I was surprised by Granada's words and stopped.
Callius calmly patted me on the back.
I barely managed to catch my breath and asked.
“I think I misheard something. Could you repeat that?”
Granada spoke clearly without blinking an eye.
“I was originally an assassin. In other words, I was a contract killer.”
It didn't seem like a joke.
I swallowed hard and looked at Granada.
"After meeting the saint in Ronheim, I washed my hands. Now I repent of all my sins and live in gratitude for my new life."
“...”
"In short, this is something I'm truly an expert on. My assassination skills have long since rusted, but I'm still confident in deducing the psychology of a murderer and the path of a fugitive."
“Oh, is that so?”
Without realizing it, I took a polite stance in front of her.
"There aren't many escape routes from Ronheim Castle. I'll find Lamia and bring her back."
“Yes, please. Please.”
Granada nodded once politely.
She moved straight away without hesitation.
But just before she left, she stopped for a moment and said:
"I believe you have excellent judgment, Madam. Have confidence in yourself."
“...!”
Good judgment.
Do I really have that ability?
I blankly watched Granada's back as it disappeared outside the door.
I waited for Granada, surrounded by knights in a safe place.
This was a banquet hall, and all the employees of the castle were gathered there without exception.
If Lamia isn't the murderer, then the culprit must be somewhere in here.
Before I even began my investigation, I placed my maids at my side and kept them under strict supervision. This was to prevent any of them from secretly reporting the situation to Kavala.
“Granada has arrived.”
Mainz whispered to Callius and me.
We reflexively stared at the entrance to the banquet hall.
Granada, who had confidently left the room, entered the banquet hall with great pomp and circumstance in no time.
Next to her, Lamia was being dragged along, struggling.
“Let go of this!”
Lamia shouted sharply, but Granada didn't even blink an eye and brought her to me and Callius, making her kneel down.
“Lamia.”
I looked down at Lamia with a stern expression.
Lamia reluctantly answered, pouting and unable to meet my gaze.
"Yes."
“Look at me.”
“....”
Lamia looked up at me, her cheeks slightly puffed out.
Then she saw my serious expression and flinched.
“Did you kill Vanessa?”
Lamia smiled defiantly.
"What are you talking about? A person dies just because they got a little nosebleed? I didn't even hit them that hard! What the hell are you talking about...?"
Then, perhaps sensing the serious atmosphere around her, she opened her eyes wide.
"Vanessa's dead? Oh my god. Why? How did she do it? Could it be that she committed suicide because of me...?"
Her expression was distorted into a blank expression.
I watched her reaction carefully.
People were only looking at me.
Even Callius, instead of helping me, was just watching what I was doing.
Lamia was surprised and dumbfounded, then looked at me silently and made a look of resentment.
“Are you doubting me? I don’t know anything about this!”
It was painful for me to watch the betrayal seep into her eyes as she looked at me.
I wanted to defend her right then and there, saying, “I don’t doubt you. I don’t think it’s you.”
But if I did that, it would look like I was being swayed by personal feelings in front of so many people.
I held back my heavy heart and asked as expressionlessly as possible.
“Then why did you try to run away?”
"I'm being falsely accused and imprisoned. So, I'm just going to sit back and do nothing? If I get caught by Arrental and get taken away, I might die. I have to survive somehow!"
“You didn’t trust me.”
“...”
Lamia kept her mouth shut for a moment.
Her eyes were strangely sunken.
She had a very painful expression on her face.
I was a little surprised to see her, who was always so confident, make such an expression for the first time.
Lamia stared into space with slightly clouded eyes, as if reminiscing about the past, before finally opening her mouth.
"I believed in you, Madam, but I didn't believe what was going to happen to you and me. My life was my own. I couldn't leave it in the hands of others."
She emphasized softly.
“I did nothing wrong. No one can harm me.”
What she said didn't seem like a lie.
I glanced at the two, wanting to hear what the other people thought, either Callius or Granada.
Even though they must have felt my gaze, the two of them looked at me silently without saying a word.
The gaze seemed to ask, 'What are we going to do now?'
I looked at the other people gathered in the banquet hall, embarrassed that they were asking me the question I wanted to ask.
'What.'
Everyone was looking at me.
Everyone was looking at me with their eyes and asking what I was going to do now.
'You want me to decide?'
I swallowed dry saliva.
At that moment, Andrea's voice, which I had heard countless times whenever I tried to do something, filled my head.
“Chloe, you’re helping me by just staying still.”
"Don't even try to do anything, yes? Don't think about anything, don't do anything. If you try to do anything, you'll only cause problems."
