Episode 48

Translator: Missme Editor: Aru

Since then, there has been no such thing as chaos.

The chef dropped the dish that he was holding, and Lucas, who immediately rose from his seat, overpowered his opponent and threatened him.

‘You son of a bitch! Can’t you straighten it out right now? Whose orders did you take to do this? The Marquis? or The Count?’

However, neither the purpose of the chef nor the background has been revealed.

Before that, he bit the poison he had hidden in his mouth and killed himself.

Of course, the atmosphere subsided in an instant.

“I’m so sorry. I don’t think the chef……. I don’t have a word to say.”

Where we dug up dinner and moved, Lucas couldn’t keep his head up.

My condition at this time was a little dazed and blank.

‘What day is it today?’

I thought about it by itself.

In retrospect, the whole day was not smooth.

When I woke up from a nightmare, I went out to the garden to meet a snake, and when you went out, I got chased by a strange group.

Even all of that was not enough, and now what happened in the dining room was…….

‘What day is it today?’

Is it Friday the 13th?

“I’m going to interrogate all the employees of the mansion right now and find out more in case.”

“……..”

“And for safety tonight, I would like to ask you for your understanding, as we would like to place a guard for Your Excellency and the Princess.”

My heartbeat was faster than usual.

Maybe it’s because I saw a person suddenly die.

In the midst of Ari’s death and saving her, I thought I had become quite insensitive to seeing other people’s deaths, but I guess that wasn’t necessarily the case either.

“There was a bad thing that happened. You’ll have a hard time falling asleep, my lady.”

Even when it was time to go to bed, the heartbeat did not become completely calm.

Knowing my condition, the maid brought me a cup of tea before I could ask.

“It’s an effective way to sleep. It’s not hot, so drink lightly and sleep tight.”

I thanked her and received a cup of tea.

The maid watched me take the glass to my mouth for a while, soon left the room.

It’s been a hectic, gruesome day.

I closed my eyes. Then came the deep night.

***

The woman checked the time.

‘It’s Dawn.’

The mansion was desolate. The corridor, enveloped in pitch-dark darkness, did not shed a shadow of a rat, let alone a man.

The woman stood still for a moment in the quiet hallway.

Even a trained woman needed some time to fully adjust her eyes to the darkness.

After a while, the woman moved.

It was a very cautious step. Her footsteps could not be heard even in a quiet town where no other noise existed.

Soon a woman stopped walking in front of a room.

The eyes of the armed guard and the woman, who were guarding the door with a sword in her tight armour, met.

“……”

After a brief exchange of glances, the guard opened the door.

The woman’s goal was simple.

Now in this room, on the inside bed, a woman who will drink her tea and sleep in secret.

‘Be clear. The princess is a hostage. There’s no point in taking her dead body as a hostage. Make sure you bring her back alive.’

The woman, who recalled the order again, stepped calmly.

The opponent can’t be awake because she gave her a strong tea, but she also prepared a handkerchief with a paralytic poison in case her opponent wakes up on the way and resists.

The woman approached the bed secretly.

Then she reached out her hand carefully.

The woman was in no hurry. Slowly, calmly.

Holding a handkerchief, on the other hand, the target removed a blanket that was covered to the tip of the opponent’s head.

“……”

‘Noone?’

The bed was empty. While the woman was embarrassed by an unexpected situation, the whole room brightened up.

A bright light, adapted to the dark, invaded at once. The woman frowned.

The next moment the cold metal felt on the nape of her neck.

“Don’t move.”

“……”

“I’d like to remind you in advance that the rebellion has become in vain. Oh, and what else was I going to say?”

“……”

“Right. Surprise!”

She managed to turn her head slowly so as not to get cut on the neck.

The woman’s eyes glared.

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What should I call this situation with?

The scene of the crime? Hidden camera? 24 hours of the on-site arrest?

‘I’d like the last one, it’s the better one.’

After worrying about the useless naming, I escaped from the hidden hall.

Sir Davery, who faithfully recited the “surprise” line I taught him, was seen putting a sword on the neck of his opponent.

I checked the face of a restricted opponent.

I sighed a little

“Somehow it was suspicious!”

It was the same maid who served my clothes today.

Yeah, I was suspicious already. I didn’t feel good.

It wasn’t because I was sensitive. It wasn’t like the alertness was working too hard.

