Episode 43
Leaving behind the echoing screams in the underground, Damien emerged from the prison.
In contrast to the interior, the building’s garden was made up of clean, gray outer walls, and it housed a statue of the Lord.
Perhaps it symbolized the last mercy extended to the prisoners here.
Beneath the large rock that supported it, a verse from the Bible was inscribed.
[“Be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.”]
The boy with white hair seemed to perfectly embody this verse. His clear blue eyes, framed by eyelashes as pure as a lamb’s, and his voice as soft as magnolia leaves, along with the pure kindness in his smile, made anyone who saw him happy.
‘Swan.’
With a faint smile, Damien recalled that name.
To be precise, the moment he first heard that name.
— …Swan?
A girl with short hair, whom he was seeing for the first time, looked at him with a face full of longing.
The blind devotion in her expression was almost suffocating.
When the girl looked at him like that, he felt as though in that moment, only he and the girl were left in the world.
However, the girl quickly realized the reality. As soon as she realized that the person in front of her was not Swan, her affection that had seemed genuine a moment ago rapidly transformed into something cold and distant, as if all the affection she had shown was a lie.
‘So, I tried to be more affectionate on purpose…’
It had the opposite effect. Thanks to that, Damien was on the verge of feeling jealous of the girl who he didn’t even know the name of.
How could someone be so beloved by someone else?
The mystery was partially unraveled.
‘No matter how much I claim to be, I can’t beat a dead person.’
But he knew how he should approach her.
Damien looked down at his empty hands. Over them, he saw a pair of small hands, the same hands that had held his own, and the image of the girl who had sobbed while holding his hand.
— Thank you, Damien.
Even though several days had passed, it felt vividly real, just like yesterday.
The tears that fell on the back of his hand and the trembling of her hand.
In that moment when he fully possessed that small warmth, Damien’s heart also beat with excitement.
Slowly, Damien clenched his hand and turned around. A servant who had finished his task was approaching him.
He bowed slightly and asked, “Shall we return, my lord?”
“Yes, we shall. I need to return today.”
He couldn’t go to Lillian after visiting such a dirty place.
Above all, he had returned empty-handed today.
“Prepare a gift. I’m going to Lillian tomorrow.”
With these words, Damien smiled brightly. It was a smile reminiscent of an angel.
* * *
“Winston Burnauser has been killed, Your Highness.”
Cedric raised his head. Cosmo stood before him.
“…But the death sentence hasn’t been declared yet, has it?”
“It’s an unofficial murder. It seems someone intruded and killed Winston Burnauser. He was found brutally murdered intentionally.”
“The perpetrator?”
“I couldn’t find out. I’m sorry.”
Cedric’s brow furrowed. It wasn’t Cosmo’s fault.
Rather, what was bothering him was the fact that his suspicions were turning into a reality.
“Cosmo, do you think all of this is a coincidence?”
“What do you mean?”
“Winston Burnauser isn’t really the type to be a caretaker at an orphanage. Where do nobles sit in such a small position as the head of an orphanage? Most orphanage directors are commoners who don’t know much about nobility.”
In that sense, Maryfield Orphanage, run directly by nobles, was an exceptional case.
“If there were no nobles at Maryfield Orphanage, no one would have recognized Agnes’s pendant. They would have just thought it was an expensive pendant and sold it. Since it was something a discarded newborn had, no one would have looked for it anyway.”
“In fact, other teachers didn’t recognize the pendant… So, what you’re saying makes sense.”
“That’s why I thought Winston Burnauser might have a direct connection to the kidnapper. It’s suspicious from the start that the kidnapped child was at the orphanage.”
“But Winston Burnauser isn’t capable of such things.”
“Yeah, he seemed to just be embezzling the funds for the pendant.”
Contrary to what Cosmo was saying, Winston didn’t have the connections or ambition and wealth to kidnap Lady Maynard. He was just a materialistic person who ran a small orphanage, exploited the Lady’s favor, and satisfied himself with the money he made.
But it was too suspicious to completely ignore the connection.
The fact that the kidnapped child was at the orphanage was already strange, and the fact that the head of the orphanage was someone who could recognize the child’s pendant, coupled with the current situation where he had been murdered, was too much of a coincidence.
In such a case, there was only one possible answer.
“…Could it be that Winston Burnauser was used?”
“It seems that’s the case based on the situation.”
He was used. With that statement, everything fell into place.
“You have to keep watching because Maryfield Orphanage is not too far from the capital. To do that, they needed to make sure that my child would be safe, so they had to find someone who would know it’s my child… But they also needed a person who couldn’t use this information to their advantage.”
And all of these conditions perfectly matched Winston.
“Then, one of the people who had regular interactions with Winston might be behind this.”
“Well, I don’t think it’s that simple.”
Cedric handed the information about Maryfield Orphanage that Cosmo had previously investigated. Among them, he was reading information about Lady Kenis, who had been supporting Maryfield Orphanage.
“Even among the teachers, there is no one who seems suspicious. The most likely person is Lady Kenis, but she also supports other places, not just Maryfield Orphanage. Moreover, her support for Maryfield Orphanage happened more than 15 years ago.”
Naturally, Cedric had investigated Lady Kenis as well. However, he hadn’t found anything specific, as she had been immersed in charity work and religion due to the loss of a child long ago. He only learned that she had an enormous amount of money used for charity and temples.
“Above all, Lady Kenis, who had lost a child, has no reason to kidnap my child or be involved.”
The Kenis family had no particular connection to the Maynard family.
The more he knew, the more it felt like a mystery. Cedric lowered his brow once and then spoke.
“For now, investigate everyone who might have even a slight connection with Winston Burnauser.”
“Understood, Your Highness. But… What if we don’t find any evidence?”
Cosmo’s question made Cedric’s eyes turn cold.
“…Then we’ll have to stop the investigation at that point.”
Now that there was something to protect, there was no point in stirring up a hornet’s nest.
“But… there is one thing I have to confirm…”
As Cedric was about to speak after some contemplation.
Knock, knock.
With the sound of the door being knocked carefully, the door opened, and a cautious head appeared.
“Excuse me.”
“Hello, Miss.”
“Lillian? What’s the matter? It’s your etiquette study time now, isn’t it?”
The girl, who had cut her hair quite a bit compared to when she first came to the mansion and was now wearing it in a bobbed style, bowed and greeted Cedric, then opened her mouth again.
“Dad said it’s my etiquette study time, but Damien is here to play.”
“Damien, you mean Damien Portier?”
“Yes. But he brought a lot of gifts. I feel bad to tell him to go back during study time… Dad said if I want to play with Mary, I should ask for permission.”
“So, you came to get my permission.”
“Yes. Can I play with him?”
The Portier family was well-known for being wealthy.
Moreover, they had saved Lillian’s life, so there was no harm in maintaining a good relationship.
Cedric thought for a moment and then spoke.
“No matter what, you have to finish your studies. That’s a promise with your father.”
“…I guess that’s right.”
“But if your father is in a good mood, he might be a bit more lenient with the promise.”
“…!”
Upon hearing this, Lillian’s eyes widened, and she immediately ran to Cedric and hugged him gently. Then she asked cautiously.
“By any chance, are you in a good mood right now?”
Cedric laughed in response. He had given her permission to play.
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