pertwk Chapter 45 Evidence
Chapter 45 Evidence
Ashpar returned quite late, and as soon as he entered, he heard Vladimir's sarcastic tone: "Oh, so you do know how to come back? You come and go as you please, who's the boss here, you or me?"
His dislike for her had been brewing for a long time, and Ashpar was already used to it. Hearing this, he didn't even frown, but simply shrugged: "Sir, you know me. I earn so much money for my precious daughter. Since we've come all this way to Fontainebleau, can't we at least buy some souvenirs to take back?"
Vladimir disliked his nonchalant attitude towards everything he did, and said irritably, "Then where's your souvenir?"
"Oh..." Ashpar looked at his empty hands. "I didn't buy any souvenirs, but I brought my daughter back."
He pulled someone in from behind the half-open door.
The black-haired woman looked very young and was dressed in the kind of clothing most commonly seen in the Goldsmiths' Guild. However, she looked somewhat timid when she looked at them, unlike the warm and cheerful people of the desert.
Vladimir had heard from the matchmaker that Ashpar's daughter was adopted and was a foreigner. Ashpar doted on her, treating her like a precious treasure and rarely allowing her to go out, fearing she would be led astray.
At first glance, it seems to be true.
Ashpar seemed somewhat dissatisfied with his daughter's personality, but he still doted on her and asked her to introduce herself first.
"Hello……"
However, it seemed that those two words were already the limit, as she spoke while hiding behind Ashpar.
Vladimir didn't think much of the girl either, and didn't bother with them anymore, his brows furrowed and his face showing displeasure.
However, Ashpar, in an effort to keep his daughter with him, said a few kind words to him, which pleased him greatly, and he finally agreed.
"But you'd better keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn't run around. If she delays our business, I won't be lenient." The man, who had gotten a good deal but was still acting innocent, threatened viciously, which immediately frightened the girl into hiding behind her father.
Vladimir snorted coldly and left with his trusted subordinates.
Ashpar didn't linger and took his daughter back to his room.
As soon as he entered the room, he couldn't help but burst into laughter: "Hahaha, it's been so long since I've seen you like this! It's really hilarious!"
Ventara had already dropped her soft expression, and glanced at him expressionlessly upon hearing this: "Didn't you say I should act a little useless so they would lower their guard?"
Untara didn't know his employer well, so he naturally consulted his advice when preparing the disguise.
That being said, Ashpar initially just wanted to see her in such a completely different state than usual.
Although this father and daughter are not related by blood, they share the same wicked sense of humor.
However, Ashpar wasn't one to disregard the bigger picture. After a brief moment of banter, he got down to business: "If all goes well, those men who have been dispersed should arrive tomorrow, but the cargo ship will likely take some time to dock after seeing the signal. Vladimir has ordered a batch of wine, intending to use that time difference tomorrow to entertain his subordinates."
"Will they go out?"
"No, Vladimir becomes more cautious at times like this. He won't leave here; the wine will be delivered directly here," Ashpar said confidently.
Refusing to leave greatly increases the difficulty of the investigation, but as long as we can confirm that the goods brought at the rendezvous are Melusin, that's simple enough...
Ventara seemed lost in thought.
*
The next day, cases of wine arrived as promised.
By then, most of Vladimir's men had arrived, and occasionally Ashpar would greet familiar members of the gilded brigades who had also been hired.
One of them joked, "I heard you deliberately angered Lord Vladimir again yesterday?"
Ashpar laughed heartily: "How can you say that I deliberately angered him? I just wanted to keep my daughter with me. The master is kind-hearted and will surely understand. Besides, he agreed in the end."
"Come on!" The gilded troupe waved their hands. "You can fool your brothers with that kind of rhetoric, but don't end up fooling yourself too. And where's your daughter? Why isn't she out on such a special day?"
Ashpar shrugged: "That girl's a scaredy-cat, of course she's hiding in her room resting by herself—"
*
Ventara was indeed hiding in a room, but not in her own; it was in Vladimir's room.
Ten minutes ago, she slipped in when Vladimir was away, intending to search for any clues, but she didn't expect him to come back.
In desperation, she could only hide under the bed.
Vladimir, seemingly oblivious to her presence, walked to the window, drew back the curtains, and gazed at the ships docked in the harbor. He spoke to his men, "Is everything ready?"
"Yes, sir. The cargo ship will dock tonight, and the goods are ready and awaiting your instructions."
The subordinate's voice was kept very low, but it still reached Ventara's ears.
Realizing they seemed about to share some secret, she instinctively held her breath, wanting to hear more clearly.
"That's good. We went through a lot of trouble to get this cargo, so we must be extra careful."
The subordinate was still somewhat confused: "Master, what exactly do you see in them that makes you willing to take such a great risk to capture them?"
