Chapter 56
Heheh, when I laughed slyly, Heraith, who had just come out after changing clothes, stopped me with a disapproving look.
“Si-si, are you really going to do that?”
“Of course. This is justice in action!”
I raised my fist toward him and shouted with vigor.
“Think of it as cleaning up, like sweeping away leeches who feed off others.”
At the word cleaning, Heraith smiled at me.
“Cleaning? That’s my specialty. Want me to do it? As an experienced professional, I can handle it perfectly.”
“…Your idea of ‘perfect’ is killing, though.”
“What’s the difference between cleaning and killing?”
This guy was hopeless. And he had the nerve to ask me to lift his restrictions?
“You’re weak too. Let me do the cleaning for you.”
It sounded kind if you just listened to the words, but somehow it came across terrifying.
I ignored Heraith on purpose and held out my arm to Ban. Ban jumped up and crossed his arm with mine.
“Cross!”
At our childish act, Heraith shook his head.
“Hmph, jealous much.”
“Yeah, looks like you wish you could join in.”
Ban and I teased Heraith back and forth, but he wasn’t fazed at all.
“If you’re going to do it, start tomorrow. If you keep running around without rest, you’ll collapse.”
The way he worried about me so maturely made me feel embarrassed for teasing him earlier.
“Don’t worry! I took medicine earlier, and I’m overflowing with energy!”
“I’m more afraid you’ll cause trouble because you have too much energy…”
Even after my lively reply, Heraith couldn’t stop worrying.
Late at night, when everyone was asleep.
Ban shook me awake.
“Siena. That guy just left his room.”
“He didn’t budge all day, and now in the middle of the night?”
I rubbed my half-closed eyes and forced myself upright.
“He’s heading to the kitchen.”
“The kitchen? Is he hungry or something…?”
I tilted my head at the random destination, but then frowned at Ban’s next words.
“Nope? He’s stealing plates.”
“That damned thief.”
Of course. I sighed.
“Ban, keep an eye on Frank. Let him steal the plates. But when he tries to head back to his room, signal me.”
“Just watch him?”
“Yeah.”
We crossed our arms again and whispered “Cross” softly, then immediately began our plan.
Once I confirmed Ban flying off toward the kitchen, I tiptoed my way into Frank’s room.
“Where could he have hidden the seal?”
I quickly searched through Frank’s belongings.
“What’s this?”
In the back of a drawer, I found documents and a familiar admission ticket. My eyes narrowed.
“This is the auction house ticket from today?”
Why was this here? Did he originally plan to attend the auction?
A chilling thought struck me.
Don’t tell me… he wanted to bid on the Devil’s Bracelet…?
I crumpled the ticket in a hurry and shifted my gaze to the documents.
“So this is why he clung to the mansion without leaving, no matter what state he was in…”
I crushed the documents as well with all my strength.
“What a real bastard.”
A hollow laugh escaped me.
“Ha. Hahaha.”
As I tilted my head back and laughed, something glittered strangely inside the chandelier.
“…And I find it like this again.”
Muttering bitterly, I dragged a chair over, climbed up, and stretched on tiptoes.
“When I get my health back, the first spell I’m learning is flight.”
Straining in a wobbly stance, my fingertips caught on something.
Clink.
“Got it!”
But something felt wrong. This wasn’t the seal.
Wait… this was—
“My necklace?”
Sure enough, it was my necklace.
I reached in again, and more things kept coming out.
Rings, jewels, earrings, brooches, cufflinks…
A whole collection of valuables poured out.
“Still the same old habit, huh.”
So weak from nightmares, yet he still had the energy to steal?
Seeing jewelry that belonged to both me and Noah made me sigh deeply.
I clicked my tongue and slid the ring back on my finger.
“Let’s just take it all first.”
I wore what I could, stuffed the rest into my pockets, then moved on.
“The seal has to be here somewhere.”
Now that I’d gotten used to it, my pace quickened, and finally, I found it.
“This is it!”
Feeling the ring-shaped seal at my fingertips, I snatched it up quickly.
“He hid it ridiculously well.”
As I lowered myself from tiptoe, I lost my balance.
My body lurched backward.
“Eh? Ehhh!”
I flailed my arms, but it only made me fall faster.
I shut my eyes tight—yet the expected pain never came.
Instead of the hard marble floor, strong arms wrapped around my waist and held me steady.
When I cracked my eyes open, blue ones curved in amusement.
“Feels familiar, doesn’t it?”
“H-Heren?”
“Our Si-si. I told you not to cause trouble, and here you almost broke yourself.”
Awkwardly smiling in his arms, I asked,
“W-What are you doing here…?”
“I heard a suspicious clatter, like a thief broke in, so I came to check…”
He trailed off, then swept his eyes up and down me.
“Didn’t expect to actually find a little thief cat.”
Ten glittering rings and necklaces on my fingers, a bulging pocket, and the seal clutched like my lifeline.
I did look exactly like a thief, though it wasn’t fair.
“These were mine to begin with!”
“Yours?”
“Yes! That bastard stole them and hid them there!”
I pointed furiously at the chandelier. Heraith narrowed his eyes.
“There’s more, isn’t there?”
“That’s just the bit I managed to pull out. You should’ve seen how much was in there.”
I grumbled, venting to Heraith—when footsteps approached.
Already? Ban didn’t send a signal…
Creak—
The door handle turned slowly, like in slow motion. I panicked like a child caught red-handed and clung to Heraith’s neck.
“Hide, hide!”
When I whispered urgently, he muttered in confusion,
“There’s no need to—”
“Just hide!”
With a sigh, Heraith opened the wardrobe and lowered me inside.
For someone reluctant, he moved incredibly fast.
The chair slid quietly back to its place.
Just as Heraith stepped inside and shut the wardrobe doors—
Click. The bedroom door opened.
I held my breath under the heavy pressure and heat.
With two adults crammed into the narrow wardrobe, the slightest movement made our bodies brush and tangle.
Maybe this wasn’t the best hiding spot…
I stayed stiff and silent like a log, watching through the crack. But when I heard a familiar voice, I froze.
“Oh my, my heart can’t take this anymore. What does Frank say?”
“He says we can stop soon. Seems we’ve gathered plenty, so let’s just finish this and head back, my dear.”
Unbelievably, it was the grandparents who had entered the room.
“That Frank brat, where did he run off to when he’s not even well?”
“Probably out working.”
They stepped naturally into Frank’s room, as if it were their own.
And in that moment, I felt it.
Slowly, I stretched toward a crack near the top of the wardrobe. Since it was so high, I could barely peek out even on tiptoe.
When I strained to look, I saw something glittering in their hands.
That’s the gold from the statues in the hallway.
Not just Frank—the grandparents were all in on it together.
Those shameless old crooks…!
I squirmed uncomfortably as I bumped against Heraith, but then he pressed his lips close to my ear.
“Sisi. Hold still.”
I quickly covered his mouth.
“Shh. We’ll get caught.”
He sighed quietly at my soft scolding.
“…This is torture in its own way.”
Muttering something cryptic, Heraith suddenly wrapped his arms tight around my waist.
