Chapter 73
- What if you found a secret passage in your house?
Since everyone was exhausted, rest was the priority.
As the nominal owner of the house, I needed to assign rooms to the guests who had arrived.
First, Eden and I decided to keep the two rooms facing each other next to the first-floor banquet hall.
The three rooms on the opposite side of the lobby, near the salon, were to be used by Knox, Harrison, and Vanilla.
I had to clear out some rooms on the second floor that had been used for storage, but since there were nine rooms up there, I was able to give individual rooms to Emmy, Hose, Emma, and Victor.
“Usually, nobles use the upper floors. Well, I suppose in this situation, the first floor is better.”
Hose muttered with a curious expression.
Well, it wasn’t exactly because I was a noble that I distinguished between the first and second floors. If we were going by status, Harrison and I should have gone up while Hose stayed down here.
Anyway, that wasn’t the important part. Harrison looked like he wanted to pour out questions at any moment.
Truthfully, I had plenty to ask Harrison as well—like how he got here and how he met Hose and Vanilla.
But I was currently far too tired to hold a conversation.
In the end, Harrison returned to his room without asking anything. He would probably suggest we talk tomorrow.
And so, late night fell.
It had been an incredibly long day. I felt like I could fall asleep the moment my head hit the pillow, but strangely, sleep wouldn’t come.
So, I quietly stepped out into the garden and sat on the bench. It was the same bench where I used to look out at the garden while drinking milk with Eden and Knox every morning.
Cold moonlight illuminated the grounds. The crops planted in the vegetable garden showed no sign of sprouting yet.
‘It hasn’t been that long since they were planted, so…’
I was staring blankly at the garden patch.
Suddenly, a small girl fell from the sky, tracing a parabola through the air. It was Emmy.
I mean, Emmy falling from the sky… Wait, what?
“You! Get back here right now!”
The voice of an angry young man echoed from the second floor. I turned my head to see Hose leaning out of a window, shouting at Emmy.
In the midst of the nighttime commotion, I saw lights flickering on in rooms here and there. Startled, I looked at Emmy, who had landed on the garden floor and was rolling across the grass.
“Emmy! Are you okay?”
I immediately ran toward her. Jumping from the second floor might not kill you, but if you don’t know how to land, it’s easy to break something.
However, Emmy, who was rolling on the ground, seemed perfectly fine. She stood up, brushing the dirt off her clothes. She sprang to her feet and greeted me brightly.
“Unnie!”
I hurried to her side and checked for injuries. Fortunately, there wasn’t a scratch. I knew Emmy was nimble and flexible like a gymnast, but this was more impressive than I’d thought.
“Emmy, what are you doing at this hour?”
At my question, Emmy pointed a finger at Hose, who was hanging out of the second-floor window.
“That oppa keeps ignoring me. So I was just showing him a bit of my skills.”
“When did I ever ignore you?”
Hose yelled from the second floor.
“You said it was a miracle I survived alone at my age! That’s ignoring me!”
Emmy shouted back, looking offended.
‘I think he was impressed, not ignoring you…’
But Emmy seemed to have a complex about it, as she treated Hose quite fiercely.
Hose looked flustered and hesitated, glancing at me. If he had ears and a tail, they surely would have been drooping. Soon after, he disappeared back inside the window.
Emmy huffed for a moment, then looked at me.
“By the way, what were you two doing out here this late?”
“Unnie, before lights out, I happened to overhear the hunter unnie and the pretty oppa talking secretly. They said that pretty oppa is an illegal weapons smuggler.”
“…Wait, what?”
“And I think he’s hiding even more secrets, but he won’t say a word. It’s suspicious. Does it make sense for someone with unknown motives to be wandering around Happy House, which prides itself on ironclad defense? So I thought Emmy Wharton should step in. I have a knack for pickpocketing, you know. I snuck into his room to see if there was any evidence, but I got caught.”
Ah. So… I didn’t even know where to start pointing out the problems. It seemed like everything from beginning to end was an issue.
Furthermore, I knew very well that Hose Camburn wasn’t someone who would harm Happy House. This was because Hose was a character who appeared in <Faded Love>.
Hose was a weapons expert and a talented individual who could customize weapons to his liking. Plus, he had strong survival skills, so he was an asset, not a hindrance.
But what was the secret he wasn’t telling? Besides the illegal weapons smuggling, what else could Hose be hiding?
‘Could it be that Harrison hired Hose…?’
It seemed Harrison had hired Hose as an instructor to teach me how to use weapons.
