Chapter 166
“…Do you have something on your mind, Lynette? You don’t look well.”
“Huh?”
She touched her face, but she couldn’t tell what kind of expression she was making.
Lynette parted her lips.
She hesitated for a brief moment over whether to talk about Edwin or not, then finally let out a deep sigh and spoke the child’s name.
“I met Edwin.”
“Edwin?”
He tilted his head slightly.
Seeing that he didn’t know who she was talking about, she looked around then added in a low voice.
“The one who became the previous Count…”
“Ah.”
Only then did Euphen seem to catch on.
He let out a short sound and frowned faintly.
“You met Edwin? Where? Did something happen?”
Sensing his concern, Lynette quickly shook her head.
“Nothing happened. I just met him once. And… I bought him something to eat.”
“…”
“That child…”
She tried to think of how to explain it, then simply spoke honestly.
“He looked miserable. His clothes were a mess, and he’s still so young but so terribly thin…”
The man’s frown deepened, ever so slightly.
When Lynette added that she saw Edwin picking something up off the ground to eat, Euphen looked like he was utterly at a loss for words.
“Are you sure it was really Edwin? No, Lynette, it’s not that I don’t trust what you say. It’s just… hard to believe.”
“It’s true. He said the manor is his home. There’s no reason for him to lie about something like that.”
“Well, that’s true…”
His brows knit together as he sank into thought.
“That child was supposedly too sick to leave the manor. Not that I believed that was the whole truth, but still.”
He then let out a sigh and rubbed his forehead.
“I didn’t expect him to be in that state.”
“The current Count must be tormenting him.”
At her words, the man gave a bitter smile.
“I hear you, Lynette. I never imagined I’d be getting this kind of information from you.”
“What’s going to happen to Edwin?”
He didn’t answer.
Euphen simply looked at Lynette with those calm blue eyes, then said exactly what she expected to hear.
“Lynette, leave this to me. I know you’re worried about him, but I don’t want you to get deeply involved.”
She had more or less guessed he would cut things off like that, but hearing it directly made her chest feel tight.
Noticing that, the man slowly clenched his fist resting on the table, then spoke.
“I’ll take care of it somehow. So trust me.”
“It’s not that I don’t.”
But it wasn’t as if he could do something about it immediately. Euphen and Eshar had said they would go around gathering evidence in secret.
For the day they eventually returned to the Imperial Castle.
They likely wouldn’t act right away.
Until then… what about Edwin?
He would have to keep living like that. No, he might not even survive until everything is revealed…
Lynette pressed her lips tightly together.
‘That moneylender… who knows what kind of person he is.’
Whether he’s cruel enough to kill, or not quite that far gone… what’s certain is that he has no interest in Edwin’s survival.
Perhaps he’s even hoping he would die.
She clasped her hands tightly.
Euphen’s hand moved slightly past the center of the table, but stopped.
His fist tightened.
“Lynette.”
Hearing his worried voice, she gave a faint smile.
“I’m fine. It’s just… my heart feels a little heavy. But I believe you’ll take care of it somehow.”
The man watched Lynette’s face for a long while, then slowly nodded.
Right then, the sound of someone coming downstairs reached them.
She glanced and saw Eshar.
“You’re up early, Lynette. Or did I sleep in?”
The woman approached with a light joke.
Euphen slowly rose from his seat.
“I’ll be going now. Lynette, try not to worry too much about that matter.”
“Alright.”
The two walked toward the door.
Lynette heard Eshar ask what they had been talking about, but the closing door cut the sound off.
Lynette let out a long sigh then slumped over the table.
‘In the end, nothing changes right away.’
Her head throbbed.
There wasn’t even any evidence that the current Count intended to kill Edwin. It was just her imagination running wild.
But what if it were true? What if he treated the boy that way because he thought it would be better if he just died?
‘What about his mother?’
The late Count’s wife had apparently been extravagant. Is she still like that now?
But it’s unlikely they’d give money for her to continue that lifestyle when she’s no longer of use.
Edwin is in that state. His mother wouldn’t be much different.
And if both of them died before everything came to light, it would all amount to nothing.
Euphen and Eshar must already be aware of that. It wasn’t as if they would recklessly charge forward regardless of the consequences.
Lynette bit down on her lip.
She was sinking into pointless thoughts.
It’s not her place to interfere, and there’s nothing she could do.
‘I should go for a walk.’
Some fresh air might clear her head.
With that thought, she stood up to go upstairs and tell Sillian she’d step out for a bit, but something struck the door with a heavy thud.
“…”
Instinctively, she looked toward the counter and the kitchen, but the innkeeper hadn’t heard it. There wasn’t the slightest reaction from inside.
Lynette walked toward the door.
Sillian is just upstairs, and it’s still early morning, so it didn’t seem like anything dangerous.
The moment she opened the door, she found Edwin collapsed on the ground right in front of her.
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