Chapter 29
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 29
I paid the butler a visit for the first time in a while. The servants reporting to him bowed their heads and vanished, holding their breath as if they were afraid to even step on my shadow. It was a bitter thought that this was, in fact, an improvement.
“Lady Evangeline? To what do I owe the honor of this visit?”
“I need something.”
“And what might that be?”
“I heard a maid named Daisy used to work here.”
The butler remained silent.
“The one who supposedly entered a monastery.”
Oh, come on. Why act like you don’t know? I’m here because I already know everything. This felt like I was a detective interrogating a criminal.
“I want to know where Daisy lives. Surely you haven’t disposed of that information?”
It wasn’t as if they would immediately discard the records of someone who had just resigned. Then again, it was a bit creepy for a household to keep the private information of a former servant. And here I was, conducting a background check to find her address without her knowledge.
“I heard she sold her house, claiming she was entering a monastery. If she has a place to call home now, it would be that monastery.”
No, the problem was that Daisy wasn't at the monastery. The abbot there had committed so many atrocities that Daisy had fled and righteously reported him to the Temple. While she was at it, she had reported my misdeeds, too.
Phrased like that, it made me sound as wicked as the abbot. Daisy certainly came off as the more heroic one.
“Is there anywhere else Daisy might stay?”
The butler looked like he knew more. Maybe it was the monocle, but he had the air of a secret information guild master or a part-time assassin.
As I pressed him on the subject, another piece of information finally slipped out. I knew it. He was hiding it on purpose.
“The Ainoa Orphanage?”
“She mentioned she was from an orphanage. If she left the monastery and needed a place to stay for a while, it would likely be there.”
An orphanage? So Daisy grew up in an orphanage, became a villainess’s maid and got bullied, then fled to a monastery only to be traumatized by a mad abbot. I wasn’t sure of the exact timeline, but she must have been captured by slave traders after that before escaping safely with Jelly.
Somehow… wasn't Daisy's backstory more profound than Canna's? Was Daisy the real female lead, not Canna? I’d thought she was just a character planted by the original story’s corrective force to stop the villainess’s rampage, but was I wrong?
Whatever. I’d find out when I got there. Before visiting the butler, I had already changed into modest outdoor clothes and packed a hefty pouch of gold coins.
A carriage was already waiting outside. It wasn't one from House Rohanson; it looked like a hired cab. When had he called for it?
“Mr. Jelly called for it.”
Now I felt bad for misjudging him earlier. Right. Jelly was a bit of a rogue, but he was obedient and surprisingly thoughtful.
“I did well, didn't I?” Jelly grinned triumphantly, looking proud despite the fresh claw marks on his face.
“Where’s Pudding?”
“Right here.”
Jelly handed Pudding over. Hey, why did you bring the kid? We have to take a carriage, and those things are bumpy as hell.
“Pudding, do you want to come along?”
Pudding nodded. I couldn't exactly take him back inside now. Since he seemed to want to go, I had no choice but to bring him.
“Where may I take you?”
Perhaps because Jelly had summoned the carriage, the coachman was exceedingly polite. He did seem to have a nervous habit, though. He kept scratching his neck, where the skin was red and irritated.
“To the Ainoa Orphanage.”
Well, that had nothing to do with his driving skills.
*
Today, Daisy had gone to visit the orphanage that had raised her until a few years ago. After fleeing the Temple, she had taken a room in a cheap inn. With no work and nothing to do but eat and sleep, her money was dwindling rapidly.
While calculating her remaining funds, she noticed she had more left than expected and realized why: she hadn't visited the orphanage recently.
It’s time I stopped by.
To repay her debt to the Director, Daisy had always donated a portion of her wages to the orphanage. Sometimes, she would drop by with bread and fruit for the children.
She had visited once before entering the monastery. For some reason, she missed her younger siblings dearly today. With that thought, Daisy headed to the orphanage with an armful of gifts.
Perhaps because it had been a while, the orphanage looked strangely unfamiliar. There was a peculiar lack of any sign of life. Though puzzled, she stepped inside without hesitation.
No one was there. She had no choice but to open the doors one by one, calling out for the children and the Director.
Did they all go on a trip together?
Then, the moment she opened the door to the Director’s office, she saw a familiar pattern that should not have been there.
It was a drawing exactly like the one that thing wearing the Young Lady’s skin had drawn, and the one Daisy herself had summoned—painted in blood.
