“There’s really no way at all?”
“I’ve heard that unless one has been serving at the count’s estate for a long time, no one can even consider approaching. It’s impossible to sneak in a new servant, and even more so to intercept a servant from the count’s estate.”
“Very frustrating. They say to put your mind to work. There’s always a suitable way for everything.”
“I understand your frustration, but there’s no way. Moreover, isn’t this child of noble blood? How can we retrieve a child who has inherited the blood of the duke?”
Isaac’s mutter continued. He couldn’t understand Marina’s urging to achieve the impossible.
“If we can’t go in to steal, then why not make them come out on their own?”
“What? What do you mean?”
“If you just think about it differently for a moment, the answer becomes clear… Hmm.”
If we can’t go in to steal, then make them come out. Only now, as Isaac pondered Marina’s words, a smile finally appeared on his face.
“While we may not be able to infiltrate or intercept, we can make them come out, by their own choice.
“Yes, that’s what I meant. Finally, we’re on the same page.”
“There must be someone who can influence the count’s servant. I’ll look into it.”
Everything seemed to be falling into place for me and Franz. Like it had happened several times before, it seemed like they could quickly eliminate any enemies hindering them and finally seat Franz in the desired position.
Marina smiled contentedly.
***
Karl proposed talking about the day Valerie was created, thinking it would be an extension of the torturous sex education session, a practical part. However, he started a truly unexpected conversation. Though it was a long speech, to summarize, it went like this: “I don’t remember. I don’t know.” No matter what was said, it wouldn’t be as shocking or unsettling as sex education, but the moment made all the mental preparation seem meaningless.
“Excuse me… You have no memory? How is that possible? You created a child, but you have no memory of it?”
“That’s correct. I have no memory of it. I remember you coming to find me, though.”
“Wait, wait. So, you remember that I came to find you, but you don’t remember anything after that?”
“Yes. I’ve always been curious about how you found me in the first place. So, I actually wanted to ask you. How did you find me, and what happened to us that day?”
“But without a single word, you disappeared, and two years passed. I finally found you, just to hear that you have no memory this time.”
“So… just one day? The day you and I were… together?”
Struggling to find the right words, her face flushed just by implying they were together, knowing it was more than just being in each other’s presence.
“Yes, but before that day, I had never even spoken to you properly. Sitting here now, conversing with you is quite miraculous for me.”
“We never talked before, yet suddenly, why did you create a child?”
Expecting to learn everything clearly by questioning Karl about the past events, she ended up more confused than before. What happened, really?
“Where were you two years ago?”
Where was she that Celeste came looking for her? Karl’s eyes widened at my question, a look questioning if I truly did not know.
“My mansion.”
“Your mansion? Where is it?”
“Well….”
I frowned at not being able to get a clear answer, and he said it was classified information. It was odd that the location of the villa was considered classified. It was all very strange.
“When you feel threatened, or when there is a need to hide, that is when you need a place to conceal your body. So, the location must be kept classified. If everyone knows the place, it would not be suitable for hiding.”
“So, it was a secret location, and I found my way to you. How so?”
“I am curious about that as well. How did you find out about my secret villa?”
I was at a loss for words. Why did Celeste go looking for Karl’s villa in the first place? And how did she know the way there? It was classified information.
“I don’t remember that part, so let’s skip over it… After that, what happened then? What did we talk about when you suddenly showed up at my secret villa?”
“We didn’t talk about anything special. I was just greatly surprised to unexpectedly meet an unexpected person in an unexpected place, and I asked how you found it, but you didn’t give a proper answer.”
“No answer?”
“Yes, speaking incoherently and incomprehensibly. At first, I was suspicious of the reason for your visit, but it was strange that you came all the way alone without an aide or a common knight. I assumed you must have had some business with me and asked various questions while providing a room for you to rest.”
So, a total stranger came to an unknown secret villa, and you just accepted it? And simply exchanging a few words led to a dance invitation?
The story didn’t add up. It wasn’t a logical explanation.
Moreover, at that time, Karl, although maybe even now, was not someone known for being hospitable to women. If Franz, who believed in not stopping women who come and not catching those who leave, was there, it would make sense. But Karl, suddenly having Celeste come and spending the night with her, was hard to understand and impossible to imagine.
It felt like missing a crucial piece of the puzzle. When you lay out all the pieces, it might be just one piece, but without it, you couldn’t understand the whole picture of the puzzle.
“Was providing a room the only thing you did?”
It was a rather direct question. The tips of Karl’s ears turned slightly red.
“Well, we had a meal together. It seemed like you didn’t have much of an appetite, but regardless, it’s not proper to not treat a guest to a meal.”
“So you had a meal with me, who came suddenly.”
From here, the mood turned sour. I couldn’t pinpoint why I felt bad, but imagining a past version of Karl that I didn’t know sitting across from Celeste at the dining table made me inexplicably uncomfortable.
I just didn’t like the idea of Karl sharing his private side with a woman I didn’t know. Even if it was from two years ago, that Celeste meant nothing to me back then.
“I don’t drink alcohol.”
“Pardon?”
“Not only do I dislike the feeling of losing control involuntarily, but the main reason is that my body can’t handle alcohol.”
Alcohol talk out of the blue. I blinked.
“But that day, you made me drink.”
“You made me drink?”
Celeste did such a mischievous and audacious thing? Why?
“I didn’t know if you did that knowing I can’t handle alcohol, but anyway, I refused your offer. But then…”
“But then?”
“I had to step away briefly because Clovis said he had something urgent to report. When I returned, you were sitting there, quietly eating, as if you had never offered me a drink.”
“…”
“But it turns out you had slyly switched the contents of my glass.”
“Switched the contents…?”
Was she a con artist? I became too curious about what Celeste’s intentions were, what she was thinking when she did that.
“I thought it was water and finished the glass, only to feel tipsy very quickly. I blacked out after that. When I woke up, it was the early hours of the next day. You were gone.”
“I was gone…?”
But did Valerie really show up? How? His explanation had too many holes.
According to him, Celeste intentionally sought him out and planned and executed everything. It wasn’t clear what her plan was, but it definitely seemed like making a fool of Karl was one of her objectives.
“So when I met you again, I was thinking about asking why you came looking for me and why you made me drink. But I never expected things to turn out like this.”
As Karl spoke, he shrugged his shoulders.
He wanted to ask why she suddenly showed up, made him drink, and then ran away. They hadn’t seen each other in two years, and when they finally met, she had his child with her. That was Karl’s perspective.
His mood worsened gradually. He didn’t hear a detailed explanation of that particular ‘night’ directly from her, but he could deduce enough about the causes and processes from the clear outcome.
And so, Valerie was the result of that one night. In a way, Celeste and Karl were both remarkable. All in just one night, just once…
