~Chapter 13~
Well, the scale of the situation was way bigger than his own, but honestly, just looking at the facts, the child he had to find and his own childhood were weirdly similar.
An illegitimate child, and not just any illegitimate child—one born unusually strong.
Though to be fair, being the child of nobles and royalty made things a lot easier for that kid.
“Milady, just from what I know, if you get mixed up with heretics, you’re looking at human trafficking at best.
Most of the time, they just bury people in some random mountain and you’re never heard from again.”
“Exactly why they are heretics……”
She didn’t even bother hiding her expression.
Her face clearly showed how horrified she was—biting her lip and clenching her fists tightly.
But then, her sky-blue eyes suddenly sharpened with focus, catching his attention.
‘This is strange.’
He forgot to be shocked and just leaned on his hand, staring at Roen Estella.
Even though he was acting totally rude by just staring at a noblewoman like that, chin in hand, she didn’t seem to care at all.
Fizz, fizz.
The beer in his glass started to foam over.
Roen Estella looked like she had completely abandoned all noble manners.
Now, she was holding her neatly pinned-up hair with a dazed look, staring blankly into the air.
‘She seems like she doesn’t know how the world works… but also like she knows too much.
I can’t tell if she’s open-minded or just clueless.’
And then—she suddenly jumped to her feet and looked straight at him.
“Alright.
Follow me.
We could do it here and no one would care, but just in case.”
“…What?”
Jin looked at her in shock, but Roen Estella didn’t seem to care at all.
She just grabbed his coat and confidently started walking toward the inn room he’d rented.
His mind started to go blank.
He used to pride himself on not being easily flustered, but this was too much!
“Hahaha! Milady?
I know you’re open-minded and not full of prejudice, but still—dragging a mercenary to your bedroom? That’s going a bit far—”
SLAM! Roen Estella shut the door tightly and looked around before putting on a serious face.
Something about the vibe in the room changed, and he instinctively shut his usually chatty mouth.
“I’m about 70% sure Raniel was killed by the Bessiel cult.”
“…What?”
Jin’s jaw dropped at her confident words.
‘How the hell do you know that? And how can you say it with such certainty?’
“Don’t ask how I know.
I’m convinced my nephew is the very same awakened royal born once every 300 years!”
At this point, Jin just blamed his dead master.
‘Seriously, old man.
If you were gonna die, why not just peacefully farm in the countryside? Why did you have to poke the hornet’s nest?!’
What hornet’s nest, exactly?
Jin sighed and frowned.
Something had been eating at his nerves since earlier.
Damn that crown prince.
That stupid idiot.
Of all people, why did he have to be the one to hire his master—and get him killed by some random heretic group?
And in such a gruesome way, too.
Even though he forced a smile, his fist clenched tightly.
“My guess is, not long after birth, Raniel accidentally got spotted by Bessiel.
That’s probably why he tried to run—and ended up dead! But don’t worry.
I’m sure my nephew is still hidden somewhere in one of the Empire’s orphanages.”
Roen Estella then yanked out her hairpins and started pacing frantically around the room.
Jin found his eyes naturally drawn to her.
She really didn’t act like a noble lady at all.
“Yeah, there’s no way those church people wouldn’t recognize someone like that.
They go on and on about having God’s eyes and whatever, but in reality, they just love poking into people’s pasts!”
She snapped her fingers and gave him an excited look.
Jin quietly watched her.
The weird info, the odd way she reasoned things…
She was clearly not normal.
People who’d been in this kind of work for long could usually tell who was legit and who wasn’t.
And honestly, if anyone else had talked about church people like that, they’d have been arrested.
The fact that she could say it so openly meant she really was something else.
Even a three-year-old could tell.
“A.
Totally reasonable.
But Milady, do you know how many heretical cults are in the Empire right now?”
Jin leaned in close to her with a playful grin.
“More than 300.
Can’t even count them all.”
And then, he waited for her reaction.
Nothing.
She didn’t even blink.
She just gave him a look like, “So what?”
That was honestly more shocking than anything.
Who was this woman? What was her deal?
Why was she so determined to find her nephew, even knowing it involved heretics?
Did she really not care about the throne? She always looked like her world was ending… but still.
The whole “searching for my nephew” thing felt kinda thin as a motive.
Sure, there was a reasonable explanation—but in noble society, the “normal” reason was usually the least believable one.
“Milady, I actually think you make a lot of sense.
When your sister was killed by those heretics, everything matches up.
The body being staged to look like a suicide in the Reton Church district… the way your nephew’s existence never reached the Crown Prince or anyone in the Estella territory.”
Jin snapped his fingers and looked at her.
“But… how are you so sure your nephew hasn’t already been kidnapped by the cult?”
He was being serious for once—and that made me gulp unconsciously.
It was weird seeing a guy who’d been joking the whole time suddenly go all serious.
“Well, that’s….”
I racked my brain for a believable answer.
I had a good idea.
Raniel did manage to sneak the male lead out safely.
But soon, because of the massive orphanage explosion, the cult would find him.
Technically, he’d run away from the orphanage and found them first—and ended up using them.
This was a dark fantasy story, after all.
The male lead had serious antisocial vibes.
Of course he’d be pissed at the Empire and the royal family for abandoning him in the slums.
That’s probably why he ditched the Reton Church and made one of Bessiel’s priests his right-hand man.
Thankfully, being a dark-fantasy protagonist, he didn’t get manipulated by the cult.
He used them.
That’s why Reton Church disappears in the original novel.
My guess?
The Reton Church was too tied up with the current royal family, so he just wiped them out to start fresh—with his own religion, to strengthen his rule.
Typical male lead stuff.
Dude’s just built different.
Seriously, there was no saving this guy.
“S-So, well… The thing is, the public hasn’t caught on yet, right?
And Raniel gave me quite a bit of information before she died.”
Jin looked at me like I was ridiculous and tilted his head.
“…Milady, I can tell you’re lying.
Clear as day.
Should I just play along out of courtesy?”
Then he gave me a sly grin.
Damn it.
This guy’s annoying.
I looked away and muttered,
“Just… go with it.”
He blinked, clearly unimpressed, and sighed dramatically.
“…Huh?”
“Anyway! What I mean is—ahem.”
I cleared my throat and tried to figure out what to say. Honestly, I wish I could just tell him the truth.
But come on.
Who’d believe that I read a book in my past life about how my nephew turns into a war-crazed emperor who conquers half the continent?
“No matter what the reason, Raniel hid my nephew safely.
So I’m not too worried about the cult finding him first.”
I sighed, sounding bitter.
“Of course, in the process of looking for him, we might end up running into the cult…”
My heart sank.
Why couldn’t my second life be peaceful either? What the hell did I do in my past life to deserve this?
Seriously, I lived right and died young.
Is it so wrong to just want a quiet, boring life this time?
