Chapter 39

The Fourth Plan. To increase the intimacy between the father and the son. (9)

“Okay. What happened?”

Mrs. May, who was a maid even while Merlin had still been a Duchess, had a record of being a little clumsy on her side when Madame Blone was present. However, she never had that much antagonism with me and had only secretly supported Madame Blone’s words, so I did not bother Mrs. May and just left her be in return.

Mrs. May was the one who had seen me gradually expand my position as a Duchess. With the return of the Duchess Dowager and the departure of Madame Blone, Mrs. May wanted to stay by my side, but I had neither cast her out nor kept her near me. That particular person had something secret to say to me at this moment?

“This may sound a bit strange, but…”

“But?”

“I felt that I just had to let you know…”

What she was trying to say seemed like a long set of introductions. I eventually beckoned at her and told her that it was okay. Then, Mrs. May said in a more subdued voice.

“It is about the Lady of Count Emil.”

“Charlotte?”

She nodded her head slightly and kept her head bowed. Even though it had just been the two of us, Mrs. May bowed her head and tucked in her body like she was hiding from someone. Judging from her tense appearance, it appeared that she was trying to tell me a rather big fact about something.

“She asked me what have I done with the things of the Madam—the late Madam.”

Mrs. May corrected her inadvertent slip of the tongue. If it had belonged to the late Madam, it must have been of Merilyn’s.

“Merilyn’s things?”

Suddenly, the pink piece of letter in that dressing table had popped up in my mind. The letter that arrived along with those well-dried flowers. That letter must have been from Charlotte, but why was she so curious about where Merilyn’s things had gone?

“The late Madam and Lady Emil had been close to each other during the time when both of them were at the Duchy. I guessed that she probably wanted to keep her belongings, so I said that My Lady had been the one who stored all the jewelry and the fact that you also took all the clothes including the dress before donating them all.”

“As it was.”

“When she asked if there were any other items, I responded that they had been thrown away. But then, she suddenly asked about the letters instead.”

All the letters were supposed to be kept by the maid. I only told the head maid to keep it, but I didn’t tell her where exactly. I just thought everything was still needed in order for him to find traces of his own biological mother later on.

“I heard that all the letters were being kept in case Young Master would look for them later, so she said that she understood. Nevertheless, for some reason, she was still bothered by them and after that day, I took a look at the letters…”

Letters, letters, all those letters. The letter that was kept in the dressing table had been a beautiful pink letter along with some dried flowers. All the letters that Merilyn had received were kept elsewhere. And she was in her own office. There had been a letter from myself to her in her mailbox as well.

I was actually a special friend to Merilyn. Despite the fact that I was her hometown friend whom she first called when she gave birth to Carl and even though I was her friend who had risked my life while being entrusted with her own son, my letter had still been with the others too.

But Charlotte’s was kept aside all on its own. Why was that?

“The letters are all gone.”

“Disappeared? All of them?”

What was that letter about after all?

“Yes, everything…”

The head maid replied as she bowed her head in an apologetic manner. It was simply a letter which I kept for Carl so that he could get to know his real mother, Merilyn, even better later on. But still, it was regrettable to hear that all of them had all disappeared just like that.

“I am not accusing anything of the Lady of Count Emil. But it’s quite suspicious…”

In any case, Lady Emil was someone who had received the full trust of the Duchess Dowager herself. So, I couldn’t merely accuse Charlotte without any proof other than just on Mrs. May’s own gibberish words.

And it was just a letter after all. Even if this matter were to become a problem later on, it would only end due to Mrs. May’s inexperience in management anyway.

“Okay. I’ll keep that in mind.”

Mrs. May proceeded to bow her head in accordance with my words. By saying that I would not ignore her words and keep them in mind, it also meant that I would be wary of Charlotte in the future.

Lady Charlotte Emile. A lady who was good at medicinal herbs and had been loved by the Duchess Dowager herself. She was also a close friend of the former Duchess, Merilyn. On top of that, she had been a woman with whom the Duke was at odds with as well.

What in the world was her real identity? What was written in that letter which she had gotten rid of that made her prepared to be this suspicious?

My sense of curiosity eventually deepened.

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