Laslo’s cold gaze then locked onto him.
“Why? Does the Vice-Captain wish to catch a glimpse of the woman as well?”
“I have no inappropriate intentions. Regardless, since they exploited the name of the Imperial Knights, I am merely trying to fulfill my basic duties.”
“Forget it. Summoning someone who is already unwell all the way here would be a nuisance. I will deliver the Vice-Captain’s apology myself.”
Edmund’s suspicions deepened at Laslo’s dismissive attitude.
*‘This just makes me even more curious.’*
He managed to suppress a smile that threatened to break through and nodded.
“If that is your opinion, then I have no choice. Since I have delivered the Knight Order’s stance, I shall take my leave. Is there anything else you wish to request or mention?”
“No, there isn’t. Safe travels.”
As they exchanged farewells as if the matter were settled, Terry, his eyes bloodshot, shouted hoarsely.
“You’re the one who told me! You said if I requested a sparring match with the Captain of the Guard, I could get invited! And that I’d be able to go in and see her!”
Angelo didn’t stay quiet, either.
“We wouldn’t even have come here if you hadn’t said that! We were just joking around…!”
Learning that Edmund was involved in this incident piqued Laslo’s interest.
Of course, Edmund was perfectly capable of defending himself.
“Count Krissus might misunderstand. Did I not clearly tell you? Don’t go thinking about gawking at women, but go learn a thing or two. Do I need to bring in the witnesses who heard me say that?”
“But…! But…!”
Terry and Angelo realized they had fallen into a pit from which they could not escape.
The kind and friendly Edmund Milton was no longer there.
Yet, ironically, Laslo was the only one who believed the two men’s claims.
*‘Egging on idiots to do stupid things—that must be easy work for a slippery snake like him.’*
Not that it excused those who had been manipulated by the snake, of course.
In the end, Edmund left without offering them any help, and the two bound knights were hauled off to the Imperial prison.
Returning to his office, Laslo asked Nathan, who had been following him.
“Do you think this was a coincidence?”
“Considering what Lord Milton has done until now, the probability is low.”
“If those idiots had truly harassed her, he would have made an issue out of it. It would have been perfect for creating a scandal.”
“On top of that, since they were ignored by lower-ranking knights, it would have been a great way to embarrass the Captain.”
“Right, that’s exactly what it would have been. He’s truly a genius at stirring up trouble without ever dirtying his own hands.”
Furthermore, Edmund Milton’s incredible talent was his ability to always create a clear escape route for himself. Even with circumstantial evidence, one couldn’t easily press him, which only made Laslo’s blood boil.
“Oh, and I brought Lord Milton here, didn’t I?”
“And?”
“He kept looking all around the mansion the entire time he was here. Was he trying to steal something?”
Even if it was an absurd suspicion, Laslo felt inexplicably uneasy.
“Perhaps he was trying to find that woman. It’s a good thing I didn’t let them meet.”
Watching Laslo click his tongue in annoyance, Nathan tilted his head slightly.
*‘The Captain of the past would have made them meet just to gather evidence… The Captain is acting very strange.’*
Nathan let out a small sigh, thinking of Edel, who had been like a white statue, and Laslo, who had looked at her with a strange gleam in his eyes.
* * *
“Sister! The Count is calling for you.”
Three days after ‘that incident,’ Daisy came to fetch Edel.
Edel had been bracing herself for it, so she felt indifferent, but Daisy’s face was filled with worry.
“They say the two knights who tried to do terrible things to you were sent to a military tribunal. They’ll likely be expelled from the Imperial Knights and fined as well.”
“Did someone come from the Imperial Knights?”
“Yes, yesterday. But they left shortly after arriving. Well, I suppose it’s not an easy matter to cover up, even if they were fellow knights.”
Edel smoothed out her clothes and nodded. But the progress of the matter was faster than she had anticipated.
*‘Count Krissus must be truly furious.’*
He might have decided to use this as an opportunity to clearly demonstrate his will that ‘anyone who ignores me will not be left alone.’
Sure enough, Daisy informed her that his anger had also been vented toward the inside of the mansion.
