Claisey was sick all the next day.
She didn’t know herself if it was because she was stressed by Merran, or if she was in shock from that mysterious, blood-soaked man.
Whenever her consciousness flickered, Claisey saw her eldest sister sitting before her eyes.
“Sister…”
When Claisey reached out, her eldest sister took her hand.
Claisey gripped her hand tightly, sniffling as she tried to hold back the tears welling up in her eyes.
Her parents were always abroad, busy with diplomatic work. Her eldest sister had acted as Claisey’s guardian in their stead.
Claisey had shared everything with her eldest sister, Marie—concerns of adolescence, her debut into society, studies, trivial daily life, and even horseback riding—the kinds of things her friends did with their parents.
Ten years ago, it was her eldest sister, already married by then, who first brought Claisey to the Capital.
‘Are you resentful of me, Sister?’
As Claisey sniffled again, unexpectedly, the phantom of her eldest sister sat up and pulled her into a hug.
* * *
“It seems the young lady has already fallen asleep.”
The door opened, and the maid, Anna, entered with a basin of warm water.
“She woke up for a moment.”
Merran said, looking down at the sleeping Claisey.
“Please get some rest, Miss Merran. You’ve been nursing her by her side since dawn. If you keep this up, you’ll collapse yourself. We can take turns with the nursing.”
Anna suggested, looking with concern at the side of Merran’s face, which had turned pale. Merran was slim and slender, prone to staggering even from minor exertion.
A few days after they started living together, when Merran fell violently ill, Claisey had cried and made a fuss, saying she felt like she was going to die of worry.
Despite the doctors’ protests, Claisey had kept Merran in her own bed and refused to leave her side for days, nursing her.
Anna smiled faintly. Miss Merran was only eleven years old back then. Does she even remember that time?
“It’s truly a marvel that the little miss who was nursed by Miss Claisey has grown up to nurse Miss Claisey herself.”
Merran dipped a white towel draped over the basin into the warm water and wiped the cold sweat from Claisey’s forehead. Even after hours of this, the fever wouldn’t subside.
As Claisey furrowed her brow in pain, Merran held her hand and patted the back of it.
“That’s right, Anna. Earlier, my aunt called me ‘sister’.”
“You look exactly like Miss Marie, Miss. Since she’s ill, she must have mistaken you for Miss Marie.”
Anna suggested she rest a few more times, but when Merran remained stubborn and refused to get up, she had no choice but to leave the basin and exit the room.
Walking down the hallway, she looked back toward Claisey’s bedroom once before descending the stairs.
“They truly cherish each other.”
The corners of Anna’s mouth rose again.
Suddenly, a loud bell rang from beyond the door.
Anna wiped her hands on her apron and hurried to the front door.
“If this were back home, no outsider would be able to come all the way to our door and knock.”
Anna grumbled as she ran, then reached the front door and asked in a loud voice.
“Who is it?”
“Palace Guards.”
However, Anna’s complaints vanished the moment she heard “Palace Guards.”
“What brings the Palace Guards here?”
Scared, Anna opened the door.
The Palace Guards were an organization directly under the Emperor. Although they were called guards, they were an organization that carried out all sorts of tasks under the Emperor’s command, in addition to guarding the palace.
Those “all sorts of tasks” were sometimes noble and sometimes trashy. The 4th Platoon was particularly infamous, but people were terrified of all the platoons just the same.
Seeing a soldier in the guard uniform, Anna nearly fainted.
“Excuse me. Is there someone in this house who attended the Laberton family party held yesterday?”
The soldier asked calmly, as if Anna’s reaction was trivial.
Anna reflexively shook her head, then realized her mistake and stopped.
This mansion, which Claisey had hurriedly rented with the intention of living alone for only a few years, was indistinguishable from a wealthy merchant’s mansion by its exterior. Yet, the soldier had come here.
Although he asked if “someone who attended” was there, he certainly knew someone had.
“Yes, there is.”
Anna confessed in a trembling voice.
“But what is this about? Did some problem occur there?”
“Ah. It’s nothing major. An important item has gone missing from the Laberton mansion. We are asking those who attended.”
