CH 73

It was the night before the festival.

People who are going on vacation and the people who are jealous of them stood out today.

Emily, who was next to me, looked at them with a blank expression.

“Emily, what are you up to these days?”

“…Ah, ung?” 

“Your complexion looks bad these days.”

“…It’s nothing.”

She shook her head with no energy when she said no.

She looks like she’s having trouble.

‘Come to think of it, there’s not much time left to see Emily.’

I’ll run away on the day of the festival.

All preparations for escaping were already finished.

I felt a little sorry for leaving without a word to Emily. Because she’s treated me well.

“…Rosie, what would you do if I left?”

I was surprised to think that she might have briefly noticed my plan.

But based on who Emily is, she wouldn’t ask this question to test me.

And I’ve never really acted like I was going to leave anyone.

“Emily, are you quitting your job?”

Emily’s eyes trembled finely. It’s right.

“…Whether you leave or not is up to you. Do whatever you want.”

“But…” 

“Just do what you want, Emily.”

Emily seems to be thinking about leaving her job at Marquis soon.

Why was she staring at me like that?

She has her life as I have mine. 

Emily seemed to be in trouble again. A heavy silence came, but I opened my mouth brightly to relieve the atmosphere.

“Emily, come to think of it, I heard that Anri is your real brother?” 

“What?” 

Emily’s complexion darkened all at once.

…Did I say something wrong? 

“Is that bastard say so?” 

When Emily talks about Anri, her mouth gets rough on its own. He must be her real brother.

“Again, Rosie, you should never be with Anri. Never.”

Emily emphasized it as if it were a very important fact.

I smiled, nodded, and told her I understood.

At that time, Emily’s words meant nothing to me. I thought they were just like any other siblings.

After talking with Emily, I went back to the servants’ quarters. When I opened the door, the paper fell.

[Tomorrow at noon. To the west warehouse.]

…It’s finally here.

* * *

The summer festival runs for a week.

Since this festival is bigger and grander than the last one, Argen came and gave a speech on the first day.

The servants who had been with Argen and heard his speech were excited to praise him and talk about the festival.

But he, too, had to spend a while getting ready for a party.

For the summer festival, a party is held at the end of the festival.

Partying was something that Argen enjoyed doing.

But the servants who were getting ready for the banquet were making a fuss.

‘There’s really not much time left.’

Richard will run away on the last day of the festival, and I will run away the day before he runs away.

Time went by, and the note said that the appointment was at noon.

I pondered for a long time whether it was right for me to go.

However, it wasn’t a problem that could be solved by not doing it.

‘Now they’re calling me back, that means there’s something—’

There are only three days left until the day of escape.

Before that, it is difficult to apply any variables. So I decided to meet a demon worshipper.

Of course, I couldn’t easily avoid it just because I wanted to avoid it.

In case he might hurt me, I decided to ‘prepare’ myself.

“…Cough.” 

I coughed and rubbed my neck. Somehow, my throat was stiff.

Did I catch a cold? People say that even dogs can’t get sick in the summer. 

“You’re here.”

I felt a movement as I entered the warehouse.

My heart was beating rapidly with tension.

I tried to stop my heart from racing by putting pressure on my chest and rolling it slowly.

“Keep talking about what you said before.”

When the man stopped going back and forth and went straight to the main point, I had to think about what I had said the last time.

The worries didn’t last long.

The man noticed that I hadn’t put any berries in Richard’s meal, so he said I had switched it out.

And then Anri came and we stopped talking.

“Someone is helping the monster in this mansion.”

“…Helping the monster? I thought you said you knew the criminal before.”

“They are swapping fruits or helping out in that way. So as not to harm the monster, so as not to notice it. Do you remember when this mansion caught fire before?”

“…A new servant named Philip was the culprit.”

Based on what he said, the demon worshipper must also work as a servant in this mansion.

“Right. But I actually saw Philip handing a note to the monster.”

The man was speechless. He seemed to be interested in my story.

