Chapter 56

Chapter 56

“You think that my suggestion is a petty gimmick.”

But this time, Elena responded as if it wasn’t a big deal. She seemed to expect this too. She raised the hand on her lap and pointed to the desk where Hert was sitting.

“Then let’s be more honest and open about it. I want to buy your favor. Because, for only a while, I would like to borrow your position, Sir.”

“You have something that needs to be handled by borrowing the Lord’s authority?”

“Well, you could say that.”

“What is it?”

When Hert questioned her, Elena looked down at her legs once more. Because of that, Hert’s gaze followed the marchioness and turned to her legs, which had not moved since before.

Two legs that were would no longer be able to due to an accident, they said. As a result, it was known early on that she, who was the marchioness, was pushed to the West Spire and lived alone until now.

“Then let me tell you, assuming you know what my relationship was like with my husband. Sir, I intend to expose the disgraces of this household. In order to do that, I need some of the power that you currently hold.”

Hert’s eyes frowned when she mentioned the household’s disgraces.

“Are you going to come and get some kind of revenge? But you have a son—an heir.”

‘Even if that damn bastard’s were to be cut into pieces and scattered as animal food, it wouldn’t be enough.’

Hert looked at the marchioness with a twisted look. It’s clear that while the young marquis is still alive, she was going to inflict damage on the family. He was dumbstruck. What kind of moron was she seeing him as?

Even a three-year-old would know how absurd what she was saying now. For some reason, the two mother-and-son were both annoying his heart.

Then Elena replied, shrugging her shoulders lightly.

“I won’t ask for forgiveness.”

“What?”

“I know what the Young Marquis did to Tessa is unforgivable for obvious reasons… But I never apologized about it, and I have no reason to apologize to you, as you’re not the person directly involved. But I can only give you this. If you catch the Young Marquis later, you can do as you please.”

Elena opened her mouth casually, telling him to take care of the leftovers, which was her son. There was no warmth left on her face as she said that. For a moment, he doubted whether the young marquis’s mother was her or not.

“It is true that he was born from my belly, but I never thought of him as my son. I hate to even think like that. That’s why I’m trying to reveal more of the family’s secrets. Now, to me, this family doesn’t matter.”

There were no fluctuations in the marchioness’ voice. She continued her words consistently and calmly from beginning to end. There was no emotion in it anywhere.

But it was still too early to let his guard down. Hert had seen people aiming for the back of the head with a face like that.

“Then there is no reason why I should believe you.”

“Then you can keep me on watch. I don’t think it’s a bad offer for Sir. Wouldn’t Marquis Borwen want this too?”

Elena returned to a fresh voice again and continued her words.

“To you, Sir, it will take at least three or four months to officially succeed this Jutert estate. Normally, it will be over in a month or two, but Jutert is the contributor of the country’s founding and is one of the great noble households. There will be many opposing forces who want to interfere with this. Above all, Sir is one of Marquis Borwen’s people. So, didn’t you feel anything strange? As if there are spies sneaking around?”

“…….”

“The disappearance of the Young Marquis, no, should we call it his escape? I know you haven’t found the accomplice yet. Sir, think carefully. I have long been a member of this Jutert family and, paradoxically, the birth mother of the successor. Aren’t you wondering which hand I’ll be holding? Now, I am suggesting that you may use me.”

Hert was silent for a moment. Elena did not let the silence still. She continued to speak.

“It will be a great opportunity for both of us. In fact, it was because of Tessa that I offered to help. It’s not for your sake, but for hers. I feel guilty about being the Young Marquis’ mother. She’s such a nice girl. Isn’t that right?”

“…….”

“I think she will be able to fulfill the role of the Lady of the house sufficiently if I teach and guide from the side a little bit. Most importantly, she will gain confidence. It will definitely help her move forward. As a woman, there are so many things I can teach Tessa.”

Herd knew that Tessa was getting along with the marchioness well. Tessa was even meeting the marchioness on a regular basis once a day. And after that meeting, Tessa was always feeling better.

To be honest, he wanted to accept the marchioness’ offer. Hert wanted to do anything for Tessa if it was good for her.

“And what can I, a widow, do to Sir?”

