“I have a favor to ask.”
“Me, to me?”
"Is it so."
Even in an empty room, Caroline kept her voice low.
“Please deliver a letter. My younger brother will be arriving in the Empire soon. I want you to deliver my letter to him. I will pay you a generous price.”
As she spoke, Caroline's eyes were trembling slightly.
“It’s not that difficult, but may I ask why you’re leaving it to me?”
It was suspicious that Caroline, who had so many servants working in the Marquis of Ferney's residence, would ask me to do something like this.
“I can’t trust anyone who works in this mansion. Not even my husband. He might steal my letters and read them. He might not give them to my brother.”
Caroline, who was biting her fingernails, seemed quite mentally unstable.
I asked with a sneer, my thoughts showing on my face.
“Miss Harrington, do you think I’m crazy?”
“No, no, Ma’am. Who said you were crazy?”
“Everyone in this mansion treats me like I’m crazy.”
Blood flowed from Caroline's finger, showing how hard she had bitten it.
“My husband cheats on me, and I see ghosts, and they say it’s all my imagination. But I’m really not crazy.”
“Madam, speak slowly. Is the Marquis having an affair?”
In my words, Caroline drank the cold tea as if it were cold water. Unquenchable anger burned in her bloodshot eyes.
“He has a woman. Of course, I asked for a divorce. Then he asked me to show him evidence.”
The problem was that there was circumstantial evidence but no physical proof.
“At our mansion, banquets are canceled every so often. Do you want me to tell you why? He's doing it to give it to another woman.”
If the banquet was canceled, the Marquis would gather his acquaintances and go hunting the next day. The reason was that he had to use up the food and alcohol prepared for the banquet.
But that's not it, Caroline shook her head curtly.
“Our family has three villas.”
One was said to be by the sea, and two were said to be in the capital.
“It’s called a villa, but it’s actually a small mansion. The villas in the capital are called summer villas and winter villas. It’s a place to go when you want to spend some quiet time.”
Among them, the summer villa was located in a shallow forest with a small pond.
“I don’t go there after fall. As you know, the Empire gets a lot of rain in the fall. When it rains, the road gets muddy. The ground gets so muddy that the cart wheels tend to get stuck.”
So, it is said that he mainly used the winter villa on the hill during the fall and winter. The Marquis also enjoyed hunting at the winter villa rather than the summer villa from the fall.
“But when he came back from hunting, there was mud on the hem of his trousers.”
With his cold eyes, his indifferent attitude no matter what she said, and his habit of staying out overnight, Caroline had long suspected that he had lost interest in her.
And the moment she saw the mud on the hem of his trousers that day, Caroline began to secretly investigate the Marquis's whereabouts.
“From then on, I carefully watched my husband when he came back from hunting.”
She pretended to go out to meet him and inspected the carriage and the horse. There was always mud on the carriage wheels and the horse's legs.
“He’s hiding a woman in his summer house. And he’s giving her all the food he was going to use for the banquet. He’s just trying to fool me!”
Caroline's eyelids fluttered in humiliation.
“Well, but Madam, that alone doesn’t seem to be enough evidence to prove that the Marquis is hiding another woman.”
“That’s the problem. The suspicion is clear, but there’s no proof! My husband says I have hypochondria.”
“Have you ever thought of going to the summer villa yourself?”
“I tried to go. I said I wanted to go to the summer house with the excuse that I wanted to see the pond when it rains, but the butler was against it. He said something serious and even put a chimney in my husband’s palace to make him come back home.”
It would be a shame to say that the couple had a huge fight that day. But the problem wasn't the couple's fight.
“Miss Harrington, I have no one here. I brought four maids with me when I got married, but two of them returned to the kingdom because of homesickness, and two met with unfortunate accidents.”
So, even if she wanted to storm the summer villa right away, she couldn't. Everyone from the coachman to the butler was on the Marquis' side.
“I can’t take a single step out of here without my husband’s permission. When my younger brother comes, I’ll divorce him immediately and return to the kingdom with him.”
The problem was that there was no way to know whether the letter was delivered properly.
“After receiving a letter from my younger brother saying that he was planning to come to the Empire, I brought up the topic of divorce to my younger brother. Then I wrote to my parents again, but I have not heard back yet.”
Caroline had no idea whether her brother had already boarded the ship and was unable to reply, or whether the letter had not been delivered.
“Then what do you mean by seeing a ghost?”
Caroline hesitated for a moment.
It seemed that she remembered how she was often treated as crazy after telling ghost stories.
“Don’t worry, Ma’am. I’ve had a lot of experiences that would make anyone think I’m crazy.”
My dead husband's corpse came back to life without decaying, a foul odor filled the store, and I even cohabitated with a bug that brought me wealth and honor.
