Chapter 106

“Director Lara.”

“Yes, yes?!”

A faint voice came from the darkness.

Lara awoke and rubbed her eyes.

It was Julia.

Julia was crouched down, quietly whispering to the birdcage.

For some reason, that whispering voice seemed slightly eerie.

“Tayo.”

“······?”

Julia opened the cage door with a key she had secretly taken from Tia’s pillow and reached inside.

Lara, feeling confused, climbed onto Julia’s palm obediently.

It was so sudden that she couldn’t bring herself to ask what was going on, fearing that Tia, who was sleeping colorfully behind her, might wake up.

Soon, Julia quietly exited the room with Lara still in her palm.

“Are you trying to help me escape? That would actually be a problem. Tia will chase after me to the end.”

“I have no intention of helping you escape.”

“Phew. That’s a relief. Huh? Wait! That’s not a relief! It means there’s a big risk; of course, I would want to escape safely…”

This isn’t right.

After saying it, Lara felt something was off and stammered.

She feared it might be taken as a sign that she didn’t want to escape.

Just then, while Lara was trying to fend off the situation in any way she could, Julia abruptly cut her off.

“Director. You saw something today, right?”

“······.”

Julia’s tone was significant.

Lara swallowed nervously and looked up at Julia’s face.

She wore a faint smile.

It was as if her eyes were saying she already knew everything.

For the first time, Lara thought Julia was scary.

“What, what is it?”

“You saw something but didn’t tell me. You know, please tell me quickly.”

“······.”

Lara had vaguely sensed it since Tia returned home.

Lara was overly tense.

Of course, it was common for Lara to stiffen due to her fear of Tia.

But today, it didn’t matter whether Tia was close or far; Lara remained unable to relax.

Having observed her continuously, Julia came to a tentative conclusion.

Lara was hiding something.

“Actually, the three assassins came inside the carriage······.”

Unable to withstand Julia’s pressure, Lara confessed everything she had seen and heard inside the carriage.

Julia’s expression remained unchanged throughout the story.

She didn’t frown or get angry.

That was even scarier, causing Lara’s legs to tremble.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t tell you because I was afraid Tia would get scared! It wasn’t with any malicious intent!”

“I got that. Just calm down, Director. I’m only curious about one thing. Just answer this.”

“Yes, yes. What’s that?”

“You said you heard a rustling sound and people getting slaughtered outside. I thought you’d have an idea of who was doing the slaughtering. Am I wrong?”

“······!”

Lara felt goosebumps all over her body.

She hadn’t expected to be grilled about her deliberate omission.

For some reason, she felt that lying here would lead to a big problem, so she hurriedly answered while sweating profusely.

“It was Duke Dragania.”

“Hmm. Just as I expected. I understand. You’ve been a great help, Director. You can go to sleep now.”

“Uh······.”

With a cold expression as if she had come to an understanding, Julia nodded and carried Lara back to the cage, locking the bars.

Once again trapped in a narrow, dark place, Lara felt strangely comfortable and a sense of calm washed over her.

*

“Please send this letter to Duke Dragania’s residence.”

“······.”

As soon as she thrust the letter envelope towards the servant, he stood there in confusion, staring blankly at the letter.

It was a letter to the duke.

It requested a meeting.

Whether she went or he came, it asked just to see each other’s faces.

It asked for time.

“Understood. I will ensure it is sent to the duke for his perusal. However, he is quite busy, so the reply may be delayed or not come at all. You should be aware of that.”

“Busy my ass······.”

“What did you say?”

“Nothing.”

What could make that man busy?

Ah. If being busy meant spending the whole day having fun, that might actually be true.

The servant let out a slight frown, snatched the letter envelope, and left.

Normally, she would have turned around without a hint of suspicion and headed back to her accommodation.

But for some reason, she felt the servant’s demeanor was odd.

So she pretended to turn a corner and hid, peeking out to follow the servant’s footsteps with her eyes.

The servant turned around and vanished from her sight.

‘Why is he going to the back of the villa······?’

The direction was the problem.

There was no reason for the servant to go to the back of the villa at this late hour instead of to his bedroom.

There was nothing but the flower garden back there.

As far as she knew, the servant had no adorable hobby of admiring flowers.

Oh. Speaking of which, there was one more thing at the back of the villa.

“That bastard······.”

It was the incinerator.

Stealthily following the servant, she noticed flames rising from the incinerator.

The servant stared blankly at the fire and soon pulled a letter envelope from his pocket, throwing it into the flames.

There was something suspicious about this.

She felt as though that might happen.

Unable to resist any longer, she pushed through the underbrush and moved forward.

“Servant.”

“Ah······.”

The servant’s expression changed remarkably.

He looked like a child caught in a game of fire by his mother.

But that was only for a moment.

The servant quickly returned to his usual expression and faced her.