Regardless of the circumstances, harming Melousin in Fontainebleau is a grave offense.
Vladimir scoffed, "What do you think made my business so big? The greater the risk, the greater the reward. Just the fact that they're creatures unique to Fontaine is enough to make the nobles of Winter scramble for them. Scarcity drives up value, understand?"
His subordinates suddenly realized what he meant and praised his sharp eye.
Vladimir favored him precisely because of his eloquent tongue. Hearing this, he was extremely pleased and, after enjoying his flattery to the fullest, changed the subject: "But right now, we still need to prepare the banquet well and make sure these guys are well-fed and watered before they'll feel comfortable doing their jobs."
He didn't linger by the window any longer, but went to the wardrobe and began choosing an outfit for tonight's banquet: "...This one's nice—by the way, did you see the necklace I wore yesterday?"
His subordinates immediately came over to help him search, but no matter how hard they searched the wardrobe, they couldn't find it.
He guessed, "Could it be that you took it off last night before taking a bath and casually put it on the bedside table, and maybe it was knocked to the floor?"
"It's possible." Vladimir pondered for a moment and felt that what he said made sense, so he walked step by step toward the bedside.
From Ventara's perspective, all she could see were the man's feet getting closer and closer.
Hearing the sounds of rummaging around her, her eyes grew cold. She prayed that Vladimir could find the necklace successfully, otherwise she would have no choice but to take action directly.
Although I don't want to alert them too quickly, it's only a matter of time before they are convicted.
The sound eventually stopped, and Vladimir sounded somewhat annoyed, wondering if his things had really fallen under the bed.
The subordinate, trying to curry favor, bent down first, intending to check the situation under the bed for him.
Ventara held her breath and gripped the knife tightly in her hand.
"Knock knock—"
The sudden knocking startled everyone present. Following Vladimir's signal, his subordinate went to the door and, feigning displeasure, loudly demanded, "Who is it?"
The voice of the newcomer sounded muffled through the wooden door: "Lord Vladimir, we are from Rust. Your wine has been delivered. The boss told us to let you know before we leave, so please come out and check the numbers as soon as possible to avoid any problems later."
Ventara felt the voice was somewhat familiar, but she didn't have time to think about it; she had to move as soon as possible.
While the two men were completely focused on the people outside, she rolled over and crawled out from under the bed, hiding behind the curtains.
Vladimir himself just drew back the curtains, so he probably won't be tempted to come and check on them again.
She calmly considered this, then shifted her attention to listen to the conversation on the other end—
Vladimir clicked his tongue, clearly finding it troublesome.
All he cared about was his own business. This wine was just a way to appease the gilded tour group he hired, and he didn't want to put any more effort into it.
However, he still had to put on a show, so he opened the door and told the rusty men to wait outside while he tidied up for a bit before going in.
The guy outside responded indifferently.
Vladimir closed the door again and led his men in a frantic search for the necklace, which they found under the bed in no time.
In the end, some germaphobe found the necklace dirty and didn't take it out with him.
Ventara can finally breathe a sigh of relief.
She emerged from behind the curtains, quickly searching for evidence.
With Melusin's location unknown, more evidence is needed to convict her. Her adoptive father, Ashpar, can be considered a witness, but what's missing now is concrete physical evidence.
Persistence pays off; she found a locked box.
There were quite a few locks, but although it was a bit troublesome, Ventara skillfully pried them all open with the wire she had prepared beforehand.
The neatly stacked ledgers lay quietly in the box.
Ventara picked up a book and flipped through it, her brows furrowing more and more as she read.
Vladimir was a habitual offender; his ledgers were filled with records of his smuggling of illegal goods in various countries. Perhaps to prevent others from being implicated when his crimes were exposed, the ledgers also contained precise information about the buyers.
Ventara even spotted several familiar Fontaines.
However, it seems to be the first time he has dealt with a living creature, and another notebook contains a detailed record of his investigation results on Melusin.
The red lettering circled repeatedly on the Fontaine Law, which protects the Melusin, clearly demonstrating how conflicted its owner was before making the decision to target the Melusin.
However, it now seems that Vladimir ultimately could not resist Mora's temptation, and what is recorded afterward are all his ideas on how to escape after kidnapping Melusin.
Ventara carefully packed everything away and hid it in her clothes. She didn't intend to put the box back in its original place. After all, with this, there was no need to be polite to Vladimir anymore. She just needed to give a signal to summon Leosley to join her.
She pushed open the door and walked straight out, only to see an unexpected figure at the doorway.
(End of this chapter)
The author says: I'm finally back! The review week was nerve-wracking, and in the end, I still feel unsatisfied. But I've tried my best, so I'll leave the rest to fate.
To thank you all for waiting, I stayed up all night to finish this update. Also, I'll be giving away red envelopes to five lucky commenters today!