Chapter 84

Chapter 84

Could it be because of the cold weather? Or was it because it was crumpled into a narrow gap in the wall and then plastered over? The body, which bore a striking resemblance to Kitty Winders, was hardly decomposed as if it had not been long after she died.

Still, I had a hunch.

…This body had been here for a considerable period of time.

It was because…

‘It was only so that ‘Kitty’ could have come to the island.’

I have a headache. It meant that the Kitty I knew wasn’t the ‘real’ Kitty. No matter what she did, she pretended to be someone who looked exactly like herself. And, perhaps, the reason why Cassius killed the fake Kitty…

The real Kitty’s friend, who had been frozen after finding the body, screamed.

“Ki-Kitty! Kitty…!”

“…Be quiet.”

My voice sounded strangely cold.

“H-how?! Why is Kitty here? Why, Young Lady… I heard she was buried in the County?!”

I swallowed dry saliva.

At the same time, a cold sweat felt wet all over his body. It was me who wanted to deny all these things that had just happened. However, the body that looked exactly like Kitty I knew but could never be that Kitty proved that it could never be the case.

“I don’t know either, but I think you’d better keep quiet. For both you and me”

“…Young, Young Lady—”

Kitty’s friend burst into tears.

“How can you be so indifferent, Young Lady? A person died. She’s dead!”

“…Get out. This is an order.”

The maid obediently obeyed my words. It was fortunate because she’d never have liked what I did after she left.

I carefully pulled the string in the real Kitty’s hand.

‘It must have been a locket necklace.’

Attached to the gold string was a small rocket. When I twisted the lid, I heard a click, and the inside was revealed. It was a picture of twin sisters who looked just like each other, holding her hand and smiling affectionately.

On the way home, my head kept spinning around.

‘Why… Why didn’t he tell me?’

It didn’t take too many clues to figure out the situation.

Perhaps. The real kitty and the fake kitty were separated when they were young, enough to walk completely different paths. The real Kitty became a dutiful maid and was about to be taken to a deserted island in order for Cassius to make her my maid.

Along the way, the fake Kitty killed her own twin sister and took her place.

‘Maybe… It must be one of the Duke’s enemies.’

Cassius had many enemies. Naturally, I wouldn’t be surprised if one of them sent in a spy to kill me, whom he cherished. Yes, if he had just told me, I’d have understood the whole situation.

If only Cassius had told me…

However, he said nothing. Instead, he just said that he killed her because she touched my things, which was close to a lie.

‘Really, why did he do that?’

I bit my lip.

If it were in the past, I would have believed Karthus’ words back then. Even if I didn’t believe it, I would have investigated Kitty, and if I had, I would have found the real Kitty in no time.

And…

‘Why did he kill Duke Brudenell?’

Both Cassius in the original work and Cassius now were thorough realists. It meant moving in a direction that benefited him. In the first place, he killed Kitty so she wouldn’t hurt me.

Then, he killed the Duke…

‘…It can’t be.’

I shook my head.

I’d met Duke Brudenell a few times though he didn’t seem particularly disliked or opposed to me. If it was the other way around, I’m not sure.

‘…Come to think of it, they said it was poisoned.’

Poisoning also felt strange.

In the original story, Cassius put Duke Brudenell into a vegetative state. It was less suspicious that way, and it was easier to get the full power of the Duchy slowly.

However, poisoning…

I bit my lip again.

I didn’t have time to think about it properly because of the feeling of betrayal and hostility towards Cassius, but the incident was strange from the beginning.

‘What should I do?’

I caught my breath.

Even if I managed to get out of this complicated maze, I might end up with a disastrous conclusion that Cassius killed his father.

‘Still, I have nothing to lose.’

My heart pounded hard in my chest. It was shouting that if I did nothing, I would regret it for the rest of my life. At the same time, it was assuring me that I would never be able to shake off Cassius Brudenell for the rest of my life…

I stopped the carriage.

“Go to the Duke of Brudenell.”

The moment I entered Duke Brudenell’s residence, I shuddered. It was the feeling of being suppressed spontaneously with the dark atmosphere flying around the entire mansion at the first step.

