Chapter 21
"Excuse me? All of this? I'll keep it for you in case you need it later."
"It's okay. I've memorized it all. There's no point in leaving loose ends."
"You memorized all of this in the meantime..."
"Yeah. Isn't that normal? Is something wrong?"
"Ah, no. I'll burn it."
"Okay. By the way, where is Zeppelin now?"
"The Count left early this morning for a court meeting."
"That's good. He probably won't be back until late afternoon. I need to go out for a bit."
"You haven't fully recovered yet. If you have any errands, I can..."
Rebecca threw back the blanket and put her feet on the floor. Then, she jumped in place and took small, quick steps.
Canna's eyes widened.
"Actually, I wasn't seriously injured. It was just a light sprain."
"But the doctor said you should stay in bed for at least two months?"
"The doctors in this house act like you're dying even if you have a cold. They're probably afraid I'll fall out of Zeppelin's favor if something happens to me. I've been examined by those people for a long time. It's easy to fake that level of illness."
Rebecca opened the closet and frowned.
"It's all uncomfortable clothes. I want to wear something as comfortable as possible..."
Suddenly, Rebecca's gaze turned to the window at a commotion.
Grace was yelling at the gardeners.
There must have been something that bothered Grace's perfectionist tendencies, as she scrutinized every twig.
Rebecca stared at Grace for a moment, then turned her gaze to the gardeners, who were sweating profusely.
Rebecca's eyes flashed as she scanned the gardeners' plain clothes, which seemed designed to avoid attention anywhere.
"Tsk, tsk. No one has any craftsmanship these days."
Grace finished her long tirade at the gardeners and turned away.
She felt the stinging gaze on the back of her head, but she didn't care.
This much nagging was nothing if she wanted the work done perfectly.
Just then, she saw Canna hurrying out the door. She was moving so fast that Grace could barely keep up with her eyes.
'If she goes that way, she'll be at the male servants' quarters...'
Grace felt uneasy for some reason, but she let it go.
Although she hadn't been there long, Grace liked Canna.
Unlike the other maids, Canna always did her assigned tasks perfectly without grumbling.
She was a girl who didn't need to be taught anything from the first time Grace saw her.
'She's not the type to cause trouble.'
She dismissed her suspicions and headed for the back door used only by employees.
Then, Grace suddenly felt a gaze and looked up.
Rebecca was looking at her from the second floor.
When their eyes met, Rebecca quickly looked away.
Rebecca disappeared, but Grace stared at the space where she had been with cold eyes for a moment.
"You can go out this way."
Robert removed a few bricks, revealing a hole just big enough for a person to fit through.
"And here are the items you requested."
Robert handed over a heavy paper bag.
Rebecca checked the contents and nodded.
"You got me good stuff. Thank you."
Robert looked at Rebecca, who was wearing clothes that a commoner man might wear and had a rough hat pressed down on her head.
"By the way, you weren't sick after all. And that outfit is..."
"It's very comfortable. I'm jealous that only you people get to wear such comfortable clothes."
"Why do you keep speaking informally? It makes me uncomfortable."
"Robert is older than me. I can't do that to someone who's almost my father's age."
Robert was about to say a few more words but stopped himself. He had learned a lot about Rebecca in the few days he had been talking to her.
She was more cheerful and curious than he thought. And she was as stubborn as an ox.
Robert sighed softly.
"Anyway, you must return as soon as possible. The Count has gone to the capital and won't be back until late at night, but you never know."
"I understand. Robert, protect Canna."
"Since you've been in bed all the time anyway, no one will suspect anything. But I'll keep a close eye on things."
Canna, wearing a blonde wig, was lying in Rebecca's bed. It was in case someone came in.
Robert glanced around and said to Rebecca, who was pushing her head through the hole.
"Be careful when you return. I'll be here at the agreed time, but things could go wrong. Try not to show your face to the head maid or any of the other Hounds."
Rebecca nodded briefly and slipped through the hole.
"Haa."
She had only crossed one wall, but the air felt fresher now that she was outside the Count's Residence.
"It looked higher when I was inside."
To Rebecca, the wall of the Count's Residence was like an impregnable fortress.
But now that she was outside the mansion, it was just an ordinary wall.
At first, it felt strange to be able to walk wherever she wanted.
But soon, Rebecca's cautious steps turned into a brisk walk, and then into a run.
Her ankle, which hadn't fully healed, throbbed.
But no one was stopping her from running like this. Rebecca couldn't stop her feet in the face of such sweet freedom.
A light smile spread across Rebecca's face.
