Chapter 14
I blinked slowly.
The investigator seemed dissatisfied with something. Our eyes met, and his suspicion deepened.
“What kind of work were you doing that brought you to this city?”
I thought I’d answered that question pretty well.
Truth be told, I had no intention of cooperating with any interrogation, but I put in the effort for the Head Maid’s sake.
The Head Maid couldn’t be put in a difficult position. She was my superior and my source of income, after all.
“So, to sum it up.”
Tap, tap. The investigator’s fingers drumming on the table gradually sped up.
“Daisy Farger is from Blueben, a port in the southern empire, has a younger brother, and came to Midwintree to find work, correct?”
Nod. It was the fake identity I’d fabricated to work as a maid.
“Blueben on the southern coast isn’t exactly close to Midwintree. Why choose this city specifically?”
“Just…”
“Really, no reason?”
“There isn’t.”
The investigator crossed his arms and closed his eyes, as if deep in thought.
I wondered if this was the standard procedure for an assault charge.
But somehow, the focus of his questions felt fixed not on the assault itself, but on me as a person.
Come to think of it, that investigator had said something like that right when he came in.
“To be direct: we’ve found something unusual about your identity. It might be unpleasant, but we have to address this point.”
Something unusual about my identity. So it was that, after all.
‘He knows I’m a survivor from Queen Island.’
But something felt off. If he knew my identity for sure, there’d be no need to conduct the investigation like this. He could just warn me, ‘Miss Bertie, why are you using a false identity?’
“Haa. Miss Farger? Miss Farger, you’re young and seem so innocent, so out of concern, I’m telling you this.”
He was deliberately trying to admonish me.
“It’ll be best for you to be completely honest in this interrogation, without any lies. I’m not trying to sweet-talk you—it’s truly the path that’s best for you.”
As if he wanted confirmation straight from my mouth. In other words…
‘His information on my identity is uncertain.’
This man wasn’t just investigating the Baron Pedegail assault case.
An anonymous someone was using the investigator to dig into my background. And even extracting ‘some’ military intelligence in the process.
“Come clean and reveal your true identity.”
Who could it be? Obviously, there was no way to know.
Well, no helping it then.
Kill him.
‘No, no. I can’t kill him. He’s a civilian, not an assassin.’
Threaten him.
That seemed like the better option. Threaten him to make him talk, or shut him up entirely, and things would resolve more smoothly. The Head Maid would be less troubled too.
“Don’t overthink it. You’re still young with so much potential ahead—getting caught up in something unnecessary could hold you back. Trying to hide it more might make things worse. You could end up treated unfairly.”
“……”
My mind changed a little.
Because the investigator in front of me seemed genuinely worried about my situation. At this rate, it felt wrong to treat him like those Merchant Union thugs.
‘Well, whatever.’
Should I hit him lightly and threaten him?
No matter the method, there was something I needed to confirm.
“Who.”
“Hm?”
“Who’s watching me?”
Just then, the investigator stiffened, his words catching in his throat as if I’d struck a nerve.
Clunk.
The firmly shut door swung open wide and refreshing. It flew open so forcefully it banged against the wall, and beyond it stood a massive figure rooted in place. Like another wall had appeared.
The imposing newcomer was a very tall man, reasonably slender yet somehow intimidating.
After his striking height caught my eye, next came the stiffly shaking straw hat… Wait, a straw hat? In an investigation room in a big city like this?
Before I could question it further, my gaze met dull golden eyes that gleamed like brass.
Without thinking, his name slipped from my lips.
“Lu?”
As if to say he knew I’d figure it out eventually, his long, elegant eyebrows arched up and then down.
“Daisy Farger.”
Lu called my name impassively and jerked his chin at me.
“Come on.”
He said it while cradling a paper bag stuffed full of vegetables and dairy products in one hand.
Before I could ask how he’d gotten here, Lu abruptly started walking.
‘Should I follow?’
The deliberation was brief. Before the investigator could stop me, I jumped up and hurried after Lu. The investigator, who’d been sitting there dazed, finally snapped to and followed us.
“Hey, wait! Who are you? This isn’t a place outsiders can just barge into. Get out right now!”
