The mansion I've left for a day still remains as usual. Well, I know that I only left for very a short time that nothing could have changed drastically to the mansion within the time frame. Any drastic changes in a short timespan can only emerged if suddenly there're any natural disasters or a war breakout. The gatekeeper raised his head once to see who's coming and saw me who was returning home by riding a horse and then he immediately opened the gate. He still had that insolent attitude to the young miss of this mansion, but it's not like he did it just for a day or two.
(T/N: 하루 이틀 일도 아니고 literal translation is not a day or two. Basically he's been doing it for a long time already so it's nothing new.)
After this day, it's unlikely for me to meet him anymore. I've also promised Ortzen that I'll just fetch Sofia and bring out my hidden jewelries, then return back to Special Task Squad's headquarters right away.
…, actually I feel that it's such a pity if I only take a handful of jewelries. Should I make some preparations to raid this mansion tomorrow night? In fact, all of those wealth are mine to begin with, so it shouldn't be considered as a crime. I'm confident I can do it well without getting caught.
'Or maybe I should meet up with the Count and Countess to have a negotiation and ask them to divide the wealth with me giving up my rights to inherit the title in return?'
No matter what, I'll leave that household in the end, so it should be fine if I threaten them a little. If they don't give me a satisfying amount of money, hmm… I don't know what to say because I rarely have any chance to threatened others. It's too early to talk about the Demon King with them, and I can neither threaten to kill them nor hit them because they are still my parents.
I was thinking about an intimidating phrase that was both efficient and not overly intimidating when suddenly I noticed the strange atmosphere as soon as I stepped inside the pavilion. What is this?…
'I don't sense any signs of human presence here.'
Originally, there're only two persons live inside this pavilion, but still, the atmosphere was different with or without any people living in it. Besides, I've gone for a day but Sofia didn't welcome me, and I didn't even see her anywhere. Oh, she might have been waiting for my return and ends up stayed up all night that she became really exhausted and have fallen asleep somewhere, but I feel like something isn't right.
"Sofia! I'm back!"
My voice resounded throughout the long corridor but there wasn't any single respond. Well, it's also possible that she was going out for a while. Afterall, she wasn't abide in any rules that required her to stay in this pavilion and I didn't tell her when I would be coming back. But, I felt like there's one thing I've overlooked that prevent me from feeling at ease. It was Ortzen's long unnecessary warnings.
'He wouldn't be talking about unnecessary things for no apparent reason…right?'
It's still too early to jump into assumptions, but I feel like that certain someone probably might have already known about this situation. At a certain point, he knew about the situation right now and what have happened to Sofia. Honestly, it can't be that simple for him to be very much worried about my safety. Anyway, while I was thinking that searching for Sofia was my foremost priority, suddenly I faintly heard the main entrance door of the pavilion was being closed. I took the long sword from the bedroom and ran down to the first floor.
"What are you here for?"
I've guessed it before and I was right that it wasn't Sofia who entered the pavilion. The butler who I had seen before, came and accompanied by some servants. He looked up at me who was standing at the third steps of the stairs.
"The Countess is looking for you, Miss."
"Is Sofia also there?"
"I don't know about any servant who works inside the pavilion."
I wonder if you really don't know or pretend not to know. Even though I want to grab him by the collar and press him for the answer, it will be much faster to directly ask the Countess than doing this. I went down the stairs and stopped midways, maintaining some distance from the butler and his servants, then said in a slightly dull tone.
"Lead the way."
"Yes."
The butler turned around without saying anything more and went out from the pavilion.
It was only slightly past noon, so the sun was still scorching down. It was as if the sunlight was telling us that we're already in the midsummer. After most of the problems have been taken care of, should I invite Captain Jullius to swim together? I'm not that good at swimming but I'm good at catching fish with a harpoon. 3 years ago, when I went out to fight some beasts at White Willow Lake, I ended up catching twenty three fishes. Of course, I caught the beasts too.
The butler guided me to the central flower garden where I could see some roses started to withered. The Countess wanted to have a chat outdoor instead of indoor. Did she think that she can win and catch me by outnumbering me? If she had a few skilled people to deal with me then it would be more advantageous for her to stay inside a closed room because there's not much space to move around. Unless it was an open hall, a closed room is mostly cramped and has many obstacles but it's easier to escape through the windows or doors. On the other hands, this central flower garden was a good place for a siege. The plants that were being planted inside the flower garden are mostly short flower trees and the flower garden is surrounded by other buildings. If I were her, I would blocked every gates and windows of the buildings and placed some archers in the third floor or upper floor, and at least also had two layers of defending squads armed with shields and spears at the entrance. But seems like the Countess didn't take it that far. Or perhaps that's because she wasn't capable to do so. Besides, this family didn't have any military background, so for a mere Count family resided in the Capital to mobilize many troops at once could be accused for rebellion.
'It'll be easy to run away.'
There wasn't any archers inside the buildings, the entrance wasn't blocked, and the windows and doors were still open. At least I can keep my promise to Ortzen. By the way, they didn't even try to take the long sword I was holding, I started to doubt there would be any reasons for me to run away. If she had a hidden scheme towards me, no matter even if I was still part of the family, she should have took my weapon away… No matter how smart she is, she's still just any normal noble wife who grew up in good environtment all her life, so she might not know how some things work. Even Ortzen were sometimes still surprised with how I handled some matters.
I walked along the withered rose fence before finally arrived at a place build upon white bricks. The Countess stood there with a gentle smile on her face as usual, and surrounded by some guards. She's really a beautiful and gentle noble lady just based on her outward appearance. It's such a waste that she was born as a beauty but have a vile heart.
"Hold on."
The man who seemed to be the captain of the guards, saw the long sword in my hand then he stepped forward. His name is Drane… I think? He's the one who fainted at the hands of Captain Jullius. I think I can do it too. For now, I stopped my steps and left some distances between me and the Countess then I looked at her. She returned my gaze with her pretty purple eyes. No matter how you look at it, she's far too good to become a second wife of a countryside noble.
"Why did you call for me?"
For now I'll just ask her politely. My question made her slightly frowned.
"I just want to get along with you. I mean it."
She said she wants to get along with me, so she drove me out to a secluded pavilion; only gave me a single maid to serve me; did nothing when her own daughter snatched my dresses, jewelries, and even the keepsakes from my birth mother; got me a bastard fiancee that wanted to rape me; fed me with sleeping pills to kidnap me– hmm, what else was there? In conclusion, her means to get along with me was very unusual. They were way too unusual that I came to have misunderstood her. I initially thought we're enemies.
"Is that so? Then, to get along with stepmother, how about if I start it by kidnapping you? Or, should I take everything you have and send you to live at the secluded pavilion?"
I'm not into the type of schemes where I need to lock her up with some rapists. Oh! I forgot that I was also judged by the court after being accused of committing murder, not to forget I had to jumped out from the second floor to escape and was locked in the prison. I felt bitter whenever I think about it. Did I miss anything else? Too many things had happened in a short time that I couldn't remember everything at once.
The Countess looked really heartbroken by my words.