Chapter 1604: Misdirection
After I finished my tea upstairs and listened to the sounds of whipping and pleading below gradually cease, a while later, Little Elaine came up with Mary, who was still dripping wet and wrapped in a bath towel.
Mary’s eyes were red and swollen. Little Elaine yanked the towel off her, revealing a fair body covered in red, swollen whip marks. They were slightly raised and crisscrossed, especially dense on her back, buttocks, and thighs, with the overlapping areas turning a purple-black color.
“How do you feel?” I handed Little Elaine a cup of tea. He took it and took a sip, then said with a slight smile, “I feel… great. Now, stand in the corner with your hands on your head!”
“Yes, Young Master!” Mary agreed with a sob. She didn’t dare to re-wrap the towel and walked to the corner, hands clasped behind her head, looking like she was being punished for reflection.
Little Elaine seemed to be enjoying this feeling of command. It made him feel the pleasure of being respected by his subordinates, just like when he was a noble.
“Miss Parul, I understand what you mean. To achieve great things, one must be decisive and commanding. If you can’t even manage your own servants, how can you defeat a Count with so many subordinates?” Little Elaine said.
“It’s good that you understand,” I chuckled. This was how people were slowly led to corruption. Many cults recruit people this way: first, they give them desires they can’t normally experience, and then they use their dissatisfaction to drag them into the abyss of depravity.
Power, lust, money, control, transgression, gambling, etc. – these are all corrupting influences that people can become addicted to. Once attracted by these, people become easier to control.
“But, Miss Parul, she’ll listen to us now, but what should we do specifically? How can we mislead the Count and make him stop paying attention to me?” Little Elaine asked. Once it came to specific tasks, he didn’t know what to do.
“It’s very simple. Have her write a letter to the Count, saying that you’ve been feeling down lately, neglecting your training, and that in your conversations with her, you’ve considered giving up on revenge,” I said.
“Oh, right, it can be like that. But will the Count of Deep Lake City really believe it?” Little Elaine seemed a bit skeptical. I thought he would. After all, the Count of Deep Lake City should know Little Elaine’s personality, and someone like that would find it hard to achieve anything.
“We don’t need to convince him entirely with just one or two letters. We can slowly guide him. Later letters can say you started drowning your sorrows in alcohol or indulging in women, and then in the next letter, say you want to participate in the Knight Tournament and gain the appreciation of a high noble to be transferred to another territory,” I began to guide him gradually.
“I see. So, by slowly deceiving the Count like this… huh? But the latter part, isn’t that becoming ambitious again?” Little Elaine initially found it logical, but the latter half confused him again.
“If you have Mary write only about your melancholy, he might not believe it. But if you add some ups and downs, it will seem more realistic. Besides, you were going to participate in the Knight Tournament anyway. Once he checks the list, he’ll see it, and the Count will believe Mary even more,” I explained little by little.
“Moreover, participating in the Knight Tournament isn’t an act of ambition, it’s seeking a shortcut. At your current level, you won’t gain the appreciation of a high noble. Even if you are truly transferred and become a knight, your fief will be far from him, and over time, he will forget his hatred.”
Later, we interrogated Mary, who had completely surrendered, and confirmed one thing: the Count did not know that Little Elaine was already aware that he was the murderer. This was because I had only told Little Elaine in private, and Mary had not known before.
Afterward, Little Elaine accidentally revealed his revenge goal. Because he was very close to Mary and often confided in her, she found out. However, before Mary could report this to the Count, I had already seen through it.
The reason the Count was still having Mary act as a spy by Little Elaine’s side was that he had already bribed Mary during Old Elaine’s time to provide intelligence. This meant that Sir Elaine’s death and the family’s decline were partly related to Mary.
Upon hearing this news, Little Elaine was so angry that he wanted to beat Mary again, but I stopped him. The most important thing now was to understand the situation, not to act on impulse.
Simply put, Mary had been a mole for a long time. After Sir Old Elaine was assassinated, the Count of Deep Lake City had Mary continue to gather intelligence on Little Elaine, with the goal of annexing his territory.
This included his fruitless trip to buy his father’s sword, his subsequent befriending of a strange girl, and his plan to sell his land and move to Cando City under her persuasion.
I thought the current development was still good. The Count of Deep Lake City’s attention to this matter was primarily focused on whether he could reclaim the territory. His evaluation of Little Elaine was certainly not high, and he had little interest.
His collection of intelligence on Little Elaine, apart from routine habit, was only to see if he had any inclination to reclaim his territory, or if he had caused any trouble in the territory before, such as burning bridges or damaging houses.
A Count would have many matters to attend to and couldn’t personally handle everything. Once he was sure the territory was taken and Little Elaine was incompetent, he would likely lower his level of attention.
Next, I watched Mary write a new secret letter. The general content was that Little Elaine was preparing to participate in the Knight Tournament to gain honor, and that he hadn’t contacted the girl recently, so there was no information to be found about her.
I checked the letter several more times to ensure she hadn’t written any secret codes or metaphors. It was indeed a normal letter, similar to the ones written before. Only then did I let her send it.
This way, we could mislead the Count. I believed that after a few letters, he would find that Little Elaine posed no threat and would completely relax, no longer paying attention to these letters.
“Thank you, Miss Parul. Without you, I wouldn’t have known there was a spy by my side, nor would I have known the correct way to handle it. Thank you for your guidance,” Little Elaine said respectfully. He admired me more and more.
“Alright, I’m leaving now. Remember to keep an eye on your maid. Although she’s obedient now, she might still be resentful and betray you given the opportunity,” I reminded him at the end.
“Yes!” Little Elaine replied. It seemed Mary’s days from now on wouldn’t be easy.
After bidding farewell to Little Elaine, I headed home. I still had to pick up the werewolf mother and daughter later. On the plains of Hesse Duchy, Karina’s motorcade was also heading towards Frankfurt.
The four of us women and two wolves sat in the carriage at the front, followed by three galloping land dragons. They pulled entire wagons of goods and a large group of believers, yet they could run almost as fast as the car.
