‘What happened to all those rumors about Edith?’
Killian wasn’t one to judge someone solely on dubious rumors, but rumors about Edith Rigelhoff were just too numerous and too consistent. However, seeing Edith herself from the sidelines, she couldn’t be said to be the rumored person.
‘Who the hell is the venomous, vicious and lascivious flower snake of the Rigelhof family?’
Incomprehensible questions kept coming back to him.
‘Does it have something to do with her saying, ‘It’s the first time I’ve been in an opera, and it’s the first time I’ve ever received flowers’…?’
Killian began to have new suspicions about Count Rigelhoff.
‘I’ll have to take a closer look at Edith in the future.’
He had a feeling that if he could dig into her hidden truths, he would be able to get closer to a much bigger truth. It was when he was lost in that thought.
Someone knocked on his bedroom door. The person who would come to visit at this time would have been someone close to him.
‘Edith?’
His heart skipped a beat. Killian opened the door with a swollen heart. However, the person standing outside the door was not the person expected.
“Sorry for the late hour, Killian. Can I talk to you for a second?”
“Lise…”
Lise had never visited at this time. Killian brought her into the room, looking anxious.
“What’s going on? You don’t look good.”
“Killian. I don’t know what to do, so I’m here to hear what Killian thinks.”
“Okay? Then sit here and tell me. What’s the matter?”
“Therefore… I mean…”
Lise bit her lip for a while and was restless. Her fair skin looked even paler today.
“Lise, you coming to me means you believe in me, right? Then don’t worry and talk. Anything will help.”
It seemed that Lise was encouraged a little by the voice of Killian who patted Lise’s tender shoulder and soothed it.
“Killian, today… One of the maids of the mansion has gone missing.”
“Has she disappeared?”
“It is literally. Leaving all their belongings behind, only the person disappeared.”
“Did she go out and never come back?”
“I don’t know. No one has seen the maid since she turned off the lights last night. However…”
Looking at Lise’s swaying eyes, Killian noticed that from now on, this was the story Lise wanted to tell.
“Of course, it’s still something I’m not sure about, and I don’t believe everything…”
Killian somehow felt uneasy at Lise’s attitude, turning her words round and round.
“Lise, what do you want to say? Talk.”
Hearing Killian’s low voice, Lise tightly closed her eyes and said.
“They said that the maid saw Edit poisoning the embroidery thread. They said she would tell Cliff today… but she suddenly disappeared…”
“What…?”
Lise’s hand was shaking slightly. In the past, Killian would have been paralyzed and went to catch Edith right away just by seeing Lise shudder, but he couldn’t accept this right now. He didn’t want to do anything more to bully Edith simply with ‘simple feelings’.
“Who did the maid tell that to?”
“She told the maids around her that were with her, but they said…”
“Cliff couldn’t have known that all along, right?”
“They said it wasn’t long before she started talking about it. They said she seems to have been thinking about it all this time… When Cliff heard about this today, he sent someone to find the maid.”
“I’ve never heard of anything like that.”
“It happened today while Killian and Edith left. Cliff seemed to be trying to take care of things by himself, saying that if we talked to Killian, you would only cover Edith… I think Killian should know too.”
Killian’s eyes narrowed. Several assumptions and questions quickly crossed his mind.
“Killian. Could it be that Edith really tried to kill me?”
Lise, who looked up at him with eyes full of tears, was still pitiful and lovable, and he wanted to protect her. But Killian also had an obligation to protect Edith, because she was his wife.
“I don’t think so.”
“Killian…?”
“She has no reason to do such a thing.”
“That, right? It can’t be, can it?”
Lise asked as if clinging to him. It seemed that Lise, too, was terrified of the assumption that Edith was the culprit. Well, it’s creepy to think that the person one lived with face to face every day tried to harm oneself with a calm smile. Killian sighed and she continued her story.
“You said it before, but why would Edith want to kill you?”
