“It’s so uncomfortable, I could die.”
Shadin wiped the sweat that had formed on his forehead. He wanted to take off his dangling wig right away, but if he did, the hairpins holding it in place would tear out all his hair.
“Mr. Smith, isn’t it nice to have a friend? You’ve been lonely all this time.”
Shadin spoke affectionately to the bound Smith, pushing away the hair that clung to his face.
Smith, with his eyes wide open, looked at the person lying on the floor.
A handsome man with messy hair that was always neatly slicked back and neat clothes. His eyes met with a former knight who worked at Judith's scented shop.
“The numbness around your mouth will wear off soon. Then tell Sir Henry not to yell. His friend in the next room is sensitive to noise. You know that, right?”
Shadin left the room, his skirt fluttering.
The door slammed shut, sending up a cloud of dust. Only after the limping footsteps had faded away did Smith open his mouth.
“Hey, Sir Henry.”
“Ugh, ugh.”
Henry let out a stifled groan in horror.
“Shh, be quiet. Do you know who I am? If you do, blink three times.”
Henry blinked his eyes slowly three times.
“The facial paralysis will go away soon.”
Smith did the same. A few nights ago, the night Judith warned him to be careful and left, Smith returned home from work.
Brother Luhmann went up to his room on the second floor, and Smith came out of the house to smoke a cigarette.
“But at that time, a girl was pulling a cart. I was curious about what it was, so I approached her and she said she was selling matches.”
At that time, Smith thought to himself, "How good must matches be if they sell well enough to be carried around on a cart?"
Smith approached the cart out of curiosity and lifted the tarp covering it himself.
At that moment, the match girl splashed a viscous liquid on Smith's face. At that moment, Smith's whole body became stiff and he lost consciousness.
“I woke up and I was here.”
He came to his senses, but his body did not move at all. In front of Smith, the match girl took off her wig. Her eyes, which had clearly been blue, had also turned bright yellow.
“I’m sure Sir Henry realizes now that it’s not a girl. It’s the priest, the bastard. He dressed up as a woman to avoid being found out!”
Smith let his guard down. Judith had told him never to let his guard down, but he did.
But who knew that the priest could change his eye color, hair color, and even gender?
But from then on, he came to his senses. Shadin periodically fed Smith paralyzing poison, but he tried his best not to swallow it.
Smith's body developed a tolerance to the poison as he continued to ingest small amounts of it.
Thanks to that, even though Shadin sprayed paralyzing poison, he was able to speak freely.
“Of course, he doesn’t know, so keep it a secret.”
“Uh, uh, uh, uh, ba?”
Henry muttered something earnestly with his still mouth. Smith, who had been listening intently for a while, nodded as if he understood.
“There’s a really creepy guy living in the next room. That’s why I can’t scream even though I can hear him.”
Fear and disgust were mixed in Smith's eyes as he looked into the next room.
“Where did that guy who can’t even fight go?”
Erne roughly ran his hand through his hair. A full day had passed since he had heard from Ryan that Henry had gone out to buy some groceries and had not returned.
The store was closed, and he asked Cain to look for Henry, but he was nowhere to be found, either having sunk into the ground or risen into the sky.
“Where did he really go?”
In the square where Henry disappeared, Judith, who had been asking if anyone had seen him, tapped her leg and muttered. The peddler replied that he had not heard of him since Henry had bought the baked goods.
Several other people reported seeing Henry, but they all said he was walking alone, smiling at women as he always did.
Then someone came and spoke to Judith.
“Aren’t you the owner of the incense shop?”
“Hello, Mrs. Mollin.”
Despite the urgency of the matter, Judith politely greeted the middle-aged woman. Madame Moline was one of the few customers who had continued to buy incense even after the Shartins' employment scandal broke.
“I went to the incense shop, but it was closed. What’s going on?”
“Oh, that’s right, Sir Henry has gone missing.”
“Sir Henry?”
Madam Moline tilted her head.
“I saw him yesterday too.”
“Yes? Where? Where did you see him?”
