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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 77
Chapter Title: A Strange Invitation
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The bizarre sight gave me goosebumps.
D-did I do this…?
Sabrina had returned unscathed, but the garden now looked gloomy enough to serve as the backdrop for a horror movie.
I covered my gaping mouth with my hand and began to rationalize.
I-it’s fine… I have a blank check!
Though my father-in-law might not be okay with it…!
There’s no way he’ll be okay with it…!
My steps were heavy on the way back.
My only comfort was someone’s comment that, “thanks to this, the entrance will probably be revealed.”
I hope that entrance reveals itself soon.
I entered the main hall, completely drained, and then paused.
…Which way was the guest room again?
Fortunately, Cesar spotted me before I could wander down the wrong path.
“Young Madam.”
“Wow, both Father and Sir Cesar are really good at finding me. Have I kept you waiting long? Did you come looking for me?”
“I figured you might not be familiar with this place. But did something happen?”
Cesar couldn’t hide his surprise as he looked at my dirt-covered state.
Three servants followed behind him.
What’s this, they ignore the young duchess but follow the knight commander?
What kind of standard is this?
What’s more, with Cesar present, the servants followed us all the way into the guest room.
Because of them, I couldn’t tell the truth and just mumbled an excuse.
Under the pretext of attending to me, one of the maids helped me change my dress.
Soon, the marquis’s head butler came in and said Menelik was with the marquis.
It seemed the gift Winter had chosen and Menelik had brought was truly a rare one.
The head butler also mentioned that the marquis had been quite surprised by the gift.
He then personally gave Cesar and me a tour of the castle.
But not only did I fail to find Cheshire again, I didn’t even get a chance to speak privately with Cesar.
When I inadvertently showed my discomfort, Cesar was quick to ask.
“Are you perhaps hungry? Are you in pain anywhere? Do you need to be escorted to the restroom?”
“…None of the above.”
I’m not five years old!
It wasn’t until dinner that I saw Menelik again.
Emil didn’t come down.
But I had no time to worry about Emil.
News that something strange had happened in the garden had spread throughout the entire marquisate.
While I was nervously glancing around, Menelik sat down next to me and fussed over every item on my menu.
Ever since I’d hurt my hand during the flower arrangement class, I had been under an unspoken ban on sharp objects.
At Crescent Moon Castle, my steak always came pre-cut, and I never even saw shellfish in its shell.
Sure, it felt a little overprotective, but I figured it would pass with time.
It was the first time I’d ever been worried over like this, so it felt novel.
But the marquis’s chef, unaware of this, served the steak whole, and Menelik had to cut it for me.
I was quietly letting him feed me, knowing he wouldn’t listen even if I said I could do it myself.
Looking like she’d found her chance, Sabrina spoke up.
“Oh my, did the Young Duchess perhaps not learn proper dining etiquette?”
This isn’t the time for you to be mocking me…
Marquis Ingram was on the verge of having all his suspicious activities exposed, and Sabrina’s own maid was on the path to corruption, about to become a curse-caster.
She was in just as much of a crisis as I was, the destroyer of someone else's garden.
“My etiquette lessons were, of course…”
I swallowed my food quickly to retort, but it got stuck in my throat.
Ugh, I almost choked.
By the time I composed myself and looked up, the atmosphere had turned icy.
It was because of Menelik, who had been ordered by Winter to act as a proper guardian.
Before Menelik got a strange reputation as an adult who takes even minors seriously, I tugged on his sleeve.
“Father, please cut this for me, too.”
I distracted Menelik and glanced at Sabrina.
See? My father-in-law is more important, but I helped you out on the side.
So you’d better not mention I was in the garden…
“Speaking of which, Papa, did you know the Young Duchess was in the garden? She was wandering all over the place by herself. Shouldn’t you investigate?”
“…”
The moment my dream of a perfect crime went up in smoke.
Suddenly, Marquis Ingram got angry.
“What is this rudeness toward our esteemed guest!”
