Chapter 127…
Tession, who had been watching Cynthia with his chin propped up, opened his mouth.
“Isn’t there anyone else you can ask instead?”
“At the Bailey estate? I don’t know anyone with green eyes.”
“What about the one who came yesterday?”
The one who came yesterday…?
“You mean Dale? Dale, the Bailey estate’s loyal watchdog, would never do such a favor!”
“Watchdog?”
Tession repeated her words at Cynthia’s casual reply.
Oh. Was that too harsh? Even if it’s true, maybe she shouldn’t have called someone else’s family butler a watchdog… Cynthia wondered if she had misspoken, but Tession looked unexpectedly pleased hearing her talk about Dale that way.
“You’re right, you shouldn’t ask a watchdog for something like that.”
“Huh? But I think there actually is someone who could help!”
At that moment, someone else from the Bailey estate flashed through Cynthia’s mind. Someone she was somewhat close to—someone who hated the Baileys and was always ready to betray them at any moment.
Cynthia turned to Tession and exclaimed,
“Can you send someone to the Bailey estate for me?”
A few days later, heavily disguised, Cynthia left the Grand Duke Lumanov’s residence. Wearing a large hat that concealed her face, a black wig she hadn’t worn in ages, and a lavish dress even Elizabeth never wore, she boarded the carriage under the protection of the knights Tession had assigned her. As soon as the door closed, she took off the stifling hat.
“Whew…!”
It felt excessive… but it was necessary.
According to Tession, not only Rikaion but also the Baileys were targeting her.
“I still don’t know why I suddenly became a target again…”
Leaning back in the carriage, she recalled the events from a few days earlier.
The person she had thought to ask for help from the Bailey estate was none other than Violet. With Tession’s assistance, Cynthia had sent Violet a request for help, and Violet had gladly agreed.
Couldn’t she come to the Lumanov estate instead?
Tession had asked when he first received Violet’s note.
But Violet, being a member of the Bailey household, dropping by the Grand Duke’s residence would be suspicious no matter how you looked at it. Cynthia feared Violet might become endangered by the association.
No! Violet must only look like she left the estate to meet a hometown friend!
It wasn’t enough that Violet had agreed to the dangerous task of searching Elizabeth’s room—Cynthia refused to put her in further danger.
Thus Cynthia was now disguised as Violet’s hometown friend, on her way to meet her at a restaurant in the capital.
“Are you sure you’ll be all right going alone?”
From outside the carriage window, Tession peeked in. Cynthia turned her head.
“I’m not alone. How many knights did you even assign me?”
“They’re there in case of emergency.”
“But with all these knights, I’ll stand out way too much! You will stay hidden when I meet Violet, right?”
“I will instruct them to do so.”
Tession looked uneasy.
Cynthia smiled at him.
“Your Grace, don’t worry! I’ll meet Violet, get the diary, and come right back!”
“…All right.”
Still looking anxious, he finally stepped away from the window and ordered the coachman to depart. The carriage headed into the city.
Later, Cynthia stepped off in front of a restaurant and discreetly looked around before entering. Having pretended to be Elizabeth so often, she slipped inside without drawing attention.
“Over here!”
Violet, who had arrived earlier, waved at her. Seeing her familiar face, Cynthia beamed and hurried to her seat.
“Violet!!”
“It’s been so long! How have you been?”
“Great! And you?”
Cynthia grabbed Violet’s hands and bounced in excitement. She genuinely felt like she was meeting an old friend. Violet seemed to feel the same, and after clinging to each other for a while, they finally sat down.
Lowering her voice, Violet whispered:
“After you left, working at the Bailey estate has been so boring.”
“Really?”
“There was no one left to gossip about Lord Dale with! I felt so empty.”
“Hahaha, sounds like Dale is still the same as ever.”
Cynthia chuckled.
Violet reached into her bag and pulled out a small notebook.
“This is what you were looking for, right?”
Cynthia gazed at the notebook Violet placed on the table. Its cover had a single rose drawn on it, with the name Elizabeth Bailey written underneath. It was indeed Elizabeth’s diary.
“Yes, that’s it! Thank you, Violet.”
“Oh, it was nothing. I’m the only one who cleans Lady Elizabeth’s room anyway, so it wasn’t hard. But just like you said… it wasn’t on the desk.”
“Oh, really?”
“No. It was hidden deep in a drawer, so it was harder to find than I thought. But how did you even know such a notebook existed?”
Cynthia blinked. Had she remembered wrong? She was certain it had been lying openly on the desk…
“Maybe I remembered wrong!”
Perhaps someone moved it. Cynthia didn’t think much of it and tucked the notebook away.
“If you need anything else, just let me know.”
“That’s reassuring. But I can’t put you in more danger—if I need anything else, I’ll just make Dale do it!”
She had said it half-jokingly, but Violet’s eyes widened in shock.
“Oh my, you didn’t know? Lord Dale quit a few days ago.”
“What?”
Quit what?
Dale quit his job as a butler at the Bailey estate? Dale, who might as well have been born serving the Baileys, quit?
And this was the same man who showed up at the Grand Duke’s residence just a few days ago on the Duke’s orders. Why would someone so loyal suddenly quit?
“Suddenly? Did he say where he was going?”
“He left so quickly I didn’t even get to say goodbye. The whole Bailey estate was shocked. No one expected Lord Dale to quit like that.”
“I’m shocked too.”
“They say he quit, but no one saw him leave… Honestly, I don’t even know if he really quit.”
Cynthia blinked.
No one saw him leave? Something felt off.
“Don’t tell me he got kicked out for scolding the Duke again?”
“If that were going to happen, it would’ve happened long ago.”
“That’s true…”
Cynthia bowed her head, troubled. She couldn’t believe Dale had quit the only job he’d ever known—and vanished so abruptly he hadn’t even said goodbye to Violet.
Surely nothing bad happened to him… right?
Seeing her expression darken, Violet quickly spoke:
“Cynthia! You can’t look so gloomy when you’re here to meet your hometown friend!”
“Oh—right!”
Cynthia snapped out of it. Who knew who might be watching here?
She shoved thoughts of Dale aside and smiled at Violet.
“Should we get something to eat first?”
“Let’s do that!”
Violet raised a hand to call over the waiter standing by the wall.
That evening, Cynthia returned safely to the Grand Duke’s residence. She sat at her desk staring at Elizabeth’s diary.
Gulp. She swallowed and opened the cover.
Inside the front page, on a sheet of ivory paper, was Elizabeth’s neat handwriting.
<Record of Suspicious Incidents>
Huh? What’s this?
Cynthia flipped the cover back to double-check.
“This isn’t a diary?”
It had been on the desk, it had her name written on it—so Cynthia assumed it was a diary. But the contents were strange. Record of suspicious incidents?
Puzzled, she opened it again and read.
<Record of Suspicious Incidents>
Aurora Dowdna: Fall
Sebastian Kate: Food poisoning
Gwen MacKinnon: Drowning
…
What on earth is this?