Caroline opened her mouth with difficulty, seeing my eyes showing that I was ready to listen to any story without prejudice.
“I see my dead husband’s friend.”
“The Marquis friend? Are you saying that you see his dead friend? Can you tell me more?”
“Yes. The first time I saw him was about a month ago. I remember it was a little after midnight. I couldn’t sleep, so I went to the study and happened to look down at the window, and there he was standing at the back door of the mansion. Just blankly.”
However, Caroline did not think it was a ghost at the time. It was night and she could not see it well, so she thought it was just a look-alike.
But when Caroline decided to divorce the Marquis and entered into a cold war, she saw the ghost again.
“This time I looked straight into his face. It was definitely him. When I told my husband and others that I saw him, they all looked at me like I was crazy.”
The Marquis is said to have brought a psychiatrist to the mansion, saying that she had delusions and that she had suspected him of infidelity and even seen ghosts.
“Did you witness it alone?”
“Yes, I was in a particularly bad mood that day, and I was taking a walk alone, I wish I had brought Maya with me that day, and I still regret it.”
“Me, to me?”
"Is it so."
Even in an empty room, Caroline kept her voice low.
“Please deliver a letter. My younger brother will be arriving in the Empire soon. I want you to deliver my letter to him. I will pay you a generous price.”
As she spoke, Caroline's eyes were trembling slightly.
“It’s not that difficult, but may I ask why you’re leaving it to me?”
It was suspicious that Caroline, who had so many servants working in the Marquis of Ferney's residence, would ask me to do something like this.
“I can’t trust anyone who works in this mansion. Not even my husband. He might steal my letters and read them. He might not give them to my brother.”
Caroline, who was biting her fingernails, seemed quite mentally unstable.
I asked with a sneer, my thoughts showing on my face.
“Miss Harrington, do you think I’m crazy?”
“No, no, Ma’am. Who said you were crazy?”
“Everyone in this mansion treats me like I’m crazy.”
Blood flowed from Caroline's finger, showing how hard she had bitten it.
“My husband cheats on me, and I see ghosts, and they say it’s all my imagination. But I’m really not crazy.”
“Madam, speak slowly. Is the Marquis having an affair?”
In my words, Caroline drank the cold tea as if it were cold water. Unquenchable anger burned in her bloodshot eyes.
“He has a woman. Of course, I asked for a divorce. Then he asked me to show him evidence.”
The problem was that there was circumstantial evidence but no physical proof.
“At our mansion, banquets are canceled every so often. Do you want me to tell you why? He's doing it to give it to another woman.”
If the banquet was canceled, the Marquis would gather his acquaintances and go hunting the next day. The reason was that he had to use up the food and alcohol prepared for the banquet.
But that's not it, Caroline shook her head curtly.
“Our family has three villas.”
One was said to be by the sea, and two were said to be in the capital.
“It’s called a villa, but it’s actually a small mansion. The villas in the capital are called summer villas and winter villas. It’s a place to go when you want to spend some quiet time.”
Among them, the summer villa was located in a shallow forest with a small pond.
“I don’t go there after fall. As you know, the Empire gets a lot of rain in the fall. When it rains, the road gets muddy. The ground gets so muddy that the cart wheels tend to get stuck.”
So, it is said that he mainly used the winter villa on the hill during the fall and winter. The Marquis also enjoyed hunting at the winter villa rather than the summer villa from the fall.
“But when he came back from hunting, there was mud on the hem of his trousers.”
With his cold eyes, his indifferent attitude no matter what she said, and his habit of staying out overnight, Caroline had long suspected that he had lost interest in her.
And the moment she saw the mud on the hem of his trousers that day, Caroline began to secretly investigate the Marquis's whereabouts.
“From then on, I carefully watched my husband when he came back from hunting.”
She pretended to go out to meet him and inspected the carriage and the horse. There was always mud on the carriage wheels and the horse's legs.
“He’s hiding a woman in his summer house. And he’s giving her all the food he was going to use for the banquet. He’s just trying to fool me!”
Caroline's eyelids fluttered in humiliation.
“Well, but Madam, that alone doesn’t seem to be enough evidence to prove that the Marquis is hiding another woman.”
“That’s the problem. The suspicion is clear, but there’s no proof! My husband says I have hypochondria.”
“Have you ever thought of going to the summer villa yourself?”
“I tried to go. I said I wanted to go to the summer house with the excuse that I wanted to see the pond when it rains, but the butler was against it. He said something serious and even put a chimney in my husband’s palace to make him come back home.”
It would be a shame to say that the couple had a huge fight that day. But the problem wasn't the couple's fight.
