Creeak-

When I opened the door, Baron, who had been hanging his head low, looked at me.

He was restrained with shackles on the wall binding both wrists, and chains on his ankles as well.

“I won’t do anything harsh, so relax.”

“……”

“More precisely, I can’t do anything harsh.”

I added as if talking to myself, then stood facing Baron. Then, tilting my head, I asked.

“Is ‘holy knight’ supposed to have a different meaning in this country?”

“What…?”

“As far as I know, holy knights are supposed to protect people, not kidnap innocent citizens.”

I looked straight into his eyes as I spoke.

“What do you want? Why did you send a letter to Jean Allenheim?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Oh, come on. I know everything, okay? You sent this to Jean Allenheim.”

I took out the letter from K and showed it in front of Baron’s eyes.

“See? You said you wanted to help save me. You asked him to come alone.”

“This is….”

Baron’s green eyes wavered as he scanned the letter.

“What were you planning to do when he showed up? Plant ideas in his head about destroying Cayenne?”

“I didn’t write this.”

“Why try to use Jean instead of doing it yourself? You’ll be punished by heaven for manipulating someone desperate.”

“I’m telling you I didn’t—! Ugh!”

Baron, who had been shouting irritably, frowned.

I grabbed his hair and brought my face close to his.

“Hey, don’t act up. I’m the only one who gets to raise their voice here.”

“L-Lize Allenheim….”

“It’s Lize Cayenne, I think I told you last time. How did you come up with such an elaborate plan when you can’t even learn?”

“You’ve gone mad from spending too much time with demons.”

“I told you not to act up.”

“Ugh—”

When I gripped his hair tighter, Baron frowned again.

Looking at him dryly, I released his hair.

“So you’re saying you didn’t write this letter?”

After glaring at me for a moment, Baron answered irritably.

“That’s what I said.”

“Then how did you appear at exactly that time in front of the shrine? The phrase in the newspaper had no subject, so only someone who knew would understand it.”

“That was my patrol time. I received a tip that human trafficking was taking place there.”

“Wasn’t what you were trying to do to me human trafficking?”

“How many times do I have to tell you it wasn’t me before you believe it!”

When Baron shouted, I covered my ears with both hands and spoke as if I couldn’t hear him.

“My, how many times do I have to tell you not to raise your voice? You don’t seem to understand your situation properly.”

I waved the recording stone hanging around my neck in front of Baron’s eyes.

“See this? This is evidence. Evidence of your attempted murder.”

“Attempted murder…!!”

“I heard that drug you tried to use on Sylvia and me is illegal? That you even resorted to such prohibited substances….”

“D*mn it, that…! That was a trap. Specially prepared to catch the human traffickers….”

“Then is there anyone who can prove that? Fellow knights perhaps?”

“…No. It was a mission I went on alone, and the informant was anonymous.”

“So you can deny it like that. Well, now I understand.”

“Really? That I’m innocent…?”

I looked at him with wide eyes as if wondering what he was talking about.

“I understand that you have no intention of telling me anything.”

“I…!”

Baron, who was about to shout again, seemed to change his mind and clamped his mouth shut.

It was a good choice on his part, as I was planning to gag him if he shouted one more time.

Baron, who had been staring into space, asked in a subdued voice.

“…What do those demons plan to do with me? Those demonic Cayennes….”

“I’m the one who decides what to do with you, you know? And I’m also one of those ‘demonic Cayennes.'”

“You…!”

Baron, who spoke as if choking, bit his lip. His green eyes flickered.

He looked at me as if he wanted to say something, then muttered with his head bowed.

“You’re not a demon…. How could you be a demon?”

“If you knew me a little better, you wouldn’t say that.”

Baron muttered in an anxious voice.

“I know you. You are… a savior.”

“Oh my.”

I covered my mouth with one hand in apparent surprise.

“There’s another man who calls me a savior…! You two should get along. Want me to introduce you?”

“Mock me all you want. It doesn’t matter. Because it was you.”

Baron said with a bitter smile.

I looked at him quietly.

I wasn’t sure about the truth of his earlier excuses, but somehow I felt that in this moment, he wasn’t lying.

With a blank expression, I asked him in a calm voice.

“Do you truly want to destroy Cayenne?”

“If I could.”

I pointed to myself with one hand and asked.

“Because of me?”

“……”

Baron, who had readily answered the previous question, closed his mouth.

He just looked at me without speaking.

Nevertheless, I could tell from his expression.

“That’s an affirmative look.”

At those words, Baron neither confirmed nor denied.

It seemed he had decided to respond with silence.

I asked one last question.

“Why do you hate Cayenne so much? Because I married Arkle?”

“……”

“Hmm. I understand. It’s your choice to keep quiet, but know this clearly.”

