Chapter 17. The Suspicious Arsonist and the Investigator
Adan walked quickly toward her, eyes blazing, and reached out as if to grab her right away. He clearly meant to arrest her and make her confess.
‘But the real criminals are over there.’
Everett felt a little unfairly accused.
“Let’s just talk,” she said calmly.
She raised both hands. She didn’t want to make Adan any angrier.
‘No need to upset an investigator. He might be as persistent as that other man.’
She hated trouble. Glancing at the butler who had collapsed nearby, Everett thought maybe she could turn this situation to her advantage.
“I didn’t burn everything,” she said.
“Enough talk. Come here,” Adan said sharply, striding closer.
“If a handsome man says that, it makes me want to go,” Everett teased.
“Are you joking with me right now?”
“It means I just want you to listen to my story. But since words don’t work, I’ll just have to show you.”
Before he could grab her, Everett darted into the alley.
There, a large cart filled with hay was parked. Everett reached into the hay and slapped someone awake.
“Hey, it’s time to get up.”
The hay rustled, and someone slowly sat up — it was Maxim, covered in straw.
“Huh? Is this heaven?” he mumbled.
Everett dragged him out of the hay and handed him a water bottle.
“You probably breathed in a lot of smoke. Drink this.”
“So this is real life… I didn’t die? I—I fell from up there!”
He pointed at the third floor of the burned building, legs shaking.
Adan stepped forward, frowning.
“So you two planned this together.”
Maxim saw him and quickly hid behind the cart.
Everett picked up a bag that had fallen off the cart and tossed it to Adan’s feet. The heavy bag landed on his shoe.
“That’s money,” she said. “The money from the townspeople you accused me of burning.”
And that wasn’t all.
Another bag nearby was filled with ledgers — books the butler had thrown out before the fire.
“These books record who borrowed money, how much interest they paid, and…” Everett paused, “even the names of those who had their ears cut off or were sold as slaves.”
She handed all of it to Adan.
“Don’t bother arresting me. Just take these instead.”
“Are you playing hero now?” Adan snapped. “Do you think just returning the money makes everything okay?”
“Then what? Should I find someone powerful to protect me?”
He didn’t answer, but his silence said enough.
“Oh, I see. You want to go after the people behind all this. Perfect,” Everett said with a grin. “I stirred the hive, so now the angry queen bee will come out soon.”
She pressed the ledgers into his hands, then opened another bag and pulled out a few bills — the amount Maxim had borrowed. She took back only the unfair interest. The rest she dropped at Adan’s feet.
“We both benefit,” she said lightly. “You get what you want, and I get what I need.”
“So you cause the trouble and dump the mess on me?”
“I took my share of money. You’ll get your connection to the people in power.”
She shrugged and waved the small amount in her hand — just 400 francs.
‘Four hundred francs?’ Adan thought, confused. ‘She caused all this for less than the price of that dress?’
He couldn’t understand her at all.
“You think I’ll just let you go?” he asked.
“Well… unless you have a lot of free time,” she replied with a smile.
Adan’s eyebrows twitched in irritation.
Just then, Broad, who had followed behind, stopped when he saw Adan’s expression — and the man lying unconscious on the ground. It was clearly Adan’s doing.
‘Now what?’ Broad thought.
Burning a place under investigation was one thing — but burning the merchant hall itself? Adan would definitely arrest her for that.
‘And she’s from the Fellum family too!’
This was bad.
But while Broad was panicking, Everett said something that made Adan’s eyes darken.
“If it were me,” she said, “instead of wasting time on this one merchant hall, I’d tell the high officials to change the laws about loan sharks. And maybe fix the law that lets nobles like me burn a place down without punishment.”
“Laws that… let you get away with it?” Adan repeated coldly.
“Yes. The laws are so sloppy it’s pathetic. That’s why this country’s a mess. Thanks to that, people like me — the shameless ones — can do whatever we want.”
She was clearly blaming the empire — and people like him — for all of it.
Broad’s hands grew sweaty. Any moment now, Adan might twist her arm or grab her throat.
But surprisingly, Adan did nothing.
He just stood there, watching Everett and her group walk away. He watched until she disappeared into the dark alley.
“…Hedia, was it?” he murmured quietly.
Broad blinked in shock. Adan was remembering her name — the red-haired noblewoman’s name.
“Yes! That’s right. With red hair — Lady Hedia of the Antieu family,” Broad answered quickly.
Adan turned around, fire burning in his eyes.
“I can’t arrest her,” he said. “Not yet.”
Later, Everett returned quickly to the mansion after finishing everything in Olberito.
As soon as she arrived, she went searching for one of the maids. She remembered every maid’s face and name, so she quickly found the one she wanted — a maid with similar hair color and height. Everett brought her back to her room.
Evening came.
It was the first family dinner Everett attended since returning to the Fellum mansion.
“What the—what’s that doing here?”
Cedar, the second son of the Fellum family, spoke the moment he saw her enter the dining room.
“Are my eyes playing tricks on me?”
Cedar Fellum, Everett’s second older brother, blinked several times. The thin face, the familiar features — it was definitely Everett. But he hadn’t seen her for years.
‘Why is she here? Is this a ghost? A spirit?’
Yet she sat calmly at the end of the table, as if she belonged there, waiting for dinner.
Once Cedar realized she was real, he pointed his fork at her.
“What is she doing here? Why is she sitting with us?”
Charlotte hurried over to smooth things over — since she was the one who had arranged it.
“What do you mean, Cedar? That’s Everett. She’s part of the family now, so she’ll be dining with us from now on.”
“Since when was that thing family? I just lost my appetite.”
Cedar glared at Everett. Even after all these years, he still spoke harshly to her.
“There was a time I felt sorry for you,” he said coldly, “but now, when I see you, I just think of Mother losing her mind. You should’ve just died with her.”
Cedar had always been the cruelest to her — yelling, throwing things, mocking her. Time hadn’t changed that.
“Get out,” he snapped.
He threw an apple at her. Everett tilted her head slightly, dodging it. Normally she would’ve let it hit her — but not this time. There was no reason to.
“Who told you to dodge?” Cedar shouted.
“Stop playing with food. You’re not a child,” Everett replied calmly.
“What? You want to die?”
He threw another apple. It hit the wall, juice splattering onto Everett’s hair and face.
Pfft.
Hedia, sitting nearby, couldn’t hold back a laugh. She brought a napkin and began gently wiping Everett’s face.
“Why are you helping her?” Cedar growled. “Leave her alone.”
Hedia smiled sweetly and replied — but not in their language.
[Brother Cedar, don’t be too harsh on her,] she said in Hantsvillean, the language of the rich kingdom of Hantsville, which traded often with Bastafa. Nobles sometimes used it when they wanted to speak privately.
Of course, Everett didn’t understand a word.
[After all, she’ll soon be married off to some old, greedy man once her basic education ends, won’t she?]
She smiled like a flower as she said it — beautiful, but cruel.
