The difference between awareness and illusion (1)
In front of the castle, there were employees, Duke Eldern and his wife, and Tail.
Duke Eldern bowed his head respectfully to Kalit.
"Your Highness, I am weak and have not been able to serve you properly. I will gladly accept any punishment you give me."
"It's not the Duke's fault. Don't worry about it."
Kalit patted Duke Eldern on the arm. But Duke Eldern's face didn't brighten.
"Millenia, I'm sorry. I brought in Eldern's benefactor and made you suffer..."
"Don't say that. I didn't feel uncomfortable at all because the gentlemen were so considerate."
"I feel a little better when you say it like that."
Duke Eldern sighed softly and looked at Rahon.
"Thank you for your hard work, Rahon."
"That was my home, so what was the hardship? But what about Nicola?"
"Oh, Father Nicola left in a hurry after receiving the message from Shancrecia. He asked me to tell Rahon to wait."
"Yes?"
Rahon tilted his head.
"Can I stay here until he gets back?"
"You are speaking the obvious. Make yourself at home."
Duke Eldern's expression, which had been apologetic and helpless in front of us, suddenly changed in front of the assassins.
"What are these guys?"
"Your Highness, may I talk to you for a moment?"
As Duke Eldern left to speak with Kalit, Armian approached me.
"Thank you for your hard work."
"I had a really comfortable time. You don't have to worry about it."
"It's a nice place to stay in the summer. I'll invite you over some time."
I could feel the warmth in her blunt voice. I smiled at Armian.
"I will be happy to come whenever you invite me."
"Yes."
Armian tapped my shoulder and went into the castle.
Nadia, who had been stamping her feet since I got out of the carriage, ran over to me and hugged me.
"Miss, am I really going to live that long? I think my lifespan was cut in half this time."
"Yeah, you'll live to be a hundred. You must have been worried a lot, right?"
"You call that talking? I couldn't even sleep!"
Nadia's under-eye bags were really dark. Her once lovely cheeks had become hollow as if she hadn't been eating properly.
She hugged me and whispered softly.
"Your eyes. You didn't get caught, did you?"
"Yes."
"Phew, thank goodness."
She, who had been sighing secretly, pulled my hand.
"Come on in. I've prepared some bath water for you."
"Nadia, Vivian?"
"I don't know. She was just leaving in a hurry. Huh? There she goes."
Vivian was running towards me frantically from afar. She arrived in front of me in no time, panting and making excuses.
"Ugh, ugh, sorry, Miss, ugh. I'm late because I had something to do."
"Vivian, It's okay. Just take a deep breath."
"Whew... Miss, thank you for your hard work."
"Yes."
Vivian didn't look at me. Employees are usually trained not to make eye contact with their superiors, but this wasn't the case.
Is it because I feel a deep sense of depth in her face? I have a bad feeling about this.
"Let's go in."
"Yes, Miss."
Nadia and I walked in front. Vivian followed a step behind.
As soon as I got to the bedroom, I went straight into the bathroom. Vivian didn't follow me.
"Miss, is the water temperature okay? I made it a little hotter than usual."
"Is something wrong with Vivian?"
Nadia, who had been squeezing the sponge, opened her eyes wide.
"You see it too, young lady? It definitely seems like something is going on, but she's not saying anything. Well, Vivian isn't the type to talk too much, but..."
"Is her brother sick?"
"She was happy a while ago when she said he was all better. That can't be true."
"Oh, that's right."
When I went to Vanessa and the dessert cafe, Vivian thanked me with a blush on her face.
"I think maybe she had a fight with her lover."
Vivian is the type of person who strictly separates her work and personal life. She doesn't reveal her feelings very well. Wasn't she the kind of girl who said she would take care of me even though I didn't like her?
Would a person like that show off like that after having a fight with her lover?
It's strange...
"Have you become close enough with Vivian to have private conversations with her?"
"No, I saw you meeting a guy downtown a few days ago. He didn't look too happy."
"Yes?"
After taking a bath, I changed into a dress. Since I was wearing comfortable clothes at the villa, I felt awkward when I looked at myself in the mirror.
"Vivian."
"..."
"Vivian?"
"Yes?!"
Vivian suddenly raised her head. She was so startled that even I flinched.
"What are you thinking about?"
"Ah... I'm sorry, is there something you want me to do?"
"Do you know anything about a person named Hugh?"
"Are you talking about the painter Hugh?"
"Yeah. I heard you draw pictures."
"I'm not close with him, but I know his reputation. I've heard he's pretty good for his age."
"Do you know what he usually draws?"
