Episode 15. Eliminate the Forces of Evil
It took half a day by carriage to reach the estate. Martha looked out the window while examining documents inside the carriage. The scenery had changed. Leaving the noble districts surrounding the Imperial Palace behind, fields began to unfold. The Valois estate was drawing near. Edward, sitting opposite her, said.
"Let's go straight to the office when we arrive."
"Yes."
"Felix might have noticed."
"I know."
Martha said, looking out the window.
"That's why I sent Karl ahead."
Edward nodded. Karl, the captain of the guard at the Duke's estate, had left early last night. It was Martha's instruction. To pretend to know nothing and survey the area around the estate, but to never be discovered. Karl nodded silently and left. Martha looked out the window again and said.
"Brother Edward."
"What?"
"You have to lead the way at the estate today."
Edward looked at Martha.
"Me?"
"You are the young master of the Valois family. You are the one the people of the estate need to look after."
Edward looked at Martha for a moment, then looked out the window.
"Understood."
The carriage stopped at the entrance of the estate village. Martha got out first. The village came into view. Houses with thatched roofs were clustered together. It was a tranquil village scene; smoke rose from the chimneys of a few houses, and the vast rice paddies were brimming with colorful green foliage, welcoming the season. People were working in the fields on one side of the village. As if they heard the sound of the carriage, they looked up. Upon seeing the Valois family carriage, their expressions hardened. Martha saw it. So that is how their expressions look. They were not expressions of welcome. They were expressions of wariness. They were expressions of fear. It was an expression stemming from the experience that something bad happens whenever the family carriage arrives. Our business is ours, but we must provide them with stability as well. If they harbor anxiety, they will suffer for a day or two.
Scanning those expressions, Martha walked toward the village instead of toward the office. Edward followed her and said.
"The office is over there."
Martha walked on without answering. There was a small square on one side of the village. A few chairs were placed under the tree. Several elderly people were sitting there when they saw Martha and tried to stand up. Martha waved her hand.
"Oh, please stay seated. Your joints are all broken, so why would you stand up just because something important has arrived?"
The bewildered old people stopped. Martha firmly pressed down on their shoulders, forcing them all to sit down as they stood in an awkward position, neither standing nor sitting. Martha stood in front of the tree and looked at the village. There was a smell. The smell of food. It was morning, but it seemed they were already preparing lunch. Breathing in the scent, Martha walked toward the kitchen on one side of the village. Lucy, who had been following her, said.
"Princess, where are you going?"
"To eat."
"Huh?"
Two women were standing in front of a pot in the kitchen. As Martha entered, the women froze.
"Um, Princess, why are you here?"
Martha looked into the pot. It was porridge. It was watery and thin. There was hardly any rice. It looked woefully insufficient for the entire village to eat. Martha looked at the pot, then at the woman.
"What is today's meal? It's porridge? Is this enough for the whole village?"
The woman lowered her eyes.
"We are a bit short on grain these days."
As she listened, Martha thought. It wasn't that there was a shortage of grain. As the estate's income drained away, the things that should have returned to the village hadn't come back. Felix had siphoned off even their share. Martha turned around.
"Lucy."
"Yes."
"Get the luggage out of the wagon."
"Luggage?"
"What Helena packed for us before we left."
Lucy ran off. Edward spoke beside Martha.
"What Helena packed for you?"
"She packed it for me because I told her we shouldn't go empty-handed when visiting the estate."
Edward looked at Martha.
"When was that?"
"The day before yesterday."
Lucy came back from the wagon carrying a large bundle. Maxim followed. There were two bundles. Martha carried the bundles into the kitchen. She opened them. Bread, cheese, dried meat, fruit, flour, rice. Helena had packed everything she could. The women's eyes widened. Martha said to them.
"Let's make it together."
"Yes?"
"Let's have lunch together. Four hands are better than two."
The women looked at Martha, then at Edward, and then back at Martha. Martha was already looking for an apron. Although the women tried to stop her adamantly, Martha dissuaded them, took a cutting board, and began preparing various vegetables. Lucy and Edward stared blankly at the scene. An hour later. Food was laid out in the square. The villagers gathered one by one. At first, they hesitated. Then, they began to sit down one by one. Martha sat among them. Next to the old men, next to the children, next to the strong men who had just returned from work. She simply sat and ate.
