CH 62

“What do you mean condition? That’s a little…cheap.”

“Do you know Busperfield?”

“If it’s Busperfield, that Nephirim armed group? …Were you a terrorist, Lady? Honestly, you can say it. I’m not surprised.”

Damian has a bad habit of not stopping at paragraph 1 and continuing to paragraphs 2 and 3. Catherine cleared up his nonsense together in a single stroke.

“Never mind, I’m going to go there a few times while I’m in Phanya. Damian is my gardener, right? I’d like to go with you just in case there’s any danger. Like best friends. We stick together.”

Busperfield was a group of Nephrims like Catherine. Therefore, it was certain that many people would have the same worries as her.

‘There’ll be a lot of things I can use.’

Catherine was going to go back and forth between Phanya and Busperfield to find out all the truth possible, including her mother’s identity and purpose.

However, Damian responded as if it was ridiculous.

“Huh. Do you know what kind of place it is? In a good way, it’s an organization for the human rights of the Nephilim, but in a bad way, it’s no different than a pseudo-religion. I can’t. I can’t send Lady to a place like that.”

He said to Catherine with a rare sincerity. She felt grateful, but Catherine was still going to Busperfield even if Damien danced in his underwear in the square.

“Besides, Busperfields are the ones who will burn even a village for their beliefs. Above all, they don’t even know where they are, so they infiltrate even the Imperial Knights—”

“Here, your ticket.”

Catherine unfolded the small piece of paper she had kept with her mother’s letter and showed it to him.

〈Busperfield Admission Ticket: Giovanni Busperfield Olym〉

“By the way, there is also a place down here.”

Damian narrowed his eyes with a bewildered face and looked at the ticket.

〈In an open place, grab your ticket and wave it towards the sky! Our Busperfield is running!〉

“…it’s a scam.”

“It’s not a scam. Some crazy guy gave me this as a gift, and Madam Pompadour called him Giovanni.”

Damian’s face became more serious as he heard Catherine’s story.

“Lady, don’t be offended and listen. Have you ever… tried fortune-telling? It’s a fate for psychos to get tangled up.”

“Damian is included in those psychos, right?”

Haha! With a dry smile, Damian quickly changed the topic of conversation.

“Did you tell Sir Cesare?”

“Of course.”

Of course, she was going to tell him now.

“He’s not going with you, is he? He’s busy, so it’s going to be difficult that even two bodies aren’t enough, so of course, it’s difficult—. Well! Don’t worry, Lady. I’m here, right? There’s no way we’ll ever die!”

Damian swallowed a glass of milk like a man and left the kitchen. Rose, who was baking another plate of scones, looked at the back and said to Catherine.

“Be careful, Lady. Giovanni Busperfield is the second most dangerous man on the continent. I’m sure he gives Lady an admission ticket because he has an ulterior motive. Where in the world could a favor be given without reason?”

“Rose is right. I’ll be careful.”

Catherine raised herself to go to the Duke of Christopher. And just before leaving the kitchen, she asked Rose as if passing a question.

“But who is the most dangerous person on the continent?”

Rose responded with her eyes wondering if she genuinely didn’t know that.

“Of course, it’s His Highness Cesare! He’s insanely handsome and dangerous! The coolest man of this era! God-given Archmage! A perfect man with all three elements of bloodline, ability, and face! Besides, he’s a single man—”

Catherine left the place in a hurry before the nicknames “The Grand Duke of Roses” or “The Grand Duke of Violet” came out.

✽ ✽ ✽

About an hour had passed since Catherine went to the Duke’s residence. She took 30 minutes just to stop the rampaging Meow as time went on.

「Sniff. It’s too bad. Hunting and licking trembling humans is one of the delicacies.」

Unfortunately, Meow, who curled up inside the bag, lost its appetite.

“I respect your taste, but if you do such a terrible thing in front of my house, we’ll have to move far away.”

「Sniff.」

Originally, she had planned to visit Cesare’s office and get permission to visit Busperfield.

However, contrary to expectations, Cesare’s office was empty. After an hour had passed, not a single snout could be seen, so Catherine went out of his office after much thought.

「But Catherine, do you have to get Cesare’s permission? Catherine is an adult. It is said that when our Gargoyles become adults, we will act according to our own will no matter what!」

“Uhm.”

「And Cesare is a devil who will do whatever Catherine asks. It might be a little hard to see.」

Meow was right. But Catherine really wanted Cesare’s permission.

“When your family goes out for a while, they tell you where they go, right? Cesare and I have a deeper relationship than that family. So it’s okay to share it wherever you go.”

Somehow, it felt like plausible sophistry even after she said it herself.

To be honest, Catherine just wanted to talk to Cesare. It’s been a while since she has seen him.

「I think Catherine has been brainwashed. Cesare was the first to express the contract between the devil and the human as a bond deeper than blood ties.」

“I guess that kind of expression was standard when Cesare was born.”

