episode_0345

Isabella soon took Shayden’s herbal medicine and fell asleep, and the silence gave me the opportunity to escape from the Duchess’s room.

But I couldn’t move any further from here.

▶There is a waiting time until the next exploration, proportional to the number of clues found in the workshop.◀

▶A timer will start. Avoid pursuit and hide until the next information appears.◀

Because the status window was creating a waiting time and causing disruption, I was put in a position where I had to endure it in the workshop.

The assistant is not an assistant for nothing. Shaden happened to provide information at that moment. It was already dark, and the security would be tighter at night to protect the Duchess, so he suggested that we shouldn’t go out easily.

“But, there’s no place to hide, Your Majesty.”

As the attending physician, I wouldn’t suspect anything. My room would be enough of a hiding place, so why not just stay there until the security is lifted?

Harnie was delighted and grateful for the readily offered offer.

So I was able to stay in the Duke’s doctor’s room during the waiting time with peace of mind.

…but my heart still felt like it hadn’t left that place.

“…Why did you do such a stupid thing.”

Thinking back, it was truly an incredibly stupid thing to do.

Even though it was Shayden’s request, there was no need to leave a note for Isabella.

Even though I found the note you needed and gave it to you, there was no need to hug you like that.

…This time, even though I knew her exact birthday and gave her the bead that I had recalled from a distant memory, there was no need to call her mother.

There is even more of a need to let it go by saying it’s okay once in a while.

Isn’t it just an emotional reaction?

If you think about it rationally, doesn’t it make any sense?

I had to ignore it and move on.

…that was normal.

If it were a country of the past.

Karn’s note, which had already been deciphered once. My eyes were drawn to the fourth piece.

“…There’s no way I wouldn’t notice.”

No matter how much I think about it. No matter how much I think about it, I think about it again.

That’s the only answer I can come up with.

To be blunt, Isabella was not a good mother.

She is just a woman who was so obsessed with madness that she neglected the child she had picked up and did not even take proper care of him.

Even if you were registered, even if you lived a wealthy life instead of a slum, even if you were given a new name and given a luxurious status.

It only hurt the child who did not share a single drop of blood.

That was the case for me as well as for Carcein.

The adoptive mother, who was not much different from Isabella, seemed not to care what was going on in the house.

It seemed as if he had no idea how the family relationship was going wrong, and he was so cold that it made you wonder if he even cared in the first place.

As if a line had been drawn. As if they were strangers because their blood was not mixed. They were just strangers who tried to solve everything with money and fill their material needs with material things to make up for their shortcomings.

As an outsider who had picked it up from outside, I was seen as nothing more than a bystander.

but…

After two experiences, I can finally see it a little.

Fourth piece of note.

This was something that was impossible to obtain in the first place.

Because… I can’t have it unless Isabella gives it to me herself.

Even though I managed to obtain the other three pieces of paper, I couldn’t get the fourth piece. Just like in the study or the light stand, a mission should have occurred, but it only lasted up to the third piece of paper.

It is said that it somehow possesses magical powers, but that is information based on a system message. Information from a previous note is recorded and displayed. It was not visible to Wederos’ eyes.

Also, the location here is Isabella’s room. It wouldn’t be something you could just search around for, and if you made even one mistake, you could fall into the abyss in an instant.

Not only that, but even when all other factors are taken into account.

Even if all cases within the calculation range are mobilized.

impossibility.

There was no way to get this note.

…And yet, this note is here. In my hand.

I should have thought it was strange from the beginning.

This person was suffering from a severe form of madness called Elbern Syndrome, and was wandering around, staring into space, unable to even recognize his friend or foe.

It was a person who was hugging a doll that was not a person and saying that it was his son and asking where he had gone.

A person like that, a person who doesn’t even know what’s going on.

He called me at an extremely suspicious time when he saw me looking for Karn’s note, and as if that wasn’t enough, he grabbed me as I was about to leave the room as if there was still something left, and asked if it was possible for him to take the item I wanted out of the exact location called the drawer and hand it to me.

…no.

That would be impossible.

Unless you are of sound mind.

Isabella’s hands were shaking slightly. She was unable to hide the trembling that could not be hidden, and it was slowly seeping out.

On the outside, his face didn’t look strange at all, but his eyes were trembling without him knowing. It seemed as if something would spill out of those blue eyes at any moment.

