Chapter 43
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Chapter 43
Marquis Cassion Schultz narrowed his eyes and took on a serious expression.
"Dale and I are just friends—."
"We are not even friends."
At that moment, Dale, who had been preparing vegetables in the kitchen, flatly rejected the notion.
Marquis Cassion, who had been staring at the kitchen with a dejected expression, shrugged his shoulders.
"Well then, there's nothing to be done. Since you say you're not friends, by the lady's logic, we must be former lovers. Are you satisfied now, Dale?"
"...."
As Dale furrowed his brow, Marquis Cassion chuckled.
"What good will it do to glare at me? I'm merely trying to clear up the lady's misunderstanding. Your wife asked me if I was after you, you see."
"...?"
Dale turned to look at me with sudden bewilderment.
"Is that true?"
"No?"
As I denied it, Dale looked at Marquis Cassion with an even more horrified expression.
Marquis Cassion opened his mouth as if wronged, but I pretended not to notice.
"Miss Enya. Please come over here."
"Yes!"
As I approached with quick steps, Dale hid me behind his back.
"Be careful, Miss Enya. The Marquis is fond of women. Therefore, you must keep your distance from His Excellency the Marquis."
"Me?"
"Yes."
Dale whispered earnestly.
"Because you are the most beautiful person in the world...."
"Pfft!"
"...."
"What did you say? I'm sorry. I didn't hear you."
If the Marquis genuinely liked women rather than being after Dale, that was actually acceptable.
'He's not my type at all.'
Marquis Cassion Schultz wasn't my type in the slightest!
"But then again, I might come to like you a bit, Dale. The future is uncertain, after all."
At his smooth words, Dale's expression sharpened.
"Whoa, calm down. I understand. So we're friends then, yes?"
"...."
Marquis Cassion smiled faintly and sat down in a chair.
The Marquis made himself at home in Dale's house as naturally as if it were his own brother's mansion.
"I never expected to meet Adeline again in a place like that."
Marquis Cassion Schultz chuckled, stroking his chin. He carried himself as though he had visited this house countless times before.
There was nothing awkward about the way he settled onto the sofa, and he sat with his legs crossed in a relaxed manner.
He seemed like someone accustomed to coming and going from Dale's house.
As if he'd done it many times.
Yet if I looked closely, while Dale certainly appeared displeased, it seemed closer to resignation or detachment rather than actual wariness.
Wait.
Were the two of them in the habit of visiting each other's homes?
Could it be that Marquis Cassion had...?
'He must have been manipulating Dale.'
Dale was not one to show his displeasure easily, yet the fact that he barely maintained courtesy toward the Marquis suggested this was quite possible.
That relaxed smile on Marquis Cassion Schultz's face.
It was the cruel smile of someone who had manipulated many people.
"Dale, did the Marquis bother you a lot?"
I leaned close to Dale and whispered softly.
Dale froze mid-motion while retrieving a plate, his eyes widening.
"Bother me, you say?"
"..."
When I stared intently at Dale, he looked back at me with a vacant expression.
"Am I right?"
"..."
"Nod if I'm right, shake your head if I'm wrong."
Dale nodded stiffly.
"I knew it. I had a feeling."
I moved closer to Dale, rising on my tiptoes to whisper carefully into his ear.
I couldn't let Marquis Cassion hear this.
"Did he just order you around because you're a noble?"
Nod, nod.
"Is that why you didn't want to see him?"
Nod, nod.
"I thought so. Should I take revenge for you?"
Nod, nod.
"How about I tell him to go home?"
Nod, nod.
Dale continued nodding, and seeing his flushed cheeks made my heart ache.
'Just thinking about it makes him angry. How upset must he be for his face to be that red?'
I was only now realizing this.
I turned to look at Marquis Cassion Schultz with guarded eyes.
'What is he looking at?'
Surprisingly, Marquis Cassion Schultz was not looking at us at all.
He seemed to be sitting quietly alone, but curious about what had captured his gaze, I subtly followed the direction of his eyes.
'Medicinal herbs?'
Marquis Cassion Schultz was staring at several seedlings I had purchased in the Capital.
"Are you planning to grow these?"
"Yes. Why do you ask?"
"Hmm...."
Marquis Cassion Schultz stroked his chin thoughtfully.
He seemed to be contemplating something intently.
"There would be more in the countryside, wouldn't there?"
