Reforming the Villain Family - Chapter 53

‘I recognized it right away.’

He immediately noticed the clothes I was wearing. Unconsciously, I gripped my collar tightly.

“Why? Am I wrong?”

The boy gestured with his eyes towards the clothes I was wearing.

Of course, inside the tightly wrapped hood was a dress made of expensive fabric.

If I had shown this outfit to the staff earlier, I wouldn’t have ended up in this warehouse.

There’s no way they would dress the children they keep as merchandise in such expensive clothes.

I shook my head and tightly gripped the outer garment.

“Why did a child like you come all the way here, to look at these kids?”

“That’s not it! I just heard crying from outside…!”

“Oh, really? You didn’t come in to check if the value of the merchandise you’re buying might decrease?”

I was so shocked by his scathing words that I was speechless.

It was not just wariness, but an attitude filled with contempt. I couldn’t help but be flustered by his attitude.

“It’s not like that, I didn’t even know this place was like this.”

“I don’t think that’s something a guest who came to a place like this should say.”

“I was surprised when I came here too, I really didn’t know. I came this far for different merchandise.”

“I wonder if the people who came with you would say the same thing?”

I closed my mouth. I had no more words to refute. That was something I had been thinking about all along.

‘Would the Duke not have known about this?’

Even Philen had worried and opposed me coming here, so would the Duke not have known?

“See, you’re just the same as those people.”

The boy let out a short sigh as if he was sick of it.

“If you’re done looking, get out. Don’t meddle in other people’s business.”

But I couldn’t leave now. Not after confirming that the silver snake was here.

If I left the silver snake behind, who knows when its invisibility might wear off. Besides, there was something a bit strange.

‘There’s no movement.’

I thought it would immediately grumble about an insignificant creature daring to follow me, or complain about how I ended up in this situation because of an insignificant creature.

But now the silver snake was using invisibility and remained still even when I fiddled with its scales.

As if it had fallen into a deep sleep.

‘There’s no way a divine beast would sleep.’

I had to stay here, if only to find out the silver snake’s condition.

“I’ll help you.”

“What?”

“You said earlier you’d help all those kids get out, right? Do you have a way? It’s impossible alone.”

“…That’s none of your business.”

“It is my business, of course. You’re the one giving false hope to those kids, aren’t you? Saying you’ll help them get out when it’s not possible.”

The boy opened his mouth without a word, then closed it again. He looked like he had been caught off guard.

“They can get out, that’s why I went to check outside.”

“If you checked outside, you’d know even better how many people are coming and going out there.”

“It’s only temporary, there weren’t this many people earlier.”

“So you’re saying you’ll stay here until there are fewer people outside? Even though you don’t know when that will be?”

The boy seemed at a loss for words and couldn’t say anything else. Soon, he furrowed his brow.

“By the way, how old are you?”

At that question, I finally realized my mistake. I guess it was my turn to keep my mouth shut. Attacking with age, how petty.

“You look about the same age as Penny.”

“…”

“If you came in here because of a misunderstanding due to that hood, didn’t you have any guards around? Don’t tell me you ditched them and came alone?”

“…”

Suddenly, I thought of Yan. I felt uneasy wondering how worried Yan must be.

‘I’m sorry, Yan…’

I silently apologized to Yan once again, though he couldn’t hear it.

“Tell me, there’s more than one suspicious thing about you.”

As silence fell, a round brown head popped out from the side.

I was so startled I almost screamed.

I had been so focused on the conversation that I didn’t notice the other kids approaching.

“Are you two fighting?”

Penny came closer and asked quietly. I quickly grabbed one of Penny’s hands and said innocently:

“Penny, let’s go over there! This big brother says he’ll find a way for us to get out!”

“Okay okay!”

Penny excitedly pulled my hand.

As I followed Penny, I glanced back slightly. The boy was making an expression of disbelief.

Around the same time, Aguil, who had fainted, suddenly opened his eyes.

“Mmph, mmph!”

There was a gag in his mouth, and his body was tightly bound to a chair with tough ropes.

Aguil rolled his eyes around to survey his surroundings.

“Oh, my lord! You’re awake!”

“Mmph! Mmph!”

“Hm? Ah, you’re asking where this is? This is the VIP room, the V-I-P room!”

“It’s fortunate that you woke up. If you hadn’t woken up, I would have been so troubled…”

“Hey, I told you earlier. I just gave him a little headbutt.”

“Please refrain from headbutting next time. If he suffers head trauma and has memory problems, it will be a headache when we interrogate him.”

Aguil looked around. One unfamiliar man and one large man. No, on closer inspection, the latter was a large rookie.

“Mmph, mmph!”

“What is he saying now?”

“I don’t know.”

“Didn’t you understand him earlier?”

“I just guessed.”

Philen looked at Bart with salty eyes. Bart shrugged once and removed the gag from Aguil’s mouth.

“Pl-please spare me! Please spare me! I don’t know anything! I didn’t do anything!”

