Chapter 9

There is a scene where a man uses violence against an unresisting woman. Please be cautious.

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."

A woman was crying and doing a dogeza on the floor in the office.

She was the head housekeeper of this mansion and an old acquaintance of Laura. She had been leading the harassment against Olivia along with the butler, and her name had frequently come up from the servants who had already been interrogated.

Right next to the woman, a black-haired knight named Crow stood with his hands in his pockets, smiling.

Crow, the Deputy Commander of the First Knight Regiment. He had jet-black hair and eyes, and although he always smiled, his eyes were terrifyingly cold. He was the right-hand man of the Commander, Leo, and a man with a "difficult personality" who was often assigned to rough tasks.

On the other hand, the white-haired knight, Shiro, the Vice Commander of the First Knight Regiment, was sitting comfortably in a chair in the office, writing something on a tablet.

Currently, only these three were in the room, and the servants who had already been interrogated had been moved to another room.

"Stop just apologizing and explain properly."

Shiro said this without even looking at the woman.

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."

Bang.

Crow suddenly stomped on the back of the woman's head.

"Ugh..."

The sudden impact made the woman's chin hit the floor hard, and she crouched down while still in a dogeza position.

"Ah~ so boring~ so boring~! Can I kill her? Hey, Shiro, can I kill her~??"

Crow looked at Shiro with sparkling eyes.

"Weren't you taught to be gentle with women?"

Shiro finally looked up from his tablet and sighed in exasperation.

"What are you talking about? Your thinking is so outdated~ The world is equal for men and women?"

"Equal? The old butler only had a couple of broken bones, didn't he?"

"Ah~ that's just a margin of error, a margin of error!"

Crow, while booing, inserted his foot under the crouching woman's stomach and kicked her up forcefully.

"Ugh!"

The woman's body floated up from the impact and fell over, but Crow immediately stepped on her face. The thick sole of his boot mercilessly pressed into her cheek.

"I respect women like goddesses, but I don't know how to treat trash that doesn't deserve it."

Crow puffed out his cheeks cutely.

"You still have bad foot habits, don't you?"

"Because touching them would make me dirty."

Crow, with his hands still in his pockets, moved his foot on the woman's face back and forth.

"Well, that's fine. Not interfering in the conversation with those scoundrels earlier was a wonderful behavior."

"Right! Right~! Praise me, praise me~"

Crow smiled happily.

"Okay, okay, good job. But we have more pressing matters. Let's get back to the interrogation. No killing. We are the ones who will be eliminated."

"Aw~"

Crow answered regretfully.

Shiro, without even glancing at the woman trembling at his feet, returned his gaze to the tablet and continued the interrogation.

---

"Sir Sil. What is going on here?"

Arthur, along with the Marquis of Nolundi, Lord Roddie, arrived at Cyphard's mansion. Inside the mansion, which was heavily guarded by the First Knight Regiment, Roddie and Arthur were led to the reception room and were surprised.

"Welcome, Lord Nolundi."

Sil stood up from the sofa, shook hands with Roddie, and offered him a seat.

"This is my second son, Arthur."

"Arthur Nolundi, it's a pleasure to meet you."

Arthur, who had no idea why he was called here, knew that Sil was the country's capable prime minister. Thinking it was a chance to impress him, Arthur greeted him firmly, but Sil did not respond much.

"Immediately, Sir Arthur. I have a few questions for you. Can you answer them truthfully?"

"Of course."

Arthur nodded strongly. Sil smiled at his words.

"Then, how has Lady Olivia been recently? Please tell me as much as you can."

Arthur, who had been eager, was visibly disappointed when the question was about Olivia.

"Olivia, you say?"

His tone revealed his disappointment.

"Yes. As Sir Arthur is Lady Olivia's fiancé, I assume you were very close to her. Did you notice anything unusual about her recent actions or conversations?"

Arthur didn't understand the purpose of Sil's questions. However, he understood that Olivia had done something and that he, as her fiancé, was being questioned about it.

What a troublesome woman.

Arthur inwardly sighed.

"Well, her recent words and actions have been quite excessive."

Arthur said firmly.

"Could you elaborate?"

Sil asked without changing his expression, but Roddie, who was sitting next to Arthur, frowned visibly.

