12 O'Clock Marionette-Chapter 75

“A day late, but that’s your fault for being late, not mine.”

“Ah… How did you know?”

“How—did—I? Are you underestimating me, or do you think it’s normal to not know your own fiancée’s birthday?”

“I know your birthday, darling. It’s June 13.”

So, Siora’s birthday is June 13.

I didn’t know that.

“I wasn’t trying to interrogate you. Hm, thank you. I’ll put it to good use.”

Cruello, looking somewhat unreadable, took the sword.

As the blade emerged from its scabbard, it gleamed beautifully in the sunlight, making me feel oddly proud.

His reaction was lukewarm compared to what I expected, but I knew he liked it.

Back when I was Amy, I had wanted to gift him a sword, but I died before I could.

How many years had it been? This time, I finally gave it to him properly!

I didn’t have it custom-made, but still—this one’s probably more expensiv—

Hm.

“…You should change the scabbard.”

I casually advised.

Why did they bother engraving the Crimson Duke’s crest on the damn thing?

Honestly, the Crimson Duchy always did unnecessary things.

Cruello’s eyes widened slightly before he suddenly burst into laughter.

***

After shaking off the soldiers, we arrived at Cruello’s new hideout.

He said he had prepared it just in case.

While he registered the spatial coordinates and set up various defenses, I sprawled out on the sofa, watching him work.

Mages weren’t as convenient as I had imagined.

They reminded me of swans—gliding gracefully above water while paddling furiously beneath.

I decided to try getting along with Pebula again.

“I’d love to take things slower, but solving your problem is the top priority, isn’t it?”

Finishing his work, Cruello sat across from me.

“First, I need to understand why I’m being suspected of involvement with the Black Serpent.”

“There was a report. The Imperial Palace is concealing the informant, but after a day’s work, I managed to find out.”

“Who is it?”

“Elin Lullaby.”

Who?

“She claims to be Nigellia’s granddaughter. Nigellia is currently missing, so there’s no confirmation from that side.”

“Wasn’t the Second Elder unmarried?”

“That’s what everyone believed. But no one questioned it too much, either.”

Cruello trailed off and placed a marble on the table.

It looked similar to the communication orb I had seen before, but it was twice the size and had a greenish tint.

It was a recording orb meant to replay past events.

Soon, an image appeared above the marble.

The location was the Imperial Crown Prince’s office, which we had visited before.

The perspective was angled downward, as if looking from above, and a woman with reddish-brown hair was visible.

That face was—

“She looks like a young Nigellia.”

“You’re right. After verification, there was no evidence of magical disguise.”

“Even so, this is highly, highly suspicious. Not to mention how she’s dragging me into this for no reason.”

“Watch.”

Cruello tapped the recording orb, and the woman, previously frozen, began to move.

First, she knelt, offering proper courtesy to the person in front of her—presumably the Crown Prince.

[“I deeply appreciate Your Highness granting me this audience. Allow me to introduce myself once more. I am Elin, granddaughter of Madam Nigellia.”]

[“Introduction is unnecessary. What is this important report?”]

[“I have requested this meeting with Your Highness to report the crimes of my grandmother.”]

The conversation was proceeding smoothly—wait… what? Who?

[“She is the leader of the Black Serpent Cult.”]

Huh? Huhhh?

The recording abruptly ended, leaving me staring at my own dumbfounded expression reflected on the now-empty marble.

Maintain composure.

“…There was a leader?”

“The title disappeared several generations ago, but in terms of actual influence, her claim isn’t entirely wrong.”

“Ugh. But wasn’t the accusation against Nigellia, not me?”

“Elin claims that Siora Bonetti was formally mentored by the cult leader and is her designated successor.”

So that’s how they’re twisting Nigellia’s test?

Unbelievable.

“The teachings were supposedly passed down in Bonetti? So, Bonetti was secretly worshiping the spirit of death?”

“They’re arguing it was done for secret transmission. Also, while not widely known, that serpent ring is said to be exclusive to the cult leader.”

They really went all in on this.

No wonder Dylan was so shocked.

Wait a second. If the ring was exclusive to the leader, why did they ask which Elder betrayed them?

It didn’t take long for me to realize Dylan knew absolutely nothing.

I set aside the minor deductions and focused on listening to the rest of the story.

“There are witnesses supporting the claim.”

Cruello raised one finger.

“First, Hans. The arsonist behind the Velvet estate fire. He was scheduled for execution, but for some reason, it was halted. Now he claims he was controlled by dark magic to commit the arson. And, of course, he insists you were the one behind it.”

“Ha…”

“Second, Cotton Narrow. The Imperial Knight who came to capture you back then. He swears he saw you dressed as a cultist with his own eyes.”

I had no words for that.

