ITIWAFRBIAHS Chapter 22

Jeril came down the stairs without even breathing. There wasn't much left. He just needed to get out the front door. It should be fine to cross the garden at night now. The important thing was while the sound still couldn't be heard, quickly...

What about Rose?

'Later, I'll come get her after settling in.'

Rose would be fine. The whispers don't seem to be heard now, and since she often goes out to the busy districts, she probably won't be too contaminated. Jeril rationalized desperately while continuing to move his feet. The aged fear was too enormous and heavy for immature affection to take control.

Then, a dull sound echoed at his feet.

"...!!"

Jeril reflexively froze. When he slowly looked down, an object that had bumped into his toes revealed its outline in the moonlight.

It was a black leather wallet.

Jeril hastily looked around. Then he saw a figure standing on the stairs above. A black-haired, well-built man. The self-proclaimed 'Lucas Moore.' His wickedly handsome features were shadowed in the moonlight.

Jeril gritted his teeth but soon couldn't help saying.

"What are you doing to Rose? What are you planning to do with her?"

The man leaned back. His face disappeared into the shadows.

"Nothing."

"......"

"I'm not going to do anything."

It was a slow voice. Jeril trembled at the whispers overlapping with that tone.

"I'll just make her keep living like now."

Goosebumps rose to the top of his head. Jeril looked up. The man tilted his head.

"But why ask that?"

"What...?"

"There's no reason to ask."

The man continued reciting without gaps, as if reading written text.

"You have no relationship with Rose Aubert whatsoever. You were just parasiting off this mansion. And since danger seems to be approaching, you're leaving your host. Since you have no relationship, it's a judgment you can make."

The man's voice was gentle, but it carried the scent of malice and chaos like flowing poison. By the end, it even sounded almost emotional. If that emotion had a smell, Jeril thought, it would definitely reek of something fishy.

"So, daughter of Madam Sawyer, take some travel money and run away. I'll be going now."

Lucas Moore finished his mockery with a polite greeting and walked away down the corridor.

When the footsteps completely disappeared, Jeril moved. The boy picked up the wallet with trembling hands, but his eyes were shining with determination rather than anger at the humiliation.

Jeril decided not to run away.

When I woke up in the bright sunny morning, my mind buried somewhere in the abyss of darkness had somewhat recovered too.

Right, thinking about it, I don't necessarily need to take photos myself. I can hire professionals. Let's think of it as the romance novel fairy taking away my talent in exchange for giving me money. I can work with various skilled people with money!!

I tried to escape from sadness and groggily got up from bed. I was a complete mess. I should wash up and look human before moving. I could call someone who works here, but let me do it alone this time... I need some alone time.

I trudged to the bathroom, washed, and came out. Immediately, the photos I took yesterday caught my eye.

Kkeuk, the overwhelming impact that hit me like a tidal wave again was no joke, but I endured it and picked out one relatively decent photo.

It was the wall photo taken in the Indiana-style adventure cave under the basement. The photo was full of mysterious-looking characters. I should look this up in the library at least. There might be hints about dragons written there.

Mm, so far black hair, red hair, and blonde have appeared as male lead candidates... is it time for silver hair? I'll bet on a silver dragon. With excitement somewhat recovering my spirits, I opened the door to go to the library. And I was horrified.

My fiancé was standing right in front of me.

He had one hand in a leather glove half-raised as if he was about to knock, but when our eyes met, he smoothly lowered it and smiled. Waah, shocking eye candy first thing in the morning...!

"Rose, good morning. Are you feeling alright?"

My fiancé had the talent of very gently indicating that it was closer to lunchtime than morning. He must have come because he was worried since I didn't come out.

"Yes. I slept well so I'm fine."

I tried to answer energetically, but for a moment the unrecognizably ruined photo of my fiancé came to mind and I stumbled over my intonation. Kkeuk. The aftereffects seem like they'll be long. My appetite is disappearing too.

"But why were you standing in front of my door? Did you have something to say?"

"Ah, that... Yes. That's right. I came to tell you that breakfast was delivered."

Hul. If it's breakfast, quite some time has passed - didn't he wait too long? Suddenly feeling very sorry, I quickly waved my hands.

"I'm fine. If you haven't eaten because of me, I'm sorry."

"Pardon...?"

Hm? He seems somewhat shocked. Does he not like eating alone?

"...The prepared meal is turkey sandwich with poached egg and lemon juice."

Oh, good menu. But for me right now, with no appetite due to the shock of my mistaken belief in my photography skills, eating such delicious food would be too wasteful. I probably wouldn't even taste it properly, just like yesterday. Let me save it for my future self two hours from now.

"Sounds delicious. You must be hungry, so please eat quickly."

"......"

Silence flows. What? Why no answer? Should I say something like "I have somewhere to go..." when I'm starting to wonder?

Only then did my fiancé open his mouth.

"Then... alright. Rose, we decided to plant new trees last time. Have you thought about it?"

Suddenly a completely different topic came up...? Ah, I did have something to say about that. This time I could answer quite cheerfully.

"Ah, don't worry about that. Those rose trees seem to be alive."

