Chapter 4.3
Clatter. Clatter.
Only the sound of dishes clinking broke the silence. Rosena pretended not to notice, constantly checking Cassian’s mood. He had been silent for a while, and it had to be because of the portrait.
“Cassian, are you perhaps angry because I went into the portrait room without permission earlier?”
“I’m not angry.”
“Oh, I see…”
“There’s nowhere in the mansion you can’t go, Rosena, so don’t worry about it.”
Of course, hearing that only made her worry more.
Rosena looked down at the restorative meal the chef had prepared. It wasn’t a traditional Agzent Empire dish, but something often eaten in the chef’s hometown. Rosena carefully cut the most tender part of the steamed chicken and dipped it in sauce. Then, she abruptly thrust it towards Cassian’s lips.
“…What is it?”
“Ah.”
“…”
“Say ‘Ah’.”
This was how Baron Leilia used to appease her when she was sulking back at the barony. Rosena would then pretend to be reluctant but eat it, cheering up in the process. This method was actually effective. Rosena, waving the fork, urging him to open his mouth, let out a groan.
“Ow, my arm hurts.”
Cassian reluctantly took the meat. Rosena smiled brightly.
“Should I give you another one?”
“No. I’m eating too.”
“No, this isn’t just chicken. It’s attention. Attention!”
“Ah. So you were sharing attention just now?”
Cassian barely suppressed a burst of laughter. He had been watching Rosena’s expression change moment by moment since a little while ago. He felt like he knew what was going on in that small head without even asking.
Well, his job was interrogating people in the basement until he was sick of it, so he could probably figure things out even with his eyes closed.
“Are you feeling better?”
“Yes.”
“That’s the power of attention, isn’t it? If we do this, won’t we get closer? Right?”
Rosena smiled sweetly, then cleared her throat. She set the mood, and with a subtle hint of expectation, began to speak.
“I heard from Ted, Cassian, that you have insomnia. Isn’t it uncomfortable sleeping with me? My sleeping habits are bad, so you probably didn’t get much sleep last night, did you?”
“What’s your point?”
“So, about that…”
Rosena smiled sweetly and asked,
“How about we use separate rooms?”
Of course, Cassian completely shattered that expectation.
“No.”
* * *
“Why! Why don’t you want to!”
After dinner, Rosena entered the bedroom and rolled around on the bed in frustration.
“Why not?”
“Because it’s not uncomfortable.”
“What about your insomnia?”
“Well, whether you’re here or not, my sleep quality seems to be about the same.”
She tried saying the same thing several times, but Cassian was impenetrable.
Perhaps sensing that Rosena wouldn’t give up, he made an excuse about having work to do, avoided the conversation, and went straight to his office.
“He even ran away?”
Just try coming back in. I won’t let him off easily. I’ll get him to agree to separate rooms no matter what.
However, contrary to her resolve, Rosena dozed off.
The next morning, Rosena stretched out her hand in her sleep and woke up when she felt something firm. In her hazy vision, she saw someone’s perfectly sculpted collarbone. It felt like a dream.
Whoever it was, it was really smooth. Rosena, still half-asleep, thought this and closed her eyes.
But seriously, whose collarbone is this?’
At that moment, a chill ran up her spine, as if she had overslept. Her distant mind returned to reality, and her blurry focus began to sharpen. Soon, Rosena’s blue eyes, stained with horror, shook violently.
She desperately wanted to lift her head and check the other person’s face, but she didn’t have the courage. In fact, she knew all too well who the person was.
‘Oh my god.’
There’s a saying that people escape reality when faced with an unbearable situation. Rosena was no exception.
‘This is it. A dream.’
If she just went back to sleep and woke up, the situation would be different.
But unfortunately, the other person seemed to have no intention of letting it slide.
“Rosena, I saw you open your eyes.”
To make matters worse, Cassian’s voice was perfectly clear, without any hint of sleepiness.
Rosena desperately kept her eyes closed, not moving a muscle. However.
“You told me not to cross into the center of the bed.”
“…”
“Ah, this time you came over and hugged me first. A moment ago, you were even touching my chest, and now you’re pretending not to…”
“…Please be quiet.”
Embarrassed by his suggestive words, Rosena finally covered Cassian’s mouth. Unable to lift her head due to shame, she heard a chuckle resonating from his throat above her head.
Rosena slowly lifted her head. Sunlight streamed through the window, making Cassian’s appearance especially radiant in the natural light.
Striking red eyes were visible beneath the messy black hair. His features were so exquisitely sculpted they felt almost excessively ornate. A smooth yet appropriately angular jawline. Even the ticklish breath she felt on her palm.
Rosena stared blankly at Cassian’s face, mesmerized, then made a tearful expression.
‘Dear god, why are you testing me like this?’
At that moment, Rosena desperately wished she could vanish.
Fortunately, the morning incident quickly ended as Cassian hurried off to work.
“Phew. That was a close call.”
She thought she was going to be completely branded as shameless, but at the crucial moment, Cassian just said he’d be home late today and told her to go to sleep first, then left the mansion without a hint of regret.
Before Cassian left for work, Rosena recalled the conversation they had.
