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Chapter 31
The auction in Notte was set for tomorrow night, so I still had time before the auction.
‘Notte is quiet during the day.’
“Hmm….”
As always, Joseph still had to handle the estate as the Grand Duke.
I didn’t want to bother him, so I went to the market alone.
‘I didn’t expect Manuel would follow me.’
Even if it was a secret outing, I figured that Joseph would bring along several subordinates with him, but I didn’t expect that Manuel traveled to Notte as well.
“Gasp.”
The boy made eye contact with me and flinched like a scared mouse in front of the cat.
“…Ah, hello, Madam.”
When I encountered Manuel in the middle of the market, I replied to the greeting of the boy who bowed his head with the same sour expression as I had.
“Yes, Good Afternoon.”
Manuel seemed very uncomfortable with me after I scolded him last time.
“Yes, Madam. Are you here alone?”
Manuel asked carefully, trying to read my countenance.
“Yes.”
Looking at the boy’s round eyes, I nodded slowly.
“Then I’ll escort you.”
The look on his face told me that he was reluctant to serve me, but he seemed to have made up his mind to consider me his superior.
“Alright, thank you.”
“Of course, Madam. I’m just doing my job!”
I stared at Manuel’s fluffy hair as he bowed his head politely.
“Are you feeling better?”
“Pardon? Do you mean my body?”
“Yes. Your calves that I hit.”
“It still stings a little, but I’m alright.”
It seemed that he couldn’t even say that he wasn’t hurt at all. At Manuel’s honest answer, I burst into small laughter and followed the boy who led me through the downtown area.
“Lady! Milady!”
It was around the time I entered the entrance of the alley to go to the central square.
I turned around in surprise as someone suddenly grabbed my skirt.
“Please help this old woman!”
“Hey! Back off!”
Even before I could answer the old woman, Manuel rushed in front of me and blocked the way.
“Do you know who you are talking to?!”
Perhaps he was afraid that Joseph would scold him if he didn’t protect me properly.
While he was busy threatening the old woman in an excessive manner, I put my hand gently on Manuel’s shoulders.
“It’s alright, Manuel.”
I frowned a little when I saw the old woman’s face over Manuel’s small back.
‘The wrinkles on her face look so unnatural.’
It looked like she had used a poorly made camouflage potion.
The public may not know, but I was an alchemist who had experience making camouflage potions for George.
A camouflage potion with excellent effect was able to change not only the face but also the body.
The face belonged to an elderly woman, but the body belonged to a young man. I can feel the incongruity.
‘Just like that person.’
People who pretended to be weak, such as the elderly or children, existed in every city. Notte was a commercial city where a major auction was held, so naturally, it was overrun by fraudsters.
“My grandson got sick at a young age, but I didn’t have any money, so I couldn’t even feed him properly, let alone buy medicine.”
Listening to the swindler dressed as an old woman, I tilted my head slowly.
‘Is there anyone who believes these obvious lies?’
“Milady, you seem like a distinguished person, please show your kindness to the poor child.”
“Hmm.”
The man in front of me was definitely a scammer because no sane person would go around begging and dressing as an old woman.
But I didn’t want to make a ruckus by calling the security.
‘I don’t think there’ll be anyone who falls for his trick because the camouflage is too sloppy.’
There would be nothing good for me if George heard that I went to Notte.
“Isn’t Milady a person with a kind and beautiful heart?”
Huh? Why do you pretend like you met me before?
“I think you have the wrong impression of me. I’m not that kind.”
I didn’t want to make a fuss, so I calmly bowed my head to the old woman’s question and turned around, holding Manuel’s hand.
“Oh, d-do we just go?”
“Yeah.”
Helping people in need was like an essential virtue for a noble lady.
“I was worried that Madam would give her money. She looks like a swindler.”
It was a recent trend in society for the noble ladies from prestigious families to jump into charity work. So it was natural that Manuel expected me to help the old lady.
“Why should I? Even if she’s really a beggar, she’s not our people. It is a problem that must be handled by the lord of Notte.”
“Y-You’re right.”
Listening to me, Manuel opened his eyes wide and nodded.
The old woman, grumbling at my cold rejection, soon approached another woman who was standing close to me as if targeting her next prey.
‘Of course, no one would fall for it.’
Even Manuel who didn’t know much about alchemy could easily tell.
I couldn’t see the woman that the swindler approached because of her hood, but I could feel her Holy Power.
Whether it was Holy Power or Dark Aura, someone possessing those powers would immediately discern the swindler’s trick.
It was when I was about to leave my spot, thinking that the swindler was going to fail again.
“Oh no, you were in such a pitiful situation!”
I frowned, listening to the voice of a woman in a pink hood.
‘I’ve definitely heard this voice before.’
People with Holy Power were not common. Among the women whom I have ever heard speaking before, if there’s one who has a Holy Power….
“This is what I have right now, but I will give you all of it.”
I could be sure of her identity thanks to her next words.
‘Ibelina.’
The hair sticking out of the hood was light pink, just like a cotton candy sold at the festival.
“Here you go. Take everything.”
“Oh my god! Thank you so much, Milady! Thank you!”
‘Huh? Who gives all their money to a beggar?’
As expected from Joseph’s lover. She seemed to be a more serious pushover than my husband.
“Hold on.”
I didn’t know why she was in Notte at this time, but I couldn’t let a swindler rip off Ibelina’s entire purse.
I snatched Ibelina’s purse and squeezed the old woman’s neck as she tried to escape.
“This person is a swindler.”
Looking at Ibelina’s puzzled face, I shrugged lightly and activated the alchemy that I drew on the wall.
“…What?”
“He’s not even an old woman.”
“L-Let go of me! Let go!”
The old woman’s face was surrounded by green light and slowly began to melt. Soon, the face of a man with freckles was revealed.
“Let me go!”
The man struggled to escape my hands. But my physical strength that I had amplified with alchemy surpassed the strength of an ordinary knight.
I scanned the swindler’s face with a cold gaze and threw him at Ibelina’s feet.
“You’d better return the money to her while I’m being nice.”
“Ackk!”
The man was completely frightened by my alchemy and hurriedly took out Ibelina’s purse.
“Please forgive me, Milady!”
“…Oh my god.”
Ibelina clenched her skirt with an open mouth, alternately looking at me and the swindler who begged tearfully.
“Did you just lie to me?”
Her gentle eyes sank as if she had been hurt.
“I-It’s true that I’m not an old woman…but everything I said earlier is true!”
‘There’s no way anyone would believe that.’
He was a man who begged for money using his nonexistent grandson.
He already lied about being an old woman, so is there a chance that he was telling the truth about his ‘grandson’?
I huffed as I watched Ibelina take the purse that fell to the ground.
“…I see.”
“Yes, yes! So please don’t tell the security guard…”
“Then take this money.”
Ibelina nodded and held out her purse to the man begging for leniency.
“…Pardon?”
“What?”
It was so absurd that I couldn’t stand it anymore and decided to step forward.
“Didn’t I tell you that this man is a swindler? But why do you want to give your money away?”
Ibelina made eye contact with me and bit her lip at my scolding.
“Because I feel sorry for him.”
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Manuel, standing beside me, must have had the same thoughts as me. Before I could answer Ibelina, the child voiced his thoughts with a frown.
“Why do you feel sorry for him?”
“He must be in a very difficult situation. He even looks for money by dressing up as an old lady.”
“I understand.”
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