"...Pardon?"

"The trunks seem to be healing. So I thought we might not need to uproot them and could wait and see."

"...That can't be."

"Pardon?"

My fiancé's expression hardened. He must be shocked by nature's mystery. Well, since he personally caused that destruction, it would be even more unbelievable.

Still, he seemed to understand in his own way, soon smiling brightly and bringing up another topic.

"No. That could be possible. But Rose, I suddenly remembered something else. Would it be alright if I step away briefly? It's not an outing outside the mansion, so don't worry."

It's a really good male lead attitude to not argue saying 'I think that's impossible and you must have seen wrong' and instead accept it.

"Yes, yes."

"Then I'll be back soon. It would be nice to have a meal together after that."

"Sounds good!"

My fiancé went down the stairs with quick steps. He's probably going to use the phone in the room where he's staying. Good, I should go to my original destination, the library.

And too predictably, Jeril was in the library. Tell me honestly, this is actually your room, isn't it?

"Seems like you're here every time I see you?"

"...I have things to do."

Jeril, who was busily examining book spines in front of the bookshelf, answered calmly. Could he still be searching for whatever his mother had been looking for before she was arrested? I'm curious about what it could be, but since I'm the one whose situation led to the arrest, it feels too awkward to ask about it casually...

Still, I feel relieved by Jeril's much calmer atmosphere.

"Why did you come?"

"Ah, the characters in this photo look like writing, so I thought I'd look through some dictionaries."

"What?"

This should be okay to tell, right? Since he was the one tormented by the dragon first, he probably won't be too surprised.

I explained to Jeril about the basement great adventure where I discovered the dragon heart. I tried to keep it short and simple, but I got excited while talking and rambled a bit.

But unexpectedly, my stepbrother didn't interrupt or get angry, but just listened calmly to everything. And he gave short, firm advice.

"Never go down there again."

"I wasn't planning to anyway."

What I want to see is a silver-haired handsome human-form dragon, not a pulsating dragon heart. And I'm going to be an oil king, so I don't need treasure!

"And give me the photo. I'll look for it."

"Oh, do you know this language?"

Jeril hesitated and answered.

"While helping Mother with her work a few times... I've seen it. I'm not completely ignorant."

"Ooh."

"Ah, anyway, give it to me."

Jeril snatched the photo from my hand and frowned while examining the characters, then even took out glasses from a small case on the desk and put them on. It was a small monocle with an antique design.

Wow... he wears glasses too. He really does every possible character setting. I couldn't hide my admiration at Jeril's appearance, which showed the author's persistence.

"Mm... Well, you said you have things to do. If it's looking for books in the library, should I look for you? That would be more efficient and..."

"It would be noisy. Go on. ...I'll let you know when I'm done."

"Well, alright."

If you're going to volunteer for unpaid labor that much, I won't refuse. I shrugged and left the library. Anyway, the photo matter is settled, now what I need to do is...

"...Nothing."

No schedule. I have nothing to do until my fiancé returns.

Since going out to the busy district is also blocked because of Hazel White (former maid Sunset)'s escape news, should I take a walk? On the way, I should ask the butler about the mansion's security situation.

I headed toward the front entrance with quick steps.

Let's see, the butler is in a room near the entrance... Oh, didn't I just hear a phone ringing?

"Right, the phone."

When I stopped my steps coming down the stairs, I could hear the sound more clearly. It seemed to be coming from the reception room near the entrance.

Aha! Maybe it's a call from the police officer. If so, it would be better for me to listen directly and ask various questions before someone who works here answers, right? Oh, it feels like something's progressing. With an excited heart, I ran toward the room where the sound was coming from.

Interestingly, it was the same room with the phone I used to call the detective last time. What a funny coincidence.

I quickly picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

-Oh, damn. Thank you. Miss!

I heard the urgent voice of the young detective from the other end of the phone. Why are you calling here?

"Did you know this number?"

-There's no time for such talk. Get out of that house right now!

"Pardon?"

What kind of sudden talk is this?

"Why all of a sudden?"

-Your adoptive mother disappeared from the police station!

Pardon...?

There are too many question marks for me to know where to start.

First, it seems he's noticed that this body is Rose Aubert. Well, since he's a detective, that could be possible. I was too complacent thinking of him as a second male lead.

But how does he know about my adoptive mother's escape? I haven't been contacted by the police yet. Could he be confusing her with Hazel White? No, rather, according to the police, if a suspect escaped, shouldn't I stay holed up in the mansion instead of leaving?

"I heard yesterday about Hazel White's escape too, but could you be confusing..."

-Don't worry about that. That's not the problem!!

The detective's voice became more urgent.

-Damn, I'll explain everything once you come to town, so just come out quickly for now. And get away from that so-called fiancé lover right now...

Click. Suddenly the detective's voice cut off.

"Hello? Hey!"

I tapped the phone but there was no answer. There wasn't even the dial tone you hear when a call ends - just quiet.

Then, cutting through the silence, a gentle woman's voice was heard. It was clear she was speaking right in front of this room's door.

"Rose? My daughter?"

It was my adoptive mother.