Chapter 43. Tattoo

The first thing I did after officially becoming part of the Blanche family was to check their business operations.

The Blanche estate had a library that was only accessible to direct family members, and it contained a wealth of records about the history of the Blanche family.

Now that I was also part of the Blanche family, I was given a key to this library. Of course, compared to the Duke and Duchess, the amount of information I could access was limited.

But it was sufficient for finding the information I needed. My initial goal was to uncover the money laundering routes of the Duke and Duchess. Wherever money flowed, there was always a weak point.

They must have spent a considerable amount of money to cover up the incident that day. By tracing the financial routes, I had a high chance of finding clues.

As expected, the Blanche family’s expenditures were enormous. Just the amount spent on magic stones each month was staggering.

Most of it seemed to go towards maintaining their villas, but it was still an excessive amount.

“No wonder they were so eager to get the Rain Mine.”

Camilla clicked her tongue at the extravagant household expenses, which was like pouring money into the sea. Being able to manage such high maintenance costs was a skill in itself.

The Blanche family, a prestigious lineage as old as Francis, had numerous business ventures. Among them, the charity organization run by the Duchess, <Bella>, stood out.

I had often seen that places that looked respectable on the surface were usually the most corrupt. Especially for businesses like Blanche, which were keen on maximizing their profits, such places were highly suspicious.

‘I heard there’s a charity event to attract sponsors soon.’

It might be a good idea to attend and gauge the atmosphere. Of course, this would only be possible if Isabelle took me along.

‘She’s subtly wary of me and tries to prevent me from taking on the role of the lady of the house.’

If I stayed idle, I would end up wasting my time. The Duke seemed to leave internal affairs to the Duchess.

Therefore, it would be wise to subtly probe them when they were together.

The Blanche estate was a place where the Duke and Duchess had eyes everywhere. Acting suspiciously would be very problematic.

Fortunately, the Duchess had been in a good mood lately because of Paris.

Sezad’s handling of Paris had been successful. Paris frequently visited Sezad’s office, showing great interest in the business.

Everything was progressing smoothly. With the bowl filling up with water, waiting for the right moment to spill it would create a tremendous synergy.

I recalled the conversation I had with Sezad through the communication stone the other day.

— That guy, did he go crazy when he hit the jackpot?

‘Didn’t I tell you he would?’

— This is too easy; it’s almost boring.

Sezad chuckled, smacking his lips. The lottery was a lie to entangle Paris from the beginning.

Upon receiving half of the reward in advance, Paris went as far as investing all the funds given to him by the Duke of Blanche.

He was convinced that the wreckage of the Shepherd ship and the systematic operation of the business were quite promising.

Moreover, Duke Blanche subtly expressed interest, making the scale of the operation grow. This event made the Duchess’s prestige soar.

She boasted about her son, saying, ‘See, Paris can do it if he tries.’

‘I wonder what will happen when they find out it’s all a facade.’

If the Duke got involved, the impact would be even greater.

Places with many business ventures usually lacked liquid assets. Since we had decided to expand the operation, targeting the Duke’s funds would be a double win.

Of course, the Duke was cautious and wouldn’t fall for it immediately, but the fact that he took the bait meant that time would solve the problem.

In high-value businesses, early investment was crucial.

If I could deal even a minor blow to the Duke through this, it would shake both Paris’s position and the Duchess’s authority.

To achieve this, my immediate priority was to pretend to be a diligent daughter-in-law.

Today was the day of the Blanche family’s regular family event. The villa built on an artificial island on the lake had a magnificent view.

Honestly, calling it an artificial island was an understatement; it was almost as large as the mainland. The villa, surrounded by a large river, had magical devices installed to prevent flooding even when it rained.

Under the strict orders of the Duchess to come early and prepare, I was overseeing today’s banquet. Since it was my first family event, I had to ensure there were no mistakes.

After finishing most of the preparations and taking a short break, Aster came to find me.

“Do you like boating?”

“I do.”

With my cheerful response, he led me to a small two-person boat. It was slightly smaller than the one we had taken when we first arrived at the villa.

