Chapter 17
In the original story, Rogerick’s sudden marriage to some woman must have been because of his Holy Knight colleagues.
Recalling the eyes of the man he’d encountered through the crack in the door last night, it was obvious what kind of trick they were trying to pull.
‘If it hadn’t been for that, Rogerick would have sought out Cecilia. Then the Montieux family would have protected Cecilia.’
There wouldn’t have been an unavoidable tragedy.
So, now she decided to make them pay for their sins.
To get revenge for the original Cecilia and to give Rogerick a little payback at the same time. She tasked them with handling the body and the kidnapped people left in the forest.
Through Margaret, she gave a large sum to the staff of each family and had them make a false report to the temple. Since they were all part of noble families leaving Erdel today, there was no fear of who was behind the command being exposed.
“My Lady, I’ll help you with the hot compress.”
“Alright.”
Margaret wrung out a steaming hot towel and placed it on Cecilia’s waist.
Her body felt relaxed from the warmth. Cecilia felt at ease for the first time in a while.
“…My Lady, about the order you gave me. You were trying to save the people in the forest, weren’t you?”
Then she heard Margaret’s voice and opened her eyes.
“And… you’re trying to cover up what happened last night for me, aren’t you?”
“…….”
“My Lady, I will be loyal to you for the rest of my life.”
Cecilia slightly turned her head to look at Margaret. Margaret was wringing the towel, holding back her tears which were brimming in her eyes.
“I will never forget your kindness, My Lady. I’ll be sure to repay it somehow.”
“……Margaret.”
“Yes?”
“What happened to us yesterday?”
“What?”
Margaret, who was wringing the towel, froze. Her expression was stunned and blank.
Cecilia looked at Margaret with a blank and somewhat cold gaze.
“We just came home from the party yesterday, that’s all that happened.”
“…….”
“Don’t go around saying weird things. It’ll get me misunderstood. Understood?”
“…Ah, I understand!”
“Get back to the compress. It’s gotten cold.”
“Y-yes!”
Margaret began to move busily. She seemed to be holding back her tears a little, but Cecilia pretended not to notice. Only then did Cecilia straighten her head.
‘She’s not careful.’
This is why getting involved with ordinary people is annoying.
For Margaret’s sake, she had to finalize the incident in the forest as soon as possible. She hoped the Holy Knights would move as she wished.
Closing her eyes at the warm sensation on her waist, Cecilia let out a sigh.
***
This should have been a trivial, utterly insignificant incident.
But the Holy Knights, including Pavel, who were searching the forest, turned pale at the sight before them.
“Wh-what is this…….”
A man lay sprawled on the ground, dead, with his eyes wide open. Not far away, there was a shabby shack whose purpose was unknown.
He had been assigned to Erdel for two years already, but this was the first time he’d seen such an incident.
A murder in a resort town with such good public order that even a child could walk alone at night without a problem. All the Holy Knights looked like they were about to faint.
“I-is it possible that the screams we heard were from this man when he died?”
“…I don’t know either. Damn it. First, Lord Jamie, check that house.”
“Alright.”
Jamie and a few other Holy Knights approached the house. Meanwhile, Pavel examined the man’s body.
Judging by the long scar on his face and his sturdy build, he looked like a rough thug who wielded a lot of strength. He didn’t look like someone who would die so easily. But there were no signs of a struggle.
‘…There are carriage tracks?’
Looking around, Pavel saw the wheel marks of a carriage that had come and gone into the forest. It was strange.
“Why would it come all the way into this forest…….”
“Pa-Pavel! Lord Pavel!”
Just then, he heard Jamie’s urgent shout.
The shack door was wide open. A pale Jamie and frozen Holy Knights were looking inside.
Did they find a pile of bodies? Pavel rushed toward them.
“What’s wrong… Huh.”
Pavel gasped and backed away.
Inside, there were women and boys packed tightly together, all alive. Many of them looked filthy and were breathing in shallow gasps, showing how long they had been trapped.
The Holy Knights’ faces turned much paler than when they had found the corpse.
Perhaps this was an even more serious matter.
A kidnapping incident in Erdel, a paradise of a resort. If the news got out, the flow of tourists would completely stop.
Pavel gestured wildly, making the Holy Knights move away from the shack. As they gathered in a circle, he whispered in a low voice.
“First, we’ll bury that body. So no one finds out.”
They had to downplay the incident as much as possible. Keeping the rumors from spreading was more important than anything else.
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