“At the fountain on the west side of the square. He was helping a girl carry her luggage.”
She dressed like a commoner, was relatively tall for a girl, and walked with limping legs.
Henry said he was following the girl, carrying her luggage.
“Have you ever seen what that girl’s face looks like?”
Madam Moline shook her head.
“A kind Sir Henry would not have just stood by and watched a girl in distress.”
Madam Moline had a point. Henry couldn't stand to see someone in trouble.
If we are to judge solely by the spirit of chivalry, Henry was closer to being a knight than Erne.
“Thank you for your advice, Ma’am.”
“What are you doing with this? I wish you could find Sir Henry quickly.”
Madame Moline left, genuinely worried about Henry. Judith rubbed her throbbing forehead.
Smith, Henry, and the girl with the broken legs.
Nothing is a coincidence. This cannot be a coincidence. It is too coincidental to be called a coincidence.
'Mr. Smith and Sir Henry are people around me. Shadin targeted people around me.'
What if Shadin changed his course from murder to kidnapping because of the ridicule of being small and weak? What if the girl was another of Shadin's helpers?
'Did the priest have trouble moving after being reversely cursed, so he ordered the girl to do it?'
If the girl is an assistant to the priest, she will probably be staying in the same place as the priest.
'Then this is not the time. I should quickly look into the contract that Cliff stole.'
It's just a guess, but it might be better than stopping everyone one by one like they are doing now and asking them if they've seen Henry.
"to…!"
"Uh."
Judith, who was about to call Erne to hurry home, flinched. He was clearly talking to another merchant just a moment ago, so when on earth did he get here?
"Home..."
“Shall we go home? Yes.”
What is this feeling of being seen through? Are you now listening to my heart?
Judith climbed onto Gold, giggling.
"Ha."
I looked through the Rhineland family's property documents, sorting the contracts for real estate sales in the capital into one section.
“Wait a minute, isn’t this a lease agreement?”
This time, it wasn't a building, it was a piece of land. It was a contract to rent out a piece of land within the capital and receive rent.
“So who on earth does this person pay rent to?”
Cedric is dead, Cliff is dead. Then shouldn't he have come looking for me as the rightful heir to the Rhineland family?
“This, this, he must have thought I forgot because I didn’t ask for it first, so he kept his mouth shut.”
I need to go there this time and collect the overdue rent.
I sighed again as I folded the end of the lease agreement and made a pledge.
“But are you worried about Henry?”
Erne asked me, who was sighing, as I came from the kitchen to make some warm tea.
“Yes, I’m worried about how he's doing.”
Smith somehow seemed to be alive. It seemed unlikely that the evil man would die so easily. But Henry was different.
I felt like it was all my fault. I should have saved money and installed real CCTV. I should have reported it to the police right away. All sorts of regrets came flooding in.
“He will survive.”
Erne gently squeezed Judith's shoulder. Her already thin shoulder had been so dry these past few days that it felt like it would break if squeezed hard.
Erne felt heavy-hearted, not being able to help in this situation. He didn't feel this way even when the 3rd Knights were pointing fingers at him and calling him a scoundrel.
“He’s been to war. And he’s been to a war zone that’s no different from a deadly one.”
He wanted to offer some comfort, even if it wasn't of any practical help.
“Didn’t Erne save him?”
“...That’s almost true.”
The dark clouds hovering over Judith's head grew darker.
“There’s Smith too.”
He doesn't know if he's dead or alive, but anyway.
“Mr. Smith? Will Mr. Smith help Sir Henry?”
"...Well."
He thinks he'll be the first to say he'll live. He's the one who comforted Judith. What is this? Erne clicked his tongue at himself and then a good idea came to his mind.
He looked at his clothes. He was still in a shirt, not yet changed into his pajamas, but they seemed enough to comfort Judith.
“Then do you want to put your hand inside my clothes?”
I think you like that.
“Does Erne think I’m a pervert?”
Judith frowned but didn't refuse. At the same time that her hands were slowly entering Erne's shirt, Shadin was blowing white smoke in front of the door.
“It’s time to eat, my baby.”