“Third, Elin Lullaby. She has written documentation of the trial you underwent. She expanded on it with additional fabricated details.”

“Oh, I can guess one thing. I helped Ro Blue escape to buy time to cut off loose ends? Something like that?”

“They also claim you orchestrated the riot to swap the Recanon relic. That the riot leader specifically chose you to carry the relic because of that.”

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Cruello then extended his fourth finger.

“And lastly, Mamic. She’s still being persuaded, as far as I know.”

“What do you think will happen?”

“Well, she was never the strong-willed type.”

So, he didn’t trust her.

“They went all in with this. No surprise there. So much for ‘cleaning up the cult.’”

“…That was my mistake.”

"You Must Have a Plan, Then?"

"I'll take care of it cleanly, as an apology."

"How?"

"By killing all the witnesses."

...What kind of murderous joke was that?

I stared at him in disbelief, but Cruello's expression remained completely composed.

"Seriously?"

"Is there anyone here who shouldn't be killed?"

"...Let’s try a normal, textbook approach first, shall we?"

I slipped back into the tone I used when teaching Cruello in the past.

He narrowed his eyes, clearly displeased, but as long as I worshipped a god instead of a demon, there was no way I could go along with this.

Not when two innocent people were caught up in this mess.

"The Secret Investigator won’t testify, right? I did save him, after all."

"It won’t be easy."

"Figures. Honestly, I could resolve this easily with holy power, but that’s exactly why it’s suspicious."

An idiot like Julian wouldn’t be able to make the connection, but Nigellia would definitely have realized that I was the one using divine power so liberally.

And if she still went ahead and set this up, that meant she had a way to counter my countermeasures.

Looking at it optimistically, maybe Nigellia and Elin were on different sides, meaning they hadn’t shared information completely.

But my gut feeling was terrible, so I decided to save that method as a last resort.

"I’ll respect your opinion, darling. But—"

Uncharacteristically hesitant, Cruello trailed off and lowered his gaze.

With his eyes fixed on the floor, he spoke slowly.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead."

"Why did you go into the cult’s hideout alone?"

"Oh, that… because there was a hostage."

To be precise, I thought there was a hostage.

Looking back now, it was… slightly, just slightly embarrassing.

Before he could throw one of his sharp remarks, I quickly cut him off.

"I know, it was stupid. I lost my head and fell for a decoy."

"No, I’m not blaming you for getting tricked."

He lifted his gaze slightly, his expression unreadable.

"I’m asking why you went that far for Gavotte Bonetti."

“…What?"

"Even if he was really taken hostage, was he someone worth risking that much for?"

…That was a question I didn’t have an answer to.

Even on my way to the temple, I had struggled with that thought.

Logically, I couldn’t explain my own actions.

My body had moved on its own.

No matter how much I distanced myself from this body, risking my life for someone I hadn’t even known for half a year was definitely strange.

Especially when the weight of all the lives tied to this body was immeasurable.

…Was I really being irrational?

When I didn’t answer right away, Cruello lifted his eyes to meet mine.

With his head tilted downward, the shadows in his gaze deepened.

"Do you like Gavotte Bonetti?"

"Huh?"

I repeated dumbly before belatedly grasping what he meant.

Wait. Did he seriously just ask that?

"Hold on. You mean—like that? Romantically?"

"Yes."

"Are you insane? No—wait, I already knew you were insane."

Running a hand through my hair, I dismissed the absurd question outright.

"I have zero interest in crossing that line. You do remember my last name is 'Bonetti,' right?"

"We're not related by blood, and you haven’t known him that long. Does that really matter?"

"That’s an incredibly disrespectful thing to say about family, so keep that in mind."

"Then."

Cruello didn’t back down.

"If it had been someone else, would you have done the same thing?"

"Someone else? Who? Minuet?"

I couldn’t even picture it.

Neither her being kidnapped, nor me rushing in to save her.

It would take a thousand-year-old villain for that kind of scenario to make sense.

But Cruello shook his head.

Then, his lips curled slightly.

And—

"What if it had been me?"

"...What?"

If Cruello had been the one held hostage?

My tongue froze at the unexpected question.

As I stood there flustered, he asked again.

"Would you have come for me?"

"...I would have…"

My answer was vague, but the truth was the opposite.

The image in my mind was far too clear.

And, oddly enough, it wasn’t Roy I pictured—it was the fully grown version of Cruello.

If it had been him, there was no chance I wouldn’t have gone.

But wasn’t it strange that I could picture that more clearly than going to save Minuet?

Cruello’s eyes narrowed, and he laughed softly.

"That was definitely a lie, but it didn’t feel like one."

"…"

"I can take care of myself, so don’t worry about me. And the same goes for your family. They’re all adults, aren’t they?"

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He shrugged, looking noticeably more at ease.