Episode 42. I Don't Know You Anymore
"Thank you for your hard work. I have an urgent errand for Miss Adele."
Tanya smiled bashfully at the guards guarding the Marvel Palace.
"Where are you at this hour?"
It was quite late at night.
"There's something I left behind at the mansion where the young lady used to live, and she said she really needs it. Since it's women's items, I can't tell you more details."
Tanya bowed her head shyly, and the guards stopped asking questions.
They were being careful because she was Adele's favorite maid. Instead, they nodded to the woman behind Tanya. The woman's face was barely visible because the hood attached to her cape was pulled down so low.
"Are we going out together?"
"Yes, the young lady asked me to go together because it's dangerous at night."
Everyone nodded obediently when they heard that it was Adele's order.
"Be careful."
"Yes, thank you."
Tanya greeted them and left the Marvel Palace with the woman wearing the hood.
In front of the Marvel Palace, a carriage that had been called in advance was waiting.
“Whoa, we got out safely.”
Tanya smiled in relief only after getting on the carriage.
“Yeah. You worked hard, Tanya.”
The woman who took off her hood was Adele.
She had also secretly left the Marvel Palace after confirming that Christine was leaving with Zimmer.
There was someone she absolutely had to meet.
***
The carriage carrying the two entered the downtown area of Greenhill.
During the day, it was bustling with shops and well-dressed people, but as the night deepened, it became bustling with taverns with bright lanterns and people rejoicing.
The carriage crossed through there and entered a narrower and noisier alley. Here and there, drunkards were seen vomiting and women with heavy makeup soliciting customers.
This was the back alley of Hell Valley.
It was where the most secretive and illegal things in Greenhill took place.
Tanya became restless and sullen at the sight outside the window.
“I don’t know what’s going on, but why don’t you just tell the Count? Or ask Baron Castler. How can you trust a doctor who works in a place like this...?”
Adele had asked Tanya to find a doctor in Hell Valley. Of course, she didn’t say that the reason was to remove the mark left by Stone.
“Don’t worry too much, Tanya. I just wanted to ask him something.”
Adele smiled, reassuring Tanya.
In Kalame, most women with tattoos were either slaves with masters or prostitutes who sold their bodies.
So a doctor who treated prostitutes in Hell Valley would probably ignore the mark on Adele’s back.
The carriage stopped in front of a general store next to a bustling tavern.
Adele asked Tanya to stay in the carriage and got out alone. And the first thing she did was take off her engagement ring. She didn’t know that it would be dangerous to wear a ring that stood out in a place like this.
Inside the general store, the dim lights barely allowed her to see her feet. Thanks to this, many people came and went, but she couldn’t see their faces. Most of them seemed to be people like Adele who came to solve secret problems.
“What brings you here?”
The owner, who was cleaning antique porcelain, asked without looking back as she approached the counter of the general store.
“I came here because I heard there was a doctor here.”
Adele spoke as naturally as she could, as if she wasn’t nervous.
But did her voice sound unnatural?
The owner looked at Adele, adjusting his glasses that were about to fall down. Adele’s face was blurry in the dim lights, but he seemed to understand a lot just by the way she stood upright.
“From the way you speak, you seem like a noble lady, but why are you looking for a doctor in a place like this?”
“I can’t tell you why, so I came here.”
And Adele put a gold coin on the counter.
The general store owner chuckled as if he was satisfied.
“Go through the door on the right.”
There were three doors behind the counter where he was.
Opening the right door, a wooden staircase leading to the second floor appeared. The creaking sound was annoying as she climbed the stairs, but what was more annoying was the faint groaning sound. Adele's palms were sweaty with nervousness.
Had she come for nothing?
She had told Tanya to call Christine if she didn't return in 30 minutes. She hoped that the worst would not happen.
When she went up to the second floor, the first door was marked as a medical office.
Creak.
She opened the old door and saw a blue curtain drawn inside, and a thick-built man could be seen behind the curtain. His gloves were covered in blood. It seemed like he was undergoing surgery.
"Don't come in without permission!"
A nurse wearing a bloody apron shouted at Adele.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were in surgery.”
Adele was about to leave in surprise when she heard the doctor’s voice.
“Since it’s over, just sit down. You can clean up the rest.”
“Yes, sir.”
“So, what brings you here?”
The doctor threw his bloody gloves into the trash can and came out from behind the curtain.
Then he saw Adele and let out a short groan, “Oh! ”
Adele was so surprised that her mind went blank.
He was Dr. Marvin!
***
Christine entered a room filled with a musty odor.
There was a woman in her mid-thirties with heavy makeup, drinking alone. The woman smiled brightly when she saw Christine.
“Oh my, you are such a beautiful nobleman.”
The woman’s tongue was half-tied, as if she were already drunk. She got up, staggering, and approached Christine as if she liked him.
“Huh, you must have been in a hurry to come to a place like this with such an innocent face.”
Chuck!
But the woman was blocked by Zimmer’s sword and could not come any closer.
“Whoa! What, what are you talking about? You surprised me!”
Christine dragged the chair next to the table and sat down.
