IPAMB 17

Chapter: 17

30 minutes earlier, in Cain’s room.

Cain put down the book he had been reading. He couldn’t focus at all.

The reason was simple.

‘Mother really came.’

Even though several days had passed since the Duchess Argent arrived at the ducal estate, Cain still couldn’t believe it.

‘Why did she come? Did she have business at the estate?’

Not long ago, he had heard that his father’s condition was critical. In such a busy situation, there should have been no reason for her to come here.

Cain pondered for a moment, then stopped.

What did the reason matter? Whatever it was, his mother had already come to the ducal estate. And that reason would have nothing to do with him.

‘It turned out just like that child said.’

Cain recalled Winiel, who had stubbornly insisted that the Duchess Argent would definitely come.

She said she could see the future—did she see a future where Mother came to the ducal estate?

‘No, that doesn’t seem right.’

Winiel had directly requested that the Duchess be called.

If she had truly known the future, she wouldn’t have asked for the Duchess from the beginning.

That was why Cain had mistakenly believed that he was the only one who could help Winiel.

‘In the end, it was all pointless.’

Cain let out a hollow sigh.

Now that child would ask Mother for help.

He had outlived his usefulness. No, had he ever been useful in the first place?

Cain muttered self-deprecatingly and turned his gaze back to the book.

‘If Mother steps in, that villain organization will be caught quickly. Rather, this is a good situation….’

Wait.

‘Mother will catch the organization?’

Was that even possible? Cain suddenly wondered.

It wasn’t that the Duchess lacked ability. What was lacking was time.

The Duchess Argent was busy. That was an undeniable truth, regardless of her coming to the estate.

‘Even if that organization is targeting the Argent family, it would be difficult for her to listen immediately.’

In the first place, there were countless people targeting House Argent. It was just that they were too busy to properly pursue them.

And in the midst of failing to catch those, would she selectively pursue only the organization Winiel mentioned?

Moreover, was there any particular reason to prioritize that organization? Not really.

It was an organization she had never even heard of. Even if Winiel claimed to have seen a dangerous future, it wasn’t urgent enough to rush into action.

Which meant…

‘She’ll be rejected.’

Or pushed far down the priority list.

Cain pressed his forehead.

It was an action Winiel had chosen. Then the consequences that followed were naturally hers to bear.

But for some reason, Cain felt uneasy.

‘There’s no need to worry. It’s not my business.’

Suppressing the discomfort, Cain forced himself to read the lines on the page.

And then—

“…You know about the pen?”

“Yes, I found it and entrusted it to someone trustworthy!”

‘Why is that line suddenly coming to mind?’

He had heard those words for the first time in his life.

Someone trustworthy.

Trustworthy…

“Haah.”

In the end, Cain closed the book and stood up.

‘Come to think of it, she said she would talk about the future today.’

It didn’t sit right with him to receive a favor and then let her be rejected.

She had exposed what Tristan did—this much, he felt he could do for her.

Cain immediately headed toward the reception room where Winiel and the Duchess were.

And shortly after—

“It is true that I am busy, but it is also true what you have done in this ducal estate. I cannot place it as top priority, but I can begin tracking immediately.”

…Why did I even come here?

He keenly felt his own incompetence.

‘It actually worked.’

Far beyond my expectations, the Duchess gave a positive answer to my request.

If she had refused, I was going to cling to Cain using the excuse of staying at the ducal estate.

‘Ah.’

Reality hit me belatedly. My palms were tingling.

‘I did it, Oppa.’

She had merely accepted my request, but still…

I lowered my head deeply.

“Th-thank you so, so much…!”

“Save your thanks. Tell me about the organization.”

“Yes!”

I even clenched my fists and answered energetically.

“The organization’s name is ‘Luminier.’ They might not have noticeable activity yet, but starting three years from now, they’ll begin attacking the Empire and House Argent in earnest. So….”

I explained earnestly that it would be good to find and dismantle the organization in advance so they couldn’t commit evil deeds.

“I see. But what benefit do you gain from capturing that organization? From what I hear, this seems good only for House Argent.”

