I Reincarnated As A Villainess, But Why Did I Become A Cat Butler Instead? - Chapter 217

Chapter 109.1

Count Schdental looked at her as if he couldn’t understand. He had a face expressing confusion about why Rosanne, who had remained silent and uninvolved in anything since Dimitri became the duke, suddenly stepped forward now.

“Aren’t you afraid of war, Grand Madam?”

“War? I’m not sure if it’s that significant. If there was a clandestine conspiracy that occurred within Blois, what would other nobles of the empire know about it?”

“If it becomes known outside—!”

“It’s enough if we don’t let the outside know.”

“There are laws in society that uphold order and structure. Other nobles in Blois won’t just stand by and watch if someone tries to wield the council of elders through force like this.”

Dimitri was also curious about how Rosanne intended to silence the elders with such strong measures. It wasn’t that he didn’t know how to use force, but he simply chose not to.

Tyranny wasn’t tolerated.

There were rules in the aristocratic society. Those who violated these rules would be expelled, and expulsion meant death. In other words, it was war. So, creating a pretext like this attracted opportunistic hyena-like individuals who wanted to chew and tear apart Blois and taste it, and they would eagerly join hands with the council of elders.

While he decided to observe the situation a bit longer, contemplating whether he should intervene quickly or if he should withdraw his support for Rosanne, his eyes searched for Rowaine. It seemed that she was trailing behind Rosanne, holding onto a wooden box tightly in her arms like an anxious puppy.

Despite the situation, he felt a sense of warmth and joy seeing her, so he approached her with a quick step.

“Rowaine.”

“Dimitri…”

Rowaine pointed to the box she was holding, a tearful expression on her face.

“What is that?”

“It’s the burden that has been placed upon me.”

Just as he was about to ask what she meant, he could hear Rosanne telling the elders an astonishing story. Dimitri, suspicious of his own ears, turned towards them.

“I’ll be straightforward. In addition to an oath of allegiance, I’ll have to take a blood oath from you. It seems those who should serve Blois dared to try and devour it. If you want to spare your lives, you’ll have to risk your life as collateral to gain trust.”

Count Schdental’s eyes widened at Rosanne’s words.

A blood oath among nobles was a promise to dedicate one’s life to serving the other as a master. In a relationship bound by a blood oath, even if the one who became the master were to take the life of the subordinate, no noble trial would be convened.

It meant that no one could interfere in the affairs between the two, no matter what happened.

“We are only preparing for the Duke’s failure. There’s no way we would try to swallow Blois.”

“Then, what about joining forces with Cayetana and attempting to make Rowaine have a miscarriage, Count Schdental? I found out that it was you who gave her the tea. Isn’t it a malicious scheme to eliminate the Duke’s successor so that you can install Dieppe Leon as the new duke?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Rosanne clicked her tongue in response to the Count’s refusal.

“If you don’t know, it’s just as bad as not knowing, so just die in ignorance.”

In accordance with Grandmother’s words, a knight drew his sword and approached Count Schdental.

Rowaine glanced up at Dimitri in surprise and whispered.

“We’re not really planning to kill him, are we?”

Dimitri replied calmly.

“If not, then why did we bother coming here?”

“Can we do that?”

“It doesn’t matter as long as the witnesses keep their mouths shut. This forest is a place for dealing with bodies anyway.”

Rather than saying it was a place where bodies were ‘discovered,’ when he mentioned it was a place for ‘disposing,’ Rowaine seemed to have realized something and asked.

“You’ve been through a lot, haven’t you?”

Pretending not to hear, Dimitri casually turned his gaze towards Count Schdental, who was expressing his indignation.

“A blood oath? Isn’t that a declaration of making us slaves?! Such absurdity… even if it costs us our lives, we can never accept it!”

Roseanne nodded her head calmly.

“It’s a mutually agreed-upon demise, so that’s fine.”

“If the news of our disappearance gets out, the nobles of Blois will find it suspicious and initiate an investigation. If this is exposed, everyone will turn away from Blois, Rosanne.”

“Don’t worry. To avoid raising suspicions, I already brought everyone here from the start.”

Saying so, she pointed towards the staircase.

Count Schdental, who turned in that direction, had veins bulging in his eyes. Already, other nobles of Blois who had been persuaded by Rosanne had come down and were standing there, avoiding his gaze.

Baron Leville muttered.

“We have all decided to support the Duchess, Count Schdental. If you want to live, you’d better make a blood oath or something.”

Otherwise, it was a declaration that everyone would collectively pretend not to know about the murder of Rosanne’s nobles.