Chapter 71

Chapter 71

Marie still couldn’t wake up. Fortunately, her fever had gone, though the doctor watched her anxiously for a bacterial infection.

Seeing that the doctor was nervous, everyone around trembled with anxiety.

“Sister, you said you’d watch me become a teacher.”

Late at night, Ellie was sitting next to Marie alone. Brielle was dragged by Barry and forced to sleep.

“I’ve read all the books my sister gave me. I meant to brag… And now, I can also play the piano well as the Count taught me. I was going to tell sister… When are you going to wake up and listen?”

She gazed at her sister and continued her words.

“If you wake up, I’ll protect you. It’s true. Up until now, you’ve taken care of me, so I’ll do it now. I’ll be filial. You’re like my mom. That’s the way it is with my parents. okay?”

The speechless Marie made her upset, and Ellie leaned her face on the bed. And she couldn’t stand it, and she slipped into sleep.

***

Kentrail arrived in eleven days for a distance that took two weeks. He didn’t know how much he insulted the King on the road today. Didn’t he suggest that they develop a technology to move people and things using magic stones earlier?

The knights and horses that came with him could not catch up with him. Eventually, Kentrail arrived at the mansion alone.

Even though this was the place he so desperately wanted to come to, the warmth he liked and wanted was not felt here.

“Master.”

The butler, who saw Kentrail, hurriedly met him.

“What about Marie?”

“This way.”

He went straight to where Marie was lying.

As he opened the door following the butler’s guidance, he saw Marie lying on the bed with a pale expression on her face and Ellie who was sleeping while guarding her.

He hurriedly checked Marie’s condition. There were no visible wounds because she was wrapped in bandages and dressed in loose clothing.

“What did the doctor say?”

“She has passed the dangerous crisis, but she hasn’t woken up yet, so I think he’s suspecting a bacterial infection.”

“…What?”

What was more dangerous than surgery here was bacterial infection.

“Ha…”

Kentrail sat down on the chair by the bed.

“Take Ellie and put her to sleep.”

“Didn’t the Master come without a break, too? I will take guard.”

At the butler’s words, he waved his hand as if he didn’t want to say it twice.

“Bring Taylor.”

“Yes.”

Reluctantly, holding Ellie and leaving the room, the butler sighed. At this rate, his own master was also likely to collapse soon.

***

As there are only the two in the room, Kentrail ran over the hair on Marie’s face.

“You said you’ll be fine…”

Lying down like this without eating anything, her face was cut in half.

“You’ll have to wake up soon. I’m threatening you now.”

He took Marie’s hand.

“It was what happened then. You said when Brielle dies, I become a completely different person. Did you say it was enough to destroy the Kingdom?”

He looked intently at her, wondering if there was any slight change in her face.

“That’s how I feel right now. I don’t want to leave the person who made you like this, I resent Brielle’s mother’s family. And, the thing I hate the most is… me. How did I ever think of leaving you here…?”

It was so.

The thing that Kentrail resented the most as he galloped on the horse was himself. He felt sorry for her that he had to leave her at the mansion knowing she was in a dangerous situation.

“You have to get up and scold me like you did back then.

He remembered what Marie had said earlier. She said that where she lived, her surname was Jin and Haerin was her first name… Among close friends, they called each other with their surnames removed.

“Please, will you please wake up quickly? There are a lot of things I want to say. At that time, our situation was dangerous, so I thought I should not say these words, but I guess it wasn’t. So, I guess I should have said this more… Will you listen?”

His desperate voice filled the place.

***

“Uncle.”

“Brielle.”

As soon as the day dawned, when he heard the news that Kentrail had arrived, Brielle came running. He held the child once, and then he checked to see if there were any injuries or pains.

“I’m fine… Marie…”

“Marie will wake up soon.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

The child sat in the chair next to him.

“Marie shed a lot of blood.”

“Did she?”

“Yeah. She went to the kitchen to make a delicious dinner for us…”

It was what Barry had sent in a summary in the letter as well. Kentrail silently listened to his nephew.

“Brielle, you must have been very surprised.”

“Yes. Ellie and Barry were both very surprised. Still, it doesn’t matter that we were surprised, Marie…”

Saying so, Brielle held his breath for fear that tears would flow again. Seeing that, he felt pity for such a nephew and held him in his arms.

‘Marie, can’t you see? How worried we are, you said your goal in coming here is to keep Brielle and I from going through such a fate. So, please wake up.’

The two of them had been staying like that for so long that a knock rang out.

“Come in.”

It was the chef. His lips were dry as if he felt a great sense of guilt about what happened in the kitchen he was responsible for.

“Count, please punish me.”

“…..”

“I never thought that would happen. And, this…”

The chef pulled out a white pouch from his arms and handed it to him.

“What is this?”

