Chaser sat in his office, flipping through the papers Rohan had handed him.
“As expected, it seems like this wasn’t just a simple incident after all.”
The documents contained detailed information and events regarding the carriage accident that occurred to his brother.
Chaser, who had been investigating for a long time since the day the accident occurred, was able to find out that this was not an accident.
As Rohan said, there were one or two pieces that were too strange to be dismissed as an unfortunate tragedy.
“With all due respect, it looks like someone thoroughly planned this.”
Who on earth would want to kill his brother and his family and for what reason?
The sound of teeth grinding escaped from between Chaser’s lips. He was squeezing his fists so hard that they were shaking.
“Who would dare do such a thing?”
He was so enraged, he could have smashed everything around him at a moment’s notice.
“The memories of the real Master Raphelion may hold a vital clue.”
Of the three people involved in the accident, two died and Raphelion was the only survivor. It was clear that the memories of his nephew would play an important role in catching the mastermind.
“All right. You may leave now.”
“Yes.”
The sound of documents being shuffled forcefully filled the room.
Rohan left the office, muffling his footsteps to avoid upsetting his master as much as possible.
Chaser wiped his hand down his face as he bit his lip hard enough to draw blood, but even then, the anger didn’t subside. Somebody killed his older brother… It was clearly done to target the Halos family.
Thud.
His chair gave way with a loud clatter as he stood up roughly from his seat. Maybe he needed to get some cold air to calm his mind. He walked to the door and opened it roughly. When Chaser came out into the hallway, the workers who were buzzing in the distance were startled and dispersed.
‘I’m sick of this.’
He strode down the hall, his expression slightly twisted. He knew what kind of rumors were circulating inside and outside the manor. They said he was a shameless murderer who killed his brother to obtain the title of duke.
The eldest son of the ducal family inherited the dukedom, and the second son, who got nothing, held a grudge. They thought he was aiming for the title.
Even if he pretended not to care, it still made him sick hearing their words. Everyone thought he would do anything to obtain the title of Duke. People spread rumors that he was a hypocrite blinded by power.
The rumors were false, and Chaser’s sincere love for his brother was trampled underfoot, all in the name of jealousy and envy.
Even if he tried to clear his name, nothing would change, rather, the rumors only became more outrageous.
“Hah…”
Chaser sighed, fed up.
There were all kinds of people around him who were just acting and putting up pretenses. People would even pretended to care about him and play games just to get close and reap the benefits of the Halos name. As a result, Chaser became accustomed to dealing with people while wearing a mask.
Because everyone around him also wore masks to deal with him. So, even if someone showed their sincerity, he was suspicious, unsure of what they were hiding deep inside.
This was the world he lived in now.
“Shane.”
He went straight to the Knights quarters and called the Knight Commander.
“How may I assist you, Duke?”
“Select the most elite knights immediately.”
“For a search party?”
“Yes. We will begin a full-fledged investigation starting tomorrow.”
Chaser handed over the documents he was holding to Knight Commander. Shane’s face hardened as he read through them.
“Is this true?”
“That’s what we need to find out.”
The sharp red eyes shone brightly. It was a murderous, relentless gaze that would leave no stone unturned, following even the smallest lead.
“Alright, I’ll make a list and post it.”
With Shane’s nod, Chaser left the knights’ quarters and headed for the garden. He needed a quiet place to clear his head. The mansion was normally calm, but the garden was especially relaxing. It was a place he visited often. He made his way through the pretty flowers and sat down on a bench, leaned back, and stared up at the sky.
It was a clear sky without a single cloud in sight. The sky was also clear like this on the day he heard about the accident.
“Hah…”
He sighed at the pain that flooded him when he recalled the memory and raised his arm to shield his eyes. As the sunlight was blocked and his vision darkened, it reminded him of his own world. A world without a single ray of light, stark and barren.
“You still haven’t been treated yet?”
The voice came out of nowhere causing Chaser to lower his arms. Without him even noticing, Wilhazelle was standing in front of him, holding a ball. Chaser frowned when she burst into his desolate world.
***
“Lizelle.”
“Huh?”
Raphel, who had been playing with a ball trotted toward her. Wilhazelle and Raphel were passing time in the garden.
“When are we going to go see grandma?”
Raphel finally asked the question that had been floating around in his head. It had been great staying in this mansion, there was a lot of space, lots of things to do and Lizelle was with him, but when he remembered the Baron and Baroness smiling at him and hugging him, Raphel became sullen. He really missed his grandparents a lot.
