I Am Trying to Divorce My Villain Husband, But We Had a Child - chapter 80

Chapter 80

Richard first helped Elisa into the carriage and then flew back to the duke’s residence.

For the time being, he decided to stay in the northern annex, keeping his distance from Elisa.

Once back in her room, Elisa gazed worriedly toward the annex where he was.

She already felt an emptiness from his absence.

‘Richard…’

At that moment, the baby in her womb moved gently.

It felt as if the movement was comforting her.

Though Daddy was over there, she was with Mommy, so she shouldn’t feel lonely.

Elisa chuckled softly and caressed her belly.

“Yeah, Mommy will save Daddy.”

To bring him back from the annex, she first needed to find out what the ominous power he had been using was.

But there was something even more pressing to address.

Elisa recalled the conversation she had with Richard before he went to the annex.

“The Onyx are monsters that live deep in the forest. They are timid creatures, and they only come out when they migrate to the southern tip of the continent in late autumn.”

Why had these timid monsters come all the way to the village?

“Something must have happened that forced them out of the forest.”

Suddenly, timid monsters had come to a human village, exhibiting unusually aggressive behavior.

Combining those two points, Elisa arrived at a conclusion.

“Someone must have deliberately lured the Onyx into the shrine.”

Though she had no idea who did it or what their intentions were, one thing was clear.

Currently, Richard was responsible for preventing and managing the monsters’ invasion at the edge of the territory.

If things went wrong, there was a high probability that Richard would get caught up in it.

“If something has happened in the forest, it’s likely that evidence of it exists there.”

Having completed her thoughts, Elisa pulled the bell rope to command someone to investigate the forest.

After a moment, she heard a knock, and Anne entered.

To celebrate the founding day, Elisa had given her maids, including Anne, leisure time and allowances to enjoy the festivities.

Anne rushed to Elisa the moment she returned home, still wearing her outing clothes.

“Milady!”

With a worried expression, Anne approached and immediately checked on Elisa’s condition.

“Y-you’re okay, right? I heard that monsters attacked the shrine.”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Thank goodness! I was worried, just in case…”

Elisa smiled at Anne, appreciating her concern.

Then she noticed something in Anne’s hand. At first glance, it looked like a perfume bottle.

“What is that? Did you go shopping?”

“Oh, this? It’s a monster repellent. They were selling it all around the plaza on my way back.”

“Monster repellent?”

“Yeah. It’s made from scents that monsters dislike. I bought a few just in case, and if it works well, I thought about buying in bulk. It wasn’t easy to get, as there wasn’t much stock.”

Elisa looked at the monster repellent with suspicion.

It was common to sell umbrellas when it rained and parasols on sunny days, but monster repellents were not widely commercialized.

There was a high probability that they were fake products exploiting people’s fears, with no proven efficacy.

“Anne, I appreciate your thoughtfulness, but this is likely a fake that has no real effect. It’s probably the scheme of a fraudster trying to make a quick profit.”

“B-but the merchant showed an imperial certification.”

“An imperial certification?”

Elisa was surprised by Anne’s words.

Anyone who impersonated the emperor faced execution.

Thus, no matter how much of a fraudster one was, it was rare for anyone to dare impersonate the emperor’s name.

This meant that the imperial certification presented by the merchant where Anne bought the monster repellent was genuine.

‘Suspicious.’

Monster repellents were not universally commercialized items.

Yet, a monster repellent with an imperial certification had appeared, as if someone had known this situation would occur. It was quite dubious.

After a moment of contemplation, Elisa said to Anne,

“Anne, could you call Sir Thompson?”

The next day, the emperor summoned all the nobles to a meeting to discuss the incident where monsters attacked the shrine the previous day.

Richard had tried to avoid contact with others as much as possible, but since his shoulder was not painful and his condition seemed stable, he responded to the call.

However, the moment he arrived in the audience chamber, he realized that the emperor had a different “real purpose” for summoning the nobles.

“Duke Rubellin, I entrusted the security of the outer territory to you.

I did so because I trusted you, Rubellin.”

All the nobles turned their attention to Richard.

“However, you have betrayed my trust and neglected the maintenance of security, leading to this unfortunate tragedy.”

“……”

“I will hold Duke Rubellin responsible for this incident.”

Marquis Dion smirked as he watched the emperor press Richard.

Publicly holding someone accountable for a mistake in front of so many nobles would certainly tarnish the Rubellin name significantly.

Nevertheless, Richard looked at the emperor with indifferent eyes and spoke.

