Episode 63. Shall We Talk for a Minute?
“Did you have a good conversation?”
Tanya came running over with a curious expression as the head maid left.
However, Adele just sat there with a blank expression on her face, holding her teacup for a while.
“Miss?”
Judging from her expression, it seemed like she had heard something unpleasant.
‘Is there anything that could be a problem with the pregnancy?’
“Don’t worry too much. You are both healthy, so soon...”
In that moment, Adele suddenly got up from her seat, opened the door roughly, and went out.
“Miss! Where are you going?”
The conversation she had with the head maid earlier kept lingering in her head.
“Judging by the traces from the bedroom, it seems like the master doesn’t want children.”
“What is that...”
“You really didn’t know anything?”
“...!”
The place where Adele arrived in a daze was the basement laundry room.
When she suddenly appeared, the maids carrying the laundry quickly lowered their heads.
However, Adele seemed not to notice anything else. She looked through the laundry here and there with an urgent face and asked.
“Where is the laundry in my bedroom?”
“I take care of that separately.”
The head maid had been waiting for her, as if she had expected her to come.
“I need to see it with my own eyes.”
“Please follow me.”
After a while, Adele, who had disappeared with the head maid, reappeared.
Everyone just looked around, wondering what was going on, and Tanya quickly approached her.
“Are you okay, Miss?”
“Tanya, tell Henry to prepare a carriage. I need to meet the Count.”
She looked calm, but she couldn’t hide the trembling in her voice.
***
“The captain is not here right now.”
When Adele reached Christine’s office, the guards stopped her.
“When is he coming back?”
'But it wasn’t true?'
He didn’t want children, and he had something to hide. He didn’t want her to wonder about the silver wolf. He knew how much she hated the wolf that killed her mother. Was the silver wolf really in the office that night when he killed the guards?
“What are you thinking?”
Adele shook her head in disbelief. There was no way Christine and the silver wolf were related. If he had something to hide, it would be for her own good. He was her strong ally, her man.
“Yes, I will trust you to the end, Chris.”
Adele desperately hoped that trust would not be broken.
They looked puzzled.
“He's off duty today, right...”
It was strange that Adele, who lived with him, didn’t know that.
“Look at my mind. You said you were going out today because you had something to do, and I forgot.”
Adele smiled as if she had just remembered something.
“Then what about Sir Zimmer...?”
“Adjutant Zimmer is also off duty.”
“Oh, of course, Sir Zimmer was off duty too, so he went out with the Count. I was just asking if you knew.”
Adele answered quickly and held out the basket of snacks she had brought.
“Thank you for always helping the captain. This isn’t much, but please share it.”
“Thank you.”
“And please keep my visit a secret from the captain. I don’t want to seem like a crazy woman.”
"Don't worry!"
Adele turned around, smiling until the end.
However, her expression darkened when she arrived at a place where there was no one.
She naturally assumed that he was working since he declined her date request, saying he was busy.
'You really were off duty?'
Of course, since it was his off-duty for the first time in a while, he could have had some personal business to attend to.
'But why did you hide it?'
And if he had taken Zimmer with him, it might not have been a simple matter.
Adele was confused.
She had thought of him as her alter ego. Because he understood and accepted her thoughts and feelings better than anyone else. Because he was the one who hurt her more than she did.
Adele also believed that she understood him better than anyone else.
***
“We need to rest for a moment. The horses are too tired!”
Shouted Zimmer, who was running behind Christine. The two left the capital, Greenhill, before daybreak and rode nonstop.
“Let’s just rest for a moment.”
Christine had no choice but to pull the reins and stop. It was still ten o’clock in the morning. But they had to arrive at the Oswalds’ villa in Bluegale by noon. They had to return to Marvel Palace before the sun set.
“This is a ridiculous schedule. To go all the way to Bluegale and back in one day.”
Zimmer grumbled as he let his horses loose on the water’s edge.
“I only have one day.”
He was off duty today. With the rare time he had, he decided to visit the Oswald family’s villa, where Stone’s wife was said to have died in a fire. It was tight to go back and forth in one day, but he had no choice if he wanted to keep it a secret from the Emperors and Adele.
‘I wish I could find even a small clue.’
There was a special reason why he went to such lengths to visit the villa.
Stone’s wife had died in a fire there, and the previous Marquis Oswald had been attacked and killed on his way back from there.
Was it a coincidence that Stone's wife and the former Marquis had an accident at the villa?
Could there be some secret hidden there?
Bluegale, located north of the capital Greenhill, had a magnificent birch forest along a large river. As a result, there were many villas for the powerful.
The Oswalds' villa was also on a hill overlooking the river past the birch forest.
The villa, which had once been picturesque, had been half burned down and half charred in a fire long ago. It had been left abandoned for a long time, and the townspeople said that it was haunted and that they would not even come near it.
