I Was Tricked Into A Fraudulent Marriage By The Obsessive Villain - Chapter 3 Part 8

Carvain found himself standing before a table.

His nonchalant and indifferent demeanor in such circumstances felt alien and unsettling.

Who wouldn’t be bothered if a war hero was ignored?

What if a spark were to ignite due to that neglect?

‘No one would be able to handle what happens then.’

And the man standing in front of the table would know that better than anyone else, Johanna thought.

In the next moment, a voice echoed through the hall.

“Unfortunately, His Majesty will not be able to come.”

She was the mother of the Crown Prince and the current de facto ruler of the imperial palace. She was the Second Empress.

***

“…Could it be my sister?”

“Hoooh.”

Isaac let out a deep sigh from across the room as her mind wandered if the woman his client was asking her to find was Johanna.

“What, why?”

“Sis, you’re just as clueless as I am.”

“What… what do you mean?”

At Isaac’s unexpected words, Johanna wondered if he was joking.

But at that moment, Isaac, who had meticulously scraped off the ice cream stuck to the bowl, stood up from his seat.

“Big sis said I should not play with idiots. I’m leaving.”

“H-Hey, Isaac!”

Isaac left the room just like that.

And so, one day passed, then two.

It was already the third day.

Today was the day the client was supposed to come.

But she was in no position to ask Johanna if she was the client’s wife, since she was confined to the room and had no way to leave.

There was no way out. With the steel grate waiting outside, it was impossible to go out through the window. Sneaking out through the door was also out of the question…

“Where are you going?”

“…Nowhere.”

And thanks to Isaac’s careful watch at the door, she couldn’t step outside at all.

“Ah… Argh!”

Iona ruffled her hair roughly in frustration.

Just when Iona was in despair for a long time,

The door suddenly opened and Isaac poked his head in.

“Sis, I’ll let you out, so come with me.”

“…Huh?”

Isaac suddenly reached out his hand.

As if he’d been waiting for the right moment, just as Iona was about to despair.

“How…?”

“There’s always a way.”

Isaac, who had been by Johanna’s side all along, suddenly acted in a way that she couldn’t understand.

But Iona had no other choice.

She followed Isaac secretly along the corridor.

Somehow, the hallway was deserted, and before she knew it, she was in Isaac’s room.

Isaac went to the bookshelf on one side and pushed one of the heavy bookshelves. With a thud, a secret passage was revealed. Iona was surprised, and her eyes widened.

“Isn’t the secret passage only in the Duke’s room?”

“I made it.”

“You… no way.”

“Yeah, I did it out of boredom.”

“…You dug a tunnel inside the house?”

For a moment, Iona felt like she could understand Johanna, who used to glare at her from head to toe the moment she saw her.

This is how it feels.

To see a helpless little sibling.

“If you go straight through here, it leads directly to the street.”

It was absurd, but there was no other choice at the moment.

“Thank you. I’ll treat you to a delicious dessert later… Why are you stopping?”

As Iona was about to enter the passage, Isaac reached out and blocked her way.

“I have a condition.”

“A condition?”

Like a merchant saying, ‘Down payment!’ Isaac moved to block the passage with his whole body.

“Promise to grant me one wish later.”

“…You’re not a child, why are you suddenly making a wish? What is it, a new chef?”

“Don’t ask what it is, just promise that you’ll grant it. Then I’ll let you go.”

Isaac spoke with an unexpectedly serious attitude.

Iona rolled her eyes in response.

Contrary to his fierce appearance and usual behavior, Isaac was someone who became relentless once he made up his mind.

Once he set his mind to something, he had to get it.

Isaac was someone who planned and set traps to get it.

This was not something that could be imagined from his usual behavior of only talking about food.

But when Isaac acted like this, there was definitely something behind it…

Although Isaac’s attitude was suspicious, Iona shook her head and didn’t think much about it.

This wasn’t the time to worry about such things now.

It seemed that Johanna was not likely to respond to my request to find the client’s wife.

This could be seen from the fact that she had confined me without any prior notice.

So if I didn’t escape while Johanna was away, I couldn’t be sure when I would get another chance.

According to Isaac, among the nobles who had enemies in the capital, only the people from House Hardin were suspected to be the client’s wife, but it was unlikely. So she had to expand her search range to the provincial nobles.

In many ways, time was running out.

“Okay. Promise, I promise. Okay?”

“Yeah, I recorded it.”

“….”

Isaac took out a recording artifact from his pocket.

“Big sis said you should be careful with contracts.”

“….”

“What are you doing? Aren’t you going?”

