I’m Looking for the Male Lead for the Ending - Chapter 70

Chapter 36.1

“Ha…”

I let out a shallow sigh as I headed toward Erhel’s central plaza with Marie. In front of me, the source of all my fatigue flickered, almost as if taunting me.

[ 〈SYSTEM〉

Ongoing mission — Erase the shadow of death looming over Arbonis!
Suspicious Deaths (1/0) ]

It seemed my worries from before were unfounded, as the number on the mission window hadn’t changed by the next day.

‘I must’ve been overthinking things. Surely, the number wouldn’t keep going up.’

Of course, it could be that I was just choosing to ignore what I didn’t want to believe, though it seemed clear that the difficulty had significantly increased since I entered the hidden route.

Not that it had been easy before.

A feeling of helplessness washed over me.

As I stared out the window, wondering what to do next, Marie spoke up first.

“When I heard about the story yesterday, I thought the whole capital would be in an uproar by now since the news should’ve spread. But it’s quieter than I expected.”

“That’s true.”

“Could it be that the merchant lied?”

“I don’t think so.”

I met Marie’s questioning gaze and replied in a nonchalant tone.

“There’s no reason for him to lie about something like that. Besides, the explanation was pretty detailed for it to be a lie.”

“Hmm, I guess you’re right.”

As I watched Marie nod in agreement, I recalled the newspaper I’d glanced at earlier that morning. There wasn’t a single mention of the murder case the merchant had told us about the day before.

‘For things to still be this quiet despite the severity of the incident, it’s highly likely that someone is preventing the story from going public.’

I had a strong feeling that ‘someone’ was the imperial family.

‘Since Arbonis is an empire built on the legend of the World Tree, the imperial family would want to stop any unfavorable stories about it from spreading. If rumors about Arbonis being cursed started circulating, as the merchants hinted, the imperial family would have the most to lose.’

In any case, what mattered was that, thanks to the story about the strange murder case in Neitzia not making it to the papers, Arbonis could at least appear peaceful on the surface.

I turned my gaze away from the peaceful scene of people strolling through the plaza.

Marie, still looking out the window, turned to me with a worried expression and asked,

“But if it’s such a bizarre murder case, wouldn’t His Highness the Grand Duke be investigating it personally?”

“…Huh?”

“After all, the Elle Knights, led by His Highness, are directly under the imperial family’s command. So, in a case like this, I thought His Majesty would’ve directly ordered him to investigate.”

I narrowed my eyebrows for a moment as Marie asked, her eyes sparkling with curiosity. Then, I shrugged and answered.

“Well, I guess that’s the case, considering the seriousness of the matter.”

“The journey from the capital to Neitzia is long. His Highness must be going through a lot of trouble.”

Seeing her obvious concern for the Grand Duke, I silently observed her. Marie, who had just sighed, noticed my gaze and blinked in response.

“W-Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Marie, do you perhaps like His Highness the Grand Duke?”

“Yes?!”

Startled, Marie jumped up inside the carriage and shouted. I grimaced at her voice, which was loud enough to feel like it could tear my eardrums.

Seeing my reaction, she quickly apologized and added hastily.

“I-I’m sorry, my lady. But really, you’re mistaken. The only ones I care about are you and Aidelis!”

I spoke with a hint of laughter in my voice as I watched Marie, who visibly flinched.

“Why are you so flustered, Marie? I didn’t mean it like that.”

Relieved, Marie let out a breath and mumbled quietly.

“…But, if I’m being honest, it’s true that my thoughts about the Grand Duchy of Kaisian have changed recently.”

Noticing my questioning look, she hesitated before carefully continuing.

“Until now, because the Marquis has been hostile toward the Grand Duke’s family, we servants were always wary of them too. And during the recent tournament, His Highness even defeated Young Lord Heron.”

“….”

“So, for no real reason, I ended up resenting him too, even though I knew it wasn’t His Highness the Grand Duke’s fault.”

Marie’s face turned red as if embarrassed by her past thoughts. She spoke more resolutely now.

“But after everything that happened, I think I was holding onto a pointless prejudice. His Highness is a good person, and his servants are genuinely kind, too.”

Marie’s eyes shone with conviction as she spoke. It seemed her opinion of the Grand Duke’s family had shifted significantly, especially after they had helped her with medical assistance.

As I listened with a smile, her eyes sparkled with curious excitement.