A room was given to Mirkena. It was a clean single room with everything one needed.
Marsha, who guided her to the room, handed her a map of the Keilos estate.
It was a map drawn half with falsehoods, but Mirkena didn’t know that.
“The offices and the terrace that Their Highnesses the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess frequently visit are circled, so make sure to look and avoid them.”
“Yes, y-yes!”
“Rest today and start work from tomorrow!”
At Marsha’s booming voice echoing loudly, Mirkena shrank back.
Only after Marsha finished the guidance and left the room was Mirkena able to breathe again.
Plop, she lay down on the bed and hurriedly pulled out the communication magic stone from her bosom.
After checking that there was no one around, Mirkena pulled the blanket over her head and activated the communication magic stone.
Soon, Diana’s image appeared inside the magic stone.
– How did it go?
“I got the job safely. As a maid, though.”
– Well done, well done! I knew you could do it!
How long had it been since she was last praised? Mirkena’s shoulders lifted for no reason.
Diana said with a bright smile.
– First, look around the Grand Duke’s manor to see if there is a skinny man. He won’t be tall like the northerners.
“A man?”
– He isn’t a noble, but you will recognize him when you see him. He has a scar mark on his neck, like something was tied around it and—
“What should I do if I find him?”
– See what he knows and tell me. If there is anything related to the trial, pass that along too. That will be enough.
For some reason, confidence rose at the instructions, which weren’t as difficult as expected.
Mirkena replied that she understood and ended the communication.
Coming out from under the blanket, she unpacked her meager belongings and muttered.
“Naturally, naturally.”
Since it was her first day at the Keilos estate anyway, wouldn’t it be good to walk around, saying she was familiarizing herself with the place?
By the time her thoughts reached that point, Mirkena’s confidence swelled.
After all, hadn’t she managed to deceive even that terrifying nomad and Imperial Princess?
While she hummed to herself and organized her things, the slightly open door quietly closed without Mirkena noticing.
Marsha stared coldly at the door, then, muffling her footsteps, headed toward Liselotte.
***
Mirkena first headed to the office.
Strangely enough, it wasn’t very far from her room.
While peeking around to see if anyone was nearby, she spotted a pair of servants and hurriedly pressed herself against the wall of a side corridor.
The two servants were having a serious conversation between themselves.
“He’s a complete idiot. Can’t speak, just eats, sleeps, and shits all day.”
“How long are they supposed to keep him?”
“I don’t know. The Grand Duchess insists, so what can we do? He’s no different from a beast.”
“What’s the point if he only looks human? Sigh…”
The servants’ words, spoken as they passed by, were unsettling.
Only after they disappeared from the corridor did Mirkena quietly emerge and dash into the office.
The office, which looked like it hadn’t been used for quite a long time, was filled with the stale, musty smell of books.
It was an unremarkable office.
Lots of books, a neatly arranged desk, and a sofa that was old but well maintained. That was all there was.
Mirkena looked around and scrunched up the bridge of her nose.
“What’s here that they told me not to come?”
As she opened the drawers and rummaged through them, she discovered a document envelope labeled “Trial Preparation”.
It was so thick that there was no way she could secretly read it all.
“Is there no table of contents? I feel like I should skim only the important parts…”
Among them, a single sheet slipped out, the only one showing traces of anguish such as underlines and scribbled notes.
It was densely filled with names she had never seen before.
The note written at the very end was chilling.
[Why do all eastern retainers and subjugation force members either die or disappear?]
A chill ran down her spine, and Mirkena slowly went over the names again.
There were some she recognized.
“What? This subjugation force member died too?”
They were people who, within House Gloria, had quietly disappeared for various reasons such as their contracts ending.
When she hurriedly looked up the related documents, she could also see letters from family members or friends stating that they had died.
As she read the letters, her face turned pale.
“Why…? When did they die?”
It wasn’t only subjugation force members. From time to time, servants and maids also appeared on the list.
At the very end, the name Kairi was written.
