I returned to the room where the children were. The children woke up from a nap, ate their meals, and completed the remaining tasks while still asleep. While taking care of the kids, I absentmindedly recalled the conversation with Luke. The scene where he left a kiss on the back of my hand played over and over again in his head.
A sigh came out of my mouth.
‘Is he the main character of some movie or what? I feel it, really.’
Of course, even if he can’t be the main character of a movie, he still occupies the status of the main character of a horror game… Because that’s not important. He was acting so slyly that I felt like the conversation was a bit out of the ordinary. I should have asked about the basement too, but I didn’t. However, there was some information gained.
‘Luke doesn’t know the identity of the kidnapper. At least according to his claims. The relationship between the two doesn’t seem to be very good, so if they knew the culprit, they would have exposed his identity.’
‘The kidnapper is targeting me. Probably even now. And Luke wants to keep me safe.’
Aside from that, His Majesty the King was against the relationship between Luke and the princess.
I rested my chin and was lost in thought.
‘I don’t think the kidnapper is human. Because there is no substance. But there were definitely no ghosts or ghosts among the interactive characters in this game… Maybe wearing a mask means he has to hide his identity.’
It was a thought I came up with myself, but it was very plausible.
‘Is it true that he is human? If he is human… Luke or someone I know. Or, he is a person so famous that we have no choice but to know about him. Then it would be worth hiding his face.’
I nodded and tried to recall things like the kidnapper’s voice, hair, and size. But his voice sounded strange, as if it had been altered, and his hair was hidden under his hood and out of sight. I could roughly guess his height, but it was hard to guess his size because he was wearing something that looked like a loose cape.
‘They completely hid their identity.’
But the more I thought about it, the more the image of the kidnapper changed from a madman with an axe to one of the people I knew. It had some pretty big advantages. Instead of the image that was uncomfortable and scary just thinking about it, I was left with the image of a despicable guy running away hiding using masks and shadow techniques. Now, I am confident that I will not be overcome by fear even if it is really in front of me.
‘If the Metropolitan Police Department had started by asking various questions about the incident and explaining what happened then… I wouldn’t have been able to organize my thoughts this leisurely. Luke talked about the kidnapper as if it was no big deal, so I guess that’s what I thought.’
I smiled bitterly as I unconsciously felt grateful to Luke again.
‘To a serial killer, a kidnapper would be a very insignificant being.’
While solving the problem, I looked at Luna, who was absorbed in tearing off her quill. As I looked at that, I shook off my thoughts and suddenly thought of a hypothesis I had never made before.
‘Is it possible that the kidnapper is the real culprit and not Luke? Luke is not the serial killer… He’s just a criminal.’
However, there were too many circumstances that made it impossible to doubt Luke to think that way. Things that tried to kill me, things that appeared at every serial murder scene, sounds coming from the basement, things that suddenly changed their eyes and attacked people…
‘…But if Luke isn’t the real culprit, but that shapeless strange guy is the culprit, then that’s more of a problem. Luke is in shape, that guy can’t even kill Luke, can you arrest him?’
I thought about the scene where Luke was swinging his swords and I shook my head.
‘…Of course, no one can touch Luke either. But it will be a little better.’
And looking at the evidence I collected while playing the game as a player, there was a lot of information related to Luke from the crime scene and autopsy. I shook the meaningless hypothesis out of my head.
At that time, a knock was heard.
“Yes?”
It was Mr. Blier who opened the door and came in.
“What happen?”
“As expected, you are here. You’d better get some rest.”
“Ah… I come from a country where people will still go to work even if a zombie outbreak breaks out.”
“…what?”
When I just smiled, Mrs. Blier gave up on understanding my joke and showed me the cart next to her.
“You got some letters.”
There were several letters neatly placed on the silver tray she held out to me. I blinked at the rather large number of letters.
“Did it all come to me?”
“Yes, of course.”
Mrs. Blier put down a tray next to me, then picked up another tray from the cart she had brought and placed it on one side of the table. There were snacks that children could grab and some hot tea that would keep them warm. She didn’t ask anything directly, but she looked at me with worried eyes.
“There is a message from the dressing room that a banquet dress has been brought in, but that will be postponed until next time, so don’t think about anything else and rest. The Duke said he would come from the Metropolitan Police Department, but it looks like he will come next time.”
I quickly waved my hand.
“No. Just tell them both to come today.”
“Really?”
“I think it would be better to be busy.”
Mrs. Blier looked at me pitifully and then nodded her head.
“All right. Then, I’ll stick to today’s schedule. If you want to adjust your schedule or need anything, please let me know at any time.”
“Okay.”
