This Three-Year-Old Is A Villainess - Chapter 91
I called for Han Ji-hyuk.
Seemingly having a hard time in the barracks, dark circles under his eyes reached down to his chin even without makeup.
Han Ji-hyuk looked haggard and half out of it.
And what’s this again?
“Uugh, thwis smell…”
“It’s because of the helmets. I’ve been taking care of helmets recently… hiic.”
Seemingly sorrowful, Han Ji-hyuk covered his mouth with his fist.
Soldiers wear helmets during training to prepare for real combat.
Wearing them all day during rigorous training, the helmets must have been filled with the smell of sweat.
It’s unavoidable that cleaning such helmets would produce a smell.
“Those jerks… Once I earn a hell lot of money, I’m going to hire an assassin.”
“Thwey owness about twaining. Thwey cann hewp tha thwey shmew.” (They’re earnest about training. They can’t help that they smell.)
“I wasn’t originally in charge of the helmets, you know?! There was this jerk who liked cleaning helmets. But the soldiers, they didn’t like the way I looked, so they told me to clean helmets!”
Han Ji-hyuk, without makeup, was handsome enough for passersby to take a second glance.
It makes sense why the soldiers wouldn’t like him.
Han Ji-hyuk appealed with sorrowful gestures and frustrated stomping, like a child complaining to his mother.
“Owkay. I’m ask Mikewan to swish youw job.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Bwut befowe tha, I wann yew to to meet some peopow.”
“People? What kind of people?”
“Thwe ones you set up to gwet swindowd. Wike Sow Hoku.” (The ones you set up to get swindled. Like Sir Hoku.)
“What am I supposed to do when I meet them?”
“Spwead some wumows.”
“What kind of rumors are we talking about here?”
“Tha Oshua’s cuwse is contajoos to thwose wif bwessings.” (That Joshua’s curse is contagious to those with blessings.)
I smirked, lifting the corners of my mouth.
***
Thus, Han Ji-hyuk began spreading the rumors.
He scattered them like birdseed, mainly among the birds traveling to and from the capital.
Naturally, the birds eagerly picked up the rumors, and it took less than three days for the word to spread.
The world was turned upside down.
The curse of the Daymond jurisdiction was contagious!
As evidence, Balzac Astra and Erylotte Astra from the castle were not leaving their rooms.
The nobles were engulfed in anxiety.
“Erylotte Astra went out to the shopping district, didn’t she?”
“Yes. Many people visit the shopping district. She even went to a famous pastry shop targeting nobles.”
“How many nobles might she have encountered?”
“Did those nobles not come up to the capital?”
When problems arise among the powerful, solutions are sought more quickly.
This rumor even became a topic at the nobles’ meeting.
“We can’t just leave it be, now that there’s talk of a contagious curse.”
“We must investigate the Daymond jurisdiction to verify the nature of this contagious curse.”
“We need to proceed quickly before things escalate.”
All the nobles agreed.
Marquis Boucherz was very troubled by this turn of events.
If the imperial palace investigates the Daymond jurisdiction, the real truth behind the curse spell will be revealed…
How did things end up like this?
The curse was meant to simply create a rift within the Astra family.
If Daymond and Deacons clashed, Astra’s internal strife would be exposed to the world.
Since I couldn’t sway the nobles with the ancient stone, I had to show that the family was in danger to prevent my nobles from defecting.
‘Originally, the target was Daymond Astra.’
The curse, meant for an adult, unfortunately manifested in the child, Joshua.
Thus, he was in a life-threatening situation.
‘It wasn’t supposed to go this far!’
Daymond had the strongest military force of the Astra family.
If he intervened, Deacons would collapse quickly, so a curse was necessary to prolong their fight.
“Whether the curse is really contagious or not is unknown.”
“That’s why we should send the imperial search teams to check.”
“Will you just watch Duke Astra investigate his own house?”
“But it’s a curse with contagious power. If we even refuse to investigate this, it’s a huge threat to the empire’s safety!”
“But…”
“Marquis Boucherz, why are you like this today? Usually, you would have been the first to advocate for an investigation.”
Startled, Marquis Boucherz who had shot himself in the foot, reluctantly opened his mouth.
“Anyway, they’re not from our faction.”
Blocking the investigation is the priority.
The nobles looked at Marquis Boucherz with suspicion.
He was always eager to catch Duke Astra, but now his sudden change of attitude was very suspicious.
Then, a noble burst in, panting.
“Duke Astra has agreed to the investigation of the Daymond jurisdiction─!”
What?
Marquis Boucherz’s face turned completely ashen.
He nervously bit his nails and, as soon as the meeting was adjourned, he rushed into the imperial palace.
He ran to the grand hall to persuade the Emperor.
But coming out of the audience chamber was someone else.
Duke Astra, and a man he had never seen before.
The man was a strikingly handsome blonde with red eyes and a tall stature, his gaze resembling that of the Duke.
