TL: Zimming
The Duke of Dubbled's gaze reached Duke Vallua's gaze. It was after he had already figured out that the Duke of Vallua brought Mireille to them.
They were glaring fiercely at each other.
***
That night, I opened the presents and letters I received from the tea party guests and sat on the sofa.
The three maids clapped their hands and laughed.
"You must have enjoyed the tea party today."
"Yes, it was fun."
They were all polite and kind people. I decided to go to the flower festival with my friends who attended the party when the weather got warmer.
'It'll be my first time going out with friends!'
As soon as I got back, I marked the day on the calendar.
'Also, the Duchess of Vallua's party was ruined.'
If she's the same as before, she'll get angry and blame everyone. She would broke things here and there also said to her husband,
'I've been treated like this, just what is he doing!'
Suddenly, I could hear many sounds from outside.
The maids opened my door a little, looked at the situation outside and said,
"I think the master has come home."
"Then I'll greet him."
"Yes, little miss."
I quickly opened the door and headed to the first floor.
Usually, dad would be greeted in the courtyard and hear about work from the butler.
I grabbed one of the servants and said,
"Where's dad?"
"He didn't receive any greeting and went straight to the study room."
"What's going on?"
"Well, he didn't look fine, but…"
I quickly ran to my dad's study room.
'What happened at the meeting?'
The emperor may have done something to upset my father.
I was about to push the door but then I could hear a conversation.
"It's very likely that Mireille was bought by the Duke of Vallua. She was a prostitute who came to the capital city because she liked the Duke of Vallua. That's what I've been informed."
It was my aunt's voice. What I heard after this was Johann's voice.
"Yes, she was making a fuss to meet him again, but she was caught by the Duchess, so she was kicked out."
She was kicked out?
'No way, that's her!'
The arrogant prostitute who came to Vallua's mansion in my second life.
'Wait, that's ridiculous. I saw her in person. She looked nothing like Mireille!'
She had no resemblance to the prostitute whether it was her appearance or voice.
She had a mature kind of beauty, also she had reddish-brown hair and dark green eyes.
They gave her a completely different body, as if they had torn her soul out and stuck it to another person's body.
'But does that even make sense?'
We can change our appearance.
Seria also hides her identity through such magic.
However, the magic won't last long and it costs an enormous amount of money.
Vallua, with their financial condition couldn't afford it, and most of all—
'There's no way that the mage of Dubbled and Veronica couldn't recognize that.'
Both of them are the best mage in the Empire.
They continued their conversation, it was my dad's turn to speak,
"A man with red spot on his hand, who I found out through torture, had contact with the Duke of Vallua."
At that time, my communication device blinked.
I took out the communication device. It was Seria's code.
[We caught the tail of the 'customer' who ordered your kidnapping. He's a man with a red spot on the back of his hand. Judging from the intonation and conversation, it seems that he is from the capital city and from a noble family.]
I let out a small laugh.
It seems that their bad relationship with the Duke of Vallua will not end with just the teleportation device.
There is no more foolish Leblaine, who could not even defend herself when she was beaten or falsely accused.
Looking down at the communications device, I replied to Seria.
[I want you to withdraw all of my money, and prepare the troops raised in the outskirts. Let's get the Duke of Vallua.]
I grab my etwal.
The time has come for me to use the power acquired through Pymon.
***
Early in the morning, I went to the top of hope. The chairman also went with me.
Seria quickly welcomed us.
I lay on the sofa while groaning.
"The device is all good, but after moving, I have severe motion sickness…"
Seria hands me cold water as the chairman patted me on the back.
"Veronica is undergoing improvements to make it easier for children to move, so please wait."
I gulped down the cold water.
Then I sighed and looked at them.
"You've confirmed the story that I gave you, haven't you?"
It was highly likely that the "customer " was involved with the Duke of Vallua.
Seria gritted her teeth.
"Yes."
"Great, then let's share what we've gathered."
It was the chairman who took out the documents first.
"Three years ago, the Duke of Vallua met Mireille. It was early last year that he brought her to the capital city. Her real name is Amber Fleder."
Then he took out a portrait of Mireille's original appearance and a portrait of a young child.
Seria's face hardened.
"Nicole!"
Seria's hand trembled as she grabbed a portrait of the young child.
"Nicole?"
"It's my sibling. It's my younger sister from the orphanage!"
"...did the customer make Mireille?"
He must have bought children from orphanages to find a look alike.
"But the other children…"
I muttered and the chairman said,
"It would have taken countless experiments to completely move the soul."
"I'll kill them…!!"
Seria let out a scream.
I looked at Seria, she had a somber expression, while hugging Nicole's portrait.
The chairman grabbed her shoulder.
"Calm down. We need to act rationally."
Seria said slowly,
"...I've checked the asset status of the Duke Vallua. Their warehouse is empty, and he seems to have borrowed a lot of money from the Duke of Marche and from other people. They won't be able to hold out for even three months at the moment."
"But if we hand over all the production rights and distribution rights of the device to the church, they can recover."
"...if the Duke of Vallua was behind the "customer" who bought my siblings, I would never let him alive."
I nodded when I saw Seria's expression.
"I can't miss this opportunity. To end the Vallua's family."
"Do you have any ideas?"
I shrugged my shoulders at the chairman's question.
"No?"
"…what?"
"The Vallua family is a family that has a long history of contributing to the nation. That's why he has a strong connection with other nobles. He doesn't have any money now, but he's got a lot of land, so it'll be solved soon. The imperial family also won't permit the war among powerful families."
"..."
"In the end, the only way is to reveal how they made the Mireille, but considering the Duke of Vallua, he would already take care of everything so that he wouldn't be found out."
"You know it well."
So what am I gonna do?
I grinned and grabbed the etwal with a smile on my face.
"If the three of us can't think of a way, we should borrow some other wisdom."
"Huh?"
I gave the etwal a little divine power.
Then the etwal was engulfed in a gold-like light, a handsome man appeared in the room.
"I'll introduce you to him!"
The two were shocked to see a handsome man suddenly appear.
The handsome man with black hair who flapped his fan smiled.
"I greet my master."
"Now, lend us your wisdom. How can we attack our enemies?"
The strategist raised his eyebrows when we laughed brightly.
***
The strategist who heard the situation from us folded his fan and nodded.
"Is it so hard to take the soul out and attach it to another body?"
"Yeah. Magic that doesn't exist in this world. How did he do it?"
"We can't figure out how, but if we're not the caster, we can tell."
"…how?"
"If it's something that can't be done with human hands, it must be the power of someone who isn't human."
The power of those who are not a human…
I touched my forehead.
"That's right. That's it. I didn't think about it at first."
"Huh?"
Seria blinked as if she wasn't sure about what I was talking about.
"Devil."
"What?"
"He summoned the devil!"
It is now clear why so many children from the orphanage were needed.
It's not just about doing experiments. He borrowed the power of the devil through the soul of children.
I glanced at him.
"Then, the way to end their family…!"
"I heard there's an apostle trial here."
I thought while covering my red cheeks.
'Good choice!'