A Mastermind? No, I'm just the Live-In Son-in-Law-Chapter 166: A Question

"......Hmm."

I picked up the letter left behind by my father, but just before opening it, I subconsciously paused.

‘Could it be a trap?’

The one who had held this letter wasn’t just anyone—it was none other than the Duke of Embergreen, the man who bet his own life just to spite me on his way out.

So even if this letter was genuinely from my father, there was no guarantee it didn’t contain some kind of poison or spell.

‘...Still, there are no signs of it being tampered with.’

Even after examining it closely for a long time, I couldn’t find any indication that it had been opened.

Well, that’s what the sealing magic and insignia are for, after all.

That said, I still couldn’t fully rule out the possibility of the letter itself being cursed...

‘...Oh, right. I’m a white mage.’

Honestly, I’d been entangled with the dark factions so often lately that I’d almost forgotten—even I’m not some Demon Lord or black mage. I’m a good, righteous white mage.

If there were some sort of subtly hidden jinx or curse embedded in the letter, I’d still be able to sense if it were harmful, at least vaguely.

‘There’s no trace of black mana or a curse. In that case...’

Still, I continued to stare at the letter for quite some time before finally calling over Azrael—the Archdemon(?) who had been leaning against the wall with a blank stare—so I could hand the letter to her.

"What is this?"

"Just open it for me."

Even if something went wrong, I figured it wasn’t a huge deal for a demon—what’s the worst that could happen, she ends up back in Hell?

—Criiick...

Fortunately, nothing dangerous happened to Azrael, whose aptitude for household tasks had recently seen a remarkable improvement.

"What is this even about, that you’re making me do this..."

"Don’t ask. Just give it back."

"...Haa."

Taking back the now-opened letter, I fell silent for a moment and swallowed dryly.

‘It’s been a long time since I last heard from Father.’

Strictly speaking, my father and I had barely any meaningful interaction in this life.

Our mother cared deeply for both me and my sister Cecil, but Father... well, he always had a tendency to favor Cecil more.

But since I’d already experienced the worst kind of family dynamics in my previous life, I didn’t hold any resentment.

Even though, with the family on the brink of collapse, he’d vanished on some classified mission and hadn’t contacted us in nearly a year...

Still, there must have been a good reason. I was just... a little bitter about it.

‘What could he possibly have to say...?’

Yet even that bitterness was starting to wash away, now that I finally received a message from him.

Even if the person who delivered it was... a bit of an accident-prone figure, it was still a letter from Father.

What would it say? Could it reveal secrets about his mission? But if that were the case, would he really have entrusted it to the Duke of Embergreen?

"......Hmm?"

As these thoughts swirled, my eyes finally scanned the letter—and after a few seconds, I tilted my head in confusion.

‘Am I still tired or something?’

Thinking I might be seeing things, I rubbed my eyes and read the letter again. Nothing had changed.

[HC1032-8]

The letter paper was large enough to fit around 500 characters—maybe up to 1,000 if written tightly—but that was all it said.

‘HC1032-8? What the hell is that, some kind of code?’

Furrowing my brows in confusion, I quietly leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes.

‘...He’s such a cool guy, huh.’

I thought there’d at least be a simple greeting. But this cryptic combination of letters and numbers?

Not that I was expecting anything grand... but considering I might be gambling with the fate of the world soon, something about this made me feel strangely hollow.

—Knock knock knock...!

Just as I laid the letter down on the desk, lost in thought, the door suddenly creaked open and someone poked their head in.

"Brother!"

It was none other than my sister, Cecil. But shouldn’t she be at the Academy right now? I thought she applied for dormitory housing, too.

"The Academy? We started break yesterday."

"...At this time of year?"

"They pushed it up a month because of all the recent chaos."

So that’s what happened. According to her, the Academy decided to start the break early.

Makes sense. After all the recent incidents, the place was probably in shambles. An early break would help them regroup.

"You got a letter from Dad, right?"

"...Hmm?"

"What did it say? Huh?"

As I pondered this, Cecil suddenly lit up and casually brought up something she shouldn’t know.

"It’s a misunderstanding. But how did you find out about that?"

"Parsha told me?"

Alarmed that information might be leaking, I shot her a quick question. Cecil flung the door wide open as she replied.

"Oh, was it a secret? Sorry."

Standing behind her was Parsha, who had looked all fired up just a short while ago. Now she stood with a deeply annoyed expression.

"But your sister kept pestering me, so I had no choice."

"Well, it’s just... Sasha’s on vacation, and I didn’t have anyone to hang out with."

"Still, grabbing my cheeks while I’m on duty is, ow..."

No wonder Parsha looked like that.

Honestly, Parsha’s far too mature for her age. Sasha might get treated like a kid, but Parsha already manages most of the mansion’s finances and operations.

Anyone would get annoyed if their cheeks were constantly being pulled, even with her talent.

‘Now that I think about it, I do get stepped on by Lady Meredia pretty often too...’

