Episode 62. The hidden truth
Upon a little reflection, there were many aspects that could be unsettling.
In fact, a hair was enough to threaten Odette.
It would be enough to make her agitated and anxious.
Even if he only had Ellie’s presence in his hand, it wouldn’t have been difficult to threaten Odette.
‘But Blake has prepared a lot of things.’
The chessboard. And the story about Cedric.
None of this was really necessary.
Especially considering what Blake had said today, revealing himself to be the mastermind behind problems across the Empire.
Blake had shown a bit of his own hand in order to intimidate Odette.
‘He wasn’t trying to persuade or coax me. It’s excessive for mere intimidation.’
As he said, he was being excessively kind.
– Can’t you see how kind I am being right now?
Right here.
‘This was the clue.’
A clue that Blake is adding excessive explanations to tell a lie.
Odette doesn’t know what’s going on with Ellie right now anyway.
So, Blake created the situation appropriately through the chessboard and created confusion for Odette through the hair in the envelope.
Only after that did the story about Cedric come up.
‘By showing a little bit of his own cards.’
Only the truth can deceive people.
People tend to believe that anything said by a person who is telling the truth must be true.
Mixing in some truth can make lies seem more believable.
Besides, using Cedric would increase Odette’s anxiety, so the risk of losing this much was worth the reward.
By lying to Odette and making her feel uneasy and confused, the slightest impulse would lead her right into the trap.
Despite the uneasiness that made her stomach churn as if she might vomit at any moment, her mind was suddenly clear.
‘If this hypothesis is correct…….’
There was only one thing Blake could be lying about.
Odette squeezed her hands. She looked Blake in the eye and said.
“Blake.”
“Speak.”
“Your promise to spare Ellie’s life is a lie, isn’t it?”
Odette’s unexpected words seemed to catch Blake off guard. Blake’s face stiffened.
But he immediately laughed and responded.
“You may think poorly of me, but that’s going too far. No matter what, breaking a promise is-“
“No.”
Odette’s stern voice cut off Blake’s words.
There was only one truth that Blake could fake in the first place.
The only premise on which this entire situation can be constructed.
“You don’t have Ellie with you.”
This was Blake’s lie.
* * *
Chirp.
The candle held between gloved fingers went out with a sound of defiance.
‘Is this the last?’
Philip, Duke Ertmann’s butler, looked back at the rooms he had turned off and checked to see if there were any rooms where the lights had not been turned off.
Despite the habitual check, Philip knew without a doubt that he hadn’t missed any rooms.
Turning out the lights at the Duke’s residence was something he had been doing for decades, even before he became Ertmann’s butler, following in his father’s footsteps.
‘Though I’m old enough to have someone else do it now.’
Having done it for so long, it felt incomplete to finish a day without extinguishing the lights in Duchy of Ertmann.
So, Philip vaguely guessed that he would continue until he passed the position of the butler of Duke Ertmann’s residence to his child. As people aged, they tended to dislike change.
‘No, but I don’t dislike change that much.’
The old butler, thinking about his stubbornness, smiled inwardly and took the lantern.
The reason that made him smile was the newly appointed hostess in the Ertmann Duchy.
The Fourth Princess, Odette. She had become the talk of the town by her constant flirtations with his master, Walter.
The Duchy of Erdmann, who had not had a mistress for a long time, had welcomed Odette’s presence as mistress with open arms.
However, it would be a lie if Philip would say that he did not feel anxious or worried while welcoming Odette.
‘Since she was a Princess, I thought she might be a troublesome person.’
Philip himself had been devoted to Ertmann for a very long time, and he came from a family of vassals who had served Ertmann for generations, so he had the intention to serve Ertmann wholeheartedly no matter who became his new mistress.
However, not all the servants had the same level of loyalty.
Therefore, there was a tendency among employees to secretly look forward to a new hostess but also secretly look down on it.
– The new hostess, I heard she’s a Princess. Do you think she’ll be pleased with this?
– I don’t know, but picking a fight might not be the best idea.
– My cousin, who works at the palace, says the royals are very demanding. The Third Princess often shatters her rooms at the slightest provocation. What if the Fourth Princess has a similar temperament?
– What can we do? I can’t bear to witness such scenes. Haven’t you heard? We might end up roaming the mansion barefoot if things go south here.
Either afraid or reluctant. Although the direction was different, in summary it was similar.
‘It’s a disgrace, territoriality.’
Most of Ertmann’s servants had worked here for more than a decade.
