I followed the Duke into the room.

Pilren, who had entered the room with us, mumbled in an anxious voice.

“Ah, why was the baby there…, no, how did I not know when you were so close…”

At that moment, both the Duke and Pilren looked like bad people to me.

‘Come to think of it, Pilren is also a villain’s underling.’

He was the one who had always actively helped the Duke in his misdeeds. Perhaps because his first impression was gentle, I felt more betrayed by him than by the Duke.

I alternated my gaze between the Duke and Pilren and asked,

“Did you know, too, Duke? That Count Lipe is not the culprit?”

A moment of silence passed. The answer did not come immediately.

A wrinkle formed on the Duke’s brow, and he asked back,

“……Does that mean you knew as well?”

Only then did I realize that what I had said was a huge mistake.

“No, I didn’t know! I know it from what I heard earlier!”

A wrinkle appeared on the Duke’s brow again.

“That’s suspicious. Then why were you by the front gate earlier?”

“That, that was because I was playing hide and seek……”

“Why did you play hide and seek all the way there? You don’t usually do that, do you?”

It was true. I usually played in the garden, and even then, not far from the mansion.

Because it was convenient to get snacks whenever I wanted and to go to my room when I got tired.

‘But how does the Duke know that?’

I had questions, but the immediate concern was not that. I shook my head vigorously in denial.

“Ah, anyway, that’s not what’s important right now!”

At my words, one of the Duke’s eyebrows shot up. His look of looking down on me seemed to say, try me if you dare.

I cleared my throat and continued,

“I heard everything Pilren said earlier, that there’s another culprit.”

A smile crept to the Duke’s lips. I seriously wondered what was funny about what I had said.

“Pilren, it seems like we’ll be busy for a while. Don’t you think?”

“Yes? Ahaha……, yes. That, that’s right……”

“Then go out and report back on the work.”

At the Duke’s words, Pilren, who had been visibly startled, drooped his shoulders and left the room.

Since he didn’t argue, it seemed that what I had heard earlier was true.

I folded my arms and asked confidently,

“So you knew, Duke. That Count Lipe is not the culprit.”

The Duke seemed displeased that I knew this fact.

He brushed his hair back in annoyance and replied,

“That chap may be annoying, but he’s not of the nature to kill someone.”

I might have been less shocked if he had denied it or called it a misunderstanding. I was quite taken aback by his immediate confirmation.

So both knew and framed Count Lipe.

Even knowing that Count Lipe was wrongly accused.

“Even though you knew……”

I couldn’t understand that part.

When I went down to the dungeon with the water clock, Count Lipe was locked in the iron bars where real criminals were kept.

The memory of him drinking greedily when I gave him water, apparently having not even had a sip, was vivid.

‘How can you do that?’

Knowing that the real culprit was someone else, how could you do that to an innocent person?

“You tell me, when did you know that Count Lipe is not the culprit?”

Before the shock had worn off, the Duke asked again.

“That’s not important right now.”

“That’s not for you to decide.”

The Duke spoke in a cold tone. I felt a shiver run down my neck.

Regardless, I must have been quite shocked. Even with the Duke’s scary face interrogating me, the words wouldn’t come out easily.

The Duke did not give up and asked again,

“Did you know before you heard our conversation? Since when?”

“……”

That was a question I couldn’t answer. How could I say that in my previous life, I read the book about this world, and I knew because I recalled my previous life’s memory?

“It’s a story they won’t believe, even if I tell them.”

It would be fortunate if a mere 4yearold child was not driven away for finding it disgusting or horrifying that they remember their previous life.

“Then, Duke, you knew and kept it a secret.”

I avoided the Duke’s question with a response. The urgent matter at hand was the fact that Count Lifae was falsely accused.

“Knowing it’s a false accusation, knowing the Count didn’t commit any crime.”

The Duke fell silent.

However, meeting his indifferent gaze, I already felt as though I had heard his answer.

Count Lifae and the Duke were not on good terms.

It was inevitable. A count with an unblemished character would have been an annoyance to the Duke.

I realized reality anew.

“That’s right, this was a family of villains……”

A place without blood or tears, where betrayal and conspiracy ran rampant.

A place where common sense did not apply.

I had momentarily forgotten this, comforted by Sofiana Delma’s kindness and Yan’s warmth.

“What’s the problem?”

The Duke asked in a tone devoid of inflection.

“After all, that Count never liked you. He doubted your birth, and he even laid hands on you when I wasn’t around. He’s nothing more than that.”

The Duke spoke in a nonchalant manner.

“It’s none of your concern.”