Luke must have noticed that I had no intention of going into the house at all, so he let out a small sigh and said.
“No, I will send an officer. Where are you going now?”
‘Why did you send the police officer…?’
It’s funny how he talked about it as if he was following me around like he was really trying to protect me. I narrowed my eyes and looked at him.
‘It’s obvious how close the Park police are to Luke. They must be trying to entrust me with surveillance.’
He must be trying to prevent me from talking about Luke carelessly wherever I go.
‘Even though he doesn’t seem to doubt me that much, the back of my neck gets itchy at times like this.’
Although it was a pity that my long-awaited freedom was being reduced, I decided to obey him obediently.
“My first stop will be Green Mason.”
I went to Green Mason because I wanted to know why the perpetrator choose Arbice Green as his persona. Other individuals, such as Catherine Hunt… It wasn’t until right before the last chapter that the relationship between the characters that were attacked throughout the game became clear. Aside from being nobles, that was all they had in common. Their ages and genders were dissimilar. I had been absent from the list of victims for some time, but now I found myself on it. I reasoned that I could learn why Arbice Green was picked out as the offender if I went to Green Mason. Although Luke didn’t like me, he didn’t stop me.
“You have been away from home for a long time to take care of Shine and Luna. Please come back. Then I will send an officer there.”
“Yes. I’ll take care of it, so don’t worry about it and just go.”
“All right.”
Luke looked at me one more time with a somewhat uneasy look on his face, but it seemed like they had some really urgent business to attend to. He kept looking up at the sky with a nervous face, and with an expression of helplessness, he got into another carriage and disappeared the way he came. Sending a police officer felt a little inconvenient, but… I have to endure that level of inconvenience.
Stinging net-.
Suddenly a chilling wind blew. The sound sounded as if a huge creature was roaring from somewhere.
I flinched.
‘What is this sound?’
I tried listening again, but I couldn’t hear the sound again.
‘Strong winds can make strange sounds as they pass between buildings, so that’s most likely what it sounds like, right?
I tried comforting myself, but the unsettling feeling remained. I hastily made my way inside the carriage. Green Manson was near the eastern edge of the park. The location was rather run-down because it was on the outskirts of the city. Nevertheless, my body, which had been contracting from the cold, warmed up a little as I stared at evidence of human habitation, such as clothes left outside or plants.
“I’m here.”
“How much is it?”
“Oh, you were paid upfront by the boutique.”
I take care to give my clients excellent service. It’s true that I spent a lot of money.
I was trying to roughly calculate in my head how much money Luke had spent at that store, but I stopped thinking because the number of zeros seemed to be increasing. I didn’t want to feel like I was indebted to them for no reason, and I didn’t want to be thanked. Instead, I observed the Green Mason in front of me. In keeping with the harsh atmosphere of the surroundings, the old green-roofed mansion had vines growing luxuriantly along the walls. Compared to Luke’s magnificent old mansion, it really was like a baby toy. There was almost no land that could be called a garden, and the buildings were small. Moreover, it seemed as if it wasn’t being maintained properly, as the rain gutters were full of leaves and there were several broken windows. I walked up to the front door, grabbed the thick iron handle, and knocked on the door a few times.
Knock, knock.
Squeak.
As the tall door, a little less than twice my height, opened, the servant stuck his head out.
At first he didn’t seem to recognize me, but then the attendant’s eyes widened.
“…Oh my god. Who is this? Lady Arbice?”
“How have you been?”
I shamelessly pretended to know the servant who was startled.
“Sure! Miss, are you okay? No, I heard a rumor that you were okay… I was so worried because she was so introverted.”
“No, it was okay. How have you been doing?”
“…really? You can’t even talk to people you meet for the first time… When you first came, how upset were you because there were ridiculous rumors about the young lady being arrogant with the maids?”
Rumors among workers seemed to be spreading really quickly. I shrugged my shoulders and waved my hand.
“It was okay. The kids are so pretty too. And the Rearmonds there are doing a good job too?”
The servant held out his hand to take my coat, but then blinked his eyes.
“…It seems like something has changed a lot. It seems like you’ve become more confident.”
“Okay?”