“Do you want to see your grandparents?”
“Yeah!”
“Let’s go see them some other time. You know, this is Raphel’s house now, right?”
Liesel stroked Raphel’s cheek, trying to erase her bitter feelings.
He was still to young to know what it was to say farewell. It was her job to explain it so that he would understand what was going on later when the time came.
“Aww…”
“You can go see them if you eat well, play well, and stay healthy.”
She tried to soothe the disappointed Raphel, but he didn’t look any happier.
“Shall we play with the ball again?”
“Yes!”
Raphel smiled and nodded in response to Lizelle’s efforts to change the mood. He felt disappointed, but it was still okay as long as Lizelle was there with him. The two ran around the garden, passing the ball back and forth. His small body was so agile that, unlike Raphel, who was running around without a care in the world, Lizelle was out of breath and breathing heavily.
“Are you okay?”
“Ah, Tia.”
At the moment, she was passing a glass of water to Lizelle.
Tia, who had just turned 18, was a girl with red hair and impressive freckles. She was one of the maids who worked at the mansion. She mainly did chores, but when Lizelle and Raphel came to stay at the duke’s residence, she was in charge of taking care of them. She was simple and pure, and got along well with Lizelle and Raphel.
Although she sometimes worried about Tia’s naivety in saying everything she knew, there was no malicious intent. In this mansion, where she was unfamiliar with everything, besides Raphel, Tia was her only other companion.
Even though she was only a guest, all of the worker’s served her generously. In that aspect, Chaser had been very considerate. Perhaps it was because he really cared about Raphel as his nephew.
She was able to get whatever she wanted as soon as she said it, so she was living an even more comfortable life than when she was living at the Baron’s residence.
“I’m going to take a break, could you play with Raphel?”
“Sure. I can do that.”
Eventually, Lizelle wasn’t able to keep up with Raphel’s stamina and she sank into a chair, watching Tia’s back as she ran to him. Two more rounds of ball with Raphel was enough to make her sick. She caught her breath and watched them play in the distance. Tia was pretty fit, and she was playing with the Raphel much more easily than she could.
‘I guess I should start exercising a bit more.’
Realizing that she was not as physically fit as others, she made a promise to herself to build up her stamina.
“Are you feeling okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
Kei, the knight at her side, asked cautiously. She smiled and shrugged as if it was no big deal. Kei was one of the knights who had been assigned to escort her and Raphel. He appeared to be about her age, with dark eyes and dark blue hair. He was tall and well-built, and according to Tia, he was popular in the duchy. Although there was no need for any special escort in the mansion, the knights took turns standing guard by Lizelle and Raphel’s side because the duke said that there could be an unknown threat.
Sometimes, she felt like both Tia and the knights were watching her, but it didn’t matter. She just continued to be herself and play with Raphel.
“Ah!”
Suddenly, Raphel shouted in surprise when the ball he kicked flew over by her and landed out of sight.
“It’s okay, I’ll get it.”
Wilhazelle stood up, stopping Tia from running over. She was closer to the spot where it had landed than they were. She quickly headed in the direction of the ball, which had rolled farther than she thought. She had to walk a long way across the garden.
“He’s so strong, he should become a soccer player.”
She wondered if there was anything Raphel couldn’t do. He was good at everything. Of course, his face was the best of all though. She smiled with pride and stopped to pick up the fallen ball.
“…”
When she looked up, she saw Chaser sitting on a nearby bench. The corners of her mouth, which were curled up, instantly dropped. He looked like he was in a bad mood.
She quickly turned around about to go back the way she had come. This was her chance to leave before he spotted her.
‘Oh really…’
She couldn’t leave when she saw the wound on the back of his hand. The injury was from trying to protect her from almost getting hit by a cart yesterday. Lizelle sighed deeply and had no choice but to walk over to Chaser. It was her fault that he got hurt, she couldn’t pretend she didn’t know.
“You still haven’t been treated yet?”
Chaser lowered his arms and looked at her.
“For what?”
“The wound.”
Lizelle pointed to the back of his hand.
“You got hurt yesterday and you didn’t even apply any medicine?”
‘It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”
Chaser looked at his wound indifferently as he spoke. He had forgotten that he was even injured. It wasn’t a big wound, it would heal naturally if left as is.
“You could get tetanus.”
Lizelle’s face turned serious.