She approached him directly to meet his gaze.

“Why is my letter meant for Duke Dragania in the fire? I think some explanation is in order.”

“It was a mistake. I meant to throw something else.”

“······.”

Click.

She bit her lip in frustration.

Even within a short period, she had encountered the servant often enough to realize he was quite fair.

He would act up equally to everyone, but he never handled things in an absurd or unreasonable manner.

He never mixed emotions into his work either.

He wouldn’t burn the letter just because he disliked her.

There had definitely been a directive from above.

That was the conclusion she arrived at.

“Did the master order it? To prevent me from sending the letter?”

“······No.”

His response was slow.

Just that was practically an answer.

If it were untrue, he would have immediately scolded her to stop spouting nonsense.

He seemed flustered at being hit by a pointed question.

She stepped closer to him, whispering softly in his ear.

“Was it a directive from the master, kept secret from me? If so, blink twice; if not, blink once.”

“······.”

The servant quickly blinked twice.

It seemed there was a directive that shouldn’t be revealed to her.

She took a step back and exhaled deeply.

All of her doubts were cleared.

Now it was time to take action.

“It was a mistake, so there’s nothing to be done. I’ll write the letter again, so please make sure to send it this time.”

“Yes. I will do that······.”

She patted the servant on the shoulder and left.

The duke could be watching them at any moment.

Especially the servant, who had risen to that position out of loyalty, could never disobey the duke’s commands.

Letters sent through the servant would probably never reach the duke’s residence.

‘He could just ignore it himself. Why make someone else suffer······.’

Thinking about it, it was absurd.

If he hated my letter, he could just throw it away right after receiving it.

Why was he going so far as to obstruct the sending?

Was my letter something he didn’t even want to lay eyes on······?

‘Coward.’

He had clung onto her so persistently and teased her extensively before.

Now he kept circling around her, refusing to meet her directly.

That wasn’t atonement.

He was merely indulging in the satisfaction of portraying himself as ‘the one who suffers and toils in atonement.’

In the end, it was a matter for his own benefit, with not a thought given to her.

‘Let’s see who wins—me or him.’

A determination arose within her.

She would find a way to confront the duke face to face.

She made a firm resolve.

“Oh?”

Thump.

She stopped in her tracks, slightly surprised.

Just a moment ago, she was in front of the incinerator, but somehow, she had ended up in the flower garden.

She must have been so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn’t pay attention to where she was walking.

“Um······.”

The flower garden was quite bright due to the full moon shining down.

The moonlight poured down, shimmering as it struck the glass.

The flowers, soaking up that light, revealed a different beauty than when seen in the daytime.

She had never thought to come admire the flowers at night.

As she considered bringing Tia down to stroll together, that thought crossed her mind.

“Ugh.”

Thud.

The sudden sensation of her foot sinking made her lose her balance and almost fall.

Startled, she turned to find she had stumbled on the stairs leading to the basement.

Unlike the tidy and well-kept flower garden, the inside of those stairs exuded a gloomy atmosphere, as if it had been left untouched for a long time.

– Go in.

Every hair on her body stood on end.

At that moment, a voice echoed in her mind like an evil spirit.

Looking down the dark staircase to the basement sent a chill down her spine.

– Go in. You have to enter there.

“I don’t want to······.”

Plugging her ears, she squeezed her eyes shut.

This type of voice was no longer scary.

She learned from Alexander.

She knew this thing couldn’t hurt her.

And she also knew that if she just gathered her wits, she wouldn’t hear the voice anymore.

– There’s something you desire in there. You need to go down.

“Ugh······.”

She calmed her breath and began to refine the divine power within her.

Then she controlled that rough flow, making it tranquil.

With that, the whispering should have ceased.

– Do you think that will get rid of me? It’s useless. Go in. Go in.

“Damn······!”

Yet, for some reason, it didn’t work.

This was maddening.

She absolutely hated this creepy stuff.

She never went to see horror movies for this reason.

She decided to give up, covered her ears, and took off running.

“Hah······ hah······. What was that······.”

Only after leaving the flower garden did the whispering cease.

Already, cold sweat was beading on her forehead.

Wiping the sweat away, she let out a heavy sigh.

She thought she had gotten stronger against that evil spirit’s voice.

But that wasn’t the case.

She had to admit she was far more of a coward than she had imagined.

“She said if I toyed with divine power, I wouldn’t hear it······.”

But more than anything, what upset her was that Alexander had lied to her.

He said once she learned to handle divine power, she wouldn’t hear the voice of the spirit.

Now it turned out to be a complete lie.

The betrayal made her tremble all over.

“I think I’ll sleep with Tia tonight······.”

She couldn’t take it anymore.

Tonight, she would pretend to be sleepwalking and sneak into Tia’s bed and hold her close while she slept.

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