Isaac spoke while nibbling on a macaron.

With that, they made their way down the passageway and out of the mansion.

The passage, which seemed like it would collapse at any moment, was surprisingly sturdy and well-made, allowing her to quickly escape without any trouble.

In case Johanna’s men would come to catch her in her absence, she hurriedly left the vicinity of the mansion and headed to the guild.

Johanna could have sent someone to the guild, but a manor full of Johanna’s people and a guild full of her own people are two different things.

Besides, since Johanna is currently away, she probably wouldn’t move so quickly.

“Phew… Once this suspicious request is resolved, I should find a place to hide for a while.”

Her complaints slipped out involuntarily.

Then she sighed deeply, knowing that the villain would soon come to catch her.

“…I must be mistaken. Something seems to be going terribly wrong.”

Iona muttered quietly as she walked.

She was already back in the capital, and the villain would soon come to catch her.

The mysterious client who wanted to expose her identity.

Johanna suddenly wants to capture her and confine her to the mansion.

It was a complete disaster.

“Hooh…”

She sighed deeply as she passed the guild office and headed toward her own room.

Her body, which had been tense all this time, seemed to relax on its own.

It felt like all her strength was leaving her, and she was about to collapse.

Ah. Home. Home is the best after all.

It was true that it was dangerous outside the blankets.

Perhaps due to the sudden relaxation of her body, Iona felt extreme fatigue.

“Whether it’s the client or whatever… let’s just rest for a bit. Just a bit…”

She opened the door, ready to jump into bed. But then…….

“What are you doing here?”

“…Have you come just now?”

Austin was in her room. He was sitting on a single-seater sofa, staring in her direction.

But there was something unusual about Austin’s demeanor.

A deep shadow was cast over his face as if something was wrong.

‘Come to think of it, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen you.’

Iona closed the door and entered the room.

The last time she saw Austin was at De Libertas.

When she returned to the capital, the schedule for the request was disrupted, and Austin had been so busy that he hadn’t attended the regular meetings lately.

“You know. It’s been a while since you last saw my face…”

“…What’s wrong with you?”

Iona asked Austin, who was sitting with his eyes fixed on the glass, seemingly lost in thought.

“I’m nothing to the leader. I’m nothing.”

“Huh?”

Iona asked in surprise at his sudden words. Austin spoke with moist, restless eyes.

“I know. That the leader doesn’t care about me. That you don’t see me as a man. But I… I…”

His eyes were so moist, that it seemed tears would fall at any moment.

To prevent the tears from falling, Austin bit his lip.

“Ha…”

As he looked straight at her, Iona was looking at him.

Even in this situation, he felt pathetic for being thrilled that her eyes were fixed on her.

Yes, everything about him was fixed on Iona.

Since that day…

“Why did you save me that day?”

“….”

“You could’ve just let me die like that.”

The first time he met Iona, it felt like fate.

Austin was the successor of Floyd, a family known for swordsmanship.

As a disciple of the Swordmaster, he had long since reached the level of a Swordmaster himself.

His life was like a well-paved road.

At least until the death of the First Empress.

— Sinners like you and me must die. Death… that is the only thing that can atone for our sins. To kill all those who dared to insult her and to end it with our deaths! That is the only way!

His master, who had been a knight of the First Empress, had gone mad.

Driven by madness, he tried to kill everyone.

If his master had just been a madman driven by grief, it would have been dismissed as meaningless talk. But he was a Swordmaster.

There were few in the empire who could stop him.

— Draw your sword! Austin. Shed blood… She wants blood. Her Highness… my Empress…! I will repay the disgrace of not protecting her!

The only one who could stop the master in his bloodthirsty state was…

— …Master.

Austin, his only disciple and adopted son.

— Quickly! Draw your sword!

— …

As soon as he saw the madness in his eyes, Austin realized.

That the only way to stop his master was death.

In order to uphold the brilliant honor of being the greatest swordsman in the world.

In honor of his stepfather, who taught him about the sword and life.

In order to protect the hundreds and thousands of lives outside that door.

Austin raised his sword.

In the end, it was only after he was covered in his teacher’s blood that he was able to stop him.

That’s when Austin ran away.

He didn’t know why he was running or where he should go; he just ran.

The rain poured down heavily from the sky, as if to symbolize his feelings.

— Hah… Haha…”

Laughter continued to escape from his lips.

Was he finally going mad?

Yes. He wasn’t crazy about killing his master with his own hands.

Blood continued to flow from his wounded abdomen.

Austin eventually collapsed on the roadside.

He lay on the ground, waiting for impending death.