“You may be timid, but the Rearmond family is very territorial. I thought you would never get used to it… Because you always told us you didn’t want to go. But you adapted so well…”
The servant even had tears in his eyes. I didn’t know why my heart felt so warm after meeting someone who cared about ‘Arbice Green.’ I hugged the attendant tightly with gratitude. The servant muttered that I had changed a lot after seeing that day, and called someone to tell him that I had arrived. Then he took me to the reception room on the first floor. As soon as she finished drinking the warm, fragrant black tea, a woman appeared, accompanied by the sound of hurried footsteps. The woman, with her light green hair cut short to match the length of her chin, had a sharp look on her face and a nervous look in her eyes that showed her greed even at first glance.
‘That person… Is she Arbice’s aunt?’
Even though she was her aunt, there was no resemblance to her except for her light green hair. I got up thinking that I was tired just looking at it. She hugged me lightly.
“Welcome, Alby. Your face has brightened a lot in the meantime. Hoho, sit down.”
As she got closer, a strong smell of perfume filled my nose. In that short period of time, I was able to easily recognize that the necklace, earrings, and ring she was wearing were quite expensive items. She wore very pure gold, and I would be a fool not to notice. However, the clothes I wore were quite shabby. The hem of the dress was tattered and had a lot of dirt on it. As soon as I sat down, tea was brought out, and snacks that were quite poor compared to what I was used to eating at the Duke’s House were also served. It seemed like she was trying to appeal to me by saying that it was difficult to make a living, but after acting like that…
As soon as I had finished sipping my cup of tea, my aunt leaned over to me and asked.
“So, did you find out?”
“Yes?”
“My son, my second son. If there is a good job, I have asked the Duke to arrange it for me.”
She spoke with a soft smile, but her tone was no different from coercion. Now that I thought about it, I thought I saw something like that in a bundled letter. I didn’t like it so I wrinkled my lips.
‘Did you leave me a letter of introduction…?’
I knew that she had sent Arbice to work at the Duchy to reduce her costs. The fact that Arbice wasn’t very interested in this, and that she wasn’t shy enough to be a governess, probably didn’t concern her aunt that much. In fact, even though the position of the Duke’s tutor was a harsh position that was famous for cutting people at times, he probably wanted to send Arbice out somehow. But now that it seemed to be settling in well, she was trying to mix it up somehow.
It’s funny. I shook my head.
“No, the Duke was busy, so I couldn’t ask him about that.”
Her aunt’s face turned displeased.
“No, but… Don’t you know how long you will be in that tutor position? You have to use whatever is available when you have it. Isn’t that wise?”
Wife, for whom? I questioned her, trying not to let her sneer show.
“It is wise to use everything that is available… So, did you steal my parents’ inheritance as well?”
Her face immediately hardened at my calm words. Pale eyes glared at me. It’s as if she was wondering how dare someone say such a thing.
“I fed you and put you to sleep… There’s nothing you can’t say, uh?”
She was so overcome with tears that she brought up the topic of childcare, which I had no interest in.
“I came here less than two months after my parents passed away. Even if you fed me and put me to sleep, the amount would be much less than the inheritance you received on my behalf as a guardian.”
She blamed me in a threatening voice.
“Arbice! Are you a child who only cares about money?”
“Of course, aunt.”
What was the reason why Arbice in the game could not rebel even against her aunt and bowed down?
As I looked at my aunt’s face, trembling and turning white, such questions came to mind, and suddenly I realized that I lived like that too. It looks easy because it’s someone else’s job. Because it’s someone else’s business… When people were around people who belittle them more than they thought, it became more and more difficult for them to discern between right and wrong.
Me too, I was like that.
At some point, I quit my lucrative job due to depression and the illness that came with it, and I was no longer a proud daughter… I lived my life letting people put me down. It was hard. Just being alive is so frustrating that I feel like I want to run away somewhere every day.
Anywhere was good, to the point where I thought it would be nice as long as I had a place to escape to. That place was the game for me.
“…Ugh.”
Just as I was about to remember something, another headache suddenly hit my head.
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Translator Note:
Hello there! This is RJR. I hope you liked it <3
If you like my work please support me with Ko-fi or Patreon. Next post will be released on November, 2.
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