When Christine and Zimmer arrived, dark clouds gathered, and the wind blew fiercely. It was as if something would fall from the sky at any moment.
"The villa itself is like a ghost."
Zimmer muttered, sticking out his tongue.
The tattered curtains swayed in the wind, and the doors creaked, as if they were really alive.
“I’ll look inside, you look outside.”
“Are you... talking about that?”
Christine looked at him with her brow furrowed.
“Are you scared?”
“No, I’m not scared! How many years of battlefield experience have you had?”
As Zimmer drew his sword and disappeared, Christine went inside the villa.
Perhaps because it was dark, even in broad daylight, the place was as dark as a tomb, with not a single ray of light coming in. The creaking sound whenever the wind blew added to the eeriness.
At that moment, Christine sensed a presence mixed with the sound of the wind.
“Huh!”
The man who was walking screamed in surprise.
A person suddenly appeared in this deserted villa. No, it might not have been a person. Can a person be this beautiful? The silver hair fluttering in the wind was so mysterious that he couldn’t take his eyes off it.
“What were you doing here?”
Only then did the man realize that there was a knife pointed at his neck.
“Please save me! I just wanted to... go for a walk...”
The blade dug deeper into his neck.
“A walk in a place like this?”
“I can’t go to crowded places.”
The man raised his head and pointed to his left cheek. He looked to be in his mid-forties, and his left cheek was horribly disfigured by a burn.
Christine put the knife away and stared intently at the man’s face.
“Did that happen in the fire here?”
The man’s face hardened.
“Yes, I heard the answer from your expression. Tell me everything you know about the fire. And how Stone’s wife died.”
Stone’s wife had died in a fire there, and the previous Marquis Oswald had been attacked and killed on his way back from there.
Was it a coincidence that Stone's wife and the former Marquis had an accident at the villa?
Could there be some secret hidden there?
Bluegale, located north of the capital Greenhill, had a magnificent birch forest along a large river. As a result, there were many villas for the powerful.
The Oswalds' villa was also on a hill overlooking the river past the birch forest.
The villa, which had once been picturesque, had been half burned down and half charred in a fire long ago. It had been left abandoned for a long time, and the townspeople said that it was haunted and that they would not even come near it.
When Christine and Zimmer arrived, dark clouds gathered, and the wind blew fiercely. It was as if something would fall from the sky at any moment.
"The villa itself is like a ghost."
Zimmer muttered, sticking out his tongue.
The tattered curtains swayed in the wind, and the doors creaked, as if they were really alive.
“I’ll look inside, you look outside.”
“Are you... talking about that?”
Christine looked at him with her brow furrowed.
“Are you scared?”
“No, I’m not scared! How many years of battlefield experience have you had?”
As Zimmer drew his sword and disappeared, Christine went inside the villa.
Perhaps because it was dark, even in broad daylight, the place was as dark as a tomb, with not a single ray of light coming in. The creaking sound whenever the wind blew added to the eeriness.
At that moment, Christine sensed a presence mixed with the sound of the wind.
“Huh!”
The man who was walking screamed in surprise.
A person suddenly appeared in this deserted villa. No, it might not have been a person. Can a person be this beautiful? The silver hair fluttering in the wind was so mysterious that he couldn’t take his eyes off it.
“What were you doing here?”
Only then did the man realize that there was a knife pointed at his neck.
“Please save me! I just wanted to... go for a walk...”
The blade dug deeper into his neck.
“A walk in a place like this?”
“I can’t go to crowded places.”
The man raised his head and pointed to his left cheek. He looked to be in his mid-forties, and his left cheek was horribly disfigured by a burn.
Christine put the knife away and stared intently at the man’s face.
“Did that happen in the fire here?”
The man’s face hardened.
“Yes, I heard the answer from your expression. Tell me everything you know about the fire. And how Stone’s wife died.”
“...!”
The man backed away, his face filled with fear. However, Zimmer had already blocked his back.
The young men blocking him from both sides had strong physiques and were armed with swords. The man, judging that they were no match for him, easily gave up.
“Who on earth are you? Why are you bringing up that old story now...”
“Answer my question first. Did Stone’s wife really die in an accident?”
The man’s eyes wavered every time the subject of Stone’s wife came up.
The man backed away, his face filled with fear. However, Zimmer had already blocked his back.
The young men blocking him from both sides had strong physiques and were armed with swords. The man, judging that they were no match for him, easily gave up.
“Who on earth are you? Why are you bringing up that old story now...”
“Answer my question first. Did Stone’s wife really die in an accident?”
The man’s eyes wavered every time the subject of Stone’s wife came up.
“Then let me ask you one thing. What are you going to do with Stone if I tell you what you want?”
That meant that the man knew more than he thought.
And that he had a grudge against Stone.
Christine’s eyes sparkled with interest.
“Whether you tell me or not, I’m going to kill him.”
