Chapter 57
No, to be precise, he must have started the “handling of illegitimate children” in order to abuse young children.
“So that’s why he was so careful because he was the count’s son.”
Just the third son of a count.
To Merriot, he was a being of no value at all, but to commoners running a clothing store in Biflat targeting the middle class, he would have been a figure to fear.
Merriot finished the report and watched Hendrik, who looked smug, and let out a small laugh.
He had a face like a puppy waiting to be praised.
“How did you get him to talk?”
“When I threatened to poke him with a needle, he spoke. Familiar pain is always scarier, you see.”
Merriot nodded, impressed.
Hendrik added a last detail he had nearly forgotten.
“Oh, and I set a condition. I asked that Paul Chelsning be thrown in jail without fail.”
He must be afraid of retaliation.
It was a reasonable demand from an informant’s position.
Paul Chelsning’s crimes deserved proper punishment. Making that happen wasn’t particularly difficult.
The problem was his family.
“Of all people, the Chelsning family… this complicates things.”
The Chelsning family, unlike the anciently established Wintail counts, was neutral in a different sense.
Especially regarding wolf hunting, they were the only high-ranking noble family that never took anyone’s side, and that policy remained intact to this day.
So, if Merriot pushed the third son as a heinous criminal, Count Chelsning would almost certainly stand against him.
At a critical time like this, it could be an irreversible mistake.
But he couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.
This deranged man must pay for his sins.
“Lord Shane. A letter has arrived from His Grace the Duke.”
At that moment, a servant from Loranga appeared, holding a letter.
The letter handed to Shane was in a neat white envelope, giving a very personal, rather than official, impression.
Shane opened it and skimmed its contents with his eyes.
With a reluctant expression, he summarized the letter to Merriot.
“Lady Emilia Tollen is curious about the progress.”
She’s impatient too.
Merriot’s lips curled into a smile. She must have been waiting all day for Merriot’s message and, unable to hold back, sent a letter first.
Thinking of Hera, pacing anxiously, Merriot’s smile widened naturally.
Next to the smiling Merriot, Hendrik fidgeted like a puppy who had discovered a treat.
“Make sure to write that I uncovered it!”
“You do have a bit of a desire to show off, don’t you?”
“Hehe.”
Merriot raised his hand to call a distant servant.
He intended to have them bring writing paper and a quill.
He had already been planning to write to the Tollen family.
After all, she was the main protagonist in solving this case and had the right to know who the culprit was.
Shane, reading Merriot’s thoughts perfectly, spoke with a displeased tone.
“Are you thinking of telling her that the Chelsning heir abused Lina Baker?”
Having worked alongside Shane for many years, Merriot immediately recognized his displeasure.
He stopped calling the servant and turned his gaze to Shane.
Shane tilted his head arrogantly, wearing a defiant expression.
“What’s your problem?”
“Your Highness has grown too gentle lately. Especially toward Lady Emilia.”
“What did you say?”
“You seem to forget that the Tollen family serves the Crown Prince.”
For a moment, Merriot was speechless—Shane had pierced the truth too honestly.
“I suppose there’s no ‘beating around the bush’ in a good aide’s principles?”
Merriot tried jokingly to ease the tension.
If he started a conversation about Shane and Emilia Tollen, Shane’s emotions would be laid bare. Merriot desperately wanted to change the topic.
But that only fueled Shane’s irritation.
From when they went to the Under Bridge, Merriot had sensed something was off, and now even just hearing Tollen’s daughter’s name softened Shane’s expression.
That woman would ultimately be Merriot’s Achilles’ heel.
She would make him a foolish moderate, ensnared in contradictions, wearing him down.
Shane had no intention of serving such a master.
He deliberately provoked Merriot’s sore spot.
He did not wish to stay another moment beside a hopeless master who would not awaken on his own.
“Your Highness was more straightforward when you loved a patient.”
“Shane!”
When Shane referred to the late Hera Wintail, Hendrik cried out his name like a scream.
Though Hendrik had stayed away from Merriot since the wolf hunt, he knew of Merriot’s feelings toward the Wintail heiress.
He knew how desperate Merriot had been when he learned she had died.
Thus, Shane had crossed a line far beyond acceptable.
Hendrik glanced at Merriot’s face—it was twisted with fury.
Was this the look that could kill a man with a glance? It seemed so.
Hendrik trembled, glancing back and forth between Merriot and Shane.
Shane spoke to him.
“Don’t worry, Lord Poi. I’m fine. When I swore loyalty to His Highness, I set just one condition: that no matter what I say, he promises never to harm me.”
Shane, facing Merriot’s anger without averting his eyes, turned his body.
“Cool your head.”
He left Merriot’s room.
Merriot slumped onto the sofa behind him.
The spacious room was filled with the chilling anger radiating from Merriot.
Hendrik, standing in front of him, hunched his shoulders and spoke as quietly as possible.
He wanted to get away from Merriot as quickly as he could.
“Then I’ll… leave too—”
“Sit.”
“Y-yes.”
Hendrik sat rigidly next to Merriot.
For a long time, Merriot said nothing.
Cold sweat ran down Hendrik’s back.
Finally, Merriot let out a long sigh.
The anger toward Shane had vanished from his expression.
“Shane is right.”
Shane Darius was the sharpest person Merriot had ever met, but he was also the one who understood Merriot best.
More than his competence as an aide, that was the main reason Merriot kept him close.
And now Shane was warning him.
That Merriot’s mind was already unsettled.
“The Chelsning family still maintains neutrality. If you tell Emilia Tollen the truth, you’ll hand her a reason to drive a wedge between me and Count Chelsning.”
She was still an unknown variable.
Even using the word “still” implied Merriot was already trapped.
To the daughter of Ober Tollen, even calling her a variable was generous.
The Tollen children were like poison to Merriot.
“I know… but why—”
Hendrik, seeing Merriot’s troubled expression, naively spoke the obvious answer.
“That’s because Your Highness… has feelings for Miss Emilia…”
“Shut your mouth.”
“….”
“Nothing like that will ever happen.”
It was more a vow than a prophecy.
A promise to himself, to remain vigilant.
“The problem is… who can accuse Paul Chelsning in my place?”
Merriot could not step into the forefront.
He returned to the same dilemma: how to punish Count Chelsning’s son without earning the Count’s enmity.
Lost in thought, Merriot remembered someone.
“Perhaps I should ask a drinking buddy for help.”
The Phantom of the Blue Rose.
The next day, Cecilia hosted a tea party.
The Tollen garden was bustling once more.
Amidst the chatter and laughter, Hera’s mind was elsewhere.
Had the clothing store owner confessed what he knew?
“Miss, a letter has arrived.”
The butler handed her the awaited letter.
Hera tore it open anxiously and read through the contents carefully.
Her expression soon filled with disappointment.
