CH 18

Ophelia reflexively grabbed the large, dry hand that covered her mouth, then gently peel it off.

The moment her soft fingertips brushed past his rough and thick knuckles, Richard opened his mouth, saying,

“I fully understand what you’re talking about, so that’s enough.”

With eyes widened like a rabbit’s, Ophelia nodded her head and tapped the back of his hand.

When Richard took his hand away, Ophelia smiled and shrugged her shoulders in embarrassment.

“Anyway, I want to stop having conflicts with Iris and build a good relationship with her. In that sense, may I go now?”

“The beginning and end of your words don’t match.”

“Don’t worry about the little things. I’ll take my leave now.”

Although Richard did not give her permission to leave, Ophelia calmly walked towards the door.

Just as she grabbed the doorknob, Richard stopped her.

“By the way, Ophelia.”

“Yes?”

“What about Cooper?”

When he didn’t get an answer right away, a deep, very deep line formed on Richard’s forehead.

Ophelia stood still, pondered for a moment, then turned around.

“I think it’s fine.”

“What do you mean by ‘it’s fine’?”

“It’s okay, it’s fine.”

There was nothing to explain.

Literally. Since Ophelia and Cooper got along just fine.

He didn’t care about Ophelia as much as Iris, but he didn’t dislike her outrightly either.

He just treated her like a co-worker.

“Oh, but we’ve been seeing hell together for the past few days when Iris was away, so we’ve gotten a little closer. Well, this is the spirit…”

“Iris must come back.”

Ophelia was puzzled by the words that went out of the context from the conversation, but there was no room to deny that part, so she nodded her head.

“That’s right… isn’t it?”

Richard added indifferently.

“Didn’t you say you saw hell?”

“Yes… I still have to crawl back to that hell.”

She was sure that when she died, the words ‘Don’t put off today’s work until tomorrow’ would be engraved on the tombstone.

At least there would be no need to do the final bits of these particular documents, so the amount would be slightly reduced.

“Thanks for the finishing touches, Cooper and I will be able to take a breather. Thank you very much, Your Highness.”

Along with the lifeless voice, the hand that pulled the doorknob had no strength, and although her face was dead, Ophelia quickly went out the door with heavy legs.

Even after the door closed silently, Richard did not take his gaze away for a long time.

Then his lips, which were firmly pressed into a straight line, slowly opened.

“I didn’t say I would do Cooper’s share…”

The words that came out of his mouth were too childish for even himself to hear, so he couldn’t finish his words.

Richard pressed his back deep into his chair and tilted his head.

‘Why the hell am I so agitated about Cooper?’

He was most definitely a loyal and capable aide. It’s not like he’s plotting to stab him in the back.

But it gnawed at his nerves. Especially, whenever Ophelia put his name in her mouth.

Richard tapped the armrest, and again, then lightly clicked his tongue.

“It’s useless.”

There was no answer, and it wasn’t a very important question, so he threw away the thought and grabbed his pen.

The seed that had been imprinted like a tiny dot deep in Richard’s chest squirmed and stretched.

But it was still so small and insignificant enough to just let it go without realization.

.

Around the time Ophelia was facing Richard with drooping shoulders.

Iris, who was unable to enter the palace due to health reasons, was moving at a busy pace, the hood of her cloak pressed deeply.

It was unusual for her to walk quietly instead of riding a carriage.

She went all the way down one street and then suddenly returned the way she came. She also wandered around an alley and deliberately entered a dead end.

It was such a strange movement that it could be said that she was roaming aimlessly rather than going somewhere.

How much did she move around like that?

Eventually, Iris stopped in front of a house, extremely wary of her surroundings.

No, it was in front of a very small side door where foreign merchants came in and out, not employees.

Iris sighed involuntarily, carefully opened the door, and stepped inside.

After passing the dark, narrow, musty-smelling warehouse, Iris took off her cloak and set foot into the living room.

“Iris!”

As soon as she showed up, a lady, who was about one head shorter than her, ran towards her.

“Hermia.”

The area around Iris’ chest that had been hit by Hermia’s head hurt, but the former only patted the young girl on the back.

Hermia, who was held in Iris’s arms, soon began to shed tears, and Iris consciously swallowed that sigh that was about to surface again.

—

The day the servant came to the aide’s office.