“No, no. Vice Commander, you shouldn’t do that. My lord hates lying the most.”

“I-It’s not a lie! Really!”

“Then how would you explain that? The ethnic minorities locked up in the warehouse.”

Aguil gasped. He belatedly spewed out excuses, but his vivid reaction had already been revealed.

“Wh-what are you talking about! I don’t know anything about this! E-evidence! Yes, if you have evidence, bring it!”

“…That’s what he’s saying, my lord.”

Bart stepped aside. Aguil’s eyes met with a man sitting on the sofa behind him.

From the arrogant gaze looking down, Aguil noticed the typical attitude of a nobleman.

Aguil recalled a few of the great nobles among those attending today.

In fact, there was no need to recall. Among those he had personally sent invitations to, there was only one great noble house – the Duke’s family.

Aguil felt his breath catch in his throat as he stared into those black eyes that silently gazed at him.

“I came knowing there would be an auction. Are you still going to deny it?”

The blue-haired man tossed an invitation made of luxurious paper at his feet. It was an invitation that only those attending today’s slave auction could possess.

“Wh-what kind of invitation is this…”

“It’s for slave trading, isn’t it? The slave trading that has now been banned.”

“S-slave trading? That’s absurd…”

Aguil’s bound feet trembled. His words didn’t even come out completely. He tried to deny it belatedly, but judging by their expressions, they clearly didn’t believe him.

Aguil took a deep breath with effort. Even if everything had been discovered, it didn’t mean there was no way out.

“I-I only did what I was ordered to do from above. Th-there’s someone who gives me orders every month. Th-that’s right! Th-there, didn’t you hear someone calling me? I-I’m just the vice commander. I’m not even the owner of this auction house! I had no choice but to do as I was ordered!”

Cailius silently tapped the armrest with his index finger. Aguil swallowed hard.

The slave trade was something he had conducted on his own initiative. What nonsense about the commander ordering it. The man who was commander in name only wouldn’t have even noticed what kind of business he was running here.

But what did that matter when his life was at stake right now? The commander had never shown his face here anyway.

‘It’s okay, I prepared rough evidence for times like this!’

Aguil recalled the false testimony documents he had prepared in advance. Only then did his panicked breathing slowly start to settle.

“You say you did as you were ordered.”

“Th-that’s right! You don’t know how bad I felt about it, but what power does a lowly person like me have! I had no choice but to follow orders! So please, please be merciful…”

“Well, I never gave such orders.”

“…Pardon?”

Aguil stupidly asked again. It wasn’t a question asked because he genuinely hadn’t heard.

As Aguil chewed over the words he had heard again and again, his eyes gradually widened in disbelief.

“I-impossible, impossible…”

Shocked, Aguil’s mouth fell open. Drool leaked from his mouth. It felt like the grim reaper was right before his eyes.

“Wh-what do you mean, you n-never gave such orders…”

“Your ears seem to be working fine. Can’t that head of yours think?”

Aguil opened and closed his mouth repeatedly with a dumb expression.

“Y-you’re ly-lying, ack!”

His words didn’t even finish. Bart, who was standing next to him, gripped his neck tightly with his thick hand.

“Lying? How could you say our lord is lying, Vice Commander?”

Just when Aguil thought he was really going to die as his breath was completely cut off, Bart released his neck.

Aguil quickly assessed the current situation. At this point, there was no use in continuing to lie. It was better to quickly confess his wrongdoings and beg for forgiveness.

Besides, fortunately, this was the first time he had committed such an act. No, perhaps it was because it was the first time that the Duke had spared him until now.

The slave auction hadn’t even started yet, and there had been no violence against them because they were valuable merchandise. Aguil quickly confessed all of this.

“I-I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I didn’t know anything and was blinded by greed, so I committed a terrible crime! B-but please forgive me just this once. I haven’t done anything to harm them! Th-that’s right, I even gave food and clothes to those who were starving! It might have even been a good thing for them!”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“P-pardon? Wh-what do you mean… No, d-didn’t you come because of those sl-slaves…”

“What does that have to do with me?”

Cailius sneered briefly.

“Th-then…”

“The problem is that you messed around with my things as you pleased.”

Cailius lightly gestured to Philen. Philen perceptively approached Aguil.

“Now then, Mr. Aguil? From now on, you’ll talk with me. You’re going to slowly and honestly tell me everything you’ve done, one by one. You’ve heard it before, so you know. Our lord hates lies.”

Aguil quickly nodded, but regardless, Philen leisurely prepared to interrogate his opponent.

It was then. Someone opened the door without even knocking. It was Gordon.

Cailius frowned at the sight of him running in with his mask off.

However, Gordon was in such a hurry that he didn’t even notice that.

“Y-young master, the young master…!”

“What about the young master?”

Philen, who was putting on black gloves, asked back. Gordon delivered the news without even calming his breath that had risen to the tip of his chin.

“The young master has disappeared!”