Taming The Villainesses novel Chapter 402

Baron Voltaire was a man quick to assess a situation.

Unlike the reclusive individuals living within the monastery’s secluded walls, he was a nobleman—and it seemed he recognized me.

“You... by any chance... are you Teo Gospel?”

But his question was laced with suspicion. It was probably hard for him to believe that someone as famous as I currently was—one of the most renowned figures in the kingdom—would be in a tucked-away place like this monastery.

I mean, if the President of the United States were eating chicken nuggets at the burger joint I frequent, with no security in sight, I’d probably have doubts too.

Before I could respond to that skepticism, the baron spoke first.

“No, it was a pointless question. Anyone who saw the tournament would recognize you. There’s no way not to. It is truly an honor to meet you like this.”

Baron Voltaire rose from his seat. Likely meaning to shake hands, I extended mine first. The baron grasped it.

“I am Baron Voltaire Steiner. I manage real estate, livestock, some banking, and a bit of merchant guild operations, but... in truth, there’s nothing worth boasting about in front of you.”

“I’m Teo Gospel. I came to visit this monastery, which is an old hometown for Marmar, the imp you see here.”

“Ah, I see. That explains some things...”

With his pince-nez-covered eyes, the baron swept his gaze over the room.

Only after getting a closer look did I realize—the unglassed eye looked unusually blue because it was a prosthetic. A nobleman with an artificial eye... that was certainly rare.

He said, “Forgive me for being forward, but... could I borrow a moment of your time? I’ll leave the matters here to the young imp ladies.”

Did he want to speak with me? I didn’t mind, but Narnar suddenly interrupted, sounding mildly indignant.

“But, Lord Voltaire. I wasn’t finished speaking with you...”

“It’s fine. We’ve all the time in the world. Besides, Sir Teo here is an honored guest. To think I’d encounter you in a place like this... Fortune seems to still be smiling on me.”

Baron Voltaire said this casually, but I wondered if it was really alright to leave Marmar and Narnar alone right now.

Marmar was fidgeting, clearly nervous.

Narnar looked somewhat upset.

Their stances had changed considerably since their childhood friendship, and it didn’t seem like it would be easy for them to return to that innocent past.

Still, I did want to talk with Baron Voltaire. There were many things I wished to ask him.

Given his current friendliness toward me, the conversation might go surprisingly smoothly. So I left the imps behind in the parlor, and the baron and I walked through the monastery grounds.

Step, step.

Only the sound of our footsteps echoed in the silence. I pondered where to start and what to ask.

First and foremost, I wanted to know whether this man was the kind of villain Marmar had feared. Or if, perhaps, he was actually a decent human being.

He was a baron who had once turned the monastery grounds into a hunting preserve, driving out the orphans. But today, he seemed to be generously supporting a rebuilt monastery on that very land.

Of course, I could guess at a certain correlation behind that support. Most likely, Baron Voltaire and the now-adult imp, Narnar, were in a romantic relationship.

There are plenty of men who offer kindness and act like noble benefactors for the sake of a woman they like.

If I let my imagination run further, I could even suppose this:

—Perhaps Headmistress Narnar, in order to keep the struggling monastery alive, had accepted an unwanted romantic arrangement from the baron.

And Marmar had caught on to it, and confronted her friend out of concern. That’s just the kind of warmhearted person Marmar is.

Just then, Baron Voltaire spoke.

“Miss Narnar, the headmistress here, is a capable woman. Is it not natural to fall in love with someone like that?”

With him broaching the topic, the conversation suddenly became easier. I jumped into the current of this flowing dialogue.

“So then, the two of you are lovers—or at least something close to it?”

“I’m thinking of marriage... but things aren’t going well. That’s part of why I wanted to speak with you, Sir Teo. You’re a man who’s taking five brides at once—a man among men, truly.”

A man among men, huh. If only he knew how soft and sensitive I am, with all my half-fairy sensibilities, he might not say that so easily.

Still, being called manly was... quite the compliment.

And compliments always put people in a better mood. So I found myself wondering: Maybe this man really is better than I thought...?

But—

I’d seen my share of silver-tongued flatterers. I myself had used such tactics before. So I shifted my internal gears into neutral and asked,

“So, what exactly do you want to talk about?”

When nobles sought me out, they often rattled on about their businesses or ambitions. This baron, too, looked like a man of no small appetite.

I expected more of the same—but what he said next caught me off guard.

***

Voltaire was quite a capable man.

He said he’d worked simply because he enjoyed it, and before he knew it, he’d reached the age where people called him middle-aged. He’d thought he’d never have ties to marriage—until he met Narnar.

“It was astonishing. She came to me and offered to buy the land within my hunting grounds—the monastery grounds. Paid double the market price.”

“So you’re saying it was Miss Narnar who approached you first?”