I Only Want Your Child - Chapter 18

Even during my previous life as the lady of Silverstel, I had purchased information through the Vas Guild.

Back then, my husband Lloyd had already established dealings with the Vas Guild, and thanks to that, I had been able to make contact with the guildmaster.

While she was thinking about the past, Vas broke into a nervous sweat and watched her carefully.

“Um… Madam. You may not know this, but we were actually in the process of withdrawing from our work in the underworld.”

“So that means you haven’t completely withdrawn yet.”

“……”

She’s really not an easy woman to deal with.

Vas looked troubled before eventually letting out a resigned sigh.

“I’ll hear you out first.”

At his acceptance, Juliana immediately pulled a sheet of paper from inside her clothes and held it out.

“The details of my request are written there. And from now on, send someone to the estate regularly. Someone trustworthy. I want to receive the information I request in person while checking the records of our transactions with the guild.”

Vas’s expression subtly changed as he accepted the paper.

She doesn’t intend to use Baldomer’s people?

Well, it would be difficult for someone from Heister to establish their own people in Baldomer already.

Vas’s mind worked quickly.

Was it really wise to join hands with Baldomer’s madam rather than Baldomer’s master?

It was a gamble.

If she were to fail to establish herself in Baldomer, the Vas Guild would be left with nothing. But if she managed to secure her position in Baldomer, the Vas Guild would grow alongside her.

And if the Vas Guild became a major guild, by then it would be more than capable of standing on its own without her.

Vas had always been fond of high-stakes gambles. Now that his deal with Silverstel had fallen through, she was the only lifeline left for him to grasp.

“Understood.”

A bold woman who had married into Baldomer, the enemy house of Heister.

He had no choice but to bet everything on this woman.

* * *

On the way back to the manor, I was lost in thought.

In my previous life, the orphanage had burned down, so I hadn’t been able to investigate it in detail.

The request I had given the Vas Guild was to gather information on Heloika Orphanage and look into a man in his thirties from the orphanage who had a long scar on his face.

Truthfully, I wasn’t certain that the man with those features was the culprit who had killed Denion.

In my first life, I hadn’t even seen the culprit’s face. All I had seen was Denion’s cold body after his death. Because there wasn’t so much as a wound on his corpse, everyone had assumed Denion had died of illness.

He had always been frail and frequently sick, after all.

But as I repeatedly regressed and lived different lives, I discovered that the assassin appeared without fail even in lives where Denion had never been born.

During one of my countless regressions, I had fought back against the assassin using my ability and managed to see his face. By a mother’s instinct, I knew he was the man who had killed Denion.

After encountering him as an assassin in several later regressions as well, that instinct became certainty.

There was one more thing I had realized through all those regressions.

In the lives where I concealed my ability, no assassin ever came after me.

The lives in which I had been killed by assassins were all ones where I hadn’t hidden my ability.

Which meant that someone who feared the abilities Denion and I possessed had sent those assassins.

Until I uncovered who that person was, I needed to conceal my ability as much as possible.

And in order to uncover that person’s identity, I had to establish myself as the lady of Baldomer as firmly as possible.

Only with the title of Baldomer’s madam could I make use of the Vas Guild.

So, at least until I conceived my child and fled, I would act as the perfect lady here in Baldomer.

If only to uncover the truth behind my death and my child’s.

Just as I entered the estate with a resolute expression, Layla approached as though she had been waiting for me.

“You’re finally back.”

I looked at Layla with a calm, subdued gaze.

“Lord Kallion is looking for you.”

* * *

As Kallion reviewed the ledger Layla had handed him, a look of surprise appeared in his eyes.

The banquet accounts had been organized with considerable care and precision.

Layla must have helped her. He was already well aware of Layla’s competence.

“I heard she established dealings with a new guild instead of the usual one, and at quite a low rate.”

Kallion assumed Layla had helped with that as well. The Sorento family had been well versed in matters concerning guilds for generations.

Thinking that, Kallion continued turning the pages when he suddenly stopped.

At a glance, the ledger was so thick that it would have been difficult to notice, but part of it was missing. They were the lists containing the most expensive items among those being purchased from the new guild.