“That reason—”

At that time. A knock was heard.

Hert glanced at the marchioness for a moment, and then permitted it to come in. The fact that they knocked from the outside even though there were guests inside was probably because of a report related to Tessa. Hert was accustomed to the situation now, as he had previously commanded them to report anything about Tessa immediately.

Before long, a knight came in through the door and whispered to Hert, as expected, about Tessa.

“The two Madams are going out to the lakeside… Just recently, Missus Vellodem’s maid came and reported this. What should I do?”

“…That woman again.”

Missus Vellodem. Hert’s brow furrowed when he heard the name. He gave instructions to the knight, conscious of the marchioness’ gaze who sat quietly and stared at him.

“Now send more than double the escorts. And I’ll go there as soon as I’m done.”

“Yes, I understand.”

As soon as the conversation between the knight and Hert was cut off, the marchioness asked as if waiting.

“Is Tessa going out somewhere? Oh, there’s no way she would have decided to go out on her own… Was it Janet?”

“…Are you close with that woman, no, that Madam?”

As soon as Hert asked, the corners of Elena’s lips went up obliquely. Only then did she get a sense of how she could elicit a reaction of the new Lord. Instead of answering Hert’s questions, the marchioness dragged the wheelchair to the doorstep.

“Well. You seem to be busier than that, so I guess I’ll just have to go back.”

The sound of the wheelchair dragging echoed through the room. Hert beckoned to the knight, and the knight hurried to the door and opened the door. Elena stopped her wheelchair for a moment there, turned to Hert, and said firmly as if giving advice.

“Don’t let your guard down around Missus Vellodem.”

* * *

“Dear God…”

Lange clicked his tongue as he looked at the empty ground. Just in case, he visited the site of the Fitzgerald orphanage of seven years ago, but there was not a single brick left. If it hadn’t been for the information and maps he had just obtained, he would not have known that there was an orphanage here.

“It’s been completely wiped out.”

Looking around the vine-filled vacant lot, Lange sighed briefly. There’s no result. The scorching sunlight pierces his head countless times under the blue sky.

Lange put on his hat and started circling around the open lot for nothing. He was just trying to guess the location of the building.

Lange had been running all day, as if hanging on a horse a few days ago, to the Pian area where the Fitzgerald orphanage was located. He was trying to gather information step by step from the orphanage, but he was frequently failing to collect information due to a situation similar to the one at hand now. It’s not just been one or two times that the information and places he was investigating completely disappeared in this way.

‘It must have been someone’s doing… I don’t know who it is.’

After walking around the vacant lot and guessing the approximate location of the building, Lange made a rough mark on a piece of paper and approached the horse he had tied a little away. Even if he stayed any longer, it seemed that there would be no more information to be obtained here. Lange got on his horse and started moving to the village closest to the orphanage on the map.

* * *

Arriving at the village, Lange let out a sigh.

‘What, is it deserted…?’

The village was small and quiet, but in the past few years, the population has gone out, so it is easy to see empty houses without owners. There were few people on the streets. Only beggars in bulky clothes and skinny dogs were seen.

After looking around for a while, Lange found a tavern and moved to it.

“Wow, stay here for a moment.”

Leaving his horse tied up in front of the tavern, Lange opened the old door that was about to fall apart and entered. Then, the first thing he saw was the ugly inside, where the cold wind blew through the cracks because there was no maintenance.

Maybe it wasn’t opening time, or because the business wasn’t going well, there were chairs on the table, and the creaking sound of planks echoed whenever he moved. In the space immediately visible, there were only empty bottles.

And, of course, no one was seen, let alone guests.

“Excuse me, is anyone there?”

Lange looked for the owner of the tavern and raised his voice. But no answer came after a long time. Unknowingly, Lange tapped the table with the tip of his finger, impatiently. Again, he was worried that this might be in vain.

‘As expected, it’s deserted, there’s no one here…’

In the end, as he had just taken a step back and was about to leave. Someone was entering the pub with a loud bang.

“Some fool tied the horse in front of the store, huh?”

A woman who had been dragging a large box with scattered hair spotted Lange and blinked.

“…Are you the owner of the tavern?”