UDBUL CH 20

Chapter 20

A small smile appeared on Killian’s face as he read the letter carried by the bird.

“Lady Riana—do you mean the lady from Belcape? Oh no! That kind and sweet woman got hurt? We at the Malreff Trading Company will use every means to help!”

Killian wiped away a soft chuckle with the back of his hand.

“She’s nothing like her father.”

He sent the crow off without replying, and just as he was about to put the letter away, a certain word in Ivan Malreff’s messy handwriting caught his eye:

“Lady Riana… that Belcape lady…”

The writing looked darker and thicker there, as if it glowed or had been emphasized.

“What the…?”

For a moment, Killian felt a strange chill, but then he leaned back, relaxed.

“It’s just a mistake with the ink.”

It turned out to be Ivan’s poor writing skills—he had simply written that part thicker by accident. Still, the name “Riana” clung to Killian’s thoughts.

He tapped the corner of the letter with his fingers, his lips twisting slightly.

“She’s always been a bit bothersome.”

The name “Riana” kept bringing back moments with her—her handshake when they first met, the teardrop rolling down her cheek in the dungeon.

As these memories passed through his mind, he absentmindedly kept tapping the paper until it got crumpled.

Only then did his eyes move to the brass clock on the wall.

The hour hand was pointing to “2.”

“…Unbelievable.”

Killian leaned back and closed his eyes for just a moment.

***

By morning, members of the Magic Association had arrived at the Duke’s estate. Riana went to watch them, curious.

“They didn’t even glance at me… So Killian really didn’t say a word about me, huh?”

She wondered if she was just imagining the way some of the desert merchants gave her wistful looks on their way out.

Whoosh—whoosh—

The drugged beasts, asleep from the tranquilizer, made deep breathing sounds. They were loaded into huge cages covered with black cloth.

Crowds had gathered to watch, so Riana knew it wouldn’t be long before gossip about the event spread across the kingdom.

“By tomorrow, the whole country will be buzzing…”

But she was wrong—it started even faster, by lunchtime.

“A grand party by the Droche family, bringing tears to those who weren’t invited! A third guest slipped in—was it a desert mining lord or a smuggler? Could the Duke’s next product be black-market goods?”

Clever phrasing, anonymous mockery—it was the work of ForceBuzz.

“Are you kidding me?!”

Riana tossed the gossip magazine she borrowed from Mrs. Baker.

The cook, even while preparing lunch, agreed with her.

“Exactly! It doesn’t make sense, right?”

“No kidding. My fart makes more sense than this article!”

“Just don’t do it in my kitchen.”

Sitting on the counter, Riana huffed.

“Can they really write stuff like this before anything is confirmed? Don’t they have defamation laws here? ForceBuzz should be the one under investigation!”

She had a bad feeling about them from the start!

But then Mrs. Baker raised an eyebrow and asked something unexpected.

“Why are you getting so mad? What’s it got to do with you?”

“What do you mean? It has everything to do with me!”

There were a few reasons why this scandal surrounding Droche started—and Riana was involved in all of them.

First:

“I’m the one who tattled to Killian when I could’ve just walked away.”

She needed a solid excuse for disappearing during the ball.

Second:

“Killian also could’ve covered it up but didn’t—probably because of the bet involving me.”

She didn’t have proof, but considering how flirtatious he was in the middle of all that chaos, it seemed likely.

Third:

“I’m the one who first introduced the word ForceBuzz to this world.”

So in a way, she might’ve even created ForceBuzz itself.

“Now it feels like I’m the one causing trouble!”

But she couldn’t admit all that in front of Mrs. Baker. Officially, she wasn’t involved.

“So, what’s it got to do with you again?” the cook pressed.

Riana puffed up proudly.

“I’m an employee! Of course I care about my employer’s well-being! It’s only right that I hope for the best for the person who pays me!”

Mrs. Baker didn’t look convinced. Narrowing her eyes, she held up a ladle.

“You sure it’s not because you’ve got a crush on the Duke?”

“Whaaat?!”

Riana jumped off the counter like she’d heard the most ridiculous thing ever.

“That’s a seriously insulting accusation!”

“Tch. Just saying. All the maids who worked in the Isolation Tower fell for him eventually.”

“Well, I won’t! Ever!”

“You so sure?”

Riana pushed the ladle away with a finger and said coolly:

“He’s not my type. Not even close.”

Other women’s men were not her style—even if everything else about him was.

She licked some soup off her finger.

“Mmm. Tastes great. Is it potato soup?”

Mrs. Baker still looked suspicious but didn’t push further.

“Well… I’m worried too, honestly. This case is about human experimentation.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard it’s pretty serious. Could he get hit with a huge fine or something?”

Riana mumbled the rest, guilty at the thought that someone might suffer financially because of her.

But Mrs. Baker’s eyes widened in shock.

“What are you talking about?”

“What? Oh… maybe he won’t get punished too hard because he’s a Duke?”

“You really don’t get it, huh? If it’s about human experiments, everyone involved—helpers, people who looked the other way, even the test subjects—are all eligible for execution. No exceptions. Not even royalty.”

Riana’s heart dropped.

“Wait… It’s that serious?!”

Killian was probably safe since he truly wasn’t involved.

“But if that guy I met in the dungeon gets exposed as a test subject…”

He could end up straight on the execution block.

A short and stocky investigator from the Magic Association stroked his mustache as he toured the prison. The beasts were already sent off for disposal. The criminals were temporarily held here.

The investigator pointed at a former maid of the estate.