Chapter 2094: "Cousin
Leaving the Three Cats Inn, Shard first said goodbye to Dorothy, who still had to go to the Steam Bird Newspaper Office in the afternoon, and then asked Dr. Schneider about Priest Augustus’s recent condition.
"The healing is making progress, but he still needs to be observed. The Priest’s problem isn’t that serious; actually, I think letting him go out for a walk and relax a bit would work even better. But he doesn’t want to travel far anymore. When we have time, we still need to talk with him more."
After parting with the doctor, Shard originally wanted to look for Iluna and ask what exactly they were investigating today at the Three Cats Inn. But remembering that it was still her working hours, he decided not to disturb her.
After going home and sending the lazy cat off for its nap, he once again headed to Moon Bay City.
Since last night’s investigation had run into people from the Dragon Feast Cult, Shard naturally needed to inform Mr. Benhart and Miss Belindel. For the former it was a safety warning, and for the latter, this also counted as a valuable investigative lead.
Because Belindel Estate was relatively close to the city gate at the entrance to Saint George Stone Bridge, Shard went to the estate first. The Witch had probably already given instructions, so the servants of the estate let Shard in directly.
He was quite lucky; Miss Belindel happened to be at the estate this afternoon, though she appeared to be just about to go out. Seeing Shard arrive, she didn’t even give him time to speak before telling the Maid to fetch clothes for him to change into and go out together with her.
"May I ask what we’re doing?"
Shard didn’t refuse, and the blonde Witch with the pretty vermilion birthmark between her brows looked rather troubled:
"Going to the church. The Belindel Family sponsored the renovation of an old side hall at the local Dawn Chapel. I need to have a male among the servants at my side—this is a visit to the church, so I can’t have a Maid use the Illusion Technique to disguise herself. In the past I always had to grit my teeth and endure the disgust of having a manservant follow me. But now that you’re here, remember to stand closer to me later; it will also help me get rid of some suspicion."
"Suspicion of what? Oh, forget I asked—suspicion of being a Witch?"
"Yes, yes. Because the Council performed too well in the last few incidents involving The Chosen One, the Church has started secretly investigating Council members. A woman like me—young, beautiful, wealthy, free, and single—is of course going to be suspected."
Although it sounded like she was bragging, that description was, unexpectedly, not wrong:
"I don’t know about others, but I absolutely can’t let the Church suspect me."
As she spoke, she gave Shard a suspicious look:
"Come to think of it, I remember that earlier this year, there was a scandal about Vanessa in Randall Valley—a reporter photographed a man being affectionate with her while dining in a restaurant, going in and out of the Opera House with her, and even caught a shot that looked like a kiss. So when the Church was investigating Witches, they didn’t suspect her at all... Back then I thought she’d had one of the troupe girls dress as a man and act out a scene with her, but now that I think about it, that man going on a date with Vanessa wouldn’t happen to be you, would it?"
"It was me."
Shard did not deny it.
The Great Witch of Destiny frowned slightly:
"Did you two actually... kiss?"
"We did not, and it doesn’t even count as a date. It was similar in nature to today, just helping her shake off suspicion."
Shard felt a brief wave of self-disgust for lying, but it only lasted a second or two.
"Is that so?"
Miss Belindel didn’t seem convinced. When the Maid brought over the clothes and Shard went to the next room to change, she casually took out a coin and tossed it. Somehow, as the coin was falling, she suddenly felt a faint palpitating unease. Because of that one moment of hesitation, the coin actually fell straight to the floor.
Clink, clink~
The coin kept spinning on the floor; not only the Witch, but even the Maid beside her, Miss Matilda, looked over. In the end, the spinning coin actually came to a stop standing upright on its edge on the floor.
Miss Belindel hadn’t prepared a manservant’s outfit for Shard, but a black formal suit instead. This meant that Shard wasn’t going to be Role Playing a servant or an Attendant, but taking on a far more ambiguous identity.
But to be honest, apart from the style of the hat and the two rows of decorative silver buttons on the chest of the coat, that black outfit wasn’t much different from what Shard usually wore.
"You’re my cousin."
When Shard finished changing and came out, Bella Belindel only felt he looked better the more she looked, and was quite satisfied with her taste in clothes. She didn’t give Shard any specific tasks, only told him to stay by her side and, at certain moments, move closer to her to display some seemingly inadvertent "intimacy."
Shard listened carefully, ready to play his role. Probably only the Witch Apprentice, Miss Matilda, could see the little Witch’s careful thoughts hidden in all this.
In short, when the carriage set off with everyone aboard, Shard and Miss Belindel sat in the same carriage. The two of them barely spoke along the way; the Witch kept her face turned toward the window, using it to hide the faint blush on her cheeks.
Six Maids, six guards, plus Shard the "cousin"—that was the entire retinue accompanying the Earl on this outing.