As Edward sat down next to Martha, he spoke in a low voice.
"I heard the Princess is eating with the villagers."
"It tastes better when we eat together."
Edward looked at Martha, then picked up his own bowl. An old man sat down next to Martha and spoke cautiously.
"This is the first time you have come to a place like this in person, Princess."
Martha said as she ate.
"I'm sorry for coming late."
The old man lowered his eyes as he heard those words. On one side of the village, a child was staring intently at Martha. Martha looked at the child.
"Come here."
The child hesitated for a moment, then came over. Martha put some meat into the child's bowl.
"Eat."
The child looked at the meat, then at Martha, then started eating. Lucy watched the scene, taking out her notebook and putting it back in. It seemed she had decided to just watch. As she finished eating and stood up, Martha looked at the villagers. They were different from before. Their expressions were no longer wary. They hadn't completely let their guard down yet. However, they were a little, just a very little, different.
Martha scanned the village one more time and thought. These people must have suffered for a long time. They were from the Valois estate. The Valois family should have looked after them better. But while Serena was making a mess of things, Felix had slipped in during the chaos and stolen even their share. Martha looked at Edward.
"Let's go."
Edward nodded and stepped forward. The estate office was located a short distance from the village. It was a stone building. It wasn't large, but it was sturdy. When they opened the office door and stepped inside, Felix Holm was sitting at his desk. He was in his mid-thirties. He had a neat appearance. His clothes were tidy. The documents on the desk were neatly organized. Watching him, Martha thought, 'He prepared.'
Felix rose from his seat upon seeing Edward and Martha.
"Your Excellency and Princess Valois, welcome. You came so suddenly without notice, so I was unprepared."
His voice was composed. There was no sign of fluster. Edward said.
"Sit down."
Felix smiled as he sat down.
"Did you come regarding estate affairs? I have compiled the recent income records."
He handed over the documents. Edward took them. Martha looked at Felix. That smile was composed. Too composed. It was a prepared smile. This man has removed all the evidence. Martha felt this as she looked at Edward. Edward scanned the documents and said.
"The income records have decreased significantly compared to last year."
"Yes, the harvest decreased because the weather was bad this year."
"That part is explained in the documents."
Edward looked at the papers. While Felix and Edward were focused on the documents, Martha scanned the office. Ledgers were neatly arranged on the bookshelf. File folders were organized. A map of the estate hung on the wall. And then there was nothing. It was too tidy. Everything was cleaned up.
Martha sat calmly and drank her tea. All she had to do was wait for the night.
"Cleaning has to be done this way to be perfect. Yes."
Felix heard Martha's passing words, but tilted his head before returning to focusing on the documents with Edward. Watching Felix, Martha repeated to herself. Don't raise your hand now, don't beat them up now. That vase over there is just a rock. That ashtray over there is stuck to the shelf. Don't raise your hand until evidence comes out. I am a stone, a rock. That was Martha repeating to herself.
After reviewing the documents, night fell, and Martha and Edward unpacked their belongings at the estate's quarters. Around midnight, the door. There was a knock. Martha opened it. It was Karl. As he entered, Karl spoke in a low voice.
"I have confirmed."
Martha and Edward looked at Karl.
"Felix Holm and Ern Muller went to the hills north of the village just before midnight. There is something like a warehouse there."
"Are Johan's family there too?"
"It seems so. I heard footsteps inside."
Martha looked at Edward. Edward nodded.
"Let's go."
The path to the hills was dark. Wrapped in dark cloaks in the pitch-black night, they set out on the mountain path. Karl led the way, and Edward followed behind. Martha stood between them. Lucy grabbed Martha's sleeve and said.
"Princess, I'm going too."
"You stay at the official residence."
"No, I'll go with you."
Martha looked at Lucy for a moment and said.
"Stay behind."
"Don't come to the front."
Lucy nodded. There was a log shed halfway up the hill. A shed in the middle of this densely wooded mountain. Sure enough, there was a lock on the door. Karl examined the lock from various angles, then raised his knife and struck it with the back. The lock didn't budge. Edward said quietly.
"It won't open?"
