Chapter 27
Its weird, Father.
Verdic became more aggravated little by little. Why was she insisting on clinging to useless things when his work here was nearing its end? The fief lord was greatly offended by Isellas belligerent remarks. Even when she was like that, she got the answer she wanted. So whats her problem now?
Whats wrong? Didnt Lord Hare give you a definite answer already?
Wasnt it only him who saw it? The Lord might be lying to cover up the truth, right?
Stop it. Why are you being like this? Even before this, I was already in circles just thinking about what to do with your engagement, and then this.
Hhn If the Lord was the one who murdered the maid, or if its another servant who did it, its possible. If thats the case, wouldnt you be able to use this against them, Father? I really think its weird. That day, I definitely
Slam!
Isella flinched and backed away. Verdic made a grim face.
No matter what, even if I get all the rights, its impossible to kick the fief lord out of this household. A scarecrow with a zipped mouth is necessary for the merger to happen naturally. Isella, we have to live while not bothering each other too much. Especially with such trivial things.
But what
Isella, Im asking you to stop it already. It doesnt matter whether a black gypsy maid died or not. His Lordship already answered you about it, and we have no right to raise the topic again. Stop it now. By any chance
He inhaled.
Even if His Lordship killed that maid, its not a huge concern.
He felt somewhat sorry for his nave daughter, but on the other hand, he also felt disappointment and anger at the same time. Isella was caring too much about such trivial things now, and she couldnt understand at all. What did she have to do with that? Verdic had so many other things to do, and it didnt matter whether one maid had vanished or not.
Rather than that, just focus on looking better for Sir Raymond. Stop acting like a wench who pretends she knows everything. No one likes that kind of woman.
Father, I-Ill help you, so
Stop it. You talk too much. Sometimes I regret it, that I seem to have given you too much education. You dont have to get angry when Sir Raymond looks at Carynne Hare. Sir Raymond isnt a fool. A broken engagement would be a scandal for him, so he will marry you eventually. Get it?
Yes.
No, you still dont seem to understand. Tolerate it, thats what Im saying. You shouldnt show your tail only for it to be grabbed. A moderate expertise in liberal arts makes you a good conversational partner, however the useless knowledge youve accumulated makes you arrogant.
That I studied, you dont like it?
No, thats not what Im getting at. Its not. You
Verdic couldnt feel the need to say more to his daughter, who was now just seconds away from shedding tears. Rather than taking any of his words as advice, she would just dismiss him as a bully.
Ka-chak.
Isella came out to the hallway to return to her room. The eastern wing of the mansions fourth floor was lined up with guest rooms that looked alike. The series of rooms were indistinct and similar, and they didnt suit her tastes. Everywhere she looked, there were white or whitened fabrics draped over the walls, and the rooms also had similar carpets and much of the same furniture. So, Isella had to count the doors to know which one her room was.
One, two, three. She entered the third room, the one thats hers. Opening her closet, her thirty-seven luxurious dresses welcomed her back as though comforting her. Isella liked their soft texture that seemed to soothe her.
Hiiic
Still, it was hard to hold back from sobbing. She even heard strange sounds in the room last night. She couldnt believe she was suffering from hallucinations.
Isella had to cover her ears all night long. She was scared, but she didnt know what she was frightened of. And there was nothing she could do about it.
Whether the dead moved or did not move. Isella had to at least attract Raymondor, as his partner, to maintain his interest to the point that he would not break the engagement.
But even that was difficult.
As she hugged her dresses one by one, she calmed down eventually, but she opened her eyes when she felt something amiss.
Whats this?
It was the texture of a rough fabric that should not be in her closet. Isella frowned as she pulled it out and threw it down.
Who would even wear Ah.
When looking for her necklace that day, she ordered someone to bring out old clothes. It looked like the clothes she wore back then were washed and mistakenly put in here. Isella scowled and threw those clothes in the trash.