"I heard that he also drew portraits and put patterns on furniture and pottery."
"You probably haven't had much work to do lately."
"Because demand has plummeted due to the pandemic the amount of work will gradually increase."
"Could you please tell Hugh? I'll see him... As fast as you can."
"I will tell him right away."
"Oh, by the way, you know that dessert cafe we went to last time?"
"Yes, Miss."
"Can you buy me a cake there? I was thinking about it the whole time I was at the villa."
"All right."
I continued speaking to her as she turned around and answered politely.
"Buy one for yourself too. Eat it with your lover."
"...I don't have a lover."
"Oh, I see. Then eat it together with your little brother. I'll give you a present to commemorate his recovery."
"Thank you."
Vivian bowed her head in greeting pursed her lips, and went out.
"Nadia, can you tell me where the Little Princess is?"
"Yes, just wait a minute."
As I waited for Nadia's footsteps to fade away, I recalled Vivian's expression.
It's not a lover problem, but I think there's a problem with her younger sibling...
"Baba."
A black shadow slithered out from behind the curtain.
It was such a terrifying scene that if Nadia had seen it, she would have screamed and fallen down.
"How did you know I was hiding?"
"By smell."
"...I'm not that dirty..."
"It's not that you don't smell because you don't wash. You make the poison yourself. That smell is ingrained in your body."
Baba came close to me. The blue eyes shining alone inside the black mask sparkled with interest.
"What else do you know about me?"
"The first time you attacked our group, you used paralyzing poison, and the second time you used deadly poison."
"Oh..."
"The reason you make the poison yourself is to avoid leaving behind evidence. It could leave evidence of who you are and who you dealt with."
"Yeah, I just started making them because I was tired of killing the guy who did business with me every time."
Baba sat on his chair, his chin resting on his hand. The look in his eyes as he looked at me was clearly amused.
"There is no one who knows me better than my father."
"Is your father here?"
"Yeah. I killed him."
"...."
It was a tone of voice that made it seem as if he had killed a bug. It was so creepy that I changed the subject.
"Did you recognize the outsiders who came into Eldern City?"
"As expected, they received a request for an assassination. The core force is staying at the inn in the city, and the wind catchers are staying at the abandoned brewery near the outer castle."
"And?"
"Is this it?"
"Baba."
I lowered my voice, but Baba listened to me as if I was being ridiculous.
"No, how much more detailed are you asking me to find out? Do you even know how many of them there are? Even if you mobilize informants, there's a limit to how much I can find out."
"I can't do it. Let's just pretend our contract never happened."
Baba's expression changed completely. A dry voice came out of his pale lips.
"... What did I do wrong."
"I told you that lying is difficult."
"I lied?"
"Were you really investigating all of the personnel? Were you only monitoring the key figures, not the wind catchers?"
"..."
"If you investigated all the people, then you're stupid. If you investigated the latter, then you're lying to me now. Neither it can work with me."
"..."
"Go out."
Baba, who had been silently watching me, lowered his gaze. His cloudy, water-colored eyes became gloomy.
"...I was wrong."
Although his hoarse voice did not sound false, he did not answer.
The moment I look funny, this guy will devour me in an instant.
"I told you to get out."
"I won't do it again."
Baba immediately knelt down in front of me. Then he buried his face in my hands and rubbed them together as if he was being childish.
"I'm sorry, please forgive me."
I was frozen. Goosebumps ran down my entire body and I couldn't move.
"What are you doing?"
"You can hit me until I feel better."
"..."
"I was wrong."
I had only intended to warn him, but I didn't expect him to react like this. I calmly shook his hand away.
"This is the last one. Don't hide anything from me."
"I will do that."
"Please stand up and sit down on the chair."
"Yes."
He sat up abruptly on the sofa. There was a bright smile on his face as if it didn't hurt his pride to kneel before me.
"Now tell me what you know."
"As you said, I only monitored the key figures. There are three of them, disguised as travelers, staying at the inns called Queens and Redfork."
"I don't think they'll be seen with the windcatchers who stay in the abandoned brewery."
"Of course, not only the wind catchers but even they pretend not to know each other.'
News has spread that I've returned to the castle, so I guess it's time to get moving.
"You said that they are the kind of people who will go through fire and water to achieve their goals?"
"Yeah, you can think of it as using up all the dirty numbers."
"Then maybe he could have approached my maid? By taking her family hostage or something."
"Did you know that too?"
Baba let out a gasp.
"By the way, one of the maids here met with one of the assassins. It seems like his brother was taken hostage. Guess who it is."
"... Vivian."
"Correct answer."
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