Chapter 41
#41
“Young lady, I have urgent news to report.”
The Butler's expression, as he rushed in, conveyed a sense of urgency that went beyond mere words.
“What is it?”
Knowing he wouldn't act this way unless it was serious, I quickly asked for the reason.
“The Military personnel we sent to the hospital as a guard has returned.”
His words caused me to frown slightly.
Yesterday, I had instructed the Butler to select suitable individuals from the Military personnel to provide Meggy with round-the-clock protection in two shifts.
That was supposed to start today.
But they're already back on the first day?
“Why? Did the hospital say it was a problem? Or did that woman refuse because she was uncomfortable?”
“It’s not that…”
The Butler hesitated, as if the words were too difficult to utter.
Knowing he wasn't one to do that easily, I felt a surge of unease.
“The person you ordered to guard her, Miss, has passed away.”
“What?”
“They said she had already died when they arrived at the hospital this morning.”
“That’s impossible…”
The unbelievable news made my head spin.
I had just spoken with Meggy yesterday. It hadn't even been a day since I saw her smiling face.
And now she's dead?
“How did she die?”
“That, I don’t know yet. However, upon finding the patient, they were told she had died suddenly last night, and they were so taken aback that they rushed back to the mansion to deliver the news.”
“Prepare the carriage immediately.”
I said, jumping up from my seat.
“Are you planning to go to the hospital?”
“Yes, to the hospital… no, to the Wensbury Marquess's residence… no… Ugh, just prepare the carriage.”
My thoughts were in disarray, and I couldn't decide on a destination.
But one thing was clear: this was not the time to be idle.
Something was unfolding rapidly.
“Wait, that’s…”
Just as the carriage arrived at the hospital and I was about to step out, something caught my eye.
It was a carriage bearing the Wensbury Marquess family crest.
It wasn't the best carriage that the Marquess of Wensbury usually used. I had often seen the Marchioness of Wensbury or Reintar riding in it.
Perhaps Maria had already arrived after being contacted.
That would make sense. When a patient dies, the guardian would be the first to be notified.
“Aren’t you getting out, Young lady?”
Panya, who had already stepped out and was offering her hand, looked at me with a puzzled expression.
Even as I heard her words, I hesitated whether to get out or not.
What explanation could I give if I ran into Maria now?
How could I explain why I was trying to assign a guard to a sick, middle-aged commoner woman who had come to the city from the countryside and was living in the hospital?
Without explaining that, how could I explain that I had arrived at the hospital so quickly?
“Let’s go back for now.”
“Pardon?”
In the end, I chose not to get out of the carriage.
“Panya, I need you to go to the director’s office for me.”
“The director’s office? Are you referring to the hospital director?”
“Yes.”
“Do you have any message to convey?”
“Go to the director and ask him to erase any trace of me having visited here yesterday.”
“Pardon?”
Panya surely understood what I was saying. She just didn't know why I was asking her to do it.
I had hoped Meggy wouldn't die, but she had already died, just as it was written in the book.
Then, all that remained was Maria's misunderstanding.
To avoid her misunderstanding as much as possible, it was better for me to appear as someone unrelated to Meggy.
Moreover, it was better for no one to know that I had met her on the afternoon of the day she died.
Especially Maria should never know.
***
It was only after two anxious days that some facts reached me.
The first was an invitation to Meggy's funeral.
It was brought by a servant of the Wensbury Marquess household, but the letter did not bear the Wensbury Marquess family seal.
The sender was, of course, Maria.
The second was Meggy's death certificate, which I had obtained by secretly asking the hospital director.
“Poisoning?”
When I first saw the word, I doubted my eyes.
What kind of person is the author who wrote that book, that they like poisoning so much?
No, is it even a human? Could it be a demon?
Human or demon, Meggy's cause of death was poisoning.
The exact time of death was unknown, but it was estimated to be the night I visited.
That was only natural.
Meggy was clearly alive when I left that hospital room, and she was found dead the next morning.