‘Wait, doesn’t that mean Hose is ultimately here because of me?’
Come to think of it, I was thoroughly wrecking the original plot. At this rate, I might as well be the protagonist. Of course, a novel where I’m the protagonist wouldn’t have any romance…
Anyway, if I mentioned that Harrison had hired Hose at my request to illegally procure weapons, I had no idea how Eden would react.
I wondered if Emmy knew. That if there was anyone with the shadiest background here, it was ‘Sinclair’… Sorry, we were a villainous corporation…
I intentionally changed the subject.
“Emmy, more importantly, Vanilla isn’t a hunter; she’s a noble.”
“But I heard she hunts? They say she can catch a bird in flight. Haven’t you seen the game Vanilla unnie catches?”
“I have seen it. She used to bring back two at a time.”
“Then she is a hunter.”
“…Then, since I’m good at bashing monsters with an axe, can I call myself a mercenary?”
“Of course. You’re a special-class mercenary, Unnie.”
“In times like these, a side job like that would pay pretty well.”
“Should I draw up a business plan? I, Emmy Wharton, know the back-alley trade well.”
Since when was being a mercenary a back-alley trade? But somehow, I felt Emmy would be good at business. To run a business, you essentially have to be a good liar.
Regardless, there were likely no back alleys left to do business in, but the idle chatter with Emmy was more entertaining than I expected.
Just then, Eden’s voice came from behind me.
“What kind of conversation are you two having for it to sound like that?”
He cast a bewildered look at us. Harrison was out with him as well. I scratched the back of my head and answered.
“Ah. We were talking about Hose Camburn.”
“No, you were talking about back-alley businesses.”
Eden said with a dry laugh, as if he found it absurd.
Then, Hose came bursting out of the front door. He panted for breath and glared at Emmy.
“What is your problem with me?”
Emmy hid behind my back, peeking her head out at Hose.
“It’s suspicious because you won’t say a word when I ask what you used to do.”
While they bickered, Harrison approached and checked my complexion.
“My lady, are you alright? You aren’t tired?”
He placed a hand on my forehead and asked tenderly.
Harrison rarely showed emotion and usually kept a stiff expression, yet he treated me with such kindness. This was why the younger version of me had misunderstood. It was so easy to misunderstand. Yeah.
Anyway, as Harrison placed his hand on my cheek, Eden, who had been watching Hose and Emmy, turned his gaze toward us.
“I’m fine. I just came out because I couldn’t sleep.”
Despite my words, Harrison didn’t take his eyes off me. Only after meticulously confirming with his own eyes that I was truly okay did he remove his hand from my face.
I felt Eden’s piercing gaze on the side of my face. Regardless, Harrison slowly straightened his back and turned to Emmy.
“I vouch for Hose Camburn’s past, so I would appreciate it if you didn’t treat him so suspiciously.”
Harrison adjusted his glasses and stared intently at Emmy. This caused Emmy to shrink back and grab the hem of my clothes.
In fact, strictly speaking, Emmy’s past was more unverified than Hose’s. And everyone knew that, yet they didn’t push her. They were likely being considerate in their own way.
Emmy dropped her head, looking discouraged. I said nothing and simply patted her head a few times.
“Everyone, go back inside now. If you make a racket in the middle of the night, I’ll arrest you all.”
Eden said with an annoyed expression. Hose grumbled that this was all Emmy’s fault.
Then, as if she had never been discouraged, Emmy asked Eden.
“The police station is gone, so where are you going to take us?”
Emmy looked like she was genuinely curious.
The expression slowly drained from Eden’s face. Even to me, he looked a bit scary. He tilted his head slightly and asked Emmy.
“You’re curious where? There is a place where I take people who don’t listen. It would be better for you not to be curious.”
His monotone voice carried a heavy weight, making it feel like he wasn’t joking.
Right now, Eden was intentionally scaring Emmy. It seemed he was trying to settle the situation himself so that the others wouldn’t blame her anymore.
Realizing his intent, Emmy finally shut her mouth. I shook my head, took Emmy’s hand, and led her into the mansion.
Before entering his room, Eden glanced at Emmy and let out a long sigh. He then gave her head a half-hearted pat before returning to his room.
Emmy was still feeling down. She didn’t seem like the type to get discouraged just from being scolded by Harrison and Eden, so why was she suddenly like this?
I felt like I needed to have a serious talk with Emmy soon…
For now, everyone needed to rest. It had been a very noisy first night with the new family members.
