Chapter 94 – Viscount Barrier
“Puppeteer… You were a puppeteer.”
Said Eleonol, gasping for breath on the ashes.
She struggled to control the raging urge that ran mad in her chest like a beast thirsty for her blood.
Her inner voice, full of her rage, is whispering to her incessantly.
I mean kill that old man right now.
To protect the princess.
At Eleonor’s words, one of the servants, who was lying helplessly beside the ashes, moved as if life welled up.
It happened unnaturally, like a marionette, with creaking movements, and it flashed in her eyes.
An old man’s voice flowed from the mouth of a doll that looked like a middle-aged woman.
“Oops… You noticed that.
She tried to pretend she was dead.
You have good eyesight, Count.”
“I am the one who unites people’s hearts and turns their wishes into power.
The magic string that connects these puppets… Did you think you wouldn’t notice the psychic connection?
The servants and the gaudy old man were all fakes.
Where is your body hiding?”
“I decline to answer that question, Count.
Do you know what kind of expression you are making now?
I value my own life…”
The doll trembled and replied.
His body movements, hand gestures, and facial expressions are exactly the same as the old man who was standing here just a moment ago, down to the smallest details.
“I understand your heart, Count.
I said seniors and juniors, but we are essentially equal.
It’s okay to be angry because you’ve been treated like that by someone like that.
I’m envious… That person whose humanity is still clearly visible.”
“There is no need to be ashamed.
You don’t look very dry to me either.
You just don’t notice yourself.”
“Hmm. You won’t know about that until you’ve experienced it yourself.
Whatever it is
I am not at all angry about the Count attacking my doll.
So I hope you will forgive me for using the count.
As I said before, we are of equal status, but we are competitors who want His Majesty’s favor anyway.
We use each other, and when we see a gap, we even throw it down.
It’s the only thing I can tell you as a senior, Count.”
“…Thank you for that, Ventry Loquist.
You’ll have to be careful not to catch my eye in the future.
If you don’t, I’ll personally tell you the sadness of your old body, who has lived an undeservedly long time.”
As Eleonor spat out, the maid doll giggled.
Kwareung!
The next moment, a lightning bolt struck from somewhere and burned all the servant dolls.
I had adjusted the power not to burn them just before, but if it wasn’t a person, there was no reason to take care of the circumstances.
The maid doll did not stop talking even as it burned away in an instant.
Said the doll in a voice full of joy.
“The princess stopped by the bank in Daejeon and took a considerable amount of cash…
I’m trying to use only cash so that there is no history of magic currency payment left.
It made it impossible to trace the traces after the Great War.
It seems that they are accustomed to living in hiding, and there is no record of their connection.
It will be difficult to find him in a short time.
But I will definitely kill him!
As the best puppet puppeteer in the empire, I will do everything possible.
And you will have to earn his favor…”
The doll’s words stopped only after the last remaining part of her head had been burned away.
Then, only cold silence remained in Eleonol’s office.
Out of breath, not from exhaustion, but from mental shock, Eleonor staggered to the desk full of papers and opened the luxuriously patterned drawer.
Inside the drawer were documents signed and sealed by Eleanor.
It is a document entrusting the authority of the three cities, which is her duty and right, to her agent.
They were papers that had been taken out of drawers several times over the past few days and put back right away.
This time, when she took them out, a stern voice of reason resonated in her mind.
‘This isn’t it, Eleanor Greypoint.
There are many people waiting for my approval.
Are you going to abandon them and run out to find someone?
Are you willing to forsake your noble duty for the sake of one man you might be able to find?’
The voice of reason continues to appeal.
If it was the usual Eleonol, she would have followed the voice without hesitation, but this time it was different.
Her hands trembled as she put her papers back in.
No matter how hard I tried to stop her shaking, it was all to no avail.
At that moment, the sound of a knock on the door of the office, which was closed by the impact of lightning, resounded.
“Master, I heard a loud noise and came to you.
What are you doing?”
It was Baker, the butler of the Graypoint family.
He politely knocked on the door and asked with dignity.
Startled, Eleonol responded reflexively.
“Nothing happened…”
At that moment, the events of the past flashed through her mind.
The princess used to enter her bedroom without knocking, her superior and nobleman.
With a smirk, as if he didn’t care about his status.
She also vividly remembered the conversation she had had with him the last time she masturbated.
When Eleonol told her that she had been given control of three cities for her slaying of the beast, the princess was delighted as if it were her own business.
She smiles innocently like a child.
Eleanor’s words stopped.
“…Master?”
“Nothing happened, Baker.
And…”
Eleonol, who had been silent for a while, continued.
There was no longer any hesitation in her voice.
“I need to file some papers.
Please call someone.”
@
Berlin is a big city.
Although it is only three days away from Daejeon by stagecoach, it is not a dry land like Daejeon.
Farming and livestock farming using the wide plains developed greatly, and the population density was high thanks to the stable security under the name of the Barrier Viscount.
The home of the Viscount Barrier is in the imperial capital.
However, its size and splendor make it look rather shabby compared to their villa in Berlin.
There was a practical reason why the land price in the imperial capital was terribly expensive, but it was because they mostly lived on the side of the villa.
To put it bluntly, the Viscount Barrier was of a low weight class to get involved in the power game of the royal aristocrats.
For this reason, the previous Viscount Barrier took a strategy of retreating to a region where he was more influential than the ecliptic, and it effectively succeeded.
It is appropriate to say that the power wielded by Viscount Barrier in the southern regions of the Empire, represented by Berlin and Daejeon, is truly indiscriminate.