Iris hurriedly left the palace to find her only friend.

“…in the mansion of…”

And the friend she found was in a mess.

She cried so much that her eyes were puffed up and closed, and her voice was half hoarse.

Seeing that there was no blood on her, it looked like there was no injury.

“Hermia!”

“Ah… I-Iris… He’s dead…”

Hugging the gasping Hermia, Iris quickly looked around and grasped the situation.

“Calm down.”

“How… How can I calm down? How? How could this… oh, heuk.”

Confusion and awkwardness spread across Iris’ face as she caressed the back of her sobbing friend even as she yelled at her.

That too.

Just a few steps away was her friend’s fiancé. He couldn’t even close his eyes, and was lying on the floor, cold.

The chest of the corpse was soaked in blood. Perhaps because of that, the floor, as well as the walls and the ceiling were splattered with blood in all directions.

Among them… Only Hermia was not stained, not even a single drop of blood.

“What the hell is this… what happened… Hermia?”

“I don’t know! I heard he’s back, s-so I came to find him, but this… heuk! This…”

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Heuk, euk! Uh-huh! Why, why like this…”

It was difficult to understand properly because of the mixture of weeping and wailing.

“First, I need to check his breathing…”

“He’s dead! He’s dead!”

After struggling to keep up with the screams, Iris finally learned that Hermia’s fiancé had been brutally murdered by someone.

—

Recalling the tragedy of the day, Iris returned to reality when a hand waved in front of eyes.

“…ris. Iris?”

“Yes. I’m here.”

“What did you ask for?”

“Not yet…”

“Still? What’s the matter with you, damn it!”

Hermia suddenly became angry, but soon lowered her eyebrows and smiled awkwardly.

“I’m sorry, I should know.”

Normally, Iris would have said no to that, but she kept her mouth shut.

It might be because she was a little tired because she paid too much attention to the terrible things Hermia went through.

“Are you mad?”

“No.”

“I’m sorry if you’re angry. You know I don’t normally do this, right?”

Iris asked Hermia, who was holding her hand like a child whining.

“Do you have any more memories of that day?”

“Again, about that? As I said yesterday and the day before yesterday, I didn’t see anything. All I saw was the room you saw.”

Iris was seated next to Hermia on the sofa. The latter had her head turned to the corner.

“You wanted this to be over quickly. You have to work hard.”

Her stern voice made Hermia chew her lips roughly, but when she turned to Iris, she showed no such ferocious sign.

“It’s a question I’ve been asking over and over, but does anyone have a grudge against your fiancé?”

“He’s not the kind of person anyone can have a grudge against. You know that. He’s kind.”

Iris didn’t answer this time either.

Hermia’s fiancé was more shy than nice, and when she tried to pull him out of his addiction, he turned violent.

“However…”

After hesitating for a while, Hermia added in a small voice.

“He did get into debt while gambling.”

“I suppose so.”

What’s the point of saying it?

Her dead fiancé was a gambling addict, on top of that, he had a terribly serious dependency to alcohol.

What started as fun soon became an addiction, and by the time the family realized he was odd, it was already too late.

“However, if it’s a debt, he can pay it back by borrowing from the count, so it’s probably not because of the debt.”

“The count said he would not repay it.”

“Yes… he just said that. He was so worried because he was the only son and the next count.”

Hermia bowed her head as she told the story.

Her expression was not visible because of the thick shadows, but judging from the way her voice got smaller and smaller, she seemed unsure.

“The investigators are also aware of the debt, so let’s wait a little longer.”

“When is that ‘little longer’?”

When Iris paused at the sharp voice, Hermia burst into tears.

“It’s so hard to hide like this.”

It was Hermia herself who said that it was burdensome and didn’t want to attract public attention, thus asking for a place to hide until this case was resolved.

Iris soothed Hermia without bringing up that fact.

“Yes. I know it’s hard. Be a little more patient…”

Hermia cut off Iris’ words and brought up something unexpected.

“Can’t you use your power? Just say word.”

“What?”

“I don’t mean to make an unreasonable request… just tell them to solve it sooner, if not, then end it. Since you’re the Crown Prince’s aide, you can do it. Those people will listen to you too.”

“I can’t.”

When Iris resolutely refused, Hermia wept and turned her head.

“Hermia…”

“You… you can do everything!”