MPBAGS Chapter 17

They loaded the luggage into the carriage and rode for another long while before arriving at the Rohanson mansion.

Usually, the maid would get out first to escort, but Evangeline stepped down first without hesitation.

"Pudding! You came out to meet me."

And upon discovering a cat sprawled on the gate bars, a smile spread across her previously indifferent face.

Lady Evangeline was very fond of that strange creature. The sight of the monster becoming just a pet in the lady's arms was always unfamiliar.

The cat looked at Henna and Kanna with its three eyes shining, then leisurely closed them. Kanna murmured in a small voice.

"The eyes disappeared?"

Had Kanna seen the cat's eyes too? Henna turned around, worried that her sister might be frightened, but Kanna was actually looking at empty air, not the cat.

"Kanna?"

"It's nothing, sister. Huh? That cat is..."

Kanna seemed to notice the cat for the first time. She tilted her head for a moment, then checked the cat's collar and ran to the lady with a bright face.

"Is this your cat, Miss? You were here."

And when Kanna stroked its chin, the monster purred as if it really were a cat.

Henna wanted to immediately pull away Kanna's hand and hide her behind herself, but their atmosphere looked so picturesquely harmonious that she couldn't approach.

The reason the cat was acting coy was because Kanna didn't know the cat's true identity. The assumption that the cat might suddenly change the moment Henna moved held her back.

Without noticing Henna's worry, Kanna followed Lady Evangeline through the door.

"Sister? What are you doing, not coming?"

Kanna urged Henna, who was standing still. Her beloved sister felt a bit unfamiliar, but eventually Henna also went inside.

Lady Evangeline said she was tired and didn't need help with sleeping arrangements, then went upstairs first. Henna was afraid Kanna would follow the lady, so she held her hand and climbed the stairs. Remembering the location of the 4th floor, she opened the door to the room directly below the lady's.

As expected, her memory was correct—this room was definitely the one the countess had used. Henna had also been hired only after the lady passed away, so this was her first time entering.

Even though the count had threatened not to wander near the lady's room, someone had disobeyed orders and secretly cleaned it, as it was in quite good condition. It even felt lived-in.

While Henna was looking around the room, Kanna, who had already finished changing, jumped onto the bed. At home, she always sat because she said she didn't want to lie down, but she must be tired today.

She had just recovered enough to walk around, and now she was hurt again... With her nightgown on, the wound on her neck and the binding marks were even more clearly visible.

"Sister, I can hear Miss moving around upstairs."

Kanna, who seemed to be resting with her eyes closed, suddenly spoke.

Sound? Henna concentrated and listened carefully, but couldn't hear anything. The Rohanson mansion was particularly quiet at night, and there was thick carpet on the lady's floor, plus the lady had quiet footsteps—how could she hear that?

When Henna looked at the ceiling, the chandelier was swaying as if there was wind from somewhere. It seemed like she had mistaken that sound.

"Isn't it the sound of the chandelier swaying?"

"Really? I guess so. Anyway, I'm glad I chose this room. I like it."

Kanna didn't respond to Henna's words at all, just nodded and changed the subject.

"The bed is big enough for sister and me to lie down together."

Lady Evangeline had tried to give Henna a separate room, but Henna had desperately declined because she was afraid to leave her sister alone. The countess's room was larger than their house, so it wasn't bad for two people to stay in, and as Kanna said, the bed was big enough for both of them.

Henna finished preparing for bed and lay down next to Kanna. It had been a long time since they had lain together like this. In the darkness, they faced each other and played with their hands. Perhaps because today had been a very long day, drowsiness soon overcame them. Just as she was about to fall asleep, Kanna quietly spoke.

"You know, sister. Thank you for coming to save me today. I was really scared."

Henna squeezed her sister's hand tightly. She felt guilty for thinking her sister was unfamiliar, even briefly, when she was still frightened but pretending to be okay. No matter how Kanna acted, she was just Henna's beloved sister.

"From now on, my goal has changed to becoming friends with Kanna. If I try to approach the knight captain male lead, I'll just look like an obsessive villainess. I don't want to have a romance with a character from a book, and the real shortcut to escaping being a villainess is to get on the female lead's good side!

I'm betting my life fully on Kanna!

Looking at how she gets kidnapped from her very first meeting with the male lead, this place seems pretty brutal for a romance fantasy novel, so it's certain that Kanna will be rolling around struggling from now on. I asked if she'd like to stay permanently at the mansion since it would be good to become friends and also save her whenever incidents happen, and thanks to building up my favorability well, Kanna readily agreed. Plus, Henna too!

When I went to tell them that the two of them could use the third floor from now on, they said the Count was away on business. The lights were definitely on until last night - didn't he pull an all-nighter and oversleep?

When I glared silently, the butler bowed his head apologetically. Sigh. What am I doing taking my anger out on the butler? It's all the Count's fault.

'If you have a message to convey, I will deliver it.'

Henna said she would speak to the butler directly herself, so I can't steal her thunder. If I speak first and the favorability I've worked hard to build up disappears, I'll be the only one at a loss.

Since the butler asked me to write a letter, I had no choice but to send a letter to the Count saying I would use the empty third-floor room. Thank goodness for the language patch!

Worried he might coldly reject just this, I tore out a page from the Countess's diary and attached it. The page was filled with the Countess, who had been deceived into marriage, cursing her husband. Bad guy! If his conscience is pricked, he'll say it's fine. I handed the letter to the butler.

'Don't you dare open it - just deliver it. I'll be watching.'

I used the 'teacher has eyes in the back of her head' technique. Just in case the butler sees the curse diary written by the Countess, he might remove it. Absolutely not allowed.

I thought it would take a day, but it took three whole days for the letter to arrive. The Count scrawled a reply saying to do as I please, and added that from now on when he's away, I should talk to the butler and absolutely not write him letters like this. Then why don't you meet with me so I can report and talk directly?

The next day, the lights were on in the Count's room again. The Count must have returned. Since I'd just get turned away at the door anyway, I didn't go to greet him.

When I delivered the news to Henna and Kanna, who had been uncomfortable for a total of four days, Kanna was very pleased.

Henna still seemed a bit uncomfortable, but Kanna, being the female lead, seems to have exceptional adaptability.