HPL 15

chapter 15

When I opened the door, Marc—Judy’s unrequited love—was standing there. When our eyes met, Marc smiled gently and said,

“The baron asks you to come to his study.”

“Me? Why?”

Why would someone who scowled and ignored me even when we met by chance call me here?

Marc scratched the corner of his mouth as I looked at him with suspicious eyes.

“Judy asked me to call you on her behalf. So I don’t know why the baron called you either.”

“Judy?”

At that name—one I should be wary of—I narrowed my eyes. Marc bobbed his head.

“She said she was too scared to go to the annex and asked someone to go for her. She promised she’d treat me next time.”

He turned an unwanted errand into a chance to talk to me—clever little trick.

“Okay. I’ll go right now. Show me the way.”

I raised my voice so Roy could hear.

Marc obediently led me to the baron’s study.

He walked without faltering both through the gloomy corridor of the annex and the main building’s hallway where the maids glared hotly. All the while he kept checking that he wasn’t walking too fast for me.

“Marc treats me differently than other people,” I said.

Marc toyed with the back of his neck and replied,

“When my grandfather was ill and passed the coachman’s job down to me, he told me to treat Miss Daina kindly. He said she was a good person. Seeing her in person, I think Grandpa was right.”

Someone in this mansion felt pity for Daina? There was nothing like that in Daina’s diary. Did Daina not notice the coachman’s kindness?

Marc tilted his head as if puzzled, then asked carefully.

“Um, do you remember my grandfather?”

“Sorry. I don’t remember much about the past.”

Marc waved his hand as if that was fine.

“That’s understandable. Ah—here we are.”

He pointed with his eyes; there was a door embossed with an antique pattern. After a slight bow, Marc left.

When I knocked, the baron’s voice came from inside.

“Come in.”

Inside, Baron Tail’s wife and Ariel were seated on the sofa. All three faces were flushed.

Why were they so excited?

When I looked at them in puzzlement, the baron crossed his arms and said arrogantly,

“Hmm, you came. Countess MacCallin thought well of us—she invited our family and Ariel, and she invited you to the party as well.”

An invitation?

Right after learning that the countess was the one who had tried to kill Daina, an invitation felt ominous.

[Is this your first time being seen by me?]

Countess MacCallin asked that at the tea gathering. I had thought it was a normal greeting then, but in hindsight she was checking whether Daina—meaning me—remembered her.

Seeing my suspicious expression, Baron Tail shrugged.

“Judging from your face, you don’t know how honorific it is to be invited by the countess. Being invited to that ball is recognition in itself.”

“It’s all thanks to us that you were invited even after acting strangely at the tea meeting. You’re a sideshow—whether you come or not, it doesn’t matter.” Ariel said haughtily, and the baron’s wife nodded emphatically.

Look at these people. The countess surely invited me to observe me, and they don’t notice? Or are they pretending not to notice out of pride? Maybe I should tell them who owes whom favors.

“If I’m a sideshow, then I really don’t need to attend,” I said, twisting as if I were about to leave. The baron’s wife grabbed the armrest of the sofa and shot up.

“Didn’t I tell you the countess personally invited you? Don’t you know how important that is?”

Of course I didn’t.

I snorted and replied, “I don’t know. So the people who know how important it is should go.”

“If we leave you behind, people will say we’re heartless,” Ariel said anxiously. I smiled, deciding to make them more nervous.

After I said I would go and turned my body completely, all three shouted at once.

“Wait!”

“Just a moment!”

“Hold on!”

I turned back with a mischievous smile. Tommy watched the trio’s embarrassment and sneered inwardly.

{Why do these fools always let themselves be messed with and still act like this?}

Because they’re fools.

I shot them a look telling them to get to the point. The baron’s wife and Ariel looked at the baron.

“You say it.”

“Yes—your father should say it,” they both answered.

The baron, weak before his wife and daughter, rolled his eyes and said in an awkward, evasive way,

“Well… um… well, you were on the invitation list.”

So Countess MacCallin’s target was indeed me, Daina.

“You said I was a sideshow?”

“Yes, so you wouldn’t get conceited. Anyway, this concerns our family’s honor—you are part of the Tail family, after all.”

Ariel said, blushing.

Since when did you consider me a family member?

When I stared at her, Ariel realized how awkward her remark was and cleared her throat.

Then the baron’s wife stepped forward.

“I’ll send you a dress to wear. Just know you’re going to the party.”

A dress? Was she going to send some rag like Ariel did?

The next day, surprisingly, I received four decent dresses. Sending proper dresses—had she reformed? But I quickly thought better of it.

They say people die if they change suddenly. People don’t change easily. Without going through a major life event and realizing it, most people can’t break out of their patterns. So why did the baron’s wife suddenly send decent dresses?

