CH 27.2

After we left the ward, Charlotte returned the gold brooch to the knight commander. He exchanged a few words with Charlotte while looking quite elated, then he glanced this way and looked at Theodore.

Shortly after, he recalled that there was something urgent he needed to do, and so he left as though he was running away. Theodore turned to Charlotte and spoke.

“You must have had a hard time.”

“……!”

It was the first time he said something like this to her. Charlotte stared blankly at him in shock, but she immediately nodded awkwardly. It’s clear that she wasn’t all that pleased by Theodore’s kindness.

“…Lily, it would be better for you to return to your room and rest now. I’ll take care of the rest here, so don’t worry.”

I was going to just agree, but then I recalled Adeline belatedly. However, if I face her again while looking like this, it’s going to be a problem.

I thought about it for a moment, then I opened my lips and explained.

“The Young Lady of the Alvinith Duchy is still in the drawing room. Would it be alright if you relay my message? That I’m not feeling well so I need to retire. I ask for her understanding, and I apologize that I kept her waiting.”

“……”

Theodore’s brows furrowed when he listened to my words. It looked like this was the first time he’s heard that Adeline was here inside the Valentine Castle.

There even seemed to be a hint of annoyance on his countenance, but he answered right away.

“Don’t worry about Lady Alvinith. All you have to do is rest well.”

“……”

And Theodore escorted me to my room. His kindness, which was so unlike him, still made me very uncomfortable.

After he left, the goosebumps on my forearm disappeared as well.

I felt so mentally fatigued. I let out a deep sigh and collapsed on my bed.

Charlotte hurried to examine my cheek.

“Madam, does it still hurt?”

“No, I’m quite fine. Just get me a cup of tea please.”

“Yes, yes!”

Soon enough, Charlotte brought me some tea and told me about what happened with the commander earlier.

“…That’s why I went into the Commander’s room and waited, but he didn’t come after ten minutes, so I just went out again.”

“I see.”

To summarize, here was how it went.

The commander seemed to have gone out in a rush because he was accompanying Theodore on an outing. He returned momentarily and asked Charlotte, who he encountered in the hallway outside his room, to go inside first since it might take ten minutes for him to come back again. Still, it took more time than he expected. It was within that timeframe that the theft happened.

It must have been after Charlotte left the room when Serena and Ayla stole the gold brooch. Serena happened to see Charlotte at that time and thought of pinning the crime onto Charlotte. After both Charlotte and the brooch were out of the room already, she was going to snitch to the commander once he returned.

‘But when Charlotte was called by Missus Seymour, the Commander was out on urgent business again.’

It got so convoluted and twisted that it became the perfect situation to misunderstand Charlotte. If not for Jenna running to me and letting me know about what was happening, Charlotte would have certainly received the lashing.

“…I can’t believe that she was going to proceed with the lashing without even any definite proof. I’m getting angry just thinking about it again.”

Charlotte’s eyes widened as she heard what I murmured with a low voice. For some reason, she hesitated for a while, but then she glanced at me with tears welling in her eyes.

“…Thank you, Madam.”

“?”

“I-I’ll go pick some flowers from the rear garden! You’ll feel much better once you see fresh flowers, Madam. I’ll be right back, so please rest well!”

Then, like an arrow, she shot out of the room.

By the time I finished my cup of tea, Charlotte returned with ten flowers. They helped me feel a lot better.

* * *

I had no choice but to go to the commander personally because Charlotte couldn’t deliver my message to him during that mishap.

As I talked to him, the commander’s eyes the entire time were glancing towards Charlotte with an odd gaze.

Besides that, there was no progress in the conversation because Charlotte kept apologizing, saying that it was her fault that she had almost gotten falsely accused.

It was only after this conversation that I was able to take a look at the military records that the commander handed to me.

Originally, he would have needed to ask for Theodore’s permission before letting anyone access the records, but he pointed out Theodore’s attitude towards me yesterday and deemed that it would be alright.

It wouldn’t be my responsibility if the commander would later be reprimanded by Theodore though. And it’s all because the commander was distracted by Charlotte.

I took a close look at the records detailing Theodore’s injury, memorized what’s written, then returned the documents to the commander. Then, I asked indirectly.

“Other than what’s written in these records, was there anything suspicious or strange when he received that injury?”

Still furtively glancing towards Charlotte, the commander grew flustered as if he’d been caught doing something wrong, then he replied.

“That’s, well… there was nothing. I don’t recall, Madam. There were a lot of monsters going through the rift, that’s why.”

“I see.”

After talking to him, I left through the door. I started to head towards my room with Charlotte, thinking about eating a few refreshments, but then I heard the commander’s voice behind me.

“Excuse me, Miss Charlotte.”

It seemed like there’s something he still wanted to say to Charlotte. The commander tried to gauge my reaction. Aloofly, I nodded.

Immediately reddening a little, the commander turned towards Charlotte.

“If you don’t mind, perhaps next week…”

I watched from the side as the commander timidly asked Charlotte on a date, but she hastily turned him down.

The rejected commander soon became sullen. He looked like a large hunting dog that lost his master.

After a while, we returned to my room and I was left alone with Charlotte. She sighed loudly.

“I’m busy. Of course, I’ll always be by the Madam’s side.”

Smiling without saying a word, I drew the window curtains close. The sun was unusually bright today, prickling against my eyes.