Chapter 36

The poor maid was flustered. She tried to tell her master about Annette’s whereabouts.

“Yes. She went out somewhat… around two hours ago.”

Where could she have gone now? Are there any places where she would go around here? Raphael was displeased with the fact that Annette was not at home. It wasn’t good for a small, slender woman like her to wander around this time. Does she know even what could happen to her? Like the last time, someone like the Crown Prince may appear and try to get close to her with the pretense of saying goodbye, or a crazy bitch like Diana Mcclaire could pretend to be close with her, only try to embarrass her by bringing up how she couldn’t become the crown princess.

Raphael frowned, recalling all the dangers present outside the mansion. Because of this, the maid’s complexion became more pale. However, Raphael wasn’t interested in the maid’s reaction and asked casually.

“Is it somewhere around here?”

“Yes, I think so. Perhaps a maid named Mary knows Madam’s destination. May I call her now, Master?”

The maid who somehow wanted to escape from Raphael’s interrogation said earnestly. Raphael wasn’t really going to look into it or anything, but the maid’s suggestion didn’t seem bad. It was not that he wanted to imprison Annette inside the house or something, he was just worried about her, so he was just trying to find out where she had gone.

“Okay. Bring her to me.”

Thinking like this, Raphael nodded his head. Then the maid quickly disappeared to go and find Mary. Looking at her quick action,  Raphael felt satisfied as an employer. Becoming an aristocrat was the most satisfying reward he ever had. It was because of this he was also able to marry Annette Bavaria.

“Wait, why would I think like this….?”

He found his own thoughts strange. Raphael frowned and turned around. Seeing his affection for Annette grow like this, he became anxious. He had always been alone and so, felt much more comfortable like that. Because of this, he was determined to continue living like that in the future.

* * *

A white, elegant hand came close, as if it was about to grasp Annette’s hand. But the hand, moving like a white snake, only circled around her hand, lightly brushing against the bandage. The owner of the hand said in a chillingly soft tone.

“You’re hurt.”

“Ah, yes. There was an accident.”

Annette answered casually and shifted  her injured hand to the side. Maybe a week or so later she could remove the bandage. But the man looking at Annette’s injured hand didn’t seem to think so at all. The purple-haired man with a gorgeous face clicked his tongue.

“You have beautiful hands, but what a pity! It would be hard to embroider like this.”

Only then did Annette recall how she had boasted about her embroidery skills in their last meeting. She replied, covering her hands feeling ashamed. She was really relieved that the veil couldn’t show her face.

“It’ll get better soon. It’s just a minor injury.”

The person who Annette was conversing  with right now, was Railin Mosley, who ran the smuggling guild “Secret.” He had promised Annette last time that he would send her all the information on smuggling, and because of that, they finally got in touch.

Railin handed a thick report, finely bending his red ruby-like eyes. Annette casually took it and checked the contents. It had information about all the good villages to settle in Osland, recommended jobs there, and even the average price of housing and land prices. She was satisfied as she could meticulously plan and make a good choice with this.

“That’s great. I’ll take a look. After making up my mind, I’ll contact you.”

“I am glad that you liked it. Please feel free to contact us for further information or advice. Our ‘Secret’ always prioritises our customer’s satisfaction first.”

Railin snickered. Annette looked at his face unknowingly. His colorful purple hair, which resembled hyacinths, had beautiful curls, and his hooded, feline red eyes had a decadent beauty. Particularly, the mole near his smiling mouth made his divine beauty reach its zenith.

If Railin had been born as a woman, the men of Deltium sure would have thrown all their riches to his feet and offered their everything to him. He was the type of person who could enslave people with just a wink or a smile.

‘I envy you.’

Annette’s eyes, under the veil, were filled with envy. All she had learned to do was to keep a noble and graceful smile, to raise her chin high, and maintain a graceful and dignified posture. These things might be helpful for her social life, but they were pretty useless when it came to improve her relationship with her husband. It would have been nice if she also had such a bewitching beauty.

At this time, Railin suddenly opened his mouth.

“I’m sorry if this seems rude to you, but I just want to know why you want to leave this place? You don’t really look like you’re lacking anything, so if you don’t mind, I’d like to ask you why.”

Annette was startled at his sudden question. She had never revealed her identity before, but he asked as if he knew who Annette was. Seeing Annette become wary and silent, Railin said in a nonchalant tone, as if asking about her neighbors next door.

“Oh, I’m sorry if you found my question offensive. I am asking this so that we can take care of the situation, just in case, if your husband tries to find you in the future. That’s why I just wanted to check in advance.”

This made it clear that Railin knew who she was. She had very carefully hidden her identity while coming to this place, so she could not understand how this happened. Annette, who had been silent for a while, sighed and said.

“You know who I am, right?”

“As you know, my business is not only limited to smuggling. If my informants are slow, how can a beauty like me survive in this harsh place?”