Why is that here?
For a moment, Daisy couldn't process reality. Why was that drawing in the orphanage? Why was no one here? An ominous premonition coiled around her, making her hair stand on end and her throat tighten.
Her legs gave out. She crawled forward on her knees. The thing drawn on the floor was indeed a summoning circle used to call forth a demon. The murky colors, the metallic, fishy scent hanging in the air—it was all etched into her mind.
“What is this…?”
At this point, it felt as if the drawing itself was hunting her.
What happened to the Director? And the children? The sight of them running toward her, innocently calling her name, was still vivid in her memory. Could they have been used as sacrifices for this summoning circle…?
Just in case, Daisy searched every corner of the orphanage again, but she found no sign of life, let alone a body. The drawing in blood was all that remained.
Daisy sat there for a long time before leaving the orphanage on trembling legs. She couldn’t stay there a moment longer. She had to get away. She desperately needed to see another living person.
Walking in a daze, a carriage brushed right past her nose. A wheel the size of her torso rolled by just inches away, and she collapsed in shock.
“You crazy brat! Do you have a death wish?” the coachman screamed, not even bothering to stop. She didn't know what kind of noble was inside, but most carriages wouldn't halt once they were moving, fearing they might offend their passenger.
Even as the sharp insults rained down on her, Daisy’s mind was blank. She just sat there, quiet. A passerby saw her and helped her up.
“Good grief. I don't know who’s the crazy one here. Are you alright, miss?”
The stranger even brushed the dirt from her clothes. Daisy bowed her head at the kindness, whispering, “Thank you, thank you.”
“Are you feeling unwell? You should go home and rest…”
The passerby patted Daisy on the shoulder to comfort her and then continued on his way.
Daisy chewed on his words, then buried her face in her hands. It felt like tears were about to pour out again. Go home? Where? If the place I have to return to is gone, where am I supposed to go?
Director. Everyone…
“I have to find the guards…”
No. She couldn't. No bodies had been found; people had simply vanished. What would calling the guards achieve? Besides, since that summoning circle was involved, this wasn't something that could be solved by ordinary means.
She needed to find someone else. Someone who could resolve this situation immediately, just as she hoped…
Daisy hailed a carriage.
“To Rohanson… to the Rohanson mansion, please.”
“Call me again if you need help. I’ll charge the full price next time, though.”
“If there is a wish you want granted, come find me. I’ll listen.”
She recalled the words of that demon and Evangeline. The offer to come find her if she needed help. Was it true? Could she really get help if she went?
Common sense told her to go to the Temple, not to Evangeline. But was the Grand Temple a place she could just enter whenever she wanted? Last time, it had taken three days just to get permission to enter. That was too long. Besides, even if she went, they would still be investigating Priest Berga. That would only delay the search for the people from the orphanage.
On the other hand, if it was Evangeline… she would surely know about that summoning circle.
“That’ll be five coppers.”
Daisy reached into her pocket to pay. But no matter how much she searched, the money pouch was gone. Where—where had she dropped it? Then she remembered the passerby who had helped her. He must have stolen it then.
“If you don't have the money, get out.”
“I’m in a hurry. Please, I’ll pay you later.”
“Look here, miss. You think I haven't heard that one before? People like you always say you’ll get out and bring the money back, then you just run off. I’ve been burned before, so I can’t do it. Sorry, but you’ll have to catch another carriage.”
Daisy had no choice but to step down.
And so, she had no choice but to walk. One step, then another. Her slow steps gradually quickened until she was running.
If I go to the Rohanson mansion, there will be a way.
Daisy ran. When it felt like her lungs would burst, she walked for a moment. By the time her calves were throbbing and her feet felt like lead, she had finally reached the Rohanson mansion.
“What is your business here?”
A gatekeeper blocked her path. Was he a new hire? His face was unfamiliar. If it had been someone she knew, it would have been easier to ask to be let in.
Daisy agonized over how to say it, but eventually, she uttered the name.
“I’ve come to see… Lady Evangeline.”
That day, for the first time, Daisy acknowledged that the thing that had snatched the dead Young Lady’s body was known to the world as ‘Lady Evangeline.’ And Daisy addressed her as such.
It felt like killing a person who had already died a second time.
“The Young Lady is currently out.”
Of all times, now? You told me to come find you if I had a wish!
Daisy lowered her head in despair.