CH 15

“Do you really say something like that now? You’re the only one who can poison him here.” 

“Do you really think so?”

“Yeah. I even recognized the chef just in case, but the servants who were there said they didn’t see him poisoning the food while he was cooking.” 

“I don’t doubt the chef either. He’s not that kind of person.”

The chef, who had been silently listening to Rosie’s words, blushed and wiped his nose.

When the butler who saw it crumpled his forehead, the chef coughed in vain and lost his expression. 

“I’m not asking you to play with words. Go ahead and tell the truth!”

“I understand, but before that.”

Rosie turned her head and stared at Marie.

“Marie.”

When Rosie put Marie’s name in her mouth, she raised her head proudly.

The winner is herself. That girl is just bluffing.

“I saw it.”

What?

Marie’s eyes shook briefly as everyone focused on Rosie’s words.

“Last night.”

Marie, who knew what it meant, bit her lips. She definitely checked that no one was there.

Let’s not be flustered. There’s no evidence anyway. Whatever she says, she can say it’s a lie.

“I saw you meet the gatekeeper and hand him poison.”

Finally, an accurate sentence came out of Rosie’s mouth.

Everyone was surprised and looked back at the two.

Rosie continued to talk calmly.

“Marie threatened the gatekeeper. What she said was—”

Rosie didn’t finish her words and looked at the gatekeeper.

Can I say what I heard? That you’re a spy.

It was definitely those eyes. The quick-witted gatekeeper thought hard about what to do in this situation.

Whether he’s caught being a spy and even being kicked out of the fact that he put fruit in it, or whether he admits his sins and doesn’t reveal his secret here.

It was Rosie’s silent pressure to choose between the two.

In fact, it was clear what to choose to survive.

Fortunately, the gatekeeper made a wise choice.

“I’m sorry, butler! That maid, Marie, threatened to tell my wife that I was having an affair! So I had no choice but to—!”

Everyone’s eyes were on Marie again.

Like last night, when the kitchen maid confessed that she ordered it.

“Marie, why did you do that?”

Rosie quietly opened her mouth.

“Do you know what happened to that person because of you? He might die from the poison you gave him! Then what do you think will happen to the Marquis?” 

“What are you talking about? It’s not me! The gatekeeper is lying!”

“If the monster dies from the poison, do you think you and I will be safe?”

But why does Rosie keep saying that it’s poison when she puts fruit in it?

She heard that the fruit she had was never life-threatening.

Marie bit her lips in a strange way. Then Marie met Rosie’s pink eyes. 

At that moment, there was an illusion that seemed to spread in her pink eyes.

Rosie smiled. 

“Marie, are you afraid now that you’re here? Why did you put poison in?”

A smile that is sure of victory and this question now.

Marie realized.

Rosie, who happened to see last night, planned this? 

Rosie worked with the gatekeeper and turned the drugs for poison!

Marie’s face was distorted when she thought that far. She had to do anything to cover Rosie’s mouth right away.

However, her mind went blank to do anything.

‘Wake up! There’s no evidence that I mixed the fruit yet!’

But not everyone thought like Marie.

“Take her.”

As soon as the butler’s sharp words, like the death sentence, fell, the servants around her caught her.

‘It’s over if they drag me like this!’

Fear swept through her head, but Marie forced herself to draw reason.

Unfortunately, Marie would have been able to regain her calmness if it weren’t for Rosie’s next words.

“So, Marie, why did you poison him? It’s a big sin.”

Rosie smiled and moved her lips calmly.

‘Actually, I’m the one who burned poison.’

Rosie’s lips moved like that.

Marie, whose eyes were stained with anger at the shape, shouted loudly.

“It’s not me! Butler, isn’t it weird? As soon as I was accused of being the culprit yesterday, the fruit turned into poison.”

“….”

“That’s what Rosie did to hurt the monster and make me the culprit!”

She vomited her resentment with her whole body. Then she looked around with tears in her eyes. 

—Huh? 

Something was strange. She looked at Marie with a sly glance. 

Did I say something wrong?

The butler’s eyes became the same as last night’s eyes. Cold eyes. 

“How did you know what went in yesterday was the fruit, Marie?”

“…Huh?”

That’s—.

Marie hurriedly recalled her memories of yesterday. 

“Rosie, you showed the butler the plant book, and there was so much commotion yesterday, so you know!”

“Only the butler and the kitchen maid see the plant book. Everyone knows that the monster collapsed after taking drugs, but not everyone knows that the drug is a fruit.” 

Marie realized her mistake and stepped back with a pale face.

It felt like blood was draining from her body.

It was largely due to the failure to think deeply in an urgent situation.

There was such a big commotion yesterday, so she misunderstood that everyone already knew about the fruit.

“B, butler, it’s not me! This is a trap! How I found out— Ah! I also heard Rosie talking! What’s in the food is the fruit!”

Gibberish. No one believed in the belated excuse.

“Take her.”

The butler spoke calmly, and the servants gave strength to Marie’s arms, who were holding her.

She struggled not to be dragged, but sadly it was useless.

“Rosie, even if Marie is being dragged away like this, your charges have not been completely cleared, so—”

“Ah! Butler, I forgot to tell you.”

Rosie opened her mouth belatedly.

“He didn’t eat the food I gave him.”

“What—?”

“He didn’t eat it.”

The butler didn’t understand Rosie right away, and he felt as if his intellect was degenerating.

It was not only the butler but also everyone here.

“If he didn’t eat—. Then why is he sick?”

“He said he was bored and wanted to pretend to be sick.”

“….”

At that moment, everyone here lost what to say.

He just muttered to himself, ‘What kind of crazy—.’

“And shouldn’t we create this situation so that we can catch the culprit?”

When looking at the results, Rosie was right.

If Rosie told the butler right away what she saw last night, only the gatekeeper would be caught.

And if Marie pretends, it becomes difficult to catch the rest.

Should he call it clever or cunning?

It was a time when the butler was contemplating meaningless things alone.

“I knew you would do that—”

Emily’s eyes shone powerfully. Everyone here stared blankly at Emily’s suddenly changed atmosphere.

Suddenly, she stamped her chest tight. As if there was something there.

“Crazy! The knife!”

Why does a knife come out every time there?

One of the servants was startled by Emily’s sudden action and shouted out in a panic. Even Rosie, who was the only calm one, blinked her eyes blankly, startled. 

“Apologize for your sins with death!”

Oh my. Emily must be finally crazy!

Sure enough, Emily turned her eyes and ran out toward Marie, and the servants around her hurriedly grabbed her and stopped her. 

That’s how the incident ended.

*****

In fact, I agonized after hearing Richard’s story. What should I do with this?

Even if I inform this fact to the butler, it is difficult to prove Marie’s crime.

And if I made a mistake, one day Marie might take another drug, and I might be accused of being a culprit again.

So I decided to try making it bigger.

At the same time, I asked Richard for a favor. For him to pretend to be sick.

Richard, ignorant of free stuff, put a condition on it. I want to hear what he wants.

Except for running away, I said I would help, and Richard happily said yes. 

And now. 

Richard gently pulled the string of the maid outfit I was wearing and asked drowsily.

“Can I take it off?”

What do you mean to take it off?