Shadin wiped the sweat that had formed on his forehead. He wanted to take off his dangling wig right away, but if he did, the hairpins holding it in place would tear out all his hair.
“Mr. Smith, isn’t it nice to have a friend? You’ve been lonely all this time.”
Shadin spoke affectionately to the bound Smith, pushing away the hair that clung to his face.
Smith, with his eyes wide open, looked at the person lying on the floor.
A handsome man with messy hair that was always neatly slicked back and neat clothes. His eyes met with a former knight who worked at Judith's scented shop.
“The numbness around your mouth will wear off soon. Then tell Sir Henry not to yell. His friend in the next room is sensitive to noise. You know that, right?”
Shadin left the room, his skirt fluttering.
The door slammed shut, sending up a cloud of dust. Only after the limping footsteps had faded away did Smith open his mouth.
“Hey, Sir Henry.”
“Ugh, ugh.”
Henry let out a stifled groan in horror.
“Shh, be quiet. Do you know who I am? If you do, blink three times.”
Henry blinked his eyes slowly three times.
“The facial paralysis will go away soon.”
Smith did the same. A few nights ago, the night Judith warned him to be careful and left, Smith returned home from work.
Brother Luhmann went up to his room on the second floor, and Smith came out of the house to smoke a cigarette.
“But at that time, a girl was pulling a cart. I was curious about what it was, so I approached her and she said she was selling matches.”
At that time, Smith thought to himself, "How good must matches be if they sell well enough to be carried around on a cart?"
Smith approached the cart out of curiosity and lifted the tarp covering it himself.
At that moment, the match girl splashed a viscous liquid on Smith's face. At that moment, Smith's whole body became stiff and he lost consciousness.
“I woke up and I was here.”
He came to his senses, but his body did not move at all. In front of Smith, the match girl took off her wig. Her eyes, which had clearly been blue, had also turned bright yellow.
“I’m sure Sir Henry realizes now that it’s not a girl. It’s the priest, the bastard. He dressed up as a woman to avoid being found out!”
Smith let his guard down. Judith had told him never to let his guard down, but he did.
But who knew that the priest could change his eye color, hair color, and even gender?
But from then on, he came to his senses. Shadin periodically fed Smith paralyzing poison, but he tried his best not to swallow it.
Smith's body developed a tolerance to the poison as he continued to ingest small amounts of it.
Thanks to that, even though Shadin sprayed paralyzing poison, he was able to speak freely.
“Of course, he doesn’t know, so keep it a secret.”
“Uh, uh, uh, uh, ba?”
Henry muttered something earnestly with his still mouth. Smith, who had been listening intently for a while, nodded as if he understood.
“There’s a really creepy guy living in the next room. That’s why I can’t scream even though I can hear him.”
Fear and disgust were mixed in Smith's eyes as he looked into the next room.
***
“Where did that guy who can’t even fight go?”
Erne roughly ran his hand through his hair. A full day had passed since he had heard from Ryan that Henry had gone out to buy some groceries and had not returned.
The store was closed, and he asked Cain to look for Henry, but he was nowhere to be found, either having sunk into the ground or risen into the sky.
“Where did he really go?”
In the square where Henry disappeared, Judith, who had been asking if anyone had seen him, tapped her leg and muttered. The peddler replied that he had not heard of him since Henry had bought the baked goods.
Several other people reported seeing Henry, but they all said he was walking alone, smiling at women as he always did.
Then someone came and spoke to Judith.
“Aren’t you the owner of the incense shop?”
“Hello, Mrs. Mollin.”
Despite the urgency of the matter, Judith politely greeted the middle-aged woman. Madame Moline was one of the few customers who had continued to buy incense even after the Shartins' employment scandal broke.
“I went to the incense shop, but it was closed. What’s going on?”
“Oh, that’s right, Sir Henry has gone missing.”
“Sir Henry?”
Madam Moline tilted her head.
“I saw him yesterday too.”
“Yes? Where? Where did you see him?”
“At the fountain on the west side of the square. He was helping a girl carry her luggage.”
