IARMDH - Chapter 15



“I am surprised that the Countess has come to see me. Has something come up?”

'You don't look so well,' she said, his face pale.

I wondered if his pale complexion was due to illness or to the fact that the woman he had tried to kill was alive and well.

“Yes, I had some work to do.”

I fiddled with my teacup, muttering a meaningful sentence. I invited Cliff to the Rhineland mansion to see him off, but he insisted on meeting me in the salon.

“An assassin entered the mansion.”

“An assassin? No, who on earth sent an assassin to Madam?”

Cliff opened his eyes wide in surprise and kept asking me if I was okay. His worried tone sounded genuine, but he missed one important point.

How did I survive when the assassin came?

After saying that it was okay, he should have asked that question. Isn't it? If a woman alone fought an assassin and survived without any serious injuries, it would be natural to wonder how she did it.

Is Mr. Cliff simply abnormal, or does he know who took care of the assassin? That's something we'll have to find out from now on.

“We captured an assassin.”

I sighed deeply as if I had really had a hard time.

Living assassin? Actually, none.

But the person who sent the assassin will never know whether all the assassins are dead or if one of them survived and leaked the information.

“You captured him alive, right?”

Cliff seemed to be trying to keep his composure, but his eyes seemed helpless.

“Yes. I interrogated him.”

I threw a stone at Cliff's composure.

“But Mr. Cliff.”

“Please speak.”

“Aren’t you curious about how I managed to capture and interrogate an assassin?”

Cliff's fingertips trembled at my question.

Damn, you knew everything and called me out.

He gritted his teeth at the calm tone of voice that seemed to ask what kind of tea he was drinking now.

Ever since Judith sent him a letter inviting him to her mansion, Cliff had been feeling a bit uneasy. He could have refused to respond, but he also had a feeling that it wouldn't work.

They say bad feelings are never wrong.

As Cliff frowned, Judith turned her head to look at the table next to her, where two large men were sitting facing each other.

One of them looked towards Cliff and slightly lowered the cloth covering his face. The moment he saw his face, Cliff almost screamed.

“...Erne.”

Cliff's hand on his knee was trembling. When he looked at Erne again, his heart sank. How on earth did he come back to life? Cliff confirmed that his heart had stopped.

Cliff was ashen-skinned as if he had seen a ghost. No matter how much of a jerk that guy is, Erne, wouldn't try to kill him in a crowded place like this.

“Mr. Cliff.”

I brought Cliff's gaze back to me.

“Why did you send an assassin?”

Cliff didn't answer, probably just buying me time to answer in my favor.

“Oh, you don’t have to answer that question just now.”

"Yes?"

“I’m not really curious. Well, you probably wanted to kill me or Erne. You probably wanted the title. It’s okay.”

When I waved my hand as if to say that it was really okay, Cliff looked dumbfounded for a moment.

“My life has been severely damaged by the assassin sent by Mr. Cliff, but it’s okay.”

“...”

“My husband and I have already agreed to forgive everything. Mr. Cliff will compensate me for everything.”

Cliff let out a gasp as he looked at me, who was smiling at him. He was so shocked that he couldn't help but admit it.

“Are you saying that if I just compensate for the damage, the assassination will be ignored?”

“Yes, that’s what I mean.”

He guessed he should give them a bit more compensation.

“By the way, this is what Erne and I agreed on. If you compensate for the damages and answer a few questions, I won’t touch Mr. Cliff.”

I promised that I would not report him to the police or threaten his life. Even if I handed him over to the police, it was uncertain whether he would be properly punished.

Cliff is a lawyer, so the moment he realizes there is no evidence, he will create an opportunity to get away. In that case, wouldn't it be better to just take what you can and get away?

Erne readily agreed to that. Cliff's betrayal was bitter, but there must have been more than one person who wanted Erne to die.

Erne could go find Cliff and get revenge on him directly, but the thought was annoying.

He just needed to know why his body didn't decay. Wouldn't it be a problem if his body didn't decay the next time he died?

“Oh, and you must also promise not to send any more assassins.”

“...”

