"Lady Penelope."
I stopped trying to climb the stairs with a low voice that called me. As I turned slowly, there stood a man who called me.
"Is there anything I can do for you?" "I'd like to talk to you for a moment."
"What should I do? I don't really have something to discuss with Marquis."
"Then I will tell the Duke that the maid in charge of young lady, who testified against you knew nothing about the truth, and he must know the whole story."
I frowned at the unexpected threat and looked around. Fortunately, there was nobody in the hall except him.
"Well, it's something we should bump into at least once."
Until the time I asked him for the poison that I said I'd use it for my convenience and will never see him again if I'd gone out of this fucking game.
When I woke up, I regretted that he knew a bit. "…Follow me."
I said sighing as I went back down the painstakingly right stairs.
I led him out of the mansion through the back door. There were many ears in the mansion. 'I'm a little scared of where the servants who was brainwashed by Yvonne might be hiding…' So, I dragged him along and stopped walking only after I arrived at the end of the road. "Now tell me."
The nameless purple flowers fluttered in the wind and gave off a graceful fragrance. 'Not long ago, it seemed like yellow flowers were in full bloom'
It seemed like yesterday that I received a pretty impressive gift from a man here, but it changed all of a sudden.
The scene of back garden, where another man standing in front of me. "Why did you lie?"
By the time she was lost in thought then Vinter opened his mouth in a deep voice. I raised my head gently and asked back.
"What?"
"The poison that lady drank was different from the one you asked me to do." "Now, what are you doing and ask me what's going on?"
I was embarrassed for a moment because I didn't know that he would question me so straightforward. The place is so wide that no one will hear us, but I frowned with pouting on my face.
"Even if we are outside, this is still a dukedom. Why don't you be careful with what you say? "I've casted a soundproofing magic."
"That's good. Now please continue."
"At first, when it turns out that young lady was looking for a poison, someone—"
Vinter, who was in a hurry to get my answers to his questions, suddenly stopped talking and corrected himself.
"…I was worried that you might be framed for trying to harm the returned Lady, Yvonne."
Since the soundproofing magic was still active, he seemed to be trying to go outright. He explained why he couldn't come forward as an excuse.
"So, until the young lady woke up, I couldn't say the truth"
Of course, it was natural that he kept his mouth shut because of his personal safety. Because it wasn't Verdandi who dealt the business with me, it was only for information.
Thanks to his silence, I was able to bring up the story of this case easily. "I see."
I nodded casually, without missing a chance he immediately asked the next question. "But no matter how much I think, I don't understand."
"What?"
"What do you mean with self-play? Why did you admit that? The maid you sent to me wasn't the dead maid, but someone else."
"Did I?"
"Young lady."
As I tilted my head, pretending to be ignorant, the face of the Vinter Verdandi hardened.
He spoke more bluntly than a while ago, as I seemed to have little willingness to participate in the conversation.
"Please tell me… you've got another poison. Then I would testify as the office's head…" "Marquis."
I suddenly raised my hand to stop him.
"Please tell me one thing. Do you stand in front of me as the Marquis Verdandi, or do you stand before me as a head of top magician?"
Vinter's mouth shut. I stared at the blue eyes that shaking for a moment, and I opened my mouth.
"If you are Marquis of Verdandi, you are overly interested. Thank you for your concern, but I will take care of it myself."
"…Lady Penelope."
"If you're standing in front of me as the top magician then made a deal with me."
I paused for a while and took a deep breath. And soon, I turned my face as he wanted. "…Isn't it the same as you suspected me?"
In a sudden change of topic, she was able to see Vinter hold his breath with eyes that wide open. "When I commissioned the poison through the maid, honestly, what did you think?"
"…"
"You probably thought that an evil fake lady who tries to poison the real lady that has returned."
As I broke up the thoughts he might have had when I asked the poison, he flinched, while I stared at him with expressionless face and continued.
"You thought because I was stubborn, that I had to committed my rudeness last time, so right now I'm going to do what I want this time and what I had never done it before."
