Chapter 265 – Manipulative tricks

“I will strangle that bitch with my own hands no matter what anyone says.” Muttered Carl.

“Doubt it.” Said Theressa.

“What?” Carl said, crossing his arms.

“You, young man, are to stay here, with your fiancée, and salvage whatever is possible from your relationship. Unless, of course, you wish to live a life of hatred together the rest of your life.” Theressa said.

“Agree.” Said Archduke. “The maid would have to be dealt with without you.”

“Salvage? How? What am I to do? She…she never loved me.” Said Carl.

“Do you?” Asked Noah.

“What do you want to say?” Growled Carl. “All this shit…”

“What? My fault? Is that what you think? It would have been better to keep on mind manipulating Lady Violette?” Asked Noah. “If that's what you want, I think I can erase her memory of this day. But I am not strong enough to do the same for anyone else in this room, so we all would know the truth. Do you want that?”

Carl’s eyes went wide before he lowered his head.

“That is not what he meant. I assure you.” Said Prince, patting his friend, in a gesture to calm him down. “What I do know about him is that he is an honorable man and would never wish her something like that.”

“That was not my question.” Said Noah. “Have your feelings changed, Young Master Carl? Have you stopped loving her? Were you liking her simply because she liked you back?”

“No. Of course not.” Said Carl. “I… I would do anything to make her happy…”

“Then let her know that. Give her some time to calm down and sort her thoughts for now, but then show her that your feelings were real. That even if she does not feel that way towards you anymore, it does not mean you would not. Then win her heart anew. You know her well now. You know what man she needs. Be the man she wishes to have beside her. That manipulative bitch may have forced you two together, but happiness and memories were yours. Show her that this happiness could be achieved even without that bitch’s meddling.”

“Wonderfully said, my dear.” Said Theressa grabbing his hand and looking at him with shining eyes like a newly fallen-in-love girl.

“Then let us end today's discussion here. I believe you would not seek any retribution of offence from Count McDaniels, Your Excellency? After all, he was completely right on the mind-manipulation issue. His suspicions were very well justified in my opinion as a third party.” Said Lord Belmont.

“No, we will not.” Said Archduke agreeing with Royal Investigator.

“Good. In that case all other matters can be discussed later. Now then why don’t you show young men to their rooms. They are tired from the road and now have plenty of things to think about. Let us all meet at dinner? What do you say, your Highness?” Royal Investigator said.

Kevin looked around at both Archduke, Dutchess and Lord Belmont, feeling there was something private they wanted to discuss, so he nodded and stood up.

“Girls.” Said Theressa simply to the Dryads, and both maids bowed and went to the door, with Carl and Kevin following them.

The knight serving Lord Belmont followed after the Prince, leaving the room now only with Theressa, Noah, Cassandra, Lord Belmont, and Archduke.

Once the door closed, silence fell in the room.

Archduke took his cup and sipped some tea before gazing at Noah.

“The matter of dungeons… Now that I have seen your capabilities, I have no doubt of what you said. Cleaning up all dungeons in the region, you would not throw these words on the wind if you were not sure you could achieve it. What resources would you need?” Said Archduke.

“Fighting force. We do not have enough manpower for that. All else we can arrange on our own.” Said Theressa.

“This goes without question. Lord Belmont and I will both arrange our best teams. However, we would have to do it within the next week.”

“That is a bit too quick a…” started to say Theressa.

“There is no choice. I need a bargaining chip if I am to discuss the matter of that crazy Granny Paula with the Archduke of the West. I doubt Belmont can stall for time any longer; a week or two at most, and she will be executed regardless. I do not ask you to do it all within that time. Just show the result. An extraordinary result. Enough for him to stop and think when I put the offer on the table. You can complete the task at a later time.”

“What exactly is the offer?” Asked Noah.

“That you will not only clean up the North, but the West as well. A life of that woman, for the safety of an entire region.” Said Archduke. “He is a man of duty. His domain is above all else. I believe this will interest him enough to at least listen to us.”

“I see. When you are talking about extraordinary results, do you want the dungeons captured or closed?” Asked Noah

Lord Belmont and Archduke looked at each other.

They were now sure. Whatever happened to that last dungeon, its fall was not an accident. Usually it takes time for a dungeon to dissipate all magic and crumble. It allows the country to send in magicians and engineers to build a fortification and prevent the collapse in some cases. But the one this boy crushed has fallen immediately and an entire street has sunk into the ground. They had not been sure of the reason, as something like that had never happened. Until now the reason stayed a mystery; all they had was a suspicion that Noah somehow could achieve it. Now they could finally be sure he was the cause of it.

“We will choose which ones to close and which ones to crumble. If they are under some populated area, we would not be able to evacuate people without alerting the criminals, so they would have to be left uncollapsed.” Said Lord Belmont. “My people will provide you with all the needed information and tell you which way we wish to deal with every dungeon. We have more or less pinpointed most of the dungeons and entrances. There are five in total in the North region at the moment. Entering them is the only problem. For now your main task is to bring our teams inside.”

