I Became the Childhood Friend of the Northern Duchess – Chapter 194

Despite hearing the whole story, Ariel couldn’t shake off her suspicious gaze.

Though I usually trust Edgar in most matters, this was an exception.

After all, where in the world could you find a woman dressed so suggestively caught in your lover’s bed that you’d easily believe her?

It could even be seen as fortunate that she hadn’t set the place ablaze right then and there.

If there was any believable evidence, it was the fact that the unknown woman was not merely asleep but had actually fainted.

If Edgar had truly been trying to cozy up to another woman, typically the woman would be asleep, not fainting, leaving no room for doubt.

This alone somewhat accepted the idea that the assassin, disguised as Ariel, was plausible, especially since the strange scent emanating from her body likely matched the perfume Ariel had used for the first time today.

She might have indeed procured the perfume for this disguise or stolen it from her room and sprayed it on herself.

Generally speaking, it would be right to assume the latter.

“Given the situation, could you check if this woman has any trace of someone else’s magical power?”

“No need to check. I don’t feel anything at all.”

Proving that her doubts were still alive, Ariel pouted yet replied honestly.

In fact, one of the biggest reasons she doubted his words was the lack of any sign on this woman that she’d been controlled or was under someone else’s magical influence.

“I was wondering if I couldn’t feel it… Seems like they must have put in a lot of effort.”

His thorough affirmation brought a hint of disappointment to his face.

If even a trace of Albrecht’s magical power had remained on her, they could’ve seized the opportunity to escalate matters right then.

Instead of feeling fear from a life at risk, he was merely disappointed by the lack of tangible evidence.

“So, this woman is a dog of the Marquis?”

Ariel glared at the woman with her eyes practically screaming for her to die right then.

Honestly, despite the evidence being flimsy, the fact that she had targeted his lover’s life made him want to smash that head in, but he knew he had to hold back for the greater good.

To cool that fury, it seemed he needed to settle down and grasp more detailed circumstances.

Moreover, there might be something Edgar could figure out as the party in question.

For now, he couldn’t allow emotions to overwhelm him.

“I’m not really sure. It’s possible that he brought in an unrelated ordinary woman and controlled her with magic.”

“…If that’s true, that’s disgustingly vile.”

He had known he was dealing with a dirty man since the start of these shady dealings, but hearing Edgar’s words only amplified her disgust.

There was literally no sense of decency involved.

No matter the lengths taken to leave no trace, dragging an unrelated person into such a sinister plot?

Did he think that if he merely erased memories, this woman wouldn’t suffer any consequences?

‘No, that can’t be it.’

As those thoughts crossed her mind, Ariel shook her head and sneered.

Instead, it was likely he couldn’t care less about if she suffered or not.

After all, a man who had tried to hoard the symbol of dominion that had helped Hespania thrive and provided living spaces for the northern residents wouldn’t have the capacity for such normal thought.

Realizing how short-sighted her thoughts had been, she subtly shifted her gaze to the woman lying sprawled on the bed and pointed a finger at her.

“So what do you plan to do about her?”

“Well, it’s certain that rummaging through her memories right now seems a bit risky.”

“Why’s that?”

With Ariel’s skills, exploring the memories of an unconscious ordinary woman should’ve been a breeze.

It wouldn’t have taken long; it’d be finished in a flash.

Edgar, who was supposed to know this better than anyone, seemed somewhat puzzled by her hesitance.

‘What kind of trap could he have laid?’

However, Edgar had his own thoughts behind this hesitation.

Of course, if he could, he’d want to ask Ariel to use magic right now to scan her memories.

But he had heard from Minette long ago that there existed high-level magic which could destroy the mind of the user if they intruded on someone’s head from outside using magic.

Besides, the opponent was said to be the empire’s top magician.

As reluctant as he was to admit it, there was no denying, at least when it came to magical ability, he was unparalleled.

It was also entirely plausible he had subdued the woman to extract information from her directly and laid a trap for them.

Taking all this into account, it was clear he couldn’t put Ariel in danger right now.

It would be better to wait until she regained consciousness, then determine if the woman was truly one of Albrecht’s pawns or simply an unfortunate victim who had fallen into his clutches.

“There’s just something gnawing at me. I mean, her arms and legs are tied up, so she won’t escape.”

“Then wouldn’t it be better to wake her up now?”

“You saw just now; she doesn’t seem to have any intention of waking up.”

The woman, dressed in an embarrassing outfit, was momentarily covered by the blanket that Edgar had pulled over her as he spoke with a bitter smile.

He had tried shaking her, gently tapping her cheeks, even pouring a bit of water on her face, but there were no signs of her waking.

Given that the aim was to subdue her, he had struck without holding back, which must have been quite the shock for her.

It seemed he’d have to wait a whole day at least until the woman woke up.