"Thank you!"
Rebecca jumped off the wagon with a cheerful voice.
It was a long way from the Count's Residence to her destination.
She could have taken a comfortable carriage, but Rebecca didn't want to.
It was a rare moment of freedom.
Rebecca suddenly had the idea to do something she had always wanted to do while she was disguised as a man.
She impulsively stopped a passing merchant's wagon.
When she was a child, she often hitched rides on wagons like this when she went backpacking with her father.
Rebecca told the merchant a long, drawn-out story about looking for her runaway father.
It was a surprisingly skillful lie.
Perhaps it was worth it to have smeared dirt on her face and deliberately chosen the most worn-out clothes, as the merchant readily gave her a ride on his wagon.
The wagon was full of coffee beans, so Rebecca was able to enjoy the fragrant coffee scent throughout the short journey.
When she arrived at her destination, Rebecca didn't forget to ask the merchant.
"Sir, what's your name?"
"Haha. There's no need to repay the favor. Just think of it as the Dephria Goddess bestowing good fortune on a handsome young man today."
"Please, just tell me your name."
"You're a stubborn young man. My name is Adolf. I run a coffee bean store in the center of town. Stop by sometime and I'll give you a cup of coffee."
"Yes! I will definitely repay this kindness. Thank you!"
As the wagon disappeared in a cloud of dust, Rebecca stood in front of a shabby building standing alone in a barren field.
The yard was overgrown with weeds, and the signs were rusted and creaked in the wind.
<Justav's Botanical Research Institute>
Below the sign with the large letters, there were many warnings written.
<Do Not Disturb>
<I Can't Guarantee What Will Happen If You Disturb Me>
<Something Really, Really Scary Will Happen>
'What a terrifying warning.'
Just looking at his scrawled handwriting, she could guess why he was rumored to be an eccentric in his previous life.
Justav McPinn.
He was the botanist who would later discover the efficacy of the Devil's Claw.
He was famous for staying locked up in his house.
He had no family, and all he wanted was research. So he had no weaknesses.
Zeppelin had tried every trick in the book to recruit him, but he had ultimately failed.
Rebecca pounded on the door.
As expected, there was no response from inside the house.
"Mr. McPinn!"
Still, she didn't give up and persistently knocked on the door, and eventually, with a barrage of curses, the rotting gate opened with a terrible sound.
"Didn't you see the sign? Don't bother me, get lost!"
'Ugh, the smell of cigarettes.'
Rebecca frowned at the acrid cigarette smoke. Justav was leaning against the doorway with a cigarette in his mouth.
Justav, with his silver hair tied back to his waist, was taller than she had expected.
He was thin, but his frame was generally solid.
His tired, silvery-gray eyes glared at Rebecca.
Rebecca was momentarily flustered by his more handsome appearance than she had expected, but she quickly gathered her thoughts and opened her mouth.
"Hello, Mr. Justav. I've come with a proposal."
Justav's face crumpled.
"A proposal? Are you another one of those people sent by that Count what's-his-name? I told you, I have no intention of being used for the money-making schemes of nobles. They're sweet-talking me now, saying they'll let me do the research I want, but I know they'll end up molding me to their liking. Get out of here!"
The door slammed shut.
Rebecca held the paper bag that Robert had gotten for her close to her chest and whispered to the door.
"Then I guess you don't need the gift I brought either?"
"......"
"Fresh spring potatoes just dug up from the field. From Montfort, no less..."
"Come in."
At the words 'spring potatoes,' Justav quickly opened the door.
Rebecca smiled amiably and stepped into his messy laboratory.
"You managed to get decent potatoes. These days, they modify potatoes so much that they don't have their original flavor."
Justav blew on the freshly steamed, fluffy potatoes and ate them greedily.
"Ahem, ahem."
He was eating so mindlessly that he only realized she was a guest when Rebecca cleared her throat, and he awkwardly offered her a potato.
"Want one...?"
Rebecca shook her head, looking at the dusty sofa and the large table piled high with old books.
It seemed that Justav used this space as a reception room, study, and even a bedroom.
In places other than this, large plants occupied a space.
Surrounded by giant plants, Rebecca felt like she was sitting in the middle of a jungle.
"So, what's the proposal you wanted to make?"
Having filled his stomach to some extent, Justav asked Rebecca with a face that was much more relaxed than before.
Rebecca scanned the titles of the books scattered haphazardly on the table.
'Encyclopedia of All Dyes in the World, Plants Named After Devils, Everything About Devil's Claw...'
