Obsessed with Regressors

“A rowing match?”

“Huh. Can invitees take the boat too?”

The day after her meeting with Count Burns, she asked Oliver, who hadn’t seen him in a while, about the rowing event. It’s a rowing game and water play, so it’s quite big. She heard that all the players were practicing hard because His Highness the King could come to watch. That meant, she would see less of Oliver inside the house.

“Who was invited? Who do you invite? There must be no ships in the Rencid family?”

She nodded at Oliver’s question. Viscount Rencid was wealthy, but had no boats. She heard that the viscount couple were not interested in playing in the water. The Viscount Rencid also thought that owning a boat would be burdensome, but she was sure that’s what both mother and Oliver said.

“Invite Count Burns.”

“Count Burns? I didn’t know he was interested in rowing.”

If he was interested, he would immediately join the rowing club. Would it be that much fun? She spoke quickly to give Elliot time.

“No, they must be curious about playing in the water, not rowing. He asked if he could be invited.”

“If it’s Count Burns, of course I should invite him.”

Fortunately, Oliver seemed to have the same idea as her. She let out a sigh of relief when her older brother said that he should gladly invite Elliott.

“I invited him. But he asked if he could take the boat too.”

“Oh, what will it be? It will be…”

Oliver’s reaction was strange. He was tilting his head with a thoughtful look on his face.

“Why? Do you need qualifications?”

“You have to be a noble, but he already have that, so it doesn’t matter. The problem is the ship.”

Why? She put on a puzzled expression.

“I’ve never heard of Count Burns having a boat.”

She didn’t hear that either. Wasn’t it similar to a carriage? It’s nice to have it, but wasn’t it something you had to gossip about whether it existed or not? But Oliver said otherwise. He clicked his tongue when she asked if it mattered that he hadn’t heard from Elliot that he had a boat.

“The boat for viewing would be quite large, right? Of course, rumors should spread.”

That’s it. She tilted her head. It occurred to her that Elliot might be getting the boat wrong. It honestly didn’t matter. Some people who didn’t have a big boat float a small boat and only a few people close to them sit down and play in the water. But Oliver shook his head and said.

“Tell him I’m fine with a small boat.”

She had a friend who had a boat, so she would go there. She shrugged and got up. She was going to write a letter now. The number of letters has increased these days, so it took her a while to reply.

“Miss.”

She was about to enter the study when the butler called her with an urgent expression. What? She turned to him while holding the doorknob.

“There is a fire in that little sheep’s house. I think you should know.”

Little sheep? She couldn’t immediately remember who it was. But she immediately thought of Rachel. Wait, Rachel! She was startled and approached the butler and asked.

“Fire?”

She must have acted like she was going to jump. Surprised, the butler took a step back and managed his expression before speaking.

“I found it right away and no one was hurt.”

That meant Rachel was safe. And the one she used to protect Rachel from too. Wait, did Elliot send someone to Rachel? It was yesterday that she asked for it, so she would have sent it sooner, and if it was late, she wouldn’t have sent it yet.

She asked the butler to be sure.

“Who’s guarding Rachel? Is that person with her?”

A troubled expression appeared on the butler’s face as if he didn’t know that. He said, shaking his head.

“Looks like Daisy went out and heard the news. Shall we find out more?”

It was not someone who informed them, but someone who happened to go outside and heard the news of the fire. The butler heard the name of the person who started the fire and said it to her. She thanked him and asked him to get ready to go out. There’s a fire, so she would have to go.

Rachel’s face, who said that someone was trying to take her life, came to mind. And Elliot’s face that said don’t worry.

“Oh my god.”

A moan escaped Anne’s mouth as we headed over to Rachel’s house. The fire scene was terrifying for a quick discovery. One window was scorched black. She recollected the butler’s words that he found it right away and said that no one was hurt. He said no one was hurt.

“Does anyone who lives here know what happened?”

While she was standing there blankly, Ann approached the people around her and started checking on Rachel. She said, looking at Ann with men and women with bad looks.

“How do I know?”

The man’s words frightened Anne, so she backed away. She approached her and asked.

