Chapter 35
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Chapter 35
A long carriage stood before the Augusta Estate. It was the sort of carriage one might expect to see on a countryside road rather than in the city. Those who descended from it were Jane, the eldest daughter of the Augusta Family, and Madame Monde, who had overseen her bridal education these past several months.
"My, I departed when the spring blossoms were in full bloom, yet the trees of Brentwood are already shedding their leaves. It feels as though so much has changed! Even Katie seems to have grown a hand's breadth taller. Is that not so, Aunt?"
Jane, who had been taking tea in the garden, spoke with her characteristic radiant smile and bright voice. Despite being the eldest daughter, Jane was a fair-haired beauty—talkative and quick to laugh—quite unlike the somewhat cynical Helena and Bianca.
"Indeed, what greater transformation could there be in the Augusta Family than Charlotte's? Good heavens, Charlotte. You have become quite the refined young lady in my absence."
Before Jane had gone to her aunt's residence for bridal instruction, she had been the person in the Augusta Estate who criticized Charlotte most harshly. The burden of maintaining a good reputation in society as the eldest sister weighed heavily upon her, and Charlotte—a troublemaker—had been of little help to her aspirations.
"I hear that all the gentlemen who call upon you are quite distinguished. Tell me, are you not exhausted from receiving the visits of so many suitors? You do appear rather pale...."
Rather than Charlotte, who was somewhat taken aback by Jane's noticeably warmer demeanor, it was Bianca who interrupted her words.
"Speaking of which, do tell us about Terrence, Jane. How is it that you can hold your wedding on schedule despite the incident with the Prince of Holland?"
"Ah, Terrence is...."
Jane, who clearly had much to say, drained her teacup in one swift motion and continued.
"In a letter he sent previously, Terrence mentioned that he had taken on the role of protecting someone of quite noble bearing—someone unbecoming of a nobleman from an obscure house. And to think that person was the famous Prince of Holland!"
'It is His Highness Leopold!'
Though all the Augusta sisters wore expressions of keen interest, when Leopold's name arose, Charlotte found herself listening with particular intensity to every word Jane uttered.
"When that beautiful and noble aristocrat vanished one morning, you cannot imagine how shocked Terrence was. Of course, at the time he did not know the gentleman was a prince, so he simply assumed he had gone traveling somewhere and kept watch over the estate alongside the other mercenaries...."
Jane glanced around at the several pairs of eyes now fixed upon her, then raised her teacup once more as she spoke.
"In any case, the search party's interrogations should be concluded soon. Since they could not determine the exact day the prince disappeared, it took quite some time to investigate all the people who had come and gone from the estate where the prince had been staying over the past several weeks...."
"Then Brother Terrence will be able to attend the Eve of the Saints' Day celebration coming up soon?"
Katie, who had only partially understood Jane's words, asked with an excited voice. Jane responded with a gentle smile directed at Katie.
"Of course! That day is incredibly important to us. And that's not all—we might even be able to attend the Oslo Family Ball with Terrence the day after tomorrow."
Jane glanced sideways at me. Thanks to me, the entire Augusta Family had received an invitation to this private event of Count Oslo's House.
Seizing the opportunity, I asked with a deliberately composed expression.
"If the interrogation is finished, have there been any new developments in the investigation? Any clues about the case, perhaps?"
Jane nodded at my question, watching as Helena poured tea into her cup.
"Well... Terrence mentioned something similar in his letter. I thought the people around the Prince were limited to the mercenaries, including Terrence, and the servants who managed the estate..."
Then Jane's eyes widened as if she had remembered something.
"Through this interrogation, they discovered that a group of porters had visited that estate."
"Porters?"
Porters, suddenly? I lifted my shoulders in surprise at this fact I had never heard from anyone before.
"Well, there were rumors that the Search Party was being negligent, and it seems to be true. The mercenaries said that several sturdy men claiming to be porters visited the estate in the middle of the night the day before the Prince—or rather, the man they thought was a provincial noble at the time—disappeared. However, the Search Party thought it was unrelated to the Prince's disappearance because the mercenaries had properly verified the porters and sent them away."
Fortunately, Jane continued speaking as if it were nothing special, unaware that I had suddenly become excited.
"But now that the noble officers newly led by Count Oslo are participating in the search, they've decided to verify all of this once more. Wouldn't you say this is also a form of progress in the investigation?"
Progress in the investigation. My heart began to race heavily at this unexpected new development.
***
The moment tea time ended, I rushed back to my room. Having heard from Jane about the progress in the investigation due to Philip's involvement, I could not bear the regret that I had not stepped forward sooner.
'Porters who visited the estate on the night His Highness disappeared!'
I exhaled a breath tinged with frustration. No matter how sluggish the Search Party was, I could not believe they had simply overlooked such suspicious circumstances. The one fortunate thing was that Philip's joining the Search Party had improved the quality of the investigation.
