Chapter 66

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“Diego disappeared from the palace prison. Oh, the Count’s son, of course.”

……What? I blinked blankly. Killian gone? What does that mean all of a sudden?

I didn’t think I’d be surprised any more after that happened yesterday.

“Pelos, what do you mean disappear?”

“That’s what I mean. That’s what happened.”

That happened?

Pelos spoke in that obnoxious manner.

“Give me some details. I mean, he’s gone.… Don’t tell me….”

“Don’t worry. He’s not dead.”

Pelos quickly added, as if he had noticed my concern without saying anything.

“There was no sign of that. I don’t think he was taken. I think he left on his own.”

“Left? Is prison a place where you can leave if you want to leave?”

Pelos grinned when asked about absurdity.

“Right, it’s better to say he’s escaped.”

“Escape….”

“I don’t think he did it alone.”

“What? Then? Are you saying that someone helped Killian?”

“Yes, because in the first place, it is impossible to escape the Imperial Palace Prison without outside help.”

“……So who is it? Who helped Killian?”

Pelos picked up a cookie and handed it to me. When I shook my head to mean that I didn’t want it, he shrugged and put it in his mouth.

“You sound like you’re sure that I know who it is.”

“There must be people you are suspicious of even if you don’t know. You said you were a genius.”

“I wanted to hide it, but I can’t deny it.”

“Who is it? Who took Killian out of prison?”

“I have something to tell you before we talk about it. Please sit down, I have a sore throat.

Pelos, who was still looking up at me, said.

“And can I have a cup of tea? The cookies are very dry.”

“……If you wanted to be served tea, you should have proudly entered the front door, not the window.”

“Oh, that’s right.”

Pelos took a look at his clothes. He looked as if he had just realized that he had sneaked in through the window.

I brought a bottle of water near the bed and sat opposite him.

“Have this at least. It’s not tea, it’s water.”

“Thank you.”

Pelos put his mouth on the water bottle and gulped it down. He looked like a person who hadn’t had water in days.

“I’m going to live.”

“Let’s finish what we were talking about.”

“Oh, yeah. So first, does Lady know how your brother killed your father?”

Pelos asked, with a heartless, serene tone of voice, telling a brutal story.

“…… How did he kill him? I don’t want to know.”

The terrible image of Count Diego in my dream came to mind and I trembled.

“Oh, that’s not it. That’s not it. I mean……. Well, I mean, do you know what he had done after he killed Count Diego?”

“After he killed him?”

Killian didn’t come to my wedding right after he killed him, did he? Pelos nodded as he knew what my puzzled expression meant.

“After killing the Count, little Diego…… Killian set the house on fire.”

“……What?”

Fire? When I thought of the Count’s big mansion, I felt cold.

“He set that big place on fire? The people who lived in it…….”

“Oh, fortunately, all the servants were evacuated. The person who set the fire gave them a notice. Fortunately, he’s not that crazy.”

“…….”

“Why did he set fire when he wasn’t going to kill anyone? Furthermore, the fire was only in the middle of the house, not the entire house?”

“……to burn the Count’s body?”

“That’s a plausible answer, but that’s not the case. The Count’s body was preserved in his private office, on the third floor of the mansion.”

“Then…”

“It’s natural to think that it’s to hide or to get rid of something else.”

To hide or to get rid of something? There was something in the mansion that Killian had to get rid of?

I thought Killian was half crazy and killed the Count on impulse just because of what I said.

“We found the ignition point to find out what it was. It was in the basement.”

My body trembled.

It was probably the basement that was used as a warehouse. It was hidden on the outside, and some servants in the mansion didn’t even know it existed.

The warehouse. It was the basement. The same place where I and Killian were tortured.

“Why did Killian want to burn the basement that was just a warehouse? Maybe it’s just a coincidence?”

Pelos asked with his chin resting on the table. All the mischief had disappeared before I knew it.

Why did Killian burn the basement? I couldn’t quite figure out why.

But if I had the courage to kill the Count. If I had the chance to kill the Count and have the Count at my disposal…

I’d first get rid of the basement, too.

“One more thing.”

“……What?”

