People’s feet passed by, and the familiar spirit wormed its way into the assassin’s sleeve.

‘But what is this guy doing now?’

He soon rummaged through the clothes, and something sparkling caught his eye.

When the vision brightened again, he locked eyes with the leader of the remaining assassins still underground.

‘…It’s a snake!’

The leader, whose eyes had widened, blurted out. Behind him, the large intruder lunged at him.

‘You are the biggest piece of trash!’

The vision went dark as the familiar spirit screamed simultaneously.

[Ahh! The last part was a mistake, a mistake!]

“Eek!”

Startled by his scream, I let out a short yell.

I was already concentrating on watching, and his sudden scream startled me greatly.

Grasping my pounding heart, I also screamed loudly.

“Why are you suddenly screaming like that!”

[Ah, anyway! The last part was a mistake! I was going to come back but accidentally dropped my invisibility!]

The familiar spirit eagerly explained to me.

“More than that, what did you bring from there……”

“Miss! You are here!”

Just then, Crishe, who had spotted me, breathed a deep sigh of relief.

‘Uh.’

Startled by the sudden appearance of Crishe, I quickly hid the familiar spirit in my bag.

Then I stumbled and bumped my hip.

“Ouch!”

“Oh! Are you okay? I startled you.”

Taking Crishe’s hand and getting up, I quickly said to her,

“Let’s play more, Crishe!”

“Yes? Shouldn’t you go back now?”

“Playing with Crishe is so much fun, let’s play again!”

“Ththat……! Playing with Miss is the most fun for me too!”

Crishe made an extremely moved face.

“Then numbers, I’ll count! One, two, three……”

Watching Crishe turn her back, I quickly started running.

‘I have to go further this time.’

I had a lot to talk to the familiar spirit about, so I couldn’t go back to my room yet.

As I ran, I saw the front gate in the distance.

The gatekeepers were standing there, and it seemed noisy. They were stopping an old servant from coming in.

“Please, I beg you! Let me see the Duke just once, just once!”

“Ah, well, you can’t. Sir! It’s hard for us too, so please stop!”

Seeing the servant, my eyes widened. That person was…

‘That time when Count Life came with him.’

I remembered the servant who was strangely old to be working and who I had seen on the day Count Life had arbitrarily touched my head, causing Yan to briefly step away from guarding me.

The old servant had a square package in one hand.

“I must give this to the Duke! If he sees this, he will know our master was deceived too! Please let me see him just once!”

“Sir, lower your voice! We’ll get in trouble, we will.”

The old servant’s pleas were falling on deaf ears, and I couldn’t help but wonder what was happening.

The servant shouted at the top of his voice, and the gatekeepers seemed to think it would not do, so they opened the main gate and came out.

Perhaps the gatekeepers were trying to knock the servant away before he could even get to the main gate. However, the servant seized the opportunity to try to come in instead.

“Young master, you cannot do this here!”

‘What is he holding?’

He opened his eyes wide and stared intently at what the servant was holding in his hand.

Before he could figure out what it was, Crisi shouted loudly from behind.

“Miss! I will find it now!”

I glanced back and quickly hid behind a large tree.

[Oh, I’m dizzy!]

Perhaps because of running, or because the bag was shaken, the divine beast grumbled.

Hiding my body behind a large tree nearby, I poked my head out just a bit.

“What’s the commotion?”

Then a deep, voiceless sound resonated in my ears. I turned my eyes without surprise at the now familiar voice.

‘It’s the Duke.’

He had not gone out today; he must have been in the mansion. The place I was hiding was not far from the Duke.

Afraid that the Duke might discover me, I held my breath even more.

Fortunately, the Duke seemed not to have noticed me. He approached the servant with long strides.

When the gatekeepers released the servant, he knelt before the Duke and bowed flat.

“Du, Duke, please release my master! We were all deceived by that person! Pl, please look at this! It’s the ID he first gave us!”

One of the gatekeepers handed it to the Duke. The Duke tilted his head.

What the servant handed over was a square badge the size of a palm.

“Th, that was fake! At first, we didn’t know because it was identical, but later the ink was erased, and we found out it was fake! We were all fooled by that person!”

‘The ID was fake.’

The servant seemed to think that this could prove the Count’s innocence.

But it was not enough. I bit my lip.

I knew that the Count was not the culprit since I knew the original story, but the Duke didn’t.

Clearer evidence was needed to persuade the Duke.

‘Like the real criminal…’

As expected, the Duke spoke in a sharp voice.

“To think what a great thing you’ve brought.”

He flung it to Philren as if it was worthless.

“If I see you again, I will consider you an accomplice. Do you understand?”

The Duke’s cold response left the servant speechless.

Seeing the servant being weakly dragged away by the other soldiers, Philren scratched his neck and opened his mouth.

“It will be a headache if he keeps doing that.”

“How is the investigation I asked for going?”

“Yes, he has no family and has lived like family with Count Lifay all his life. So we will have to sort him out differently.”

But their conversation was a bit suspicious. Feeling uneasy, I listened quietly to their conversation.

“Or how about just accusing him as an accomplice and sorting him out this time? We might need to sort it out again later if the Count’s sidekick remains. We must also consider the possibility that the real criminal may find out.”

The real criminal? I opened my eyes wide.

Did that mean that the Duke also knew that Count Lifay was framed?

“It’s true that what the Count does is distasteful, and even if we dig into his background, not a speck of dust comes out. This time, let’s take care of it thoroughly…!”

Hearing that, my legs gave way without realizing it.

[Hey, be careful!]

The divine beast spoke urgently, but I had already fallen to the ground.

I plopped down, and the Duke instantly turned his head.

“Why are you, gulp!”

[This idiot…]

I heard the divine beast quietly cursing from inside the bag.

The Duke who found me clicked his tongue.