Chapter 67

Chapter 67

“Chef.”

“Yes, Marie.”

As she visited the kitchen, the Chef greeted her with a warm welcome.

“Can I use the kitchen today?”

“The kitchen?”

“Yes, I want to prepare dinner tonight.”

“Yes. You can do that.”

Today’s menu was hand-torn noodle soup (Sujebi). While thinking about what food could be served here, Marie remembered her memory of how she recently heard that Ellie had changed the flour supplier while getting cookies from the chef.

Originally, the flour for making cookies and the flour for making hand-torn noodle soup were different, though here, the ingredients were not divided. In the end, she had no choice but to choose and write something similar.

“Then, I’ll just have dinner in the mansion today and leave work early.”

Marie nodded her head.

“ I’ll tell the Young Master that I will be in the kitchen for a while.”

“Yes. See you later then.”

“Yes.”

She hurriedly left the kitchen and headed to where the children were.

***

“Master, I have won.”

“Why do I keep losing?”

The sounds of children could be heard from afar. Marie was drawn with the children who were already having a lot of fun.

“Yoohoo~”

Ellie even put in a strange chant, and the excited Ellie would have been dancing all at once.

“Next time, I’ll be on your side.”

She could hear Barry comforting Brielle.

When she reached the room, the children were playing just as she had envisioned.

“Is everyone having fun?”

“Huh? Sister…!”

Ellie greeted Marie.

“We didn’t match because we don’t have sister.”

“That’s right, Marie. Where have you been?”

At the two children’s question, Marie hurriedly opened her mouth, “I’m in the kitchen. I’ll make dinner tonight.”

“Wow! Will you give me something delicious?”

“Sure.”

“Sister, we still have time until dinner time, so let’s do this together.”

“Okay.”

And so, she also took part in the children’s games. The sport was similar to bowling. They didn’t have a real pin or anything, they just rolled a ball to a standing-up paper cup.

“Ah, are you losing again this time, Young Master?”

Ellie, who was born to take tease, provoked Brielle.

“No! I’m sure we’ll win this time.”

“Yeah, you said that before.”

Where in the world did she learn to speak like that? Thinking that, Marie shook her head.

“Wait and see!”

That tone seemed to stimulate Brielle properly.

“Let’s split the team quickly!”

Marie stuck her tongue out in the enthusiasm of the children. The team decided to flip palms, but a problem arose. The two children who had been shouting loudly, saying they would win each other until now, have become on the same side.

Brielle and Ellie seemed to be perplexed, though they all shouted together.

“Let’s see. I will beat both brother and sister!”

“Me too, me too!”

When the passion of the two of them united, it seemed like the whole place would be burned.

***

Marie managed to get out of there.

One more game and one more game became ten games. Ellie and Brielle, who had been screaming at each other from the hallway, were in an uproar as they hugged each other saying they had won at the end.

‘Well, it’s better than feeling depressed because the Count isn’t here.’

She smiled and entered the kitchen. The Chef could not be seen. Maybe, he had gone, so Marie decided to go over to where he had left the flour.

It looked like she had to knead it beforehand.

But, someone came first. It seemed to be the kitchen staff.

“Excuse me….”

However, whatever he was doing, he looked startled when hearing her voice. He hurriedly turned to Marie.

“I decided to rent the kitchen for the evening…”

Marie’s voice gradually diminished.

It was because she saw something hanging on the chest. And, next to the bucket of flour was a suspicious vial, perhaps dropped by surprise.

‘The brooch. The brooch that the real Marie was wearing… Why is he doing this?’

When sunlight came into the dark kitchen and revealed the suspicious employee’s face, Marie was startled.

‘The day I came here with the Count, he was the one who poured hot water.’

She remembered the words she said to the Count.

[ Count, I hope that you will let him go without punishing him as harshly as possible. ]

[ Whoo… It doesn’t matter that I’m hurt. But you almost got hurt. ]

[ I wasn’t hurt either. ]

[ If they make one mistake, and I don’t punish them severely, all the family members in the mansion will not be able to make even the sound of footsteps properly. ]

However, as the Count had mentioned, did he have to be punished properly? Was it all a coincidence…?

‘Isn’t the brooch just a simple brooch?’

Gradually, her face turned pale.

“…What… were you doing?” Marie asked, trying to gather her mind.

Hearing that, the servant’s face turned into a catastrophic one.

“What am I doing? I was just checking the condition of the flour.”

“Then, go to the chef with me. Let’s go and get it checked.”

The employees glared at Marie.

“You, you’re just a servant. Who are you ordering?”

He questioned her back.

“Don’t you know that better?”

“That… that—what….”

“Oh, you don’t know because you’re a traitor, right?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, so go with me with the chef or the butler!”

Marie then sneaked up to him as he was trying to escape to the entrance.

