Episode 43. He Returns
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...?'
"Do you know her?"
Zimmer asked, Who followed him later?
Instead of answering, Christine went into the general store and grabbed the owner by the collar.
"Why did the woman who just left come here?"
"Bam! Our store's lifeblood is the lifeblood of our customers. Please understand..."
Bam! Bam!
In an instant, the middle door of the counter opened, and a dozen or so men with swords drawn poured out. They surrounded Christine and Zimmer in an instant.
Swish...
Zimmer also slowly drew his sword and blocked Christine's path. Meanwhile, he calmly persuaded his master.
"There's no good in causing a commotion here."
In fact, the person Zimmer was trying to protect with his knife was not Christine, but the other gang.
If Christine had decided to swing hid knife, they would have all died. Then, the annoying cleanup would have been Zimmer’s job, so he had no choice but to desperately block them.
The store owner seemed to have realized that they were not Christine’s opponents.
“Come on, it’s nothing serious, so calm down and go inside.”
He adjusted his glasses and spoke politely to Christine.
“She came to see a doctor. I don’t know anything more about it, so I can’t tell you.”
“A doctor?”
Christine let go of his hand that was holding him by the collar with a confused expression.
Just then, the door to the right of the counter opened, and a woman staggered out, supported by her friend. It was dark, but she could tell at a glance that they were prostitutes.
“It’s obvious why noble ladies seek doctors in places like this.”
Leaving the store owner’s unpleasant laughter behind, Christine ran up to the examination room.
However, the doctor was already gone.
***
“How did things go?”
As Adele got into the carriage, Tanya, who had been anxious, quickly asked.
Adele smiled bitterly as she put the engagement ring she had taken off back on her finger.
“Well, it doesn’t seem to be going smoothly.”
“Huh? Then what should I do?”
Tanya’s face became sullen, not knowing what was going on.
“Something will work out.”
Adele leaned her head against the carriage window and closed her eyes, looking tired.
She had run out as soon as she met Marvin at the Hell Valley tavern. She hadn’t even mentioned the reason she came.
Fortunately, Marvin wouldn’t be able to talk about Adele.
If it were known that a doctor working at the palace clinic had been providing illegal treatment to prostitutes, he would be arrested right away. It would have been a huge blow to the pride of the snobbish royal family, so he might have been executed.
But it was back to square one.
***
Christine was silent the whole time they were riding back in the carriage.
Zimmer couldn’t speak to him carelessly because his aura was so heavy.
'Was the woman wearing a hood who came out of the general store Miss Adele?'
Christine would not have reacted like this otherwise.
The general store in Hell Valley used to perform abortions on prostitutes. Lady Adele, who had been in an unpleasant relationship and became pregnant, would sometimes visit there.
'But why Miss Adele in such a place?'
She had been avoiding Christine, saying that she had not recovered from scarlet fever. Since she had visited there secretly in such a situation, it was inevitable that she would have many suspicions.
Furthermore, if Vanessa's story was true, there was definitely something between Stone and her.
A man like Stone would have done bad things to Adele. However, Adele remained silent even when she was accused of being a murderer. And Stone later said that he had submitted a petition asking for leniency. He did not excommunicate her from his family, saying that he had found no evidence of poisoning.
So rumors of an illicit relationship between the two were rampant.
There were even rumors that the two had conspired to poison the Marquis.
Zimmer saw Adele as a better person than anyone else, and she liked Christine.
But now, that belief was a little shaken.
What kind of person was Miss Adele?
“I don’t know any better.”
He could understand why Christine’s face looked so gloomy as he muttered after hearing Vanessa’s story.
What was he thinking right now when he was so confused?
***
The next day, Marquis Oswald.
When Seira woke up in the morning, she pressed her throbbing temples. She must have had too much to drink last night. Her head was pounding as if it was going to split open, and she was also losing consciousness.
She pulled the cord at the head of the bed. The bell rang and the maid came in.
“My head hurts so bad. Bring me some herbal tea and a light breakfast to the bedroom.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“But how did I get in yesterday?”
The last thing she remembered was drinking at Madame Hans’ party.
“That... a man brought you here.”
“A man? Who?”
“A man I’ve never seen before. He had silver hair and blue eyes. Young and handsome.”
At that moment, Seira thought of Christine. He fit all those descriptions very well. But it couldn’t have been him.
“Did you ask who he was?”
“He left right away...”
Seira got out of bed. The maid, who had been making excuses, backed away with a frightened face, but she waved her hand without hesitation.
Crack!
“You idiot! A man you don’t even know brought your master, and you just let him go? What would have happened if I had been treated badly?”
The maid covered her cheek and answered with tears in her eyes.
“But since you two seem to be on good terms, I thought you knew each other...”
Crack!
“How dare you judge me as someone who knows everything!”
The maid eventually knelt on the floor and bowed her head.
“I’m sorry, miss! Please forgive me just this once...”
“I don’t even want to see you, so get out!”
“I... and Mrs. Hans has been waiting for you for a while now.”
