IARMDH - Chapter 19

“Mr. Zarx, he knew that this ring was haunted, right?”

“It doesn’t make sense to say he didn’t know. If he knew, he would have put it in my hand proudly. Why would he have tried to hide it in a candle?”

“Tch, I thought he was a big shot because he gave me so much money, but it turns out he was the real deal.”

As I pouted my lips, Erne blurted out a word from beside me.

“I told you from the beginning that I didn’t like that guy’s physiognomy.”

I tilted my head for a moment. Had Erne ever said something like that?

“When is it?”

“Didn’t I? Oh, right, you were so excited that you thought he was going to confess to you that I forgot to tell you.”

Erne shook his head with a round face. I seemed to understand why Cliff wanted to kill Erne.

Erne must have done something mean enough to deserve poison.

“Ugh, that's mean. I wish you'd just go chase Mr. Cliff away.”

“I can hear everything.”

Is that what I told you to hear?

“If you do that, I won’t have to chase after Cliff and I’ll just stick around here.”

The cost of not leaving crossed my mind.

“Shall I offer a sincere apology?”

“Do you want to get me out of here, Miss Harrington?”

Even though I apologized, Erne sneered. It’s so hard to please him, it’s so hard. I sighed deeply.

“So what are you going to do with that ring?”

“I have a good idea. I’m going to see Baron Briggs.”

“Why Baron Briggs?”

“I think Mr. Zark has another woman. The Baron’s maids say that Mr. Zark has a complicated womanizing problem.”

Of course, this is a story before the engagement to Baroness Young Lady, but how can a person's habits change?

There may be a woman who hasn't gotten over it yet. Or, she may have gotten over it but found out about it too late.

Perhaps the story about giving a gift to Baroness Young Lady was a lie.

“I heard that Baron Briggs opposed Mr. Zark.”

Zark was neither the eldest nor the second son of a poor Baron, and although he was said to be talented in swordsmanship, he was never knighted, and all he had was a flashy face.

This is why Baron Briggs opposed Zark. But where are the parents who win over their children?

It seems that Baron Briggs reluctantly gave permission after Young Lady cried and made a fuss that it had to be Jark.

“I heard that the Baron Briggs family is quite wealthy. Besides, the Baron’s daughter is an only daughter. It would be natural to oppose a daughter marrying a man who has nothing.”

“It’s definitely tilted towards the men.”

“That’s right. On the other hand, it would be advantageous for Mr. Zark to marry Baron Briggs’s daughter by any means necessary.”

If the baby was conceived between Baron and Lady Briggs before the wedding, marriage was a given. So Judith was sure that this ring was not a gift for Baron Briggs.

“He barely got permission to marry, but if it gets out that he got another woman pregnant, it’ll be a big deal for Mr. Zark.”

Marrying Baron Briggs's daughter was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Zark that he could not afford to miss. He would have done anything to remove any obstacles.

“If you think about it, this is selling information to Baron Briggs.”

I reported the situation to Baron Briggs and planned to collect the reward.

The reasoning was that they didn't know what the ring was, and they didn't want to sell it. Mr. Zark was appalled that he tried to kill the child without consulting the child's mother.

I was going to ask three times what Zark offered, but to Baron Briggs, it's a pittance. He can't spend a few gold coins when his daughter's life may be at stake.

“What if that guy, Zark or Jacques, gets revenge?”

“That’s why I’m going to the Baron. Even if Mr. Zark marries the Baron’s daughter without a hitch, will he leave me alone?”

It is the law of the thief to have his own feet numb.

“Even after achieving his goal, Mr. Zark will still feel uneasy whenever he sees me. Perhaps he will try to eliminate the very cause of his unease.”

For a man who was trying to get rid of his child with a cursed ring, it would be a piece of cake to get rid of a poor woman who made and sold candles.

Even if Zark didn't come to kill her himself, he could have sent an assassin. Zark, who was married to Baron Briggs's daughter, would be rich enough to afford an assassin.

After Erne leaves, if the assassin comes, I will just be dead.

“So, it would be better to go to the Baron. I would also ask him to make sure that my safety is guaranteed.”