He could be said to have come close to it, though less than what he had been bestowed with dominion by the emperor.
Therefore, Snowbell Barrier, the eldest daughter of Viscount Barrier, must be a young lady from a prestigious family.
“Whoa…”
The day of his father and sister’s return is approaching.
Snowbell sighed.
She had troubles that she couldn’t tell others about.
Ironically, it was her family problems that plagued her, who had lived without any of her material needs.
She inherited her beautiful appearance from her mother, the Black Bell Barrier, but she did not inherit her father’s mighty magic and inherent magic.
It’s an average level, but it’s too low to call itself a noble.
Moreover, her twin sister, Raj Bel Barrier, was so capable that her flaws were even more pronounced.
Ever since she grew up, she has always had to live with a sense of inferiority and jealousy even now, at the age of 24.
Even her father, who cared so much for her two daughters, would implicitly prioritize Razz Bell when buying gifts or greeting each other.
Her younger sister, who possesses her outstanding magical powers and is proficient in her own magic, will succeed Viscount Barrier in the future, and Snovell, who has no special abilities, will marry into a moderately well-to-do family in the name of her daughter-in-law. .
And with the money her father handed down to her, she will live and die in good health.
She thought with all her heart that her own life was so miserable.
“Snobel. You’re sighing again.
To act so vulgarly in the presence of those below you.”
“Oh, mother!”
Snovell jumps up when she hears the voice of her mother, whom she suddenly admires.
Viscountess Barrier, Blackbell Barrier, Snowbel’s mother, was a beautiful but strict woman.
Even at the age of forty, she did not look much older than her daughter, thanks to her aristocratic ample amount of magic power.
Her bright orange hair in a gorgeous ponytail and her well-maintained skin were also stylish enough.
However, because of her cold expression and eyes that seem to look down on others and look down on her, it is just an impression of reluctance to approach her recklessly.
She was a mother who emphasized the authoritarian and hard-nosed attitude of aristocrats, but Snobel knew that her mother loved him.
A comparison of Black Bell’s attitude towards her ‘lower people’ made it clear.
However, she cares more about the brilliant and confident Razz Bell than the plain and bleak Snovell.
Said Snowbell hesitantly.
“I’m sorry. She didn’t know you had a mother.
If she knew, she wouldn’t have.”
“That’s not it, Snowbell.
Even if I don’t have my own eyes, I have to act befitting my family.
Should she be so downhearted in front of her subordinates?
Please understand your position.”
“I’ll keep this in mind, mother…”
Snovell bowed her head and hunched over.
Black Bell frowned at her at the sight, but didn’t stop her head down and her daughter in her reflection.
No matter what Snobel thought, he was sure to love her, whether it was her Black Bell or her Viscount of Barrier.
Viscount Barrier loves her two daughters so much that she refuses all marriage talks to them without her wife’s knowledge.
As Black Bell approached her daughter and gave her a tight hug, she heard someone’s voice.
“Ma’am, I’ve done as you called.
You two are very good.”
“Hey Yak!”
Startled by the man’s voice right behind him, Snowbell let out a strange scream.
Even though Black Bell had warned her earlier, she had once again uttered a vulgar voice.
She trembled in her mother’s arms.
She prepared for her stinging call, but no matter how long she waited, her mother’s roar was not heard.
Black Bell was looking at the man who had startled her daughter with her cold eyes.
Curious, Snovell turned her head slightly and followed her mother’s gaze.
He was a handsome man.
He was tall and well-built, and his eyes were as soft as those of a puppy, giving the impression of simplicity.
Even with his gray hair pulled back, his expression is not sharp.
He was wearing a wide-brimmed cloth like a masseuse.
Come to think of it, the voice from before was also soft and pleasant to hear, like that of a service worker.
Are you a new dermatologist?
But he’s a man…
While she was thinking about various things, Black Bell moved.
Black Bell released Snowbell from her arms and walked right in front of the man with an elegant gait.
She raised her right hand and slapped the man on the cheek.
Damn!
“Hick…”
A short moan escaped from the servants waiting in the hallway beyond the wide open parlor door.
Fortunately for them, Black Bell did not hear the groaning.
All the nerves were focused on the man who slapped him on the cheek.
“Mrs?
She would have told me to call her the Viscountess.
Where to be cheeky…
And, what do you think of coming to me without a sign and talking to me without asking permission?
You’re frightening my daughter.
If it had been the same, it would have been severely punished.”
Black Bell shot.
The man who was slapped on the cheek turned his head away and smiled servilely.
He said.
“I’m sorry, Viscountess.
Since I was of low status, I did not know the manners appropriate for such a noble place, so I committed an rudeness.
I won’t do that again, so please be generous.”
“Joy…”
At the man’s full apology, Black Bell snorted at her.
He seemed to like his attitude quite a bit.
If he hadn’t satisfied her, he might have received ten more slaps from her.
“Mother, who is this man?”
“Didn’t I tell you?”
Blackbell raises one eyebrow.
Well, it’s not a mother who won’t let you know in advance that someone is visiting the mansion, which is strange.
When Snowbell was puzzled, Blackbell gave the man a chin.
“Introduce yourself to my daughter.”
“I will.”
After saying that, the man greeted Snovell and began to introduce himself.
“I’m an esthetician who took over Amy’s vacant position, who went on vacation a while ago.
I was introduced to a noble person and was able to set foot in a place like this, even temporarily.
My name is Jun.”
After speaking, the man raised his head and smiled brightly.
