Chapter 90……………………..
The Marquis Molton asked cautiously.
“Why… are you laughing?”
“This is the funniest thing I’ve heard. Telling the victim to reconcile with the perpetrator.”
“A—! It was just kids playing, how can you call her the perpetrator? Our Bianca is not a violent child!”
“Butler.”
“Yes, sir.”
The butler took a heavy bundle of documents from his bag and handed them over.
It was the second report, compiled in one day, prepared by the head of the Information Guild who had personally been investigating Piace’s past.
The content consisted of testimony from the Molton family’s former physician and dismissed household staff.
The Moltons had neglected Piace, and Bianca had treated Piace like a living toy.
Piace had to suffer at Bianca’s hands all day long.
Depending on Bianca’s mood, she often went hungry; at times she was locked in the attic.
Once, in the middle of summer, she had been trapped in the sweltering attic and fainted from exhaustion.
And yet the Marquis and Marchioness Molton had taken no action.
They had adopted Piace in the first place as a playmate for Bianca.
“Is everything written there also a joke?”
“Y-yes. It was a joke… it was a joke, yes.”
“Then may I do the same to Bianca? It’s a joke, after all.”
“…Your Grace! Bianca is a child! What childish words are you speaking to someone who knows nothing!”
“I warned your wife ahead of time. Did she not hear?”
“A warning…?”
“You know I’m narrow-minded and I hold grudges. I said I would intervene actively if anything happened to Piace. You ignored the warning.”
The Marquis Molton let out a great sigh.
He’d realized he couldn’t just sweep this incident under the rug.
“Hoo… very well. What punishment do you demand, exactly?”
“Expel Bianca Molton.”
The Molton couple gaped.
Their looks of outrage—like I was overreacting—repulsed me.
“Why the surprise? Did you really think you could touch a child of Ibrante and get away with it?”
“N-no, that’s not it! But—!”
The Marchioness cut in, shouting.
“Expel her? Kids play rough sometimes, that doesn’t warrant expulsion! That’s absurd!”
“You sit down and be quiet! You couldn’t even control one child at home and caused this mess—what gives you the right to boast?”
“Are you saying Bianca’s trouble is my fault?!”
“Enough, quiet! Now!”
Perhaps conscious of my gaze, the Moltons didn’t argue for long like they would at home.
The Marquis rubbed his face with his hand and then bowed politely.
“I apologize. We will re-educate Bianca. Please, calm your anger.”
“Re-educate,” I thought. Right—probably their way of blaming someone else and arguing among themselves. Nothing surprising.
“Headmaster.”
“…Yes? Speak.”
“If my demand is not accepted, Piace will immediately leave the academy, and the House of Ibrante will withdraw all promised support from the academy.”
“Wha—?”
Oswald leapt up. From his perspective, he’d been calmly minding his own business and suddenly things had blown up.
“But— you even had a contract! It explicitly stated it couldn’t be cancelled midway!”
“Butler, show the headmaster the contract.”
The butler showed the contract to Oswald and pointed to one clause.
“If you look at the end of the contract, it states, ‘This contract may not be revoked while Piace Ibrante is affiliated with the Academy.’ In other words, if Miss Piace leaves the Academy, she would no longer be affiliated, and the contract could then be revoked.”
“W-what? Let me see… huh! It’s real?”
Oswald tore at his beard with a pained look.
“You really prepared thoroughly….”
He glanced at the Moltons with pitying eyes.
“Marquis, I’m sorry. We must expel Bianca Molton.”
“Headmaster! This was the thoughtless act of a child. Isn’t this too harsh? How much is the donation? I’ll pay it myself!”
“This isn’t about donations! The problem is that Bianca lured another girl two years younger than her and locked her in a trash bin! A trash bin for incineration! How can we keep such a dangerous child at the Academy!”
“I— incineration bin? What are you saying?”
The Marquis Molton looked to the Marchioness, flustered. She mustn’t have heard that part.
“Marquis, this is attempted murder. If Bianca had been one year older, I would have handed her over to the Royal Guard.”
“But Piace— she’s a commoner! An orphan with no lineage!”
“So you adopted Piace and then thoroughly neglected her? You should be ashamed, Marquis.”
“….”
“You seem fond of judging birth—let me tell you one more thing. Marquis, Piace now uses the Ibrante name.”
The Marquis fell silent.
In his mind Piace had been the orphan who clung to and freeloaded at their house.
So he must have thought whatever Bianca did to Piace was nothing serious.
Now that Piace’s changed status had been made clear to him, he was at a loss for words.
