Chapter 179
Lynette walked along following Sillian. She had thought he would let go of her hand as soon as they were out of Euphen’s sight, but he kept holding it. It had become awkward to shake him off now. If she tried to pull away at this point, it would only make it seem as if she were conscious of it.
The man, whom she had thought would head straight into the village, instead began to walk in a wide circle at a distance.
“Sillian? Where are we going?”
“To the Count’s residence.”
“The village is that way…”
“I think it would be better to go around, even if it’s farther, rather than pass through the village.”
That made sense, so Lynette simply nodded.
The detour was quite long. As they circled around until the village was barely visible, a well-kept garden and iron bars began to come into view.
‘Ah, this must be the back side of the large houses at the edge of the village.’
She glanced that way. Perhaps because it bordered the fields, there was no one guarding it. In a village like this, there were probably a few people who would bother climbing a wall to steal anything. The main gate facing the village had not seemed very large, but because there was a spacious garden behind it, they had to go quite a bit farther around.
After passing several houses like that, Sillian spoke first.
“That residence is the Count’s.”
She only remembered the front of the mansion, but it seemed to be the same place. Compared to the rather small front gardens of the other houses, the Count’s residence had a fairly large front garden that reached the village. It looked almost as if the Count’s residence stood apart on its own.
If only there were no iron bars so that anyone could easily enter, but of course tall, pointed iron bars surrounded the wide garden at the back. Lynette glanced at the man beside her.
“How are you planning to get in?”
“How would you like to enter?”
“Huh?”
She had expected an answer, yet he asked her instead. She blinked and fell into thought.
“The best way would be to disguise ourselves as servants.”
“…”
“But if they’re servants of a mansion this size, they would know each other well.”
In a place like the Imperial Castle there were thousands of servants, so pretending to be one would work easily, but in a mansion of this scale such a lie would never pass. Lynette let out a short sigh and brushed her hair back.
‘If only we had time to prepare.’
If they had, she would surely have found a way to get in quickly. Even if the scale was a little smaller, this is still the Count’s residence, and there would be plenty to manage. Even aside from the servants, there would be dozens of people coming and going each day, delivering food supplies, tending the garden, making repairs, or working as shop clerks from clothing stores and the like. It would have been easy if they had watched and temporarily helped with the work of such people.
Sillian seemed to agree with her thoughts and was contemplating with a stiff expression.
“The fastest way is a frontal breakthrough.”
“A frontal breakthrough?”
“Entering and moving around while hiding inside.”
At the plan, which was almost the same as charging in recklessly, Lynette made a slightly dumbfounded expression. It certainly would be the fastest. There would be no need to hide unnecessarily, nor any need to come up with a grand plan.
“But…”
When she spoke uncertainly, Sillian asked calmly.
“Isn’t there too little time to make a plan?”
She had nothing to say in response. There was not enough of anything to make a proper plan. The investigation, the time, all of it.
“We’ll have to hope there aren’t many servants.”
At his words, Lynette hurriedly pulled at their clasped hands.
“You’re really planning to just go in like that?”
“It’s not reckless.”
“Then what is it?”
“Don’t we have things we need to do?”
“…”
“A plan of that degree is sufficient.”
“You… you call that a plan?”
“If you have a better plan, please say so.”
When she pressed her lips shut, he shrugged and released her hand, preparing to climb over the wall.
“Sillian!”
Even though there were almost no footholds, she grabbed the clothes of the man who was easily climbing the iron bars.
“Why?”
“I can’t climb up! Lift me up first and…”
“It would be better if Lynette stayed here.”
She had somewhat expected it, but she hadn’t thought he would really plan to leave her behind. Lynette frowned, yet he did not even twitch a brow.
“I’m going with you.”
Sillian lightly jumped over the iron bars, shaking off Lynette’s hand, and stood inside looking at her.
“Sillian, don’t even think about leaving me here alone.”
She spoke as if threatening him, but he merely smiled faintly. Seeing the blatantly unconcerned expression that showed her words had no effect at all, Lynette tightly gripped the iron bars.
“Sillian!”
“As Lynette said, since there isn’t really a plan, it would be better if I go in alone.”
“I said let’s go together!”
“They rarely come around this side, so it should be safe. Still, just in case, it would be better to go behind that hill over there.”
Sillian casually pointed to a low hill visible in the distance. Even when Lynette frowned deeply, he only shrugged.
“What if someone catches me while I’m here?”
“I don’t think there is anyone who would recognize Lynette.”
“What if someone does recognize me? There were people who saw me with you.”
“…”
“And I think it’s safer to stay with you, Sillian.”
Those were sincere. Being with him was far safer than being separated. In any case, this man had abilities, and if she faced danger right in front of him, he would definitely save her.
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