If Edith was a spy planted within the Ludwig family by order of Count Rigelhoff and had been ordered to assassinate someone, she would have tried to kill someone from the Ludwig family, not Lise, a member of another family. He thought that in the past, she would have tried to kill Lise because he loved Lise. However, based on their experience together, Edith was not jealous of Lise.
‘Because she didn’t even seek my affection in the first place.’
She didn’t expect anything from Killian, to the point where he was upset. So Edith had no reason to kill Lise.
“I wonder if the maid was instigated by someone else.”
“If it’s different…”
“Of course, he must be the real culprit. You shouldn’t step on her tail, so didn’t you just spread and get rid of the rumors that would make people suspicious of Edith?”
Lise swallowed her dry saliva.
“We’ll have to check out all of the other maids who have heard the talk from that maid.”
“Oh no! I didn’t want things to get this big!”
“Shh, calm down, Lise. You don’t have to worry about anything. It’s chilly in the morning and evening, so wear warmer clothes.”
Killian carefully put the shawl back over Lise’s thin shoulders, where the shawl had flowed down to reveal it.
“…all right. Thanks, Killian.”
“You’re welcome. Let’s go. I’ll take you to your room.”
Killian got up with Lise and walked to her room, asking her to do one thing.
“Lise, I’m sorry, but in the future, if Cliff tries to take care of Edith-related things on his own, will you come and tell me? Anyway, I, her husband, should know.”
Lise, who opened her eyes wide, immediately nodded her head.
“All right.”
“But don’t show Cliff this way. Then Cliff will keep it a secret even from you.”
“…I guess so.”
Lise also knew Cliff’s personality, so she agreed with a bittersweet smile. She wished goodnight to Killian, who took Lise to her room, and he kissed her on the forehead.
Killian’s expression, which had been mild until then, turned cold as he turned his back to Lise’s room.
‘Why did the words come up again now that everything has been covered?’
Edith was right. It seemed that someone was persistently trying to drive Edith to be a villain.
* * *
“Huh? He said he wanted to have lunch together today?”
“Yes, lady.”
“Eh, why the hell…”
Anna only told her what she heard from Killian, so even if she asked her, it was hard to hear her answer. Since they went on an opera date, Killian had been making time with her every day. At first, she was just happy because the afterglow of dating remained, but after three days, she became a bit puzzled. She couldn’t get an answer even if she groaned on her own, so she decided to ask during dinner today. And Killian showed up exactly at the appointed time.
“Hello, Killian.”
“It seems a bit awkward for a couple to greet each other.”
“Is that so…”
Unlike her, who felt awkward sitting with him, Killian sat across from her very naturally.
“Why don’t you help out with Renan’s work these days?”
The attitude of asking about her current situation was also very calm. To the point where she wondered if it was weird that she was awkward with this situation.
“It’s similar to what you saw when you came. I go, get a job from Renan, do it, and hand it over.”
“…You mean there is no conversation?”
“Yes. Usually it’s like that. It seems like he likes to be quiet and focused when he is working as well as I am.”
Then when he held her, she remembered him talking about Renan. He asked if she didn’t cry like this even in front of Renan, and he seemed to ask if that didn’t make her aware of how naughty she was…
“You can’t believe that I didn’t seduce Renan, right?”
She asked nervously, but Killian’s mouth was closed as if that was the correct answer. She really couldn’t, she really wanted to, but she couldn’t help but ask a question that came to mind.
“Killian. If… Are you jealous?”
At those words, Killian glared at her.
“What kind of jealousy is that? After all, you are my wife, so why should I be jealous of Renan?”
“Yes, it is, but… Then why did you ask that?”
“What do you mean?”
“It was the night before we went to the opera. I cried in front of Renan… That’s right, how the hell did you know that? Did you spy me?”
His fork and knife as he sliced the chicken meat came to a halt. He spied her, that’s right.
“Huh… I didn’t know you had a hobby of spying.”
“It’s not like that.”
“Ah yes. Let’s say that, whatever.”
Then, as if she knew everything, she winked, and Killian’s cheeks turned red.
How do you feel?
