Chapter 115:
‘Was Rampleld calling Melaine a Saint because she’s the Saint of the Holy Demon Religion?’
The old man’s leering face, his beard swaying, flashed through her mind.
Melaine had constantly preached the doctrines of the Holy Demon Religion to Sue, but she had never mentioned her position in the religion.
Perhaps she had forgotten, or perhaps she had been too embarrassed to say it, even while brainwashed.
Anyway, it seemed like Melaine had already caught the high priest’s eye.
“The service itself wasn’t that different from other religions… Oh, and there were more people than I expected. The chapel was packed.”
That was all Azette had to say.
“Lady Azette, are you planning to go back to the Holy Demon Religion chapel?”
Azette looked troubled, as if she didn’t know how to answer.
“As I said, I already belong to another subordinate religion. The others… I think they didn’t want to be tested for that soul purity thing. Lady Melaine was beautiful, but they said they wouldn’t go back…”
Sue was certain, after hearing those words, that Melaine’s followers and Azette hadn’t been brainwashed.
In the novel, the only one who used brainwashing magic was the high priest of the Holy Demon Religion. And according to Azette, they had visited the chapel on a day when the high priest wasn’t there. They were lucky.
After getting information from Azette, Sue summoned her so-called “errand boys,” who had some connections to her family, to her townhouse.
There were three “errand boys” in total. They were a small organization that would handle any task, no matter how shady, as long as they were paid.
Sue was afraid to hire a full-fledged underworld organization, so she had entrusted the Holy Demon Religion investigation to the “errand boys,” who were somewhere in between.
She would gather as much evidence as possible of the Holy Demon Religion’s wrongdoings and hand it over to the Imperial Audit Department. She couldn’t trust the Grand Temple to handle it.
But as she had feared, it would be difficult to gather evidence, as the Holy Demon Religion wasn’t powerful yet.
Even Halo in the novel had taken time to find evidence of brainwashing magic. That was partly because Halo was weak against detection magic, but even so, the “errand boys” wouldn’t be able to easily find traces of illegal magic.
So Sue asked them to find physical evidence instead.
“There should be a list of followers, a donation ledger, or maybe even a magical formula for brainwashing magic in the high priest’s office.”
Sue gave a final warning to the “errand boys” as they were leaving for Dande.
“He might use brainwashing magic. No, assume he will and be careful.”
“Hahaha, thanks for the advice. We’re quite knowledgeable about magic ourselves. Don’t worry too much, red-haired lady.”
They dismissed her warning and left for Dande. Sue had considered buying them expensive anti-magic potions, but she assumed the “errand boys” would be prepared.
She continued with her daily life, waiting for their first report.
She took care of Enzhe, listened to Melaine’s proselytizing for hours, observed Halo’s happy academy life, and went for walks in the park with Noel on her days off.
“…Why haven’t I heard from them?”
But even after ten days had passed since the promised date for their first report, there was no news from the “errand boys.” She checked all the mail she had received in the past ten days, just in case, and she even sent a servant to their office, but there was no trace of them.
‘Did they get caught? They must have.’
As soon as she heard the servant’s report that “no one was at the office,” Sue rushed to their office to see for herself. But there was no twist. She saw the empty office with her own eyes and stood there, dumbfounded.
“They’re gone…”
She had naively thought that if she gathered evidence and reported it to the Imperial Family, or even begged Fritz or Acrea, they would at least listen to her.
But to think she would be blocked at the first hurdle.
“Byron, is something wrong?”
Noel, who had returned to the academy after a long absence, asked worriedly, seeing her tapping her fingers anxiously.
“The Holy Demon Religion…”
“Huh? What did you say?”
Sue, finally noticing him, snapped out of her daze.
“It’s nothing… Oh, right.”
She was about to change the subject when a question came to mind.
“Noel, Marquis Yuna hasn’t returned yet, has she?”
“The captain? No, half of the First Knights Division went to the Locor Kingdom to escort the Crown Prince… I think she’ll be back in three months.”
“Right… I guess so.”
If Yuna had been here, she wouldn’t have ignored this situation. She cared deeply about Melaine.
Did Yuna even know that Melaine’s engagement had been broken?
‘The timing couldn’t be worse.’
“Byron, what’s wrong? Tell me. Did the captain say anything?”
“No, it’s nothing…”
Sue was about to shake her head, as usual, but she stopped.
“I’m worried about Lady Melaine, that’s all.”