“The day before yesterday, Lady Lynnia and the Housekeeper were scolded severely by the Count. It must have happened while I was here bringing you your meal.”
For the crime of making light of the Head of the House and disobeying his orders, Lynnia was confined to her quarters for two weeks, and Marsha had two weeks of her wages docked.
Edel assumed some kind of thunderous reprimand would fall on her as well. When such things happened, nobles often punished those below them to preserve their own dignity—even if the person below had committed no crime at all.
“I’ll be going now.”
“Sister…!”
“Don’t worry too much, Daisy. I have…”
She was about to say that she had endured countless situations worse than this, but Edel simply interrupted herself with a smile. It wasn’t something to say in front of Daisy, who had likely lived through even more hardships than her own.
With a faint smile, Edel took a deep breath and headed toward Laslo’s office.
“You called for me.”
Until she announced her name and stood before him, Laslo had been looking out the window, deep in thought.
Edel waited silently without saying a word until he finished his contemplation.
Before long, Laslo opened his mouth.
“Did you hear about those bastards?”
“I heard the details of their punishment from Daisy. I believe it is a justified penalty.”
“Is that so? Perhaps it’s because I’m a man who has always lived as he pleased, but that doesn’t quite satisfy my anger.”
Edel understood his fury.
As the owner of the Empire’s largest mercenary guild, a war hero, and a man who had even attained the rank of Count, he had been insulted by knights who were, at best, the sons of minor nobility.
What was even more regrettable was that she had become the excuse for that insult.
“I apologize. I should have conducted myself better…”
“You say funny things. What more could you have possibly done in that situation?”
Edel found no answer and kept her mouth shut.
As Laslo pointed out, she was in a position where she couldn’t refuse Lynnia’s orders, and she didn’t know how to push away men who were harassing her any more than she already had.
Should she be grateful that Laslo understood that?
As Edel stood speechless, eyes lowered, Laslo clicked his tongue briefly.
“From the start, the fault lay with Lynnia and the Housekeeper. They’ve been coddled, so now they’re trying to climb over my head.”
“But for Lady Lynnia, she had no other choice. She is still young, and having never hosted a noble guest alone, she must have been frightened.”
“They aren’t even worth much, so what was so hard about serving them tea and telling them to wait!”
Edel was a bit scared as Laslo’s voice rose, showing his renewed anger, but she gathered the courage to retort.
“Lady Lynnia is not the Count. If someone is made to perform a task they have never done before, without any warning, it is only natural for them to be flustered and tense. Especially since hosting guests is a matter that nobles consider very important.”
“You seem to be taking Lynnia’s side?”
“It was presumptuous of me, but I only hoped that you would be a little more generous toward a young lady with little experience.”
“You say it’s presumptuous, yet you speak your mind regardless.”
Edel had braced herself for Laslo to get even angrier, but there was a faint hint of amusement in his voice.
After a long silence, Laslo smacked his lips, then said in a slightly softened tone.
“Because the Head of the House is incompetent, even the maids are subjected to insults. I am ashamed.”
“Oh, no. They are the ones who were in the wrong, not you, Count.”
“If I had been a bit more sharp-witted, there wouldn’t be people trying to climb over my head like this.”
He clicked his tongue briefly and then issued his decision regarding Edel.
“Anyway, from now on, you are to work in the kitchen. The laundry room seems to be too difficult a place for you to work.”
It was a decision completely unrelated to the incident, and it was practically a promotion.
Edel was so dumbfounded that she stared at him. I waited, wondering if there was more to come, but Laslo just tilted his head, wearing an expression that seemed to ask why I was staring at him so intently.
So, I had no choice but to ask.
“Is that… the end of it?”
“Why? Was there supposed to be more?”
“I… I thought there would be some kind of punishment for me.”
“Why? You’re the victim.”
That was true. That was the correct way of things. But did the world ever really work the way it was supposed to?
“Because it’s the custom.”
“Custom? What custom?”
“Usually, in noble households, when an unsavory incident like this involving a maid occurs, the maid is punished as well.”
At those words, the furrow between Laslo’s brows deepened even further.