She dressed like a commoner, was relatively tall for a girl, and walked with limping legs.
Henry said he was following the girl, carrying her luggage.
“Have you ever seen what that girl’s face looks like?”
Madam Moline shook her head.
“A kind Sir Henry would not have just stood by and watched a girl in distress.”
Madam Moline had a point. Henry couldn't stand to see someone in trouble.
If we are to judge solely by the spirit of chivalry, Henry was closer to being a knight than Erne.
“Thank you for your advice, Ma’am.”
“What are you doing with this? I wish you could find Sir Henry quickly.”
Madame Moline left, genuinely worried about Henry. Judith rubbed her throbbing forehead.
Smith, Henry, and the girl with the broken legs.
Nothing is a coincidence. This cannot be a coincidence. It is too coincidental to be called a coincidence.
'Mr. Smith and Sir Henry are people around me. Shadin targeted people around me.'
What if Shadin changed his course from murder to kidnapping because of the ridicule of being small and weak? What if the girl was another of Shadin's helpers?
'Did the priest have trouble moving after being reversely cursed, so he ordered the girl to do it?'
If the girl is an assistant to the priest, she will probably be staying in the same place as the priest.
'Then this is not the time. I should quickly look into the contract that Cliff stole.'
It's just a guess, but it might be better than stopping everyone one by one like they are doing now and asking them if they've seen Henry.
"to…!"
"Uh."
Judith, who was about to call Erne to hurry home, flinched. He was clearly talking to another merchant just a moment ago, so when on earth did he get here?
"Home..."
“Shall we go home? Yes.”
What is this feeling of being seen through? Are you now listening to my heart?
Judith climbed onto Gold, giggling.
***
"Ha."
I looked through the Rhineland family's property documents, sorting the contracts for real estate sales in the capital into one section.
“Wait a minute, isn’t this a lease agreement?”
This time, it wasn't a building, it was a piece of land. It was a contract to rent out a piece of land within the capital and receive rent.
“So who on earth does this person pay rent to?”
Cedric is dead, Cliff is dead. Then shouldn't he have come looking for me as the rightful heir to the Rhineland family?
“This, this, he must have thought I forgot because I didn’t ask for it first, so he kept his mouth shut.”
I need to go there this time and collect the overdue rent.
I sighed again as I folded the end of the lease agreement and made a pledge.
“But are you worried about Henry?”
Erne asked me, who was sighing, as I came from the kitchen to make some warm tea.
“Yes, I’m worried about how he's doing.”
Smith somehow seemed to be alive. It seemed unlikely that the evil man would die so easily. But Henry was different.
I felt like it was all my fault. I should have saved money and installed real CCTV. I should have reported it to the police right away. All sorts of regrets came flooding in.
“He will survive.”
Erne gently squeezed Judith's shoulder. Her already thin shoulder had been so dry these past few days that it felt like it would break if squeezed hard.
Erne felt heavy-hearted, not being able to help in this situation. He didn't feel this way even when the 3rd Knights were pointing fingers at him and calling him a scoundrel.
“He’s been to war. And he’s been to a war zone that’s no different from a deadly one.”
He wanted to offer some comfort, even if it wasn't of any practical help.
“Didn’t Erne save him?”
“...That’s almost true.”
The dark clouds hovering over Judith's head grew darker.
“There’s Smith too.”
He doesn't know if he's dead or alive, but anyway.
“Mr. Smith? Will Mr. Smith help Sir Henry?”
"...Well."
He thinks he'll be the first to say he'll live. He's the one who comforted Judith. What is this? Erne clicked his tongue at himself and then a good idea came to his mind.
He looked at his clothes. He was still in a shirt, not yet changed into his pajamas, but they seemed enough to comfort Judith.
“Then do you want to put your hand inside my clothes?”
I think you like that.
“Does Erne think I’m a pervert?”
Judith frowned but didn't refuse. At the same time that her hands were slowly entering Erne's shirt, Shadin was blowing white smoke in front of the door.
“It’s time to eat, my baby.”
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