Although Mrs. Hans was usually her soulmate, Seira wasn’t happy. She felt like her head was going to burst right now.
However, she was curious about who the man who brought her here last night was. If it were Mrs. Hans, the host of the party, she would know.
“Tell her to come in.”
“Yes, miss.”
The door opened, and Mrs. Hans came in. She must have had too much to drink last night, because her face was more swollen than usual.
“Oh, you’re in good spirits this morning.”
Mrs. Hans glanced at the maid, whose cheeks were red and swollen, and stuck out her tongue.
“What’s wrong?”
Seira asked in a voice full of irritation.
“I was worried if you got home safely yesterday.”
“Who was the man who brought me here?”
Mrs. Hans laughed with her eyes shining. As if that was the reason she came.
“He said he was an acquaintance of my husband, but did you like him? You kept him by his side because you said he looked like Count Weiss. You two disappeared together. Did you have a good time?”
Seira glared at her as she sat on the sofa, feeling pitiful.
“What good would a look-alike do? I want to be Count Weiss’s lady. Did you see that a few days ago? Even His Majesty the Emperor treated Adele, that girl, with respect. How could you act like something was nothing without the Count! Aah!”
Seira screamed as if she were still angry thinking about it. Then Mrs. Hans sighed and consoled her.
“Give up, the Count. You haven’t seen the ‘Kalime Tabloid’ yet, have you?”
Seira snatched the newsletter from Mrs. Hans’ hand.
The 'Kalime Tabloid' was a sensationalist newsletter published by a private company. Count Weiss was the most popular person in Kalime, so articles about his engagement had been coming up one after another recently.
On the front page of today's newsletter was an illustration of Christine and Adele walking arm in arm. Below was the following title:
[A Sweet Date between a Hero and a Witch!]
The article detailed everything from their engagement rings at Greenhill Shopping Center yesterday to their visit to a dessert café.
"The two of them were so hot in the secret room of the café that even the serving staff blushed and ran out... Aah, you crazy guys!"
Seira, who had been reading the article out loud without realizing it, crumpled up the newsletter. Then she asked with a fierce glint in her eyes,
"Are you still in contact with Marvin?"
"Of course."
"Tell him to report on Adele without missing a single one."
"Of course."
Seira was guaranteeing the debt of Marvin, Adele's attending doctor. If Oswald canceled his debt guarantee, he would probably be found dead in a few hours. So he had no choice but to listen obediently to what Seira said.
“No matter what, tell him to prevent them from sleeping together until the Imperial Horse Riding Competition.”
“I’m doing that, but why until then?”
“Because Brother Stone will be back then.”
“Really? The Marquis will be back?”
Seira nodded, but her face showed that she wasn’t sure herself.
The Imperial Horse Riding Competition was a few days later.
The Imperial Family held a horse riding competition in the first half of every year and a hunting competition in the second half.
It was supposed to be a place to promote friendship, but since there was competition between families, the nerves were intense.
Usually, men from the family participated, but sometimes, if there was no suitable player, they sent a proxy who had washed his identity.
Also, if the man who won the competition was single, he would propose to the lady he liked. Then, the ladies would pretend to lose and accept, embarrassed. That's why the young men from the noble families participated in the event every year. The ladies thought that being proposed to there was the most romantic thing, so it was a competition that everyone looked forward to.
However, the winner from 9 years ago was none other than Stone. He disappointed the ladies' expectations and did not propose to anyone. However, Seira had noticed.
Who was the lady he wanted?
So Seira kept sending letters to Stone since Adele and Christine started showing unusual caution. Hoping that he would come back and break up their relationship.
However, Stone had not contacted her at all until now. It seemed that he had decided to forget everything that happened here and settle down in the Orbis Kingdom.
Seira threw Stone one last bait. Even though Adele was engaged, she would make sure that the two of them would not sleep together until the horseback riding competition. So come back and win the horse race and take her.
If Stone were to propose to Adele, it would be really something to see. Rumors would brand Adele as a cheating woman again. The Calais tabloids would report news of her breakup.
Just thinking about it made the old pent-up pain go away.
Of course, Adele would never accept the proposal, and the Oswalds would be criticized for a while, but that didn’t matter. The Oswalds wouldn’t fall apart because of rumors, and Adele would be the only one who would go back to the gutter.
But there was still no word from Stone.
Did he really give up on Adele?
That was when there was a knock on the door, and the maid came in.
“Miss, breakfast...”
“I don’t need it. Take it back.”
When Seira got annoyed, the maid added with a frightened face,
“And there’s a telegram.”
“Telegram?”
“Yes, from the lord..."
“Your brother!”
Seira took the telegram the maid held out and opened the envelope frantically. And soon, they cheered.
“Wow! I knew it!”
“What’s going on?”
Mrs. Hans asked curiously. Seira forgot all about her manners and hugged her.
“He’ll be back soon. My brother’s coming back soon!”
[Returning to Oswald Street after finishing my term as a diplomat.
- Stone Oswald -]
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