Chapter 35

"It's been a while."

"I heard you've decided to sponsor an orphanage? Are the rumors actually true?"

The question was blunt to the point of rudeness, and yet her ease in asking it suggested she really didn't care either way.

"Is that why you came along today?"

"Ah. That, and other reasons. If we end up close, all the better."

"What were you going to do if the rumors had turned out to be true?"

"Oh my. It wouldn't look that way to me, but I suppose I'd have been a bit shocked."

"Pff."

"Why are you laughing?"

"You're so refreshingly blunt about it."

"It's not as though I'm the one being eaten, is it? Oh — unless you're actually targeting me…"

Emily wrapped her arms around herself and pretended to look guarded.

Iberin laughed in disbelief, and Emily cackled along, signaling it had been a joke.

"You wouldn't know, but I happen to have quite a few guard knights around me."

"Right. I'd better be careful."

And so Iberin headed off with Emily to an orphanage at the outskirts of the capital.

Outside a building that looked like it might collapse, the headmistress paced anxiously, waiting for Iberin.

When the carriage came into view, her face brightened for a brief moment before it twisted with worry again.

But the moment Iberin stepped out, she put on a bright welcome.

"Thank you so much for coming! I'm Scarlet, headmistress of Violet Orphanage!"

"It's good to meet you."

"And the lady beside you is…?"

The butler, who'd come down with her, made the introduction.

"Ah, I'm Pons Loyetti, butler of the Lecashe family. This lady joined us unexpectedly, so I wasn't able to inform you in advance. This is Marquise Emily Roto Civelli. She wished to take part in a worthy cause as well."

"Ah… Hello."

"Pleased to meet you."

At the words Marquise Civelli, Scarlet's face darkened a shade further.

Iberin had looked into Marquise Civelli after the tea party, and the woman's reputation was abysmal.

Not in the same way as Lecashe's — Emily had a name for being wild, brash, and unapologetic.

It was plain even at a glance that she lived exactly as she pleased, nobility be damned.

"Sh-shall we step inside?"

Scarlet pressed down her nerves and Iberin nodded.

---

The meeting went more smoothly than expected.

Scarlet poured everything she had into the effort of securing sponsorship.

"Is operating the orphanage hard?"

"Ah… honestly, yes…"

Pons had checked into a number of orphanages, but they were all already receiving sponsorship from other nobles and had no reason to seek out Lecashe. This was the only one without any backing at all.

"There was a noble sponsor before, but they decided to give up their capital life and return to their territory, and chose to end the sponsorship."

The notice had come a few months ago, with no warning, and the already-struggling orphanage had taken a devastating hit.

"You must really love the children."

"It's not work you can do without a sense of calling. I just want the children's lives to be even a little easier."

She was clearly grasping at straws.

Iberin understood completely.

"All right. I'll sponsor the orphanage. But you know my reputation?"

"Thank you so much! I've heard the rumors, of course, but seeing you in person today, I can tell they're false."

"You're a good judge of character."

"I try to be."

Scarlet smiled with quiet confidence.

She'd only watched Iberin for a short while, but the woman was nothing like the vicious figure of the rumors.

She'd greeted the children peeking out from a distance and even given them small smiles.

Plenty of nobles flatly rejected commoners without a second thought, but there was none of that in her.

She'd also been clearly interested in how the orphanage was run.

Especially how the children themselves were being looked after.

It struck Scarlet that she seemed genuinely fond of children, and that was enough for her to decide the rumors were lies.

"There's one condition, though…"

"A condition?"

Scarlet's eyes went round.

---

Emily seemed entirely lost in playing with the children.

She tore around with them in her gown without any apparent discomfort, and there wasn't a trace of noble composure left in her.

The children must have found her easy company, because they were soon clinging to her in a swarm and clamoring for attention.

"Emil."

"Oh, Ibel — meeting over?"

"Yes. It looks fun."

"Want to join us?"

The instant Iberin came closer, the children — who'd been shrieking with laughter — froze and started glancing at each other.

They clearly didn't want to play with her, but Iberin knew children's games better than just about anyone.

"How about freeze tag?"

When she pitched a new game right away instead of taking offense, Emily's eyes lit up.

"What's that?"

She explained the rules, and the children listening on the side crept closer, looking interested.

A few of them decided to join in, and the rest slipped away, still wary of Iberin.

Then the game properly began.

"Freeze!!!"

"Tag!"

Aaaaah!

It was a wild, full-on chase.

The children seemed to forget entirely who Iberin was or what she was supposed to be — they ran like they'd lost themselves in it.

Soon the other children, the ones who'd held back, drifted over and joined too.

"My lady. Please, stop now."

Iberin couldn't run for long.

Her body wasn't holding up, and with the butler's help she settled into the shade to rest. As she sat there, one child who hadn't joined the game stood off to the side, staring at her in silence.

