Chapter 104
---------------
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
---------------
Chapter 104
"Do you have worries too, Aunt?"
"A little."
"What is it? Tell me! It's your turn now!"
Lucian clenched his fists, his eyes gleaming with excitement. He seemed delighted at the prospect of becoming a problem solver.
However, I couldn't bring myself to speak so readily.
"It's a bit awkward to tell you..."
Where in the world was there an aunt seeking romantic advice from a seven-year-old nephew?
It wasn't good for my pride, nor was it beneficial for the child's education.
"Why! Why do you keep secrets from me? I told you everything. That's not fair!"
Wrinkles formed on Lucian's soft face.
It was certainly cowardly of me as an adult to back away now when it was my turn.
"If I tell you, will you actually provide a proper solution?"
"Of course!"
"Hmm."
I deliberated for a moment.
To organize these tangled feelings neatly, I truly needed someone to confide in.
Yet I couldn't simply discuss my troubles with just anyone.
'If I consult with someone else, they'll all figure out that Claude is the one I'm concerned about.'
After all, Claude was the only man I was close to. Everyone would surely react the same way Lady Stanley did.
'Lucian, on the other hand, probably wouldn't realize who I'm worried about.'
Then perhaps it wouldn't be so bad to pretend I couldn't resist and tell him?
Sometimes answers came from the most unexpected places.
"Aunt, hurry!"
At his persistent urging, I opened my mouth as if speaking of someone else's matter.
"Actually, this isn't my worry—it's a very close friend of mine's concern."
"You have a friend?"
"...Should I just not tell you?"
"No. Tell me quickly!"
"It's nothing much."
I spoke in the most casual tone I could muster, as if discussing someone else's affair.
"My friend has this man who treats her incredibly well. Whenever there's something delicious, he makes sure she gets it first. When she's in a bad mood, he tries to cheer her up. And he's even risked his life to save her in moments of danger."
Days spent with Claude flashed rapidly before my eyes.
Speaking it aloud like this, I suddenly felt the weight of how much help I'd received from him.
"So everyone says that man definitely likes my friend."
"I think so too."
"Really?"
"Yes. Those are all things he does hoping to see her smile. When you truly like someone, you naturally want to see their smiling face."
"...Is that so?"
I was left speechless.
Something had struck a vulnerable chord within me.
The child's innocent answer had touched upon a part of myself I had never consciously acknowledged.
"Anyway, so? Everyone says that—but why?"
"So people around her keep encouraging it, I guess. They tell her to give it a try. But my aunt's friend says she doesn't know if she actually likes that man or not."
"She's gotten so old, yet she doesn't even know her own heart?"
"...Yeah."
That aunt who couldn't live up to her age was me.
It felt as though I'd been struck repeatedly since earlier.
"Why doesn't that aunt understand her own heart?"
"Well, you see."
I chose my words carefully so Lucian could understand.
"She enjoys being with him, but when asked if she likes him, she can't give a proper answer. However, when she imagines another woman getting along well with that man, her heart aches."
"What? She likes him then."
Lucian's answer was remarkably simple.
I found myself bewildered and asked him back.
"Why do you think that?"
"That's jealousy. Jealousy is when someone you like seems close to another person, and it bothers you."
"Is, is that so?"
"Yeah. That aunt is really dumb. She doesn't even realize she's jealous."
Lucian shook his head and sighed.
To a seven-year-old, my current state must have seemed quite pitiful.
"Does she smile when she sees that man?"
I recalled those past days with Claude. The me in those memories was always smiling.
"Yeah."
"Does it hurt when she thinks that man might like someone else?"
I imagined Claude and Elena on a date together.
...Even in that brief imagining, my mood darkened.
"Yeah."
"And the most important thing of all."
Lucian extended his index finger with an unusually serious expression.
"Does her heart race when they're together?"
It was far beyond mere racing.
Ever since that day when I returned to the Military Camp cradled in Claude's arms, my heart had been threatening to burst whenever I saw him.
"It does."
"Then it's certain."
At my affirmation, Lucian opened his mouth like a doctor delivering a diagnosis.
"You definitely like him."
It was the moment I became aware of my own heart, which I had never known before.
* * *
The Study of the Agris Marquis Residence.
Claude sat at his desk and unfolded the documents the Adjutant had brought.
"This is the personal information of the Coachman who drove the carriage on the day of the accident."
A man in his forties who had served House of Agris for over a decade, with three children. He was taciturn and honest by nature, so everyone trusted him with their work.
"If I had to point out something notable, it would only be that his wife suffered from a serious illness."
"I think I've heard something about that before."
After the previous Marquis and his wife passed away, among the countless matters Claude had to handle was providing for the deceased Coachman's family.
"I remember giving them a substantial sum as compensation."
At that time, Claude had paid the Coachman's bereaved family an amount sufficient to cover his wife's medical treatment and comfortably raise three children.
There were many questions I wanted to ask them, but I held my tongue out of respect.
Asking those grieving over the loss of a husband and father if anything seemed unusual would be like pouring salt into their wounds.
Above all, I did not suspect the Coachman.
Who in this world would trade their own life for money?
I believed without doubt that the Coachman was a victim of the accident.
"But look at this, sir."
Claude shifted his gaze to where the Adjutant was pointing.
What was written there was shocking.
"All the bereaved family members... dead?"
"Yes. The Coachman's wife and all his children have passed away. Within a year of the accident."
Claude examined the documents with an expression of disbelief.
The Coachman's wife died five months after the carriage accident—a time when Claude had been consumed with searching for Amelia.
The cause of death was listed as complications from her chronic illness and mental deterioration following her husband's death.
The reasons for the children's deaths varied.
The eldest fell to his death, the second drowned, and the youngest, left alone, starved on the streets.
"Even if the one who was ill could be explained that way, it's far too strange that all the healthy children lost their lives as well."
And all of this within just a year of the carriage accident.
"There's a suspicious stench in the air."
Claude's expression turned cold as he turned to the next page of the documents.
There was a record of how the inheritance left after the entire family's death had flowed.
Starting from the Orphanage, through the Temple and Hospital, after being laundered through various institutions, it reached...
"...Desmen."
It was a business operated by Baron Desmen.
"I never gave the bereaved family this much money."
The amount specified in the documents far exceeded five times what Claude had paid to the family.
The implication was clear.
"He recovered the money I distributed."
Now the outline became apparent.
He had paid the Coachman a vast sum as the price for his life, then killed his family to recover the money he had given them.
"How could I be so foolish."
Now that I knew the truth, I was shocked by my own complacency.
That someone close to me had committed betrayal, and that what I thought was not the case had been the answer all along.
While I was consumed with searching for Amelia, innocent people died in the process.
"What shall we do, sir?"
The Adjutant asked cautiously.
He seemed ready to apprehend Baron Desmen immediately if I gave the order.
"For now, pretend you know nothing. Once all the circumstances are confirmed, I'll make my judgment then."
"Understood, sir."
"Until then, be careful that no information leaks. No one must know that I investigated the carriage accident."
"I will keep that in mind."
While my chest felt lighter knowing I'd found the culprit, my teeth ground together with barely suppressed rage.
Once all the evidence was gathered, I would make certain he paid the price for his crimes.
Claude clenched his fist with that resolve.
---------------
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
---------------