It should be said that it looked more like an expression of anger than mourning.

I slowly stepped into the Duke’s mansion.

“Aren’t you the Young Lady Garneid?”

The first person I encountered was the butler. He must have come down after receiving a report from the gatekeeper.

“I came to see the Duchess. Is she here now?”

“…The Madam doesn’t accept visitors.”

“Please, tell her I’m here.”

“She still wouldn’t want to meet you.”

“Why?”

“Does the Young Lady really need me to tell you that?”

The butler’s voice stood firm like a sharp blade. Nonetheless, I held my head upright. The reason, of course, was that I was Cassius Brudenell’s fiancée.

…The fiancée of the man who killed her husband.

Of course, the Duchess wouldn’t want to meet me. It was because it would only remind her of the good times with her son, who killed her husband.

“I don’t care.”

I spoke coldly.

“Tell the Madam. Doesn’t she want to know the truth?”

“….”

The butler stared at me for a moment at my words. As his eyes widened, he seemed both surprised and frightened.

“…I see.”

When the butler nodded his head and disappeared into the mansion, I stepped in after him. I had no intention of waiting at the front door like an uninvited guest. Duke Brudenell would have to let me at least into the drawing room.

‘…It’s strange.’

Contrary to the atmosphere of the funeral outside, the inside of the duke’s residence was very ordinary. The number of users didn’t change, and it was managed so well that it seemed to have no problems even compared to before the Duke was killed.

How long has it been?

The butler approached me as I waited in the drawing room.

“She’s waiting for you.”

It was fortunate. I thought to myself that if she were going to ignore me like this, I was making plans to visit her myself.

After a while, I was escorted to the inner drawing room of Duke Brudenell.

“…The Young Lady doesn’t look good either.”

The Duchess’ initial greeting was a bit rude, but it didn’t sound offensive.

It was difficult for me to say that her appearance was normal, either. Her usual stern and tidy appearance, which seemed that she wouldn’t bleed even when stabbed, was nowhere to be found. Now, she was left with only one heartbroken person who didn’t bother to hide her disheveled appearance.

I got straight to the point.

“Lord Cassius… You know that he killed my maid, right?”

“I know.”

The Duchess let out a sigh.

“I was receiving all the reports about what was happening in Young Lady’s house. If you’re here to protest the sudden action, I’ll apologize on his behalf.”

“No.”

I shook my head.

“I should thank the Lord for that.”

“…Yes, it was.”

The Duchess murmured softly.

“It was like that…”

“I’m sure you didn’t know.”

She stared into space.

“Yes, Young Lady. I thought the day would come when I’d tell you someday… I never thought it would be like this.”

I waited silently for her words to follow.

“To live as a member of this family… Join in or close your eyes. You should do one of the two. I chose to close my eyes.:

“….”

“If you want to close your eyes, you better close them thoroughly. If you don’t, you’ll join in someday.”

I swallowed dry saliva.

Even though I expected that the life of the Duchess wouldn’t be easy either, I didn’t expect it to be this much…

“…My maid was a murderer. She originally killed her biological sister, who was supposed to be my maid, and came in instead.”

“And Cassius must’ve thought that she’d be a danger to you, so he probably got rid of her. Yes, it seems so.”

I opened my mouth carefully.

“So… I thought that His Excellency died for some other reason as well.”

Silence passed.

Somehow, the Duchess’s cold stare felt like it was piercing my conscience.

“The Young Lady has a lot of guts.”

“….”

“However, it wasn’t very wrong. Yes, my son isn’t a murderer. The real culprit is a different person.”

“Then, why…!”

The Duchess leaned slightly toward me like she was trying to say something no one in this world should know.

“He wanted to protect the real culprit, my son.”

I shook my head vigorously.

“It can’t be. Lord Cassius, he isn’t the one to protect anyone… He’s not the kind of person who would give his life to protect anyone—!”

In the first place, he was a person who even used and threw away his parents coldly… Such a person would give everything he had to protect whomever it was?

She had to say something that made sense.

However, the bitter words thrown by the Duchess shook my world.

“You still don’t understand? The real culprit is the Young Lady.”

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