Chapter 58
It was then.
Speak of the devil. Lucian’s servant finally found his way to our seats.
He looked strangely flushed, as if he had just placed his bets with great confidence.
"Hmm..."
As I watched him, the race time drew near.
Horses began to line up at the starting gate one by one.
How much time had passed since then?
The moment the atmosphere at the racetrack reached its peak, a whistle blew to signal the start of the race.
The horses standing at the starting line kicked off the ground and bolted forward in an instant.
The jockeys adjusted their posture, moving as if they had become one with their horses.
Every time the horses moved their massive muscles to sprint, clouds of dust billowed up.
The spectators cheered for the horses they had bet on at the top of their lungs.
"If I lose today, I can't go home!"
"Hey, just do what you always do!"
A thunderous roar, unlike anything I had heard before, engulfed the stadium.
"The energy here is incredible..."
"Well, money is on the line, after all."
I took a hearty bite of the sandwich Lena had handed me and watched the race.
There was a fierce battle as some horses took the lead early on, while others that had lagged behind picked up speed.
The horses I had chosen in order—1, 2, and 3—did not have a good start.
While everyone else was focused on the horses on the track, I nonchalantly looked around and set my sights on one person.
Whether I was looking elsewhere or not, the race proceeded rapidly.
Rounding the corner and nearing the finish line, the race reached its climax.
*Clop, clop—!*
The moment they crossed the finish line, the fortunes of the spectators shifted.
"Hahaha! I won, I won!"
"Argh! No way, why did that one come in first?"
"Damn it, I thought something would go right today."
Loud noises erupted from around me, as if people had lost a significant amount. When I turned my gaze toward the source of the sound, Lucian’s servant came into view.
"Uwaaaaaaah!!"
He clutched his head and screamed, but when he caught my eye, his expression twisted, and he began to vent his anger at me.
"I told you it was impossible!"
"Yes. You were right."
It was true.
The horses I had chosen—1, 2, and 3—had stayed at the bottom of the pack, just as Lucian’s servant had confidently predicted.
In fact, the horse I said would come in first had finished last.
When I indifferently admitted that he was right, he became even more heated and shouted.
"What are you going to do about my money now? I borrowed every penny I could to put it in! I even resorted to high-interest loans I wouldn't normally dream of touching!"
"What? When did I ever tell you to follow my lead and place a bet? That’s ridiculous."
As the servant stood up as if to threaten me, glaring menacingly, Sir Aiden placed his hand on his sword hilt.
"What kind of rudeness is this toward the Young Lady of the Duchy? If you threaten her one more time, I will not stand by."
"Ugh...!"
I watched the servant recoil and sneered at him as if he were pathetic.
"You doubted me and said you didn't trust me to my face, yet behind my back, you went and placed a bet exactly as I said?"
Besides, I had only stated that I had confirmed which horses would take which places.
I never said that the horses I chose—1, 2, and 3—would come in that specific order.
I had only told Lena to place the bet that way.
The reason I bothered to pretend to bet on different horses in front of Lucian’s servant?
It was simple.
I had suspected that this bastard was an accomplice to Lucian’s wretched father.
After hearing the whole situation from Lucian, I fell into deep thought that night.
It was because there was something that bothered me, no matter how much I thought about it.
I knew that the Dignity Maintenance Allowance paid to Lucian always went to his father.
Here was the problem.
'Who delivered that money to Lucian’s biological father?'
There was no way young Lucian had gone to deliver the money to his father in secret himself.
Someone in his inner circle must have helped him.
Even if the Dignity Maintenance Allowance was just a formality, one had to record where the money was spent.
'Then, did Lucian forge those ledger records himself?'
The answer was 'no.'
Someone around Lucian must have fabricated the ledger as well.
The person who knew Lucian was being blackmailed for money by his father and yet turned a blind eye.
The person who didn't stop there, but worked hard to deliver the money while even manipulating the ledgers.
Who was that person?
And what benefit did they gain from going to such lengths?
Lucian’s trust?
No, that bastard must have been splitting a portion of the money with Lucian’s father.
[Those crazy people! Could it be that an escort knight or a servant is holding my brother's weakness and blackmailing him?]
That was the reason I had initially asked Lucian if his escort knight or servant was blackmailing him.
I had assumed from the start that his father was the culprit, and I was certain that his servants were involved.
But Lucian had shielded them, claiming his servants were innocent.
[N-no! They are all good people, I swear!]
Lucian must have answered that way because he truly believed his servants were hiding things for his sake, but...
No. He was being deceived.
An eleven-year-old child with trauma from his parents. How easy would he be to manipulate?
In the first place, it made no sense for Lucian, whose range of movement was extremely limited to the Papiope Duchy, to have met a swindler.
There must have been a mastermind who connected him to the swindler the moment Lucian desperately needed money and was unable to think clearly.
Of course, that hadn't happened yet at this point in time.
If I hadn't intervened, the same tragedy would have occurred.
It was when I was looking at Lucian’s servant with cold, emotionless eyes.
He insisted, veins bulging in his neck as if he were aggrieved.
"Young Lady...! Didn't you know with your ability that I would place that bet?"
"How dare you raise your voice at the Young Lady?"
*Shing—!*
Sir Aiden and Lucian’s escort knight finally drew their swords and held them to his throat.
But once his words had burst out, he didn't stop.
"No, didn't you try to make me place that ridiculous bet from the very beginning?!"
Listening to him, I was dumbfounded.
"What are you talking about? You placed the bet with your own hands. Didn't you say horses 1, 2, and 3 had no chance? If you knew so well, why did you place such a ridiculous bet?"
"Don't play dumb! You clearly induced me to place that bet, didn't you? Just what... what grudge do you have against me to do this? Tell me!"
"What grudge, you ask?"
I rolled my tongue in my mouth, pausing for effect before answering.
"I do have one deep grudge."
"What on earth did I...!"
"A bastard like you dared to touch my brother."
I wore a painted smile and tilted my head, as if asking if he still didn't understand.
"You're remarkably calm. Are you worried about money even in this situation? The thing you should be worried about isn't that measly money."
It’s the ledger you forged on your own.
At my whispered addition, the servant’s face turned pale in an instant.
He realized then that everything had been exposed.
"How much of the Dignity Maintenance Allowance did you skim off? Did that make your life a little more comfortable?"
The servant immediately knelt, clasped his hands together, and began to beg desperately.
*Thud.*
"I, I'm sorry... I'm sorry. Please, just forgive me once."
But my eyes, as I looked down at him, grew even colder.
"Why are you apologizing to me? You should be apologizing to my brother."
Lucian, who had been watching the exchange between me and the servant, asked in a trembling voice.
"Jack. N-no, right? I told you to keep it a secret from the Duchess, so you kept your mouth shut. There's no way you would have skimmed off the money..."
It was the face of someone facing the cold reality of being betrayed by someone he trusted.
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