When I go to work, I usually don’t bring a maid. I have Mio see me off at the gate. Besides, there’s Marie now. I don’t intend to leave the castle unattended.
However, I brought Mio into the carriage. I told the driver not to start for a while.
Mio immediately understood and stood by my side.
"…Did you read that letter?"
"Yeah. Thanks to it, I woke up."
I took out a cheap envelope from my pocket.
This morning, it was included in the box sent to Marie. When the contents spilled onto the floor, Mio was the first to collect it and hide it from Marie. The addressee was Marie Chedelan. The sender was Gregor Chedelan.
The head of the baronial family… Marie’s father.
"…This was definitely written by Gregor himself, right? Not by his wife, Elvira?"
"It’s definitely him. The card and the handwriting are different."
Mio took out another item from the same box. This one seemed to have been seen by Marie. The text, written in a thin, sharp, and twisted script, was nauseating. Even though it was a message on a card rather than a letter, the writing was too simple and rude.
Gregor’s handwriting was thick and rounded, with narrow letter spacing and unusually wide line spacing.
Both were difficult to read, but they were different types.
I read the message again.
---Marie. What are you doing? Why haven’t you come back?
The earl said it’s fine not to return the treasure. There’s no longer any need for you to be there. What are you doing?
Come back quickly. Your home is here.
Even if you stay in that castle, you won’t be happy. Come back, right now.---
Mio sighed.
"…Both of them write such nauseating letters. What’s so enjoyable about insulting their own daughter? Give it to me, I’ll burn it."
"No, they’re not in sync."
I said.
That’s right, they’re not in sync. These two are saying completely opposite things. Mio reread the two messages and frowned.
"…Do Baron and Baroness Chedelan want to let Marie go or keep her close? Which is it?"
"Mio. They are not ‘Baron and Baroness Chedelan.’ They are ‘Gregor’ and ‘Elvira.’"
"……The couple is not in sync……"
I compared the two messages. Different handwriting, different tools… each was written separately. Do they know about each other’s messages?
Marie. Marie is lovely.
I am certain. Marie is lovely.
She is honest, kind, and intelligent, a lovely person. Even if she wasn’t beautiful, even if her sister was more beautiful—aren’t children lovely just for being alive to their real parents?
The fact that she was being mistreated made me furious. To judge superiority based on the appearance of sisters, how could they be real parents? I was enraged.
Now, that anger has turned into a quiet doubt.
---To judge superiority based on the appearance of sisters. Are they really her real parents?---
"Mio. While I’m away, I want you to investigate something."
"…Whether Baron and Baroness Chedelan are really Lady Marie’s parents, right?"
"Yes. And one more thing—whether Anastasia Chedelan is really Marie’s biological sister."
Mio nodded solemnly and got out of the carriage like a shadow.
When she returns to the castle, she will support Marie’s daily life as a maid. That’s an important part of her job.
But a woman who can only do that can’t be the head of the earl’s castle servants.