“Let’s think it over slowly. For now, you get some rest here. I’ll keep an eye on this woman.”

Edgar moved the unconscious user to the sofa and offered the bed space to Ariel.

Since one of them had to endure a sleepless night during a situation like this, it made more sense for him to be on lookout duty.

They couldn’t just rush off to grab Albrecht right this moment.

However, Ariel snapped back with a sharp tone, as if she could not tolerate that.

“How can you sleep so leisurely when something like that just happened?”

“There’s nothing I can do about it. What would you have me do if she wakes up in the middle?”

Ultimately, someone had to do the job.

Moreover, given that Edgar was more efficient staying up than Ariel, who tended to sleep more, it was just practical.

Yet Ariel’s underlying meaning wasn’t lost on him.

“You idiot, it means I’m staying up with you! I’ll be too worried to sleep anyway!”

“What? You don’t trust me?”

Though he’d have confidence handling any intruder, regardless of how clumsy they were, Edgar thought it was unnecessary for both of them to be awake when only one of them was needed to do the job.

But Ariel’s resistance was quite firm, and there was a reason for that.

“I’m done believing a man who left his woman alone only to return as half a corpse. Whatever you do, I’m in it together.”

“Dude, when did you…”

He was utterly dumbfounded that she was still clinging to something from so long ago.

But he couldn’t even get his words out as Ariel grabbed his sleeve.

The soft light seeping from the lamp on the table illuminated Ariel’s profile, her red eyes catching the light as they gazed up at him.

Gone was the ever-confident, intimidating lady of the Duke’s house.

She was simply a fragile girl, trembling in fear at the thought of him vanishing again with closed eyes.

“… I don’t want that. At least for now, I want you to be within my sight.”

“……”

Eventually, words failed Edgar as a chuckle escaped his lips.

Thinking back, he had promised he wouldn’t do anything to worry her after that, and here he was almost breaking that promise already.

Even a fish would have more sense than this. He realized how foolish he was shedding new light on that fact.

“Alright. But if you get tired, you can sleep; just don’t stress yourself too much.”

“I won’t sleep. If I can’t, I’ll just use magic to hold on.”

“Man, you sure are stubborn in the strangest ways.”

He couldn’t help but think of a child determined to hold on while their parents read a fairy tale, and Edgar couldn’t help but chuckle.

So the two of them made their way to bed, leaving the nameless user sprawled on the sofa behind them.

Leaning against the backrest, they both leaned towards each other, feeling warmth despite the cold dawn air.

“What should we do?”

“Not really sure yet; we need to think slowly.”

Ariel, resting her head on his shoulder, asked cautiously, but Edgar couldn’t come up with any feasible solutions either.

‘Should we just take her back to Hespania? What if there’s not much to gain there either?’

Minette might be able to break the defenses and rummage through the woman’s memories, but if that failed, the future looked rather bleak.

After all, right now, neither of them had effective means to firmly target Albrecht.

Assaulting him today had certainly been dramatic, but that was only possible because he had reacted sensitively.

If Albrecht suddenly chose to play dumb and deny everything later, they would just be back at square one.

It wasn’t likely he would make numerous appearances in the palace like today, so it would become increasingly difficult to question him.

But rushing out might lead to their own downfall.

‘It’d be great if they showed their hand first.’

In an ideal world, Albrecht would declare, “I orchestrated all these foul plots!” But what dark figure does something like that?

The only hope would be to trap one of his close subordinates or someone related to him to shed some light on the facts, but that wasn’t going to be easy either.

‘Ugh, this is giving me a headache.’

Eventually, seeing this incident as an opportunity for a counterattack, Edgar found it only led him deeper into helplessness.

He had gotten a bit too complacent thinking that the man wouldn’t easily engage in shady deals within the palace.

Had he not thought that way, perhaps they might have at least gotten a little closer to catching a lead.

After all, even if it was an annex, how could he have dared to carry out such acts in a location that was still considered part of the imperial palace?

Edgar couldn’t help but shake his head in disbelief of the audacity of the enemy while also grappling with an annoying sensation lingering in his chest that he couldn’t easily dismiss.

‘As much as I hate to think it, could it be that direction?’

Gradually, that inference that he had dreaded began to surface, asserting itself in his mind.

Perhaps this matter could not be resolved solely with their own power, and he gently touched Ariel’s hand that lay abandoned near him.

‘Anyhow, them showing their impatience means it’s our turn to hold our breath and lay low.’

Prodding at a cornered beast only leads to bloodshed.

Moreover, they were barehanded without the right tools. Charging in recklessly was just plain stupid.

Edgar decided that if he couldn’t extract anything from the woman by the next day, he would return to Hespania immediately.

A step back for ten steps forward.

And for the sake of resolving the lingering issues in his heart, there was someone he needed to meet soon.

‘Guess I’ll be relying on my father once again.’