Chapter 151 – 38. Conspiracy (4)
“Sir Elaine. You and Ireina’s safety is guaranteed. So please feel free to open your mouth.”
“······.”
Serena, knowing that it was not polite, sighed in her frustration and unbuttoned one of her buttons. But Baron Elaine, who was sitting in front of her eyes, was immovable. An uncomfortable silence hung over the room.
This was the drawing room of the academy security office. Elaine and Ireina were isolated from Jeongjihu and stayed at the inn in this building. In response, Serena came to them to secure her victim’s statement.
An academy student, Jung Ji-hoo, was deprived of an opportunity to investigate by the academy’s Ministry of Justice, but he was able to meet non-student victims under the academy’s supervision.
“The suspect Jeong Ji-hoo can never come in and out of this place. As long as you and Ireina confess the truth about the damage, Jung Ji-hoo will go through trial and be sentenced to a heavy sentence and will disappear from your life forever. So don’t be afraid. Please be honest.”
However, the case investigation was delayed at a point Serena did not expect.
“Jeong Ji-hoo did not commit any violence against us.”
Baron Elaine and Ireina, who were clearly victims, refused to testify.
“Sir Elaine, you must have responded right away to the call of Student Scott, who visited with me yesterday morning. Although I couldn’t take you to the Noble House, this place is also safe enough. Student Scott is eagerly awaiting your release.”
“······.”
Elaine’s eyebrows twitched just a little bit, but that was it.
“Jeong Ji-hoo did not commit any violence against us.”
The answer was always the same from the beginning. With an unchangingly upright posture like a golem, Elaine insisted on her innocence. If this was the case, she couldn’t understand why she had guided Scott to Ireina’s location yesterday.
Still, Elaine was a nobleman. Although Ireina was her maid, she did not come out of the dormitory even when called by the inspector. So she asks, and Elaine replies, she says that she is Irene and that she is currently not in a state where she can have a normal conversation due to her mental pain and trauma.
How on earth did Jeong Ji-hoo do such a terrible and cruel thing that he couldn’t even speak properly?
Well, it might be scary just to recall related memories.
However, if this was an aristocratic house, the statement would have been secured even through somewhat coercive means. After that, the entire process from the investigation to the trial would have gone smoothly, and everyone except Jung Ji-hoo could have had a happy ending.
Suddenly, a person called the head of the academy’s Justice Department broke in and interfered with the perfect plan of the aristocratic house.
Even now, the eyes of the academy security guard watching him from the corner of the drawing room were fierce.
Maybe it’s because of him that I can’t answer properly?
“I am Serena Viscount Hooks, but I am still only a Viscount for the family lord to correct it, and my family is the Earl of Hooks. I’m also Count John Walker.”
“······.”
“The ‘Hooks’ and the ‘Johns Walkers’ in particular are influential families in the legal profession. So, in the names of these two families, I guarantee that you will never be subjected to unreasonable disadvantages.”
But,
“Jeong Ji-hoo did not commit any violence against us.”
Questions and answers with no progress as if spinning on a treadmill.
Serena was slowly getting tired.
The plan was built on the premise of obtaining statements from Elaine and Ireina. Therefore, Serena must achieve her goal here.
Apparently, Scott guaranteed that Sir Elaine was a trustworthy knight. Why do you keep saying the same thing like a doll from earlier?
For a moment.
Doll······?
No way?!
“Could it be that after you stopped… Did he imprint ‘enslavement’, ‘puppet’, or equivalent obedience magic on your body?!
“······Jung Ji-hoo did not commit any violence against us.”
Elaine’s sentence remained unchanged, but Serena intuitively knew from her partner’s eyes that her own guess was her correct answer.
But if this is really true, it was a shocking thing.
Crazy
Privately enslaving an outright baron noble. This was a direct violation of the caste system and the caste law, the foundation of imperial society, and was far more serious than the current charges of intimidation and sexual exploitation.
The minimum punishment is life imprisonment, and in some cases, it is a mortal crime that can be sentenced to ‘disqualification from humanity’, which is more severe than madness or the death penalty.
Jung Ji-hoo made a really big mistake.
“······I will return as soon as possible. And then you will be able to open your mouth freely.”
Elaine and her guards watched Serena’s red hair as she went outside after arranging the recording crystal ball and notebook until the door closed.
* * *
“Inspector-sama, what happened?! Are Ireina and Elaine all right?!”
“Sir Serena, what about Ireina?”
As soon as Serena left the academy security office building, Scott and Dian, who were waiting in front of her front door, simultaneously bombarded her with questions. They, like Jung Ji-hoo, were not allowed to approach the victim. It would have been possible if it had been a member of the aristocracy.
She climbed into the waiting carriage with two men, and when the door closed and the car started, she finally opened her mouth.
Scott and Diane lamented their failure to secure statements, were horrified and furious at the speculation that obedience magic was suspected.
“After stopping!