The child looked sharp-eyed and clever — around Ether's age — and the resemblance pulled a small laugh out of her.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Aren't you a noble?"

"Yes, I am."

"Then why're you playin' with us? Don't you just hafta give money to be a sponsor?"

"Not me."

"Are you really gonna eat us? You gonna wait till we're healthy and chubby and then eat us?"

"Pfft!"

"Why are you laughin'?"

"Because you're adorable. What's your name?"

The second she asked, the child went pale as a sheet and bolted.

The way he hid behind a tree to keep watching her was unbearably cute.

"He's like Ether."

"The young master?"

"Yes. Too cute."

"The young master would be jealous if he saw."

"Picturing that's cute too. Ugh. I miss Ether."

Somehow visiting to sponsor the orphanage had turned into a healing trip.

---

"Can't we play just a little longer?"

Emily asked it with a pleading look.

It wasn't all that late, and Iberin agreed.

"Would you like to come to my house?"

"Really?"

Emily looked genuinely delighted.

Using the elixir on someone this transparently pleased pricked at Iberin a little, but she did want to know if Roto Civelli was truly a good man.

He'd done terrible things to Lecashe, but if the public stories were really all there was — if he was simply a good person — then maybe it was better to leave him be.

When they got back to the estate and stepped into the parlor, she shot Pons a meaningful look.

He picked up on it instantly and excused himself to prepare tea.

"You're a kind person, Grand Duchess. I'm honestly not very popular."

"You're refreshingly honest."

"Hehe."

Soon there was a knock, and Pons came in with one of the staff.

"Since Emil doesn't care for tea, I asked them to bring an {ade}(#44axrvrrtwdd) instead."

"Oh, how thoughtful."

Emily smiled happily and took a long swallow.

The elixir had worked on Baron Pletanin almost immediately. How would it go with Emily?

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"It's nothing."

But she couldn't quite bring herself to start the questioning.

Emily seemed to think so well of her that the thought of using this on her made her feel rotten.

"…What kind of person is Marquis Civelli?"

But she did need to find out.

"A frightening man."

"What?"

"A cruel man."

"……Why?"

"I'm actually his fourth wife. I was practically sold off into the marriage, and I've heard every marquise before me died. Illness, accident, take your pick. But I think the marquis killed all of them. Because I might be next, soon."

"……What?"

Emily looked a little startled at the words spilling out of her mouth on their own, but the look smoothed into ease as she went on.

"That's why I decided to live however I want, too. The thought of smearing the marquis's reputation even a little bit makes me feel better."

She'd quietly hoped he'd turn out to be a good man, but apparently not.

"Why do you think he might kill you?"

"I found a journal one of the previous marquises left behind. It was full of how terrified she was of him. The last page said she wanted to live. But she died anyway."

"So the marquis isn't a good man. Do you know what he does?"

"He couldn't possibly be a good man. As for what he does, I don't know either. But every night, the marquis… the cellar…"

In the middle of her sentence, Emily's expression went hazy.

Then she slumped over.

"…He must've put her under hypnosis."

Pons said.

Iberin nodded in agreement.

"Did Emily see something, do you think?"

"Hard to say. But it seems he doesn't trust even his own wife."

"His fourth wife, no less — can you blame him? Let's move Emily to the guest room so she can sleep. Call me when she wakes."

"Understood."

Iberin tapped restlessly at the tabletop, her face troubled.

---

When Emily woke, she stared at Iberin with a dazed look.

"What did you do to me?"

"I'm sorry, Emil."

There was nothing she could say but an apology.

Iberin's expression sank as she went on.

But Emily waved it off as if it didn't matter and pressed forward instead.

"…Were you curious about Roto Civelli? Did he do something to Lecashe too? Are you planning to take revenge?"

She'd expected anger.

Whatever the reasoning, she'd used the woman.

But there was no trace of it on her.

"You're not angry?"

"Not at all. The noble world is cold-blooded by nature. I approached you wanting something too, so we're even."

"Wanting something?"

So her intentions hadn't been pure either. They'd been thinking on parallel tracks — but knowing that didn't make Iberin's guilt go away.

"Will you hear me out?"

She'd inadvertently dug into the woman's family business.

"What is it?"

"I want Roto Civelli to die horribly. Honestly, I'd been hoping the Lecashe curse would take him, but seeing you, it looks like there are conditions for it to spread."

"His death?"

"…He's a monster. I didn't really know for a long time, but I recently learned my family's ruin was his doing."

"…I heard you were a merchant's daughter."

"That's right. Not just any merchant — a great merchant. We weren't a close family, but he killed mine off one by one, disguising every death as an accident so cleanly no one noticed, then swallowed the inheritance. It was so flawless I nearly went my whole life without knowing."

"How did you find out?"