“Bianca basically shoved Ibrante into the trash. Do you see what she did now?”
“J-just a moment, we also need a chance to defend ourselves—”
“By my authority as headmaster, Bianca Molton will be expelled. I’m sorry.”
“Headmaster!”
“If you deem my decision unfair, sue me. Let’s settle it in court.”
The Moltons, who hadn’t taken the matter seriously, looked as if they’d been struck in the back of the head.
The Marchioness glared at me with eyes full of blame.
“Was this really necessary? Do you have to crush our child’s future to satisfy yourself?!”
“Is it fine for your child to crush mine’s life?”
“So she didn’t kill her! She didn’t!”
The Marchioness sprang up. The Marquis grabbed her arm helplessly.
“Darling, what are you doing? Sit down!”
“You too—how long will you keep groveling? Our daughter’s life is ruined right now!”
“Are you crazy? Who do you think you’re shouting at? A child can be corrected, but if our family collapses, we’re done for! The Duke has the power to destroy us! Don’t you know that?”
“….”
“Stop acting uneducated and apologize!”
He forced his wife back into her seat and smiled awkwardly.
It was a smile based on a calculation that ‘a child is a child, but he mustn’t get on my bad side.’
“I apologize. My wife got too worked up and committed a rudeness. I’ll apologize in her stead….”
“Your wife doesn’t seem to know who I am.”
“…I— I am truly sorry, Your Grace! Please forgive us this once!”
“Fine. I’ll make sure she knows from now on.”
“Oh— you’ll tell her…? What do you mean?”
“I recently conducted a large-scale audit of construction contracts for many families. One contract with Fabius showed something suspicious.”
The Marquis blinked like someone struck in a sensitive spot.
“…T- that happened? M-maybe your estate manager embezzled? Couldn’t that be it, Your Grace?”
“How did you think of embezzlement?” I said.
“No, no— I was just saying… most such problems are money-related… so, um, you mean it wasn’t embezzlement?”
“It was embezzlement. A great deal was pocketed.”
“By heaven, we had nothing to do with that!” the Marquis cried.
“We’ll look into that.”
“Excuse me?”
“We will file charges of special embezzlement and fraud against Fabius and your former estate manager.”
“…!”
“If they’re innocent, they’ll be acquitted. Prince Leonhart promised to investigate thoroughly, so don’t worry.”
Only the Royal Order of Knights and members of the royal family had authority to investigate nobles.
“…Prince Third Royal Highness will investigate?”
“He took the trouble even though he’s busy. Lucky, isn’t it?”
“….”
The Marquis’s face went pale. No wonder—unlike other bodies, Leonhart wouldn’t be susceptible to bribes.
“Until the trial’s outcome, all assets of Fabius and the Molton family will be frozen. That includes not only existing assets but future income as well—remember that.”
“F-freezing assets? Isn’t that something one should be notified of? This is illegal!”
“Butler.”
“Here, sir.”
The butler handed over a document. It bore the Emperor’s seal.
“What is this?”
“Read it.”
‘…excerpted.
Advance notice of asset freezing would provide opportunity to conceal assets, and the Duke of Ibrante’s assertion is reasonable.
While legal amendments normally should take place first, given the gravity of the matter the order is to be executed immediately.
Herseus Anorac Filio.’
In short, this was it:
You are finished.
“This can’t be….”
The Marquis slumped down holding his head.
The Marchioness who had glared at me earlier sat motionless, stunned.
I left the headmaster’s office, passing by the couple who appeared more despairing now than when their child’s expulsion had been decided.
Leaning in the doorway was Leonhart; when I let go of his back he straightened up.
“Is it over already?”
“Yes.”
“You seem satisfied with the result.”
“How did you know?”
“You’re smiling. Like an evil witch.”
“Forgive the rudeness. I’m in a very good mood.”
Bianca would be a future mastermind behind the scenes. A character who would make Piace stand out.
And the Molton family would be a solid background to make Bianca a convincing villain.
The trash-bin incident could be a trial Piace had to go through because she’s the protagonist.
‘So what are you going to do about it?’
I planned to crush the Molton family by any means necessary.
That was why I had gathered evidence of Fabius’s embezzlement in two days and convinced the Emperor.
Tomorrow—before the raven cycle ends—I would finish off the Molton family.
‘It’s easier to deal with them when the failed author isn’t interfering.’
Of course, once the raven cycle passed, the failed author would stick Bianca back near Piace.
It didn’t matter.
‘I’ll just get rid of them again. Over and over if I have to.’
So failed author, you better never do that kind of thing to a child again.
