‘What? Even the Grand Duke is here?’

Travis approached with an expressionless face, his sharp eyes glinting as he observed the situation.
‘Ha, why did the Grand Duke have to come? It would’ve been enough if only regular knights showed up….’

I started to feel tense, worried that Travis might see through the entire situation.
Forcing the frown off my face, I greeted Travis with a polite bow.

“I greet Your Grace, Grand Duke Holt.”

Travis nodded in acknowledgment, glancing at both me and Flaria.

“What’s going on here?”

Haren proceeded to explain in detail how Sebastian had caused a commotion after entering Count Leon’s residence.
“And… this appears to be the delusional man I mentioned before, who has been lingering around Lady Espin.”

At Haren’s words, Travis silently looked down at Sebastian, who was slumped on the floor.
“That’s not true. It’s really not true! Espin and I were in love!”

“Hmm….”

“I’m serious. For the past month, I’ve been visiting this house every other day to meet Espin. Please believe me.”

The Grand Duke turned his gaze to the butler.
“We’ve never seen this man before.”

“That’s not true! Lady Leon has instructed everyone to lie so she wouldn’t have to return my money!”

Sebastian, looking desperate, lowered his head to the ground as he pleaded with the Grand Duke.
‘Oh, so he’s decided to change his tactics.’

Unlike earlier, when he was causing a scene, Sebastian now spoke politely and cautiously.
It seemed he was trying to cleverly conceal his scam while only emphasizing how he had been wronged.

“Your name.”

“Pardon? That’s….”

“Your name.”

“….”

At Travis’s question, Sebastian clamped his mouth shut. It was clear there was a reason he couldn’t reveal his name.
Without asking further, Travis simply pointed at Sebastian.

Following the Grand Duke’s command, several knights grabbed the bound Sebastian and forced him to stand.
“Wait, I have proof! Proof!”

Sebastian suddenly shouted, a sudden thought appearing to strike him.
“….”

“There’s someone in this mansion who knows me.”

Now standing, with his arms held by the knights, Sebastian raised his head with a hopeful expression.
“Jane. A maid named Jane in this mansion knows who I am. She can tell you about my relationship with Lady Espin Leon.”

Sebastian’s lips trembled as he spoke.
‘This idiot.’

How could he be so accommodating to my plans?
Watching him walk straight into the trap I’d set, I fought to suppress the smile tugging at the corners of my lips.

“Butler, is there a maid named Jane in this mansion?”

“Yes, there is. However, she was caught stealing yesterday and has been confined to the underground prison as punishment.”

“Bring her here.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

The butler headed to the underground prison, and Sebastian, now brimming with confidence, glared at me.

“Was my money really that tempting? Even though you’re a wealthy noble lady, you still coveted my money, didn’t you?”

Sebastian’s outburst, halfway to losing his sanity, made me shiver in fear as I wrapped my arms around myself.
“Flaria, I’m getting scared.”

I whimpered as I moved closer to Flaria, who embraced me and comforted me.
“It’s okay, Espin. Even if the knights don’t handle him, I will. Leave that filthy scumbag to me.”

“Exactly, Espin. Don’t worry, we’re here.”

With Flaria and Haren’s reassurances, I nodded.
“Thank you.”

“Ha, keep acting all you want. Once Jane arrives, the truth will come out.”

As Sebastian wished, Jane was soon brought up from the underground prison. Her face was noticeably gaunt after just a day, and the red mark left by Sebastian’s slap was still visible on her cheek.

“Are you Jane, the maid working in this house?”

At the Grand Duke’s question, Jane nodded weakly.
“Do you know this man?”

Jane, who had been staring at the floor, raised her head and looked in the direction the Grand Duke was pointing.
“Jane, you know me. You know what kind of relationship I had with Espin, right? You’re not like the others—you’re sane, aren’t you?”

Having slapped Jane the day before, Sebastian either forgot or chose not to think about it as he desperately called out to her.

“….”

