I’m Just a Counselor Chapter 39

Shane scratched his forehead, looking a little cool at my surprised face, then continued.

 

“Anyway, that’s why I know Jeremiah a little bit. He became a vassal when he was ten, so it’s been fourteen years.”

 

If the organization called the Winter Crown belongs to the Duke of Oppenheim’s household, then Shane and Jeremiah must have some sort of master-servant relationship.

 

The name Jeremiah, as Shane calls him, has a more relaxed ring to it. For example,… It was a completely different feeling than when Jeremiah’s lieutenant, Sir Melvin, called him.

 

‘Well, Shane would know all about Jeremiah, unlike Sir Melvin,’ I thought.

 

Jeremiah’s young age may have been partly due to Shane’s ability to protect the duke, and Shane’s proximity to Jeremiah’s age may have made him more comfortable with him.

 

I concluded that Jeremiah and Shane were friends of sorts, similar to the relationship I had with Shane. Then a sense of relief washed over me.

 

I thought, ‘At least Jeremiah hasn’t been fighting this battle completely alone.’

 

Jeremiah had a friend he could confide in.

 

Just thinking about it made me feel a little lighter. It makes me think that he didn’t have to be so lonely.

 

…I was feeling more compassion for Jeremiah than I realized.

 

“So you were lying when you said you didn’t know much about Estella?”

 

“No, I don’t really know her. Jeremiah wouldn’t let me meet her.”

 

“I see…”

 

“I’ve seen her before, though.”

 

Shane stroked his chin, muttering to himself as he remembered the old Estella.

 

“I don’t know how long it’s been since I’ve seen her, but she’s changed a lot since then, hasn’t she?”

 

“…….”

 

“What, did you get amnesia or something?”

 

Apparently, Shane didn’t know that Estella had once confided in Jeremiah about her possession.

 

But then again, he’d pointed out something completely unexpected earlier.

 

I thought, ‘If he ever hears something like that again,… somehow he’s going to realize that Estella really is possessed.’

 

And maybe even me.

 

I coughed in disgust at the thought and tried again to cover up his suspicions.

 

“I don’t know how to recognize a person from a distance. I didn’t realize it when I first saw Estella either.”

 

“Hmph. Is that so?”

 

“And the first time I saw Sherry… now Shane, but anyway, when I first saw you, I thought you were all sassy and stuff.”

 

“Oh, yeah, and what’s I like now?”

 

Shane smirked, and his eyes folded nicely.

 

I stared at his still-bewitching smirk and felt a sense of inevitability. I can’t lose this!

 

I said pointedly, feeling myself crumble.

 

“You used to be a furry, breezy beauty… with no new stitches, but now you’re a man.”

 

“Am I no longer pretty if I’m a man? Tell me I’m handsome now.”

 

“Oh, I don’t know and I won’t!”

 

“That’s not fair. You were so sweet to me when you were a kid. If you keep acting like this, are you going to change back?”

 

Oh, come to think of it, there was that. I silently wiped my eyes at his newfound childhood self.

 

Shane is a wizard, so it’s possible he’ll appear in another form and trick me again.

 

The thought made me cringe, but I wasn’t too upset because he’d confirmed that we were still friends.

 

‘Given his job, disguises seem like a necessity.’

 

“But I wanted to make sure that you are who you really are,” I told him forcefully. “No matter what you look like… at least swear to me that you’re being real with me right now.”

 

“Of course, Vanessa. I’ve never been anything but real to you, even if it’s not now.”

 

Shane answered quickly, as if he’d been waiting for it.

 

“I’ve always been true to you, even when I was Sherry, even when I was younger.”

 

“…….”

 

“Come to think of it, that’s three different versions of me. Do you know what that means to someone like me, Vanessa?”

 

Shane’s eyes sparkled like obsidian in the moonlight.

 

His eyes curved seductively. It was like a black rose in full bloom.

 

“Shane, are you using the beauty queen’s eyes to get information?”

 

While I was thinking about such a silly question. His eyes lit up and he said.

 

“Maybe we’re meant to be.”

 

My eyes widened at his words.

 

* * *

 

A mansion on an island.

 

Inside a large, lavishly decorated room, a man stood in a damp molehill.

 

The Earl of Huons, who had just been baptized in wine by the Marquis who was in the room with him, grunted and wiped his face.

 

“You… old wretch!”

 

It was a pity that such an old man was a marquis. The Earl nervously threw the towel away. The big man who had been standing by the door, watching him, rushed over and picked up the towel he had thrown away.

 

“Earl,” he said, “now take your anger out and have a drink.”

 

The man bowed and poured wine into the empty goblet. The Earl, feeling better for his lowly position, sat arrogantly cross-legged and gulped down the wine the man poured for him.

 

When he finally set down his glass, the Earl raised his eyebrows and asked,

 

“So, you’re saying that the Loasen branch has been robbed?”

 

“Yes. The underlings were stupid enough to grab a girl who wasn’t a princess…”

 

“How the hell did you manage the underlings, there’s nothing of value left.”

 

The man’s face grew grim at the Earl’s exasperation. The Earl looked at the man, who was almost bent in half at the waist, and frowned.

 

“The high ground is at hand!”

 

He had joined hands with the foolish old man for this groundbreaking venture, and it must be expanded, and expansion meant going north.

 

If he could get his hands on Loasen, he would now have a great deal of wealth, and he would not have to bow down to such an old man.

 

“Duke of Oppenheim, I can’t deal with that milquetoast brat!”

 

“…I apologize.”

 

“If only I had caught the princess this time, I could have put the insolent brat on a proper leash.”

 

If he could just get this one right and capture the Duke’s pampered little sister, he could enslave him.

 

The thought of what he had failed to do made his temper flare up again.

 

“So, what did those idiots capture instead of the princess, that the Duke himself brought his knights to beat them?”

 

“Well, it looks like it was a maid who was supposed to be the princess’s attendant, and she was wearing the princess’s brooch…”

 

“A maid? So the Duke was only trying to save a maid?”

 

“That’s what puzzles me, too.”

 

“Hmm…”

 

The Earl seemed to be pondering something and suddenly asked.

 

“What does the maid look like?”

 

“Eh? She had brown hair and light blue eyes… Oh, and the ledger says she was of good quality.”

 

“…….”

 

“Could she be the Duke’s secret lover?”

 

It was a common occurrence among the nobility. To take a good-looking maid as a lover.

 

The man’s eyes lit up at the question.

 

“If that’s the case, then it’s not only the princess, but we can also trap the duke with her…”

 

“Hmph.”

 

But the Earl was already lost in other thoughts. Brown hair, light blue eyes. A match made in heaven…

 

The combination brought back memories of three years ago.

 

“I hope we never meet again.”

 

The little girl’s light blue eyes stared right back at him. No matter how much he screamed and scared her, it didn’t work.

 

‘Come to think of it, she’s a class act, too.’

 

He should have paid her for her goods instead of kicking her out, then he could have made up for the loss.

 

The Earl’s eyebrows arched subtly as he clicked his tongue in regret.

 

‘Didn’t she go north as well?’

 

‘Was it too much to think that the girl captured in place of the princess this time was the same girl…?’

 

The Earl shook his head and raised his wine glass.

 

“We’ve done enough damage for now, so let’s put Loasen behind us. We have a big event coming up, and I think we should focus on that for now.”

 

“Very well, Earl!”

 

The man replied gruffly, pouring wine into the Earl’s empty glass. And with that, the night in the Island drew to a close with a devious plot.