Chapter Fourteen: The Scheme

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In other words, if Verrac could deceive the rebel organization, it would likely mean he could manipulate that force. With such a trump card, he could also counter the Thomas family, using his dual identity as both leader of the rebel group and Carmine’s son to maintain balance and extract enormous benefits.

Essentially, as long as Verrac could achieve this, all previous plans could be set aside. Because through this alone, he could obtain everything he desired from the Thomas family. However, this was not a foolproof method; by doing so, he would find it even harder to extricate himself from the turmoil. Furthermore, if the rebel organization detected any slip, he would inevitably be controlled by them, becoming a tool to threaten the Thomas family.

Risk and opportunity coexisted, and given the complicated prerequisites, Verrac had no confidence at the moment that he could fool the rebels. Therefore, he deemed it premature to dwell on it and chose to temporarily set it aside, continuing instead with the steady, established approach.

Yet, regardless, uncovering more information about Chris and the rebel organization remained imperative.

After all, whether or not to fully immerse himself was still under consideration, but maintaining some contact with the rebel group was part of his original plan.

Everything concerning the Thomas family was manageable—he had already spent two months familiarizing himself and could handle matters with ease. However, Chris’s true identity and the existence of the rebel organization had only come to his knowledge shortly before his last life’s death, a mere two days ago, and he had never engaged with them—truly a blind spot. Even tonight’s brief encounter left Verrac feeling extremely perilous; saying more would inevitably expose him and lead to his being used as a pawn by the rebel group against the Thomas family.

To make a second contact with the rebels, Verrac had to prioritize searching for information on Chris’s life.

So he resumed searching Chris’s room, this time with greater care than the previous night. Gently tapping the floor and walls with his knuckles, he tried to detect any hidden compartments.

After half an hour, Verrac indeed found an anomaly beneath the bed. A floorboard sounded hollow compared to others.

He struck a match and used its light to examine the area closely. The seams of the floorboard, though subtle, were slightly wider than elsewhere. Inserting a small knife into the crevice, he pried gently. The board loosened.

Pushing the knife further, Verrac slowly lifted the board, revealing a hidden compartment large enough to hold a barrel of wine.

Unfortunately, the compartment was empty.

Verrac was not disappointed; he was adept at discerning both sides of a situation. Though empty, this was far better than finding nothing. At least it proved that Chris had indeed hidden important information in his bedroom. Now that it was missing, only one possibility remained: Carmine had taken it first.

This naturally eliminated two earlier possibilities, confirming that the items were definitely with Carmine. All Verrac had to do now was find a way to approach Carmine and uncover the information Chris left behind.

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“Hopefully Carmine hasn’t destroyed it,” Verrac murmured.

If Carmine had destroyed the material, Verrac would lose his leverage to play the rebel group and the Thomas family against each other and thus fail to realize his ultimate goal in Leyzein.

It was nearly midnight.

Verrac conceived a daring plan: to sneak into Carmine’s study.

He believed now was the perfect moment. At midnight, everyone was asleep; venturing out quietly wouldn’t raise suspicion. Moreover, his recent respectful behavior had given Carmine, Fletcher, and others the impression that he was too cautious to act against them, so they likely wouldn’t guard against him.

Verrac rehearsed the steps of his departure and potential emergencies in his mind several times. To be prudent, he decided to wait two more hours, acting when the night was deeper.

After restoring the floorboard covering the hidden compartment, he extinguished the light and lay down, quietly waiting for time to pass.

Time flew by swiftly for Verrac; the two hours slipped away in his contemplation. At two o’clock, he sat up, approached the door, carefully twisted the doorknob, and opened it.

So late, no one would be out. Each room had its own bathroom, so there was no concern about anyone leaving for the restroom.

Verrac peeked out and scanned the dimly lit, narrow corridor. Finding it empty and silent, he tiptoed to the first room by the stairs.

This was Carmine’s study and office, where his work files and other secrets were kept. Opposite the study was the bedroom shared by Carmine and Melra.

Verrac took a deep breath and placed his hand on the doorknob, slowly turning it. Unfortunately, it barely budged.

The door was locked.

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This was expected. Carmine’s important files were inside the study; he had even arranged his bedroom opposite it. It was only natural the door would be locked.

Still, Verrac had only been testing the possibility tonight, holding onto a slim hope. In his last life, following Fletcher’s strict orders, he had never left or entered any room except Chris’s, so he was unsure whether the study was locked at night.

Fortunately, he recalled that every day at ten in the morning, a servant entered the study to clean. This meant the servant at least had a key to the study at that time.

Apart from the Colin incident, Carmine had ordered Verrac not to leave the Thomas residence. He could use this time to deepen his understanding, find a way to steal the key, or even make a duplicate.

With a plan forming in his mind, Verrac stealthily returned to his bedroom.

Having hardly slept these past days, he was very tired. After washing up, he lay down and soon fell into a deep sleep.

July 18, Tuesday.

Early in the morning, Fletcher came to wake Verrac. Shaking off his drowsiness, Verrac faced a more rigorous Fletcher.

Following Carmine’s instructions, Fletcher taught Verrac some etiquette in the bedroom, made him role-play various characters, and asked him tricky questions to train his quick thinking for unexpected situations.