“Why don’t you go and confess that we were trying to kill Brielle together?”

She was shocked by the employee’s words.

“Did you try to kill the young master?”

“You were, too.”

“I… I do not.”

Resentment rose in Marie’s eyes to protect someone.

“If possible, I wish you, the traitor, would also die.”

“Why! Why are you doing this! What did the Young Master do wrong?”

At the same time as those words, she ran towards the employee. This time, she watched as he tried to escape through the window.

“Let go! Let go—!”

The servant pushed Marie away. However, she pulled up the whole body, and he was stuck to it.

“Is nobody there? There’s an intruder… Ugh..”

Meanwhile, the servant pushed Marie to one side. As she grabbed and screamed, he stabbed Marie with a kitchen knife.

“Nanny…!”

Taylor, who ran after hearing her voice, called out to her.

Marie heard the voice one last time, and she collapsed.

***

It took Kentrail two weeks to arrive at Brielle’s maternal grandfather’s estate. Then, he went straight to the castle without resting at the accommodation.

“Chancellor.”

There, the vassals came out to meet Kentrail.

“How can you not contact us…”

“I heard that Briel’s grandfather was in serious trouble.”

“Ah…”

“Is it possible to meet him?”

“It hasn’t been long since he slept. Come back tomorrow.”

Kentrail nodded his head at the unsure whether false or true. He couldn’t waste his time here. If he was rejected tomorrow, it seemed that it would be quicker to find another way.

“I’ll come back tomorrow.”

“Yes.”

They did not give up a room in the castle, adding to the suspicion. Still, it was late, so Kentrail thought it was a good idea to book a room in advance.

When it was time for him to turn around and leave…

“Chancellor… No way…”

“What?”

As Kentrail began to speak, he looked at one of the vassals who stopped halfway through.

“No. Take a look.”

He left the place with a bitter step, adding to his discomfort.

“Master.”

“Whoo. You guys worked hard to get here. Go and rest.”

“Yes.”

Upon arriving at the accommodation, each of them went to their rooms to unpack their luggage. Kentrail also entered the area assigned to his room. In the small room, there was only a single bed shorter than his height and a side table.

He put the luggage on the side table.

‘Is the children and Marie well?’

He was about to write a letter. It was self-evident that the letter would arrive later than himself.

‘I’ve got to get things done here and go back.’

He headed to the first floor of the accommodation without even thinking of resting as he was about to deliberately choose an inn with a bar frequented by the locals. Kentrail planned to go there and gather information.

And so, he went down to the first floor and felt the musty smell he had sniffed as soon as he entered the room.

Kentrail calmly took a seat and sat down. He once said that this was no big deal to him as he had wandered the streets before.

“What can I give you?”

“A glass of beer.”

“Yes.”

He deliberately chose inexpensive clothes, dressed in a relaxed posture, and melted into this place.

“Hey, brother. Is this your first time here?”

The person at the next table spoke to him.

“I’ve been wandering here and there.”

“Oh, mercenary?”

Seeing Kentrail’s physique, he questioned.

“Music.”

“Music…? What do you play? Are you a bard?”

He chuckled funnily.

Kentrail responded to his words, “Everything. Should I sing? But, just remember that my voice is expensive.”

“You’re full of confidence.”

He made a toast to Kentrail.

“This is my first time here, and it looks like a good place to live. How about it?”

“Well, the estate is the same here and there. At least the original lord receives rent only at a fixed rate, so things are a little better than in other places. Why do you want to settle here?”

“It’s good if I can, and it’s okay if I don’t.”

Kentrail gave off an atmosphere that he could leave at any time on purpose. That way, the person would convey the information of the territory, so that it would not feel heavy.

“Great. I once dreamed of a life like that.”

The two clashed again.

“However, the original lord… Has the lord changed? There is nothing more difficult for people like us than that.”

“Haha. Still, everyone is worried about that. The Lord has no children. So, relatives gather here and there to choose the Lord. If the Lord changes, the tax will go up!”

Kentrail thought for a moment.

‘Have no children… The relatives must know that sister-in-law is twins, right?’

…Does that mean that the other one is also dead?’

“It must be difficult.”

Taking care of his expression, he confronted him once again.

“I like you, so let me tell you a secret. Come and see.”

He told Kentrail to come closer, but instead, he turned to the side.

He was obviously drunk. His face stinks as he drew near Kentrail. Seeing that, he was barely holding back the urge to push him right away.

“Actually, the Lord may have already died.”

At those words, Kentrail’s face hardened like a stone.

“I don’t know why they shush it, so people like us can’t be at peace.”

“Is this accurate information?”

“I heard from the person in charge of maintenance of the castle, so it must be right to some extent.”

Having said that, he moved away from Kentrail, and drank again.

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