"Why is everything like this? Just listen to your brother. That's all you need to do."
Words that make me cringe.
I have lived my entire life hearing those words that cut off my hands and feet and reduced me to a scarecrow who could do nothing.
But I have to make a decision about such an important matter in front of all these people?
It was a time when I was out of breath due to anxiety.
A powerful voice that suppressed all of Andrea's naughty voices suddenly emerged from a corner of my mind.
“I believe you have excellent judgment, Madam.”
The voice of Granada and the voice of Lhasa followed.
“You have to believe in yourself. Don't hesitate to do what you think is right.”
I looked down at Lamia, who was kneeling before me with her fists clenched.
'I don't think it's Lamia.'
The Lamia I've seen is someone who values her own survival above all else.
"In the desperate situation of trying to escape from confinement, you hunted down Vanessa in the maids' quarters, in the most remote corner of the castle, and killed her? Did you have the luxury of that?"
'Besides, if you kill someone, you'll definitely get a heavy sentence, right?'
"More than anything, killing Vanessa alone won't benefit Lamia. The guards were there when Lamia and Vanessa fought. They must have seen the wanted poster with Lamia's face on it."
'The guards would have reported to Callius soon, and Lamia would have known that everyone would eventually find out.'
It would have been better to run away faster and further than to kill someone to keep their mouth shut.
I decided to trust my own judgment and looked around at each person in the banquet hall, speaking solemnly.
“If Lamia isn’t the culprit, then there must be someone else who killed Vanessa.”
People who made eye contact with me either looked down with a nervous expression, pretended to look away, or blinked in surprise.
“There must be a culprit in here.”
Then I noticed Granada looking somewhere.
Where her gaze turned, there stood the other maids I had brought.
Lina, who is always busy looking around with her big eyes, and Sernia, who is quiet and pale and has no particular presence.
The two people were usually quiet and not very assertive.
They were always like a shrimp that would burst on Vanessa and Lamia's backs.
I looked at them carefully.
Lina, who met my eyes, flinched and rolled her eyes, while Sernia looked at me with her mouth tightly shut and her eyes filled with innocence.
'Oh, what if I do this?'
Suddenly, a good idea occurred to me.
"I don't think Lamia is the culprit, so I won't punish her. Instead."
I smiled and said to the two maids.
“You must die.”
Callius calmly patted me on the back.
I barely managed to catch my breath and asked.
“I think I misheard something. Could you repeat that?”
Granada spoke clearly without blinking an eye.
“I was originally an assassin. In other words, I was a contract killer.”
It didn't seem like a joke.
I swallowed hard and looked at Granada.
"After meeting the saint in Ronheim, I washed my hands. Now I repent of all my sins and live in gratitude for my new life."
“...”
"In short, this is something I'm truly an expert on. My assassination skills have long since rusted, but I'm still confident in deducing the psychology of a murderer and the path of a fugitive."
“Oh, is that so?”
Without realizing it, I took a polite stance in front of her.
"There aren't many escape routes from Ronheim Castle. I'll find Lamia and bring her back."
“Yes, please. Please.”
Granada nodded once politely.
She moved straight away without hesitation.
But just before she left, she stopped for a moment and said:
"I believe you have excellent judgment, Madam. Have confidence in yourself."
“...!”
Good judgment.
Do I really have that ability?
I blankly watched Granada's back as it disappeared outside the door.
***
I waited for Granada, surrounded by knights in a safe place.
This was a banquet hall, and all the employees of the castle were gathered there without exception.
If Lamia isn't the murderer, then the culprit must be somewhere in here.
Before I even began my investigation, I placed my maids at my side and kept them under strict supervision. This was to prevent any of them from secretly reporting the situation to Kavala.
“Granada has arrived.”
Mainz whispered to Callius and me.
We reflexively stared at the entrance to the banquet hall.
Granada, who had confidently left the room, entered the banquet hall with great pomp and circumstance in no time.
Next to her, Lamia was being dragged along, struggling.
“Let go of this!”
Lamia shouted sharply, but Granada didn't even blink an eye and brought her to me and Callius, making her kneel down.
“Lamia.”
I looked down at Lamia with a stern expression.
Lamia reluctantly answered, pouting and unable to meet my gaze.
"Yes."
“Look at me.”
“....”
Lamia looked up at me, her cheeks slightly puffed out.
Then she saw my serious expression and flinched.
“Did you kill Vanessa?”
Lamia smiled defiantly.
"What are you talking about? A person dies just because they got a little nosebleed? I didn't even hit them that hard! What the hell are you talking about...?"
