CH 48

Looking at the face of the gatekeeper, who didn’t understand what I was saying, I explained kindly.

It was actually very simple.

“Philip is going to work tonight.”

“So right before that, I’m going to tell the Marquis. Very simple, right?”

“B, but Lady… Then I…” 

“Calm down. There is no evidence that you have intruded upon other people’s property. Explain that Philip was suspicious and pretended to obey him to keep an eye on him. Because there’s no evidence that he picked herbs, right?” 

Then the gatekeeper clapped and said I was right.

He seemed happy to think of a way out of this situation.

“Then I’ll go to the Marquis now—!”

“Wait.”

The gatekeeper’s too-quick action crushed the throbbing temple.

“If you met the Marquis now, there is no evidence. What would you do if Philip said it was a setup?”

“That’s—” 

Of course, I could use the letter that Philip received from Yurtha as evidence, but that wouldn’t do me any good, so I didn’t have to tell him about the letter.

“Don’t worry. You just need to get a witness. I said Philip was going to work today, didn’t I?”

“Then…”

“Watch Philip and go straight ahead and stab him right before he causes trouble. That’s it.”

The gatekeeper nodded his head as if he understood only then.

‘It seems that Phillip’s problem has been solved…’

So, do I really need to accept Richard’s offer?

Richard asked me to watch him turn down Philip’s offer tonight, but hmm—.

This is how I solved the problem—.

‘But if I don’t go, Richard might accept Philip’s offer.’

Then there will be no fire.

So I took the risk and decided to stay with him through an agreement with the gatekeeper.

It would go to Argen’s ears that I was here, and there was also a need for evidence.

So I suddenly ended up conducting a joint investigation under the leadership of the gatekeeper.

But—.

You said you would stop Philip, but why was there a fire?

‘I think things are a bit complicated—’

When I heard that Richard would stop the fire, I hoped he wouldn’t.

However, when the smoky black smoke came into the room, I went crazy.

‘Crazy—’

I tried to spit out swear words, but the black smoke suffocated me.

“Cough—” 

Richard covered my nose and mouth from the black smoke with his hand as I coughed.

Richard’s blue eyes were sharp.

He seemed quite annoyed at this situation.

I pulled up Richard’s other hand and wrote on the palm of his hand.

[It’s okay.]

I was trapped in a place where the fire broke out, and he moved his finger asking what was okay.

[Trust me.]

But Richard didn’t believe me at all. Rather, it was a serious face.

In this way, the shallow trust between each other was revealed.

[I have a plan.]

[A plan? Do you plan to break down that door and escape with me?]

[I’m the only one going out.]

“….?”

Richard’s eyes were filled with all kinds of question marks.

Before I could explain the situation to him, the knights rushed in.

“Turn off the fire! Hurry!”

As expected, they extinguished the fire.

[How did this happen?]

Richard left a question on the palm of my hand.

They put out the fire, but he and I didn’t speak to each other, as there was no black smoke coming out of the room.

[I’ll tell you the next time we meet.]

At those words, Richard’s blue eyes widened.

I was taken aback for a moment by his unconventional appearance, but I was chilled by the movements of his hands that tickled.

[Next.time.]

What do you mean?

[Next time, that’s good.] 

[….]

[Great. Next time.]

[….]

Yeah. We did.

When I saw Richard with a blank face, he looked disappointed.

I was thinking about writing “pretense” on his palm, but the door opened.

“Maid, are you okay?

Of course, at the voice I thought would be here, Richard made a puzzled face, and he became aware of my situation.

Then he says goodbye to me. 

“See you next time, Maid.” 

I didn’t bother to answer.

In fact, it was all planned.

In Yurtha’s letter that Philip was keeping, it was written that he would set fire to it if Richard refused.

He was a real madman.

I really thought a lot about it.

But what should I do with Philip?

I thought dozens of times more about accusing Philip, but when Philip confesses that Yurtha did it, Herthas is also involved.

