Asha Delmore had already been asleep in her bedroom for a long time, so it was impossible to understand why she still hadn't appeared.
He was so loud about specializing in this kind of thing.
Mary, who was waiting for the man she had hired at her own expense to return, kept glancing around.
'The mistress will be here soon; this is a big problem.'
Considering her past experiences, Yurixella lacked patience.
Mary knew that if she could not satisfy her, there were plenty of maids available to replace her.
'She will replace you immediately if you don't see quick and accurate results. On top of that, you have to be good at currying favor.'
However, the man did not come until Yurizella returned.
In the end, Mary, who had to help Yurizella change her clothes, had no choice but to enter the main room without much success.
"Madam, how is your skin radiating like this again today?"
"Shine? What do you mean it's grimy? I've been scouring the ledgers since this morning, so it's all dry and brittle."
Yurizella seemed to have wondered if her daughter-in-law had raised money by selling the family's jewelry or ornaments.
Unlike usual, she woke up early and carefully scanned the ledger to see if the quantities of valuable items matched the records.
However, naturally, nothing had disappeared.
"But strangely enough, everything that should be there is still exactly as it is. So the question is, how did you make so much money without touching the belongings in this house?"
"Y-You're right. It doesn't make sense."
Mary chimed in.
Then Yurizella asked Mary in a displeased voice.
"So, does that thing make money? Does it earn money through something unpleasant to talk about?"
Mary could not readily speak because Yurizella had a look on her face that seemed to be hoping for that for some reason.
It wasn't that difficult to give her a plausible answer right here and now.
'But if I get caught later...'
Mary knew that, contrary to her appearance, Asha Delmore was quite clever.
'They're probably going to talk back and refute me point by point, but if I do that, I might face a backlash.'
If not, will you honestly answer that you haven't found out yet?
"It looks like you know about it, but you don't seem to have any intention of telling me until the end? Well, if that's the case..."
Yurizella raised his eyebrows and gave a subtle hint.
Mary's eyes widened at those words.
"Ah, no, Madam. Of course I sent someone today to find out where she is going!"
"So where did she go?"
"Today, leaving the young lady behind and going out alone..."
As Mary recalled, the clothes Asha was wearing today were something that could only be purchased at Lombardy's boutique.
Mary also used to go to the shops in Lombardy on holidays to browse because she sometimes wanted to buy such clothes.
'I need to earn at least two months' worth of my salary to survive.'
Seeing that she not only bought such an expensive dress but also went out wearing a jeweled hair pin...
Mary got a job and gave an ambiguous answer.
"It seemed like there was a man."
At those words, Yurizella's eyes sparkled.
"A man? Did that thing meet a man?"
"There's no doubt about it. It looked like she was getting an allowance from that man."
"What?!"
Once a lie was started, it became increasingly exaggerated.
In any case, the Madam is not trying to find this out to drive Asha Delmore out.
She wants to cut off the money supply.
There is no reason to make a big deal out of it; she just needs a justification.
'Anyway, if I just give her a reason to keep me from going outside, the Madam will take care of it herself, and who would listen to Asha Delmore no matter what she says?'
And in the world Mary had seen, such things were commonplace.
It's not entirely unconvincing.
"Since they aren't continuing the relationship with marriage in mind anyway, if you threaten to expose their relationship to everyone, they will meekly obey."
"She must be out of her mind. How can a woman who's been married once have a lover?"
Yurizella shook his head.
"You go find out that man's true identity. That way, she won't be able to deny it."
"Understood."
"It would be a bigger weakness if the other person were married. If not, meeting someone who isn't a noble would be fun."
That would become a scandal.
Yurizella's biggest goal was to somehow strip her daughter-in-law, a free employee she had brought in at a huge cost, of her economic power and keep her confined to the household.
"Th-that's right."
Mary's eyes wavered slightly.
Now, Asha Delmore was in a situation where she had to pretend to have a man even though she didn't.
'But if it doesn't exist, just make it exist.'
If that doesn't work out, you just need to take one of Asha Delmore's personal belongings and hand it over to a convincing actor.
Thinking this, Mary gave a submissive smile to Yurizella in the mirror.
'I'm going to have to follow them myself tomorrow.'
***
The next day, I arrived at the Marquis's mansion hand in hand with Linea.
I was a bit tired because I woke up early in the morning and took care of other business first.
“Asha!”
Seeing Carcel’s face, where the indifferent expression faintly softened the moment he saw me, I felt my fatigue melt away.
"Did you have breakfast?"
Carcel asked me. I nodded.
"I thought we might have a picnic there, so I went out this morning and bought some food separately."
"Actually, I prepared something to eat too because I thought there wouldn't be a restaurant nearby."
As he said that, Carcel pointed with his finger where two carriages were standing.
'Why are there two carriages...?'
Seeing the puzzled look on my face, he continued speaking.
"One is a wagon for us to drive, and the other is a wagon for the servant to drive, loaded with necessary items."
"I didn't mean to let things escalate to this extent..."
"I am aware. However, since Call Six, where that site is located, is quite a distance away, we must prepare as much as possible...It would be better to be thorough.”
Carcel handed me the list he was holding.
"Here is today's schedule and the list of items prepared. Please review them and let me know if there are any issues."
'It's thick.'
Going all this way for just a few hours?
Thinking that, I glanced through the documents and shook my head.
"No, it doesn't look like a problem at all. It's just perfect... Yes."
"If the schedule falls through, we have alternatives 2 and 3, so Asha, please don't worry at all and just come as you are."
"Looking at this schedule, my ego vanished on its own."
Carcel will handle it well on his own.
Anyway, the food Carcel prepared... the portion is huge; I wonder if we'll be really full.
I handed the documents back to Carcel and said goodbye.
"Thank you so much for going to such lengths for us."
"No. If we leave now, the timing should be perfect."
And so, I got into the carriage with Linea.
***
"Linea, we've arrived. Shall we get up now?"
Perhaps tired from getting ready early in the morning, Linea slept with her head on my lap the entire way back.
Carcel and I just smiled softly as we watched the child sleep soundly, then came back without a word.
Linea, who woke up only after finally arriving, felt embarrassed upon realizing she had fallen asleep.
"Sorry."
"No. Was my knee that comfortable?"
At that playful question, Linea just nodded with a shy expression.
As soon as Linea got out of the carriage, she let out a gasp.
"Wow!"
Linea was born in the capital and has lived there ever since.
So you probably have never seen a natural landscape like this.
I shouted at Linea, who was walking ahead.
"Don't go too far! Got it?"
From what I had checked beforehand, it didn't seem like there was anything particularly dangerous here.
Beyond the wide, unkempt field where grass grew thick, a low mountain ridge rising abruptly came into view at a glance.
Carcel also stood beside me and looked around the site together.
“Wow. Really...”
Empty.
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