On a sheet that looked like the attending physician’s diagnostic record, the scars on the neck and the condition were recorded precisely.
“This is the man the young lady is looking for.”
Contrary to expectation, the condition was summarized briefly.
[Unable to speak. Completely lacking the ability to judge and think independently.
Learning ability is markedly low, and there is trauma related to green thread. Shows seizure symptoms.
Special note: Presumed to be a servant who narrowly escaped death and fled from House Gloria.]
Perhaps because of the list she read earlier, Mirkena couldn’t clearly focus on the words.
Forcing the contents into her head, Mirkena returned the documents to their original place and quietly left the office.
Work in the East had been hard, but she had never felt that it was strange.
Diana really had been in poor health, and Duke Gloria was the kind of person one could read at a glance.
Even if his character was somewhat lacking, she had been hired as an aide, so it hadn’t really mattered.
But if lives were at stake, that was a different matter.
“What is this…? Did they really kill people in the East? Why?”
Thinking about it, she asked herself, ‘Why had Lady Diana been looking for that man?’
She had only told her to find him, without even telling Mirkena the reason.
Lost in confusion, Mirkena walked on and before she knew it, she had reached the terrace.
The paths she had memorized from the map were practically limited to the office and the terrace.
When she cautiously glanced toward the openly ajar door, Liselotte was sitting on the terrace, leaning against Eren’s shoulder.
“Eren, eat a cookie.”
“Liselotte, please have it.”
“Do you not want it?”
“…I do not dislike it.”
The conversation was a little strange, but on the surface, they looked like a harmonious couple.
Here she was, so troubled she could die, and they were sitting calmly on the terrace eating dessert.
She felt an odd pang of bitterness, but endured it, thinking she would be dead if she were discovered.
Liselotte let out a sigh and rested the hand entwined with his on Eren’s shoulder.
Propping her chin on it, she stared straight at Eren and asked,
“I am worried. The lawsuit with the East must not proceed too quickly.”
“Is it that disadvantageous?”
“Of course. In truth, there is not much evidence regarding what happened in Gelloa Village.”
“Then why make the claim at all?”
“Because the East will not be able to properly refute it either. If there is no evidence, that means there is no evidence to refute it with.”
Mirkena’s eyes widened as she quietly listened to this conversation.
‘What? Then was all the evidence just a bluff? Is that even allowed?’
From the looks of it, House Keilos seemed to have just as many sly sides as House Gloria.
At that moment, Eren wrapped one arm around Liselotte’s waist.
When their gazes met, Liselotte smiled brightly.
“Am I that pretty? You are staring so hard.”
“I believe I said from the beginning that you are beautiful.”
Feeling as if she had seen something she wasn’t meant to see, Mirkena hurriedly slipped away from the spot.
Though the soft footsteps faded into the distance, Liselotte found it hard to move rashly.
‘We agreed to just act it out roughly…’
She had suggested that they simply exchange the lines previously decided.
Since Eren didn’t have the easygoing personality others did, it was something Liselotte alone needed to manage.
But the act of wrapping an arm around her waist, and this remark just now, had all been unplanned.
Liselotte hesitated at the unscripted, sudden situation.
“Um, Eren. She has gone.”
“I know.”
Though he said he knew, the arm around her waist still held her firmly.
At times, Eren felt unfamiliar. He could seem like a comfortable companion, then suddenly turn into someone who was absolutely not comfortable.
The gap was so large that at times it felt overwhelming to keep up.
The hand resting on her waist bothered her for no reason, and as she straightened her posture, she asked idly,
“Is it because the cookie is too sweet?”
“It is fine.”
“Your expression does not look like it.”
“…I will try to eat sweet things well.”
Was that the kind of thing one could accomplish by trying?
Amusingly, she didn’t dislike that answer. Having adapted even to strongly brewed tea, he seemed like he might conquer cookies as well.
Watching him change bit by bit under her influence gave her a strange feeling.
Liselotte lightly rested her head against his shoulder.
‘Should I just stay at the Grand Duke’s estate like this for good…?’
