~Chapter 74~
‘This is Aska, the young master.’
Since he’s the Duke’s son, Philippa naturally recognized his face.
Her gaze shifted to the handsome man with red hair sitting next to him. He already had a strong presence, but the scar over his right eye made him even more intimidating.
‘This is the investigator from the Investigation Bureau.’
Honestly, he looked more like a criminal than an investigator. He would definitely be effective during interrogations.
But the biggest shock was the last man.
‘The Crown Prince…’
Looking into his bright blue eyes, Philippa felt a little dizzy.
How did I end up here?
“What was it you wanted to ask me…?”
“Has anyone else asked Relshiz for a meeting? Have there been any suspicious contacts at the mansion?”
“Suspicious contacts? Could you be more specific?”
“Something written in code, or using a strange alias.”
“Hm…”
Sorting through the mail was part of Philippa’s duties, but nothing really stood out. Relshiz didn’t receive many letters since she didn’t interact much with others. The only recent visitor was Irene from the Fletcher family.
“So why should I tell you about that?”
Philippa gathered her thoughts and smiled brightly.
“If I were to sell my master’s personal information, I’d be a terrible maid. A good maid doesn’t fall for such temptations or threats. Even if it’s Aska, I won’t make an exception.”
“…”
“Hehe, I won’t tell Relshiz about today, but if you ask the same thing next time, I’ll report it.”
With that, Philippa stood up.
“Excuse me, I’ll take my leave now!”
With a cheerful goodbye, Philippa walked away, leaving the three men staring after her.
“This is not easy.”
Felix messed up his hair in frustration.
“What about the kid? Won’t she answer if we ask her?”
“It’s better not to ask Shiz. She seems to have some trauma.”
“Did you ask her?”
“Once. She turned pale and was trembling. From her reaction, it doesn’t seem like he was a good dad.”
Felix cursed under his breath at Aska’s answer.
Meanwhile, Reyester calmly thought things over.
Despite frequent visits to the mansion, it didn’t seem like Relshiz had anyone she communicated with regularly.
Now, Philippa was ruled out as a suspect. That left only Shiz, but they couldn’t ask her directly.
Reyester snapped his fingers.
“How about this method?”
***
Later
For the first time in a while, Relshiz’s ‘rivals’ happily entertained young Shiz.
“Alright, Shiz. Draw the bravest warrior in the world.”
At Reyester’s words, Shiz looked thoughtful.
“Hmm, a warrior, huh?”
Shiz immediately got to work, drawing a warrior with red hair and yellow eyes.
“Wow, that’s a great drawing. How about drawing a magician next?”
“Okay!”
Shiz quickly drew a magician with white hair and purple eyes. Aska and Felix, who had been watching secretly, silently laughed.
“It’s cute that she’s having fun, but do you think this will lead to a clue?”
Felix had a skeptical look on his face, unsure of Reyester’s approach.
“I think she’s drawing what she’s seen unconsciously. Let me see the warrior picture.”
“…Ah.”
Red hair, yellow eyes. Upon closer inspection, there was even a scar over the right eye.
Felix realized the warrior Shiz had drawn resembled him and his mouth dropped open.
“Ha, so I’m the warrior, huh?”
Meanwhile, the experienced Reyester moved on to the next stage.
“How about drawing a scary monster this time?”
Shiz’s eyes wavered at Reyester’s suggestion.
“A monster? Monsters are scary…”
“It’s okay. You already drew the warrior and magician here.”
“Then, will the warrior and magician beat the monster?”
“Of course.”
Encouraged by Reyester’s words, Shiz drew a tangled mess of green lines on the white paper.
The three men, hoping for a clue about her real father, were quickly disappointed.
“Wow, that’s great! What kind of monster is this?”
“A grass monster!”
“It doesn’t seem like a clue at all.”
“I thought it might work…”
Reyester’s ambitious plan came to nothing.
While Shiz was having fun drawing, Aska, Felix, and Reyester sat down with tired expressions.
“Hehe, hehe.”
Shiz quickly finished one drawing after another. Felix approached her, picked up one of the drawings, and asked:
“What’s this? A rock?”
“That’s an elephant.”
“Oh, and this one. A cat?”
“It’s a tiger…”
“Mi-Mi, sorry. I definitely know what this is. A pill bug, right?”
“No, it’s a frog…”
Shiz looked up at Felix as if she was about to cry.
“Am I drawing it wrong…?”
“No, no! It’s just my eyes! I must have something in them!”
While the investigator was busy comforting Shiz, Aska slowly looked through the pictures she’d made.
‘I wonder if liking to draw runs in the family.’
Aska recalled Relshiz from her childhood, drawing little animals like rabbits and bears on the corners of paper.
He had tried drawing a few times too, but when the Duchess found out, she cried.
‘Our son drew doodles for the first time…!’
Hmm, she sure did cry a lot.
As Aska flipped through the drawings, he suddenly paused and found something unusual.
There was a drawing of an adult woman with milky hair and green eyes, and next to her, a child who looked like a miniature version of her.
And next to them…
Aska’s eyes grew colder.
Next to the woman and child, there was a man with black hair.
It didn’t seem like he was drawn to represent Aska, Felix, Reyester, or even Philippa.
Aska’s eyes narrowed, and he immediately voiced his question.
“Shiz, what’s this you drew?”
“Oh, that’s my family…”
Shiz looked at the picture Aska held out and was about to say something, but then she flinched in surprise.
“It’s, it’s a mistake…”
“…Really?”
“Yeah, give it back. I’m going to throw it away.”
Shiz snatched the paper back, folded it tightly, and hid it among other papers.
Aska didn’t take his eyes off it and made a mental note of where she hid it.
***
Later
This was really a sight to behold.
“Did you just arrive, Rel?”
“The magician, what took you so long?”
“Yeah, you left the kid all alone?”
“…”
Words almost escaped my throat. If it wasn’t for the kid and the royal guy being the only ones missing, I’d have let it all out.
The three big men crowded in, making the reception room feel unusually small.
“Why are you all gathered here? Don’t you have work? It feels like you’re here every day…”
Aska immediately answered, as if to reassure me.
“I’m working from home for a while.”
“Why?”
“I finished all the important tasks, and I was supposed to teach magic, but I can’t focus if the teacher’s distracted.”
“Your main job isn’t being Shiz’s tutor; you’re the Dawn Tower Master, Aska Willovis…”
That lousy teacher doesn’t even teach magic properly anymore. He says forcing her isn’t good and keeps teaching her ‘tricks’—bad habits.
I barely stopped myself from grabbing his collar when Felix interrupted.
“I’m on vacation starting today. I just finished training.”
“Well, if you’re on vacation, why are you here?”
Felix looked at me like I was the one who didn’t understand.
“I’m spending my vacation here.”
“So why here…?”
Ugh, I could only pound my chest in frustration.
I shot a resentful look at the last person. Leyester smiled, using his pretty face to the fullest.
“I’m just free.”
You used to spend all that free time flirting with women! Why don’t you do that anymore?
