The Nerd Turned Out To Be The Tyrant Chapter 107

As soon as she encountered the blond-haired boy, the words buried in her memory lifted up.

 

“He’s a distant relative. He tends to be a bit unruly, and it wasn’t until I came out that I found out that he had been secretly sneaking in as a way to deliver medicine to me.”

 

As soon as she realized that the boy’s need for his own medicine was somewhat impulsive, Luce organized what she had to say and took him to a hotel lounge where she would feel neutral and safe, with no one around. 

 

What followed was not difficult. Although he had a vague expression, the boy’s face was slightly flushed, perhaps because it was true that he had been looking forward to meeting her. Luce, who had been baiting him, waited for the boy to let down his guard.

 

Although he tried to look old, his clothes and robes are classy at first glance, and he has a natural attitude toward controlling others. This boy is a nobleman.

 

After hesitating for a while, he blurted out that Rev was doing well. This means that his safety is confidential, but at the same time, the boy is in a position where there is no need for prior censorship when revealing confidential information. It also means that he recently saw him in person.

 

Luce’s prey stepped into the trap, showing off his light blue cufflink. She could recognize the brilliant color and unique finish of the magic stone as soon as she saw it. The boy’s cuff links are Rev’s work. 

 

Luce looked at the necklace placed on one side of the desk.

 

‘If the disappearance wasn’t because of his own will.’

 

When Luce first opened her eyes and saw the empty house, she thought something bad had happened. Anyone would think that if a rich boy who was quietly recuperating in the countryside suddenly disappeared. So she asked Yohan for help and asked people to help her.

 

People said they felt sorry for Luce, who had been trying to find his traces for a long time.

 

“It’s out of your hands. No outsiders came into the village that day. You said you didn’t hear anything that night. I guess he hid his luggage and books in the attic of the house or something and left alone? It’s just like when no one in our village knew that a kid named Lev was moving in.”

 

No, that can’t be possible. Even if no one else knew, he would have told her. What was countering Luce’s words was not anything else, but her own memories.

 

The unexpected words that she didn’t have to move, his smile as he looked at her after winning the one-card game he had been losing all along, and his attitude that had strangely changed since the fire broke out in the village.

 

It took a long time to understand that it was his will to keep quiet about the fact that he was leaving. It took even longer for her to understand that she was the only one struggling with the remnants of her emotions.

 

Maybe it’s something she hasn’t been able to understand yet. So, she may be clinging to the cuff link as a clue and thinking what she wants to believe.

 

But what if, just in case, her first suspicions were correct?

 

‘If something bad has happened to Rev and his talent is being exploited…’

 

Cognition and will are different things.

 

Just like herself, who knew the future in which nobles would die but was unable to take appropriate action, Rev may have been helplessly swept along even though he knew he would leave.

 

After making up her mind, Luce took out a piece of paper and picked up a pen. Several thoughts lingered in her mind as she wrote the letter.

 

The story is about the fall of the Count Bradbury family due to the invention of magic tools, the back of the boy walking away from the square towards the imperial palace, and the strength of Luce’s hand as she writes through the blood-red haired Count Menelik.

 

****

 

Delmar and Alois were not the only ones who waited for the imperial palace to become a mess due to the auction.

 

Duke Ximel, who sent her husband and daughter instead, looked out the dark window. It was raining in the Duchy of Simel.

 

The Duke didn’t like the sound of wet shoe soles rubbing against marble, but today’s guests won’t leave footprints.

 

It started like this.

 

A year and seven months ago, a letter was left on the desk in her office. It was a letter without sealing wax or a fancy string with the family crest stamped on it. The Duke burned the letters and punished the servant in charge of them. He pleaded earnestly, saying he didn’t know, but when he said that it would be right to punish the entire guard, he was dragged away with his mouth shut.

 

The Duke went to her office the next morning and saw the letter on the desk again. The servant in charge of the letter was brought back. The guards at the private prison were cruel. He could not speak because his tongue was cut, but as a letter officer, his writing was fluid and didn’t stain her eyes. He said he didn’t know what happened this time and that she should punish the guard instead.

 

The Duke, seeing him change the words in one day, called the guard captain. A letter officer with his tongue cut out cursed in a slurred pronunciation, telling him to cut off the hand of that punk who couldn’t even stop an intruder. The words and blood that sprang from the tip of his tongue served as a great example and shackles for the guard captain.

 

The letter officer, who was being dragged out again, leaving behind the guard captain who was trembling like an aspen tree, said, ‘Do you still think you are noble because you don’t have blood on your hands!’ He said something like this. Unfortunately, he couldn’t hear it well due to pronunciation issues.