I’m Rose Herthas, I’m hiding my identity, but I don’t know how it will affect me later.

While thinking so hard, I had a question.

‘Why did Philip have the note?’

It would be dangerous if he were caught holding it.

While thinking about it, the answer came out quickly.

What if he tried to use this letter as evidence when he was caught doing what he was doing?

That’s plausible. 

‘Yurtha is a thoroughgoing punk, and he’ll get away with it.’

Finally, I reached a conclusion.

I sneaked into Philip’s room while he was at work and stole the letter.

Therefore, the evidence is secured.

After that, I tried to wait for the gatekeeper to take care of it, but—.

I had to think about the possibility that Richard would agree with Philip to help him escape.

So I stood by Richard’s side and watched him refuse Philip.

Instead, I had to explain this situation to Argen to some extent.

Someone seems to be sneaking into the underground in the middle of the night, so I’ll watch from here today.

‘Is this the end?’

It had been a stormy day.

That’s what I thought—.

“Read me a book, Rosie.”

Argen, lying on the bed, said drowsily.

Well, that’s just the beginning of a stormy day.

*****

As I sat still holding the book, Argen urged me.

“Are you not going to read it?”

Since when is this?

Argen’s tone has become a little lighter.

As an authority figure, shouldn’t you say, ‘Aren’t you going to read it?’

“Why didn’t you answer me, Rosie?”

As expected, originally, he had to say, ‘Why isn’t there an answer, Rosie?’

Why are you suddenly pretending to be close?

“…Ah, no. I’ll read it for you.”

What kind of unexpected incident is this? 

If you caught the criminal trying to set fire to the basement, you should reward me, so why punish me? 

Of course, the parties don’t seem to recognize that this is a punishment.

‘He seems to be smiling subtly now.’

Does he realize he’s bullying me? 

“… I’ll read it then.”

“Yeah.” 

Whether it bothered me or not, there was nothing I could do.

I’m not Rose Herthas now; I’m just Rosie.

The social status is already doomed.

“Once upon a time…”

It was the national rule of fairy tales that began once upon a time. 

“The Witch kidnapped the Prince…”

The story was like this.

The witch who kidnapped the little prince brainwashes the prince to love her daughter.

It was said that the daughter initially turned away from the prince, but she felt sorry for him and decided to release the brainwashing.

In the meantime, she faces various difficulties and releases the prince’s brainwashing.

‘Is it a cruel fairy tale version—?’

As I read a long fairy tale, I became thirsty and stopped talking for a while.

Is this okay? I glanced at Argen, and he was asleep.

‘I have to go out quietly.’

It wasn’t a consideration because he fell asleep, but I’m afraid I’ll be caught again when Argen wakes up.

As I was about to get up from my seat, I saw Argen’s disorganized appearance.

And in the place where it exposed Argen’s collarbone, I found a black pattern.

—I think it used to be around the neck. It’s like the pattern is moving.

‘Is it a tattoo?’

It can’t be.

The nobles here regard tattoos as lowly things.

How can Argen, who is at the peak of the aristocracy, get a tattoo—.

Wait. I think I know this tattoo—. 

What was this? At the moment of contemplation, Argen’s eyes opened wide.

“It’s a little creepy looking at me like that.”

“It looks like you slept well, so I’ll check it out for a while…”

An awkward atmosphere was created.

I hurriedly backed away and Argen got up and fixed his messy outfit.

“Did you see it?”

…Is he talking about tattoos? 

“I’m not sure what you’re talking about. I’m sorry.”

It’s not good to know.

When I pretended not to know, Argen gave me a suspicious look.

It was then.

“Marquis, I have a report to tell you.”

I heard an urgent voice from outside.

“What’s the matter? Come in.”

Argen’s voice was not good because his rest was interrupted.

The knight who entered the room with the wits of Argen delivered the worst news.

“The monster has escaped.”