A look of excitement crossed the man’s face. Then he spoke as if he had made up his mind.
“My name is Joseph. Stone’s wife was my sister. And... he killed her.”
Zimmer was greatly surprised by the unexpected answer.
However, Christine had already guessed.
“Because shr knew his secret?”
“How?”
Christine’s red lips lifted thinly.
It was worth coming all this way.
Christine, who had returned home late in the evening, handed Adele a small gift box.
“What’s this?”
“It’s a black tea produced by Bluegale. I heard it’s famous.”
Adele, who was opening the box, laughed quietly.
“This is the best black tea, so it’s hard to get.”
“Really? That’s good.”
Zimmer laughed silently behind him as he answered indifferently.
Despite the tight schedule, Christine was choosing a gift to give Adele during his short break. He said he didn’t know what black tea tasted like, but he was talking seriously to the shop owner.
“More importantly, Chris, talk to me for a moment.”
Zimmer, who was laughing, suddenly felt his hair stand on end. It was because he had been living on the battlefield for a long time that he was sensitive to life.
Now that he looked at her, Adele had a gentle face as usual, but there was a cold chill in her eyes.
“What happened today?”
He asked Tanya as Christine and Adele went up to the second floor.
Tanya sighed with an impatient expression.
“I don’t know. It’s their problem, so they should take care of it.”
Christine, who entered the living room with Adele, was nervous. Zimmer wasn’t the only one who felt alive the moment she said she wanted to talk.
With his physical senses being more developed than necessary, he felt the pressure of being trapped in the middle of enemy territory the moment he entered the living room.
“Did you buy Mia’s present?”
“I’ll buy that later.”
“Good. Let’s go pick it out together later.”
He tried to ease Adele’s mind with a soft and kind voice. He didn’t forget to give her his greatest weapon, a gentle smile.
However, the response he received was cold.
“Yes. You should go with Tanya and choose the gift. It’ll be a tough job for you, who doesn’t even want a child.”
Adele couldn’t ignore this issue, even though she thought she had to trust Christine.
“Adele, it’s not that I don’t want children, it’s just that I want to spend some cozy time between the two of us for the time being.”
“How long for the time being? A month? A year?”
“Well...”
While Christine was searching for his words, Adele added without waiting.
“How long were you planning to fool me? Didn’t you have a maid take care of the laundry separately to keep rumors from getting out? I was such an idiot, I didn’t know anything.”
Only then did Christine understand why Adele was so angry.
“My name is Joseph. Stone’s wife was my sister. And... he killed her.”
Zimmer was greatly surprised by the unexpected answer.
However, Christine had already guessed.
“Because shr knew his secret?”
“How?”
Christine’s red lips lifted thinly.
It was worth coming all this way.
***
Christine, who had returned home late in the evening, handed Adele a small gift box.
“What’s this?”
“It’s a black tea produced by Bluegale. I heard it’s famous.”
Adele, who was opening the box, laughed quietly.
“This is the best black tea, so it’s hard to get.”
“Really? That’s good.”
Zimmer laughed silently behind him as he answered indifferently.
Despite the tight schedule, Christine was choosing a gift to give Adele during his short break. He said he didn’t know what black tea tasted like, but he was talking seriously to the shop owner.
“More importantly, Chris, talk to me for a moment.”
Zimmer, who was laughing, suddenly felt his hair stand on end. It was because he had been living on the battlefield for a long time that he was sensitive to life.
Now that he looked at her, Adele had a gentle face as usual, but there was a cold chill in her eyes.
“What happened today?”
He asked Tanya as Christine and Adele went up to the second floor.
Tanya sighed with an impatient expression.
“I don’t know. It’s their problem, so they should take care of it.”
***
Christine, who entered the living room with Adele, was nervous. Zimmer wasn’t the only one who felt alive the moment she said she wanted to talk.
With his physical senses being more developed than necessary, he felt the pressure of being trapped in the middle of enemy territory the moment he entered the living room.
“Did you buy Mia’s present?”
“I’ll buy that later.”
“Good. Let’s go pick it out together later.”
He tried to ease Adele’s mind with a soft and kind voice. He didn’t forget to give her his greatest weapon, a gentle smile.
However, the response he received was cold.
“Yes. You should go with Tanya and choose the gift. It’ll be a tough job for you, who doesn’t even want a child.”
Adele couldn’t ignore this issue, even though she thought she had to trust Christine.
“Adele, it’s not that I don’t want children, it’s just that I want to spend some cozy time between the two of us for the time being.”
“How long for the time being? A month? A year?”
“Well...”
While Christine was searching for his words, Adele added without waiting.
“How long were you planning to fool me? Didn’t you have a maid take care of the laundry separately to keep rumors from getting out? I was such an idiot, I didn’t know anything.”
Only then did Christine understand why Adele was so angry.
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