Previously
Ash reveals he saw through Emma's staged bandit hunt but keeps her secret for now. He begins investigating the fire by interviewing the estate staff, starting with Glenn. Glenn's testimony about Rosaline's cruel past behavior creates a sharp contrast with the composed woman Ash has been observing.
Ash stopped his pen, which had been recording Glenn’s words.
He added an excuse hurriedly, as if he felt he was being suspected.
Glenn spoke about Emma, who had catered to Rosaline’s whims so well that she had even drawn the head maid’s wariness. He added anecdotes of the times she had tried to comfort him.
Ash made sure to record the testimony about Emma as well.
In truth, he didn’t place much weight on the last question. If someone usually calm were saddled with an unbearable debt due to a false accusation, they could be driven to do something extreme.
After asking about the deceased coachman, Ash gave Glenn permission to leave.
He then fell into thought for a moment before interrogating the others.
‘Rosaline Tesis seems to be a person who changes depending on the time and place.’
She seemed to have maintained her character as the little devil of this place until the fire broke out, judging by the psychological warfare with Heather Dartmouth.
But after losing her parents in the accident, she had transformed.
Before Count Brow and his wife, she was a submissive and calm young lady; back in Tesis, she was a calculating ruler; and before him, she was a haughty game opponent who wouldn’t yield a single word.
‘Is losing one’s parents an event significant enough to change a person that much?’
As someone who loathed both his parents, he couldn’t quite understand it—especially whether it was something that could make a dull mind become brilliant.
In particular, the staged bandit hunt was a fairly successful operation, one where she had done her best with her available resources, even if it was a bit clumsy in parts.
If he hadn’t done background research in Herona, even he might not have realized it was a setup right away.
‘She said she bought forty mercenaries, yet there were thirty in the suppression unit and ten bandits in the wagon. It was so perfectly calculated that it was actually refreshing.’
To put it another way, it meant she was so tight on resources that she couldn’t afford to waste a single person.
The Merchants’ Association had suffered a bit and been anxious without knowing why, but one couldn’t say Rosaline was evil. On the contrary, she had solved the problem without letting any of the estate’s people get hurt.
‘It’s been quite a while since I’ve encountered such an interesting human being.’
He chuckled, turned a page in his note-filled notebook, and gestured for the next servant to enter.
Viscount Gottfried had two sons.
The first was Noel Gottfried, who had a selfish and dogmatic side, perhaps because his late grandfather had doted on him too much as the heir.
On the other hand, the second son, Arthur Gottfried, was handsome and amiable with a gentle personality; he had never caused his parents a moment’s worry while growing up.
Though they say a parent loves all their children equally, Viscount Gottfried was secretly more fond of Arthur.
‘If only Arthur had been the firstborn.’
If he were, unlike the overly prideful Noel, he would have gotten along well with the collateral branches and the members of the Citizens’ Council.
But the birth order could not be reversed, and the Viscount, finding his eldest son unreliable, decided he had to make Arthur into a sturdy pillar for the family’s branch.
That was why he had approached Count Will Brow, with whom he usually had different political leanings, and acted friendly.
If Arthur married and gained a title before his brother, Viscount Gottfried could set aside a portion of the inheritance for him more easily. In his mind, there was no more peaceful way to distribute the family wealth.
However, Arthur’s expression was not at all bright as he listened.
They said she had nothing but a title. People said her looks were decent, but wasn’t that something one couldn’t know for sure until seeing her in person?
Of course, to Viscount Gottfried, it all sounded like his son’s immature grumbling.
Lacking wealth? They could just pour in the Gottfried family’s money.
The estate being in the countryside? They could just leave a manager there and never go down.
Problems of wealth and land could be solved like this, but a title couldn’t just be plucked out of thin air.
That was why everyone was engaged in a battle of wits to try and claim that insignificant country girl.
Furthermore, the fact that Count Brow was acting as her guardian was a very important factor. Gaining such a connection was no easy feat.
Viscount Gottfried patted his son’s shoulder and left the room.
But left alone, Arthur’s mind was in a whirl over the sudden marriage talk. He still believed in love and destiny.
‘Arranged marriages were only a given for my parents’ generation. Times have changed now….’
Arthur, who had always dreamed of a ‘home filled entirely with affection and trust,’ was not at all keen on this.
Yet he couldn’t flatly refuse the opportunity his father had worked so hard to create for him.
To soothe his troubled heart, he visited his childhood friend, Brianna. Though she was a year younger than him, she was a dependable friend who always solved problems wisely.
At her innocent question, Arthur let out a deep sigh and answered.
At the woman’s name coming from her old friend’s mouth, Brianna’s brow twitched for a moment.
Arthur fully understood the reason as well. With just the position of a ‘collateral member of the Gottfried family’ and no title, it would be difficult to expect treatment as a noble. In just one generation, he would be treated as a commoner.
However, the Barony of Tesis held a hereditary title, even if the estate was rural and the money was scarce.
Opposite the incessantly sighing Arthur, Brianna was barely managing her expression while tightly clutching the fabric of her skirt.
‘Arthur is getting married? To another woman, not me?’
Though she had never received a confession or a promise of the future from him, she had taken it for granted that she would marry Arthur. Their families were close, so she was on good terms with the Viscount and his wife, and she and Arthur had shared a long friendship, confiding their deepest thoughts to each other.
Brianna had been able to overcome difficult times thanks to Arthur, and Arthur likewise gained strength from her.
Wasn’t this the ideal relationship for a couple?
‘But to have to marry a country woman just for a title, this is nonsense!’
However, no matter how much she thought, she couldn’t come up with an excuse to break this marriage talk. At the same time, she felt miserable about her own situation, where she could offer Arthur nothing.