“There was a medicine bottle around the flour, so I brought the flour with me just in case.”

Kentrail’s expression hardened. He put Brielle down from his arms before striding towards the chef as he continued.

“The nanny said she would cook with this. She probably went to get some flour, and it happened.”

He picked up the bag and tried to smell it, but he couldn’t smell anything other than the peculiar smell of the flour.

“Your disposition should be decided when the nanny wakes up. Get out.”

“Yes.”

At that, he bowed his head and went outside. Because it was an incident caused by an employee under him, he had no choice but to be punished.

“Uncle…”

Seeing his hardened back face, Brielle called.

“Brielle, I think uncle needs to investigate this powder. Would you mind watching Marie for a while?”

“Yes. Of course.”

“Yes…”

Hearing his answer, Kentrail went outside. Derek, whom he had not seen in a long time, was standing there.

“I’m sorry. I couldn’t protect the nanny.”

His face was full of sorrow. It was evident that he hadn’t slept in a few days.

“Haa… No. It’s also my fault for emptying the mansion. Let’s investigate this first.”

“What is this?”

“Flour. There was a medicine bottle lying around.”

“I’ll investigate.”

“Did the man who stabbed Marie talk about this?”

“I’m… I’m sorry.”

“Did you find out anything more from the culprit?”

He was asking about the situation after receiving a report from Taylor last night.

“Yes.”

“You don’t know if he was going to kill himself, so put the gag.”

“Yes.”

“Then, come to the study with Taylor.”

“Understood.”

He moved to the study, having the knight commander guard the place where Marie was.

***

“The Head of Peron is dead.”

“Yes..? You mean the young master’s grandfather is dead?”

“Yes.”

Both Taylor and Derek had stiff expressions on their faces at his words.

“Then, it made it more difficult to catch the culprit, didn’t it?” Derek, who had been listening quietly, asked.

“I found this there.”

“This…”

“A letter from Brielle’s aunt to the grandfather. Both of you must know that I gave a rough explanation of the case. It is highly likely that the letter sent by sister-in-law was forged.”

“Yes.”

“Brielle’s aunt and sister-in-law’s handwriting is the same.”

Both were surprised.

“If they’re twins, do they have the same handwriting?”

“It’s not like that. It’s probably just practiced to look like a single person.”

“But… they didn’t hide that they were twins.”

“Half right, half wrong. From what I did my research, all the relatives knew they were twins, although not the locals. The different names seemed to just be someone that heard wrong. Perhaps they were twins. It happened when the sisters couldn’t overcome the frustration and went out of control.”

“As they grew older, that number probably decreased.”

Taylor nodded his head, accepting Kentrail’s words.

“Yes. So, they must have thought they could fool the family.”

“…Where is Young Master Brielle’s aunt now?”

“Look at the sender of this letter.”

“North.”

“That’s right. Even if you go from the Capital, it’s as far as the south in distance.”

“Is she still sending letters from here?”

“That’s right. I’m sorry for you guys, though I want one of you to go here.”

“I will go.”

Derek came forward. He was a mercenary and also went to the North, so he thought it was better for him to go.

“Okay, then, take a good rest today and leave tomorrow.”

“Yes, Master.”

Derek bowed his head once.

“What shall I do?”

This time, Taylor opened his mouth.

“Investigate the flour I gave Derek instead.”

“Yes, understood.”

While Marie couldn’t get up, Kentrail laid the groundwork to catch the criminal.

“By the way, Master. It’s brazen, but why don’t you take a break for a little while? You’re in a pretty bad condition right now. It looks like you’re going to fall first before the nanny gets up.”

“I’m okay.”

“…But—”

“Thank you for your concern, but I can still handle this.”

Taylor’s request was rejected.

Perhaps, he had been running without stopping for a moment, Kentrail, who had always been in good shape, had rough skin, and as he rode his horse, he could see that his hands were rough.

Leaving the vassals looking at him worriedly, he turned behind and went back to where Marie was.

***

“Count.”

When Kentrail visited Marie’s room again, Ellie was there.

“Ellie, it looks like you haven’t had a proper meal.”

He uttered in a worried voice, glancing at the child who was too skinny compared to when he left.

“I’m okay.”

“It’ll be heartbreaking for your sister when she wakes up. She said that when you were growing up, you couldn’t eat properly because of her. So, go eat and then come.”

When he said that her sister would be heartbroken, Ellie barely got up from her seat.

“Yes, I will.”

While he was away, he heard that the butler had replaced the kitchen employees with people they could trust. In addition, the chef was keeping his eyes open to prevent this from happening again, so there must be no problem with the food now.

“Brielle, you should eat as well.”

“Okay. Then, on the way back, I’ll bring food for uncle.”

“Yes.”

The two children left the room, reassured that they now had someone to entrust Marie to.

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