The back of his crisp shirt and grayish vest swayed slowly in front of me.
Wearing a refined, expensive suit with a straw hat on top.
The striking imbalance only made Lu’s eccentricity shine even brighter.
“Senior!”
Suddenly, a young man popped up out of nowhere and blocked the pursuing investigator.
“Whoa, whoa. Calm down first. No need to get upset. The matter’s wrapped up while you were investigating. It’s out of our hands now.”
“What? What are you talking about?”
“Lower your voice for a sec…”
Their whispers rang clear in my ears.
“Baron Pedegail withdrew the charges.”
“What?”
“The withdrawal paperwork just came through from his secretary. Can you believe it? The guy who was threatening to turn the world upside down if we didn’t arrest her immediately… and now he flips like a pancake.”
“That’s not the point! What about upstairs? The investigation into Daisy Farger’s identity came down from higher up, separate from the case—”
The two men bickered on.
Pretending I hadn’t heard, I kept walking and left the police station.
The warm glow of the spring sunset poured down, blessing the freedom I’d regained after half a day.
‘An upper echelon watching me.’
Power enough to make the police dance to his tune. And intelligence capabilities to secretly extract military info.
Few possessed both.
‘Upper echelon must be a noble.’
An unknown noble seemed interested in me. And the investigator wasn’t certain of my identity.
This meant he wasn’t investigating me because I was a Queen Island survivor—rather, he’d discovered I was a Queen Island survivor in the process of investigating me.
The culprit was someone who’d learned of me at earliest after I started working at Weatherwoods Mansion.
Putting all the information together, there was only one person who fit as the ‘upper echelon’ the investigator had mentioned.
‘The client.’
The one continuously sending assassins after the Weatherwoods Family. Now trying to kill me too. He was still the most likely suspect.
I’d suspected Lu at first, but if it were him, he’d have tortured the truth out of me directly. That would’ve been the easier way.
But if the client was a noble, that narrowed down the suspects considerably.
Snort.
Lost in thought, I jerked my head up at the snorting right in front of my face.
A filthy cart was parked in front of the police station. A two-horse wagon like one used to haul manure from the fields.
“Get on.”
Lu, seated atop the straw in the cart, jerked his chin at me. Surprisingly, the one driving the cart was the Butler Assassin.
Our eyes met, and he tipped his hat slightly in greeting—looking ridiculous.
You’re a coachman now too? A man of all trades.
A passing child suddenly yelled.
“Wow! A country cart! It’s dirty!”
“Kiddo, stay away. You’ll catch something.”
Before more eyes could gather, I hopped up onto the cart. Leaning back casually, Lu handed me the paper bag from his lap.
“Why not just kill him and bury him? Would’ve saved you all this hassle.”
He said it with irritation that was chillingly murderous.
As an admission of wrongdoing, I meekly buried my face in the bag. A fresh earthy scent wafted out, along with high-quality potatoes and carrots filling my view.
He’d said they were missing all morning. No way… he went out of the city to get these crops?
I peeked up cautiously, and Lu’s face came into view, eyes closed.
“The Head Maid?”
“Our dear boss was sent ahead. She said she had to stop somewhere on the way out. She’s busy, after all.”
Staring holes into Lu’s angelically beautiful face, I became convinced.
You pulled some strings.
There was no way Baron Pedegail would suddenly withdraw charges without Lu’s intervention, and Lu wouldn’t have shown up to fetch me personally otherwise.
But what kind of move did he make?
“Keep staring like that, and you’ll burn a hole through my face.”
Brushing off his mild nonsense, I asked cautiously.
“Did you kill the baron?”
His eyelids lifted, revealing golden irises. Meeting his gaze, I whispered seriously.
“Bury him?”
“Don’t say things like that out loud anywhere, Miss Daisy. It’s exactly the kind of talk that gets you misunderstood.”
Leaning back against the cart, Lu grinned.
“At times like this, people usually say something like, ‘Thank you for helping me. I’ll engrave today’s events into my bones and never forget them until I die,’ or ‘In gratitude, I’ll become your slave,’ or ‘Please let me lick your feet, Master.’”
Like I’d say any of that?