“Miss Harrington, I have no one here. I brought four maids with me when I got married, but two of them returned to the kingdom because of homesickness, and two met with unfortunate accidents.”
So, even if she wanted to storm the summer villa right away, she couldn't. Everyone from the coachman to the butler was on the Marquis' side.
“I can’t take a single step out of here without my husband’s permission. When my younger brother comes, I’ll divorce him immediately and return to the kingdom with him.”
The problem was that there was no way to know whether the letter was delivered properly.
“After receiving a letter from my younger brother saying that he was planning to come to the Empire, I brought up the topic of divorce to my younger brother. Then I wrote to my parents again, but I have not heard back yet.”
Caroline had no idea whether her brother had already boarded the ship and was unable to reply, or whether the letter had not been delivered.
“Then what do you mean by seeing a ghost?”
Caroline hesitated for a moment.
It seemed that she remembered how she was often treated as crazy after telling ghost stories.
“Don’t worry, Ma’am. I’ve had a lot of experiences that would make anyone think I’m crazy.”
My dead husband's corpse came back to life without decaying, a foul odor filled the store, and I even cohabitated with a bug that brought me wealth and honor.
Caroline opened her mouth with difficulty, seeing my eyes showing that I was ready to listen to any story without prejudice.
“I see my dead husband’s friend.”
“The Marquis friend? Are you saying that you see his dead friend? Can you tell me more?”
“Yes. The first time I saw him was about a month ago. I remember it was a little after midnight. I couldn’t sleep, so I went to the study and happened to look down at the window, and there he was standing at the back door of the mansion. Just blankly.”
However, Caroline did not think it was a ghost at the time. It was night and she could not see it well, so she thought it was just a look-alike.
But when Caroline decided to divorce the Marquis and entered into a cold war, she saw the ghost again.
“This time I looked straight into his face. It was definitely him. When I told my husband and others that I saw him, they all looked at me like I was crazy.”
The Marquis is said to have brought a psychiatrist to the mansion, saying that she had delusions and that she had suspected him of infidelity and even seen ghosts.
“Did you witness it alone?”
“Yes, I was in a particularly bad mood that day, and I was taking a walk alone, I wish I had brought Maya with me that day, and I still regret it.”
“What was the ghost doing?”
“Well, it seemed like he was waiting for someone. He was standing around, looking around. He really looked like a real person.”
Caroline said that she ran away as soon as she saw him. As I listened to the story, something suddenly occurred to my mind.
“Could it be that he is not a ghost but a real living person?”
Could it be that the Marquis, who does not want a divorce, is trying to drive the Marchioness insane to prevent her from filing for divorce?
“He could have lied to the Marchioness about his death. Or maybe the two of them had planned for you to tell the absurd story of seeing a ghost.”
The Marchioness shook her head at those words.
“No. He is definitely dead. He was executed for treason. I think Miss Harrington may have heard of Roam Stabil. He was the commander of the Third Order of the Imperial Knights.”
My pupils shook as if an earthquake had occurred at the unexpected name.
Roam? Why is Roam here?
I wiped my face in embarrassment. There was a reason Caroline was so sure that Roam was dead. He had been officially executed.
My mind was in tangled confusion. I began to unravel the tangled threads of her thoughts one by one.
'The Marquis of Ferney is friends with Roam, and Roam still frequents the Marquis' residence.'
Roam is in league with the followers. Therefore, it is hypothesized that the Marquis may also be a follower.
'Was that spell taught to the Marquis by the followers? To induce the Marchioness to have an affair, so that she would not use the Marquis' infidelity as grounds for divorce?'
Judging from the fact that he doesn't even allow her younger brother to exchange letters, the Marquis clearly doesn't want a divorce.
'Well, he doesn't want to get divorced either. It's not easy to meet a rich woman like this.'
But, unfortunately, Roam appeared while Caroline was sleeping poorly due to the spell and was becoming sensitive and irritable.
Caroline, who believed that Roam was dead, mistook him for a ghost.
A person of sound mind would not have confused a ghost with a living person, but Caroline was hardly rational at the moment.
Because she was under enormous stress due to her husband's affair, she couldn't sleep properly and became impulsive in the damp steam.
'They're using that as an excuse to drive the Marchioness into a delusional state of cynicism within the mansion. Because of that, she's on the verge of going crazy.'
No matter how many followers there are, there is no way to stop Caroline's younger brother from coming across the sea.
What if, before he gets there, Caroline's mind is completely confused? What if even her brother thinks that Caroline is not in her right mind?
Then the Marquis could have been a man who could live with even a wife who had lost her mind.
“Miss Harrington, you know something, don’t you?”
Caroline, who had been watching my expression, suddenly stretched out her arms and grabbed my shoulders.
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