My Life Was Taken by My Charm-Wielding Sister—But It Ends Here (The Mind-Reading Noble Lady’s Journey to Happiness After Escaping Her Toxic Family) - Episode 40

At Varick’s request, numerous knights and civil officials arrived at the temple on the same day as the inspection.

Their tasks were broadly divided into two categories.

The first was investigating numerical data such as account books and visitor numbers.

From previous interactions, it was clear that the head priest had been falsifying donations and other income and expenses. However, the exact amount remained unknown and required careful scrutiny. Through this investigation, determining the extent of the hidden assets was an urgent priority.

The second task was actually locating where these hidden assets were stored.

If they were in an obvious form like “money” within the temple, things would be simple.

“Probably not, though,” Varick sighed as he said this.

“To stage a rebellion, you need ‘people,’ then ‘horses, weapons, and armor,’ ‘provisions,’ and so on. But even with funds, suddenly acquiring all of these at once would be difficult. Production capacity is limited, and if the temple placed large orders for such items, it would be highly conspicuous. It makes more sense to assume they’ve been accumulating them somewhere over many years.”

“Um… can the priests even prepare such things directly? They don’t seem to have the connections, and if the temple tried to procure them, it would arouse suspicion on its own. Unless there’s an intermediary involved, that is…”

In the waiting room, Otilie and the others quietly analyzed the situation point by point.

“You’re right, Otilie. I believe nobles are definitely involved behind the scenes. High-ranking nobles with large knight orders could purchase weapons and armor in bulk without raising much suspicion.”

“Such a thing…”

The temple’s visitors—the believers—hadn’t received special training, so even if they armed themselves and attacked, suppressing them would be easy. But if the opponents were trained knights, that would be a different story. There was even a real possibility the country could be overthrown.

“First and foremost, we need to investigate,” Varick declared, and Otilie nodded.

That said, Varick and the others wouldn’t be staying at the temple to conduct the investigation. He had other official duties, and he needed to report this matter to the king. They decided to leave the knights and civil officials in charge and return to the castle for now.

However, even after returning to the castle with Varick, Otilie couldn’t stop worrying about the temple. What were the priests thinking? Had the assets been found?… Her anxieties were endless. Even though she knew she had her own tasks to attend to, she couldn’t settle down.

Late at night, after finishing her assigned work, Otilie remained rooted at her desk.

“Otilie, no matter how long you wait, information won’t come in tonight.”

“Lord Varick, I’m sorry. But I just keep thinking, ‘what if?'”

Updates on the investigation were supposed to come in sequentially. However, to avoid confusion and inefficiency from scattered reports, it was arranged for the field supervisor to compile them. The earliest report wouldn’t arrive until tomorrow morning, so the other aides had already left. Only Otilie and Varick remained.

“Waiting and resting are part of the job too. As I’ve said before, you can’t handle all the work alone. And once you decide to entrust a task, you must trust the person you’ve assigned. That’s the role of the crown prince’s aide.”

“Yes… you’re right.”

Even though there was much to do, she had only one body, and there were limits to the work and stamina she could manage. That’s precisely why each person was given their role. Otilie had no tasks assigned to her at the moment. Now was the time to rest. She understood that logically, but returning to her room would only make her more restless.

(Ah, but…)

Even in this state, with no information gathered yet, there might be something Otilie could do. Perhaps this way she could be of use to everyone, to Varick.

“Lord Varick! I want crystals!”

“Eh, crystals?”

“Yes, as many as possible! How can I get them?”

At Otilie’s words, Varick’s eyes widened. It seemed he had grasped what she was thinking.

“I see… If we imbue the crystals with your ability, we can advance the investigation more efficiently. Since people other than Otilie could hear the priests’ inner thoughts, we could extract more information than usual. We could even see through their lies!”

With an excited expression, Varick took Otilie’s hands. Otilie nodded firmly.

“Lord Varick, I want to be of use to the country—to you! Please, make use of me!”

“Otilie… Understood. We have crystals stockpiled in the castle. I’ll have them prepared immediately.”

Varick smiled. Minutes later, a pile of transparent crystals lay before Otilie.

“First, hold the crystal. Gather your ability into it, just like when you share your power with others.”

“Yes, Lord Varick.”

Gripping the crystal with both hands and focusing her energy, the crystal slowly shifted to a pale purple hue. She felt a gradual sensation of energy being drawn from her body. Sweat beaded on Otilie’s forehead. Once the entire crystal had turned pale purple, she let out a small sigh.

“That should be enough energy. Capacity-wise, I doubt it can hold more.”

“How long will the ability last like this?”

“The duration of abilities imbued in crystals varies by individual. We can’t say for sure without testing. Sometimes it exerts strong power for a short time, other times it’s weaker but lasts longer, slowly fading.”

“I see.”

While longer duration was preferable, if the ability was too weak to hear inner thoughts, it would be pointless. Could focusing her consciousness differently while imbuing the crystal alter the effect? Otilie picked up another crystal and concentrated her energy intently.

(A little more, a little more…)

“Otilie, if you push yourself too hard, you’ll exhaust yourself. If you collapse, it’ll be a serious problem. Let’s stop for today…”

“Please let me continue. Because I’m happy that my ability is needed. When I thought that the ability I hated so much might be the key to protecting the country, I couldn’t sit still.”

“Otilie…”

“Besides, I still have plenty of stamina left! I won’t collapse easily. After all, I’m Lord Varick’s aide.”

Standing by Varick’s ideals and wishes, sometimes guarding his back, working as his right hand. Finally, Otilie was beginning to function as an aide should. —She was becoming able to say with confidence that she had the ability to match him. If she didn’t give her all now, she would regret it.

“Yeah… you’re right.”

“I want to hold you,” —murmuring so Otilie wouldn’t hear, Varick gently narrowed his eyes.