Chapter 56
“How is it? Do you like this one?”
Soon, the shop owner appeared, holding a glamorous dress in his hands.
Though still somewhat lacking for attending a noble’s ball, it at least had the basic level of elegance.
This would probably be the finest product the store could produce.
Merriot lightly scanned the dress up and down and chuckled. His impression was similar.
If such a crude dress was the best this shop could offer, then the owner likely had no experience selling to nobles.
Extracting information from a merchant without any backing was an easy task.
“This one’s wearable.”
“Oh my, you have quite the eye, sir. This is the most expensive and finest dress we have in the store. We only made one of them.”
“Try it on.”
Merriot said this to Hera, who was standing there blankly.
Hera’s eyes widened.
“Excuse me?”
“I want to see if it suits you.”
Whether having her try on the dress was some deep strategy of Merriot’s or just a prank to annoy Hera, it was impossible to tell.
Merriot may not have realized it, but putting on a lady’s dress was a cumbersome and time-consuming process.
Hera’s eyes flickered with reluctance, but Merriot deliberately looked away, feigning disinterest.
“He’s trying to bother me…”
Seeing Merriot continually avoid eye contact, his intentions were clear.
Every time they met, Merriot’s mischievousness seemed to grow, which made Hera feel a bit unfairly treated.
Someday, she also wanted to skillfully tease Merriot.
“Madam, this way, please.”
The shop owner smiled brightly and pointed to a small room in the corner of the store.
Hera hesitated but eventually followed the owner into the room.
Merriot, watching Hera’s expression out of the corner of his eye, let out a suppressed laugh.
“Oh, really…”
What was I about to say?
His lips drew a line on their own, then stiffened.
“I’m slowly losing it.”
A sense of scolding filled his mind like a warning alarm.
Would reprimanding him make sure he didn’t make such mistakes again?
Merriot roughly rubbed his face with his hand and stood up abruptly.
Emotions were both an unavoidable ambush and something that could drain away in an instant, like the ebb of a tide.
When Merriot had set his heart on Hera Wintail, he had made a solemn vow to himself.
The day he returned to Central, he would dedicate eternal love to Hera Wintail.
To prevent fleeting emotions from vanishing in vain, he had driven the stake of a vow deep into his heart.
Because of that, Merriot did not trust temporary feelings.
Unsworn emotions were bound to end unsatisfactorily.
His feelings for Emilia Tolin would vanish just as trivially.
Composed, Merriot began to wander through the store.
He had not forgotten his purpose in coming here.
Finding the man who had abused Lina Baker was of utmost importance.
He tapped on the mediocre-quality lace scattered around the store and addressed the shop owner in the room.
It was the typical idle chatter of husbands killing time.
“This place, you know, was recommended by my cousin. I wasn’t sure at first, but it’s quite decent.”
Because of his casual tone, the owner responded without any suspicion.
He even included the usual polite expressions of thanks.
He then helped Hera try on the new dress.
“Thank you, madam. Who might this grateful cousin be? Madam, I’ll tighten the waist for you.”
Like most dresses, the store’s dresses had sleeves, bodices, and skirts that had to be put on separately.
The owner pulled the waist tightly to fit Hera’s size.
Outside, Merriot continued probing the owner with questions.
“Can you tell me? He asked not to reveal his name.”
“Oh, if you tell me, I can return the favor. From what I’ve heard, he seems like a regular customer. Give me a little hint, and I’ll know.”
The owner brought the sleeves to Hera after putting on the bodice.
“Now, the arms.”
The connection between sleeve and bodice was pinned with basting pins. Hera watched silently as the owner skillfully attached the sleeves.
“Hmm—Would this help? A gentleman who brings a girl around six or seven years old to have her clothes fitted, does that ring a bell?”
“…!”
Just as the last pin was placed on the left sleeve, the owner froze at Merriot’s question.
‘His hands stopped.’
The hands that had been moving smoothly now stiffened like a statue, even trembling slightly.
Hera noticed the owner’s face had turned pale.
“Oh my… ha… haha… who was that again…”
The owner stammered while glancing at Hera.
Then, he began to remove the pins he had painstakingly placed.
“I’m terribly sorry, madam, but I don’t remember anyone like that. We only sell clothes for ladies.”
“What?”
The owner lied blatantly to Merriot.
The lie might work on Merriot outside, but it was futile with Hera watching directly.
Hera, recognizing the falsehood, became certain.
This person knew who had abused Lina.
And very precisely.
“Madam, the dress doesn’t fit well, so you won’t be able to try it all on today. If you give me a few days, I’ll adjust the size.”
The owner hurriedly removed the pins while making a flimsy excuse to Hera.
At the same time, her eyes kept darting toward the back of the room.
Following her gaze, the back door became visible.
‘There’s a back door. She plans to escape from us.’
The owner intended to flee.
She knew that Hera, still partially dressed, could not follow her outside, so her attention was fully on Merriot outside.
But she had no idea how desperate Hera was.
Or how furious she was over the suffering of the poor girl.
“So, please come back another day…”
When the owner removed the last pin, Hera deliberately touched it.
The rough movement cut her palm.
Hera cried out loudly in pain.
“Ah!”
“My goodness! Madam! You’re bleeding!”
The owner, seeing the blood in Hera’s palm, was startled and forgot to run to the back door, checking the wound instead.
Then the door swung open.
“Emilia! What happened?”
Merriot, rushing in thinking something had happened to Hera, drew in a breath at the sight of her bare arm, sleeveless.
Hera’s gaze held him, stopping him from turning away in surprise.
She was saying with her eyes: she had intentionally lured Merriot into the room.
Hera whipped her head back.
The back door was now visible to Merriot too.
That brief movement conveyed her intention perfectly.
Even the owner could not have missed the exchanged glances between Merriot and Hera.
She quickly moved toward the back door, but Merriot’s step was faster.
“Where do you think you’re going!”
“Ugh!”
Merriot grabbed the nape of the owner’s neck and forced her to the floor.
Then he glared down at her with a domineering gaze.
“A mouth that doesn’t open for money, huh? I’m really curious about your identity.”
“Count Chelsning’s heir?”
Merriot brought the shop owner, Joy Beck, to the Loranga mansion.
As with the agent from Under Bridge, he locked her in the underground prison.
Since she could speak at any moment, Merriot wanted to send Hera back to Tolinga first.
Naturally, Hera resisted and insisted on following him to the Loranga mansion.
Only after Merriot promised to tell her immediately once they knew the culprit did Hera return home.
The interrogation was entrusted to Hendrik.
Several hours later, deep into the night, he came upstairs to report the culprit’s name to Merriot.
“Yes. The third, Paul Chelsning. He is seventeen now and has an excellent reputation in society.”
Shane, who had been in the underground prison with Hendrik, had already completed an investigation into Paul Chelsning.
He provided additional explanation with the competence of a capable aide.
“According to the clothing store owner, he brought quite a few others besides Lina.”
“Most disappeared within a year. The signs of abuse on the children’s bodies were witnessed multiple times in the changing rooms.”
Hendrik and Shane shared the information back and forth.
“Ha…”
Merriot pressed a large hand to his temple and let out a deep sigh.
Joy Beck’s testimony confirmed it.
Paul Chelsning had indeed abused the illegitimate children being “handled” at Under Bridge