Karl was fiddling with the lock. Pushing Karl aside, Martha pulled the pin from the back of her head, inserted it into the keyhole, and began turning it this way and that. Before the regression, the Duke's mansion had countless lockable drawers, shelves, and storage rooms. Carrying all those keys around was heavy on her aging body, and this was a method taught by the locksmith who had opened the storage door she couldn't open back then. The locksmith had taught her his know-how with such passion, as if teaching a disciple, explaining that if she inserted a sharp needle or pin into the keyhole, there would be a trajectory where it clicked into place. To think she would use it like this.
In less than 30 seconds. Martha opened the door. Karl, Edward, and Lucy exchanged only glances before following Martha into the warehouse. Inside, there were people tied up. One woman and two children. They had been huddled in a corner of the warehouse, but their eyes widened when they saw Martha and her group. Martha stepped forward. The woman took a step back. Martha spoke quietly.
"You are Mr. Johan's family, aren't you?"
The woman froze.
"Mr. Johan sent me. It's okay."
Tears streamed from the woman's eyes. The two children looked at Martha. They were children with big eyes. Their faces were terrified. Martha reached out her hand toward the children.
"Come out. It is safe now."
She looked further into the warehouse. Boxes were stacked in the corner. Edward opened a box. It contained several ledgers. Various trinkets, gold bars, jewels, and luxury goods also took up quite a bit of space. Edward looked at Martha. Martha picked up a ledger. She opened it. Martha began scanning through it, flipping through the pages from the very first one. Here is the evidence. It was a real ledger. It recorded exactly how much the estate's income was and where it had flowed. It was completely different from the documents seen in the office.
Martha looked at the ledger and did the calculations. The amount spent, the duration, the destination. The destinations were not simple. They were divided into multiple paths. And the structure was such that those paths converged somewhere. It couldn't be just Valois. Martha sensed it.
Edward spoke from the side.
"Let's take it all."
"Yes."
They returned to the office at dawn. Martha opened the ledger and compared it with the existing documents in the office. Edward sat beside her and looked at it with her. Going through them one by one, they found the differences. The records of harvest yields were different, and the sales revenue was different. The amounts on the tenancy contracts were different. Pointing at them one by one, Martha said.
"The actual income for this month is this, but on the paper it is this. The difference is..."
Edward calculated.
"Five hundred gold."
"This month."
"Four hundred."
"This month."
"Six hundred."
Edward wrote it down as he spoke.
"If you add it up for a year."
"How much is it?"
Edward stopped.
"Over five thousand gold."
The hall fell silent. Martha closed the ledger and said.
"Those who dared to covet my money, I've dug them up."
Edward looked at Martha.
"Brother, this scheme is too sophisticated. It clearly isn't targeting just one family. They must have planted them in multiple families in the same way. The families Felix worked for before are like that, and there are definitely several other families besides Felix that have planted these people as spies."
Edward froze.
"Then the one behind them..."
"He must be higher up or bigger than us."
The two were silent for a moment. Just then, a sound came from outside. Karl rushed in.
"Princess, Young Master."
"What is it?"
"Felix is trying to escape."
Felix was in the stable. He was in the process of leading a horse out. Ern Muller was also beside him. As Martha and her party opened the stable door and entered, Felix froze. Edward stepped forward and said.
"Where are you trying to go?"
Felix looked down at his horse, then at Martha, then at Edward. His gaze wavered. Martha looked at Felix.
"You rascal, stop right there!"
Felix froze. Edward was flustered. Martha continued.
"The warehouse is already empty. I've brought all the ledgers. Get off."
Felix's face turned pale. Karl snatched up Ern Muller, who was trying to escape from the side. Felix also tried to run away, but since Edward had blocked his horse, he dismounted obediently. The two were dragged into the office, and the interrogation of Martha and Edward began immediately. Edward spread the ledgers in front of Felix.
"You know what this is, don't you?"
Felix fell silent. Edward spoke.
"Who ordered this?"
Felix lifted his head. His eyes had changed. It was not fear. It was the look of determination. Watching that, Martha thought. He was trying not to speak. No, he was unable to speak. He knew that speaking would lead to something even more terrifying. The same was true for Ern Muller. He kept his mouth tightly shut. Edward asked again.
"Who is behind this?"