Naturally, their bonds were strong, and replacing them with someone else now felt awkward.
Moreover, because Walter, the master of the manor, being so aloof and uninterested in the mansion’s interior, the servants’ sentiments had subtly become lax over time.
Philip was aware of this but chose not to control it.
‘If I intervene, they might rebel.’
Subtly, he also wanted to observe who the new hostess would be.
The long absence of the hostess was a welcome one, but it also raised expectations for the new hostess.
Philip wanted to see how Odette would react to the impatience of her servant.
‘I was planning to step in if it went too far.’
The expectation was that a wise hostess would deal with it before it got out of hand.
And surprisingly, this expectation disappeared quickly.
– The Madam, she seems easy to serve.
– Well, she’s not the Madam yet.
– Ah, come on! If she’s so close with the master, it’s fine to just call her Madam!
As word spread among the servants that there was something unusual about the relationship between Walter and Odette, but no one dared to speak up.
Odette’s plan to catch Arnold favor had an unexpected effect without her knowing.
Moreover, the way Walter looked at Odette caused a great stir among the servants.
– It seems like the Master love’s the Madam more, doesn’t it?
– Yeah, Madam is more capable than I thought. But the master is so passionate.
– His eyes never leave her. Is a nanny coming soon?
A third eye is always the most accurate.
Without Odette needing to worry, the servants quickly noticed that she was a ‘hostess loved by her husband’.
As the fact that Arnold was very fond of his new grandchild or daughter-in-law spread, the spirit of territoriality among the servants disappeared completely.
Of course, some may look at this and say that Odette was purely benefiting from the favor of Arnold and Walter.
‘It’s not easy to please those two.’
Philip already thought Odette was an excellent hostess for that reason alone.
Above all, Odette was genuinely an easy and considerate hostess, and he liked the fact that her presence seemed to soften the stern Ertmann a little.
‘She’s such a sweetheart.’
In just a few days, he found himself feeling empty in her absence.
Philip wasn’t the only one who felt that way, as Arnold continued to grumble and stormed off to the Wellington Hotel on the second day.
– With Odette gone, what good can come from me being here? That impertinent grandson probably sold off his manners cheaply. Don’t expect me to stick around until Odette returns!
Thanks to this, the already dreary Duke Ertmann house became even more dreary.
‘Well, it’ll probably get twice as noisy starting tomorrow.’
After the wedding, the manor was going to be a bustle for a while.
From what he heard, they decided to stay at the Duke’s residence instead of going on a honeymoon, so there would be a lot of guests coming and going.
Philip, the butler, had a lot on his shoulders with the preparations for the mansion and receiving guests.
However, even though he’s supposed to be tired, somehow he feels good and excited about it.
‘It’s been a while since I’ve felt this way.’
Thinking of the mansion that would soon become noisy, Philip unconsciously smiled and went down the stairs.
Now he was going to get a lantern, write in his journal, and go to bed.
At least, until he heard someone pounding loudly on the door.
BANG, BANG, BANG!
The sound of forceful knocking echoed loudly through the first-floor hallway.
And there was a high-pitched voice calling out
“-Hello! Is anyone there?”
The voice sounded strangely familiar.
With a thought of ‘Could it be?’, Philip rushed to the door and opened it.
And the person who’s standing there was.
“…… Madam?”
“Philip!”
It was Odette, in a completely disarrayed appearance.
A white horse could be seen behind Odette. She was not even wearing a robe, as if she had come running on horseback.
‘…… A horse, that’s a little strange.’
It was definitely a horse, but something about it felt strange.
Odette rushed over and grabbed Philip’s hand.
“Where’s Walter? Is he inside? I need to see Walter!”
“C-calm down. Master is inside. What are you doing at this hour…….”
Philip’s face hardened as he tried to soothe Odette.
The reason was the red marks on her long sleeves.
Not only did she show up at the mansion in the middle of the night when all lights were out, but her sleeves were stained with blood?
Philip panicked and grabbed Odette’s wrist.
“Is- Isn’t this blood? What on earth happened to you?”
“I don’t have time to explain!”
But Odette was relentless.
“Where’s Walter? I need to see him quickly! I can explain later.”
She pleaded with a voice so urgent as if her life depended on seeing Walter immediately.
“Please, Philip. We need to find Ellie right away. If we don’t, she might be in danger-.”
And then.
“Your Highness?”
Another voice interrupted from behind Odette’s back.