“I need to find out more details.”
I told Panya to bring paper and a pen.
I wrote a letter to the hospital director asking for more detailed information about the cause of death, and a reply to Maria offering my condolences and saying that I would attend the funeral.
While writing the letter to Maria, Meggy's face came to mind, and my hand trembled slightly.
Her bright smile, the rough and wrinkled hands that had held mine, the red knitting she was doing for me, kept appearing before my eyes.
At that moment, I didn't think about the book or worry about what would happen to me.
Only the thought that Meggy hadn't suffered and that she was in a good place now filled my mind.
***
The funeral was humble.
As expected, it was held in a public cemetery with no connection to the Wensbury Marquess family, and there were few attendees.
Most of the people who would have come to Meggy's funeral would be in Ancheny, and the only person who could have come all the way here in time for the funeral was the Archmage.
The few people who were there seemed to be hospital staff or members of the monastery who had some connection to Meggy.
And there was one person who was grieving the most.
“Maria…”
Dressed in a black dress and wearing a black veil, she was recognizable even from afar.
It wasn't just because she was the only young woman there, or because she was wearing the most elegant dress among them.
The air around Maria, soaked in sorrow, made it clear at a glance that she was Meggy's only daughter and only family.
Having never lost a loved one, I couldn't even begin to imagine the depth of her sorrow.
“Oh, dear…”
Panya, who was standing next to me, also noticed Maria and let out a pitiful, sympathetic voice.
Maria was so consumed by grief that everyone who saw her could feel it.
“Wait in the carriage.”
“How long will you be?”
“I don’t know.”
Usually, I would return immediately after the funeral, but this time I couldn't be sure.
A commoner's funeral might be different from a noble's funeral, and I didn't know if Maria would need me or not.
I was only filled with the thought that I should comfort Maria, who was lost in sorrow. No matter how long it took.
“Maria.”
As I quietly approached and placed my hand on Maria's shoulder, I felt her shoulder flinch.
I imagined Maria turning around, looking at me, and shedding tears.
I thought that if she looked at me with pitiful eyes, I would gladly offer her my handkerchief and offer her words of comfort.
If Maria wanted, I was even willing to lend her my embrace.
But that was purely my own delusion.
Maria, who turned around, was not crying.
No, to be precise, her eyes were red and swollen, and there were traces of tears, as if she had been crying until just a moment ago.
But Maria, who was looking at me now, was not crying.
“Bianca.”
Her voice, which was deeply subdued, also showed traces of crying, but she was not crying.
The sorrow that had been enveloping Maria like a thick fog until just now had disappeared somewhere.
What was beside Maria now was a chill.
Her green eyes held coldness, her expression as she looked at me held a chill, and her voice as she called my name held a sense of detachment.
“You came.”
Something was wrong.
It wasn't just because it wasn't the Maria I had imagined.
I realized it from the way Maria looked at me.
Maria's gaze towards me was clearly different from before.
It was not a look of admiration and respect. What was in Maria's eyes now was burning anger and icy coldness.
“I didn’t think you would dare to come here.”
“Dare…?”
Something was going wrong.
No, things were going according to the book.
I sensed it.
“Let’s talk again after my mother’s funeral is over.”
Maria turned her head sharply.
“Maria?”
Was it my imagination that my voice sounded a little shaky as I called Maria?
“And go back.”
Maria said without turning her head towards me.
“You sent the obituary, didn’t you, Maria?”
“Did you really think that was an obituary?”
As if she couldn't bear it any longer, Maria turned her head.
And the emotion I read in Maria's eyes this time was that.
‘Contempt.’
“That was a warning.”
“A warning?”
“Yes. A warning that I know the truth.”
“……”
“Murderer.”
It was the moment when I was just staring at Maria, not knowing what to say.
Maria's cold, icy voice spat out a terrifying word as if chewing it.
“Why did you kill my mother?”
In the end, those words came out of Maria's mouth.
The book was becoming reality.
