Chapter 49
I Want to Be Helpful to You (4)
“…Thank you.”
He supported my waist to straighten me up and then let go.
Only then did I realize the subtle emotion that had been creeping in instead of anger.
‘Ah, was it all because of Ethan Behemoth?’
Despite his sharp and noble appearance, he acts attentively and kindly.
But isn’t it funny to be moved by a boy who hasn’t even had his coming-of-age ceremony yet? Of course, I’m still young too. Repeating sixteen countless times doesn’t make me thousands of years old.
But still, I shouldn’t be excited about the current Ethan Behemoth.
Yes, so this must just be a feeling of gratitude and appreciation.
The cause of calming my emotions, which even I couldn’t control, must be his admirable nature.
I decided to define this feeling that way for now.
🥀
Entering my room while avoiding the gazes of the servants, Ethan, befitting the son of a noble duke, defined the room in just one word.
“Modest.”
“That’s right.”
I briefly agreed with his words.
What’s modest is modest.
All the items in the room were filled with quality and sturdy things, but they were certainly not luxuries or high-end products.
For example, the curtains in my room were carefully sewn with a timeless pattern to last long, but they weren’t the work of a renowned seamstress.
Ethan seemed to like those curtains quite a bit, as he fiddled with them for a while.
Taking advantage of that moment, I pulled out a long unused chair and placed it in front of the bed.
“Sit there.”
“Alright.”
And as soon as Ethan sat in the chair, I perched on the bed, looked into Ethan’s eyes, and lightly began.
“…Although we can’t get Diana’s help anymore, I plan to start searching based on the information she gave us before she changed.”
“What about the plan to violently overturn the castle?”
“Forget it. I have no intention of doing such a thing with Ethan by my side.”
“You seemed to treat me as quite a convenient sword when we were exterminating the wolf monsters.”
“…I won’t deny that. But the nature of the task is different now from then.”
I raised an eyebrow. Just try to argue one more time. I’ll shut that mouth of yours.
And fortunately, Ethan didn’t interrupt me again.
“Anyway, the reason for moving locations is… because there are many ears listening.”
“Everyone seems very interested in you.”
The brainwashed servants appeared to care about nothing other than perfectly managing the castle, but you never know.
Observing and reporting on ‘outsiders’ might also be part of their job.
“…They might not just be interested in me.”
I stared intently at the outsider in front of me and continued.
“So I plan to look for that purple envelope Diana mentioned in the study. We can check the exact date and then inquire based on that date.”
“To the servants? But won’t they all be brainwashed and not answer properly?”
“There are still about two people who might be in their right mind, aren’t there?”
I nodded at him, and Ethan also nodded as if something occurred to him.
Ella and Benjamin.
The two people we rescued on our way to Crowell Castle were certainly servants of Crowell Castle, but they hadn’t worked there long and had been imprisoned elsewhere.
If they were affected by the brainwashing later than my mother and father because Diana followed them and played outside the castle, they should still be safe.
‘They would have been outside Crowell Castle longer due to their abduction.’
The problem is that we still don’t know what triggers the brainwashing.
Whether it’s simply the absolute amount of time spent in Crowell Castle, or if actions or objects trigger it….
Coming to cherish something terribly, living only within a set framework….
This brainwashing seems not particularly dangerous because its conditions are simple, but in reality, even a slight twist in its content could lead to terrible results.
That’s why we need to root it out now that we’ve discovered it.
“To maintain brainwashing of this scale for a long time, the caster or the medium must surely be nearby….”
Ethan quickly asked in response to my muttering.
“Ah, Edith. Have you tried searching?”
“Yes, I spread out magic detection while heading from the corridor to the room, but there wasn’t even a trace of strange magic….”
While speaking, I suddenly recalled the curse from the extermination practice for some reason.
That curse also had little presence compared to the causality it harbored.
…But there’s no way two similar curses could exist. This time it’s not even a curse, but closer to a brainwashing spell.