“I’m a bit impatient. So if you satisfy me, I’ll get you out of here.”
The woman asked with a slightly frightened expression at his suggestion.
“Is there anything you want in particular...?”
He leaned closer to the woman and asked.
“I want to hear your story.”
“My story?”
“What did you see the night Marquis Oswald died?”
“...!”
The woman stepped back with a pale face.
“Who are you?”
Instead of answering, Christine placed a heavy pouch on the table that made a clanking sound.
“You have two choices. Tell me everything that happened that night, and take this. Or die and remain silent forever.”
Zimmer gripped the handle of his sword as if his words were not nonsense. In an instant, murderous intent radiated from his pretty face.
Thud!
The woman sank to the bed as if her legs had given out.
This was the room where she received guests; a shabby bed, an old table, and two chairs were the only pieces of furniture. She had come here, struggling with debts that had been piling up for years.
It was all because of Stone that the Oswald family’s maid had become a prostitute.
No, if she hadn’t seen that day.
If she hadn’t pretended not to know...
The woman opened the heavy pouch on the table with a resigned face. Then her eyes widened at the glittering gold coins that filled the pouch.
“Are you really giving me all this?”
“I promise.”
***
“The Marquis was getting better around that time. He was speaking, albeit clumsily, and he was moving a little.”
The woman’s name was Vanessa. She had been a maid for the Oswald family for nearly five years.
“It must have been well past midnight that day. I went to the Marquis’ bedroom because the bell kept ringing. During the day, the Marchioness would take care of him, but at night, I was in charge of looking after the Marquis. The Marquis asked me to go to that old man Stone’s room. It was strange. He suddenly asked me to go to his son’s room at this late hour. But I knew I’d get beaten if I woke Stone up.”
“Get beaten?”
Vanessa smiled bitterly.
“He beat his servants all the time. So I pretended to knock on Stone’s door and lied that he was sleeping. Then the Marquis told me to go to his wife’s room. The Marchioness’s room was a bit far from the Marquis’ bedroom...”
“It must have been in the basement, far away.”
“How?”
When Vanessa looked at him in surprise, Christine frowned.
“Go on.”
“So I went to the basement. But it was empty. That’s when I realized what the Marquis was thinking.”
“Stone and the Marchioness were together at that time?”
“Stone originally didn’t let anyone enter his room. He left all the cleaning and laundry to her stepmother, the Marchioness. She was called the Marchioness, but in reality, she was Stone’s personal maid. The maids secretly considered it fortunate. But she had never called him at that late of an hour before...”
Zimmer looked at Christine, catching his breath. He was worried about whether he should continue listening.
If Adele had been in an affair with Stone, he might have seen him go crazy.
If Stone had done something bad to her, he would have been twice as crazy.
While Zimmer was worried, Vanessa continued talking.
“Then I heard something breaking in Stone’s bedroom. At that moment, the Marquis rolled his wheelchair and slammed Stone’s bedroom door. And the door opened. He was really with the Marchioness.”
The tendons on Christine’s temples stood out. Zimmer tensed up as well.
“But it was a bit strange. The bedroom was fine. There was a slight smell of alcohol, but the woman... she was too calm to have been raped, and too pale to have enjoyed an affair.”
Vanessa tilted her head as if she still couldn’t understand.
“And there was blood on her clothes.”
“Blood?”
“Yes, she said she cut her hand while cleaning up a broken wine glass. But the Marquis got really angry and suddenly slapped Stone on the cheek. And in a slurred voice, he said he wouldn’t give him a single penny of the inheritance and title. I’ve never seen him so angry before. But the Marchioness just walked away after seeing the two of them fighting. As if it had nothing to do with her. No, now that I think about it, her face looked like she had lost her soul. Only then did people wake up and start coming out. But I was the only one who saw all that happen. I should have run away then...”
Vanessa’s teeth chattered as she recalled that day.
“And the next day, the Marquis drank the tea the Lady gave him and died. Stone and Seira shouted that the woman had poisoned her father. But I thought it was Stone’s doing. He must have killed him because he was afraid he wouldn’t inherit.”
“So, who did you tell this to?”
“I secretly told the inspector who came to investigate while keeping an eye on Stone. But they were in cahoots with Stone. Instead of the testimony being relayed, someone attacked me while I was shopping, and when I came to my senses... I was sold to a brothel.”
Vanessa was silent for a while, holding back tears. Then she looked at Christine with reddened eyes.
“Are you satisfied with what I’ve said so far?”
Christine got up from her seat.
“I’ll give you the money as promised.”
Her face brightened.
***
“What are you thinking?”
Zimmer asked as he left Vanessa’s room.
“I’m getting more and more confused.”
“What do you mean?”
But Christine kept his mouth shut and said nothing.
“...!”
Then he suddenly stopped, looked around, and started running down the stairs.
A woman with a hood pulled over her head was just leaving the general store. When he quickly chased after her, the woman was getting into a carriage parked outside.
It was dark, but Christine, with his bright eyes, saw clearly. That beautiful face half-hidden by the hood.
Even after the carriage left, a familiar scent lingered there.
'Adele...?'
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