Chapter 12
Episode 12
Incomprehensibly, his eyes darkened ominously.
"Was it something you shouldn't have refused?"
"......No."
He laughed at my response, as he always did.
"I was just curious why you refused."
"I have my usual duties. I'm used to what I was doing before meal service, so I declined."
"I see."
"Yes."
I couldn't understand why I had to explain it like this.
Rihart nodded as if he understood my answer and asked nothing more, but something felt off, so I stood there blankly staring at him.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Because you're handsome."
At my soulless reply, Rihart's eyes widened.
"I hope I'm at least pleasing to your eyes, miss maid."
I really wondered where he learned such sly lines.
With that face and his gently curved eyes, it was enchantingly dizzying.
I turned my head away from him and offered the meal.
His face is always harmful, no matter when I see it.
"Why aren't you looking at me now?"
"Because I don't want to see you."
Rihart let out a low chuckle at my answer.
This novel's obsessive mad gong was truly unpredictable.
* * *
Emily was worried about Rosie.
Lately, Rosie had changed.
The Rosie that Emily knew had been prickly and somewhat listless......
Emily had known Rosie even before entering this mansion. They'd been connected for a long time.
In fact, Emily was the one who had helped Rosie get hired here.
'I raised her and fed her.'
That's why Emily knew Rosie so well.
Though Rosie's changes felt awkward, Emily didn't dislike seeing the vitality on her face.
No, she actually liked it.
Because Rosie was a precious existence to Emily.
'More than that......'
Emily recalled Marie being dragged away.
It might get a bit dangerous.
Emily had seen the look in Marie's eyes as she stared at Rosie.
Eyes filled with venom.
From her numerous experiences, Emily knew what people with such eyes would do.
'It'll be quite dangerous.'
She looks like she'll cause trouble.
And Emily's prediction turned out correct.
Marie retrieved all the hidden fruit she had stashed away, concealed it in her inner pocket without being detected, and left her room.
* * *
This was absurd.
Under the guise of self-reflection, Marie had been confined to her room—not quite imprisonment, but close.
She bit her nails until the skin was exposed. Blood flowed, but she didn't care and kept chewing.
She was going mad with anxiety.
After pacing the room for a long while, Marie suddenly stopped.
She decided it was time to execute that 'plan' she'd thought of before.
It was the only way for her to survive.
She waited impatiently for time to pass. For the dead of night when no one roamed.
After an eternity, when everyone in the mansion had fallen asleep, Marie finally stood.
Her destination was the underground room where the monster was kept.
The Guard standing watch before the underground room was dozing off, hunched over.
"Stop dozing and wake up."
"Mm......?"
"I said wake up......!"
She kicked the sleeping Guard's leg, and only then did he jolt awake, lifting his head in surprise.
Upon spotting Marie, the Guard's eyes darkened.
The Guard had seen Marie pass by a few times.
Thus, he knew she was at the center of today's incident.
"I have a job for you."
Is she crazy?
Stunned by the woman's sudden demand, the Guard blinked in bewilderment.
"......Whatever it is, I refuse. Even if I work in this remote spot, I'm not deaf."
"......"
"I heard that Senior Maid Marie added something suspicious to the monster's food in that room."
"I didn't do it."
"Be that as it may, all the circumstances point to you. Including the fact that the maid attending the monster's meals reported it to the butler—I know everything that happened today."
Marie glared fiercely at the Guard.
He averted his gaze from her stinging stare.
"Then, should I reveal that you're a spy?"
The Guard's face twisted sharply.
How did she know he was a spy?
Shocked, the Guard couldn't utter a word. His mind froze, and his fingertips grew cold.
"The people who know about this......"
"If I say I'm the only one who knows, will you kill me?"
He didn't know how she found out, but he had to deal with this woman who knew his identity as a spy.
Otherwise, he would be in danger.
But as if reading his thoughts, Marie sneered.
"Don't even dream of it. Do you think I came without any measures?"
The Guard's pupils shook violently.
Seeing that, Marie felt relieved. Because there were truly no measures.
In fact, it was nothing but a gamble.
She had learned the Guard was a spy purely by coincidence.
If she hadn't snuck out at night to meet the kitchen maid, she wouldn't have seen him making contact outside.
"If you don't want that fact exposed, cooperate with me."
The Guard agonized for a long time.
Currently, only two people in the mansion knew he was a spy.
One was Marie, now threatening him, and...... the monster in that room.
He didn't know how the monster had figured out he was a spy.
When the monster first whispered it to him outside the room, the Guard lost his reason.
In his loss of reason, he resorted to violence against the monster. He thought fear would subdue him.
Any wounds would heal quickly anyway, given the monster's extraordinary regenerative abilities.
But no matter how much he beat him, the monster's eyes remained arrogant, and in the end, the Guard had no choice but to beg him to keep quiet.
Thus, he had to obey the monster—Rihart's—commands.
For instance, providing conveniences without getting caught or supplying information needed for his escape.
Recalling the unpleasant memory, the Guard finally spoke under Marie's urging gaze.
"......What do you want."
Unfortunately, he couldn't do anything to the woman before him.
She wasn't just a mere maid—she was the daughter of a noble family and enjoyed the Head Maid's favor.
He had judged that killing her would cause too much trouble.
"That's right. The fruit in the food—I ordered it added."
It was a confession he didn't want to hear.
Not really a secret, but the moment she confessed it, the Guard had no choice but to cooperate with her fully.
He didn't know if she had truly taken measures as she claimed, but if she had, it would be trouble.
If this cornered woman revealed his identity to the Marquis, his life would end that instant.
"But I'll find evidence that proves my innocence."
"......How?"
"The kitchen maid is locked up, and I'm in self-reflection. Yet if the fruit still ends up in the food, that proves I'm not the culprit."
"Don't tell me what you're asking me to do right now is......"
Marie smiled and handed him the pouch containing the fruit.
"There's more than usual, so if you add it to the meal, the effects will show immediately."
"......"
"By the way, this was all Rosie's doing."
She meant to frame it as Rosie's scheme.
The Guard said nothing and simply accepted the vial of fruit from Marie.
It meant he would comply.
Inwardly, he apologized to Rosie, who had always greeted him kindly with a smile.
He didn't care what happened to the loathsome monster inside, but Rosie was a lovely, fragile maid who needed protection.
Yet to survive, the Guard had to do something harmful to Rosie.
'I'm sorry.'
He apologized to Rosie repeatedly.
However.
They didn't know someone was overhearing their conversation.
"Ah."
In the dark room.
The man with his eyes closed burst into quiet laughter.
His angelic voice resembled a sacred hymn.
"Things are getting really interesting, miss maid."
