SWNOVELXO Chapter 47
Camilla had suspected from the beginning that Amy might have died by suicide.
But the expression on Amy’s face as she stared into Professor JB’s room was anything but ordinary.
“Hey, don’t tell me you…”
[There’s no need to ask those women.]
Amy’s voice finally broke the silence.
[I already know everything Professor JB did.]
So she was a victim too?
Camilla let out a long sigh.
Just how many people has that man killed?
But what Amy said next left her utterly stunned.
[Professor JB,] Amy said with a bitter smile on her lips.
[He’s my brother.]
“What?”
[My real brother.]
Camilla’s mouth fell open in shock, words failing her.
Chapter 48: Shadows and Secrets
Luve’s face turned cold, a stark contrast to his usual demeanor. However, he quickly masked it with a smile, as if nothing had happened.
“I’m not sure I understand. Perhaps I misheard….”
“I know you’re the head of the organization, Luve.”
Black Shadow.An organization that had existed since the founding of the Sorpel family.
It was a gathering of people who worked in the shadows, carrying out all sorts of tasks, primarily collecting information.
Spread across the continent, Black Shadow fed all kinds of intelligence back to the organization and discreetly carried out covert missions under the Sorpel family’s orders.
Camilla had always been curious about the exact nature of those “covert missions,” but she had refrained from digging too deeply.
“Miss…”
Luve’s expression became complicated, torn between what he wanted to say and where to even begin.
“Come see me later,” Camilla said.
Without waiting for a response, she dragged her exhausted body toward her room, ignoring the persistent gaze she felt from Luve behind her.
‘So tired. Just tired.’
***
“Why did you call me?”
“Just thought we could have some tea together.”
“What?”
“I said, let’s have some tea.”
“What did you eat for lunch?”
Duke Jabilon clicked his tongue. Clearly, the man had eaten something bad.
“Have you gone senile at your age?”
When he’d received the urgent summons, he thought it must be something important. Rushing to respond, he prepared for a serious discussion. Instead, it was… tea?
“Tea?”
He’d been summoned for something as trivial as having tea?
“I got a message from the school today,” said Duke Sorpel.
“The school?”
Jabilon immediately clicked his tongue again. Recently, things had been relatively calm, but clearly, Camilla had gotten herself into trouble again.
“What did she do this time?”
“What?”
“Did she grab another young lady by the hair?”
“You think my daughter causes trouble all the time?”
“Then what?”
Duke Sorpel cleared his throat, regaining his composure.
“Well, my daughter…”
“What about her?”
“She ranked first.”
“…What?”
“She placed first in the midterm exams.”
“….”
Jabilon was silent for a long moment, wondering if he had misheard.
“First place?”
“Yes, first!”
“Just to clarify… you didn’t summon me just to brag about that, did you?”
“She got first.”
“And?”
“I’m saying she got first!”
…He’s lost it.
Jabilon was at a loss for words. Was this really why he’d been summoned so urgently? Seriously?
He’d been told to rush over, expecting some calamity, only to find this nonsense waiting for him.
“You crazy fool!”
“How am I crazy?”
“Let me ask one last time. You really summoned me just to brag about that?”
“She got first!”
“My son’s always been first! Stop calling people over for nonsense like this! What’s so special about your child doing well on a test?”
Jabilon stood and shouted, his exasperation so great that he felt a sharp twinge in the back of his neck.
“Is it wrong to be proud?”
A quiet voice broke through, and Jabilon turned his head, his expression puzzled.
Duke Sephra, who had been silently sipping tea all this time, muttered gloomily to himself.
“Fifth place is still a high rank….”
“What?”
What is this guy even talking about?
Ignoring him, Jabilon pointed accusingly at Sorpel and resumed shouting.
“Stop being so childish! We’re too old for this nonsense!”
He couldn’t believe this. The same man who had been so composed even when Ludville became a Swordmaster was now acting like this?
‘Has he really gone senile?’
Jabilon clicked his tongue repeatedly.
“Is it wrong to be happy?”
Once again, Duke Sephra muttered in a small voice, his mood sinking even further.
“Fifth place… fifth is good too….”
What’s wrong with everyone today?
Jabilon massaged his temples, trying to ward off the headache that was building. He didn’t know why all his friends were acting this way.