“……”

“I’m being kind to you, but you’ve committed a crime.”

“…!!…”

“And in cases like this, stripping you of your holy knight title is just the beginning, right? In severe cases, even exile to another country.”

“……”

“No matter how much you claim ignorance, you have no evidence to prove your innocence. On the contrary, evidence of your guilt is everywhere.”

As I explained step by step, Baron’s complexion darkened as he gritted his teeth.

I patted his shoulder with a bright smile as if telling him to think carefully.

“Though it’s unlikely, if by any chance it truly wasn’t you, you shouldn’t be wronged~ It would be better to speak up before a decision is made. As you can see, I’m ready to listen to anything.”

“…I have only one thing to say.”

“Oh, what is it?”

“I know nothing about….”

“I’ll listen to anything except that.”

I interrupted him and waved goodbye as I left the interrogation room.

❖ ❖ ❖

After leaving the room, I leaned against the wall and rubbed my temple with a frown.

I had spoken strongly in front of Baron, but I was actually a bit confused.

‘Why does he keep denying it? Does he have some other scheme? Surely… it couldn’t really be that he’s innocent…?’

But all the evidence pointed to him. Plus, though not certain, this conversation gave me a hint about his motive.

‘From what I heard, it seems like he had some history with Lize.’

Unfortunately, Lize’s past wasn’t covered in detail in the original work.

Since she died before the original story began, she only appeared occasionally in Jean’s flashbacks.

‘Then I should look into Lize Allenheim’s… my past.’

If I find the connection between Baron Clark and Lize, I might discover something about his motive.

At least, it should be easier to investigate about myself than about him.

“Sigh….”

The uncertainty of the situation was frustrating, making me sigh involuntarily.

“You look glum.”

“Martha!”

Martha, who met my eyes, grinned.

“Did you find out anything?”

“No….”

I shook my head weakly.

I hadn’t told Martha or anyone else about the letter.

‘I know there’s a possibility Baron is the final villain because I know the original work, but….. people who don’t know wouldn’t think the letter is strange even if they saw it.’

And I couldn’t exactly tell them that Jean Allenheim was destined to be manipulated by the sender of this letter to destroy House Cayenne.

‘Still, everyone witnessed Baron attacking me, so that’s enough for now.’

I could show the letter when it became more certain that Baron was the final villain.

Martha, who had been looking at the interrogation room door while stroking her chin, spoke.

“I expected that he wouldn’t open his mouth easily. Many holy knights harbor hatred for Cayenne….”

The reason wasn’t hard to guess.

“Because of Arkle’s magic?”

Martha silently nodded.

I carefully added.

“But this person… seemed particularly intense. He seemed to have a personal grudge against Cayenne.”

At my words, Martha clicked her tongue with a troubled expression.

“There are so many of them… tsk. If I had known this would happen….”

“Do you regret it? That you should have gotten along better with others?”

“No. Absolutely not.”

Martha spoke without the slightest hesitation, her face serious.

“I’ve always made the best choices. Even if I went back, I’d do exactly the same. I just regret not crushing those bastards more thoroughly.”

“That’s so like you, Martha.”

I gave her two thumbs up.

“Ahem, anyway. It seems I’ll have to interrogate him myself. As if I don’t already have enough work piled up….”

Martha, who muttered as if tired, glared at the interrogation room door with coldly settled eyes.

For a moment, a chilling killing intent was felt, showing how much she resembled her brother Arkle.

“Will you be okay? That guy is completely tight-lipped right now…. We can’t force him to talk either.”

“There are ways to make someone talk besides rough methods.”

Martha spoke calmly as she removed her glasses and slowly brushed back her hair.

“In fact, humans sometimes can’t withstand mental pressure. I’ll show him that violence against the mind can be worse than physical violence.”

Seeing Martha’s purple eyes glinting coldly, I unconsciously gulped.

‘Right, this is a villain family….’

I didn’t really care what happened to Baron Clark, but somehow I felt sorry for him in that moment.

“Then Martha, I have a request. If you find out anything, could you let me know too?”

I spoke pitifully, lowering my eyebrows.

“I’m curious about why he did such a thing to me….”

“I’ll do that. I’m also dying to know. How reckless must he be to dare touch a member of Cayenne.”

Martha’s forehead bulged with veins as she gritted her teeth. She seemed genuinely angry.

‘So reliable….’

This made me feel even more sorry for Baron, but to me, she looked incredibly dependable.

‘With Martha, she might really find out something.’

So I’ll leave the interrogation to her and I’ll investigate something else….

“By the way. I have news for you.”

Martha called me while I was lost in thought.

“Yes?”

“We received a message from the magic tower. They say they’ve found a clue to remove Arkle’s curse.”