Chapter 31

I called Han Jihyuk.

He seemed to have suffered quite a bit in the barracks; dark circles under his eyes extended down to his jaw, even without makeup.

Han Jihyuk's face was pale, and he looked half-dead.

And what's this?

“Ugh, the smell...”

“It's because of the helmet. I've been maintaining it recently... Ahem.”

Han Jihyuk covered his mouth with his fist, seemingly in distress.

Soldiers wear helmets during training to prepare for real combat.

After a day of grueling training, the helmets must have been soaked with sweat.

It's no wonder they smell when you clean them.

“Bad kids... If I make a lot of money, I'll hire assassins.”

“Training is tough. There's nothing you can do about the smell.”

“Originally, I wasn't in charge of the helmets! There was a guy who liked maintaining helmets. But the soldiers said they didn't like my appearance and told me to polish the helmets!”

Without makeup, Han Jihyuk looked so delicate that passersby would glance at him.

It's the kind of face that soldiers would dislike.

Han Jihyuk complained, gesturing like a child to his mother.

“Okay. I'll ask Mikelan to change your part.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. But before that, you need to meet some people.”

“People? What kind of people?”

“The people you set up to scam. Like Governor Hok.”

“What are we going to do when we meet them?”

“Spread some rumors.”

“What kind of rumors?”

“The curse of Joshua is contagious to those who are blessed.”

I smiled.

* * *

Han Jihyuk started spreading the rumor.

He spread it like a flock of birds, targeting the messengers traveling along the Imperial Road.

Naturally, the messengers spread the rumor quickly, and it took less than four days for it to spread.

The world was turned upside down.

The curse in the Diamond territory is contagious!

As evidence, Balzac Astra and Erylot Astra, who were in the castle, had not left their homes.

The nobles were filled with anxiety.

“Erylot Astra went on an outing to the commercial district, didn't he?”

“Yes. How many people come and go in the commercial district? He even visited a famous pastry shop that targets nobles.”

“How many nobles did he meet?”

“Could one of those nobles have come to the Imperial Road?”

When there's a problem in the power structure, solutions are sought more quickly.

This rumor was even brought up as an agenda item in the noble council.

“Since there are rumors that the curse is contagious, we can't just let it be.”

“We need to investigate the Diamond territory to confirm the nature of the contagious curse.”

“We need to act quickly before the situation gets out of hand.”

The nobles were in agreement.

With this, Duke Buzhes was very flustered.

If the Imperial Palace investigates the Diamond territory, the curse spell will be exposed.

How did things come to this?

The curse was cast simply to create a rift in Astra.

If Diamond and Decons fight, the turmoil in Astra will be revealed to the world.

Since he couldn't recruit the nobles with the ancient stone, he wanted to show that the family was in danger to prevent his allies from fleeing.

‘The target was originally Diamond Astra.’

The curse that should have affected an adult manifested in the child Joshua.

Thus, it was a matter of life and death.

‘This shouldn't have gone this far!’

Diamond Astra was the strongest military force in Astra.

If he were to step in, Decons would surely fall, so the curse was necessary to prolong the fight.

“We don't know if the curse is truly contagious.”

“So, shouldn't we send the Imperial Search Team to confirm?”

“Will the Duke of Astra allow the investigation of Astra?”

“But this is not just any matter; it's a curse with contagious properties. Refusing the investigation would be a great harm to the empire's safety!”

“But...!”

“Duke Buzhes, why are you acting like this today? Normally, you would be the first to advocate for an investigation.”

Duke Buzhes, feeling the heat, hesitantly spoke.

“Well, regardless, we are not in the same faction.”

The priority is to block the investigation.

The nobles looked at Duke Buzhes with suspicious expressions.

Duke Buzhes, who usually couldn't wait to get rid of the Duke of Astra, suddenly changed his attitude, which was very suspicious.

At that moment, a noble rushed in.

“The Duke of Astra has agreed to the investigation of the Diamond territory!”

What?

Duke Buzhes' face turned ashen.

He nervously bit his nails, and as soon as the meeting was adjourned, he rushed to the Imperial Palace.

He ran to the main hall to persuade the emperor.

However, someone was already coming out of the audience room.

The Duke of Astra and a man he had never seen before.

The man was a strikingly handsome man.

Blond hair, red eyes, tall stature, and a gaze similar to the Duke's.

‘This must be Diamond Astra.’

He involuntarily swallowed dryly.

“A, Duke Astra.”

His legs trembled. However, he couldn't just stand there.

