/
I pushed down my crawling curiosity and said,
“It’s fine. I just need to know where this was.”
“Everyone says that.”
With a grim face, he brought a small square slate.
When the earrings were put on top of it, tiny handwriting began to continuously show up.
Touching his chin, he said indifferently.
“Seems like the owner of this earring has wandered a lot. This is not only one or two places.”
“I want to see the recent record. For this last month . . .”
“The recent record, I see.”
He scanned through the tiny dates then looked up.
“Recently, these earrings were mostly in the capital. If you want to know the exact location, I can find it out, but—”
“These were always in this capital?”
I impatiently asked, without realizing I cut him off.
He slowly nodded, then flinched.
“Ah, there’s a record in the countryside once.”
“Is it the Cornwall district?”
That place was the area where she went on honeymoon with the Duke.
If there was a record in the countryside, wouldn’t it be that location?
However, he shook his head.
“No, it’s quite far from Cornwall. This is Pakit district. This was there for a moment then quickly went back to the capital. This never went to Cornwall.”
I was stunned with confusion at that.
My thoughts were mixed up, and I didn’t know what to say.
Since I clearly saw the sparkling ruby in Mom’s ears on the day she went for the honeymoon trip.
Then, does this mean the two people who went while waving their hands never went to that district?
If their agenda was changed and they went to another district, then there was no need for them to lie that ‘the view in Cornwall was beautiful’ when they came back.
Then, why did they talk like they went to that place?
“When was the date these went back to the capital?”
As I asked quickly, he looked over a few dates then pointed out.
“Until this time, it seems like both the earrings were together.”
The date he pointed to was a day before the hunting competition.
So, Mom was in the capital all the time on the hunting competition day when the wyverns were running wild.
My head turned blank as the things out of my prediction were revealed one by one.
After examining my face, the man stole a glance at me with pitiful eyes.
“See? I told you that knowing the truth doesn’t always do good.”
“. . . I guess so. Maybe.”
He nodded to the words I barely let out of my lips.
Then he bid me while returning the earrings wrapped in the handkerchief to my hand.
“If this is something you can just let it pass, it will be better for your mental health to overlook this. Sometimes, there are times you have to close your eyes. Family peace, that’s how it’s kept.”
“Is that so?”
“Ah, by the way, it doesn’t mean lying to pretend to be happy is good . . .”
I then asked him, who spoke vaguely.
“If Rany comes, can you please remain silent about what I looked into here? I’d like her to only know that I’m here only to make sure the earrings were really yours.”
Perhaps because my face looked so desperate, he quickly agreed.
“Well, if it’s only that far. I don’t talk to that stubborn young lady anyway.”
“Thank you.”
When I made a light smile, he patted my shoulder.
“I’m saying this because you look like my daughter. Don’t play with that kind of girl.”
“She’s a good kid.”
“How insistent she is to come in with a shovel, a pickaxe, a rake, or a sickle and ask me to make them.”
“. . .”
“What kind of young lady will want to play with those heinous things? What a nasty and horrible taste she has.”
Usually, it wouldn’t affect me in any way, but because of Mom’s problem, which caused my mental to drop, added with ‘nasty and horrible taste’, my chest hurt a bit.
He sent me off with a kind face.
“Let’s meet in a good chance the next time you come here.”
Without even being able to answer him with a simple ‘yes’, I returned to the mansion absent-mindedly.
The mansion, which I had gotten used to, began to look unfamiliar again.
* * *
I was on my way to my room as if possessed.
Sir Rune, who I met in the hallway, immediately stopped me.
His kind eyes stared at me then he asked.
“Why is your expression like that?”
How do I look in his eyes when the knights I met in the main gate couldn’t even feel anything strange.
He was so eerie that sometimes I even questioned if he could read my mind.
“Did something happen?”
“Well, of course something happened.”
He tilted his head at the words I mumbled out spiritlessly then grabbed my shoulder.
It didn’t look like he would let me go easily.
“I don’t think this is only about something happened. Is it something serious?”
The desire to let it out suddenly surged up.
However, the moment I said about the suspicious movement of Lord Duke and Mom, this would surely get bigger.
I suddenly remembered the rather nosy advice from the artisan.
“Sometimes, there are times you have to close your eyes. Family peace, that’s how it’s kept.”
I carefully shook off his hand that was grabbing my shoulder.
“It’s nothing.”
“I don’t think it’s nothing.”
The knight with good intuition didn’t look like he planned to let me go.
Then, I saw a maid, who just in time came from the other end, scowled at Sir Rune.
I’m sorry, but you have to be insulted a bit.
Looking down dejectedly, I said,
“The shock from yesterday is too big, so I want to do nothing and rest in my bed. Can’t you please let me go to my room?”
At the same time his eyes grew bigger at my question, the rag in the maid’s hand coolly landed on his back.
“Oh! Excuse me! The rag slipped out of my hand!”
The resonant voice rang loudly in the hallway.
Meanwhile, I safely escaped his hand and could go to my room.