“What do you mean, Walter has disappeared?”
In the early dawn, Elizabeth pressed Aizen in a voice mixed with astonishment and anger.
Aizen, who came to report after confirming several times that Walter had disappeared, was equally frustrated.
“It’s exactly as I said. I think Walter is gone.”
“Have you thoroughly searched the entire inside of the manor? It could be that he sensed that we were looking for him and is hiding in a secluded warehouse or something.”
“We carefully checked everything, including the warehouse, the bushes, and holes in the neglected garden, and the hollows of the old trees.”
“But…”
Elizabeth thought that Aizen and Gerturk’s private soldiers might have missed something.
After all, Walter was imprisoned in the manor for seven years without being able to escape.
It wasn’t as if he didn’t try to escape during that time.
“The maids said that on the day when Nicholas got on his nerves, he rushed towards the border of the manor, and he bounced off an invisible barrier. Did you also look around the barrier?”
“Of course.”
It made no sense for a man like him to leave as soon as the assassins arrived.
Elizabeth tapped her fingertips on the table before coming to a conclusion.
“Then investigate the servants who may know his whereabouts. I don’t want Isabelle or Edith to notice anything suspicious, so be as discreet as possible, make it seem like you’re just being friendly.”
“Understood.”
“And bring me the servants who frequently interacted with Walter. If Walter escaped as you said, he must have had accomplices.”
She thought that they should have killed him as quickly as possible, whether the Viscount’s funeral was over or not.
Elizabeth’s gaze sharpened more than ever as she realized the gravity of the situation and the potential for a sabotaged plan.
──────────✿◦•
“To be honest, it’s hard to believe. Sophia has been completely stripped of her inheritance and sent to the convent. Still, I’m glad that your troubles are over.”
Isabelle sighed as she stirred her tea.
Edith, who had invited her to have tea together, nodded slowly.
“Yes, you’re right. Perhaps it’s because the Temple was involved, but Sophia couldn’t hold out as long as we thought.”
A verdict against Sophia came about ten days after she began to be examined earnestly at the Temple.
Sophia will be sent to a convent in a remote area, where she will be practically isolated from the world.
A life in which she cannot go outside and would be buried in the backyard of the convent when she dies.
Just imagining it took her breath away, but Edith felt no sympathy, considering what Sophia had attempted to do to her.
Now, more than ever, she blames Sophia for being trapped here.
In the midst of it, Isabelle, Elizabeth, and Edith all had meetings with the Paladins, so they had a rough idea of why she was sent to the convent.
“I think the verdict came swiftly because Sophia tried to send the Viscount to a remote corner of the estate for recuperation even before the carriage accident happened. What do you think, Edith?”
“Since Elizabeth submitted a letter containing such information, it appears that the Temple decided that the attack on the Viscount’s carriage was a ploy by Sophia.”
In truth, Edith knew that it was Elizabeth and her faction who had attacked the Viscount’s carriage, and she was putting all the blame on Sophia to avoid being found out.
However, from her perspective, there was no need to reveal the truth or take Sophia’s side, so she simply went along with Isabelle’s opinion.
『 I will reveal that Elizabeth is the main culprit at the right time.』
Her first priority now wasn’t the matter of these two ladies, but her own escape.
However, Isabelle, unaware of this fact, continued chatting while sipping her tea.
“And I think Whitman’s 40-page petition for severe punishment to the Temple was well received. Have you read it, Edith?”
“I received a general summary of the contents from the Paladins. It was detailed about what the two of them had been doing and how they spent their time, as well as a meticulous list of how much money they embezzled and where they spent it.”
Even while being detained at Karkus, Whitman seemed to have learned how the world worked.
In his petition, he wrote down every luxury purchase that Sophia had bought with the fund money used to repair the river embankment.
However, he didn’t reveal that Sophia had intended to make Hans impregnate Edith. Perhaps he was worried that if the truth were revealed, both Sophia and himself would face even harsher consequences.
Edith wanted to ask the Paladins to investigate the matter as well, but she decided against it because it would likely involve bringing Walter, who had protected her, into the ordeal.
“In the end, they’re both going to the convent together, so I guess it’s for the best…”
“He probably didn’t want to die alone.”
