/
The knights he had taken with him arrived at the ducal residence a little later than Coco, who had turned into a cat and taken a shortcut, along with the accountant, the owner of the secret ledger.
Dimitri, who first imprisoned the accountant in the dungeon, called Viscount Villefranc after dinner and gave him his orders.
“Hyle, convene the council of elders.”
“
Do you mean now?”
It was too late to hold the meeting.
“Tell them it’s an emergency meeting. If you catch Count Bilbao and tie him up outside the front door, they’ll hear the rumor and come running on their own.”
When I heard that, I was taken aback.
“Tying up Count Bilbao?”
“You’ve got to lay out the bait, Rowaine, so that they can smell it and flock to it.”
At those words, Viscount Villefranc asked Dimitri.
“What shall we do with those who insist on not coming?”
“Could they endure it when they’re being pricked like that? I regard it as meaning that they’re in league with Count Bilbao and
”
Dimitri suddenly glanced at me before lowering his voice to whisper something to the Viscount. Seeing that, I narrowed my eyes and glared at him.
“Why are you two talking about this in private after all the confidential information I’ve given you?”
He shrugged.
“It’s not really a secret.”
Viscount Villefranc alternately glanced back and forth between me and Dimitri before he confessed.
“Those with heavy buttocks* are dead. Since the Duchess is frail, it would be better to deal with it secretly.”
[ T/N: To ‘have a heavy buttock’ means ‘To tend to stay in one place for a long time without thinking about leaving the place at all.’ ]
After finishing his words as if they were pouring out of his mouth, he took a big step back at Dimitri’s threatening gaze.
“Well, you’ll know when it happens anyway.”
I gently tugged on Dimitri’s arm so that Viscount Villefranc could escape.
“He’s right. I would’ve known the next day.”
“If you’re thinking of stopping me
”
“Me? Why?”
Dimitri gazed at me strangely when I replied.
“Doesn’t Rowaine value life?”
I waved my hand in the air.
“Innocent animals and shapeshifters are being taken advantage of by bad masters. Humans who aren’t my people are out of my range of defense. They need to take care of themselves, you know?”
Upon hearing my words, he looked a little confused.
“Isn’t it usually the other way around?”
“That’s my standard. I’m sure Dimitri has his own reasons for doing that, so I’m not going to be bothersome by saying that you’re being cruel.”
It was probably a coincidence that Dimitri and Viscount Villefranc looked away at the same time when I said my last words.
“I don’t intend to be oppressive, so please don’t leave me out at critical moments to be overprotective.”
I was the one who gave them the information about the secret ledger, but it made me feel bad not knowing the handling of the case related to it. Saying it was for my mental health was overprotective, which I didn’t want.
‘I have to know how the situation is going so I can make smart moves when needed.’
As he pondered something for a moment, Dimitri made a suggestion.
“Then, I’m going to go catch some slave traders now. Would you like to come with me? You might see some rough sights.”
“Of course! Oh, my God. You weren’t going to take me?”
Needless to say, I wanted to see with my own two eyes what kind of consequences my actions would bring. In addition, I also wanted to help get the shapeshifters out from the slave traders.
“Give me three minutes. I’ll come back after I change my clothes.”
Finishing my words, I quickly ran to my room to change into my riding clothes before coming down again. By then, the knights were already lined up at the front door while servants were bringing Dimitri’s and my horses out of the stables.
I made up my mind and mounted my horse.
I decided that no matter how brutal it was to see the slave traders being captured, I wasn’t going to let it bother me. That was when someone came running out of the front door with a raised hand in the air, shouting.
“Me too! May I come with you?”
“Miss Avila?”
“The Duchess’s offer, if it still stands, I’d like to go with you.”
I smiled broadly, with the feeling of wanting to scream, ‘Yes!’
Even though I didn’t know why she suddenly changed her mind, on my end, whatever the reason was, it was a welcome change. Then, I quickly put Avila into the carriage before she changed her mind. It was a carriage for transporting shapeshifters from slave traders.
“That turned out really well, didn’t it?”
I followed the departing procession and gave it a thumbs up, but Dimitri gave me a strange look.
“Is she such a reliable person? You seem to have an unusual amount of faith in her, even though you don’t seem to have known her very long.”
He must’ve thought it was strange. Still, I’d seen her inner thoughts throughout the novel. Anyone could see how loyal she was and how loyal she was to anyone she chose to follow.
I smiled confidently.
“It’s perspective.”
Suddenly, Dimitri burst out laughing.
“You don’t look like you have an inkling, but you do have an eye.