“Alright.” Said Noah, nodding. “However, I would need your men to follow my instructions to a degree. Getting them to the dungeons requires me to use some of my secrets, and I would not wish to publish them, so they would have to follow some rules. Besides, I would like my identity to stay hidden as well.”

Lord Belmont and Archduke nodded.

“Also, when you offer it to the Archduke of the West.” Said Noah.

“This will be harder. He will demand to know how we achieved it. But we will try to obscure the information as much as possible.” Said Archduke. “Anything else?”

Noah and Theressa looked at each other and shook their heads.

“Good. Now, regarding your doppelgänger agent. When will it…she…When will she be able to get to the academy? We have to act quickly for that maid to not get suspicious. Besides, Count McDaniels would have to come as well, to restore the lost memory as quickly as possible after her absorption. How do you propose we fit all these matters into these two weeks?”

“That…would not be a problem. She will be there when your people reach the academy. I will meet up with her on the night of the operation. We would only need you to provide us with a way to enter the academy. I believe there are measures to prevent entrance from unrelated personnel or a monster.” Noah said.

Lord Belmont and Archduke once again looked at him for a time without speaking.

“Very well. I will take care of this.” Archduke said. “I will trust you to be punctual. For now I would need to go back to the ship to send messages and arrange a few things.”

“Ah. It might be a bit dangerous to wander the garden without a guide.” Said Theressa “I will guide…”

“There is a small matter I wish to discuss with you in private as well, Dutchess.” Said Lord Belmont.

“It’s alright.” Cassandra said, putting her hand on Theressa’s shoulder. “I will guide Archduke out. I know the path as well as the back of my hand. After all, I come here to spend time with my nieces all the time.” Said Cassandra.

“Very well.” Said Archduke and followed Cassandra out of the room.

“If you’ll excuse me I will…” Started to say Noah, feeling Lord Belmont wanted him to leave as well.

“Oh, please stay for a few moments more, darling. We will be very quick.” Said Theressa and Lord Belmont creased his eyebrows.

“This may need some discus…”

“You want me to return the monsters you lent to me, right? It’s all right. You can have them back. I have no need for them anymore.” Said Theressa, dismissively, and Lord Belmont almost choked on his tea.

What the hell is this woman talking about? She pressed the Royal Family so hard to let her use the monsters, and now she says she does not care? Was his master Kollosov right and she was just being really petty?

“I see. In that case, I, too, would have to go arrange something back on the ship. I will go catch up to Duchess Vespertine and Archduke.” Said Lord Belmont and stood up to leave but was stopped by Theressa’s next words.

“Was the arrangement of Paula’s matter to your liking, Lord Belmont?” Theressa asked. “Have I exceeded your expectations?” She said, a small leering smile appearing on her lips.

Noah looked at his mate with a raised eyebrow, not sure what she meant.

“I am not sure what you mean by that.” Said Lord Belmont.

“No? I thought you would be happy with how things turned out. After all, you did not have to point out the mind manipulation yourself and did not bring the Archduke’s suspicion upon yourself. So it played into your hand quite well, didn’t it?” Said Theressa.

“Khem…” Lord Belmont coughed before taking another sip of tea. “As I said, I do not…”

“My spy spider died long ago, but he did manage to bring to my ear a matter of you stalling the case. I was thinking for a long time about what you were going to arrange to make Archduke do you a favor. Then it hit me when you so half-heartedly wrote off the life of that maid. It was unlike you, Lord Royal Investigator.” Theressa said.

“I doubt you would agree to plan if she had been a spy of a royal family and a member of our kingdom's espionage team. You would try to save her life. Yet you were so calm and nonchalant. Which makes me believe you knew of this matter long ago, as well as who exactly she works for. In fact, this was exactly the thing you were going to present to the Archduke in exchange for a favor from him, wasn't it? But Noah, suddenly finding out the truth, threw a stick into your plan at first, yet in the end, I believe, it turned out even better than you expected. Am I right?”

After all, aiming for a favor from that man instead of immediately bringing information to his attention as you should have would make you lose face in his eyes. But now not only does he not suspect that you withheld crucial information from him, but he also offered to do a favor on his own. You kept your face and received what you wished for. This was the best turn of events for you, was it not?”

Lord Belmont looked at her silently, his face going frosty.

“So?” He asked just one word which made Noah’s eyes go wide.

Lord Belmont knew about the mind manipulation this whole time?

“Ah, nothing, I am just curious. Who does she work for in the end? Please just let me have that piece of information and I promise, my mouth would be forever shut about this matter.” Theressa said.

“North.” Said Lord Belmont. “Anything else?”

“Ah, I see. A spy from a rival country. No wonder you are so cold toward the girl’s fate. Thank you for satisfying my curiosity." Said Theressa.