Whitman’s psychology, as understood by Edith, was simple.
Isabelle briefly smiled at her expressionless bluntness.
“I’ve never experienced love, so I don’t know, but it seems like being abandoned by someone you’ve shared your heart with is a betrayal too hard to bear.”
“…”
“A 40-page petition, and that’s 40 pages front and back. What kind of strength does it take to do that without being devoted to something?”
Edith lifted her teacup to her lips, concealing a slightly stiffened expression.
The mention of ‘someone with whom you’ve shared your heart’ naturally brought Walter’s face to her mind.
『 …Is he resenting me for not trusting him?』
She wondered how she had lived without realizing how heavy her heart could become because of someone’s feelings for her.
The complex expression he made while looking at her the moment he was driven out beyond the barrier was deeply engraved in her heart like a wedge.
His expression was so painfully distorted that she couldn’t clearly define it as anger or bewilderment, but one thing was certain.
He felt some kind of betrayal.
“By the way, Edith, it’s not the time for us to think about Sophia or Whitman’s situation.”
Isabelle misunderstood that Edith’s hardening expression was because she was worried about the two of them, so she decided to change the topic of conversation.
“The atmosphere among the territory’s residents doesn’t look good. My father sent me a letter saying that our manor could be attacked at any time.”
“With the butler’s punitive petition being published in the local newspapers, they must be very disappointed.”
Isabelle was surprised by Edith’s calm and cool-headed demeanor.
“Edith, did you expect the situation to unfold like this? You seem… well, unshaken.”
Instead of an immediate response, Edith smiled awkwardly.
In fact, the strengthening of the opinion that Fortrion should be reformed among the territory residents was the result of her influence to some extent.
『 I’m glad Benjamin published that compelling article about the need for reform in the estate.』
People who read his persuasive article had to unite their voices, emphasizing the necessity for new leadership in the estate.
This was essential to ensure that the acting authority wouldn’t pass to Elizabeth and that it would be easier for Helen to assume power as the new leader.
『 Even though it’s been less than a year since I came here, I’ll naturally lose the authority.』
However, Edith couldn’t allow even Isabelle, who had helped her, to be subjected to insults along with her. So, she made eye contact with Isabelle.
“Isabelle, if you could buy honor with money, what would you do?”
“Honor?”
Isabelle’s father added in the letter that it would be good to have someone as resourceful as Edith nearby and hear her opinions.
Isabelle perked up her ears, not missing a single word of the meaningful question that followed.
──────────✿◦•
After Isabelle left with a positive answer and returned to her room, Edith casually asked Anne and Marie, who had come to tidy up the tea table.
“How do you find the new servants Elizabeth brought in?”
Now that they knew these new servants were assassins trying to find and kill Walter, she had to pay attention to what they were up to.
Anne and Marie were able to respond more comfortably now that Sophia, who had been giving them looks about them getting too friendly with Edith, was gone.
“Were they all exceptionally friendly?”
“That’s right, for the first few days, they were busy getting acquainted with the manor layout, but now they even greet us very friendly.”
“It seems like Elizabeth has brought in good people.”
Edith smiled happily, but she was well aware that they were gathering information.
They had come all the way from the capital to this place to kill Walter, but since their target had disappeared, it was likely they were trying to extract information from others. Among the servants at Fortrion Manor, the only one who could be said to know Walter well was Cassius. However, he followed Walter as he left the manor.
Therefore, it was unlikely that information about Walter would leak, but there was one person who might slip through the cracks.
Someone who knew about her relationship with Walter and would be willing to reveal the secret as soon as the pressure Walter exerted on him disappeared.
“Vivian, could you please go and fetch Hans for me? And it would be nice if Anne and Marie could prepare a simple snack. I’ve had tea, so a single serving will suffice.”
“Yes, M’lady.”
The three maids exited Edith’s room in a row.
Vivian knew that Hans stayed in the servants’ quarters on the west side of the manor, so she headed in that direction.
She wondered what could be the problem.
“Well then, I’ll take my leave, Lady Elizabeth.”
Hans bowed politely and could be seen coming out of Elizabeth’s room.
❀.°• ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ •°.❀
