Chapter 8 – The Poisoned Elf And The Special Circumstances of The Bride’s Family

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July 9th, 2022

The moment the front door of Count Northpole’s house was closed, he used transfer magic to return to the private room of Duke Laudense house.
After confirming that there was no sign of anyone around, he kneeled down on the spot.

─ What was that creature!!

Violette, in her cat form, touched Hydrangea’s arm and kissed him on the cheek.
She was sly, indeed, but he did not dislike it.

Of course, if Violette in her human form had done the same thing, he would have left her immediately.
But this time, she was in cat form.
What a cat does is innocent.
In Hydrangea’s mind, it is a given.

He remembered the fluffy and soft feeling.
It was wonderful.
As expected, cats are the best.
They are angels that have come down to earth.

Thinking of that, he called the butler using the magic bell.

“Master, may I help you?”

The one who came was a nervous-looking middle-aged man with brown hair neatly coiffed with hair conditioner.
The butler, whose name was Heliotrope, raised the bridge of his glasses with his fingertips and straightened his back at the same time.

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“Please deliver a month’s worth supply of firewood to Count Northpole’s house”
“Firewood?”
“Yes, firewood”

It was a strange order, but Heliotrope did not pursue it any further and slipped his pen into his notebook.

“Also, I’m going to get married soon with Miss Violette from Count Northpole house”
“By marriage, do you mean that marriage?”
“What kind of marriage is there? Of course it means a normal marriage”

He hesitated whether to tell him about the curse or not.
But it would not be a good thing for word to spread outside that Violette could turned into a cat.
It’s fine to just tell the female servants who will accompany her.

Instead, he would order that none of the male servants could approach her.
But just in case.
He will tell them in a roundabout way that she has special circumstance to make sure.

“She’s a bit of a strange girl.
Don’t be surprised if something happens”
“Understood”

First, he ordered Violette’s room to be prepared, with furniture, dresses, jewelry, and daily necessities.

“Make sure she has the finest things a bride of the Duke Laudense family should have”
“As you wish”

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Normally, the bride’s family would provide these things, but judging from the condition of their mansion, it would be difficult to prepare them.
After all, they don’t even have the money to buy firewood or a dress.

Heliotrope’s expression did not change, perhaps because he had heard the order to buy firewood and deliver it earlier.
Indeed, he is an excellent butler.

“And I want you to investigate something”

Regarding the assets of Count Northpole.
Ten years ago, when Hydrandia investigated it, the financial situation was not as dire as it had seemed.
Tentatively, he had already investigated who Silane von Northpole was and what kind of family he belonged to ten years ago.
At the time, his assets seemed like an ordinary noble.

He had heard many stories about the deterioration of their finances after his succession.
He ordered to him to find out.

“I’m counting on you”
“As you wish”

After Heliotrope was gone, he let out a deep sigh.

The next day, a letter arrived from Violette.
She thanked him for the firewood in polite letters─ contrary to his expectation.
The letter was apparently written by the butler on her behalf.
It seems that she could not hold a pen because she could not return from her cat form.

At the end, there was a paw stamp of Violette, perhaps as a replacement for her signature.
When he saw it, he fainted in agony from it’s over-cuteness.

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Hydrangea, who loves cats, stared at the paw stamp for a while and was soothed.

　◇◇◇

A week later, an investigation letter about Count Northpole arrives.
What was written there was a surprising thing.

It seems that ten years ago, one month before Hydrangea met Silane von Northpole, a big incident had happened.
That gentle and good-natured, Silane.

He had apparently caused an incident in which he hit a merchant, with whom he had a personal relationship, on the head with a glass ashtray.
Fortunately, Silane seems to have healed the injury using recovery magic, but even though the scar is gone, the grudge remains.

It seemed that Silane had loaded the merchant with a large sum of money to keep him quiet about the crime.
Why did he choose to hide the crime instead of atoning for it? He didn’t know.

Was it because he thought that his family name would be damaged if the stigma spread?
This was not the only surprising fact.

Silane had been inflicted with illness for the past five years.
He had retired from the Magic Division and was recuperating.
However, the treatment was in vain, and he passed away.
His son, Count Northpole, said he was cursed to death, but there is no evidence on that point.

It seemed that their assets were used to pay for his father’s medical treatment and to bribe the merchant to keep quiet.
The hush money payments seemed to have continued even after the succession.

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The merchant’s name was─ Tritoma Celsia.
He was unscrupulous merchant with bad rumors.
The investigation did not reveal what happened between the two.

Only the dead Silane and Tritoma Celsia knows about it.
Perhaps Count Northpole is also aware of the situation.

As expected, that family had special circumstances, He felt bitter about his own intuition.
How happy he would be if he did not know.

Perhaps Violette does not know.
She was the only one with beautiful, hopeful eyes.
They are not shadowed like Silane’s or Count Northpole’s eyes.

“……Damn”

He want to poison himself.
He chose to get married in order to make things easier, but on the contrary, he have attracted problems.
However, he could not just pretend that he did not see this.
From now on, Hydrangea needs to move and investigate it alone.

First, what kind of forbidden books did Silane read.
Perhaps there is a residue of magic from the person who touched the book.
He also remember the color of Silane’s magic.
It was a gentle green, like a deep forest.
He was a wizard who specializes in recovery magic.

Tomorrow, he decided to go to the forbidden book room after work was over.