“P-Papa?”
Sabrina’s eyes widened.
I was just as surprised. Marquis Ingram’s love for his daughter was famous even in the novel.
I never expected him to take my side.
With a face full of anger, he commanded Sabrina.
“Apologize to the Young Duchess. Now.”
Sabrina bit her lip hard.
Marquis Ingram pressed her.
“Hurry.”
“I-I’m sorry…”
Her pride wounded, Sabrina couldn’t bear to stay any longer and fled the dining hall as if escaping.
Far from feeling relieved after her apology, the pieces of the puzzle in my head just clicked into place.
The men in the garden had been trying to erase their tracks.
It seemed Marquis Ingram mistakenly believed that those men had caused the disaster in the garden in the process of erasing their tracks.
And it would be a huge problem if Menelik discovered the entrance while investigating me.
I watched for an opening and then started to feign illness.
“Gasp, Father, I think I’m getting motion sickness. I think I need to rest a bit.”
The fact that it had already been half a day since we got out of the carriage was conveniently masked by my usual delicate constitution.
Menelik immediately led me out.
He even shooed away the servants as a bonus.
“My daughter-in-law said she wants to rest.”
At first, no one would back down, but Menelik, who hated repeating himself, drove them all away by letting out a faint hint of killing intent.
Thanks to him, I could speak with Menelik at ease.
He focused on something other than the fact that I had entered the garden alone and might be the one who destroyed it.
“Why did you go to the garden? The gardens at Crescent Moon Castle are much more impressive.”
To my surprise, I could sense a hint of disappointment in his voice.
I quickly agreed.
“I think so too! The gardens at Crescent Moon Castle are the best! They have lots of the Young Lord’s favorite viburnum trees, too!”
It was an objective fact, to the point that even the imperial palace gardeners wanted to see the gardens of Crescent Moon Castle.
Menelik must have known that, yet he smiled as if it were the first time he’d ever heard such a compliment.
Without waiting, I told him what I had seen.
“Well, there were some suspicious people wandering around the garden, so I watched them for a bit. I didn’t follow them!”
Menelik, who was about to scowl, instead reached out his hand when I added that I hadn’t followed them.
While Menelik ruffled my hair into a mess, I recounted the men’s conversation as best as I could remember.
Menelik, still looking unconcerned, asked.
“If the entrance is in the garden, we won’t have to pull an all-nighter. By the way, Cheria, do you like this sort of thing?”
Like it? That’s a strange question.
“I’m curious, I guess…?”
I gave a noncommittal answer.
A disquieting smile then bloomed on Menelik’s lips.
“Then I’ll have to show you. It would be strange for you to be the only one who doesn’t know, now that you’re here.”
I stopped trying to fix my tangled, fluffy hair and rolled my eyes.
“If it’s something I don’t need to know, I can keep not knowing…”
“You don’t have to refuse. Though Winter will be angry. And Kivrin will be disgusted.”
“…”
Why do you look so used to it, Father-in-law?
* * *
I was fast asleep when someone called my name.
“Cheria.”
Who is it? Whoever it is, I wish they’d stop.
I mumbled and drifted back to sleep.
A moment later, my name was called again, this time more clearly.
“Cheria?”
“…Cheria’s not here.”
I muttered and hid under the covers.
Then, a firm arm scooped me up like a fish.
Ugh, I want to sleep more!
“Emil found something interesting. Let’s go see it together.”
Menelik said with a smile.
Telling someone who was sound asleep that you found something interesting does nothing to pique their interest.
“I’m still sleepy.”
My words were slurred with sleep.
Menelik ignored me and brought my shoes.
“…”
I want to call him “Mister” again!
I now completely understood why he’d said Winter would be angry and Kivrin would be disgusted.
I vowed to get some petty revenge later as I followed Menelik.
The hallways were quiet, with no servants following us.
I was curious why, but I was too groggy to form the question.
Then, at a certain point, Menelik stopped.
