CBOM 09

Chapter 9

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I suspected it, but so it really was Grino?

Grino was a mad sorcerer obsessed with human experimentation.

Truly insane.

He was the lunatic who even abducted the Eggpara family’s own maids for his experiments.

It would be risky to touch a duke’s family like Forette, but a maid serving beside Rivanou was a different matter.

From Grino’s perspective, he had chosen the perfect target.

Thinking back on the questions the head maid asked me, it was obvious she had been digging into the backgrounds of those who could vanish without anyone raising a fuss.

In other words, the head maid must know something.

Working them for a month, spreading nasty rumors about Rivanou, and snatching test subjects in the process—it was killing two birds with one stone.

Since the head maid had already probed into my background, chances were high that I was the next target.

“That can’t happen.”

Grace had every intention of staying at Rivanou’s side until death.

Grino was already regarded as a respected scholar in the world of magic and carried real influence.

Of course, his rotten personality earned him many enemies, but he also had plenty of followers who trusted him.

If it were revealed that he secretly conducted human experiments, he would be ruined. But the problem was—no matter what Grace said—she had no power to make anyone believe her.

And she didn’t have solid evidence either.

Grace herself had been a victim of his experiments, but she didn’t know where his laboratory was located.

It wasn’t for lack of trying—Grino was as meticulous as a magician ought to be.

In her first few regressions, she had poured everything into getting revenge on Baron Grino, the man who made her a test subject.

Her very first attempt had been to track down his lab and gather evidence.

But no matter what she tried, she couldn’t find it.

Whether through magic or something else, Grino covered his tracks too well. Grace alone couldn’t expose him.

“What should I do?”

The disappearances had started months ago.

One thing was certain—Grino hadn’t been by Rivanou’s side for very long.

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Since Grace’s arrival, Rivanou’s quality of life had improved drastically.

Once, he had been so hungry he ate grass, but now he was served freshly made warm meals every single day.

When they went for walks, Grace dressed him properly. At night, she added extra blankets to make his bedding warmer.

The house was clean, he had use of the fireplace.

Above all, he discovered how comforting it could be to have someone always chattering nearby.

Rivanou could no longer imagine a life without Grace.

Truly, he couldn’t.

Even now, though she had only stepped away for a while, his mind was filled with nothing but Grace—waiting for her, yearning for her.

“…Grace.”

She had left, saying she had something to tell a friend, but the silence of the bedroom felt unbearably lonely.

“A friend…”

The thought that she had another friend to meet pricked at his chest.

He only had Grace—but Grace clearly didn’t feel the same way. That simple word made the fact painfully clear.

He felt pitiful, sitting there waiting for her alone.

“…I wish she would stay only by my side…”

He muttered without realizing it.

He wished that faceless, nameless friend of hers would simply disappear.

Startled by his own thought, Rivanou shook his head, trying to correct himself.

But it wasn’t easy.

The longer Grace was gone, the more he was consumed by the desire to have her by his side—and his alone.

It was a thought he had never entertained before, and it made him realize just how deeply he had come to rely on her.

She hadn’t even been his maid for a full month yet.

But she was the only person who saw him as Rivanou.

Maybe that was why she had become so precious.

Then he wondered—was this normal?

Was it natural to think such things when someone precious entered your life?

He didn’t think he had ever felt this way before.

But if these thoughts were wrong… what then?

He worried, but he didn’t dare ask, afraid someone would tell him they were wrong.

“I wish she would come back soon.”

Rivanou kept his eyes fixed on the door, murmuring to himself.

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A while later, Grace returned.

She came in, putting on an air of seriousness.

“Young master.”

“Hm?”

Rivanou, who had been waiting eagerly, lit up with a smile when she walked in. But her strangely grim expression quickly wiped the smile from his face.

“You couldn’t meet your friend?”

Noticing the shift in his expression, Grace sighed with a complicated look.

“The friend I went to see suddenly quit her job.”

“What?”

His reaction was stronger than expected.

Grace narrowed her eyes slightly.

He doesn’t even know who it was—so why react like that?

Could he know something?

“…She quit?”

“Yes. But young master, you actually know her.”

“…Me? Who is it?”

“Her name’s Beryl. She served you before I was assigned.”

Rivanou tilted his head, then let out a small “ah” of realization.

He hadn’t known her name.

They’d never exchanged introductions.

She was a recent maid, and like the others, she had never come close to him. In fact, she had gone out of her way to avoid him—plugging her nose and looking disgusted. That memory lingered vividly.

And yet, she had been Grace’s friend?

“…Really? So what?”

It was news to him, but he honestly didn’t care.

“It just feels strange.”

But seeing Grace’s worried look made his chest tighten strangely.

“Strange how?”

“She wasn’t the type to quit… but she did.”

Not the type to quit.

Rivanou couldn’t stop his insides from twisting.

Would his expression betray him?

How much did Grace really know about that maid?

Unlike Grace—kind, gentle, treating even someone as repulsive as him kindly—that maid hadn’t been like that at all.

At least, that’s how Rivanou had felt.

But now Grace, not knowing, was thinking of her as a good person. That thought made him inexplicably angry.

“Young master, what’s wrong?”

“…Nothing. But were you very close with her?”

“Yes… She quit without a word, so I’m worried…”

In truth, Grace had only known Beryl for a short while. But what could she say now that Beryl had vanished?

Besides, Grace was certain Beryl had been dragged to Grino’s lab.

If they ever met again, she likely wouldn’t be in her right mind.

Few could survive such brutal experiments with their sanity intact.

Grace knew—she had been one of them.

“…She must’ve had her reasons.”

“No, it’s because I heard something strange.”

“Something strange?”

Grace hesitated, but Rivanou pressed her, asking again and again until she finally opened her mouth.

“They said all of your maids have quit.”

“…What?”

“Yes… that’s what I’ve been told, over the past few months.”

Rivanou frowned.

Now that she mentioned it—he had never been officially assigned a maid until just a few months ago.

He hadn’t thought much of it. Whether there was a maid or not, his life was much the same.

He assumed they all left quickly because they couldn’t stand him.

But if that were true, then the maid Grace had mentioned shouldn’t have quit after being reassigned away from him.

Yet she had left the very moment a month passed, as if she had been waiting for it.

“The head maid came by too.”

“The head maid?”

Grace relayed every detail she thought might matter.

Judging from his reaction, Rivanou had no idea why the maids were leaving.

Which meant—he had no connection to Grino in this.

So then, why had Grino approached him that night?

“Wait.”

After listening for a while, Rivanou suddenly cut her off.

He thought for a moment, then looked at her, visibly shaken.

“If they didn’t quit on their own… if they were forced out… that means it could happen to you too.”

“…”

Grace stayed silent, seeing how startled he was.

“You… what if you suddenly disappear…?”

Rivanou muttered again, then abruptly grabbed her wrist, his grip tight.

“No. I won’t let that happen.”

 

His trembling eyes looked as though they might spill tears at any moment.