Chapter 213: Shocking Facts (6)
Everyone held their breath. A moment later, without exception, every eye turned toward one person.
“Hahaha! So I’ve been exposed after all? I saw it coming, but I never expected it to happen this way. Hahaha!”
Ignoring everyone’s stares, Marquis Delance threw his head back and laughed.
“Brother Delance, are you really the one who’s been directing those terrorists from behind the scenes?”
Duke Osborne looked utterly bewildered, while Marquis Delance wore a smug grin.
“Ah, that’s right. It was me. The plan itself was perfect, but I never imagined that boy from Amagi would ruin everything. And I never thought those guys would secretly record it, either. Tch... I guess people you hire can’t be trusted after all. In the end, I got brought down by a USB drive.”
“Father... You had them do it so no one would suspect you...”
Anna tried to hold back, but she was already sobbing uncontrollably. She could only cover her mouth with both hands to hide it.
Marquis Delance answered her loudly.
“That’s right. Who would ever suspect that I’d have my own subordinates kidnap my daughter to threaten me?”
“How could you...”
Perhaps she couldn’t bring herself to say anything more. Anna simply lowered her head in silence.
“That’s exactly why I did it. Even if people grew suspicious, I could use that to clear my name. After all, no one would suspect a man of kidnapping his own daughter.”
“That’s right, Miss Katsuragi. You really are as clever as your father.”
“...”
For some reason, after hearing that, Katsuragi Reimi suddenly fell silent.
“But that doesn’t make sense. The kidnapping failing may have been an accident, but why didn’t you stop the plan, Marquis Delance? Once Miss Anna returned safely, you must’ve known your subordinates’ kidnapping attempt had failed. So why did you still...”
Crepes Clair pressed him, as if trying to convince herself.
“There’s no contradiction. When you get right down to it, the whole thing was staged.”
“Oh... You’re the younger sister of that boy from Amagi, aren’t you? You’ve got it figured out.”
Marquis Delance looked thoroughly pleased with himself.
“What does that mean...?”
The Holy Heir, who hadn’t said a word until now, finally spoke up.
After a brief silence, Asuka continued.
“It’s simple. The whole point of the kidnapping was to distract you so the assassination plan could succeed. So it didn’t matter if the kidnapping failed. In fact, that worked even better for him.”
“But...”
“In other words, even if the kidnapping had gone off without a hitch, they would’ve found some way to let you know about it afterward. If you didn’t know about the kidnapping, they couldn’t turn everyone’s attention elsewhere, and they wouldn’t be able to create an opening for the assassination. That must’ve been the original plan. And although things didn’t go as expected, it didn’t affect the plan. On top of that, he could clear his name by relying on the common assumption that no one would kidnap their own daughter.”
“That’s right, young lady. You’ve got it exactly right. In fact, if they hadn’t secretly recorded me without my knowledge—and then happened to let that recording fall into your hands—you could’ve suspected me all you wanted and still wouldn’t have been able to do a thing. As for why they recorded it, I imagine they wanted some leverage to negotiate their payment later. Hahaha! I never thought I’d end up brought down by them, after all my years of being so clever.”
