For the upper-middle class, who had no need to work for a living, taking walks was an essential form of recreation.
At a country estate, Elisa and Ophelia could stroll around the courtyard and admire the flowers and greenery. But this manor was located in the heart of the city. There was no spacious courtyard, only a small garden suitable for sitting and enjoying the flowers. That was why nobles preferred living on estates in the countryside.
Fortunately, Eleanor’s manor itself was quite large. Elisa followed Ophelia as they wandered through the house. She had originally assumed Ophelia wanted to ask about the logic puzzle, but instead, the Fourth Princess brought up something Elisa never expected.
It was the theft that had occurred at Elisa’s estate over a month ago.
Although Ophelia used the broader issue of public security in the capital as a pretext, Elisa had the feeling that her true interest was the theft at the estate. And Butler Sheldon who had died a gruesome death at the claws of the spirit baboon.
Elisa couldn’t understand why Ophelia, a princess of the kingdom, would care about this case.
Could Ophelia have come here today specifically because of it?
Was Ophelia behind the spirit-related murder? Or was the royal family somehow involved?
Elisa gave Ophelia the same answers she had given Officer Caroline from the military back then.
When their walk ended, they returned to the parlor. Ophelia stayed for a little while longer before rising to say goodbye.
Elisa breathed a sigh of relief. If only my male servant were here. I can’t make heads or tails of this situation by myself.
Let’s see what my male servant is up to. Elisa picked up her black tea and opened [Simon’s Log], ready to indulge in the pleasure of spying on him.
[Simon’s gaze swept across Ophina’s chest, and he marveled at her abundance.]
Checking out another busty maid again? So this maid’s called Ophina… Wait, Ophina?!
“Cough, cough, cough, cough!” Elisa choked on her tea. Covering her mouth with a handkerchief, she broke into a violent coughing fit and stared at the screen in disbelief.¹
What the hell are you doing?! Where are you looking?!
[Ophina’s Bulging Chest.jpg]
You even dared to take a picture!
If you have a death wish, don’t drag me down with you!
Elisa wanted to rush downstairs, grab her male servant, and throw him out of the manor.
[Simon chatted with Ophina, telling her about how he had bravely captured a thief. Ophina was very interested and asked him many questions about the details.]
It’s Butler Sheldon’s case again. Ophelia really did come here because of that!
What secrets are hidden behind this whole thing?
[Ophina failed to obtain the clues she wanted. Simon noticed a surge of spirituality invading his body.]
What? An attack?! What is that princess trying to do?!
That’s my male servant!
Elisa had no time to think. Her [Blood] spell unfolded, encompassing the entire manor.
She locked onto her male servant and Ophelia, as well as the two people beside Ophelia. One of those two had to be a Transcendent bodyguard. Perhaps they both were.
If she had to make a move, she would need to take them all down at once… Ophelia couldn’t be killed. Knocking her unconscious would be enough; otherwise, Eleanor might get into trouble. Then she could use blood clones to distract their pursuers, take precautions against divination and tracking, and quickly flee the capital with her male servant.
The capital had an extensive sewer system, and remnants of spirits from the old dynasty still lingered within it, making the underground labyrinth both complex and dangerous. If the city was locked down too quickly and they couldn’t escape, they could hide underground and find some way to ask Teacher for help.¹
Elisa rapidly worked out a plan for murder and escape, then revised it further. She could send blood clones to attack the Parliament Building or the royal palace, drawing the Transcendents’ attention away and making them believe this was a political attack.
She was ready.
A storm was about to engulf the capital!
[Simon understood the purpose of that surge of spirituality.]
What purpose?!
[It was a power known as Charm. The beautiful Miss Ophina was trying to seduce him!]
“….…?”
I was already prepared to kill people and flee the capital for you, and now you’re telling me Princess Ophelia was just trying to seduce you?!
Elisa clenched her fists.
[Simon felt that Miss Ophina’s spell was entirely unnecessary. She was already seductive enough on her own.]