“I happened to see a note while I was in charge of the monster’s meal, and Philip gave him a note that said he would help the monster escape.”

“Why?”

There was no reason for Philip to do so, so the man seemed puzzled.

“Philip did it for money. So, there is a criminal who is trying to help the monster—” 

I blinked slowly, blurring the end of my speech.

“Philip set the fire to help the monster escape. But on the way, things got messed up because of the gatekeeper’s interference.”

“….”

“Do you remember? When Philip was imprisoned at the time, he said someone ordered it—”

“…Yurtha Herthas.” 

The man said as if he remembered.

“So you’re saying he’s helping the monster now?”

“…I think so.” 

I nodded slowly.

I’m sorry, Yurtha!

But as I slowly thought back on what Yurtha had done so far, the guilt I felt went away.

Having bribed the maid and falsely accused me of stealing, he then decided to kill Richard when he refused to escape.

No matter what happened to Richard, I couldn’t get out of being responsible if I was there.

And Yurtha knows that.

…Can I not be sorry? 

Maybe it’s karma?

“I don’t understand. Why is Yurtha Herthas helping the monster?”

“I don’t know about that. It’s just a guess. But doesn’t everything seem to point to the Young Master Hertas?” 

“….”

Even though he was still suspicious, the man seemed to think that my story made sense.

“At 7 p.m. in five days.”

With those words, the man handed me a bag of unknown objects.

“Then feed the monster this.”

I was confused as I took the bag in.

Is this the flaret fruit? 

If it were the fruit of flaret, he would not have specified the exact date and time.

Then what is this?

“What’s this?”

“You don’t need to know. You must never make a mistake this time.”

“….”

“You can skip it once, but you can’t skip it twice. Remember.”

The man disappeared, leaving only that word.

After that, I sneaked open the pocket and saw something like white powder.

What is this?

Long after the man left, I came out.

I looked around and opened my mouth.

“Come out, Lucas-ssi.” 

“….” 

Then, Lucas, who had been hiding behind the tree, appeared.

I asked with a smile as if I knew nothing.

“What are you doing hiding there, Lucas?”

“…I didn’t hide.”

“Really?”

No way.

He was hiding. I almost passed by without knowing Lucas was there.

“Lucas-ssi.” 

“….” 

“Don’t you see it?” 

It’s impossible that he couldn’t see it.

I made it so that he can see it.

Two hours before meeting the demon worshiper, I met the head maid.

I told her to quietly send Lucas to the west warehouse at noon.

“…I didn’t see—” 

“You saw it.” 

I smiled and walked over to Lucas.

“I know for what purpose Lucas-ssi came into this mansion.”

At that moment, Lucas’ expression changed.

The harmless man disappeared, leaving only a spy with a ferocious impression.

The body was already putting a lot of pressure on me, but it got a lot worse when dark shadows and sharp-looking eyes were added.

I firmly opened my mouth and pretended I didn’t know about the force that seemed to want to put me under pressure.

“You’re here for the monster in the basement, right?”

“How did you know?”

“I saw your bird give the monster a note. I thought it was a spy when I saw it.”

Because a bird flew through the maze, I was able to figure out that Richard’s spy was Lucas.

When I got out of the maze, I asked the head maid if any of the other servants had done anything strange at work.

The head maid says there’s no one like that, which is not what was expected. So I changed the question.

Did anyone get close to a bird or touch it? Only then did the head maid say that there was someone like that.

That was Lucas.

“I saw it when the monster escaped, but I didn’t tell anyone. Why do you think it is?”

“….”

“You think I didn’t tell them because I was nice?”

I shook my head.

“I don’t know if you know, but I decided to run away with your master on the last day of the festival.”

Lucas’ eyes widened.

It seemed that this was an unknown fact.

As expected.

It seems that Richard and Lucas cannot communicate with each other.

Richard knows, Lucas doesn’t.

Lucas seemed to give Richard information on his own.

‘So, how did you help him escape in the original story?’

“So work with me, Lucas.”

The escape plan is soon. I can’t get my ankle caught.