When I abruptly stopped talking, Ethan prompted me.
“Not at all?”
“…No. I didn’t feel anything at all.”
It must be an unfounded worry.
After discussing with Ethan, we decided to head to the study to find the first piece of evidence.
The timing was just right. Surely, according to my parents’ habits that I remember.
“It’s empty.”
Ethan pressed close to the study door, detected the presence inside, and informed me.
“Thank you.”
That’s right. The study was often empty at this time. Especially on a sunny day like today.
‘Diana and I used to sneak into the empty study and play pranks with father’s ink…’
I recalled the nostalgic memory, then high-fived Ethan lightly to shake off the small thoughts from my head.
“Then let’s split up now.”
“Yes. Good luck.”
“You too.”
After exchanging these trivial greetings that we never did even during life-and-death battles, we went our separate ways. Ethan outside the study, me inside.
At this time of continuous unexpected situations, it would be a big problem if either Mother or Father entered the study contrary to plan, and that possibility wasn’t low.
Therefore, we agreed that I, who knew the study’s structure well, would handle the search, while Ethan would give signals from outside.
I carefully entered the study, pushing open the heavy door with force.
“……”
Bright sunlight was pouring in white through the large balcony window of the study.
It smelled of old books, and the embroidery of the carpet touching my shoe tips was the same pattern I loved.
Only silence lingered. It was peaceful.
“…Haah.”
After taking a deep breath, I immediately headed to the desk facing the door.
There were many drawers and piles of documents, but my hand didn’t hesitate.
I immediately chose a drawer and opened it.
‘It’s here.’
Father’s habit of putting checked letter envelopes in the drawer right under the documents remained the same.
Most were white, but other colored envelopes were mixed in sporadically, and surprisingly, there were quite a few of them.
‘Where’s the purple envelope Diana mentioned?’
I carefully rummaged through the envelopes, making sure not to accidentally drop the wax seals. My fingertips felt cold from the tension.
White, white, red, white, white….
As I flipped through thick, heavy, thin, smooth, or rough envelopes, the anxiety that had flared up once seemed to try to amplify my impulse, speaking nonsense on its own.
Anxiety ran wild in my head.
If only the small discomforts hadn’t overlapped, if only Diana hadn’t told me, if I had arrived just a day later, would I have been able to search through these envelopes here now?
I would have been dragged back into the wheel of regression without knowing anything.
With the complacent attitude that there would be a chance to solve something in the next life, wouldn’t I have once again postponed even this life to the next?
Because I’m that kind of person anyway, a regressor who continues to live only incomplete lives….
It was difficult to flip through the envelopes quickly because my fingertips were trembling subtly. Fortunately, something caught my eye not long after.
“Ah.”
It was a purple envelope.
“…Ha, huu….”
Suddenly I realized that I had been holding my breath for a very long time. I hurriedly gasped for air.
The habit of pushing myself to the extreme without realizing it is also a habit that has settled deep in my soul since I started regressing.
Please stop thinking. Wasn’t it a long enough time to realize that nothing is solved by being anxious?
It also took a long time to realize that this wasn’t something that could be done by willpower alone.
“Edith Crowell… Pull yourself together.”
Muttering meaningless self-reproach, I held the discovered purple envelope in my hand and scanned the drawer again.
There’s only one purple envelope. After confirming this, I pushed the drawer back in. I squinted my eyes and examined the thick envelope in my hand.
Purple signified holiness in the Empire, so it wasn’t often used outside of temples.
The Crowell baronial family was too humble to have any connection with the temple….
As expected, when I examined the wax seal, it wasn’t the seal used by the temple.
Then it’s even more suspicious. Let’s quickly check the contents and put it back.
Just as I thought that and was about to open the resealed envelope,
Knock knock.
There was a sound of someone knocking on the door from outside.
It was Ethan Behemoth’s signal.
‘Already?’
🥀
Thank you for reading! ♡