'Does he believe even a little in what I said to Count Oslo two days ago? Of course, he had been participating enthusiastically in the investigation even before I told that half-truth about having the ability to see souls...'
At that moment, a soft knock sounded from beyond Charlotte's door. As Charlotte turned her head to look, Jane's face appeared through the slightly ajar gap.
"Charlotte, do you have a moment?"
Before Charlotte could even answer, Jane squeezed through the doorway and entered her room.
"It's been so long since I've seen you—your face has changed so much. You look like someone harboring a secret so consuming that you cannot sleep a single night...."
Jane spoke to Charlotte in a far gentler tone than when we had left Brentwood, as though the bride's lessons had truly taken effect. Though I struggled to adapt to Jane's transformation, I could not help but wear an expression of bewilderment at why my eldest sister had suddenly become so kind to me.
Jane, as if understanding what lay in my heart, hid both hands behind her back and offered a knowing smile.
"Charlotte, no one else in our family could understand or empathize with your secret. But I am different.... In truth, I know exactly what you do in the dead of night."
"What are you talking about, Jane?"
At the sudden mention of a "midnight secret," my eyes widened. I could not fathom what Jane meant to say, yet it was clear that my eldest sister's newfound kindness toward troublesome Charlotte was somehow connected to what she was about to reveal.
"Bianca, who uses the room next to yours, mentioned it to me. She said that every night, faint laughter seeps from your room, and that you seem to enjoy taking midnight walks. The moment I heard that, I understood what you were experiencing, Charlotte."
Charlotte's expression froze in alarm. So Bianca and others knew that I ventured out for midnight walks. But what unsettled me far more was Jane's knowing tone and that impish smile, as though she understood precisely what I was going through.
'My walks are.... to meet Leopold Your Highness....'
Jane, seeming to enjoy Charlotte's bewildered state, began wandering around Charlotte's Room with her hands still hidden behind her back.
"Beneath the moonlight, a secret lover's eyes shine all the more beautifully, do they not? In the darkness of night, the boundary between flesh and spirit grows blurred, just as the line between reason and morality within us fades away...."
With each word Jane spoke, I could not conceal my shock. The boundary between flesh and spirit, the midnight walks—Jane was unmistakably saying that she knew I beheld Leopold's spirit every night.
I stammered in a trembling voice.
"Jane, what you're saying now.... Could it be that every night I.... That is to say...."
"Exactly, Charlotte. That is precisely what I mean."
At Jane's unwavering certainty, my eyes widened further. With a gracious smile, she carefully closed the door she had left open upon entering, then turned to face me.
"Charlotte, in truth, this is not something only you experience.... I too, and perhaps even our mother and father, have experienced it. So there is no need for you to be so startled or ashamed."
Charlotte's mind went blank as if struck by something. Jane was now saying that her mother, her father, and even she herself had all seen someone's soul before. Charlotte asked urgently.
"Is that really true? You, Mother, Father—all of you... Then why didn't anyone tell me anything?"
"...Everyone probably thought it should remain a secret between the two people involved, Charlotte."
Jane answered with a blink of her eyes to Charlotte's question. Then, finding Charlotte's shocked expression endearing, she let out a small laugh and reassured her.
"Charlotte, it is a secret between the two of you, but on the other hand, it's also an entirely natural phenomenon. Especially when accompanied by love, it's nothing bad at all."
Jane stepped closer to Charlotte and continued speaking.
"I'm not sure whether that person is Philip Oslo or Armand Rochefort, but I can see you're confused and don't know what to do. Ladies have always believed that ignorance of such matters is a virtue."
In that moment, Charlotte had to doubt her own ears.
"Wait, why are you suddenly bringing up Mr. Oslo or Mr. Rochefort...?"
Confusion flickered in Charlotte's eyes as she reeled from the shock. What did seeing Leopold's soul have to do with Armand and Philip?
Jane laughed again, as if there was nothing left to hide. She had always thought Charlotte would remain a troublemaker, but it turned out that a Charlotte in love was adorably expressive—like a rabbit with glossy brown fur unable to conceal her feelings.
"Ah, it's fine. You don't have to tell me who your secret lover is that you meet every night."
As Charlotte mulled over Jane's incomprehensible words, she finally realized that Jane wasn't talking about Leopold's soul at all.
"Jane, that's not what I..."
"Before the wedding, everyone whispers sweet words to their lover in secret every night, don't they? So don't be so surprised, Charlotte."
Just as Charlotte was about to correct Jane's misunderstanding and calm her racing heart, Jane's eyes were already gleaming with excitement.
"Besides, I've prepared something in advance for my younger sister who would fall in love next after me in our family. Of course, I didn't know it would be you, Charlotte."
And before Charlotte could stop her, Jane handed her a bundle of books that had been hidden behind her back and whispered.
"This will be the answer to the midnight worries you have, Charlotte."
Jane, with a bright expression, simply poked Charlotte's ribs repeatedly with the books in her hands.
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org