"Yes. She used her position as the elder sister to vent her frustrations on her sick younger sister, Anna, and was very harsh to her. Sometimes she even resorted to violence, and Anna often cried. Moreover, she was a terrible spendthrift, using money only for herself and not allowing Lady Laura or Anna to use any."

Arthur, getting more and more excited as he spoke, appealed to Sil with an emotional tone.

"I see. Did you do anything about such behavior from Lady Olivia?"

"Of course. I sternly warned her and told her to change her behavior."

Arthur answered proudly. Roddie, sitting next to him, was already pale and trembling.

"I see. By the way, Sir Arthur, have you ever witnessed Lady Olivia being harsh to Anna or spending money extravagantly on herself?"

"Uh..."

Arthur suddenly hesitated.

"Have you ever seen Lady Olivia being harsh to Anna or spending money extravagantly on herself?"

Arthur thought. However, the Olivia in his memory was always quiet, thin, and wearing a plain dress that didn't fit her, sitting quietly.

"No... I haven't... But..."

"I see. Then where did you get this information?"

Arthur felt cold sweat running down his back. He wondered if he had made a big mistake.

"...From Lady Laura, Anna, and the servants of the Cyphard family."

"I see. Understood. By the way, did you know that there are people trying to take over the Cyphard family?"

Sil's sudden words made both of them widen their eyes in surprise.

"Take over?!"

Roddie frowned.

"Yes. They seem to have planned to confine Lady Olivia, the head of the family, and starve her to death. However, they seemed to be in a hurry and today, they stabbed Lady Olivia with a knife and had a servant dump her in the forest."

"What!?"

"!?"

Roddie and Arthur were so shocked that they were speechless. Sil observed their expressions closely.

"Then... what about Lady Olivia..."

Roddie asked with a troubled look.

"The knights are searching with all their might, but she hasn't been found yet. We need to return to report to the king. We would like to request the Nolundi family to continue the search from tomorrow."

"Ah, understood. I'll organize a search party as soon as we return."

Roddie nodded firmly, though he was confused by Sil's words.

"But who could be so foolish as to..."

Roddie muttered unconsciously.

"Everyone in this mansion. Except for Lord Alex, for now."

"!?"

Sil continued calmly, without paying much attention to the two stunned men.

"The main culprits are Laura and Anna. The servants seem to have followed their lead, but some of them also took the lead in the abuse as a way to vent their frustrations."

"Are they crazy! Those people!!"

Roddie ground his teeth in anger.

The servants of a marquis's family are, after all, just commoners. It is unthinkable for such people to harm the head of a high-ranking noble family. They deserve to be executed on the spot without any complaint.

"Is... is that true?"

Arthur, unable to believe Sil's words, asked trembling.

"Yes, of course. The servants' testimonies and all the physical evidence are in place."

Sil's answer left Arthur speechless. It was hard to believe. He never imagined that Laura and Anna could have planned such a thing.

"Sir Arthur, you were close to Lady Olivia, weren't you?"

Sil asked with a hint of something in his voice.

"Yes, as her fiancé, it's natural."

Arthur regained his composure and answered firmly.

"Then, why did you accept the proposal to change your fiancée to Anna?"

"Wha...?"

For Arthur, this was a bolt from the blue. That talk was supposed to be a joke.

Indeed, Anna is cute. But he was going to become a son-in-law. Marriage to anyone other than the head of the family, Olivia, was not allowed.

"During the interrogation of the servants, Anna said that she was already engaged to you. She also said that you told Lady Olivia about this at a tea party. So, Sir Arthur, you are also one of the suspects in this case."

"!?"

Roddie gasped.

"No! That's not true! I did say something like that, but not in that sense..."

Arthur panicked. He did say something like that to Olivia, but it was to scold her. He never thought he would actually be engaged to Anna.

"I did hear something like that from Arthur a while ago, but I thought it was a joke and didn't take it seriously..."

Roddie glared at Arthur.

"It's a misunderstanding! Father!! I have no such feelings!"

"Is that so? Well, let's put aside whether you like Anna or not. Before this tragedy, did Lady Olivia ever consult you about anything?"

Sil continued his questioning, observing Arthur's expression.

"Consult...?"

"Yes, about her current situation, or if she needed help, anything."

At these words, Arthur froze.