Scott’s main emotion was intent to kill,
“…Have you not seen Ireina…?”
Diane seemed to be curious about Ireina’s condition. He was pulling her hair all the time, not even noticing her older fiancée’s gaze.
Even though the three of them were in the same seat, they had different thoughts and did not feel comfortable even sitting on the soft seat.
Rumbling… Rumbling…
In no time, the carriage arrived at the academy noble dormitory street. Serena planned to drop Scott and Diane off here and head to the office of the aristocrat.
“Please take good care of Ireina and Elaine.”
Scott bowed her head once to her and walked out of her.
Dian’s footsteps, which were about to follow, stopped abruptly at Serena’s words.
“They say a man’s first love is forever, but that seems to be true.”
Serena looked at the back of Diane’s head and opened her mouth.
“I’ve always wondered why you got engaged to me after all the rumors of marriage with so many young ladies. Only now the question is answered.”
“… Serena.”
Diane couldn’t bear to look back at her. Serena twisted her bright red hair around her own with one of her fingers.
“Am I a substitute for Ireina?”
Yesterday morning, when she raided Jijihu’s house, Serena was surprised twice when she saw Ireina for the first time.
First, Ireina was a very pretty girl despite being tainted with her male bodily fluids, and second, she had red eyes very similar to her own.
In that moment, Serena couldn’t help but realize her fiancé’s heart.
“······Wedding is a promise between families. Ireina will make Scott happy. Our engagement will not be broken.”
Diane left only these words and walked towards Scott, who was waiting for him outside.
“Bye······.”
Serena’s goodbye didn’t reach her fiancé, who never turned her head away.
The carriage departed for the aristocratic house as scheduled.
Later, Dian bitterly regrets this day.
* * *
Serena was miserable.
Arguably, she was the saddest woman in the world right now.
She succeeded in getting engaged to the man she liked, but what could be more sad than realizing that she has another woman in his heart, not her.
Come to think of it, Dian never once said she liked him.
Of course, it was common in arranged marriages, but…
She loves alone and feels betrayed alone.
“·······.”
But Serena didn’t give in to her feelings.
She honestly wanted to drown her love interest, Ireina, in the pit of her despair, but that never worked.
This is because a series of plans, including ‘Liberation of Ireina’, were the will of a very, very high person.
A will that descended from the second greatest being in the Empire to those below. The Earls of Hooks and Johns Walker, and other legal families and establishments, were mere means.
Serena pulled a document from a drawer in her office desk and began to fill in her blank space.
[Application for Warrant]
Petitioner: Viscount Serena Hooks
Type: 〈Magic Force Widespread Disabling〉 Warrant
Target: Baron Elaine’s Obedience Magic (estimated) and Ireina’s Slave Imprint
Date: –
Reason: Investigation by honorary viscount inspector after suspension.
Finally, Serena, who signed the Inspector’s column, sent the document to the examination department using transmission magic.
By nature, warrants are very difficult to get approved. In principle, it should be executed only when it is unavoidable for judicial justice, so the review of the warrant is complicated and takes a long time.
Originally, the date should not be left blank in the application, and the reason should be composed of sentences and paragraphs that explain in detail the necessity of the warrant, not a few jingle words.
But this time there was no need for that at all.
ㅡ Ding-dong!
Look at this
Less than 20 minutes after she sent the application, the papers appeared before her eyes again. Usually this only happens when the application is immediately rejected for a mistake or typo in the form, but not this time.
[Warrant Order]
I order Inspector Serena Hooks to execute the warrant below.
···(Syncopation)···
Noble House Justice Minister (Seal)
Everyone was of one accord.
The inspector who investigates the allegation after the stop, himself,
The Ministry of Justice, which supports the process,
And a judge who would later sentence him to a heavy sentence.
I did my best not to go against the feelings of the first prince.
“·······.”
Serena was proud.
She didn’t break the law.
He only harassed his target as much as he could, within the limits permitted by the law.
For the person closest to the next emperor.
Serena made a copy of her writ order, kept one in her office, put the other in her briefcase, and left the House.
It was now planned to go back to her academy and execute her warrant.
She looked up over her head as she walked towards where her carriage was parked. Her sky was overcast with a lot of clouds. She seemed to be expressing her own current feelings.
Her gloomy figure is just like her own betrothal.
“Sigh······.”
Serena looked straight in front of her as she let out a deep sigh.
Then she had no choice but to immediately stop her steps.
A few steps ahead of her, a woman who caught her attention was standing still.
Her skin is as white as snow,
Her hair was long blue,
Above all, she was the most beautiful of all the women Serena had ever seen.
All the worries in her head disappeared in an instant, and only her admiration for her beauty remained.
“You’re Viscount Serena Hooks, right?”
“Yes······.”
Overwhelmed by her voice as sweet as her appearance, Serena inadvertently answered.
Immediately after, her eyes darkened.
The street was calm as if nothing had happened.
