Became the Academy Romantic Phantom Thief

95 – Infiltrate the mansion

Yulia was taken aback by her father’s appearance.

Her sharp gaze directed at her. With an expressionless expression that sensed her charisma, he spoke to her daughter.

“It’s been a while.”

“Ah… I am busy preparing for the exam.”

“I don’t care, but your mother seems to worry often, so send her a letter from time to time.”

“Yes. Okay.”

At the father and daughter’s conversation that sounded hard, Gilbert pointed out with a laugh.

“What is your sister-in-law worried about? Rather, my older brother said that he did not contact his daughter-in-law every day…”

“Be quiet. Gilbert.”

“Ugh. It’s scary, so don’t stare at me like that.”

Two good-natured brothers who quarrel as usual. It was a common scene she had seen since her childhood, so she wasn’t particularly surprised anymore.

Yulia grabbed her forehead and said in her limp voice.

“Father. Would it be all right if I rested in my room until the event started?”

“Yes. I’ll call you later before we start, so take a break. Don’t forget to listen to your mom before you go.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

Yulia bowed her head and headed for her own room. After that, Gilbert’s worried voice was heard.

“I think Julia is not feeling well today?”

“It is because I am independent and live alone. As expected, right now, go back to your hometown…”

“That’s just because your older brother is an enemy.”

“The crap.”

Before she went to her room and rested, she went to see her mother as her father requested.

Smart.

As soon as I knocked on the tightly closed main room, I heard a familiar voice from inside.

“Come in.”

As I opened the door and entered, I met eyes with a middle-aged woman sitting in front of a mirror fixing her makeup.

Even though she was a virgin in her twenties, she was too young for her age to be Yulia’s mother, Ophelia Grace.

“I’m here. Mom.”

“Oh! My daughter has already arrived!”

As soon as she sees her daughter, Ophelia gets up and hugs her with a happy expression.

“How is it? Is the academy okay?”

“That is already the third question. I’m doing well.”

“I’m glad. Are you tired of coming here? Aren’t you hungry?”

“hahahaha… Are you okay.”

For reference, it only took 30 minutes by train from her room to her home.

Even after that, Yulia, who had been swept away by her feigned worries and nagging with a bunch of questions, backed away with her awkward smile.

“Mom. Can I rest in my room for a while…?”

“Of course. This is your house, so don’t ask anyone’s permission and rest comfortably.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Yulia finally became alone after passing through all her barriers.

She entered the room where she had shared her childhood life and closed the door before she could let out the heavy sigh she had kept inside her.

“It is difficult…”

She let out another sigh at the self-talk that jumped out of her involuntarily.

Why is she so tired when she has returned home, where she should be most comfortable?

She Maybe she’s because she’s realizing that she’s not proud of herself.

She was able to breathe as much as she could in the room though.

A world completely cut off from the outside world. A space created exclusively for her.

There is no one here.

No one expects from you, and no one will find out your secrets.

“… Huh?”

She stared at the blank wall at the sudden sense she felt.

The gaze, which had been fixed in the air for a while, slowly returned to normal.

I think I just felt someone’s gaze.

It must be because of my mood. In the first place, what could be on the wall, not beyond the door?

Yulia muttered to herself while holding a bitter smile from her own dejection.

“I must be under a lot of stress.”

I don’t want anything else. I just hope that I can pass today safely and return to my normal daily life.

The days when she chatted and laughed with her friends without any worries.

“My lady. Your meal is ready.”

Has time already passed that much?

“Did everyone else come?”

“Yes. Everyone is in the dining room.”

“Okay.”

The fact that everyone has arrived means that your uncle has also arrived.

In her mind, she just wanted to lock herself in the room, but that didn’t solve the problem, so Yulia left her room and went down to the dining room.

It was finally time for the Grace family reunion to begin.

***

“Whew…”

She finally let out her sigh of relief when she saw Yulia leave her room.

She thought she was getting caught all the time.

She got out of the wall, relaxed, and thought for a moment.

She succeeded in infiltrating Grace’s mansion safely. Until the full-scale meeting begins, she wanders around to get information.