As Mrs. Blier closed the door and left, Shine suddenly lifted his head and looked up at me. He changed into the smart clothes the new nanny had given him and combed his hair. He even had a bow tie on, so he really looked like quite a gentleman.
‘Even though he has a face that resembles that of Luke, how can he be so cute without being the least bit lucky?’
“What’s wrong?”
He smiled happily and asked, but Shine looked at me blankly and suddenly asked.
“Teacher, are you dating?”
“What?”
“Are you meeting a man?”
“Phew.”
I found Shine’s genuinely curious face so funny that it made me burst into laughter. Although he looked like a gentleman, he seemed to be a child after all.
‘I don’t know what they are thinking.’
I smiled slightly and shook my head.
“I’m not dating.”
When Shine narrowed his eyes in suspicion, he threw down his pen on the worksheet, jumped up, and sat down on the high chair. He then motioned for me to come and sit across from him. There was no way Luna could calmly concentrate on the problem when Shine appeared like this. Luna, with her silver hair braided on either side to resemble teddy bear ears, raised her arms and rushed towards me. In the end, I decided to hold Luna, who had run to me, in my arms, and open the letters one by one under the supervision of Shine.
The name [Latte Locker] was written on the envelope of the first letter. On the outer cover was a small drawing of the shape of the magic tower that I had seen at that time.
Shine widened his eyes in surprise.
“This person… He’s a famous wizard. Do you know this person?”
I thought she was more famous as the granddaughter of the Magic Tower Lord, but if even Shine knew her like that, Latte seemed to be quite recognized herself.
“I’m a friend.”
Shine looked at me with a look of surprise in his eyes, and with his fuss urged me to open it quickly.
‘I was so depressed just a moment ago, but that calmness doesn’t last a day.’
I smiled and opened the letter.
[Dear friend, Albi.
When I went to visit you at Rearmond Manor, I couldn’t even see your face because the Duke of Rearmond insisted that you absolutely must get some rest.
I am thankful to God that you came back safely, but I am still very worried. If it’s okay with you, I’ll come find you right away! Let me tell you that Lemuët and Milorad want to go together.
There are many effective self-defense tools in the Magic Tower, so I’ll pack them all and take them with me.
Wishing you a speedy recovery,
Latte Locker.]
Just reading the heartfelt letter made me feel good. In fact, we only hung out together for one day, but we felt strangely close. Perhaps because they are excellent people in their fields and have a lot of leisure, it was nice that they spoke witty things and knew a lot.
‘But more than that, it’s probably because it’s the first time I’ve met people who are seriously worried and suspicious about what happened at the park.’
That must have been the reason for the strange bond we felt after watching that video of Catherine Hunt. Shine looked at the letter and saw me smiling happily, then suddenly he wrinkled his eyebrows gloomily.
“Oh my, what’s wrong?”
“…no.”
“Not really. Do you think my protruding lips will touch the wall?”
“Don’t treat me like a child!”
“So, why are you doing that?”
Shine sighed as if he couldn’t help it, and muttered softly as he adjusted his bow tie.
“I saw it a few times in the past.”
‘Oh right.’
Come to think of it, the reason Latte, Lemuet, and Milorad first spoke to me was because I was Shine and Luna’s tutor.
‘You made it sound like you were very fond of these two kids…’
I stroked Shine’s head.
“But why are you sighing?”
“…I used to see her often, but back then… We often invite celebrities and hold parties from time to time… It was like that. People would come to us and tell us about the things they wanted to ask us. They say that’s what great nobles do.”
“Did you?”
“It’s different now… now… Because I’m not good at going outside…”
I looked at Shine downcast and tilted his head.
“Oh, then Shine can invite first, right? Latte, Lemuet, and Milorad want to see Shine and Luna too?”
“…None of you came to see me.”
Shine bit his lips in a straight line. He usually acts like an arrogant noblewoman, but sometimes he acts like an abandoned child. Suddenly, it occurred to me that the ‘old days’ that Shine was talking about was the time when Shine and Luna’s parents were alive.
Suddenly, Luna, who had been quietly listening to our conversation, stretched out her legs and stretched out her body.
Luna whispered softly, making a gesture as if she was dying to see the letter.
“Really? Do they really want to see Luna?”
“Does Luna want to see them too?”
“I want to see her too! Sister Latte brings only rare items that I have never seen before! Lemuye and Latte are really cool, and they give me a lot of gifts.”
‘For someone from a noble family, Luna has some materialistic desires.’
I laughed a little and felt sorry for Shine, who was still staring blankly at my letter. I thought that the fundamental shadow that Shine and Luna had was due to the absence of their parents, but I thought that maybe it was because they were completely isolated from the relationship they had during that time.
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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 April, 6.
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