I hadn’t noticed it much when we arrived, but the natural scenery was beautiful. Especially the grand view of the artificial island villa floating on the lake.

Looking at the villa from the boat, I realized it must cost a fortune to maintain. Considering how much money was spent on this villa that they visited occasionally, the Blanche family’s vanity was evident.

If the villa near the capital’s outer wall was like this, how extravagant must the ones in the provinces be?

“Where does all of Blanche’s money come from? I heard they have quite a few villas like this.”

“There is an organization that supports the Duke. The Duke calls them ‘Black Shadow.’ The Black Shadow handles money laundering and other dirty work for the Blanche family.”

It wasn’t uncommon for families to have informants and cleaners. Francis also had a separate organization for informants, so this wasn’t unexpected.

“Is it an organization you can access, Aster?”

“No. That organization communicates directly with the Duke through a direct code, making it difficult to approach. Even the Duchess needs the Duke’s approval to use them.”

“Hmm.”

“But it’s not entirely impossible to approach them. The members have tattoos that identify them as part of the organization. I’ve encountered their escorts a few times when I was young.”

With those words, Aster drew something on my palm. It was a pattern resembling a drawn bowstring.

He had simply drawn it for explanation, but for a moment, the tattoo’s vivid shape seemed to appear over it.

The pattern of an eagle with its wings spread wide, along with the direction of the drawn arrow. It was a chilling sensation, as if it was etched into my memory.

“Ah.”

At that moment, my heart pounded strangely. Feeling nauseous, I bent over, gasping for breath. Despite Aster’s calls, I couldn’t regain my composure.

“Camilla!”

Beeeeeeep—-.

My head throbbed as fragments of memories flashed before my eyes. On a rainy day, beyond my blurry vision, I remembered seeing that pattern. They were bustling about, seemingly searching for someone.

Even while I was collapsing, the mark on their wrist was vivid in my mind. The sudden fragment of memory made my head feel like it was splitting.

“Ah.”

Tears welled up from the pain. My head spun. Beyond the ringing in my ears, I heard their footsteps, and my vision flickered as if I had returned to that day.

‘This memory…’

It was definitely that day. My mother had collapsed, holding me in her arms, and they didn’t even care about us.

Judging by how they were only wandering around the overturned carriage, it seemed we weren’t their target. If we had been, they would have checked our condition.

As the memory faded, my mind cleared. Still clutching my head from the lingering mild headache, I muttered through cold sweat.

“…I think I’ve seen the Black Shadow.”

“What?”

“That day, during the accident, I encountered a man with such a tattoo. I distinctly remember that pattern on his wrist… Ah.”

As I tried to recall more, my head started to ache as if it would split open. My breathing became rapid, and my head spun. Aster held my cheeks to make me look at him.

“Camilla, calm down and follow my lead.”

He demonstrated deep breathing, and I mimicked his pace. Only then did I realize I had been gasping for air and not breathing properly.

With oxygen flowing to my brain, the pounding sensation eased. Exhausted and unable to hold my head up, I leaned it against his shoulder and spoke.

“Thank you.”

“…”

“I must have looked quite pathetic.”

“Are you feeling better now?”

“I’ll lean on you just a bit longer… I still can’t muster any strength.”

I continued to catch my breath, relying on his shoulder. It was almost laughable how recalling just one tattoo had triggered such a reaction.

Considering how much worse it must have been during the accident, it made sense that my father had kept me away from the incident. As I gradually calmed down, I blurted out the memory without filtering it.

“It didn’t seem like Francis was their target. They were searching for someone.”

Aster remained silent at my words. I continued, muttering with burning eyes.

“It was Blanche, after all.”

A hollow laugh escaped me. The certainty added to my previous suspicions made my blood run cold.

Remembering the tattoo of the Black Shadow was a more decisive piece of evidence than the fireball I had seen that day.

While one could argue that the fire magic could have been cast by someone else, the presence of those who cleaned up after the Duke at the scene was no coincidence.

The fact that they were searching for something instead of rescuing people from the overturned carriage was proof enough of their shady intentions.

“Maybe they were looking for something other than a person.”