“Do you two live here?”

The eyes of the man and woman turned to her. They both took one look at her and then ignored her. Oh, it’s been a while since she ignored this. At least not since she became an adult. She decided she had nothing to gain from them and went to the door. She hoped Rachel wasn’t inside. She wanted to see if she’s alright, but she didn’t know where she’d gone. As she tried to enter the building with Ann, a man and woman lingering at the entrance stopped her.

“You cannot go in.”

Finally, the two of them spoke as if they had realized her existence. Or blocking everyone from entering this building. She tilted her head to the side and asked.

“Why?”

He didn’t know why she would ask. The two looked at each other with bewildered expressions and then, the woman opened her mouth.

“It is the scene of an accident. The inside is dirty from the fire.”

“So what?”

She could tell that there was a fire without going in. Because the windows were blackened. Even at the scene of an accident, they were not police officers or firefighters. That meant they had no right to stop her. The two of them seemed to think that she would back down when they said it was dirty. Apparently they had been ordered to stop anyone from entering, so they stood in front of her with their arms outstretched, blocking her.

“I came to visit a friend who lives here. Could you please step aside?”

She said it again. Unless these two were the owners of the building, she didn’t think they could stop her from going in and out of this building. Then the man spoke this time.

“It’s not possible. I was ordered not to let anyone in.”

“I am very curious who gave the order.”

If it was an investigator’s order, he would follow it, but he couldn’t be an investigator. If the investigator had given those instructions, it would have been uniformed constables, not mercenary-looking men and women, carrying out those orders. Wait a moment. Mercenary? That was when she realized that the two people blocking her looked like mercenaries. The door the man had been blocking with his arm burst open, revealing a familiar face.

“Eugenie? How is this…”

Seeing her, Elliot was startled and approached her, asking. The man and woman quickly backed away when Elliot pretended to know her and talked.

“I heard you gave orders not to let anyone in, so that must be you.”

Only then did Elliot realize that his own men were blocking her. He introduced her to his men. Their names were Rosie and David. They must have been mercenaries, as she thought. As for why they were mercenaries, it was because Elliot introduced them as his subordinates.

She was very curious about what they were doing, but she put her curiosity aside and asked where Rachel was.

“Is that little sheep on top?”

“No. Don’t worry, she’s safe in the lodging I’ve prepared for you.”

Come to think of it, the butler also said that no one was hurt. Her gaze returned to the blackened window. She guessed it would have to be messed with fire to burn it black like that.

“I heard you put out the fire quickly,” she said.

“David here found it quickly, so the damage wasn’t too great. Most of the furniture will have to be thrown away.”

“You just said the damage wasn’t that great.”

In response to her question, Elliot ushered her into the building. Climbing the narrow stairs led to a long hallway. She widened her eyes when she saw several small doors along the hallway. Which one was Rachel’s bedroom?

“This way.”

Fortunately, Elliot found out. He guided her through the open door and explained.

“Certainly, a lot of furniture was damaged in the fire. But the important thing is that there was no damage.”

“Is it important?”

“That little sheep was precious…”

Elliot said, and he opened a small drawer, revealing some money and accessories inside. She didn’t know if he could just show her this. That thought popped into her head, but she didn’t say anything. Elliot kindly came all the way here to handle the case. Rachel wouldn’t say anything about checking this out.

“It is her manuscript.”

Saying that, Elliot pulled out a wad of paper from his bosom. What? She looked at him in surprise.

“It was under the bed. Thanks to that, it was safe from the fire.”

She listened to Elliot and accepted the manuscript. She didn’t get it because she wanted to accept it. She reached out and only reflexively received. She didn’t know why he was giving her this. When she looked at Elliot again in a bewildered mood, he was already approaching the bed in the corner of the room.

This room, as she saw it now, was not a room. In a room smaller than her bedroom, there was a bed on one side and cooking utensils on the other. And next to the window scorched by the fire, there was a piece of furniture that looked like a desk.

“Is that a desk?”

“Be careful.”

As she approached the ashes of the desk, she quickly approached her as Elliot. She could see why the damage was low. And that the furniture was all broken.

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