“Before you hold me responsible, Your Majesty, there is something you must consider.”

The emperor looked at Richard with a puzzled expression.

“Thompson.”

Instead of answering, Richard called softly for Thompson, who was waiting nearby.

Thompson brought a box and placed it in front of the emperor. He then opened the box and pulled out something.

It was an egg about the size of an adult woman’s fist.

“This is an egg from a bird-like monster called Onyx that lives deep in the eastern forest. They usually fly south to spend the winter in early winter, but otherwise, they don’t leave the forest.”

“I understand the monster’s habits. But why did you bring this egg? Is it related to the current situation?”

“Yes. This egg was found in the underbrush near the shrine. The Onyx must have come to the village, which they don’t usually visit, in search of their egg.”

In other words, someone had deliberately hidden the monster’s egg near the shrine.

The nobles began to murmur among themselves at Richard’s words.

To emphasize their suspicions, Richard added a conclusion.

“Someone has intentionally orchestrated this incident.”

The emperor frowned at Richard’s statement.

He had thought the incident was merely a coincidence.

Still, he had considered it an excellent opportunity to put Richard in a tight spot, and now that expectation had fallen through, he couldn’t hide his disappointment.

With a slightly annoyed voice, the emperor asked, “What kind of lunatic would plan something like this?”

“There is only one person who could benefit from such an event at this moment.”

“Who is that?”

“The one who stands to gain the most from the monster sightings is Baron Magenta.”

As Richard uttered the name “Magenta,” Marquis Dion’s expression visibly hardened.

“He lured the monsters to the shrine to instill fear, in order to sell the monster repellent he invented.”

“……”

“Targeting the wealthy nobles, who have more assets than the poor commoners living in the outskirts, would certainly be far more profitable. The founding day, when the nobles came to the shrine in the outer territory, was a prime opportunity for him.”

It was nearly impossible for monsters to attack the residences of nobles living inside the territory.

“There are testimonies that Baron Magenta rented a large number of wagons the day before the founding day. Given that it rained quite a bit the day before, examining the composition of the mud on the wagon wheels will likely reveal that the destination was the eastern forest.”

Upon hearing this, the nobles expressed their anger toward the absent Baron Magenta.

“Baron Magenta? Who is that?”

“How dare he put Your Majesty and us in danger just to satisfy his own greed!”

Baron Magenta held a lower title and couldn’t attend the nobility council, and having suffered a string of business failures, he held little influence among the nobles, so many were unfamiliar with him.

At that moment, someone brought up a comment.

“Oh, could he be… the uncle of Marquis Dion?”

Hearing the mention of Marquis Dion’s uncle, the nobles fell silent, glancing cautiously at the emperor, as if they were unsure of how to respond.

After all, Marquis Dion was the emperor’s son-in-law.

In the stillness, a visibly anxious Marquis Dion stepped forward urgently.

“Your Majesty, the duke is making a gross exaggeration! This is merely a coincidence! To accuse my uncle, who has been working tirelessly to reassure people against the fear of the monsters—how can you?”

“Exaggeration.”

Richard, who had been quietly listening to the marquis, smirked.

“Let’s see a ‘real exaggeration’ from now on.”

Richard turned to Marquis Dion and continued, “Where did Baron Magenta, whose business has failed one after another, find the money to orchestrate such an event?”

“……”

“Why did that money appear just after he met with you, Marquis Dion?”

Marquis Dion realized Richard was suspecting him as the mastermind behind it and jumped up in protest.

“Are you accusing me?”

“Surely you wouldn’t have lent him money without knowing what it would be used for.”

“I didn’t know! He just said he needed money for his business!”

Before Marquis Dion could finish his sentence, Richard pulled something from his pocket.

Seeing it, Marquis Dion’s face went pale.

“This is an account book detailing how Baron Magenta spent the money. You probably have an identical account book, Marquis Dion.”

“Y-Your Majesty! That account book is false!

It’s been manipulated to frame me!”

With a terrified expression, Marquis Dion fell to his knees before the emperor.

At that moment, the audience chamber doors swung open, and two knights from Rubellin entered.

They brought with them a man whose face was covered with a hood, kneeling in front of Richard.

All eyes, including the emperor’s and other nobles’, were now focused on the unidentified man.

Marquis Dion stared at him in shock.

‘No way…?’

As Richard nodded slightly, Thompson removed the hood from the man’s face.

The face that had been concealed was none other than Baron Magenta’s.