 

It was the third day. The head of the security guard, who had been guarding the office the whole time, handed out the third letter with a blank expression on his face. He really never left the door for a moment, but there was a letter again today.

 

It was a fairly persistent and tenacious intruder. Since he sent it three times, he probably expected that she had not read the letter.

 

There was a person who came to mind. The Duke, who gave the order of congratulatory guests, opened the letter. It was a letter from today’s guest.

 

“Duke Ximel.”

 

The Duke, lost in thought, turned back. The Duke’s face stiffened and relaxed for an instant as she saw the seal in the shadow.

 

“You’re not the person I thought you were. You don’t look like a ‘ghost’.”

 

“I also had no idea that the Duke’s hospitality would be so shabby.”

 

The man in the dark and heavy shadow was pitch black, even though he took one step. The Duke recalled obsidian.

 

“It was like that before. It’s crazy that the third banquet hall was opened to the person who saved my daughter’s life.”

 

Had the man sitting like a master on the sofa in front of the empty table not said it with red eyes, the Duke would have put off overlapping the green-eyed boy and the man.

 

This man doesn’t hide it. He wasn’t trying to hide the sharp look he had as a boy; instead, he was proudly showing it off. The Duke, who was thinking, also sat down. 

 

“Did you wish for more people and food to welcome you, Your Highness?”

 

“I would have been happier on that side. When the Duke greets me alone like this, it means that I am not much of a threat.”

 

“Strictly speaking, I thought the ‘Ghost of the Imperial Palace’ would come today.”

 

“If it’s not looking down on my contacts, then what is it?”

 

“The story is over.”

 

The Duke, who was vaguely recalling the different ways of speaking, wondered which of the two was his true self, but soon made up her mind.

 

There is no time to indulge in sentimentality. If the owner of the letter is the prince, he hates to add trivial words. It is not suitable for this person to have an aristocratic conversation, such as picking up the tea for an hour or two and exchanging thoughts to see each other’s intentions. It was the same in the letter. 

 

Ximel listened to the third letter she had received and the first she had opened.

 

『Marguerite Annaius Simel. I know that the duke is planting a secret agent in the royal family of Peter Country and is stirring up public opinion and encouraging rebellion.』 

 

“When I read the first sentence, I thought it was a threat sent by an unidentified person. I thought it was a wanderer who heard nonsense and dared to threaten me, and I had the crazy idea that the Ximel family’s status had dropped without my knowledge.”

 

She spoke slowly.

 

“Until I read the next sentence.”

 

『At the same time, I also know that the purpose of the operation is not the overthrow of the country, but the fall of the current emperor. I think the Duke also knows. If there is no one to fill the position of the fallen emperor, the Duke’s actions will be nothing but civil war, and if someone unrelated to the current power structure doesn’t deal with the advancing Peter, it will eventually be trampled on. 

 

I have a proposal. I will become the Duke’s cause and sword. It is also an order. Be the motive and shield of the ‘new’ prince.』

 

Ximel folded the letter and waved the bundle of letters she had received.

 

“I thought you liked exchanging conversation in writing like this, but seeing that you came in person today, I don’t think so.”

 

“Since I know the Duke’s secret, it would be fair if the Duke also had one of my secrets. Isn’t that right?”

 

Ximel, who didn’t deny it, pulled the cravat.

 

She thought it had been a long time since she had had such a transparent conversation. So she asked without hesitation.

 

“As you said, Your Highness the Prince has become my cause and my sword. For a viscount to join hands with Peter to start a rebellion immediately dispelled the suspicions of some nobles who wondered if there was someone else behind it. As rumors of Your Highness spread, Ximel’s refusal to side with Empress Consort Diana was able to cover it up in the name of neutrality.”

 

Ximel gave her characteristic dull smile.

 

“I have gained much more up to this point. So now it seems it’s my turn to be your shield.”

 

“I will give Menelik and the Empress Consort to the Duke at the same time. They’re both eyesores, aren’t they?”

 

Ximel’s eyes narrowed gently while listening to him. The second problem was the idea that the prince’s proposal still only benefits her.

 

“That’s true, but I have one question. I understand Your Highness’s hostility toward the Empress Consort. She must have been the one who watched and contributed to Your Highness’s confinement. But your words about striking Menelik are difficult to understand. They’re good cards if we use them well. It’s a bit awkward in many ways because we belong to a County, not an empire.”  

 

The bright red prince’s eyes sparkled. Ximel looked at the figure. 

 

The neck ridges stood out. The prince sighed and said. 

 

“It would be a different story if a good card that I could use well fell into the hands of someone else, Duke.”

 

The prince thought of the voice of his half-brother he heard from the snow globe.

 

「Cherry.」

 

The owner of the name he heard in his voice was a card that could never be taken away.