~Chapter 11~
Jin’s usual light and joking attitude vanished, leaving only seriousness—and that alone was enough to make me feel nervous.
“If no one found out about your nephew’s existence, then honestly, they wouldn’t have had a good reason to kill your sister.
But as you can see, she was murdered.
It wasn’t suicide.”
I frowned and fell into thought.
He was right.
But even so, the truth didn’t change.
“My nephew is definitely alive.”
I stepped into the abandoned house.
Ugh, spider webs.
Of all places, why did it have to be in the Leton Church’s autonomous territory that someone murdered Raniell and tried to make it look like suicide?
Like Jin said, Prince Endamion—the crown prince’s biggest political rival—had no reason to kill Raniell.
And the crown princess?
Her family was way less influential than the crown prince’s, so she wouldn’t have dared to kill his favorite mistress.
No wonder I always felt sorry for Raniell.
Ugh, seriously, even if it was a political marriage, did she really have to cheat?
“Uh, Lady…?”
I must’ve looked really ticked off, because Jin looked a bit worried.
I quickly wiped the expression off my face and smiled.
“Why would it be Leton Church territory? Even if they had no clear motive, the top suspects are still those two.
But I don’t think someone from the imperial family would risk doing something that goes against the faith in Leton territory.”
I sighed and tried to remember the original story.
Ugh… right… The original novel didn’t exactly explain this part well.
Most of it was just about the male and female lead’s feelings.
Not much to go on.
“Would someone here really commit murder and risk blasphemy? In this country?”
I tilted my head.
Here, religion is everything.
Sure, I remember my past life and never believed in anything to begin with, but people here?
They’re practically fanatics.
Jin must’ve noticed something strange about my attitude because he frowned and tilted his head too.
“Wait… are you suggesting someone from another country sent an assassin, Lady?”
I scrunched my eyebrows.
“I get what you’re thinking, but… yeah, no.
That just doesn’t make sense.”
He shrugged and shook his head.
Meanwhile, I was getting more serious.
I had no clue why Raniell was murdered.
Why her? She wasn’t even the protagonist.
I started pacing, staring at the ground.
Why?
Why here, of all places?
I tried to recall more from the novel, but Leton Church and Raniell barely even got mentioned.
“…Oh crap.”
“…Excuse me?”
I suddenly looked up.
Wait a second.
I’ve lived here 19 years, so I got used to it—but now that I think about it, Leton Church barely even came up in the original story.
If it were the state religion, it would’ve shown up all the time!
“…Do you know anything about cults or heretics?”
I grabbed Jin’s sleeve in a panic.
He blinked in confusion.
“Huh?”
“What’s the biggest cult or heretic group these days? Just name any that come to mind!”
“Well… there’s… Bessiel, I guess…”
It felt like I’d been punched.
…Seriously?
How the hell did I forget that?
“Damien gave orders to the servant of Bessiel.
The servant looked up at his emperor with a crazed smile, praising his perfect ruler.
‘Oh, son of Bessiel, lead us to salvation…’”
I instinctively covered my mouth.
Jin’s expression was getting more and more serious.
Well, of course—cults and heretics were pretty much taboo topics here.
“Lady…”
My vision wobbled a little as I looked at Jin.
Ah… my second life is seriously going off the rails.
“…Why are you so shocked?”
I could see his face going pale right in front of me.
“Haha… I really, really hope you’re not thinking what I think you are…”
Yeah.
Same.
Bessiel.
That’s right.
Bessiel—the cult obsessed with the male lead.
I held my forehead and swayed.
“Lady?”
He grabbed my arm, but all I could do was let out a shaky laugh.
Of course, in romance novels, the male lead is always the strongest, and there are always groups trying to use or control that power.
And the only side character in the book who ever helped him—the priest who raised him—was a follower of Bessiel.
…
I never thought much about his mother’s suicide back when I read the book.
It was never treated like an important plot point.
But suddenly…
The male lead’s mom dies mysteriously,
the crown prince’s child disappears,
and the male lead ends up in an orphanage.
And guess where the mom died?
In Leton Church territory.
If she hadn’t died, he’d never have ended up in that orphanage.
“…Hah.”
I slowly lowered my hand from my forehead and stood up straight.
Then I thought:
Damn it.
Why does a cult have to pop up NOW?!
It was obvious.
Why else would Raniell have been killed specifically in Leton Church’s territory?
It was like someone sent a disgusting little warning.
—
I dragged Jin straight to a tavern and sat down, legs shaking.
Should I just run away to another country?
I mean, would the male lead really hunt down his long-lost aunt who ran away ages ago?
No—he would.
He’s the male lead.
This isn’t some light fluffy healing story.
Wait, am I even going to survive the cult first?!
I was gripping my beer mug, hands trembling, when Jin narrowed his eyes at me from across the table.
“Lady… Ahem, in a contract-based relationship like ours, wouldn’t it be best if we didn’t keep secrets?
Is there… anything else I should know? Or has some other problem come up?”
Problem?
PROBLEM?
I have so many I could write a trilogy.
“…Do you think religion comes first?
Or the royal family?
If you had to make enemies with one, which would you choose?”
I asked, pale-faced, throwing him a completely deranged “choose-your-fighter” question.
Jin stared at me in disbelief.
“Wait—you’re seriously talking about that, in a tavern, to a mercenary…?!”
I ignored him and kept thinking.
I mean, it’s not like I didn’t try.
I paid out of my own pocket to hire him and look for my nephew.
Surely the male lead would take that into account and spare me—Yeah right!
Not only do I have the royal family to worry about, now there’s a cult too.
Even if I forget the novel and just look at this logically—The smart move is to back out.
But…!
I mean, this guy did try to kidnap and lock up the female lead just because he liked her.
There’s no way he’d let an aunt he barely remembers stay alive.
At best, he’d kill me gently.
“…What does you being a mercenary have to do with my question?”
Jin shrugged and replied with an awkward smile.
“Hey, what would a clueless commoner like me know about all that complicated stuff~?”
Yeah, right.
This guy’s way too sharp to be “clueless.”
He was clearly dodging the question on purpose.
“If you’re clueless, what does that make the rest of the noble brats?
Ticks?
You don’t look dumb.
If you were, you wouldn’t be walking around with a gold badge.”
I scowled and snapped, annoyed.
Jin gave a stiff smile.
“Haha… Thank you for recognizing my brilliant and intelligent self so quickly.
I’m honored, really.”
Then he just stared blankly into space.
He must’ve realized what kind of mess we were in.
Honestly, I felt a little bad for him…
But hey, I need to survive too.
“Seriously though, why are you suddenly talking about cults and religion and all that? Huh?”
Jin leaned in, eyes wide, clearly hoping I wouldn’t say what he was dreading.
“…That’s why I’m asking you.
I need to think.”
This is bad.
No matter how I thought about it, there was just no reason for Raniell’s body to be found in Leton territory.
Especially when suicide is considered a huge sin there.
And in their territory?
You’d better believe the temples would be watching everything closely.
But to leave a body like that there?
That’s basically saying screw you.
So yeah, no one else made sense but them.
“…You know, Jin.
Do you know why the Hers family—just a regular noble house—became rulers of this empire?”
His face went stiff.
Right.
Mana is hereditary.
So in this weird world, how do you think power ended up where it is?