“If Mr. Cliff doesn’t accept our offer, you shouldn’t sleep well tonight. Well, the man you were trying to kill will come looking for you.”

Cliff hesitated for a moment at my suggestion, then nodded. It seemed that he had decided that it would be better to negotiate since everything was already lost anyway.

“Yes, I promise. But you must keep your promise, Madam. I will answer your questions to the best of my knowledge.”

Cliff emptied his teacups one after another, his throat burning.

“Then let me ask you. How did Sir Erne come back to life?”

“That’s what I wanted to ask.”

This time, I felt his sincerity.

“I clearly poisoned Ern’s drink, and I watched him die. I even got his death confirmed by the doctor. And then...”

Cliff paused as he poured out his words. He coughed a few times and opened his mouth again.

“And then Erne’s body, ugh.”

Cliff suddenly covered his mouth with his hand, but red blood flowed out between his fingers. The moment Judith, who was flustered, stood up awkwardly,

“Why is it so dizzy, ugh...”

Cliff collapsed, vomiting blood.

***

A few hours later, the capital's police.

After Cliff vomited blood and collapsed, I was brought in alone by the police.

“What is this vial? Is it Miss Harrington’s? What is it? Is it poison?”

I was charged with the attempted murder of Cliff Ackerman and was caught at the scene. During the arrest, the vial of medicine that was in my sleeve was also confiscated.

I waved it off, saying it wasn't really poison. Before meeting Cliff, I asked Henry to get me some truth potion.

I planned to lie about capturing the assassin and threaten him by showing him the living Erne, but there was no way to know if Cliff was telling the truth or not.

So the moment Cliff made eye contact with Erne, I poured the truth potion into his teacup.

The only good thing about it was that the truth potion was rare and not an illegal drug.

“But why is Mr. Cliff Ackerman vomiting blood and collapsing?”

The knight of the police questioned me with an expression of incredulity.

“That's what I'm saying."

I was also going crazy and jumping for joy.

Why did he vomit blood after drinking the truth potion? I collapsed in a crowded salon and was dragged to the police station.

In the meantime, Erne and Henry were nowhere to be seen. Are they the only ones who managed to escape so fatally?

“I’ll drink the potion. Just drink it and prove to me that it’s not poison.”

“Are you going to commit suicide because you are at a disadvantage?”

“No, Sir.”

I held onto the iron bars and tried to look as pitiful as possible, but it was no use.

“There will be a procedure to confirm whether it is poison or not, so please wait quietly.”

The knight checked the iron lock and then turned around and left. I couldn't bear to sit down on the dirty floor, so m I squatted down.

“Is this a side effect of the medication?”

I ate it last time and it was fine.

“Do you have any underlying illness?”

I, who had been chewing my fingernails, sighed deeply. What was this, trying to get a little bit of compensation, no, a little bit too much?

Not only was there no compensation, but Erne's questions were not even resolved.

“By the way, are you really not coming?”

Without any sense of loyalty. Erne didn't know, but Henry was a member of the police force, so how could he not show even a single trace of his nose? I was seeing something with betrayal.

“I won’t leave you alone once I go out.”

My eyes, which had been staring off into space, suddenly lost their strength.

When can I go out?

I don't know when it will be confirmed whether it is poison or not, but even if it is not poison, I don't know if I can leave right away.

“Surely Mr. Cliff isn’t dead?”

If he dies, the investigation and trial will be prolonged, and what about my business? What about the pre-ordered products? Is this what they mean when they say I'm ruined?

“This is driving me crazy.”

As I was racking my brain, unable to find a solution, I felt a commotion coming from deep within the police station.

I also got up and grabbed the bars to see what was going on. After waiting for a while, the knight who had locked me in the bars approached.

“What is it, Sir?”

“You may come out, Miss Harrington.”

“Am I cleared of all charges?”

As I escaped through the open iron bars, I was dumbfounded. Could the charge of poisoning be cleared so quickly?

“The Marquis of Mosley has vouched for you.”

"Yes?"

Judith almost asked, “Who?” without knowing it.

Marquis Mosley, who the hell is that? Who is he to vouch for me?


Previous                Next



Support Novellate!

        Buy Me A Coffee

Comments