Chapter 93

Chapter 93. How to Use the Opponent’s Trap (7)

Of course, Carlon did not care about Elburn’s agony at all.

“Okay. How much more can Marquis Abedes fill it up with? Isn’t Marquis Abedes financially generous?

“That’s… It’s a huge amount, and we don’t have a lot of cash in our possession… In addition, almost all of our property comes from the mines. The mines take time to dispose of, and the sale is easy to track down…”

“Fill it up somehow, try your best to hold it in. Grab a collateral somewhere.”

Carlon said coldly.

“Until then, I will find the third ‘origin of black magic’ and solve it somehow.”

Elburn nodded, swallowing dry saliva.

Seeing that, Carlon clicked his tongue once and went out of the room.

Elburn, who was left alone with Richard, who had lost his mind, only knew that he had not received a proper apology from Lagian, who followed Carlon.

“You didn’t do that on purpose, but shouldn’t you still feel sorry?”

He wasn’t the only one who was disappointed.

Carlon never asked if Richard was okay, even if it was empty words.

It was just an attitude that things became annoying.

“Hey…”

Elburn muttered, looking down at Richard with shaky eyes.

“…Are we in a good line?”

Of course, Carlon was not worried about Richard at all.

Anyway, he viewed everyone, including the Abedes brothers, as a tool.

In the first place, Richard wanted to be a close aide to him, so he laid flat and crawled on his own.

He was comfortable and useful, so he only had him by his side, but there was no way he had much affection for him.

But Carlon had another talent like that.

As soon as he left the room, he flew a pigeon with a note.

This was because he had to quickly find the origin of the third black magic, which he was originally trying to find leisurely.

That was the only way to quickly raise a large amount of money before an emergency audit by the Ministry of Finance.

Crimes using the origin of black magic quickly create astronomical amounts.

A pigeon with a note hanging on its foot saying they should find the origin of the third black magic immediately headed to the temple.

~*~

(Annabelle’s pov)

Everything went our way. I could tell just by looking at the Empress and Carlon’s expressions.

Even Carlon made a rough excuse and hurried away.

‘There’s no way that human being would go to see if Richard was safe.’

It was the information that I knew through the original work that Richard and Elburn were following him with all kinds of document manipulation.

He would have visited Elburn in case of an upcoming emergency audit.

And he would have urgently decided to find the origin of the third black magic.

That was the ending I wanted.

I also needed to find out the origin of the third black magic, but there was no information.

It was not even in the original, and after 30 years, it created problems, but anyway, even god didn’t know.

‘By now, the temple’s cooperator must have received the news.’

Now there was another day left to set the trap.

That was why I didn’t show Lagian my real skills and acted as if I had avoided it due to a fluke at the end.

Of course, it was true that I won.

There were many people who did not know swordsmanship well, so there was a high probability that they would remember only the results.

Those who analyzed it in detail would have sensed something odd.

The emperor could understand it to some extent, but he seemed to ask questions out of a fan’s heart.

“Come on, Miss Annabelle.”

At the banquet where Carlon disappeared, Robert patted my shoulder and said:

“It was going to be talked about by people in many ways, but it was a lot of hard work.”

“Right.”

I replied coolly.

“I like getting attention.”

That was true.

When the skirts of the dress were removed, people were shocked, and it felt great.

‘How cool was it? It must have impressed everyone.’

And the thrill of putting the sword against Lagian’s neck in front of everyone.

In my heart, I wanted to beat Lagian better in front of this huge crowd, but I put up with it because I thought about the future.

‘Well then, I sent you Richard.’

I thought with a confident smile.

‘It’s not too far off to send Elburn soon.’

Just imagining how terrified he must be right now made me feel at ease.

‘Carlon and Lagian were guided straight to the trap.’

I hadn’t been able to send it at the moment, but it would be even bigger soon.

‘What’s left is…’

But it was too disappointing to end the banquet like this.