“Th-that’s….”

At the Duchess’s sudden question, I was at a loss for words.

‘I can’t say Oppa is a member of the organization even if she agreed to the request…!’

How did I manage to get this far!

There was no way I could get chased out here for being in league with villains.

“I just… don’t want to see innocent people of the Empire get hurt….”

I said it as an excuse, but it wasn’t wrong. It was just that Oppa was far more important to me—of course I didn’t want people getting hurt either.

But since I was hiding something, I unconsciously trailed off.

“I see.”

Fortunately, no one pointed it out.

“As expected of a saint candidate.”

Ah, I’m not quite that level.

“Yes, that’s right.”

Still, this kind of misunderstanding was welcome. There was no reason to deny it.

“But in that case, House Argent would have nothing special to give you in return. Is there anything you want? I will grant it, whatever it may be.”

The Duchess could have let it pass, yet she deliberately asked me directly.

‘Wow, the same thing Cain said. Is it House Argent’s family motto?’

Anything was fine. What mattered was that it benefited me.

As if I had been waiting, I answered:

“Then could you allow me to stay at the ducal estate? It seems I’ve started seeing futures related to House Argent, so I’d like to tell you anything that comes to mind while staying nearby. I’m sure it’ll be helpful!”

I wanted to see with my own eyes that Oppa would be caught. I would only feel at ease if he went to prison safely without dying.

“Seeing the future is, um, something that happens suddenly from time to time. If I see something in the near future, you can respond quickly, right? So it would be more convenient to keep me nearby.”

It was a lie. I was simply recalling a novel I had already read.

But if I blurted out everything I knew at once, they might say I was no longer needed and kick me out, so I had to be careful.

‘Though it would be hard to spill everything at once anyway.’

Currently, it was three years before the original story began.

The events of this time appeared intermittently as flashbacks, so explaining them sequentially was quite difficult.

So staying close and speaking up whenever something came to mind was best for me as well.

“…A future concerning House Argent in the near future. Then is there any future coming to mind right now?”

After a brief pause, the Duchess asked. It was different from how she had been speaking decisively just moments ago.

‘Is she suspicious now that I said I want to stay?’

If so, I needed to give a perfect answer here.

Fortunately, I was extremely confident about this part.

‘I prepared this in advance! Just in case one day Cain suddenly asked me to prove that I really see the future!’

I nodded confidently and mentioned an incident that would occur around this time for House Argent.

“Soon, the Purification Stone Thieves will attack a purification stone transport carriage belonging to House Argent and rob it.”

Currently, there was a group in the Empire that targeted purification stones—the Purification Stone Thieves.

They were troublesome even in the original story and even stole a purification stone that Cain intended to use.

‘While chasing them, Cain discovers that in the past they had robbed House Argent’s purification stones.’

The date was written in the ledger, so there was no room for confusion.

However, the Duchess’s reply was shocking.

“If you mean a robbery, we were already attacked the day before yesterday.”

Gasp.

A chill ran down my spine.

‘Wh-why is it wrong? The date written in the ledger hasn’t arrived yet!’

No matter how I thought about it, the date had definitely not passed.

Then why…?

The reason came from the Duchess.

“They took advantage of the weakened escort when the knights who were supposed to guard the transport came here.”

Ah, could it be because Duchess Argent came to the ducal estate?

Listening more closely, it seemed the Duchess and her party were originally scheduled to escort the purification stone transport.

But she suddenly changed her schedule and came to the estate instead, and it seemed the purification stones were stolen earlier than in the original story.

‘Wow, the original story changed!’

It was fascinating. I had believed it would, that it had to—but in one corner of my heart, I couldn’t erase the thought, ‘Will it really?’

Whew, I finally dispelled the doubt I had secretly harbored.

‘No, this isn’t the time to feel relieved!’

I had never imagined the date would change, but that was only from my perspective.

In the end, I was simply someone who stated a wrong future. And in the very first future I mentioned, at that.

‘Am I going to be kicked out now…?’