CH 35.2

“My Lady, My Lady, there’s a building over there. Should we consider buying a gift?”

Benjamin’s voice interrupted Grace’s melancholy, and his voice seemed subtly excited.

“A gift?”

“Yes, since it’s my first time meeting My Lady’s friends. I want to make a good impression.”

‘Friend?’

He used the term “friend” to refer to them.

Grace stared blankly at Benjamin, finding the word unfamiliar.

“Did I say something wrong?”

“Oh, no. It’s just that those people are not my friends.”

Grace found comfort and enjoyment in going to the orphanage, as the atmosphere there was more relaxed and pleasant compared to the grandeur of the annex or duke’s mansion.

Furthermore, she liked Cleta and the others, but she was uncertain about how they regarded her.

“Not friends… just acquaintances, I suppose.”

Benjamin raised an eyebrow at Grace’s resolute answer, but he didn’t respond with any specific words, only nodding his head.

“If My Lady says so, then it must be true.”

“Yes.”

“But we should still buy a gift. There’s nothing wrong with making a good impression on acquaintances too.”

Eventually, it was only when Benjamin bought a large bouquet of flowers from a nearby flower shop before going to the orphanage that he seemed satisfied.

Grace had different thoughts when she saw him holding the bouquet, but she didn’t say anything. She didn’t want to say anything sharp to him for no reason.

She still had muscle aches in her body, so she didn’t want to add negative thoughts to it.

‘Let’s try to think positively as much as possible today and think about how to investigate the medicine.’

But still, I got permission to go out, right? Good things are good.

Grace tried to think as positively as possible as she arrived at the orphanage and opened the door. However, she could no longer bring herself to think positively.

“M-Mrs Linden!”

“…Dunn? What’s going on here?”

“I-I think it’s a robbery.”

The chaotic interior of the workshop made it difficult to start working immediately.

The muslin fabric, which was the material, was all scattered, and the bag containing the tea leaves had burst open. Everyone was busy sorting out the items that could be used right away and those that couldn’t.

‘What’s going on?’

With the sudden incident, Grace felt pain in her stomach.

Grace held onto her aching stomach and looked around at the mess.

‘To steal money…?’

Grace recalled the exterior of the orphanage. It was a very worn-out appearance.

If the sole purpose was just money, it wouldn’t be a suitable place.

‘Benjamin said he would send tea bags as military supplies, but we haven’t even started discussing the contract. There wouldn’t have been any rumors about large sums of money being involved, right?’

“Well, have you noticed any strange people around here recently?”

As Grace looked around with a darkened face, Benjamin asked Cleta.

“…Strange person?”

“Yes. Oh, I’m Benjamin Linden. Grace Linden’s husband. We met at the mask festival, remember?”

Benjamin emphasized the word “husband” as he handed the bouquet to Cleta and then surveyed the chaotic interior of the workshop.

“With all this chaos, there’s no sign of anyone forcing their way in. They must either know how to enter or have investigated.”

Benjamin tried opening a few windows in the workshop, but they were all securely locked and didn’t budge.

“I don’t think there were any strange people around… Were there any?”

Cleta asked her colleagues in response to Benjamin’s question, but they all shook their heads nervously.

“To begin with, we’ve been so busy with recent orders that we haven’t left the orphanage except for dealing with clients.”

“Well, does that mean we saw someone but can’t remember?”

“No, that’s not what I meant.”

There was friction between those who primarily worked on tea bag production in the workshop and those who handled logistics and transactions from the outside.

It seemed that the moment things started to go well, a sudden incident occurred, making everyone more sensitive.

“C-Calm down.”

Grace hurriedly intervened to stop their argument, and Cleta helped Grace in calming them down.

After calming them down, Grace approached Benjamin, who was inspecting the interior.

“Benny, is there anything suspicious?”

“Well, I’m not familiar with the personal relationships of the people in this orphanage compared to My Lady, so I can only guess…”

Benjamin narrowed his eyes and lowered his head to whisper to Grace.

“For now, I think it would be better for you to take a little rest, My Lady.”

“What?”

“Your condition seems a bit off.”

‘How did he know?’

In response to Benjamin’s words, Grace turned her gaze toward the window and saw a faint reflection. Although it was blurry, it didn’t appear particularly pale.