“I have one more question. After searching the house like a mouse, we found a missing item.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s a document.”

“A document?”

“A document that says Killian Diego is Count Diego’s son. The only document that can prove that he is the eldest son of the Diego family.”

“……it’s gone?”

“It was originally kept in a safe in the Count’s office.”

Why on earth? As I groaned, Pelos smiled again.

“Now you look curious.”

“What? No….”

I asked after coughing a few times for no reason.

“So? Do you know why it’s gone?”

“Isn’t it obvious? He wanted to break the connection between himself and the Count. It’s because he hated Count Diego terribly.”

“But…….”

Pelos’ words sounded exactly like Killian killed the Count because he hated him.

It meant, he didn’t follow my words to kill the Count, it was just a personal revenge.

I remembered my childhood. Killian was obviously abused by Count Diego until I was adopted.

After I was adopted, it was directed at me. Of course, I couldn’t say that Killian was loved by his father after that, but…… He hated him enough to kill?

Normally, Killian didn’t show that. If I had to say, he seemed afraid rather than hate.

“And Lady.”

Pelos tapped the table as if waking me up from my conception.

“What is it?”

“There were your papers in the safe, too.”

“……What?”

“A document proving that you are the Diego family. It was in the safe, alongside Killian’s.”

“Then my papers…….”

“Your papers stayed the same.”

What?

Killian opened the safe just to remove his papers? Leave mine as it was?

“How come…”

“You’re the only one who knows why. But I don’t think he did it on purpose. I think he’s just distracted and didn’t even see yours.”

My face became hot. I felt somewhat embarrassed.

“I, I, I….”

I was trying to make excuses for nothing, but Pelos snapped me off.

“Lady. I heard from Devan.”

“……What?”

“The last thing Killian said.”

The last thing he said was…….

“Evelyn, didn’t you ask me to do it? Evelyn!”

Did Pelos hear that? That I asked Killian to kill the Count….

I managed to hide my trembling hands under the table. The palm of my hand, which held the skirt tightly, was full of sweat.

“That’s ….It’s….”

“No.”

“……What?”

“Don’t you know why I’m telling you this?”

I stared blankly at Pelos.

“If he killed the Count because of Lady’s request…….”

It was just that, but my body hardened again.

“Why didn’t he take the Lady’s papers? No, that’s weird. Why would he have to take his papers? He just has to kill him.”

“That alone… You can’t be sure.”

“There were numerous stab wounds on the Count’s body. They say it all happened after he had already died.”

“…….”

“It means that Killian’s resentment was so great that he hurt the body even after the Count is dead.”

Pelos kept saying one thing.

Killian killed the Count not because of my request. It was just because of his own resentment.

“You’re comforting me. You’re saying it’s not my fault……. I mean…….”

My voice trembled in an unseemly manner.

“Does Lady think I’m such a sweet person?”

Pelos said in a tone of ridiculousness.

“I’m just telling the truth. And yet if you feel like I comfort the Lady, it’s probably because it’s true.”

Crunch, Pelos chewed his cookie.

“I’m saying it’s not Lady’s fault that Count Diego died.”

I tried to find the emotion in the face of Pelos.

Sympathy, pity, anything like that.

But Pelos had the same calm look on his face as he told me I was going to die because of my power. He had the attitude that he was merely telling me the facts that he knew.

“Pelos…”

“Oh, Lady. Please don’t look at me like that. Lady definitely has a husband now, and I am bound to God.”

“I just…”

“Please don’t say thank you.”

Pelos slightly raised the corners of his mouth and bent his eyes. It was such a beautiful smile that I couldn’t see the old clothes he was wearing.

“Isn’t it a little strange to say such a ticklish word between us?”

I lowered my head and smiled at the playful voice.

“As expected, Lady is best when she smiles. At least.”

“Pelos.”

“I’m kidding, I’m just kidding. Lady is always beautiful.”

“……Thank you.”

I said thank you to him still. Pelos, who was off guard, looked as if he had been beaten.

“Didn’t I tell you not to? There will be a time when you use it later.”

I was strangely relieved by the playful expression of no seriousness.

Before I knew it, the headache that was bothering me was gone.