Bishop Fernando of the Dawn Church in this parish led two highly respected Priests and many young Priests and Nuns to the church door to welcome the visiting Earl’s party; there were even local reporters setting up cameras to take pictures. Compared to Bishop Owen of the Tobesk Parish, Bishop Fernando was much younger; Shard even suspected the man wasn’t yet fifty.
The two sides exchanged a few polite words at the church entrance, then went together to visit the newly refurbished side hall. Shard didn’t know how much money the Belindel Family had donated for this, but at the very least the church was giving the Countess plenty of face—even arranging for the choir children to sing a Holy Song in the side hall.
After more than two hours of visiting and touring, everyone seemed quite happy, but from the moment they entered the church, Shard noticed that someone had been watching them the entire time. Looking at it this way, perhaps Miss Belindel’s worries weren’t unnecessary after all.
As it neared four‑thirty in the afternoon and the visit was drawing to a close, the blonde Countess with the vermilion birthmark between her brows once again, with her attendants in tow, "piously" joined the townsfolk in the newly renovated side hall to listen to Bishop Fernando’s sermon.
He thought the matter would end there, but when the sermon concluded, an elderly Nun invited the Countess to say a few words. Of course Miss Belindel agreed, because she addressed that Nun as "Aunt Phyllis."
"A member of the previous generation of the Belindel Family became a Nun in the local church, and judging by her habit, she’s the kind of Nun who has never left the Church her entire life... interesting. Just what happened in the Belindel Family?"
A magnificent story had already begun to unfold in Shard’s mind, and while the Witch spoke privately with the old Nun, the Maids, the "cousin," and the guards waited outside.
The rooms in the church were well soundproofed, so the corridor was very quiet. The group waiting outside weren’t idle either: Father Leonard, who had just joined Bishop Fernando in welcoming the Earl’s party, soon came over with a man whose hair was black.
Miss Matilda and Shard were both familiar with him—it was the Sorcerer of Nine Rings, York O’Connor, the other "player" who had participated in the Dice Story Collection. But because of the "wish" the Witch had made after that story ended, he could no longer clearly remember what had happened back then.
His current identity was the Priest responsible for Exorcism at the Dawn church, and he hoped to learn some information from the Maids and guards. The Head Maid, who had been prepared for this, cooperated with the Investigation, and even Shard answered questions such as whether he had "recently heard any strange sounds."
"Speaking of which, sir, which cousin of Earl Belindel are you, exactly?"
Mr. O’Connor asked Shard this while they talked. Shard glanced at the Blonde Maid, and when she subtly shook her head, he replied:
"A cousin with no blood relation. You can see I look like a Northerner; my kinship with her isn’t very close... though our other relationship is quite close."
Throughout the questioning, the silver ring on Mr. O’Connor’s hand constantly emitted traces of elements. This type of lie‑detecting Alchemical Items were standard issue for Iluna’s squad. But even without the Witch’s prior reminder, that thing would have no effect on Shard.
Meanwhile, Miss Belindel’s conversation with the old Nun wasn’t going well. When the door opened, the Witch was obviously furious. As she bid farewell to the Nun behind her, she was still wearing a look of anger:
"Aunt, you’ll regret this."
She then led the group away, and Father Leonard brought people to the door to see the Duchess off. Only when they reached the church entrance did Miss Belindel remember that her handbag was still with the old Nun, so she sent two Maids to fetch it. Once they stepped out of the church, another Maid and her personal female guard went ahead down the steps to meet the carriage.
Thus, when Miss Belindel stood before the carriage bidding farewell to the Priests, aside from the servants and guards who weren’t attending her at close range, the only people near her were Shard and the Head Maid, Miss Matilda.
And very "unfortunately," when the Head Maid opened the carriage door, she "unexpectedly" discovered that the carriage’s mounting step—designed to make it easier for ladies in long skirts to board—was missing. She looked somewhat troubled at her mistress; the Countess frowned:
"You can even lose something like that?"
Then, quite naturally, she reached out her hand to the side.
This hadn’t been agreed upon beforehand, but since the lady had extended her hand, Shard wouldn’t ignore her.
So he reached out and took Bella Belindel’s right hand, steadying her as she boarded the carriage. Miss Belindel then stumbled midway, and when Shard supported her, she went with the momentum and fell into his arms, with him practically lifting her into the carriage.
And of course, that scene was displayed right in front of everyone at the church.
"That went very smoothly. I didn’t expect the Church’s doubts to be dispelled in one go, but at least it’ll move me off the top of their suspicion list."
As the carriage slowly started forward, Miss Belindel, her face flushed, spoke with a smile. Not daring to meet Shard’s eyes, she turned her head to look at the scenery outside the window instead.
Shard himself didn’t think too much of it at that moment; he was mulling over the notion that Miss Galina shouldn’t worry about this kind of suspicion, and wondering whether he also needed to help other ladies shake off suspicion in the near future.
As for the third person in the carriage—the Blonde Maid, Miss Matilda—she was both admiring her mistress’s ingenious "killing two birds with one stone" plan and watching the man lost in thought:
"He is indeed very handsome."