"…"
"So even though I asked for a poison without an antidote, you didn't do as I asked."
Didn't he know that he would be even facing this? At that moment, Vinter's face was distorted. It wasn't much of an impression, but it was a bit worth seeing that his handsome face was crumpled poorly.
Furthermore, I couldn't figure out what kind of answer he wanted from me. I don't know if he wants to hear that I was actually trying to harm Yvonne. Or does he want to reveal who has the other poison?
But I was sure.
"…It is no use considering it now. The thing is, you've never trusted me since beginning, even now. This is…"
I lifted my hand, pushed his chest which was close to me with my index finger. He faltered and took a step back even though I didn't put much effort.
"It's a distance between us."
I glanced coldly at him from that distance.
Always a step away, from each others. We were only that close, so I was telling him to stay out of my business.
Vinter looked a little dazed. But he's a wise man that I thought he'd soon understand me. But he suddenly grabbed my finger that was still pushing his chest.
"Even though I would have predicted that you would poison others, don't you think you'd put poison in your hand yourself?"
Looking at him staring at me with red bloodshot eyes, I sensed something was wrong. "What…"
"I am a wizard who values life above anything else." "…"
"I've been living my whole life with mission to prove that it is different from Leila, which takes the lives of others and uses them as power. But!"
"…"
"…I've met you, and I've given you a lot of things to have."
He uttered an unknown word to me with his dying voice. The pressure on my finger that he grabbed became stronger. I tried to shake his hand with a frown.
"If you're going to make excuses, why don't you look for it from yourself instead of others, Marquis?" "Yvonne, this child."
But he didn't budge. Still holding on to me, he began to tell me some unexpected remarks. "She was the one who helped the poor people before me."
"…It was—."
"She was a good person who had always lived for others because she had to survive after being lost. By the time I started my service, she helped me out and taught me a lot of things."
I was dumbfounded by his decision of telling me about his journey and first meeting with Yvonne. I laughed and say sarcastically.
"So? You must have been afraid that I'd kill such a good child…" "What I was afraid of!"
At that moment, Vinter suddenly cut me off in a loud voice.
"…It was you who were desperate when she returned to the Dukedom. You who left me such a fund without me knowing anything!"
"…"
"When the Duke's biological daughter returned, I'm afraid you'll disappear with the money and I wouldn't even realize it!"
It was ridiculous that he had spoken to me openly so far, and he told off his daily life with a wretched straight face.
"I turned a blind eye to the child who had regained her childhood memories. Even though I knew I had to take her to the duchy, but I never did."
"…"
"After I turned away, she was still in the slums, and I haven't slept a single night since I heard that she was attacked by a demon."
"…"
"Because I feel like I have committed an indelible sin which can't be washed, whenever I closed my eyes, I always had nightmares."
His complexion was dark as he had sinned against God. Vinter slowly bowed his head and put the hem of my hand to his forehead. And whispered in a painful voice.
"…The first thing I was worried about when I got the information about the Duke's biological daughter returning was you, too."
"…"
"I thought you might do something terrible after I got a request about poison from you, but"
"…"
I was just thinking about creating an antidote to hide your deed, if you were really going to do something."
After a passionate sweep, he asked me with a hoarse voice. "Is this still a matter of trust?"
I was surprised at his unexpected words and could not say anything. 'Ah.'
There's a low voice came out between the open mouths. I think I know what happened now. Vinter is a wizard who was originally scheduled to bring Yvonne to the coming-of-age ceremony. However, because of his feelings on me, he abandoned Yvonne.
Even though I already heard his bloody confession with my ears, I still couldn't believe it. In the normal mode, Vinter is a good and friendly man who always served the heroine.
He, who should have to return the Duke's biological daughter in Penelope's coming-of-age ceremony, had abandoned his beliefs and turned away from Yvonne a long time ago.
"Please, answer me, young lady. Is this still a matter of trust?"
And then Eclise who was brainwashed brought Yvonne back.