Knock, knock.
The sound of a knock preceded someone stepping into the room. Camilla rose from her seat to greet the arrival.
It was Luve—not as a butler but as the head of
Black Shadow.
Unlike his usual manner, he didn’t bother with polite formalities. Black Shadow bowed only to one person—the head of the Sorpel family. To anyone else, there was no need for deference.
“What is the reason for summoning me?”
Straight to the point. Camilla appreciated that and handed him the prepared documents.
“Look into these people.”
Luve accepted the papers and scanned their contents.
“Who are they?”
“The dead.”
“…Pardon?”
“Find out how they died and what happened afterward. I want all the details.”
The documents contained information about the women Professor JB had killed, based on what Camilla had learned from the ghostly student, Amy.
‘Your brother, really?’
[Yes.]
‘So your brother really killed all those women?’
[…He did.]
What Amy revealed next had left Camilla utterly speechless. The professor’s motive for murder was absurd beyond belief.
[My brother and I lived in an orphanage. Then I got adopted before him.]
The place Amy had been adopted into was far from ideal. She was constantly hungry and forced to work endlessly. She hadn’t been taken in as family but as a servant.
[Eight years later, my brother, having made something of himself, came to take me away.]
But Amy’s adoptive parents refused to let her go unless he paid them back for the cost of raising her.
Professor JB had done everything in his power to bring Amy back, but—
[I ended up dead.]
Her adoptive parents claimed it was an unfortunate accident, but that was far from the truth. They had driven Amy to her death.
[That’s when my brother’s crimes began.]
It was as though a switch had flipped in him. His actions became reckless, almost uncontrollable.
‘What a lunatic.’
If he had exacted revenge solely on those who had killed Amy, she might not have cheered him on, but she would have understood.
‘But why target innocent women?!’
Amy seemed to know more, but she hadn’t shared anything beyond the victims’ personal details.
“I have one question.”
“What is it?”
Luve’s voice brought Camilla out of her thoughts.
“How did you know?”
He stared directly into her eyes, his gaze sharp and probing, as though daring her to lie.
“That I’m the head of Black Shadow… or anything about our organization?”
Black Shadow existed entirely in the shadows. Its existence was not something people could easily learn about.
Even within the Sorpel family, only one person, the Duke himself, knew the full truth. Not even Ludville, the next in line, was aware.
Yet here was Camilla, not only speaking its name but also identifying Luve as its leader.
“Luve.”
“Yes.”
Camilla lowered her voice. This was the question she had expected, and she was prepared.
“I just saw it.”
“Saw it?”
“Yes. When I look at you, things keep revealing themselves to me.”
“….”
“I saw people calling you their leader. I also saw how much Father values you.”
She played her trump card with her usual excuse.
What could anyone do if she said she saw it?
“Is that your answer?”
“Yes.”
“So you learned the name Black Shadow the same way?”
“Exactly.”
“Miss, do you expect me to believe—”
“Luve, did you forget?”
Before he could finish, Camilla drove the point home, her expression turning brazen and imperious.
“I’m the one who found the Divine Beast’s egg.”
“…That’s true.”
At those words, Luve reluctantly nodded. There had always been something uncanny about her abilities.
Finding the Divine Beast’s egg had been nothing short of miraculous, a feat no one could explain except as her unique gift.
Camilla cheered inwardly.
‘Of course, it’s all a lie.’
No matter how many times she had experienced this world, Camilla didn’t know everything.
The information about Luve and Black Shadow had come from the ghostly butler, Derin .
‘It was suspicious from the start.’
When she had fought Jude at the Spirit Lake, Derin had recited detailed information about him. He had even revealed what Jude had done to other noblewomen.
‘Jude was shocked, and so was I.’
She’d been amazed at how much Derin knew.
But to think—
‘Derin was the previous head of Black Shadow.’
It turned out the Sorpel family’s butlers weren’t ordinary at all. Derin had trained Luve as his successor while he was still alive.
‘I suspected he wasn’t just some old man….’
When she first met Derin, she thought his physique was unusually fit for his age. Lean and agile, he had no excess weight.
The same was true of Luve.
‘I thought all the butlers here were just like that.’
She had assumed physical fitness was a requirement for being a butler.