Gosh, how disgusting.
She gave Carynne her dirtied clothes back then because it got stained with period blood, but she couldnt believe that these clothes got into her closet. Even the maids here wouldnt be caught wearing this.
Once she became the madam of this place, the first thing shed do would be to change the laundry maids.
But then, Isella frowned as she thought of something.
What?
The maids clothes, at that time, should have gotten dirtied with her period. Isellas body grew rigid Wait.
Back then it was period blood, right?
The next day after that, Isella was lying down all day because of menstrual cramps. But no matter how much she thought about it, it was strangeIsella had changed her skirt back then, but not her undergarments.
Wait, huh? That doesnt make sense?
Her skirt had obviously been soaked with blood. It was to the extent that Carynne frowned at it and asked her about changing her clothes first before she left. But no matter how much Isella tried to remember, she couldnt recall borrowing any undergarments that day.
This meant that the blood that was on her that day was not her own blood.
Ah.
Isella unfolded the skirt. It had already been washed clean, so nothing was on it. And time had already passed.
This fact wasnt important at all. Thats right, it was here. Isella stared at the fabric.
Its none of my business whether that maid died or not.
She gritted her teeth hard. Yes. Its none of her business. Just forget it. Forget. Dont think.
But that night, Isella couldnt sleep again.
There it was again, those faint cries shes been hearing.
* * *
Excuse me.
Isella cursed herself inwardly as she knocked on Dullans door. Dullan was preparing for a morning service at dawn at that moment, and when he opened the door, his expression distorted mercilessly.
Well, she didnt want to come here either, okay? Isella pushed down the coming urge to retch. If this man was attractive at all, Carynne would have married him immediately. If that happened, there would have been no huge obstacle between Isella and Raymond right now.
Its just, I, these days Um, I cant sleep well.
Alright.
While sitting down, Dullan wrote some notes while his brows were furrowed. Even his handwriting was ugly.
Its like I can hear someone crying every night I saw something strangeIm not crazy.
Resisting the desire to stab the eyes of the man who looked as though he was belittling her, Isella continued.
And I strangely keep getting more irritable these days.
P-Prayer and meditation will be more helpful. Especially for s-someone like you.
What did he just say. Isella stopped herself from cursing. Be ladylike. Isella repeated.
Just give me medicine to help stabilize my mood.
Dullan licked his lips for a moment, but eventually, he opened a drawer. After taking something out, he handed over a bundle to her.
If you take a dose of this before sleeping, it will help.
As she heard that this would help stabilize her mood, Isella stared at the medicine from a distance. It was a bundle of dried purple flowers. Those were what Carynne put in her tea every time.
Carynne drinks this every day.
Yes. It has a calming effect.
Shes always calm though. Why is she drinking something like this?
Isella couldnt understand. Carynne was always nice, and she never even spoke loudly. Even when she got stabbed and was carried back, she even made jokes about it.
Huh?
Seeing Dullans hardened expression, Isella felt that something was strange.
More, to calm her down, thats why.
I know you cant speak well, but why dont you try speaking in a way that could be understood more?
Dullans face became red. He soon put down his pen and rose to his feet. Seeing how much taller he was than she had expected, Isella was flustered.
Pointing to the door, Dullan spoke.
Miss Evans. Please dont pay attention to useless things.
His voice was firm. Without any tremors.
* * *
When Carynne saw that the body did not disappear, she felt that it was as expected.
It started to smell little by little. The clock she had left in there hadnt disappeared, and the time it told didnt go against the watch she had brought with her.
Even if trifling things such as emotions would change, the laws of physics couldnt be ignored. When Nancy had disappeared, the corpse did not vanish until about twelve hours later.
This was Carynnes conclusionthe fief lord had lied for her. She wondered if this was an evident denial on his part.
What appeared before Carynnes eyes now was the eccentric behavior that she wanted to see. Even so, it was spoiling her fun.
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