「Phew. So old!」

The Duke’s house is bigger than the Orléans’ house where she lived. There was no sign of presence anywhere in the spacious mansion. She looked all over the 5th floor, but she couldn’t find anyone anywhere.

「I heard there are a lot of guests, but there is no one.」

“Wouldn’t they get tired and leave?”

There was no way Cesare would have divided his property among his relatives. Because once he establishes a precedent, there will always be others who begin to bully others.

Since the mansion was so quiet, she ended up opening every door she saw. Catherine opened the door at the end of the hall on the fourth floor without thinking—.

“…So, the Minister of Magic must unconditionally come out of our side! We can’t wait and just see Crown Prince Saferan working with the Vatican any longer!”

“Is that what you want? The Emperor has approved the Imperial Minister of Magic for generations. Go to His Majesty and try to flatter him.”

“His Majesty the Emperor, including His Majesty Crown Prince Saferan, has taken turns in appointing the three talented men as ministers. And this time, it is the Crown Prince’s turn to appoint someone as The Imperial Minister of Magic. It couldn’t happen.” (t/n: I’m not really sure about this, sorry;;)

“If Grand Duke Cesare makes a direct statement, that could happen!”

“Don’t be ignorant, Count. Grand Duke Cesare is only helping us on the orders of His Majesty the Emperor. If you are conscious, we’ll have to solve it on our own, except for funding!”

“A punk like you thinks that His Highness Cesare is just money? Don’t open your mouth!”

“What? Don’t open your mouth? Who are you to be so young? I ate 3,000 more meals than you, you punk!”

She must have made a mistake.

It was the largest and most luxurious reception room Catherine had ever seen. There were well over 20 people in the waiting room, sharing opinions with each other.

Fortunately, no one noticed Catherine’s existence because everyone was in a bloody meeting. She tried to close the door as quietly as possible, but unfortunately, one of the nobles turned his head.

“Wait, maid! You’ve come at the right moment. Bring me the second-biggest liquor bottle in this Duke’s house! I think I’ll have to hit this punk’s head with my bottle!”

If it was a maid, is he talking about me? Catherine hesitated, and she opened the half-closed door again.

“What are you doing using Your Highness Cesare’s property thoughtlessly? Are you crazy!”

“That’s why I said it’s the second biggest bottle! It’s like—”

“Be quiet.”

It was just one word. A word that she couldn’t even hear well because of the noisy atmosphere. The cold voice immediately shut everyone’s mouths.

“Everyone, close your eyes and cover your ears.”

The young nobleman in the following order, who was standing in the distance, asked a question.

“Why?”

An old nobleman who was sitting nearby criticized him.

“Well, if Your Highness tells you to do so, how can a young man talk back? I’m sure it has a big meaning. Close your eyes and cover your ears.”

All 20 nobles gathered together, closed their eyes, and covered their ears. Soon the man who commanded the nobles opened his mouth again.

“You may come in now, Catherine.”

It was a very gentle voice, unlike before. Catherine carefully opened the door and stepped inside. Cesare, the owner of the voice, was just rubbing a cigarette in the ashtray and putting it out.

“I’m sorry, Cesare. I didn’t know you had an important meeting.”

“It’s not that important. It feels like feeding a dog is more important.”

Cesare beckoned to her as if to come closer. Catherine shook her head and refused.

“I’ll just come back later.”

“Never mind, and just come here. I was already bored and going crazy.”

Catherine walked slowly among the nobles who closed their eyes and ears, approaching him.

Is it because the timing was the timing?

From Cesare, who sat at the top of the table, she felt the dignity of a great aristocrat that she had never felt before.

Since it came to this, she felt like she had to hurry up and reveal her business and leave.

“It’s not a big deal, I’m thinking of going to Phanya sometime tomorrow, and I’m going to visit Busperfield while staying in Phanya.”

“Already? You live a busy life. You’ve been to the Lilith, and it’s only been a day since you went to the wedding. I guess you don’t want to enjoy your break.”

“It’s not that I’m not thinking…”

Rather, she wanted to solve the secret related to her mother as soon as possible. Cesare, who was looking at Catherine, reached out to her.

Catherine looked puzzled at his large, smooth hands, then carefully raised hers. Cesare took her hand naturally, as if waiting and said.

“Well, there’s no need to complicate things. We’ll just have to go on vacation to Busperfield.”

Catherine narrowed her brows. Go on vacation to Busperfield? Isn’t that too dangerous? No, of course, with Cesare, it’d be a journey to enjoy even if there was any danger—.

“Let’s leave the day after tomorrow instead of tomorrow. I have an appointment until tomorrow afternoon.”

“Um, yes.”

Tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, it’s all the same. Catherine released her hand from Cesare and turned around.

“Huh!”

Perhaps they were peeking through their fingers, the nobles turned their heads hurriedly, holding their breath.

“Stupid things.”

Cesare clicked his tongue aloud as if he wanted everyone to hear it. Why is my face getting hot? Catherine felt a sense of embarrassment that she could not comprehend, and she walked out of the reception room.