only concerned for her and her mother’s safety. That angered me even more.
I crossed my arms and glared at her before speaking in a cold, chilling tone.
“Are you really not going to talk? Don’t you feel wronged? Aren’t you angry? Don’t you regret the years you spent separated from your mother?”
Even so, her eyes remained downcast, and her lips stayed tightly shut.
I narrowed my eyes.
“What if you end up taking all the blame?”
At those words, her shoulders flinched.
She bit her lips hard and seemed lost in thought for a long time. Then, as if making up her mind, she lifted her head abruptly.
“Mm…!”
But the moment her eyes met mine, she panicked and quickly covered her mouth with her pale hands.
Her tear-streaked eyelids shut tightly. She swallowed her tears and shook her head firmly.
As if she was desperately resisting a witch’s temptation.
That made me realize—she wasn’t refusing to talk out of her own will. She wanted to speak but was holding back.
I narrowed my eyes and observed her.
‘Why?’
As I pondered the reason, I suddenly recalled something the maid attending to Belle had said.
[She insists on changing clothes alone, even when offered help. She even bathes alone.]
‘Could it be…?’
My heart pounded like I had discovered a precious gem. Taking a deep breath to regain composure, I spoke in an icy, low voice.
“Even if your mother is in danger, will you still stay silent?”
Belle’s head shot up.
Her face twisted in distress, and her pupils trembled violently.
“N-No… Mother…”
For the first time, I heard her voice.
I lowered my chin, smirked, and uncrossed my arms, leaning forward.
The sudden proximity made her freckled face fill my vision.
“Listen carefully. The one who locked you in the tower for years, monitoring and silencing you, would find it easier to kill you than to protect you.”
Of course, that was a lie. If she died, the monster would die too.
I lazily glanced around the room.
“The defenses of this Duchy are strong, but we have no reason to protect someone as useless as you. If someone comes to kill you, it would actually be convenient for us.”
I stared at her with cold, unfeeling eyes.
She gazed back at me with an odd look—one that wavered between resignation, as if she wished for death, and steely determination, as if she had something to protect.
That something was surely her mother.
‘As I thought.’
Feeling assured, I placed my hands on the desk and stood up, waving my hand dismissively.
“Fine, forget it. We won’t kill you. If you don’t want to talk, don’t. I’m tired.”
I saw her visibly relax, her shoulders dropping in relief.
Casting her one last glance, I signaled Tale with my eyes to follow me.
Once we reached the silent corridor, I turned to him.
“Is there a problem?” he asked.
“Tale, did you search the maid’s body?”
“Yes, but we found nothing. Why do you ask all of a sudden…?”
“I think she’s being blackmailed using her mother.”
“By the monster?”
Belle’s devotion to her mother and her hesitance to speak despite wanting to made it clear.
She was being threatened.
A sly smile spread across my face.
“Do we have a magic artifact detector? We need to check for any surveillance devices.”
“Are you saying the monster is eavesdropping on us? But we already searched—”
“Some artifacts used for eavesdropping are tiny and even edible. If she ingested one, everything she hears and says would be transmitted to the enemy.”
I ordered Tale to bring the artifact detector.
Not long after, he returned from Belle’s room, his sharp gaze meeting mine.
It meant the device was inside Belle’s body.
“Etricia.”
At some point, Edmund had arrived, walking toward us from the end of the hall. He glanced at the artifact detector in Tale’s hand and quickly grasped the situation.
“So, the maid has a listening device inside her.”
“That’s right. Has she overheard anything dangerous?”
“No need to worry. The knights never engage in idle chatter while escorting a suspect.”
Ah, what a relief. The Duchy’s knights were surprisingly tight-lipped, unlike their talkative master.
Just as I sighed in relief, Tale gasped sharply, then clapped a hand over his mouth.
His black pupils trembled violently.
I crossed my arms and raised an eyebrow.
“Tale, what is it?”
He nervously licked his lips and glanced at Edmund.
“I… Some time ago, Master ordered military training in preparation for a banquet to lure the monster. There was no further news, so I casually asked Rail if the banquet would happen… while the maid was present.”
‘Ah… Damn it.’
A moment later, Tale’s face turned pale as a lizard’s, cycling between white and blue.
Understandably so—Edmund’s fierce gaze felt like a blade.
To save him, I spoke up.
“Actually, this might work in our favor.”
Edmund’s eyes darted toward me, confused.
“What do you mean?”
“It’s just a theory, but the monster has been controlling and using this situation to its advantage. It likely anticipated that I, being connected to both Verita and the temple, would uncover Lunox’s identity and weaknesses. It also knew I would track Belle through the temple.”
So, he had no choice but to exploit this situation.
“He won’t know if we plan to kill the maid. That uncertainty will make him uneasy.”
I smirked at the unseen enemy.
“Now that he’s eavesdropped, he definitely knows I’m after him.”
Edmund narrowed his eyes.
“Then we should remove the artifact from Belle.”
“Remove it?”
Wait—I suddenly had an idea.
A wicked grin spread across my lips.
Edmund frowned at my expression.
“Etricia?”
I looked up at him, eyes gleaming with excitement.
This was an opportunity.
“Let’s use this against him.”
“Use it…?”
He considered my words, then his sharp gaze turned cold.
“You mean, use it to lure the monster into a trap?”
“Exactly.”
As expected, he caught on instantly.
