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 41

The crystal imbued with Otilie’s abilities was delivered to the temple specifically to the officials in charge of the investigation by the next day. In exchange, the results of yesterday’s investigation were sent to Varick and his team. As he read through the documents, Varick let out a deep sigh.

“It seems there’s definitely something wrong with the temple’s repair costs. Yesterday, I had the castle’s design team verify the actual areas needing repairs and calculate the necessary expenses, but the figures don’t match the contract at all. The material costs, labor expenses, and work duration are all listed at amounts significantly higher than the market rate.”

“So, does that mean the official contract amount is set high, but they’re actually paying the contractor less than that?”

“Exactly. With this contract alone, the temple stands to gain at least several million.”

Temple repairs are funded by government subsidies. First, the temple submits an estimate to the state. If there are no issues with the content, the state provides the subsidy. Then, the temple directly contracts with a contractor to carry out the work, and the difference between the contract amount and the subsidy is returned to the state.

“I’ve obtained the subsidy application. The scope of repairs listed here is completely different from the actual repairs. This likely allowed them to cover up the irregularities in the design.”

As she explained, Airny furrowed her brow. Sighs escaped from among the assistants.

“Reports are also coming in from the lords regarding the number of priests working at the branch offices. In small towns, the numbers match the records. …But in larger towns, there’s a discrepancy of at least one, up to three priests.”

“So, for each missing person, they’re recording higher labor costs in the books, right?”

Inflating expenses like labor costs makes their apparent income—assets—appear smaller. In other words, the temple is hiding assets to that extent.

“We’re still actively investigating the number of visitors and the amount of donations, but it’s likely that the daily visitor count is higher than the numbers recorded in the documents.”

“I thought so.”

Varick sighed again and gently pressed his forehead.

“With this much evidence, it should be easy to charge them with falsifying income and expenses. But this time, we need to find proof of the hidden assets—evidence that they were preparing for a rebellion. Capturing one of the ringleaders won’t mean much if riots break out.”

“…In that case, wouldn’t it be faster to directly interrogate the head priest? We have Otilie with us, and I think imprisoning him once we’ve gathered enough evidence would be best.”

“You’re right. Normally, we’d let them roam free for a while to observe, but that’s unnecessary this time. Lies won’t work in front of Otilie. If we press him about the rebellion and where they’re hiding the assets, even if he remains silent, we might be able to find evidence from his inner thoughts.”

The assistants nodded at Varick’s words.

“Otilie, will you do it?”

“Of course, Lord Varick.”

As she replied, Otilie clenched her fist tightly.

But two days later, the situation took an unexpected turn.

“Dead? The head priest?”

“Yes. It seems an assassin infiltrated the temple. Besides the head priest, several other key priests were also killed.”

The official who delivered the report explained with a pale face.

“I see… So, they’ve been silenced.”

“Silenced?”

“Didn’t I say it before? There’s no way the priests could pull off a rebellion on their own. Nobles are definitely involved behind the scenes. Probably, upon learning that a large-scale investigation was underway at the temple, they killed the priests to prevent them from revealing their identities.”

The color drained from Otilie’s face. Her palms trembled uncontrollably, and she struggled to breathe properly out of fear.

(What do I do… Now we can’t ask where they hid the assets. What if that noble hasn’t given up on the rebellion? The country—the people could be in danger.)

“Otilie, calm down.”

Varick said this and took Otilie’s hand. The trembling in her fingertips gradually subsided with Varick’s warmth. Otilie nearly burst into tears.

“Lord Varick…”

“It’s alright. It’ll take time, but if we investigate carefully, we’ll definitely find the connection. Definitely.”

(But what if it’s too late by then…?)

Stifling the urge to ask, Otilie nodded firmly. The other assistants also exchanged glances and nodded in agreement.

But even after two months, no connection between the temple and the nobles was found. Despite handling their regular duties and poring over documents delivered from the field day and night, they couldn’t find any leads.

(Lord Varick said we’d definitely find it.)

Even when they pressed the surviving priests, they claimed to know nothing. Since Otilie’s ability allowed her to hear their inner thoughts, it couldn’t be a lie. They also questioned the contractors who had dealings with the temple, but no useful information emerged. The investigation had reached a dead end.

(What if we never find anything?)

The snowmelt season was approaching. It wouldn’t be surprising if the capital were attacked at any moment. Telling herself not to panic was easier said than done.

“Excuse me, I’d like to speak with an assistant.”

A visitor arrived at the office. Otilie hurried over to them.

“Good work. I’d like to get Lord Varick’s approval on this document.”

She took the document and glanced over it. It seemed to be a standard form requiring approval at the start of the fiscal year.

“Understood. Please explain the summary here. I’ll make sure Lord Varick receives it. I’ll contact you once the approval is complete.”

“Is that so? Thank you. Well… I was hoping to catch a glimpse of His Highness, but he must be busy. The temple investigation is still ongoing, I assume?”

“Yes, well…”

As she replied, Otilie glanced at the official. It was her first time interacting directly with this man. He didn’t seem to hold a high position, and she hadn’t heard much about his reputation. He seemed like the type who usually delegated tasks like approvals to other staff.

“Must be tough for you too, Assistant?”

“No, not really. It’s my job.”

If anything, she felt it wasn’t enough. Just as Otilie clenched her fist in frustration—

[Why don’t they just wrap up the investigation already… What’s the point of desperately continuing to look?]

—the inner voice of the official in front of her reached her ears. Otilie’s eyes widened in surprise.

(Huh!?)

Otilie’s heart pounded loudly.

Why would he think that? He isn’t even directly involved in the investigation.

(No way! No way!)

The connection they’d been searching for all this time. Could this official know something? Something that would make him want the investigation to end—?

Otilie took a slow, deep breath to hide her excitement.