But her lips did not tremble. At the exact moment when she called my name, they did not tremble at all.

…okay.

Isabella must have been awake at that moment.

They caught me sane and unaffected by madness.

There were any number of ways to keep me here.

You can call anyone. If you grab them and yell, they will come right away.

It was not strange to make a fuss or show signs of danger, and it was okay to cause a commotion and attract the attention of the knights.

Without going that far, it would be enough to just say that Karsine is here, since this is inside the duke’s residence.

But Isabella didn’t catch me.

He did not use any force, but rather pretended to be suffering from madness and hid the fact that he was sane.

Instead of calling the knights and trying to arrest them, he told me that he had this note and tried to help me by telling me that he had kept it in a drawer.

After that… I drank the herbal medicine and quietly closed my eyes. As if I wasn’t going to hold on.

Now this fourth piece of paper… was nothing less than the evidence that contained it all.

“…so clumsy. too much.”

Because of Isabella, I finally realized what kind of person my real-life adoptive mother was.

He was a person who always tried to solve problems in the worst way possible, with money, but that was the only way.

I thought he was just someone who didn’t care and just ignored me… but he never missed asking me if I had eaten and asking if I had a good trip.

Questions like “Do you need anything?” and “Do you want anything?” and “What kind of work do you want to do at the company?” would come up quite frequently. These questions would often make the youngest jealous or provoke the eldest’s inferiority complex…

At least there was no malice in the question itself.

It was just the worst choice I could make because I didn’t know anything about it, and it was never my intention to harbor ill will toward me.

Isabella did the same.

He only said such things, but never directly tried to harm Carcein.

I vaguely remember the time when I was organizing the things in Karcein’s room.

When it came to organizing and valuing the money that had to be repaid, the person who took up the lion’s share was, by far, Isabella.

Even if you include all the ointments and medicines that Flora had filled, as well as Claire’s clothes and accessories, it still wouldn’t reach that figure. Even if you include the rewards that Arina had indifferently handed out, Isabella had given her a lot.

…and when I clean my room.

Most of them were things that my adoptive mother gave me to use.

It wasn’t much different.

With my reality.

…Was that why?

I don’t regret it at all. I did something so stupid.

Rather than calculating that it was better if Isabella woke up anyway… I felt like something in my heart had been relieved.

It was the same as with Flora. This time, my blood did not run cold.

***

Isabella drank a decoction of sleeping pills and fell into a deep sleep.

No more. No more writhing and flailing in madness, no more wandering around with open eyes in search of Carcein.

But madness continues to eat away at Isabella.

I can’t even remember when I came to my senses. In the past, when I was suffering from madness, I came to my senses occasionally, but since my relapse, I have never come to my senses.

It got a lot worse, a lot more dangerous.

If things continued like this… Isabella might completely go mad.

But today wasn’t like that.

“Thank you. Karsine… You call me mother, even though I’m so useless… Me, me, me…”

Isabella had been repeating the same thing over and over again.

It is common for voices to leak out while sleeping. Since I was forced to sleep, I could often hear voices searching for Carcein while sleeping.

In severe cases, he would have nightmares and even have seizures while in that state… which would sometimes make Shayden’s liver shiver.

But this is not a dream, it is a memory.

It was a memory that accurately recalled the conversation and actions at that time.

It was clear that he had come to his senses at that moment.

“Oh my goodness. If only all that…”

Doesn’t that mean acting?

Even though she had come to her senses and was staring at Karsine in front of her, Isabella had deliberately let go of his hand.

Now I understand why Karsine said that.

I understood why he hugged Isabella and called her mother.

He, too, knew that Isabella had come to her senses.

“Oh my…”

After understanding the circumstances, I feel sad and sorry again.

Shayden took a deep, heavy sigh.

And there was also someone watching this situation from outside.

I held my heavy heart and quietly wiped away my tears.

A strand of pink hair landed in front of Isabella’s room.

***

“…”

A guest came to visit Heron.

Originally, he was not a very welcome guest.

Even though he was a person with deep connections to the Bagrand Dukes, he was not a very welcome guest to him.

But it does mean that there is some answer to why that unwelcome guest came.

“It seems you have made up your mind, Marquis Magnuel.”

“…”

Marquis Magnuel.

He was originally a supporter of Arina Bagrand.