CH 41

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***

All the children in the dormitory were so exhausted and in such a deep sleep that it was impossible for them to wake up even if I picked them up.

Outside the black window came the sound of a crow— caw, caw, caw.

I was deep in thought.

‘Will my method work?’

I was nervous after provoking Gerard.

In fact, for Gerard, who was obsessed with the case, revealing that it was in my hands was quite a risky decision.

Because it was evidence at the murder scene!

‘Gerard doesn’t know exactly where he lost it.’

If I made a mistake, he would quickly find out what I witnessed.

No, really, that wasn’t the problem.

The biggest problem was—

‘Gerard’s way of dealing with problems.’

Rather than keeping a pitiful human who might be an eyewitness alive… 

‘He might think it’s easier to kill me and retrieve the cigarette case.’

When my calm and logical thoughts reached that point, I gulped.

Ah, save the future bakery owner!

‘But I have Sordi and Um.’

They’ll help me if they have to. Besides, there was another advantage.

‘That I’m only 12 years old.’

To adults, a 12-year-old was just an immature creature.

Besides, a 12-year-old was weak in power, so even if he or she interfered with an adult, the adult would think it’s something that could be dealt with at any time.

‘I mean, I’m no threat.’

Compared to the high priest, who had social status and honor, I was truly not a dangerous beast, more like a hamster-like creature.

Additionally, even if a 12-year-old dared to say, ‘The Prince killed the High Priest!’, no one would believe it.

Of course, I wouldn’t act like an ordinary 12-year-old if I set my mind to do so.

‘But Gerard doesn’t know that.’

‘Hence, he will keep me alive.’

It would be much easier to make a simple deal than to kill a little girl and cause a fuss among the nobles who sent the girl a golden rose.

‘Yes, of course.’

That was when I was nodding my head.

Tock, tock, tock.

Something sounded from the window.

“What?”

I turned my head and saw a crow at the window tilting its little head. With a scroll the size of its body in its beak.

In an instant, my eyes lit up.

‘It’s a carrier bird! Gerard must have sent it.’

I got out of bed like a nimble hamster rushing towards cashews.

Then, trying not to wake a single one of the other sleeping children, I crept to the window.

Kakkk!

Then, the crow flew slightly away from the window and flapped its wings.

“……?”

Then it flew to the next room and looked at me, as if enticing me to follow him with his black rice-like eyes.

‘Oh? Why is this crow so smart? You can join Mensa, crow.’

‘This might be smarter than Julien.’

‘Ah, sorry Julien!’

As I followed the crow’s guidance, I arrived at the very last room in the corridor.

It used to be a music room, and now it was a storage room, but here the door was so thick that no one can hear you even if you scream.

Suddenly, I opened the window and greeted the black guest.

“Hello? How are you, crow?”

Caw!

The handsome crow with shiny black feathers flapped its wings as if answering me.

“Fufu, can you show me the letter?”

I smiled and held out my hand.

I was very curious about the contents of the letter.

It was a message secretive enough to be delivered in an empty room at dawn this morning.

Just looking at this, I could be sure.

That my predictions about the cigarette case came true.

As I reached out towards the crow, the clever bird took off lightly and spread its beak slightly.

Caw!

And slowly, it unfolded the scroll in front of me.

“……!”

Even at the amazing and astounding sight of the carrier bird opening the scroll itself, there was something more surprising.

The letter was empty.

“…Yes?”

I glanced at the letter, blinking my eyes.

But it was clean, entirely.

“The Prince sent me a blank sheet?”

Right then;

On the empty parchment, vivid black letters flickered and began to reveal the contents mysteriously.

“……!”

Perhaps, it was Gerard’s handwriting.

「Annette, how did you know that the cigarette case was mine?」

I gulped, swallowing saliva.

***

It was the very night after the banquet that Gerard realized he had lost his cigarette case.

He had his servant search the places he thought he lost it at, but he couldn’t find the cigarette case even though he stayed up all night until dawn.

As if it had suddenly evaporated.

But, he had to find it.

The cigarette case, or, more precisely, the black object embedded in the case was important.

It was no exaggeration to say that it was ‘everything’ to Gerard von Axelferion.

So when the servant, who had scoured the entire Imperial Palace all night, finally returned empty-handed;

The prince, who sat in the wing chair all night drinking alcohol, said,

“Find it. If you fail, I will not forgive you.”

It was a tone that contained the dignity of the imperial family. There was no anger in those words.

However, the servant trembled and closed his eyes. Like cattle succumbing to the great blade in the slaughterhouse.

Contrary to his gentle voice, the sinister red eyes staring at him were like those of a murderer.