Then, perhaps sensing the serious atmosphere around her, she opened her eyes wide.
"Vanessa's dead? Oh my god. Why? How did she do it? Could it be that she committed suicide because of me...?"
Her expression was distorted into a blank expression.
I watched her reaction carefully.
People were only looking at me.
Even Callius, instead of helping me, was just watching what I was doing.
Lamia was surprised and dumbfounded, then looked at me silently and made a look of resentment.
“Are you doubting me? I don’t know anything about this!”
It was painful for me to watch the betrayal seep into her eyes as she looked at me.
I wanted to defend her right then and there, saying, “I don’t doubt you. I don’t think it’s you.”
But if I did that, it would look like I was being swayed by personal feelings in front of so many people.
I held back my heavy heart and asked as expressionlessly as possible.
“Then why did you try to run away?”
"I'm being falsely accused and imprisoned. So, I'm just going to sit back and do nothing? If I get caught by Arrental and get taken away, I might die. I have to survive somehow!"
“You didn’t trust me.”
“...”
Lamia kept her mouth shut for a moment.
Her eyes were strangely sunken.
She had a very painful expression on her face.
I was a little surprised to see her, who was always so confident, make such an expression for the first time.
Lamia stared into space with slightly clouded eyes, as if reminiscing about the past, before finally opening her mouth.
"I believed in you, Madam, but I didn't believe what was going to happen to you and me. My life was my own. I couldn't leave it in the hands of others."
She emphasized softly.
“I did nothing wrong. No one can harm me.”
What she said didn't seem like a lie.
I glanced at the two, wanting to hear what the other people thought, either Callius or Granada.
Even though they must have felt my gaze, the two of them looked at me silently without saying a word.
The gaze seemed to ask, 'What are we going to do now?'
I looked at the other people gathered in the banquet hall, embarrassed that they were asking me the question I wanted to ask.
'What.'
Everyone was looking at me.
Everyone was looking at me with their eyes and asking what I was going to do now.
'You want me to decide?'
I swallowed dry saliva.
At that moment, Andrea's voice, which I had heard countless times whenever I tried to do something, filled my head.
“Chloe, you’re helping me by just staying still.”
"Don't even try to do anything, yes? Don't think about anything, don't do anything. If you try to do anything, you'll only cause problems."
"Why is everything like this? Just listen to your brother. That's all you need to do."
Words that make me cringe.
I have lived my entire life hearing those words that cut off my hands and feet and reduced me to a scarecrow who could do nothing.
But I have to make a decision about such an important matter in front of all these people?
It was a time when I was out of breath due to anxiety.
A powerful voice that suppressed all of Andrea's naughty voices suddenly emerged from a corner of my mind.
“I believe you have excellent judgment, Madam.”
The voice of Granada and the voice of Lhasa followed.
“You have to believe in yourself. Don't hesitate to do what you think is right.”
I looked down at Lamia, who was kneeling before me with her fists clenched.
'I don't think it's Lamia.'
The Lamia I've seen is someone who values her own survival above all else.
"In the desperate situation of trying to escape from confinement, you hunted down Vanessa in the maids' quarters, in the most remote corner of the castle, and killed her? Did you have the luxury of that?"
'Besides, if you kill someone, you'll definitely get a heavy sentence, right?'
"More than anything, killing Vanessa alone won't benefit Lamia. The guards were there when Lamia and Vanessa fought. They must have seen the wanted poster with Lamia's face on it."
'The guards would have reported to Callius soon, and Lamia would have known that everyone would eventually find out.'
It would have been better to run away faster and further than to kill someone to keep their mouth shut.
I decided to trust my own judgment and looked around at each person in the banquet hall, speaking solemnly.
“If Lamia isn’t the culprit, then there must be someone else who killed Vanessa.”
People who made eye contact with me either looked down with a nervous expression, pretended to look away, or blinked in surprise.
“There must be a culprit in here.”
Then I noticed Granada looking somewhere.
Where her gaze turned, there stood the other maids I had brought.
Lina, who is always busy looking around with her big eyes, and Sernia, who is quiet and pale and has no particular presence.
The two people were usually quiet and not very assertive.
They were always like a shrimp that would burst on Vanessa and Lamia's backs.
I looked at them carefully.
Lina, who met my eyes, flinched and rolled her eyes, while Sernia looked at me with her mouth tightly shut and her eyes filled with innocence.
'Oh, what if I do this?'
Suddenly, a good idea occurred to me.
"I don't think Lamia is the culprit, so I won't punish her. Instead."
I smiled and said to the two maids.
“You must die.”
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