“Cold? You do realise what it takes to infiltrate this deep. She has a solid background. How do you achieve that?”

“I am not sure.” Said Theressa.

“She manipulated another family, infiltrated their household. Made them believe she was their daughter. Then she would need to erase anyone who would testify against her when she is away from the family for a long time. So she needs to cut off all loose ends. This girl, do you know her story? She is an orphan right now. Her family, her fake family into which she inserted herself with mind manipulation, had an unfortunate fate. The entire household was wiped out in the monster attack. She was the only one surviving.”

“It was not an accident.” Said Theressa.

“No doubt. But just inserting herself into the family and telling them she is their daughter is not a simple matter; after all, the Kingdom has a record of all births in the kingdom. So who did she pose as, for her background to be solid?”

“The real daughter…” said Noah, realization dawning on him. “Then… then what happened to the real daughter?”

“That is a good question, but we can be sure her body would never be found. And that woman lived with that family for months or years, looking in the eyes of the people whose daughter she had killed and made them believe she was their real daughter. Made them love her, made them care for her. Do not be mistaken about her; she is no ordinary woman. She is a cold-blooded murderer and will not hesitate to slit the throat of anyone in this country. This country is her enemy. For me she is an enemy as well, so I will not hesitate for a second to slit her throat either.” Said Lord Belmont.

“Now, if there are no more questions, I will go.” Lord Belmont said.

“Ah yes, yes. Please, go ahead. We await you for dinner, Your Excellency,” said Theressa.

Lord Belmont left the room, and Noah turned to his mate.

“So the maid is a North Kingdom agent sent to infiltrate Archduke’s family through Lady Violette? All that effort. The death of the family she installed herself into, the poor girl's mind manipulation, all of it just to gradually get to the Archduke?” Asked Noah.

“Yes. It seems so. If she is strong enough, she would be able to manipulate the man. But the problem is her manipulation needs time. For that, she would first of all need to get close to the Archduke. But that man makes a very thorough background check on people whom he brings into his household. But his heir falling in love and bringing back a pregnant girl is too random an event. It does not feel like an agent worming his way into his confidence, so there was a high chance he would overlook a maid of that girl and would not dig too deeply to find strangeness in the girl's background. It was a masterful scheme, I would say.” Theressa said.

“I see. First she chose the most suitable family that could marry into the Archduke's family, with a daughter the same age of Archduke's grandson. And that was the Fertille family. So she infiltrates the vassal family of the Fertille Family, then the Fertille family itself, through an accident. They believe they are taking under their wing a poor girl from a vassal family who has lost her entire family. After that, she waited until the daughter of the Fertille family went to the academy, where she would arrange the two young people’s meeting and make Young Lady Violette get pregnant to ensure the Archduke's family would take responsibility. It was a long work.” Said Noah.

“Speaking of long work, it seems like this maid was not the only one who did such a splendid job at worming her way into people’s confidence in this whole story.” Said Theressa.

“What do you mean?” Asked Noah.

“Think about it. How did investigators find out about the girl?” Asked Theressa.

“I…I don’t know. Don’t tell me, you figured it out?” Asked Noah, surprised.

“It's not actually very hard to figure. Lord Belmont literally said it right here in this room. The only way to find out the work of “Inducer” is another “Inducer”. So when and where did the Inducer of our Kingdom have a chance to find out the spy without her knowing?”

“The mind check. It was when the prince insisted on the royal mage checking her. The maid did not know of it. But wait, that means this royal mage, Sir Birchash was an inducer working for the Investigation Bureau? Of all people, His Highness asked him for help. What a coincidence.” Said Noah.

“There was no coincidence in that, dear. Do you think His Highness would turn for help to just anyone? No, he needed someone he could trust. The fact that the prince felt confident turning to this exact royal mage for help, means he is on good terms with him and trusts him. Do you get it? This is no coincidence. The Investigation Bureau is keeping a close eye on exchange princes. That man is no different from the girl's maid. Just a spy worming his way into the prince's confidence, spying for the King.”

“I see.” Said Noah. “But I wonder if just keeping an eye is all he does.”

Theressa raised her eyebrow in surprise.

“You mean…” she muttered, tapping a finger on her cheek thoughtfully.

“You said he must be an inducer. What are the odds that of all spies it is such a rare system holder?”

“Oh, wow. This is a side even I did not see at first. You are a genius, dear. It surely must be for a reason.”

“But why would the King send an inducer to his own kin?” Said Noah.

“Who knows. Maybe just to keep him obedient before he is sold off to another family. Or maybe to keep him as a hypnotized pawn when he is in the other family.” Said Theressa.

“Fuck. The world of high noble diplomacy makes me sick.” Said Noah.

“It is sickening indeed, dear. But you have to look at it clearly and get used to it and see through all these manipulative tricks to be able to survive.” Said Theressa.

Noah could only nod in agreement.