If the Baron finds out about this, he will break one of Zark's leg clubs.

“And wouldn’t Baron Briggs pay a little more for these candles than Mr. Zark?”

If there is a risk to whoever you sell to, it is better to sell to whoever pays more.

***

The next day, in front of Baron Briggs' residence.

“Just wait and see, I’ll come out with a big reward.”

I happened to be going in the same direction as Baron Briggs, so I motioned for Erne, who was with me, to go.

“Yes, good luck.”

“Why are you talking like that? You don’t sound like you’re wishing me luck at all. Tsk, if I had received a generous reward, I would have bought you a horse, Sir Erne, but that won’t work out.”

“You’re not going to buy it, so you’re just talking nonsense. And you’re saying that after receiving a bribe.”

“You’re going to accept it, right? Stop nagging and go your way, Sir.”

Huh, I snorted, raised my head, and knocked on the Baron's front door.

Erne looked at me for a moment as I entered the Baron's residence with confident steps.

I, sensing his gaze, waved my hand at Erne, telling him not to worry.

“Don’t be afraid of that.”

But where did the personality of demanding money from a moneylender who came to collect money disappear? Erne clicked his tongue and turned around.

What could possibly happen? There must be more than one or two people who ask for information from wealthy nobles in exchange for a bribe.

As Erne turned around, inside Baron Briggs's residence, I was being welcomed by the head maid, looking bewildered.

“I was going to call Miss Harrington anyway, and you came at just the right time!”

“You were waiting for me?”

"Is it so."

The head maid gently pushed my back as I stood there dumbfounded.

“The mistress asked me to call Miss Harrington.”

“Her Grace?”

There was an undiminished excitement in the maid's voice. What could it be?

“Yes, come on.”

The maid urged me. I decided to find out what was going on first.

“I wonder why the Baroness is looking for me...”

“Why, Miss Harrington? He's ordering a few candles. This time, you’re going to get a lot.”

“I think the lady is going to throw a banquet.”

In front of the Baroness's drawing room, the head maid motioned for me to come closer.

“Actually, Madam, she is pregnant.”

"Yes?"

“Don’t show that you’re so surprised when you go inside.”

The maid knocked and urged. Before I could nod, the door opened.

In a splendid drawing room, a woman who was far too young to have a daughter who would soon be married smiled at me.

“Welcome, Miss Harrington. It’s good to see you.”

The Baroness stroked her belly and offered me the seat opposite her. I nodded and sat down in front of her.

“Did you hear from the maid?”

“Yes, Ma’am. Congratulations.”

I had briefly forgotten, but the current Baroness Briggs was the Baron's second wife.

I now remember being surprised at first when I heard that the woman who looked like a sister of Baron Briggs's younger daughter was the Baroness.

Because up until now, that wasn't important information to me. All I had to do was make and sell colored candles.

Whether the Baron took a young woman as his new wife or not, what did it matter to me?

But somehow, I had an ominous feeling that from this moment on, things would become related.

“I’m planning to throw a party to announce the pregnancy. The baby is growing well now.”

In this world, there was a superstition that if a parent was to talk nonsense before the baby was properly established, the Gods would take the baby away.

The Baroness said she had not told anyone except her head maid and her personal maid about her pregnancy until her doctor declared it was safe for her to have the baby, for fear that something might go wrong.

“I had some morning sickness, but the scent of roses really helped.”

Perhaps because she had been keeping the news of her pregnancy a secret for two months, the Baroness boasted to me under the guise of lament.

She looked lovingly at the red roses in the vase on the table.

“I guess babies take after their mothers’ tastes.”

“...Madam, you liked red roses.”

So she always ordered red candles that went well with red roses. Suddenly, the voice of Baroness Briggs's daughter, who said, "I don't really like roses," flashed through my mind.

“Of all roses, I like red roses the best.”

The Baroness murmured as she stroked the petals. What did the Baroness say? I think she said, “Of all the roses, I hate red roses the most.”

“That’s why I named the child Rose.”

“That’s a pretty name, Rose.”

The Baroness smoothly lifted her red lips as she ordered red candles to match the red roses. It was a proud smile, without a trace of sorrow.

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