Only after hearing the soldier’s words did Anna feel relieved.
“Oh, you startled me. I see. That’s a relief. Our young lady would never bring home someone else’s belongings.”
“How many people from this house attended?”
“One… no, two.”
“Why are you changing your story?”
“It’s embarrassing to say. Originally, only Miss Claisey was invited. But Miss Merran secretly followed her at night because she wanted to go, too.”
The soldier’s eyes brightened.
“At night? What time was that?”
Why is he asking that? Anna felt anxious and checked the clock. Her mind raced.
“It was probably… around nine o’clock in the evening.”
The soldier’s eyes sharpened further.
“Did you happen to pass through Valowal Road by carriage at that time?”
Anna felt even more uneasy. Why is he digging into this? Is there something suspicious about our young lady?
Anna could not answer, but the soldier read the answer there. In fact, even without hearing it, it was common knowledge that the road between Hod and Taywood led to Valowal Road.
The soldier inwardly cheered and asked.
“Are Miss Claisey and Miss Merran sisters?”
“No. Miss Merran is Miss Claisey’s niece.”
“Ah. By any chance, how old is Miss Merran?”
“Twenty years old.”
* * *
Phils, the adjutant who had left the 12th district of Hod, sought out the superior who had given him the strange instructions.
As usual, Kishin was drinking tea alone inside a large café near the main gate of the palace. It was a spot hidden by pillars and partitions, a seat the café owner reserved only for Kishin.
“Sir Kishin. I have found out. After searching the Hod district from zone 1 to zone 20, there is one woman who perfectly matches the conditions you mentioned.”
Phils sat across from him with Kishin’s permission and smiled brightly.
This morning, Kishin had given Phils a few conditions to find a woman.
First, she must be a noblewoman who attended the Laberton family party yesterday.
Second, she must have passed through Valowal Road by carriage between ten and eleven o’clock in the evening.
Third, she must be in her early to mid-twenties.
“There were quite a few women who matched the first and third conditions. But there was only one who matched the second condition as well. Merran Kalasi Omal. She lives in the 12th district of Hod. She is the eldest daughter of Marquis Omal, and since her mother passed away when she was young and her father remarried, she has been living at her aunt’s house.”
Although it was said that two noblewomen from that house attended the party, Phils judged that the aunt was certainly not the person Kishin was looking for.
If the niece is twenty, wouldn’t the aunt be much older? The age range didn’t fit.
Furthermore, it was said that the aunt had gone to the party alone, and the niece had secretly followed her by carriage at nine o’clock at night. In other words, the woman called the aunt had attended the party beforehand. The time frame didn’t fit either.
On the other hand, the niece would surely have passed through Valowal Road around ten o’clock, considering the distance from the Laberton mansion, even if she left at nine.
“Did you meet her?”
“No. Her aunt is ill, and she is nursing her throughout the night. I didn’t meet her because they said they weren’t ready to receive guests.”
Phils watched Kishin’s expression and added.
“Since Sir Kishin told me not to meet her unreasonably.”
“Well done.”
Kishin set down his coffee cup and stood up.
Dernic, who was like a wild colt, said that a noblewoman had stolen his identification. He didn’t believe that entirely, but there was no harm in being careful.
If the other party had really stolen the identification, he didn’t know what her purpose might be. He had to approach with caution.
Phils followed his superior as he stood up and asked tentatively,
“So, what shall we do now?”
In truth, Phils was a little excited right now.
Kishin had said that a noble lady had “somehow” ended up with his identification card. Phils was dying of curiosity about what exactly the circumstances were behind that “somehow” that Kishin had omitted.
Wasn’t Kishin Hiard the cold man whom people whispered about, saying that even his tears would freeze over? A man who didn’t even date, let alone marry or get engaged, had finally gotten entangled with a woman!
Just what on earth had that cold man done to end up handing his identification card over to a woman?
Phils did his best to suppress the grin that kept leaking out.
“Bring her in.”
However, the order that followed was not the atmosphere Phils had expected.
“Pardon?”
Phils’s eyes went wide.
“Bring her in? A noble lady? W-where to?”
“To the Palace Guards.”
“!”