I’m going to report you to the royal family, you hopeless pervert!
Elisa slipped a hand into her sleeve, brushing her fingers over her Transcendent items as she considered how to interrupt Ophelia.
She knew what Ophelia was planning. Her male servant had personally witnessed the Sheldon theft incident, and Ophelia wanted to obtain more reliable information from him.
Although she had no idea what exactly was going on, she couldn’t let Ophelia succeed. Her male servant knew far too much.
[This was a somewhat slow-acting form of Charm. Simon used the Scarab Badge to purge the Charm from his body. The badge was buried beneath several layers of clothing, so the light it emitted was faint and went unnoticed.]
Using Purification to remove Charm was another option. Purification acted on the spirit body, while Charm was also an ability related to the spirit.
Elisa withdrew her hand from her sleeve.
[Faced with the beautiful Miss Ophina’s questioning, Simon pretended to be utterly captivated by her beauty and added a few useless details.]
You don’t need to pretend! You’re already a hopeless lecher!
[Miss Ophina was somewhat disappointed. She concluded her questioning about the case, then curiously asked Simon for the answer to the blue-eyes-and-red-eyes question.]
Why did you have to ask him that?! Elisa felt as though she had been struck by lightning.
It’s over. I’m going to be exposed!
Her male servant had asked the Magic Mirror that question. There was no way Miss Elisa should know about it! I was originally planning to find some way to deal with this tonight!
For example, there was one relatively crude solution: have “Teacher” suddenly come online and tell her male servant that this question was also known in the Archipelago, so there was nothing strange about Miss Elisa knowing it. There’s no way her male servant came up with the question himself, right?
But I haven’t done anything yet! Covering my tracks beforehand would be effective, but trying to cover them afterward is bound to leave flaws!
I’m finished! With how perceptive my male servant is, he’ll definitely follow the clues and figure out that I’m the Magic Mirror, that I’m Teacher, that I’ve been fooling him this whole time, and that I even swindled him out of his salary and bonuses!
Although none of that was really a serious problem, and her male servant wouldn’t betray her over it, her dignity and her integrity would be completely gone! Her male servant would look at her like she was absolute scum!
Miss Elisa was utterly devastated. She didn’t dare look at [Simon’s Log], but she had no choice.
She quickly stole a glance from the corner of her eye.
[Simon nodded inwardly. Just as I thought.]
Just as you thought what? You already figured it out?! Why didn’t you write that in your log?!
[Simon thought that, as expected, the Magic Mirror could answer questions involving information. It was simply that the relevant functions weren’t available to him.]
[Miss Elisa had higher-level access to the Magic Mirror and could freely use it to investigate all sorts of information. That was why she was so knowledgeable and knew so much about what was happening in the East District.]
Elisa was completely baffled, with no idea what her male servant was talking about.
[Simon coaxed some information out of Miss Ophina and learned that the young ladies had been playing a collaborative storytelling game earlier. Miss Elisa had no story to tell, so she urgently asked the Magic Mirror for help, and the Magic Mirror gave Elisa the riddle he had asked it a few days ago.]
What? So that’s how I “found out” about the riddle?
Elisa suddenly understood everything.
[Simon thought of another possibility. Perhaps Miss Elisa was actually… No, there would be absolutely no point in doing that.]¹
There is a point! For the sake of my dignity! And for the sake of robbing you of your gold pounds!
Fortunately, her male servant didn’t know about the “Ultimate Male Servant Training Plan” so he had no reason to think she would do something so absurd.
Elisa let out a deep sigh of relief.
[Simon told Ophina the answer to the riddle but said he didn’t know the steps to solve it.]
Leave the explanation to me! You did very well!
[Ophina asked one final question: of all the women Simon had ever met, who did he find the most charming?]
What a narcissistic question! Hmph, you’re just hoping to hear your own name, aren’t you?!
[Simon replied that the most noble, gentle, wise, and captivating woman he had ever met was Miss Elisa.]
Huh?! Me? Seriously?
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