"We never said we live in the countryside, did we?"
"Grunvalt Territory. I'm aware."
I was startled by Marquis Cassion Schultz's stalker-like deduction. But there was something that bothered me even more.
"Wait a moment, Marquis Schultz."
This is strange.
"Haven't you been speaking to me informally this whole time?"
"Have I done so?"
Yes. It seems like you have.
Marquis Cassion Schultz smiled brazenly.
"Since I manage the Magic Tower in my own way, I know at least that much. Just know that my information network is better than the young lady thinks, and that I will surpass Dale's vigilance."
Marquis Cassion Schultz, who had not taken his eyes off the medicinal herbs, slowly rose from his seat.
"Well then."
Marquis Cassion Schultz picked up the coat he had removed and put it on.
"Since I came as an uninvited guest today, I'll quietly take my leave. I do have some shame, after all. If I stayed through a married couple's meal, I fear someone might kill me for it."
Marquis Cassion Schultz patted Dale on the shoulder as he passed.
Just before leaving, he let out a soft chuckle and looked at me.
"Adeline, let's meet again."
* * *
[To Emma]
After returning to Grunvalt, I wrote a letter to Emma.
It contained details about the fake Adeline I had encountered at the Boutique.
"Why me, out of all those noble ladies?"
My brow furrowed for a moment, but the answer came easily enough.
There were only two ducal houses in the entire Empire.
House Lockhart and House of Hexagon—and it so happened that House of Hexagon also had a daughter. I'd heard she was older than me, though I'd never seen her face.
"The Hexagon Duchess was also confined to the estate during the Duke's house arrest, wasn't she?"
If someone wanted to invoke the name of a prestigious family, only one option remained: House Lockhart.
"I should ask Emma to look into this."
I folded the letter small and tied it to a bird's leg, sending it off.
As I opened the window, a harsh wind swept through.
"It looks like snow is coming."
The sky hung heavy with clouds, and the day had remained dim from morning to night.
I was grateful I'd given Dale a warm winter coat as a gift beforehand.
The clothes I'd purchased as a birthday present were prepared quickly and delivered to our house. Dale seemed delighted with the gift.
"Our house needs to prepare for winter too."
I went to the storage shed and brought out plenty of firewood—which Dale had prepared.
Then I covered the windows with weatherproofing materials—which Dale had prepared—and sealed the gaps so the wind wouldn't seep in.
"...Without Dale, I would have starved to death."
Everything, down to the smallest detail, had been prepared by Dale.
"Then today, I should make dinner for Dale."
What should I prepare?
He'd been out working since morning, so a warm stew seemed perfect. I'd add plenty of meat, plenty of vegetables.
"The ingredients are..."
The moment I opened the storage shed door.
Thwack!
Something struck my head hard.
* * *
"Ow!"
The object that struck my head was none other than an identification badge.
Dale's identification badge lay scattered on the floor.
"Why is this here? And how could he leave something so important behind?"
Dale had mentioned going to another territory to meet someone on business.
An identification badge was absolutely necessary when passing between territories....
"He should have come back to retrieve it. Why did Dale just leave?"
Could he have passed through the checkpoint without his badge? My head tilted in confusion.
Ordinarily, unless one held exceptional status, passing through a checkpoint required the badge—it had been lax before, but ever since the male protagonist ascended to the throne as Emperor, even nobility had to present their badges without exception.
So how had Dale simply departed?
"Dale, could it be...."
A rational hypothesis occurred to me, and I narrowed my eyes thoughtfully.
"Did he sneak over the mountain path instead?"
There was more than one way to accomplish something.
After observing him carefully for several months with my keen eye for detail, I was beginning to understand what kind of person Dale truly was.
Dale was meticulous in many respects yet surprisingly careless, and while he appeared inflexible, he was remarkably resourceful.
"Dale would have carved out an unknown path rather than waste time going back and forth."
The journey took far too long otherwise.
"In any case, he's so naive. I'll have to look after him."
I brushed the dust from Dale's identification badge clean and slipped it into my apron pocket....
"...Dust?"
Wait. That's strange.
Dale always carries his identification badge with him, so why would dust accumulate on it?
"As if he'd never used it at all."
There were moments when Dale left me puzzled—this person who still maintained the habit of leaving in the morning and returning at night.
What was he doing so busily out there?
It seemed like he was doing something I didn't know about....
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org