“The Imperial Search Team is going to the Diamond territory? When did Astra start complying so easily with the Imperial requests? Don't...”

He had to somehow prevent the investigation of the Diamond territory.

Duke Buzhes wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand and continued.

“The curse on your grandson is a disgrace to your family. I will help, so the Imperial investigation...”

“You don't need to talk so much.”

“Pardon?”

“The investigation is just an excuse to tear you apart.”

The Duke of Astra looked at Duke Buzhes with a cold, emotionless gaze.

Duke Buzhes was startled and closed his mouth.

His eyes looked as if his insides were being squeezed.

The Duke of Astra slowly approached Duke Buzhes.

Standing in front of Duke Buzhes, the Duke slowly spoke.

“Let's see how far your sister can protect you.”

“W, what do you mean? I am the brother of Empress Ocellia and the eldest prince...”

At that moment, Diamond, who had been watching quietly, spoke.

“Can I take care of my business now that we're done talking?”

“Go ahead.”

Diamond walked up to Duke Buzhes.

The moment Duke Buzhes looked up at Diamond.

Thud!

Struck by a powerful punch, Duke Buzhes fell to the ground.

He thought a rock had hit his head.

Duke Buzhes, stiff with pain and shock, clutched his cheek and looked up at Diamond.

Diamond, slowly massaging his neck, said.

“Get up. We haven't even started.”

At that moment, Duke Buzhes' face turned white.

The Imperial Search Team, having received orders from the emperor, set out for the Diamond territory.

Upon arrival, they immediately examined the garden, which was suspected to be the medium of the curse.

The Imperial Search Team included someone with the blessing of <Tracking>.

This person could find things that ordinary mages couldn't.

Tracing the residual magic in the garden quickly revealed that it was the work of Buzhes.

Due to the testimony of the Imperial Search Team, Duke Buzhes couldn't deny his involvement.

* * *

A few days later, in the Diamond territory.

I was reading a book, groaning as I thought hard.

The garden, which had been the medium of the curse, was now an empty lot, and I was deciding on new flowers to plant.

Heidi and Betty smiled as they watched me, with my fists on my head, thinking hard.

Heidi pointed to a part of the open book.

“These lilies are beautiful, and these tulips are nice too.”

“What about delicate flowers like violets?”

‘Ah, they're all beautiful.’

Lilies and tulips would be elegant.

Flowers like violets would be cute.

“What about the flower you like the most?”

“What flower do you like the most?”

Heidi and Betty asked in turn.

I answered, still focused on the book.

“Roses.”

“Then you should plant roses again.”

“But Joshua got hurt because of the roses. Seeing roses makes me sad.”

At my words, the maids looked sympathetic.

Then they hugged me from both sides.

“You are so considerate.”

“You are so kind.”

The maids' flattery was now about 50 layers deep.

I opened my eyes and endured their affectionate assault.

“Don't worry now. The bad guy is gone. Duke Buzhes committed suicide...”

“Betty.”

Heidi frowned, and Betty covered her mouth with one hand, saying, “Oops.”

‘I'm fine.’

I had already heard from Han Jihyuk that Duke Buzhes had committed suicide.

He was said to have been scared and committed suicide after it was revealed that he had cursed the Astra family.

But I had a different opinion.

‘Grandfather and Father must have pressured him to do it.’

As evidence, Empress Ocellia did not attend the funeral.

And Duke Buzhes' name was removed from the registry, and he was made to pay a huge compensation to Astra.

Besides me, quite a few people had noticed the pressure from Grandfather and Father.

They thought Astra was ruthless.

‘What's ruthless about it?’

A child was cursed.

I think anyone who does that deserves to die.

‘Because of him, the evaluation of the territory I worked so hard on is a mess.’

The evaluation was nullified due to the commotion.

In the end, the budget was frozen.

‘Well, we received a lot of compensation from Buzhes, so it doesn't matter to us.’

The other second-generation territories will be affected.

Due to the budget cuts from the attack on Grandfather, they must have put a lot of effort into this evaluation.

‘Now that everything seems to be settled, I'll check the comments.’

While the maids were engrossed in the book, I activated my blessing.

A familiar window quickly appeared before my eyes.

< Possessed, but turned out to be the villain's granddaughter. >

I was a normal college student in South Korea.

I was possessed by an extra character in a novel I usually enjoyed reading.

Despite all the hardships I endured as an orphan, it turned out I was the granddaughter of the ultimate villain, the Duke of Astra?!