“So that’s why you asked about the captain.”
Sue nodded.
“Does she even know about the broken engagement? She left at such a crucial time.”
She knew it wasn’t Yuna’s fault. If it hadn’t been for Enzhe, Melaine’s engagement wouldn’t have been publicly revealed.
The “errand boys” were missing, Melaine was becoming more and more obsessed with the Holy Demon Religion, and at this rate, the capital might be swallowed up even sooner than in a year.
‘And if I get brainwashed too…’
Sue’s legs trembled with anxiety.
“It’ll be okay, Byron.”
Noel placed his hands on her shoulders. He didn’t know what she was worried about, but he chose to reassure his friend rather than pry into the Holy Demon Religion she had mentioned.
Sue looked up at him, and he smiled kindly.
“If you’re really worried, tell me. I’ll do something about it.”
It was an empty boast. A complete bluff, without any plan or basis. Sue knew that. She knew, but…
“…Thank you, Noel.”
Raines Noel gave her the answer she wanted. And that was enough.
***
After the “errand boys” went missing, Sue sent two of her house servants to the Holy Demon Religion chapel. This time, she deliberately chose a day when the high priest wasn’t there and made them drink anti-magic potions.
It was absurd to expect two servants, who knew nothing about magic or information gathering, to uncover the Holy Demon Religion’s illegal activities.
She ordered them to simply check if the “errand boys” were there, and if so, in what condition, and then come back immediately.
But something was strange.
The two servants, who had been sent out with careful preparations, didn’t return either, even after several days.
“I shouldn’t have… done that.”
Sue sat at her desk in her office, a place she had rarely been in her life, and chewed on her dry regret.
She had thought it would be safe to go on a day when the high priest wasn’t there, based on the fact that Melaine’s followers had returned to the capital safely.
She had thought that if she hired people to gather evidence quickly, it would be solved, as the Holy Demon Religion was still small.
But it seemed like Sue Byron was powerless to solve anything on her own.
‘Damn it, no news is also evidence, I guess.’
Sue, her head in her hands, reluctantly started writing a petition.
She didn’t know if there would be a response, but she planned to exaggerate the situation and report it to the Imperial Family, hoping for the best.
She was forcing her stiff hand to move when…
“Miss, should I go?”
Ten, her personal maid, who had been quietly watching her after serving her tea, spoke cautiously.
“No.”
Sue immediately rejected Ten’s absurd suggestion. She flipped through the document book containing the petition form and said flatly,
“You’ll just end up like An and Pete. I don’t need you to go, so please leave.”
Ten, hearing the names of the two servants who had never returned, replied as if she had been waiting for it,
“…I won’t end up like An and Pete. They just ran away.”
“What?”
“Give me the order, Miss.”
Ten, holding the round tray, slammed her hand on the desk. Sue stared at her long fingers, speechless, wondering what was going on.
“Let’s just get this over with, whatever it takes.”
“…Why are you acting like this all of a sudden?”
Ten had always been a diligent maid, but she had never done anything beyond Sue’s orders. Sue couldn’t get used to her maid’s sudden outburst.
Ten, realizing her mistake, quickly apologized.
“I’m sorry, Miss. I was out of line, insulting the great heir of the Byron family.”
“It’s fine, just tell me why you did that.”
Sue put down her quill and leaned back in her chair. Ten, relieved by her mistress’s mercy, answered her question obediently. Her voice was quieter than before.
“If you keep worrying like this and end up like last year, I might actually die.”
Ten had been incredibly frustrated these past few weeks. The incident that had happened last winter had left a kind of trauma on her.
Sue had acted on her own, without telling anyone, she had almost died, and as a result, Ten, Nine, and countless other servants had almost lost their heads. Both figuratively and literally.
Sue Byron had become truly strange.
To be blunt, Ten couldn’t understand what was going on in her red-haired mistress’s mind.
At first, she had been relieved that Sue had calmed down. But now, it was difficult to even grasp her once predictable thoughts.
Melaine’s broken engagement? The Holy Demon Religion?
The old Sue would have scoffed at such things. She wouldn’t have even glanced at anyone other than Enzhe, and she would have been the first to mock Melaine’s broken engagement, not genuinely worry about her.
But now, she was worried about Melaine Vava joining a subordinate religion, even though there was no evidence of any wrongdoing. She was hiring people, claiming it was a cult. And when asked why, she would just smile cryptically.
It was just like last winter.