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Chapter : 13
“It was the best way to do it. At least better than catching birds wandering in the garden, taming them, and using them as messengers.”
He burst into laughter. At the same time, his eyes narrowed sharply.
“Yes. Definitely… Peter didn’t seem to notice anything strange. If he hadn’t seen that detective’s face, I would have really wondered how picky your tastes are—turning down the mansion chef’s amazing dishes and picking a restaurant just to say what’s on the menu.”
“I admit it was a childish idea. I didn’t mind a little roughness. I wasn’t planning to leave anyway.”
“…….”
He seemed not to believe Lauren. It made sense—she had always been desperate to leave this place.
Still, since she had to somehow make sure Noah could come back, Lauren continued calmly, lowering her voice as if resigned.
“I can’t leave….”
Would this make her seem pitiful? If that criminal had even a trace of humanity left, he might feel some guilt. Lauren gripped her dress tightly.
“Lauren, I said this back then—”
“No, I know even without you saying more. All the windows in the rooms I can access are blocked. I might try to throw myself out. Whenever I walk through the hall, the servants’ eyes follow me, and there’s no way to contact the outside world either.”
Lauren counted on her fingers as she listed the reasons she couldn’t leave.
The more she spoke, the more frustrated she became. On top of that, the mansion staff checked her whereabouts at regular intervals. This was a prison without bars.
“I know I can’t leave. But I had to know how the work I asked Noah to do was going.”
“You could have asked me. I’m much better than that amateur detective.”
“Would you ask the kidnapper to find your father?”
He closed his mouth. Lauren pressed on, riding her momentum.
“There’s only one thing I want to ask. Please let me continue meeting Noah.”
Lauren glanced at Cedric, but his expression was hard to read.
“…Very well. I think sending the results by letter would be enough… but since you insist, I have no choice.”
Finally, he agreed. Meeting just one person, and she had to act so submissively… Lauren clenched her fists tightly.
“Ah, Cedric.”
He paused as he was about to leave the room at her call. Lauren smiled smoothly.
“I hope we can have times like this often. At least once a week.”
Cedric frowned slightly at her unexpected comment.
“What are you thinking?”
“Well… whether we like it or not, we have to see each other until the matter is resolved. So wouldn’t it be better to spend some time together, even forcibly, to get used to it a little?”
“…….”
“Let’s have tea in the parlor, just the two of us. I’d like to be treated as a guest for once.”
“I didn’t expect you to be so cooperative. Tea time—”
He dragged out the end of his sentence.
Lauren touched the scar on her wrist, which was almost healed. It happened at the restaurant, and Cedric would have a matching scar on his wrist.
“Cedric, don’t I have at least that much stake in this? We were in the same boat.”
Though part of her wanted to push him into the sea as shark bait, Lauren naturally lied.
“Then let’s make it Thursday.”
Cedric simply said that and left the room. Lauren wiped her sweaty palms on her dress.
“Just you wait, Cedric Collins.”
She repeated the phrase, now like a spell.
The negotiation ended fairly satisfactorily. In the end, Lauren got everything she wanted.
She could see Noah again, and though tea time with Cedric wasn’t particularly pleasant, she secured the parlor window—crucial for her plan.
“Step by step, it’s coming together.”
She repeated in her mind the scenes she had imagined countless times.
Threatening Cedric with a knife. Breaking the parlor window with a drawer. Cedric succumbs to her threats. Cedric in front of the reporters…
“Client?”
“Oh, yes. Noah, I’m listening.”
Noah, sitting next to her, waved his hand in front of her eyes to get her attention and then spread out the report he brought.
“Lauren, focus. This is the time you wanted.”
Cedric added sarcastically.
Right. The problem was this—Cedric was here too.
Lauren refused strongly, but he ignored her.
“What the hell is happening….”
Cedric, sitting across from her, rested his chin on his hand and stared at Lauren.
“…Cedric, stop looking at me. Someone might think we have the same father.”
Cedric chuckled and turned his gaze to the ceiling. Lauren tensed. She had to get the shoe somehow; this wasn’t going to be easy. She pretended to read the report while keeping an eye on Noah.
“Start reading. The investigation will take some time.”
Noah pointed at the report, and only then did a stack of papers come into Lauren’s view.
It was detailed, not exaggerating—eyewitness testimonies of those who saw her father, annotations suggesting that the messages on the spider postcards weren’t just casual greetings… though nothing about the gambling house was included.
“This is…”
Lauren pointed at the gambling house section of the report, intentionally vaguely in case Cedric’s attention was drawn.
“Ah, this is strange. It’s like… someone deliberately erased it.”
Noah seemed to understand her feelings and patched the pronouns in his answer accordingly.
“But if you turn one page, you’ll see this.”
Noah pointed to a sentence: “Watch your legs.”
It seemed related to the gambling house, though the wording felt awkward.
“This…”
Just as Lauren was about to question it, Noah lightly nudged her leg with his foot.
A signal.
Noah’s foot slid under her long dress.
“Can you see it?”
He stared at her casually. Cedric, looking away, didn’t notice what was happening.
Noah slowly slipped his shoe under her dress.
“…Yes, I see it.”
Lauren answered slowly. She removed her flats and replaced them with Noah’s shoes. She could feel the lukewarm touch.
Cedric, staring at the ceiling, suddenly looked at Lauren.
“Has the investigation yielded results?”
“Of course. Noah is an excellent detective.”
At the same time, Noah knocked over the bag he had left beside him with his elbow. Flustered, he looked like someone unused to compliments.
“Ahahaha, client. What are you saying? I wasn’t trying to drop it… just a moment—”
He bent down. As Cedric’s gaze was about to shift to Noah, Lauren called his name.
“Cedric.”
“Yes?”
“The spider with two heads.”
“Lauren, this is not an appropriate time to talk about that.”
Cedric lowered his voice. Seizing the moment, Noah stuffed the flats Lauren had removed into the bag and then stood up.
“Count, I wanted to use the restroom anyway. Shall I go now?”
Cedric sighed.
“Do as you wish. Ask the servant outside for directions.”
Noah jumped up. Worried his bare feet would be noticed, Lauren continued talking to Cedric.
“It seems related to my father.”
“What did you say?”
“Nothing. Must have been my imagination. Strange things keep happening… I asked just in case.”
Lauren mumbled. Noah had already left, so there was no need to keep Cedric’s attention.
A while later, Noah returned, wearing the same new shoes as before. Lauren quietly reflected on how strange she had found his ridiculously wide pants.