In the end, the servants roamed every nook and cranny of the Imperial Palace and began to desperately search once again.

Hunting dogs were also mobilized, but there was no sign of any results.

The search operation, which continued for several days and nights, did not bring the desired result. Gerard’s patience was finally reaching its limit.

It was during one morning when the servants thought that their lives were hanging on the cliff.

A small letter was delivered to Gerard.

“Prince, a letter has arrived from the Forest.”

“From the Forest.”

“Yes, it’s a cute card.”

His aide’s eyes curved, smiling, and he held out the envelope.

It was an envelope in which sunflowers were meticulously drawn with the skill of a child.

In this horrible situation, the envelope shone brightly next to the fire, as if saying, “Huhu, you’re heated up, aren’t you? Buy ice cream, just one silver!” It was like a shameless businessman just who started his business.

Gerard’s eyebrows twitched.

“……”

He quickly tore the envelope and took out the card.

One of the sunflowers was torn in half, and the child’s innocence and sincerity fell relentlessly to the floor.

「Prince, did you lose your cigarette case?」

Gerard’s lips twisted.

This was the reason he hadn’t been able to find anything yet.

It was not difficult to guess whose hands the cigarette case was in now.

But why send such a cute card without returning it?

He remembered the last time he saw Annette.

When his hand was about to touch her, she paused, and that small body shrank back.

“I’m sorry, Prince. Annette must have been really nervous.”

The child was trembling with her fern-like hands crumpled, like a mouse in front of a cat. If it wasn’t just the trauma of an orphan who was beaten, but it was a fear of him…

If so, the purpose of this card could be easily inferred.

That insignificant and feeble little kid who could easily break it if he grabbed the neck with one hand dared to make a ‘deal’ to him.

“…What a cute little rat.”

Gerard shrugged, not commenting further. Then he slowly drank whiskey from the diamond-cut glass.

Early that morning, Gerard sent a reply to the child.

The moment Annette opened the scroll,

Chaaak!

The same scroll unfolded in front of him.

“……”

On the scroll, Annette, with her large, pale green eyes, was tilting her head naively.

This was a kind of ‘video call zone’.

Unfairly, only he could look in, the image was one-way.

Seeing Annette tilting her head as if puzzled, with her pale green eyes shining in the scroll, Gerard scribbled with his pen.

「Annette, how did you know that the cigarette case was mine?」

[……!]

Annette’s eyes widened for a moment.

As if there was a big problem.

[Oh, I didn’t bring a pen!]

The child mumbled, “How do I answer that?” with an innocent face and shifted her body that was as big as a cotton candy. 

She looked pretty cute, but Gerard wasn’t a human being who felt that kind of emotion in the first place.

He only felt as if the limit of his patience, which had already been pulled tightly, was stretched a little more.

So, the plan to communicate gracefully through writing was revised at once.

“You don’t have to write with a pen. Annette.”

[…Prince?]

Annette asked him back in surprise, and quickly gave him courtesy.

[Hello, this is Annette. I think you must have been puzzled by my sudden letter. But I have something to tell you!]

“Yes, I’ve seen the card. Tell me what you want from me.”

Gerard’s voice was extremely gentle and sweet.

Just like when he met Annette at the Imperial Palace.

The difference from that time was that his eyes were eerie and his tone and speech were frighteningly foreign.

The girl, who was completely unaware of this, made a bold proposal with an innocent, yet unique, clever attitude.

[Prince, what I want to exchange with the cigarette case… Could you please withdraw your application for my adoption? ]

‘This foolish thing.’

‘How dare you make a deal with me?’

‘How dare you?’

Gerard twisted his lip and picked up his glass of wine. Then he began to inquire sharply.

“Annette, how did you know the cigarette case was mine?”

He was curious from the moment he received the letter, but he couldn’t find the exact answer to this part.

Could one guess the owner just by looking at the lost item?

He had never heard of such a case. Wouldn’t it only be possible if the name of the owner was written on the item?

But not even his initials were engraved on the cigarette case.

So, how?

If he assumed that the kid saw the scene where he dropped it, then it made sense. 

And one of the most likely places he lost it at was where High Priest Arthur was dealt with.

If that little kid saw that scene.

If she happened to see the sight of the high priest being dealt with and hence was afraid of him.

Then all of this was natural.

Gerard’s red eyes blinked and he spoke softly.

“Answer me.”

[……]

Gulp–

Red eyes stared intently at Annette’s nervous face.

It was like scouring and uncovering any of that little child’s anxiety or gaps.

‘If you answer this question incorrectly, you will die in misery, sweetheart.’

Annette cautiously opened her mouth.