Jane remained silent, her fiery gaze fixed on Sebastian.

‘As expected.’

Her reaction was just as I had anticipated.
Jane, seething with anger, was taking in the situation.

‘It’s time to give her a little push.’

Knowing it was my turn to act, I approached Jane.
“Jane.”

At the sound of my gentle voice, Jane’s gaze shifted to me.
“I don’t know that man, but he keeps insisting we were in love and that I took money from him.”

“….”

Jane’s eyes darted sideways, observing the situation around her.
“But no one here knows him. Yet he’s claiming you can confirm his story. He says you know him.”

“Jane, just tell the truth. You know how often I’ve been to this mansion better than anyone.”

Sebastian looked like he was ready to charge at Jane at any moment.
“So, do you know this man?”

At Travis’s question, the anger in Jane’s eyes subsided and was replaced with an icy coldness.
“I don’t know him. I’ve never seen someone like him before.”

Jane spoke firmly.

“Jane!”

Sebastian shouted her name, his face red with fury, veins bulging in his neck.
Jane turned her head toward Sebastian and gave him a mocking smile.

“I have never seen someone like him in this mansion.”

Jane emphasized each word as she stared at Sebastian.

“You… you worthless wretch…!”

Sebastian struggled and thrashed, trying to break free from the knights’ grip, but the more he resisted, the tighter they held him.

“Take him to the knights’ interrogation room.”

Hearing Jane’s words, Travis gave the order without hesitation.

“You bastards! You con artist scum!”

‘Look who’s talking.’

Sebastian screamed curses until the very end as he was dragged away by the knights.
Once he was taken outside, the previously chaotic mansion fell silent.

“Espin, are you okay?”
“Do you want to sit down somewhere?”

Flaria and Haren looked at me with concern written all over their faces.

“I’m fine.”

I smiled at them, and Travis quietly observed me.

‘What? Why is he staring at me?’

Not wanting to seem suspicious, I avoided looking away and stared back at him just as intently.

“There will be some questions for the investigation of this man.”

Travis finally spoke, his gaze still fixed on me.

“Yes. I’ll cooperate fully if an investigation is necessary.”

“…Then, I’ll take my leave.”

After a long staring contest, he nodded in farewell and turned to leave.

“Haren. It’s time for your duty. Return to the knights’ order.”

“My apologies.”

Unfazed by Travis’s reprimand, Haren waved casually, treating it like a routine occurrence, and disappeared.

“Espin, I’ll head out too. You should rest.”

“Thank you, Flaria.”

“Don’t mention it. If you ever need anything, just let me know.”

***

“Ha….”

After sending everyone away, I returned to my room and sank to the floor as soon as the door closed.

“Wow, I really pulled it off….”

A smile I couldn’t suppress crept across my face.
I had gotten rid of Sebastian, who had tried to scam me. No, more accurately, I had even taken 40,000 litas from him.

“What should I do with this money?”

After replenishing the 10,000 litas that Espin had previously given to Sebastian, I still had 40,000 litas left in my hands.

“Hmm… I want to use it for something meaningful.”

It wasn’t greed for money that had driven me to scam him.
I had started this to show con artists, who preyed on innocent people, what it felt like to be deceived.

Because of that, using the money I’d earned through this scam for myself felt wrong.

“Maybe I should help scam victims?”

Having experienced being conned myself, I knew all too well that the betrayal was painful, but the feelings of self-loathing and hopelessness about the future were even worse.
Surely, there must be people like that in this world too.

“Yeah. I’ll help people who’ve been scammed.”

I could create a charity foundation or a merchant guild to support them.

But there was a problem: I couldn’t do it alone.
I didn’t know how to launder this dirty money I’d taken from con artists. If I started a business with this black money as it was, people would start questioning the source of my funds. That could lead to suspicion from the Grand Duke.

Such attention would only hinder my future plans to deceive more con artists.

“In that case… there’s the perfect person for this. Someone who’ll share my vision.”