The thought crossed my mind, but well—those things probably still count as expressions of affection.

Yeah. Probably.

"Parsha, perfect timing. There’s something I wanted to ask you."

I scratched my head awkwardly, then waved Parsha over—partly to save her from Cecil’s antics.

"Yes!"

She scampered over like she’d been waiting for it.

"Aww, but I wanted to play more..."

"You can play with Lunelle, can’t you?"

"But Lunelle unni’s been super busy lately."

Just as Cecil pouted and mumbled, I realized she was right. Lunelle had been pouring everything into knight training these days.

I even gave her the Mage Tower mission, so she was going to get even busier.

"Parsha’s going to be very busy too, you know."

She had to handle not just mansion duties but also act as my strategist, after all.

"Isn’t it a bit much to make a kid work?"

"...Do you even realize you and Parsha are around the same age?"

Cecil tried to play the sympathy card with a gloomy look, but I wasn’t about to give in this time.

"But still..."

"......."

"I’m just so bored..."

Still, when she said that in such a downcast tone, her legs twisting anxiously beneath her, I couldn’t help feeling a pang of guilt.

"I was going to stay in the dorms, but they shut them down this break due to budget cuts..."

"......"

"And I can’t hang out with servants who are like ten years older than me..."

I’ve grown accustomed to solitude. But Cecil? She lost our mother at a much younger age than I did. And now Father was basically missing too. Of course she felt lonely.

She had friends at the Academy, but that probably just made the contrast sharper when she was alone here.

"Then how about inviting your friends over to the mansion?"

"...Huh?"

"Let them stay for a few days. Hang out together. Might help with the loneliness."

Trying to cheer her up, I offered a suggestion.

"R-Really? Are you serious?"

From the look on her wide, astonished eyes, she clearly hadn’t expected that from me.

"They’re your lovely friends. Of course I can spare a few rooms."

"...You mean it?"

There was a reason for her reaction—I’d refused to let any of her friends visit the mansion for almost a year.

‘Back then I was worried about exposing how destitute our house was...’

But now, the Ringaarden estate had mostly stabilized. Letting Cecil have some guests over wouldn’t be an issue.

‘Not that this offer is entirely out of the goodness of my heart...’

To be honest, I had other motives. I needed this to succeed—for the week-long operation that might determine the fate of the world.

"Actually, now that we’re talking about the Mage Tower—wasn’t your rival’s name Adel Felgrave?"

"Huh? Y-Yeah, why?"

"I heard her father’s the Tower Lord. That’s perfect. We should invite her too."

Of course, my interest here wasn’t so much in Cecil... as in her friend.

"Uh, we are on good terms, but I wouldn’t say we’re close enough for that..."

"It’d be great ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) if you invited her too, dear sister."

"A-Alright, alright..."

Cecil seemed hesitant, so I gave her my warmest smile and gently repeated the request.

"Your face looks weird again."

"......."

"You’re scheming something, aren’t you? Ugh, fine..."

I’m not sure what tipped her off, but she nodded and agreed to my request anyway.

"Haa, seriously. Why her, of all people..."

It had to be Adel Felgrave. No one else would do.

Sure, I could probably get into the Mage Tower with Princess Katarina’s help, but what I really needed was a natural reason and proper justification.

And Adel—being the Tower Lord’s daughter—was a critical key to that.

"Anyway, that’s the deal, right? If I invite her, I can bring the others too?"

"Have I ever gone back on my word?"

"...No, but it feels like you will."

After muttering that, Cecil ran out of the office.

I turned quietly toward Parsha.

"Parsha, take a look at this."

"...What is it?"

"A letter from my father. Seems like some kind of code."

"Hmm..."

After showing her the contents, Parsha furrowed her brows and fell deep into thought before finally speaking.

"I do have a rough idea. But I’ll need some time."

"How long?"

"Hard to say? Maybe a day or two?"

As expected of Parsha. I’ve never been good with puzzles like this. It’s probably best to leave it entirely in her hands.

"Alright then. I’ll leave it to you."

With that, I sent her off and the office once again fell into perfect silence.

"......Hmm."

Sitting alone in that silence, I slowly turned my head, eyes gleaming.

‘I guess I can’t keep pretending not to know.’

The timing was just right.

It’s time I asked a question.

***

“...Hiiik!”

"......What’s wrong?"

Meanwhile, aboard the Valkyrie carriage en route to the Holy Theocracy—

"N-Nothing!"

"......?"

Saintess Hestia flinched and let out a short scream, prompting the startled Commander to scan the area with wide eyes, confused.

"I-I must’ve just dozed off for a second. Haha..."

She gave him a strained smile and closed her eyes again.

—Saintess.

But what she saw behind those closed eyes wasn’t darkness—it was a view she had grown far too used to seeing, day after day.

—I have a question.

And there, staring into her soul with a terrifying smile while holding the spider monster she’d once made into her familiar—

Was Whitney.

—Who is the real Hero?