IBRIP l CH 94

Chapter 94 

The magic statue had eaten a lie, so now it had to turn into what Joseph feared the most.

I stared at the place where the statue melted.
The bubbling liquid trembled—
but something was different compared to when I faced it.
The liquid kept boiling and then suddenly evaporated, completely vanishing.

Where the statue had once stood, now there was only grass.

Joseph raised both hands and sighed.

“Now it looks like I did something wrong. That’s a bit unfair.”

The statue’s answer was nothing.

Which meant—Joseph Rohia was afraid of nothing.

So, the magic tool, unable to show his fear, simply disappeared.

‘Well, I guess it’s not a bad thing. One of Joseph’s favorite totems is now gone.’

I had already expected this.
In the original story, it was often said Joseph didn’t know what fear was.

It wasn’t just that he wasn’t scared of ghosts, bugs, or death.
He truly couldn’t understand what fear even meant.

Joseph fiddled with the grass thoughtfully.

“This magic was really supposed to change into whatever the liar fears the most. But now how can I prove that?”

“You don’t need to. Of course I believe you. I trust that it worked that way.”

Joseph looked a bit disappointed but eventually stood up slowly.

“The reason I came today was because Mother sent me. She told me to calm you down and try to convince His Majesty to postpone or cancel the duel. You understand what that means, right?”

So, in the end, everything was just as we thought—Mother was behind it all.

“Why do you think I won’t tell His Majesty about this?”

“Because you don’t have any proof? Izana, even I don’t know exactly how Mother pulled this off. And honestly… she might not have done it alone.”

“She might not have acted alone? What do you mean… oh.”

Why did we assume only Yudis wanted to stop the duel?

Oscar was the one who recklessly brought up a five-year-old incident and turned it into a family feud.

So maybe people in the Tradi family also wanted to avoid the duel.
And especially the one who faked the old story—Count Bluebell.
He wouldn’t want to be dragged back into the spotlight and investigated by the emperor.

“But Izana, the duel will happen in the end.”

Joseph sighed.

“I know those two. Even if they collapse at the arena, they’ll still fight. Boris even flipped the mansion upside down over this.”

That was probably true.

I could easily picture the two of them, burning with fever but still yelling that they’d fight.

“Anyway, I’ve passed along Mother’s message. Time for me to go. Today was fun. A little different than I expected—but in a good way.”

Joseph didn’t forget to say something to Winter as well:

“Baron Illin, please continue taking good care of Izana.”

“I will.”

“By the way, who is this baby?”

“Ah… It’s a sweet potato spirit.”

“Really? You always seem to attract strange things. Hmm, the future looks interesting.”

As Joseph turned to leave, I stared at his back. Once he was far enough, I shouted toward him:

“Hey! About what happened five years ago—do you really think Boris did it?”

“……”

“You know how much Boris loves dogs. We both know that.”

Joseph slowly turned his head.

The sun was already starting to set.
The orange light painted shadows across Joseph’s face.

“Looks like you enjoyed the game, Izana. I’m glad. But the game ends here. Next time, I’ll bring something even more fun—so look forward to it.”

Only two days left until the duel.

Even though the culprit is right in front of us, we still can’t catch them.
It felt like I had a lump in my throat.

I turned away from the direction Joseph left and asked Winter with a sigh:

“Earlier, how did you do it? You cheated with the dice, didn’t you?”

“That’s a secret. I’ll need to do it again if a similar situation comes up.”

“Ugh! Seriously!”

It was so frustrating I could scream.

***

The Next Day

“Oscar is very sick and sleeping now. I’ve heard you’re not very healthy either, so it might be dangerous to stay. You should return home.”

The Duchess of Tradi was polite—but very firm.

I had expected this.
Even though I came here to check on Oscar, hoping I could talk to him, I wasn’t allowed to see him.

Seeing my disappointed face, the Duchess smiled kindly:

“It’s very sweet of you to care for Oscar. When he recovers, I hope you’ll visit us again. You’re officially invited.”

What else could I do?

I had no choice but to turn around, with a golden-haired attendant walking beside me. But… we didn’t leave empty-handed.

The sharp-eyed attendant said:

“Izana, I don’t think Oscar is really sick.”

“I thought so too.”

It was strange.
Oscar, the only heir of Tradi, was supposedly very ill—
but the mansion’s mood was calm, not tense at all.
Even the Duchess didn’t look like a worried mother.

She looked more like a mother who was furious that her son had caused trouble and she couldn’t punish him yet.

“There was no medicine smell, no doctors rushing around, nothing. But someone was yelling angrily.”

I nodded slowly.

“So the sickness is fake. They’ve just locked him in his room. Probably did the same to Boris.”

Oscar’s actions weren’t smart.

He got into a fight in front of the emperor,
and then went even further by promising a duel in the name of his family.

The emperor wasn’t pleased.

Even though he heard both boys were “sick,”
He didn’t try to cancel or delay the duel.

Because the duel was made in front of him—
as emperor, he expected them to take responsibility.

If they didn’t show up at the duel, both noble families would be held accountable.
That was the unspoken warning.

“His Majesty is strict. Both families have no choice but to send the boys tomorrow. He won’t accept any excuses.”

Last night, when I tried asking the emperor, he just said:

―“They must take responsibility.”

―“For what?”

―“I’m very busy, and I took time out of my schedule to chat with my daughter. But instead, I have to hear about some teenage boys fighting. That’s what’s hard to forgive. I want to hear what you ate today, not who punched who.”

The emperor’s focus was weird—
but one thing was clear: he was not canceling the duel.

Now, Winter and I stood a few steps away, looking up at the Tradi mansion.

“It’s that room on the third floor, farthest to the right.”

The window was shut tightly, with the curtains completely drawn.

This… was what it meant to have a dragon by your side.

You didn’t need to face problems head-on.
You could sneak around and solve things your way.

So, we got ready to become stealthy justice warriors—
and raid Oscar’s mind.