“You might not believe me, but I’m truly innocent. What happened this morning wasn’t on purpose.”
“Yes, I understand.”
“I’m serious! Your expression clearly shows you don’t believe me!”
Frustrated, Rosena pounded her chest. Cassian had a disinterested look, as if he was deliberately trying to tease her. It was already infuriating enough to have to make excuses that weren’t even excuses.
“I’m really not that kind of person.”
“Everyone says that.”
It was driving her crazy. Moreover, Cassian’s last response made Rosena momentarily feel as if she really were shameless. This had to be intentional. The faintly raised corners of Cassian’s lips were evidence of this.
“I don’t just come on to any man!”
“Ah, I see.”
“…”
“Got it.”
Rosena was drawn into Cassian’s game until the very end, but that was it. Because just as Cassian was about to say something more, someone from the Imperial Palace arrived.
The man, who introduced himself as Marquess Albert Rashtein, conveyed something to Cassian.
And Cassian, leaving behind the words that he would be back late today, simply went to the imperial palace with Marquess Rashtein.
It was such an anticlimactic end, almost making her wonder if what had just happened was a dream.
In any case, as Rosena walked back after seeing Cassian off, she felt like it was going to be a very long day.
As Rosena habitually headed towards the Grand Duchess’s office, she suddenly stopped.
“…Helia?”
Through the hallway window, she spotted Helia hurrying somewhere.
“That path leads to the North Annex. Why is Helia going there?”
During the mansion tour, she was told that only the East and West Annexes were used by the staff.
There was no reason for Helia to walk towards the North Annex. Rosena stopped walking and stood in the hallway, quietly watching her.
“That’s right. What is the North Annex used for anyway?”
Rosena now knew the purpose of all four annexes.
The West Annex was where all administrative tasks for the Baltinart territory and family businesses were handled, including resolving any legal issues that arose during the process.
The East Annex was where the Baltinart family’s intelligence network operated.
The South Annex was said to be where the Baltinart family occasionally hosted parties.
Then what about the North Annex?
She had never seen anyone walk towards it, so Rosena’s interest had naturally never been drawn there.
But why was Helia going there? What was happening inside that tower?
Just then,
“My lady.”
“Ted?”
“A letter has arrived.”
Ted handed Rosena a letter that had arrived. It had a subtle, fresh scent.
The sender was the Imperial Palace.
* * *
“There’s no mistake in the report you just gave, is there?”
“No, that’s correct.”
Early in the morning, Marquess Rashtein had urgently visited the Baltinart estate.
Cassian, who had gone to the Imperial Palace with Marquess Rashtein, was now listening to a report as soon as he entered his office.
“According to what we’ve investigated regarding Your Grace’s instructions, no families have established new foundations in recent years. However, several new orphanages have recently emerged under the sponsorship of the Senicia Ducal Family.”
Marquess Rashtein handed over a report with a list of orphanages. There were two in the capital of Agzent, and one in each region.
Cassian’s eyes narrowed.
“It’s definitely unusual.”
It wasn’t that sponsoring orphanages was strange. Many noble families sponsored orphanages. In fact, it would be harder to find a family that didn’t. However, the pattern of their sponsorship was unusual.
Normally, while specific orphanages were often sponsored, most chose places close to their territory and didn’t cover the entire country like this.
“Have you looked into these orphanages?”
“Yes. There’s nothing suspicious. Many of them have been established for decades. They are all existing orphanages. However, as you can see, the sudden sponsorship from Duke Senicia and the pattern of it are somewhat unusual.”
While there was a strong suspicion of a suspicious situation, there was no concrete evidence. Furthermore, since the pretext of sponsoring orphanages was clear, even if they had requested cooperation in the investigation, the Senicia Ducal Family could simply refuse cooperation.
According to Agzent Imperial law, innocent people could not be treated as criminals and detained unless there was clear evidence.
Especially if the fact that they suspected the Senicia family as the one collaborating with the temple became known, there was a high chance that the evidence would be quickly destroyed, so they couldn’t move rashly.
Cassian put down the report and muttered somewhat irritably.
“This is going to be a headache.”
“Should we investigate the Senicia Ducal Family further to see if we can find any evidence?”
“The Duke of Senicia is not a soft person. If we plant people around him, we’ll be discovered quickly.”
Especially if the Duke of Senicia was indeed the one collaborating with the temple and had meddled with the coordinates of the other party… he would also be closely monitoring the imperial family’s movements and would quickly sense any changes.
Of all families, it had to be the Senicia Ducal Family involved in this matter.
Cassian was at a loss as to how to report this to the Emperor. If a major incident occurred due to a wrong guess, the consequences would be massive.
“Investigate the whereabouts of the Duke of Senicia for the past month first.”
“Yes.”
“And.”
“Yes? Are there any further instructions?”
“Investigate whether the managers of the orphanages sponsored by the Duke of Senicia have been replaced recently, and if so, where the previous managers went, from their past actions, without missing a single detail.”
“The orphanage managers?”
Marquess Rashtein questioned him as if wondering why he was interested in them.
Cassian replied as he left the office.
“No matter how I think about it, there’s no better place to hide rats than there.”
