Chapter 84
‘There he is…?’
Jeffrey looked around, trying to avoid the gaze of the deep blue eyes staring at him.
But no matter where he looked, there wasn’t a single ant in sight. The only person standing on the landing was Jeffrey himself.
‘Did he come to find me? What is he suspecting about me?’
Jeffrey swallowed something that was stuck in his throat.
He couldn’t tell if it was his saliva or his heart that had risen up into his throat. In the meantime, he could hear the sound of knights in armor approaching the mansion.
Should he run now? No. Running would be a stupid choice. Escaping now would only make him look suspicious. Jeffrey planted his feet firmly on the ground and stood resolutely.
Soon, the knights surrounded him.
“You’ve become the prime suspect in the kidnapping of my wife. The Count has agreed to interrogate you and search your room, so I would appreciate your cooperation.”
“I am not the one who kidnapped the Duchess! Absolutely not!”
Jeffrey vehemently denied it, his veins bulging on his neck. At that moment, Harold’s cold gaze slowly moved.
Jeffrey turned his head, following the gaze, and suddenly grabbed his left wrist in surprise.
“That left wrist… You’ve been telling people it was twisted, but that’s not true, is it?”
“This… this is…”
“If you’re innocent, why don’t you unwrap the bandage and show us?”
Jeffrey stood frozen, clutching his wrist, and Harold gestured with his eyes toward the knights.
Jeffrey took a step back, but he was blocked by the railing. The knights forced the bandage off, revealing the injury underneath.
“What is this?” Harold raised his eyebrows and gestured for him to explain.
As if hunting a cornered rat, Harold’s relaxed attitude made Jeffrey grip the railing tightly.
“…It’s true I lied about twisting my ankle. The Count hates cats, so he ordered the gardener to chase away any cats in the garden. I tried to pet a cat that the gardener had been secretly caring for, and it scratched me. I lied to avoid revealing the cat’s existence.”
Phew. Jeffrey sighed with relief after finishing his explanation. At the same time, he noticed the butler standing next to the Duke and Duchess stiffening his face, and a slight sense of guilt weighed on his chest.
Jeffrey could sense that the butler would find the cat and kick it out.
No, even before he said anything, he knew this would happen. But what else could he do?
‘First, I need to stay alive.’
The gardener had asked him to keep it a secret, saying he would leave the injured cat on the street once it got better, but for Jeffrey, avoiding being caught for his crime was the priority.
“Hm, so you’re saying you’re innocent?”
“Yes, I’m very innocent!”
“Then you have nothing to hide, so you’ll gladly cooperate with the room search.”
Harold ordered the investigation to begin.
The knights split into three groups: two teams went downstairs to search the rooms and the trash, while one team went up to the medical room.
However, when the other two teams left, Jeffrey had only nervously rolled his eyes, but when the last team began climbing the stairs, he tensed up as if he might rush forward.
But he quickly shrugged it off and pretended to be indifferent.
“Alright. I’m innocent, so feel free to search properly.”
Harold, who had been watching him closely, narrowed his eyes. He looked up the stairs and then ordered the remaining knights.
“Two of you tie up Jeffrey, and the rest head to the medical room.”
“…!”
Harold, not hiding the grim expression on his face, spoke quietly while staring at Jeffrey.
“I think the evidence is in the medical room.”
They quickly headed to the medical room. They searched everywhere—on the patient’s bed, in the drawers, on the desk, and in the space where medical supplies were kept.
“Duke, we’ve searched everything, but nothing suspicious has appeared.”
“We found nothing in the rooms or the trash either.”
The knights reported, looking troubled. Harold slowly glanced around the medical room before giving an order.
“Keep searching.”
“Understood, my lord.”
The knights resumed searching the medical room, but they had already examined everything, so they were unsure where else to look.
Diana watched Harold. Harold felt her gaze and turned to look at her.
Their eyes met in mid-air, and it was Diana who spoke first.
“Harold, do you have a hunch about something?”
“When the knights went to the medical room, Jeffrey’s reaction seemed odd. Even when I said I was going to check here, his expression stiffened.”
“Hm, I see.”
Diana slowly nodded.
“Then let’s keep searching.”
