CH 31
Vileon caught Marienne’s body as she pitched forward. For a moment, Marienne didn’t realize what had happened, only managing to gasp for breath.
Then, belatedly, she jumped back from Vileon in surprise.
“Ah, I’m so sorry. W-what?”
This time, she lost her balance and started to fall backward. Vileon wrapped an arm around her back to steady her before asking,
“Don’t you realize you’ve been limping on your left leg this whole time?”
“What? My left leg… I have?”
So she really didn’t know. Vileon let out a faint sigh.
“I’ll carry you to the carriage.”
Marienne’s mouth fell open. She was obviously about to say she was fine. That she could just be careful on her own. That Sir Byers didn’t need to help her.
But I’m not listening. Not this time.
Vileon slipped an arm under Marienne’s knees and lifted his aide into his arms. Marienne struggled.
“It’ll be easier for me if you stay still.”
At those words, Marienne immediately grew still. Vileon swallowed another sigh.
‘She didn’t even realize she was hurt, yet she’s worried about making things hard for me.’
What was this feeling? He felt a little angry. And along with the anger, he felt upset, bitter, and sorry, all at once.
All in all, it was a quiet disaster.
“Sir Byers, this is a borrowed outfit. I’ll have to reimburse the owner.”
“Chloise went to take care of it.”
“My dress that I came in…”
“Chloise will collect that as well.”
It seemed she was trying every excuse to get him to put her down, but there was no chance of that. Vileon descended the stairs with long strides.
“How did you know to go to the second basement level?”
“… ”
“You went down there because you heard something, didn’t you?”
The Opera House had two basement levels and four floors above ground. Besides the lounges, game rooms, conference rooms, restaurants, and bars, it had a variety of other indoor spaces. There were plenty of places to hide a small earring on the upper floors.
But Marienne had borrowed clothes that were easy to move in. Then she had made a beeline for the dark basement that no one else had even considered. She had spent over two hours digging through that place alone.
That meant one of two things.
One, Marienne Didi was the one who hid the earring. She could kill time in a deserted place and then emerge, declaring, “I found it!”
The other possibility was that she had gotten information from the culprit and headed there. And Vileon would bet his position as Chancellor that his aide was not the culprit.
“Aide Didi.”
Vileon called to her in a low voice. Marienne lowered her gaze slightly.
“Her Highness the Princess had a simple itinerary tonight. Unless that earring grew legs, it makes no sense for it to turn up in the second basement. Who was it?”
“…Who do you think?” Marienne asked in a small voice.
“And what does it matter now, anyway? You found the earring, Sir Byers, and Her Highness has decided not to escalate the matter.”
The search ended the moment the earring was found. A search, not an investigation. The incident was still being treated as a lost earring, not a stolen one.
The guests who had been held were now leaving the Opera House in small groups, guided by the staff.
Vileon looked down at Marienne in his arms.
“I ran into Duke Blackwood earlier. When I pressed him about whether it was a setup, the Duke told me to look in the darkest, scariest, and filthiest place in this building.”
It was Cain Blackwood again. He could picture it clearly: Marienne, having gotten the clue from him, marching bravely down to the Underground Storage.
“You should have told me. Is it that… you don’t trust me?”
Marienne looked utterly startled.
“It’s not like that!”
“Careful.”
Vileon warned her. Marienne flinched instinctively, afraid she might fall, but it was an unnecessary worry.
Vileon was confident he wouldn’t drop her even if she threw a tantrum in his arms.
“If I told you, Sir Byers, the others on the search team would have followed you, and then… even after finding the earring, we would have offended Her Highness the Princess.”
He understood what she meant. That earring had been a gift from the emperor to congratulate her on her engagement to Duke Blackwood.
But what if it came out that her fiancé, the Duke, had hidden the earring and caused such a commotion?
It was the perfect fodder for gossips. At that point, the Duke’s true intentions wouldn’t matter.
Even if it had started as a mischievous prank, by the time it reached the emperor’s ears, it would surely be inflated into a story of discord and disloyalty between the Fourth Princess and her betrothed.
The Crown Prince’s faction, who already despised the arrogant Duke, might seize the opportunity to find fault.
Marienne had foreseen all of this. She wrinkled her nose.
“It’s just better if I’m the only one who has to suffer.”
“I don’t like that conclusion.”
Vileon confessed honestly.
“Chloise told me. She said you went into the Underground Storage wearing a gas mask. I also heard you were pinned under some heavy luggage.”
“Gasp, she told you that much?”
“Marienne.”
Vileon stopped walking. Cradled in his arms, Marienne looked up at him with an expression that said she was prepared to be scolded.
‘Does she think I’m going to scold her in this situation?’
He was dumbfounded.
‘Why would I scold you? No, how could I scold you?’
He even felt a little wronged. Had he ever harshly reprimanded Marienne before? He had spoken sternly a few times, but only when the situation called for it.
For instance, he had only been firm with her when she was apologizing to him excessively.
“Thank you for letting me take the credit. But I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“Uhm.”
Marienne wore an expression that said she didn’t know how to respond. The tips of her ears seemed to have turned a little red. In the end, she chose evasion.
“This is random, but the gas mask just reminded me of something. Sir Byers, could you tell the owner of this theater to install some ventilation in the second basement? And to get rid of the old coal tar and things.”
She changed the subject, saying that alone would probably put an end to the talk of a curse. So this was how she was going to play it.