“I beg your pardon
? Are you serious?”
“Did you hear what I was thinking?”
“Almost as loud as thunder.”
“Did you just pinch and say* it’s yourself?”
[ T/N: To ‘Pinch and say’ means ‘To put one’s finger on something clearly.’ ]
“That was a mistake.”
As I puffed and sped my horse a little faster, Dimitri’s smiling face was full of malicious mischief.
* * *
We traveled by magic circle to an estate that had recently been reestablished by slave traders who were expelled from Blois. The slave trader, seemingly unaware and going about his daily routine, was caught off guard by the heavily armed elite knights.
“What are you doing?!”
“Oh my! Help me
!”
“What’s wrong with you?! Let go of me!”
The knights kept their mouths shut and subdued the slave traders with their swords and shields. Meanwhile, the manager of the slave trader, who hadn’t been able to grasp the situation, shouted in anger as he was grabbed by the knight.
“Duke of Blois, this is not your territory! Even though you may be a duke, you can’t be this rude to us!”
I was amused that he thought that Dimitri was settling old scores.
“We’re a business dealing with His Majesty the Emperor! I’m going to bring you to trial, and His Majesty won’t stand idly by!”
At that, Dimitri chuckled.
“That’s right, the Emperor won’t let you get away with it.”
“
.”
For the briefest of moments, the manager flinched. It seemed that his words must have meant something to him because of the sins he had committed. The manager glanced around, trying not to show his panic.
‘What is it?’
At first, I thought he was looking around to get a sense of the situation, but I soon realized he was looking for someone.
When I turned my head in the direction he was looking, I could see a cramped cage with several shapeshifters in shackles in the form of cats. And there, I spotted one of the slave traders hiding in front of it. The moment the manager winked, he opened the door wide.
“Ah
!”
In a stupor, I was stunned and froze.
In the blink of an eye, dozens of cat shapeshifters jumped out of their cages and scattered in all directions, creating chaos.
‘Oh, my God
’
Frightened cats lost their senses and retreated into narrow, dark places, where they curled up and hid for days on end.
One miss was a big deal, especially for stray cats who weren’t immune to unfamiliar surroundings. Not only would they be unable to hunt and forage for food, but they were also unable to recognize when they were exposed to danger and could die in accidents.
Unlike dogs, who seek for guardians on their own, once a cat panicked, it wouldn’t come to show itself no matter how much you called for it.
In particular, the slave traders’ cats weren’t wild cats, so they would feel greater fear in the situation and hide wherever they could. Along the way, there could be accidents, or there could be problems such as starving to death because you couldn’t get out of the hiding place.
I screamed loudly.
“Door! Close the door, don’t let the cats out!”
The place was like a considerable warehouse, a massive warehouse with tents dividing it into compartments for different purposes. Even though I ordered my knights to close the door to keep the cat shapeshifters inside, by then, more than half the shapeshifters had fled the warehouse in a panic.
All of a sudden, Avila shouted.
“Be careful, Duchess
!”
“Aaaakk!”
As fire flashed beside me, one of the slavers flew into the wall with a scream. With the knights distracted by the cat people and me, the slave traders launched a counterattack.
“Hhiiinng—”
Suddenly, with a burst of magic, the startled horse raised its front hooves. As I braced my thighs and held on, the black mist emanated from Dimitri, anchoring me firmly to the back of my horse. Calming my startled horse, I then shouted at him.
“I’ll go outside and find as many cat shapeshifters as possible!”
“I’ll clean up and follow you in a minute, but don’t go too far in case there are more of them.”
Saying that, Dimitri attached three knights to me.
Before I left the warehouse, I pointed to Avila and told her about the tents where the dog shapeshifters were barking loudly.
“I need you to take care of the dogs, can you do it?”
“Yes, I’ll guard our door!”
As if to leave it to her, Avila rode to the tent of the dog shapeshifters with two knights. The next moment, I went out of the warehouse and ordered the knights.
“They probably wouldn’t have gotten far since they’re scared. Look in the grass, under obstacles, and in dark, narrow places. Don’t make any loud noises or big movements, and then put them one by one in the bag you brought.”
Thankfully, in preparation for an unexpected situation, before leaving the mansion, I’d prepared a number of bags for the cats and distributed them out to the knights.
‘
I wonder if we could catch them.’
Even though I calmly ordered it once, I wasn’t confident. Still, since they were shapeshifters who understood people, I just hoped it’d be easier than real cats. At the same time, I got off my horse and began to look around for possible places where the cats might hide.
However

“Uh
?”
Before long, I was dumbfounded and widened my eyes.