Chapter 122
At the same time, I banged on the closet wildly, and Milos answered loudly in return.
“Yes!”
Hearing his voice from behind, Somerset jumped in surprise and tried to smash the bottle immediately—but Milos was faster.
He grabbed Somerset’s wrist tightly, making him scream in pain.
“Aaah! My arm!”
“How dare you try to harm Lady Marilyn…!”
I climbed out of the closet and pulled out the bat hidden under the bed.
It was an emergency weapon Didi had stashed there for me, just in case.
“Huh? You’re really using that?”
I gave the bat a little swing to test its weight.
I figured it was a good time—to check the performance… and get a little revenge.
“Go ahead.”
Milos held Somerset’s arms wide open for me.
“Let go! Do you even know who I am?!”
“I’m holding the scum who dared sneak into my lady’s room! Stay still!”
“Take this!”
I shouted and lightly swung the bat at his side.
As the bat hit Somerset, a sudden jolt like a lightning strike burst from the impact, and a loud crack echoed as his body shuddered violently.
“Oops.”
Milos quickly let go of him.
Thud!
“Guh—!”
He collapsed to the floor. I quickly grabbed the bottle from his hand and looked down at the unconscious Somerset.
“This thing works amazingly well…”
Impressed, I looked at the bat again and shoved it back under the bed.
Actually, this whole room was filled with magical protections like that. Some for defense, some for attack—like the bat.
They were all things Dedrick had arranged out of worry for me.
“Poison, though. I didn’t see that coming.”
Milos muttered, and I nodded while shaking the bottle.
“Me neither. Isn’t that a bit extreme?”
I should tell Didi about this later.
Somerset really is good at scheming in the worst ways.
As I glared at him in disgust, a clever idea suddenly came to mind.
“What will you do now?” Milos asked.
“Well… He told him to go to the sanctuary. That means something’s planned there too.”
I wanted to take Somerset there, but it was too far. Plus, if people saw him being dragged along, it would ruin everything.
‘Whether he did something before or was planning to…’
Either way, we needed to make sure his plan didn’t work.
‘To fully support Didi’s brilliant revenge.’
I peeked outside to make sure no one was around, then rushed back in and scribbled something on a piece of paper.
[Let’s put him in his own room. Make sure no one sees him so he won’t have any evidence for anything.]
“That’s a great idea!”
Milos slung Somerset over his shoulder.
Just as we were heading upstairs, Dedrick appeared at the bottom of the stairs.
“…Mary?”
“Didi.”
He quickly pulled me away from Milos and checked me over in concern.
“Are you hurt?”
“No. Milos protected me really well. And I even got to use the bat you gave me.”
Proudly, I handed him the bottle Somerset had brought.
“He was trying to pour this into the closet. Can the magic protections block this kind of stuff too?”
“Of course. Everything.”
He looked relieved that I wasn’t hurt and hugged me tightly.
“But why are you here? Weren’t you going to the sanctuary?”
“I only pretended. Went to the training hall first, then snuck back here. Everyone saw me go.”
“Ruan didn’t follow you?”
“He let me go.”
So they really think they have something strong enough to take Dedrick down without needing more proof?
“Brilliant, aren’t they…”
I muttered sarcastically. Dedrick gave a soft laugh and stepped back from me.
“But what about him?”
Milos answered proudly for me.
“He was clearly up to something. To turn the tables, we need him to have no evidence either. We’re carrying out Lady Marilyn’s plan!”
It wasn’t that amazing, really…
***
The Next Morning
As expected, everything blew up.
A maid cleaning the Sanctuary discovered that a sacred relic left behind by the goddess—also the first Grand Duchess—had been damaged.
The Sanctuary displayed ancient and sacred items, crafted and blessed by the goddess herself. Damaging one was like insulting the family’s honor and the goddess’s legacy.
And the person accused of the crime was?
Dedrick.
Milos and Pavle stood quietly behind him, while I stayed close enough to watch Somerset’s show unfold.
“It’s true! I saw Young Master Dedrick heading to the Sanctuary with my own eyes yesterday!”
That was Ruan—the same one who came looking for Dedrick.
‘Wow. That guy hasn’t changed one bit.’
Even after being beaten by me yesterday, Somerset stood there with his usual smug grin.
“This isn’t something we can overlook! He damaged a relic from the very first Grand Duchess! That’s an insult to our family’s entire history!”
His loud voice echoed through the grand marble sanctuary.
Servants began gathering, curious about the commotion. And still, Somerset went on and on.
“Be honest and beg for forgiveness!”
Dedrick, who had been watching silently, finally spoke.
“Do you really think I did this, brother?”
“Of course I do! Someone saw you going there! Or are you trying to blame the Sanctuary staff?”
The managers flinched at being pointed out and immediately protested.
“No! Not at all! We would never! We’ve always maintained strict care of the relics…”
Somerset looked at Dedrick, smirking.
Even the staff began glancing warily at Dedrick.
And that made sense. If Dedrick said the wrong thing, the blame could easily fall on them instead.
“How dare you glare like that? Do you still not know your place?”
Dedrick looked at them and spoke again.
“Isn’t it also a problem that the Sanctuary staff didn’t realize the relic was damaged until this morning?”
He was clearly questioning whether they were truly blameless.
The staff, realizing the point, lowered their heads and stayed silent.
“So now you’re blaming them? You think they could stop a Swordmaster sneaking in?”
“He’s right! We really didn’t know anything!”
Somerset backed them up, and they quickly followed along.
I understood then.
“Oh. They’re all in on it.”
Then, as if on cue, a low voice cut through the noise.
“Even so, saying there were no issues in management is clearly false.”
The whole Sanctuary fell silent.
“Welcome, Uncle!”
I bounced toward him as the Grand Duke entered. Somerset quickly ran up to him.
“Father! You’re here! Look at this—one of the sacred relics left by the first Grand Duchess has been destroyed!”
“Uncle, you know Didi wouldn’t do this, right?”
The Grand Duke stared at the relic—an elegant statue of the first Grand Duchess with wings spread wide. Now, the wings were broken and stained black.
As the goddess’s representative, he must’ve felt furious at such a sacrilege.
His murderous aura filled the room, and I instinctively took a step back.
Dedrick narrowed his eyes and spoke.
“Your Grace.”
The duke, feeling Dedrick’s accusing tone, tried to calm himself.
Somerset, despite the tension, kept running his mouth.
“Even Father is angry! Just confess already!”
“I didn’t do it.”
“There’s a witness! Still denying it?”
Dedrick looked at him, and Somerset smirked triumphantly.
“You had your chance to beg for forgiveness. Now it’s gone.”
“And who gave me that chance? Only His Grace has the authority here.”
“Hah! Let’s see how long you keep acting arrogant! Father!”
Clearly having orchestrated all this, Somerset made his final move.
“There’s evidence!”