Yulia’s senses were so sharp that she broke out in a cold sweat.

She, by the way, even though I watched her for a short while, I definitely felt it. She says that she doesn’t have the leeway she usually does and that she’s mentally driven.

I still don’t know exactly why, but it didn’t seem like a trivial problem.

I think I’ll have to look more closely to find out more, and I’m going to move to the restaurant carefully.

Can it really go as well as I thought?

Well, no matter how much I worry about it, nothing will change, so in the end I have no choice but to face it myself.

While hiding again, I carefully went down to the first floor.

As soon as you head down, you can feel various signs and voices.

I looked down at the restaurant through a small gap in the ceiling.

A feast of dark hair sitting tightly around a long banquet hall-like table.

One of the representative pedigree characteristics that distinguish the Grace family is black hair.

The closer you are to the direct descendant who inherited the darker blood, the darker and clearer your black hair will be.

Yulia also had pure black hair that could be described as jet black.

Among the many people, if I had to choose someone who stood out, she was a middle-aged man sitting at the very front.

That is Julia’s father, Earl Henry Grace. Also, the elegant woman next to him is his wife, Ophelia Grace.

I had glimpsed it earlier when I first infiltrated the mansion, but as expected, it exuded an elegance befitting the status of an aristocrat.

Yulia was also sitting right next to them.

The closer you are to the direct line, the closer you are to the seat of honor.

It’s an intuitive sequence that makes you want to think it’s too much.

Until all seats were filled, there was only one vacant seat left without an owner.

It was the seat of honor at the table.

The protagonist who hosted this gathering and the head of a great family.

Richard Grace appeared at the last moment, receiving everyone’s attention.

Another one.

Since he appeared, only the regular sound of shoes continued in the restaurant where silence fell.

Noble black hair and sharply sharpened eyes.

Sir Grace, wearing a fluttering black coat, took her seat slowly and leisurely.

After looking around at his blood relatives sitting at the table, he calmly opened his mouth.

“It’s been a while, everyone. How long has it been since everyone gathered in one place like this? First, I want to ask how you’ve been doing.”

‘Your voice is unnecessarily good.’

There was no way to confirm it in the manga, but Richard’s voice was exactly as expected.

[Definitely. He’s a charismatic kid.]

‘…It’s a bit strange to say I’m a child, right?’

[To me, as a goddess, all humans in the underworld are just snub-nosed children.]

It’s true. The last time I met the woman of the lake, I must have felt the scale of a different dimension. No matter how much a nation’s hero and the most powerful aristocrat are, in the end, they’re just humans compared to gods.

The head of the household greeted everyone briefly, and the first person to personally pay attention was none other than his own younger brother and the head of the household.

“Thank you for leading our family well while I was away.”

“I just did what I had to do.”

Although they are brothers, Earl Henry uses honorific language.

Maybe it’s because it’s an official event that everyone can see, but it also seemed to mean that the relationship between the two wasn’t as close as expected.

“Everyone must have received the letter I sent. And I think you probably fully understand how serious this case is.”

The way he spoke became much more rigid as he got to the main point.

Everybody looked at the seat of honor with eyes drenched in anxiety, lest a spark be thrown at them. I was able to realize how much influence the hero had within the family.

“I will tell you in advance. I don’t want this to cause distrust in my family. Also, blushing at each other over the past is not a good picture anyway. Direct or collateral, it doesn’t matter. No matter what anyone says, aren’t we noble Graces, a family that shares the same lineage and history?”

He deliberately paused for a beat to gather everyone’s attention, and then, in a calm voice, proposed to the culprit who would be here.

“So please, now. I hope that you will reveal yourself that it is your own action and resolve it peacefully. Again, whistleblowing is not wrong. The process was a little lacking, but it deserves praise. So don’t hesitate and come out.”

Nevertheless, no one confessed that he had done it himself.

Of course. That’s because I’m hiding in the ceiling and watching secretly.

After a long time passed, the restaurant became quiet as if a mouse had died.

When he opened his eyes again, his head was pointed at someone.

The target is none other than that.

“My only nephew.”

It was for Julia Grace.