The Guide Played Her Role as a Stand-in a Little Too Well - Chapter 93
The orb deflected by Rodite exploded with a pop in midair. The shattered bomb spread thick smoke around us.
The dense smoke, like burning coal, wafted over us.
“It’s not poison…”
The moment Shaelock frowned, her face began to change.
“Ah, your face…”
I pointed at her face in shock, and Shaelock touched her own face.
“Ah, the magic wore off.”
Shaelock scowled. It seemed to be the effect of the bomb that was just thrown.
I wasn’t the only one who saw Shaelock’s face.
The Marquis of Shepherd who had thrown the orb and the burly men surrounding us all froze upon recognizing her true identity.
“P-Princess.”
The Marquis of Shepherd quickly removed his mask and bowed deeply as he addressed Shaelock.
“Ah, making this bomb without the imperial family’s permission is illegal… you’ve broken more than a few laws, Marquis.”
Now that her identity was revealed, Shaelock loudly complained.
The Marquis of Shepherd, weaving through the confused men, prostrated himself and tried to explain.
“Ah, this was… something I kept for emergencies. I did not make it myself. Had I known you were the Princess, I would have treated you with more respect…”
“Really?”
Still standing with Rodite, Shaelock subtly extended her left hand to hold mine.
The Marquis of Shepherd bowed deeply before us, but it hadn’t been long enough to gauge his true intentions.
I took Shaelock’s hand.
“Then you will follow me quietly and admit to all your crimes.”
Her eyes flashed coldly.
“Knowing that I am the Princess, you should be able to do at least that much. Marquis of Shepherd.”
“Th-That is…”
Of course, the Marquis of Shepherd couldn’t easily respond to those words. He slowly raised his head, nervously gauging Shaelock’s reaction.
It was almost pitiful to see, considering he was the same person Esban and I had met.
“This is unfair treatment, Princess!”
Finally, the Marquis of Shepherd stood up and shouted with a resentful expression.
He had barely said a word, but you could almost hear his mind racing.
“I am not the only one running such a place. In an era where gambling dens are rampant, I wonder why you specifically came here.”
“Are you suggesting I have another motive?”
The Marquis quickly shook his head and continued.
“You know how my daughter died, Princess. I thought you were someone generous enough to overlook this.”
Of course, Shaelock was not one to let this slide. She scoffed and crossed her arms.
“If you had only been running a gambling den, I wouldn’t have come all this way.”
Smiling brightly, the wind from Rodite, which was swirling around her, wrapped around the Marquis of Shepherd’s neck as if choking him.
Cough. The Marquis of Shepherd grasped his neck as if a rope were tightening around it.
But there was nothing visible.
“But selling counterfeit bills under the name of the Cairoze family was crossing the line, wasn’t it?”
“No… that is!”
The Marquis of Shepherd protested.
He quickly looked around, trying to find someone to help him.
But in this room, the only ones on his side were the burly guards who were hesitating in their spots.
Gritting his teeth, the Marquis of Shepherd, at a loss for what to do, pointed a finger at me.
“Who is this woman! Is she the one who planted such vile suspicions in you, Princess?”
“Your words are harsh.”
Vile suspicions, indeed. His choice of words was quite dramatic. When I retorted, the Marquis of Shepherd flew into a rage.
“That voice, it’s not noble at all! Clearly, it’s the voice of lowly blood…”
Lowly? Just a while ago, when I visited the marquisate as Hedonia, he had praised this voice so highly.
At that moment, I was astonished by his behavior, confined within the boundaries of nobility, accepting only what he wanted.
“She’s my friend.”
Shaelock cut him off abruptly, rubbing her ear as if she had heard something unpleasant.
“…What?”
“Now, Marquis. I don’t have much time, so how about you just leave? If you admit everything, I’ll at least let you live like a human being.”
The Marquis of Shepherd, with his lips tightly shut, bowed his head deeply.
“…I cannot leave it like this.”
“…”
“If I can’t live as a noble, it’s the same as not living at all. Therefore, I…”
The Marquis of Shepherd spoke ominously.
“I would rather choose to die with everyone here.”
A deafening explosion, far greater than the previous bomb, rang out.
Boom!
With a tremendous sound, smoke began to rise from between the bookshelves.
It was the secret space Esban had mentioned earlier.
“You cannot die like this!”
The burly men, who had been hesitating and unable to approach Shaelock, suddenly rushed toward the Marquis of Shepherd.
They grabbed him and began to flee towards the exit revealed by the explosion.