CHAPTER 47……………………………………
Meanwhile, there was one more person who had run headlong into a problem that was obviously going to be long and annoying.
“Duke Karen. Had you informed us that you were coming?”
“It’s been a while, Duke Karen.”
For some reason, it was Raseil and Yujire who ended up facing the duke after he came down to the territory.
Neither of them knew why the duke was here.
He wouldn’t move personally for just any reason.
He hadn’t sent a representative—he had come himself.
There was clearly a fairly serious issue.
Serious enough that he would go to this trouble to ask for help.
But what came out of the duke’s mouth was completely unexpected.
“I hear that any supernatural phenomena occurring in this territory are all handled by the lord.”
“Well, I suppose you could say that, more or less.”
Yujire answered.
It was obvious she was speaking offhandedly, but the duke didn’t seem to care.
If the problem could be solved, what did a bit of attitude matter?
“Then you must be familiar with spiritual phenomena?”
“More than ordinary people, at least.”
Perhaps because the duke himself wasn’t bothering with formalities, Yujire’s replies grew shorter and shorter.
Once again, the duke paid it no mind.
“I think my daughter has been possessed by a ghost. Can you deal with that too?”
“…A ghost?”
Yujire frowned.
This was the first time in her life she had ever heard something like that.
“What exactly are you talking about?”
“She’s completely changed. She’s not the Direna I knew. I heard you deal with things like this.”
“We don’t handle that.”
“D–Duke Lesean!”
The duke shouted after Yujire as she immediately turned away.
“Of course, I didn’t come empty-handed. I’ll pay a proper price.”
Yujire’s brisk steps slowed slightly.
Seizing the opening, the duke continued.
“A blue diamond. Haven’t you wanted one for quite some time?”
Her pace quickened in an instant.
The duke almost had to run as he chased after her, shouting,
“It’s not a bad offer!”
“……”
“If that’s not enough, I’ll throw in a violet sapphire as well!”
“……”
“Fine, I lose—I’ll even give you a black diamond!”
“…The Rilke Trading Company.”
Yujire replied quietly.
“A trading company? They do deal in gemstones, but that value is—”
“Give me the Rilke Trading Company.”
“Wouldn’t gemstones be better?”
“Is your love for your daughter worth less than a single trading company? How tragic.”
Yujire put on an expression that looked genuinely heartbroken.
She even quietly wiped away tears that weren’t actually there.
What on earth is she trying to squeeze out of him?
Raseil thought this, completely failing to grasp the situation.
But inside the duke’s head, alarm bells were blaring.
That little brat…!
If he refused here and turned away, rumors would spread throughout the capital.
That Duke Karen had abandoned his sick daughter.
That he caused this whole mess because he couldn’t bring himself to give up one tiny trading company…
How did she find out?
On the surface, the Rilke Trading Company was nothing more than an ordinary small merchant group.
In reality, it dealt in all kinds of rare goods on the black market.
Naturally, gemstones were part of that.
Compared to the Rilke Trading Company, a black diamond was laughable.
This information was supposed to be strictly confidential.
Where did it leak from?
It was a painful loss, but there was no other solution.
Especially when the matter involved ghosts.
“…Very well. The Rilke Trading Company.”
He could tolerate the nuisance of building up another trading company.
Only after he quickly accepted the proposal was he led into the reception room.
“Please, come in.”
Meanwhile, Yujire was in an extremely good mood.
She hadn’t expected him to hand over the company so readily.
He was probably thinking, foolishly, that he could just build a new one.
“So then, what exactly happened?”
“Her condition started becoming strange a few weeks ago.”
It was a few days after Direna had attended the ball hosted by Yujire.
From that point on, Direna’s personality visibly changed.
“How exactly did she change?”
“She apologized to a maid she had struck.”
Direna had lived her life as though the word apology didn’t even exist.
And yet, she had personally gone to the maid to apologize.
She even brought packaged desserts, saying it was a token of her remorse.
The maid who received the apology was so tense that she fainted on the spot.
“…Isn’t that a good thing?”
“She even wrote letters of apology to everyone she used to pick fights with!”
They were heartfelt letters, not even dictated to a ghostwriter.
Because of that, the recipients struggled over how to interpret them.
They simply couldn’t believe that Direna Karen could write something so kind.
“She’s even stopped demanding an engagement with His Highness the Crown Prince!”
“I don’t think she ever demanded that in the first place.”
The one who had always wanted the engagement was the duke himself.
It was a chance to gain power by becoming in-laws with the imperial family.
But the duke ignored Yujire’s remark and continued.
“She’s clearly possessed by a ghost! How else could a person change this much?”
“Maybe she’s just matured.”
Unable to hold back, Raseil interjected.
Compared to all the fuss, the problem didn’t seem all that serious.
An opportunity to acquire a trading company might not come often, but…
Compared to Yujire’s time, a trading company was far less valuable.
This wasn’t worth wasting time on such nonsense.
Besides, it’s not like she absolutely needs a trading company.
That much was obvious just from Yujire’s expression.
She was probably thinking, Nice to have, but whatever if not.
“But—still, something’s definitely wrong!”
The duke shouted again.
“She even sold off all the dresses and accessories she’d collected until now!”
“Explain in more detail.”
Yujire, who had been openly uninterested, straightened her posture.
This was different.
This was undeniably strange.
Direna had always treated her jewelry as if it were her very life.
“Why would she do that?”
“How should I know? She just keeps saying she wants to become a different person—it’s driving me insane!”
“……”
“Just check whether she’s possessed by a ghost. You can do that, can’t you?”
Yujire quietly glanced at Raseil.
Was this really worth spending time on?
If he refused, she would likely just send the duke away.
But Raseil nodded without much hesitation.
Better than having milady waste her time.
Besides, there was hardly anything to do in the territory these days.
It wasn’t like there were opportunities for insults to be thrown at Yujire.
He had been getting bored—having something to do might be better.
“Then… should I send her down to the territory?”
At that, Yujire fell into quiet thought.
Normally, she would have told him to bring Direna to the ducal estate.
But now, he was insisting on sending Direna away instead.
Almost as if he wanted to hide her.
So it really is true that she’s changed.
There didn’t seem to be any need to seriously consider the possibility of a trap.
Having reached that conclusion, Yujire turned her head toward Raseil.
“Sir Jaen? You could’ve refused.”
“I’m bored. By the way, was Miss Direna’s personality really that bad?”
As Raseil remembered it, she’d been… more or less fine.
Sometimes she said sharp things out of concern, but still.
“That’s… something you’re better off not knowing. You don’t need to.”
Sometimes Yujire acted as though she were older than Raseil.
Even though she was actually about three months younger.
“Anyway… can you solve it?”
“If she really is possessed by a ghost.”
But from Raseil’s perspective, it seemed far more likely that Direna had simply grown up.
And the duke’s attitude was strange, too.
Normally, wouldn’t you be relieved if your daughter became kinder?
The way he spoke made it sound as though… he wanted Direna to keep acting the way she used to.
There were too many odd points.
“How long will it take before Miss Direna arrives?”
“It shouldn’t take that long. But what if she turns out to be perfectly normal?”
“Wouldn’t that be a good thing?”
“I’m worried the duke might complain.”
Yujire looked unusually troubled.
Between this and the recent incidents occurring within the territory, she seemed to have a lot on her mind.
As Raseil pondered briefly, a story he had heard before suddenly came back to him.