As he tried to rub his arm as if he had goosebumps when his gut hit him, Sir Davery took off the helmet that was covering his face with the other hand without the sword.

“Whoa, I can’t believe I’m wearing this thing.”

“No, sir, why isn’t the knight wearing an armour?”

“Have you seen me usually use this face-covering helmet?”

“……so you’ve never seen it before?”

“I don’t usually use this shape. Still, I don’t know if I’m going to go out to the pouring rain of arrows.”

“Aha. But why don’t you use it? Because it’s stuffy?”

“Because it’s not my cup of tea.”

“What the….”

The maid, who was staring blankly at me and Sir Davery, who were exchanging unsavoury conversations, soon opened her mouth.

“How can you……”

For the first time, a clear feeling of embarrassment came to her face, which had been expressionless all through my memory.

It was amazing to see her inner thoughts show so blatantly after looking at her lethargic stiff figure as if she were a wall.

I was kind enough to think about what to say about this situation, and then I opened my mouth.

“I’ll tell you this first. I didn’t drink your tea. Not a drop.”

“But I’m sure I saw you drinking…”

“I pretended to drink.”

It was an easy act to put a glass in your mouth and pass it on without actually drinking it.

In my previous life, I used to be asked to drink a lot as a freshman.

Thanks to it, I was famous for my titled ‘unreduced glass’.

“And the guard at the door changed it more in the middle of the way, and the real one must be sleeping somewhere by now?”

Since he drank tea instead of me.

Sir Davery was beating and overpowered him, and I personally put it into his mouth.

He slept well as soon as he drank, showing how strong the tea was. I thought he was dead at first because his head fell right off.

“……It can’t be.”

“Well, it can.”

The maid could not hide her shaking eyes.

I looked into her eyes and thought of hours ago.

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“I’ll tell you in advance this time.”

I was on my way back to my room after that happened at the dining room.

Sir Davery, who was escorting me, suddenly said that.

I was still a little dazed back then, so I didn’t think much. I just thought that I should go to my room and check the calendar to see if today was really Friday the 13th.

Then, when I heard his following words, I almost had a heart attack on the spot.

“There will be an attempt to kidnap you at night, my lady.”

“Cough, what?”

His tone was too serious for it to be playful.

Moreover, a person died a little while ago.

In many ways, it was not the time for jokes to come out.

I quickly checked that there was no one near me and asked with a low voice.

“…… tonight?”

“Yes.”

“Who the hell? Do you know who did this?”

“It’s Viscount Lucas Biffren.”

There was a hint of hesitation, but the answer itself flowed smoothly.

The hesitation seemed less certain, but rather than worried, I was more surprised.

I was really surprised.

Who?

‘Lucas is trying to kidnap me?’

Lucas, who just apologized again and again for the accident in the dining room, and said he’d set up a guard tonight because it’s dangerous.

‘So that’s all the thing he did was acting?’

It was an absurdly embarrassing story, but separately there was no doubt about what Sir Davery had said.

Sir Davery, as I know him, was not such a rash or frivolous figure.

That wouldn’t be just a guess. As far as I can tell, it would mean that he has already caught the circumstance or evidence for that.

I quickly accepted the new fact that Lucas is a bastard, compared to being surprised.

And then there was something glittered like lightning.

“Wait a minute, does that mean that all the things that happened when we were out today were his doing? Did Lucas ask the group to do the job?”

“…….yes.”

It was amazing.

Indeed, he’s so shameless.

So that’s why he shivered in the carriage? What, strengthen the security forces and take them in?

‘The thickness of his face……’

My tongue caught me in doubt.

‘But why is he trying to kidnap me?’

Lucas. What the hell is the benefit of kidnapping me?

Furthermore, if I disappear from the mansion, he will naturally be unable to avoid doubt or responsibility.

I thought that far and then suddenly stopped thinking.

The moment I thought about the benefit of kidnapping me, a very common picture that has been used in so many stories came to my mind.

Maybe even cliché.

“Ash is his purpose. I’m the hostage.”

“You don’t have to worry. Whatever you’re worried about won’t happen.”

As if to reassure me that I had stopped in the hallway like a stone, Sir Davery spoke.

But instead of worrying, I was doubting Lucas’s mental state.

‘IS he really crazy?’

Is he out of his mind, that Lucas Biffren?

Who is he after?

Was he even tired of his life that he wanted to use someone else’s hand to end his life quickly and easily?