“Alright.”
“That’s a relief. It’s an old building, so…”
“On the way back, we will be stopping by the hospital. If they find anything wrong with you besides a sprained ankle, I won’t let Duke Blackwood get away with it.”
“… ”
“Just you watch.”
◇ ◆ ◇
Vileon paced the hallway, then checked his watch. 2:30 AM. It was too late to visit a subordinate’s room.
He needed an excuse. Something like bringing her an item she needed for her treatment.
He stopped a maid who was heading toward the guest rooms.
“I’ll take it from here. You can go rest.”
The maid handed him the tray. Vileon waited for her to go down the stairs before gently knocking on Marienne’s door.
At the sound of her telling him to come in, he opened the door and leaned in, only halfway through. Marienne, who had naturally assumed it was the maid, was lying in bed in a simple set of pajamas.
“Aide Didi, it’s me. May I come in?”
“…S-Sir Byers?”
“Don’t move. Be careful with your ankle.”
Marienne froze in an awkward state, neither fully sitting up nor lying down. Vileon deliberately placed the tray on a table far from the bed.
As he opened the cap of the hot water pouch and poured in hot water, he heard Marienne’s voice from behind him.
“You’re not asleep yet?”
“You know I always go to bed late.”
“…You really shouldn’t.”
He could sense the faint rustling of Marienne moving. She was probably trying to wrap a thin blanket around herself like a shawl. Vileon moved as slowly as possible.
If the maid had come as planned, Marienne wouldn’t have had to bother covering herself up.
Having her boss personally attend to her with a hot compress… even Vileon himself had to admit it must be an incredibly uncomfortable situation.
‘But I was so worried, I just couldn’t… without seeing for myself…’
He couldn’t stand it.
Vileon’s party had stopped at a hospital on their way back from the Opera House. It was already past midnight by then. Vileon had woken up a doctor who had just gone to bed to have him examine her.
The doctor prescribed an ointment for her scrapes and a small amount of painkillers. Both the doctor and the patient wore expressions that said, ‘This is really not necessary.’
Chloise, who had been waiting in the carriage, saw the bag in her brother’s hand when he returned and muttered,
“So he managed to extort some medicine after all.”
Only Vileon had a serious face from beginning to end.
Marienne asked,
“You took your cold medicine as soon as you got home, right?”
“I did, just as my aide instructed.”
Vileon screwed the cap on the water pouch tightly. Thinking it was about ready, he turned around, and his eyes fell on Marienne, still in her pajamas.
Vileon was a little taken aback. Wasn’t she trying to cover herself with a blanket?
“Please give me the water pouch.”
Marienne held out her hand. Vileon, looking bewildered, handed it to her. The warm pouch went under Marienne’s lower back.
“Ah, that’s the stuff…”
Marienne let out a languid sigh. Following the doctor’s orders, Marienne was applying a cold compress to her sprained left ankle, which was propped up on a cushion.
When she mentioned she had been lifting and moving heavy luggage, the doctor had added a prescription for a warm compress on her lower back.
‘I see she propped a cushion behind her back.’
He realized why Marienne had been rustling around earlier. It wasn’t to cover herself, but to sit up comfortably with her back supported.
“I know it’s late, but I was worried, so I came.”
“My kind and ever-worrisome Sir Byers.”
Marienne, who seemed to have relaxed completely from the warm compress, beamed at him.
“I’m fine. The doctor said I was fine, too. I’ll probably be able to run around by tomorrow.”
“You’re joking, right? You’re to rest for three days without moving a muscle.”
“Look who’s talking.”
Marienne puffed out her cheeks.
“Actually, you were the one who needed to see the doctor earlier, Sir Byers. You should have gotten a prescription for something stronger than the cold medicine at the estate.”
“I’m not sick.”
“Why is that?”
Marienne asked the question, then answered it herself.
“Because you took your medicine. You were even coughing during the performance. And your throat kept getting hoarse…”
“Something just occurred to me,” Vileon said.
“The lemon tea you gave me before the performance. It had a strangely bitter aftertaste. And when I went to the kitchen just now, the head maid served me the exact same combination.”
“Oops.”
Marienne feigned biting the tip of her tongue.
“I’ve been caught.”
“You’re not even going to pretend to deny it now?”
“Why should I?”
His aide, looking like a little rabbit doll, gave a slightly cheeky smile.
“So, are you going to scold me?”
So it’s possible for someone to be so cute it makes you feel queasy.
Vileon hid his expression, pretending to rub his forehead. He felt like he was suddenly losing control of the muscles around his mouth.
“Do you have a fever?”
Marienne’s eyes widened.
“Even after taking the medicine?”
“Ah, no. I don’t have a fever.”
“Are you sure? You’re not lying to me, are you?”
He was lying, but in a different sense. He couldn’t very well confess that he’d been struck speechless by how cute she was.
Vileon met Marienne’s gaze and smiled.
“I’m fine. I won’t work until dawn today; I’ll go straight to bed. Since you went to the trouble of secretly giving me cold medicine, I can’t afford to get sick now.”
“That’s a great idea!”
Marienne beamed. For a moment, he had the illusion that flower buds were popping open all around his rabbit-like aide’s bright face.
Vileon hastily averted his gaze. Maybe Marienne was right. He must actually be sick and just running on the medicine’s fumes.
Hallucinations?
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