12 O’Clock Marionette

“Suddenly?”

“The cult’s hidden robes from last time—Minuet found them without much effort. She had no reason to take the key, but just thinking that anyone could stumble upon it makes me uneasy.”

If I had anywhere to hide things, it would only be the Bonetti estate. That was risky.

I had worked hard to gather all the keys, and if they were stolen, getting them back would be uncertain at best.

Cruello seemed to understand, nodding as he reached for the key in my hand.

And then—

“Darling, you have to let go for me to take it.”

“……”

“You wouldn’t want me to take it by force, would you?”

I couldn’t loosen my grip on the key.

Logically, this was the right thing to do. But was it really? Was this truly okay?

Pebula, a word of advice, please.

Could you stop being a bystander for once?

Even demons in the house next door grant revelations! Are you really going to treat your one and only follower like this?

No matter how much I pleaded inwardly, there was no answer. As always, I had to decide for myself.

I should convert to magic worship.

“Cruello, I can trust you, right? You’re not doing something I’ll regret later?”

“Of course.”

“There won’t be a moment in the future where I’m narrating, ‘That day, I should never have trusted Cruello,’ right?”

“Unlikely.”

“I—”

“Trust me.”

Cruello’s voice was playful yet serious.

Only then did I relax my grip.@@novelbin@@