Railin, who operated in the dark and headed the guild ‘Secret’, shrugged his shoulders with a proud expression. He had actually guessed Annette’s identity from the beginning. At that time he was a bit wary of her because of her high status, as it made it a little difficult for her to be smuggled out of the kingdom.

When Annette looked at her bandaged hand, everything became clear to her. Railin’s information guild was competent enough to find out for what kind of treatment the physician was invited to the house of Marquis of Carnesis. Railin looked at his precious customer with an elegant smile.

Meanwhile, Annette was very displeased with her identity being revealed. Her cold eyes had already drawn a boundary between them. Railin, noticing this, waved his hand and spoke softly.

“Our ‘Secret’ always puts our customers first. It was very pitiful to see our precious customer experience unreasonable inconvenience by covering your face. So please do not doubt our faith.”

The actual hidden meaning behind this bullshit was ‘I already know your identity, so don’t use a useless veil.’ Annette was surprised by Railin’s wit, he turned out to be sharper than she thought.

Annette sighed and quietly took off the veiled hat. Actually, she felt very stuffy wearing the hat that covered her whole face down to the neck. Fortunately, as long as she was a ‘customer’, Railin was unlikely to reveal anything about her to others. In the first place, if he had been a man who carelessly revealed or talked about his customer’s information, the Secret Guild would not have been as big as it is now.

“Hmm.”

The moment he saw Annette’s face with her veil removed, Railin let out a brief exclamation. She didn’t know what it meant, but she was very uncomfortable. The fact that the other party knew her identity made her feel quite wary of him.

‘Maybe Raphael also felt this way when I caught him sleepwalking.’

Annette ended up sympathising with Raphael in an unexpected place and closed her eyes. Just as she thought of Raphael, a thought naturally came to her mind. Annette carefully asked about Railin’s other businesses.

“Then can I ask you to investigate something? I want to know something about my husband’s iron ore mine.”

“Of course, but I’d like you to answer my question first. If you were to smuggle out of the kingdom, would your husband try to find you? It’s a really important matter.”

Railin, who smiled brightly, looked so beautiful that she felt dizzy. However, if you look closely, it was also a very inscrutable face. Railin, who made it difficult to grasp what was going on in his mind, was a really tough opponent. It was clear he would not give any information until he heard Annette’s answer.

But Annette didn’t want to be dragged around at his pace either. Now that she was inwardly displeased because of her identity being exposed, she smiled gracefully and retorted.

“Why don’t you figure it out with the help of your information guild. I think you can do it.”

Seeing a modest and docile looking Annette unexpectedly counterattack, Railin’s eyes widened and the smile on his face became a little stiff. Annette thought he was angry at her, but unexpectedly, Railin burst into laughter.

“Ha-ha, what a pleasant surprise! Okay. We’ll take care of this problem. Please consider it as a small apology for offending you.

It had been a long time since Railin had laughed carelessly without any meaning. It was a smile as bright as that of a young boy. Annette trembled seeing the strangely pleasing face. Seeing that her counterattack didn’t have much effect on him, she was very embarrassed.

“Okay. Then contact me as soon as you get the information. Thank you very much.”

The longer the deal with Railin was kept, the better it was. Although it was very annoying that her identity had been exposed, Annette decided to go out shamelessly since it had already turned out like this. Elegantly raising her head, Annette stood up from her seat. When Railin saw it, he thought to himself,

‘The more I see it, the more I like it.’

Recently, Railin had been having a growing ‘personal interest’ in her. Of course, if one asked Annette whether she was interested in the opposite sex, she would vehemently deny.  The Annette, in his eyes, was like a treasure that stood out in the eyes of a very picky collector.

Railin, as the top predator in the underworld, had a very luxurious taste. His picky eyes were as high as the Duke of Bavaria. So there were only a few people who perfectly satisfied his demanding taste. Just like Annette, who had received severe education under Deltium’s most prestigious family.

‘I’m satisfied just by looking at it.’

Railin’s ruby red eyes glanced over at Annette’s sitting posture. His eyes slowly raked over her elegant neck and slender waist to the rich hem of the neat dress. She looked like a perfect aristocrat, which made her more pleasing to the eye. When he saw her taking off the veil, Railin, for the first time in his life, wanted to embalm someone to keep them as they were for forever.

“Then I’ll get back to you soon, customer. You’ll probably be satisfied with our information.”

Railin, who hid his dark heart, smiled brightly and saw Annette off. Just as she was about to turn around, Railin lowered his head. and whispered in Annette’s ear with a dizzying  smile.

“Since today, I had the honor of seeing your face and make a good relation with you, I would like to offer you a small favor. When you leave here, it would be better if you use the back door if possible. Otherwise, you’ll have to go through quite a nuisance.”

Railin, placing his fingers on his lips, smiled very meaningfully.