I glanced at the next target, struggling with a calm expression.

‘…Empress.’

It didn’t go as strong as I expected due to various variables, but I had already read the atmosphere of contempt that drove her into a target.

And this wasn’t revenge for me.

Before I came to the banquet, Leslie looked at my sword and spoke indifferently.

“If you are attending a banquet for the first time… It can be a little difficult. Especially if it’s an imperial banquet where the Empress and her people will attend.”

She seemed to be trying to speak as casually as possible, but there was a clear concern in her voice.

“It’s okay though. If you’re interested in the social world, you’ll be fine with what people say about the rise in status due to men. From now on, I don’t go out like that, I just do what I like and calmly pass it on. I came from a humble commoner, but I was married to a high-ranking man and accepted that.”

At that time, I thought it was too complicated, so I passed it on casually, but when I entered the banquet hall, I could understand why Leslie said that.

It was okay because I had come fully prepared and had no intention of becoming Robert’s lover.

Now, the rights of common people were increasing day by day, which meant that 20 years ago, when Leslie got married, it was worse than it was now.

Of course, Leslie was living a happy life regardless, but it was true that she was quite hurt anyway.

‘It’s for Leslie’s revenge, you wicked people.’

I was not interested in the social mental fight. I had no background for that.

But I knew one thing.

First of all, physically, I was a very strong person. So when I decided, I could finish it quickly.

Right here.

“Well, then…”

I spoke out by slightly changing the angle of the hand holding the sword.

As a result, the light was reflected on my blade, and it shone for a moment.

“Since I picked a sword, I’m going to ask for a duel.”

Everyone looked puzzled at what I said and looked at each other.

“What? Is she going to Ian again?”

“I guess she has become more confident because she beat a foreigner…”

I looked exactly at one person among the people who were in chaos.

“There, you who insulted my mother’s dress.”

The face of the young man pointed out by me immediately became contemplated.

“You were prepared to insult me, and you may have not liked it because I’m a commoner.”

I said with my arms crossed.

“But I think my mother’s dress is a little different. I was wondering how many people here haven’t worn dresses designed by my mother.”

“That, that…”

The young man, who was pointed out by me, looked around with anxious eyes.

Honestly, the whole story was obvious.

The purpose would have been to scratch me as much as possible to get me into a duel that I didn’t have to get into.

And there must have been a hand lended from the Empress, who was big in society.

“Of course, I know that I shouldn’t ask for a duel for these trivial things that happen at banquets.”

I continued to speak leisurely, waving my sword around.

“But it could be my last banquet. My mother may open the dressing room again, so I have to protect her business.”

The man seemed to be desperately looking for someone to help, but no one came forward.

The Empress also sat quietly, controlling her expression.

“That-!”

The man rolled his eyes and shouted for now.

“It wasn’t an insult… It was simply an expression of likes and dislikes.”

I looked at him calmly.

Of course, such a reaction had to come out.

If you dueled with me here, you would be humiliated or seriously injured.

However, he would not be able to proudly apologize to a commoner, saying, ‘I’m sorry’.

Plus, he was part of the Empress’s people, who were discriminators.

“If a duel was applied in every case in response to a like and dislike, no one will be able to say anything in front of Miss Annabelle Rainfield.”

He reacted exactly as I expected. In fact, everything was right.

“If you’re in second place in the swordsmanship competition, you have to prove that much weight, and you’re applying for a duel from a single comment. Look at Ian and learn from him. There’s a reason why you were nicknamed to be hot-tempered and stubborn.”

“Well, thank you for the good teaching.”

I blinked with a slight softening of momentum.

“Then let’s decide whether it was a simple like or dislike, or an insult.”

Then I looked around and said,

“If you really don’t like the design of this dress, please raise your hand. If there are more than ten people, I’ll just think it’s a simple dislike.”

I looked around, hiding my pounding heart.

‘Hurry up and get caught!’

Eyes were being met from all over.