Episode 45

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

When I hesitated at his words, Raiden approached me.

“Why, is someone bothering you again?”

That wasn’t it…

His voice was always sharp, but his words were always kind. His expression towards me was consistently indifferent, angry, annoyed, and his words were never gentle.

The things he said were infuriating. He was always teasing me and eager to make fun of me.

I bit my lip hard.

‘Did you do anything to her?’

I wanted to ask. But I barely swallowed the words.

It wasn’t confirmed that Raiden was the culprit. Besides, I wanted to believe in him. There was no reason. It was just that I found out this man wasn’t as bad as I thought.

“…Are you sure? Is something going on?”

He looked ready to grab someone by the collar. I quickly shook my head.

“Do you know your face turns red when you lie?”

“What?”

Do I really? Raiden crossed his arms and responded.

“Your face is red.”

“What? No way. It must be because it’s cold.”

“Are you living in winter by yourself or something?”

Raiden glanced out the window and dramatically rubbed his arms.

“Starting tomorrow, we need to change the blankets. Throw all those blankets away and bring in warmer ones.”

I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Really, I’m fine! Nothing’s wrong!”

I spread my arms wide, and Raiden let out a small sigh.

Looking at him, I thought for a moment.

I would somehow find proof that this man wasn’t the culprit.

* * *

“Abel?”

It had been a long time since I visited the servants’ quarters where we used to stay. I carefully opened Abel’s door to peek inside.

Abel wasn’t in the room. I cautiously entered. It was a familiar room. Much cleaner than when I used to be with him.

I approached the dresser and searched inside. I knew it was wrong, but there might be documents or letters connecting him to the Seville family.

But there were only familiar items inside. Maybe he hid them in the wardrobe, so I checked there too.

“…Chase?”

“Ah!”

I couldn’t help but scream at Abel’s voice from behind. Abel narrowed his eyes at me.

“What are you doing?”

“Uh, uh…”

I didn’t intend to hide it. I nodded towards the door. Abel looked puzzled for a moment but then closed the door as I asked.

“Why, what is it? You didn’t get into trouble, did you?”

I shook my head vigorously and lowered my voice.

“Is this room soundproof?”

Abel’s face darkened slightly. He approached the wall and knocked on it.

“Yes.”

I sighed in relief and cautiously approached Abel.

“Brother.”

Abel’s eyes widened at the word ‘brother.’

“The accident with Isis… was it really an accident?”

Since leaving the Seville family, we rarely talked about Isis. Especially about the unfortunate incident.

Isis was like another family member to us. The fact that she forgot about us was a shocking event for both of us.

“…Was it really an accident?”

I observed his reaction closely. Abel was especially good at hiding his expressions.

I anxiously waited for his response. What would he say? I was nervous.

Was it really Raiden’s doing? Would Abel say that?

“…”

Abel seemed to choose his words carefully for a moment. But from his hesitation, I had already heard the answer. I muttered in disbelief.

“…Unbelievable.”

Abel started to speak, trying to soothe me.

“Cherish, it’s just that…”

“Who did it?”

He avoided my gaze. It seemed difficult for him to speak.

“…I don’t know.”

“Liar.”

“Really.”

Abel sighed softly.

“I don’t know how much you know, but…”

“Why didn’t you tell me anything?”

Abel flinched at my words. He had nothing to say about that, so there was no answer from him.

“Right, you probably thought you were protecting me by not telling me.”

Abel approached me.

“Let’s talk again after everything is settled.”

“…”

I felt like a fool for not knowing anything.

“How did you find out? That it wasn’t an accident…”

“While investigating.”

I watched Abel carefully. Hopefully, he hadn’t made some secret deal with Frederick, as Countess Howarth suspected.

“I was going to tell you once I found out who the culprit was.”

“Liar.”

I sighed. It seemed Abel had no intention of revealing anything.

‘Then I’ll have to investigate on my own.’

* * *

Three days remained until the banquet. The servants of the Akaruth household, including myself, were probably all looking forward to this day.

Only when the banquet was over would we be free from this grueling labor.

The ballroom, even without any decorations, looked quite impressive. The ballroom spanned two floors, with the ceiling shared between the first and second floors. A large chandelier hung in the center of the ceiling, beautifully illuminating the ballroom.

On the second floor, there were lounges for men and women who wanted to rest.

There were also several rooms for secret meetings. Each room had a terrace, making it perfect for a private time together.

Additionally, from the second floor, one could watch those dancing on the first floor.

This also meant that any decorations not carefully placed would be quickly noticed.

“Let’s decorate the walls with cotton flowers,” Henry said after taking a sip of coffee.

“We’ll place the vibrant flowers in the center and gradually fade out the colors towards the edges of the hall.”

Roel nodded quietly, blinking. Hopefully, he wouldn’t collapse from exhaustion.

Roel had already sketched out how to decorate the hall. He pinned the paper on one corner of the empty hall’s wall. Henry patted his shoulder lightly to show his appreciation and then gathered everyone’s attention.

“The banquet starts at 5 o’clock. That means we need to have the ballroom perfectly ready by at least the morning, right?”

“Yes!”

“The flowers will arrive at 10 a.m. As soon as they arrive, place them in your assigned areas. We need to finish everything within two hours.”

Henry added that he would assign the locations.

The ballroom was already set up with the basics. The remaining three days would be for checking and rechecking everything.

While everyone was busy marking where the flowers should go, Henry called me.

“Chase.”

Was there something specific he wanted me to do? He handed me some individually wrapped flowers.

“What is this…?”

I couldn’t help but show my confusion. Henry elaborated.

“Deliver these flowers to the ladies as gifts. You are this year’s Marie, aren’t you?”

Henry patted my shoulder, as if to say good luck, and quickly left. I sighed inwardly and left the ballroom.

* * *

‘Goodness… Thank you.’

Delivering flowers to those resting in their rooms was easy. All I had to do was knock on their doors.

However, not everyone was resting in their rooms.

‘Those not in their rooms are probably in the Clover Room.’

I headed towards the Clover Room, where the tea party was taking place. Honestly, delivering flowers wasn’t a bad task. But Amy was in the Clover Room, and I felt a bit awkward about seeing her.

As I approached the Clover Room, the attendant at the door gave me a sideways glance. It seemed he understood the purpose of the flowers in my arms.

The door creaked open. The ladies, dressed in relatively comfortable afternoon dresses, all turned to look at me simultaneously.

“Oh my, how adorable…”

Their laughter filled the Clover Room, possibly noticing my nervousness. Blushing furiously, I shyly greeted them and began handing out the flowers.

Fortunately, the response was positive.

“What’s your name?”

“It’s Chase.”

“Chase? Even your name is cute!”

I distributed the flowers according to the names written on them. When I approached Amy to give her her flower, one of the ladies sitting by the window spoke up in curiosity.

“Is there another guest visiting the Grand Duke’s residence?”

“I’m not sure. I haven’t heard anything.”

“Me neither. And with the banquet so close…”

I handed the flower to Amy.

“…I hope you are always happy, Miss.”

I offered my greeting cautiously, and Amy smiled softly.

“Thank you.”

I forced a smile to follow hers. She looked at me thoughtfully before speaking again.

“Could you pour me a cup of tea?”

“Yes.”

Carefully, I lifted the teapot and poured tea into her cup.

“Oh, it seems there really is a new guest.”