She hadn’t sensed anything unusual when they were heading to the medical room. And since she had been watching Harold when he said he would send more people there, she hadn’t noticed Jeffrey’s expression. But…
“If Harold saw something, then it must be here.”
She reflected for a moment and realized that Jeffrey’s uneasy expression was still stuck in her mind, like the endless night sea.
“Harold, why are you looking at me like that?”
Harold leaned forward and whispered as he looked at her with a puzzled expression.
“I like it when you trust me, but it’s a shame we can’t go to the bedroom right now.”
“…!”
Harold’s gaze slowly moved across her flushed face, his eyes narrowing.
“Then, I’ll look over there.”
He passed by her, and Diana covered her face with her hands, red as a tomato.
‘…Why does he want to joke at a time like this?’
He’s really crazy. Diana tried to calm her racing thoughts and looked around, trying to recall any clues from “The Fallen Noble Daughter Captures the Prince” or any memory of “Diana” that might help.
In the novel, Jeffrey was just a character who secretly loved Ella, with no major role.
‘Diana’s memory…’
She continued to scan her surroundings, trying to recall memories. In the past, “Diana” had visited the medical room because Jeffrey had refused to give her the proper medicine, so she came in secretly to steal some.
She clung to a faint memory deep in her consciousness, trying to bring it back up.
Jeffrey started to struggle as if trying to shake off the knights holding him, shouting.
“There’s no evidence that I’m the culprit! Please stop!”
Jeffrey had kicked the chair, and a medicine bottle had fallen to the floor.
‘Thud!’ The bottle bounced once before rolling away, and Diana stared at it blankly.
Young “Diana” had rushed to pick up the bottle that she had accidentally dropped. The bottle rolled under a desk, and Diana crawled under to retrieve it. And there, by chance…
‘Ah.’
“Harold.”
At her call, Harold turned to look at her.
“There’s a hidden space under the desk.”
“…”
Jeffrey, who had been struggling, fell silent. Harold glanced at him briefly, then looked at Diana with a satisfied smile.
“If my wife says so, we must check it.”
By discovering the hidden space, evidence of Jeffrey being the culprit came to light. Inside, there was a journal filled with stories about Ella and even details about the requests she had made to him.
Diana had suspected Jeffrey from the start, but the journal confirmed it. She had planned to interrogate Jeffrey to catch Diana, but thanks to the journal, there was no need for further questioning.
Ella would be imprisoned and punished for her crimes.
Before returning, Diana spoke with the gardener, who had lost his job due to Jeffrey’s actions. He had been the only one to treat “Diana” well in the past, and now, he needed to work at the nearly finished greenhouse in the Duke’s estate.
Afterward, Diana returned to the Duke’s estate and resumed her daily routine. Time passed, and when she finished preparing for bed, she headed toward the couple’s bedroom but suddenly stopped, thinking.
‘Harold is fully recovered now.’
The reason we… were sharing a bed in the first place…
‘Now that I think about it, Harold hasn’t said anything about it.’
Maybe it’s so natural to him? She hesitated but still made her way to the couple’s room.
When she entered, Harold wasn’t there. So, she went to his room.
Knocking on the door, Harold appeared wearing his nightgown.
The familiar scent of him tickled her nose. Harold looked down at her with a smile, his lips curved upward.
The shape of his lips was a beautiful shade of red, and Diana smiled back, pleased that he was healthy.
“Diana, did you come to find me because you missed me?”
Harold’s fingers naturally entwined with hers. She instinctively tried to hold his hand, but then, hearing his playful voice, she opened her mouth in realization.
Right, she had come to ask him something.
“Harold, I have a question.”
“Hmm? What is it?”
“Are we sleeping in separate rooms starting today?”
“…Separate rooms?”
She nodded enthusiastically but flinched when she saw his expression.
Wait…?
The laughter faded from his eyes, and something in his deep blue gaze seemed to snap.
-ˋˏ ༻❁✿❀༺ ˎˊ-
• ❁ • ❁ • ❁ •By Freya• ❁ • ❁ • ❁ •
If you want to support the translation and the translator, you can buy a coffee~
Advance chapters of this novel are available of my kofi channel
-ˋˏ ༻❁✿❀༺ ˎˊ-
Poor Harold I love his character so much but I feel so bad for him😔