Felix looked at Martha. His eyes seemed to be saying something. Then, Felix moved his hand. Karl noticed first and rushed forward, but it was already too late. Felix collapsed. Ern Muller did the same. Both of them chewed something in their mouths. It was poison. The outside became chaotic. Karl ran out. Martha looked at the fallen Felix. He was expressionless. He looked dead. Edward said with a grim face.
"He's dead."
"I know."
Just then, Karl ran in. He was out of breath and had a wound on his face. Edward looked at Karl.
"What happened?"
"Outside, there were people outside."
"People?"
"People in black clothes. They were watching this situation from outside the building. As soon as Felix collapsed, they tried to leave, so I tried to stop them..."
Martha looked at Karl's hand. There was a wound. It was a sword cut. It happened in an instant. Edward opened his mouth.
"Did you miss them?"
"Yes. I was no match for them."
Karl paused for a moment, then spoke again.
"Young Master, Young Lady."
"What is it?"
Karl asked cautiously.
"I am not sure if I should say this, but. "
"Speak."
"The sword they used."
Karl lowered his eyes.
"It was a sword used by the Imperial Family."
The hall fell silent. Edward froze. Martha looked at Karl. She had somewhat suspected it. They were either bigger or higher than them. She expected it, but to think the Imperial Family would do something like this directly. They have the nerve. To think they would take my money. To think they would take our family's money.
Karl said, clutching his wounded hand.
"I might have seen it wrong."
"No."
Martha said.
"You saw it clearly."
Karl lowered his eyes. Silence filled the hall. Edward looked at Martha. Martha looked at the ledger on the table. The Imperial Sword. As expected, it was on that side. Martha recalled Crown Prince Pierre's gentle smile. And the person behind him. Picking up the ledger, Martha said.
"Take good care of this ledger. Don't tell anyone."
Edward nodded. Karl lowered his head, and Martha looked out the window. Dawn was approaching. When morning came, Edward summoned the people of the estate to the town square. Perhaps because the rumors had spread quickly, the villagers stood there with faces that already knew what had happened during the night. Edward stood at the front. Martha stood a step back behind him. Edward looked at the villagers, and Martha watched his retreating figure. Edward straightened his shoulders. Oh, how dignified he looked. Edward opened his mouth.
"I am Edward Valois of the Valois family. The corruption of the estate manager, Felix Holm, has been confirmed. The Valois family has identified the damage you have suffered and will take responsibility."
An old villager spoke up.
"Is that true?"
Edward looked at the old man.
"It is true."
"And what has slipped away?"
Edward paused for a moment before speaking.
"It will take time, but we will set things right."
The village fell silent. Then, a sound came from one side. A child burst into tears. It was Johan's wife and children. They were the children who had been at the official residence after leaving the storehouse at night. The child's mother held him in her arms and wept. The villagers saw it. Edward nodded as he watched the scene. Martha watched Edward's retreating figure.
'He's doing well,' she thought to herself. On the way back, Johan's family rode in a carriage together. Edward sat next to Martha and said.
"You did a good job."
Martha looked out the window and said,
"You did a good job, brother."
"It's nothing."
"Standing at the front is the hardest thing."
[Lucy's Secret Shock Journal Episode 15]
I visited the estate today.
Shock No. 1: As soon as we arrived at the estate, the Princess went to the village kitchen. Upon seeing the watery porridge, she took out food from the carriage and ate with the villagers. She served some meat to a child. An old villager wiped away tears.
Shock No. 2: At dawn, the Princess found the ledgers in the warehouse on the hillside. She compared them with the documents in the office and caught everything from A to Z. It was a method where Young Master Edward did the calculations and the Princess pointed them out, but her speed of scanning was too fast.
Shock No. 3: Felix Holm and Ern Muller committed suicide. The Princess watched that scene calmly. I couldn't see her eyes.
Shock No. 4: Mr. Karl said that the sword they were using was an Imperial sword. The hall fell silent. The Princess said, "I enjoyed the view."
Shock No. 5: Young Master Edward stood before the villagers. The Princess stood behind him without saying a word. That scene strangely lingers in my mind. The look in the Princess's eyes as she picked the lock was truly that of a thief. I should ask her to teach me, too.
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