But Roy and Tommy said the opposite of what I was thinking.

“None of them are actually proper.”

{None of them are actually proper.}

“What do you mean?”

Tommy and Roy repeated similar observations.

{By the common sense of this world, no matter which of the four you wear, people will either curse you or laugh at you.}

“On the surface they look fine, but each has a flaw.”

When I asked what the flaws were, Roy pointed to each dress.

“The golden dress is for the hostess only. The one with heavy fur trimmings is for outdoor wear only. The sleeveless dress has no seasonal sense. The layered-skirt dress—if you’re not used to it, you’ll keep stepping on the hems and stumbling.”

Tommy nodded along and gave interjections while Roy spoke.

The traps hidden behind seemingly normal dresses were revealed.

They’d sent dresses so mediocre the Tail family wouldn’t be criticized as a whole, yet would make people think, ‘Doesn’t that woman have any sense?’ If they had spare time to scheme like that, they should go to sleep.

As I frowned thinking about the baron’s wife, my thoughts turned to Roy. How did he notice the dresses were flawed?

“Roy, how do you know dress standards?”

“Hm?”

I explained a bit more.

“Dress knowledge isn’t something everyone knows.”

Roy doesn’t remember his past, but he retains knowledge from it. Still, fashion particulars aren’t common knowledge. Roy’s expression changed as he understood what I meant.

He pursed his lips and went silent in thought. I didn’t interrupt. I wanted to attend and observe Countess MacCallin closely.

Should I alter one of these dresses?

Tommy looked at me with a suspicious expression, as if he could read my thoughts.

{I can tell you how to mend them. But if you try to alter them just by my instructions, Lady Naida, that’ll be hard.}

True—me trying to sew a dress when I’ve never even held a needle would be impossible. It’d be easier to save the world.

Tommy narrowed his eyes at my quick acceptance.

{You accept quickly.}

I know myself—I’ve never touched needle and thread. Fixing dresses would be harder than preventing the world’s destruction.

Not long after, two plausible methods to get a proper dress occurred to me.

Tommy looked excited.

{You’ve thought of a method. What will you do?}

I had two ideas. First was to use the Creator God’s name to get suitable clothes from the temple.

{You plan to con the temple?}

Tommy’s eyes widened, but my intention was different. If Daina’s body died, the world’s destruction could not be prevented. So I only intended to get a little support from the temple to prevent that outcome.

{Let’s use something other than deception, please.}

Tommy narrowed one eye and I folded my arms.

Hmm, then I could perform feats with divine power to earn money, and buy a dress with that money.

Tommy brightened at my inner thought.

{Just go to the temple and ask for help instead of conning them.}

That suited the deity side more, I thought.

While I stared into the air talking with Tommy, Roy remained lost in thought. The brooding continued, but Roy couldn’t recall anything of his past.

I finished planning how to cajole the priests. But plans are just plans.

“Wayne prepared dresses and swords for us?”

I opened my eyes wide. Tom swallowed the bread in his mouth to answer but choked—there was too much in his mouth.

Jack patted Tom’s back and explained for him.

“At the tea I thought the baron’s family wouldn’t give decent dresses, so Wayne prepared them instead. He said he’d give Roy a sword as a gift for becoming his companion.”

How thoughtful.

I gasped with admiration; Roy also looked surprised by the unexpected gift.

We quickly had lunch and left the mansion to meet Wayne.

Tom and Jack were amazed that a noble house had a hiding place and guided us to the secret lair.

When we reached the house, the door was wide open. Had Wayne arrived first?

But when we went in, Wayne wasn’t there. The items that should have been there weren’t either.

“There were dresses and a sword on the table. Where did they go?”

“They were definitely here!”

Tom and Jack searched around the table and even crawled under the tablecloth on their knees.

Roy and I looked around the house, but there was no trace of the dresses or the sword.

While we were searching, a cheerful voice came from the doorway.

“What are you doing? A new game?”

When we turned, Wayne was leaning against the doorframe with a smile. He’d appeared suddenly before when we first met; he popped up out of nowhere again.

Tom and Jack stuck their heads out from under the tablecloth.

“The dresses and sword you prepared are gone.”

“When we came, the door was wide open!”

Wayne’s smile faded. His expression hardened as he quickly assessed the situation.

“Were other items taken?”

“No.”

Tom shook his head at Wayne’s question.

“Have you ever lost the key to this house?”

“No.”

This time Jack shook his head.

Wayne scanned the room briefly, then exuded a dark aura. Wayne could sometimes give off a sharp, dangerous vibe, but he had never looked so troubled.

“I think I know who took them.”

“Who?” Tom and Jack shouted in unison, and Wayne gave a wry smile.

“There’s a special lock on the door of this house. Who would take the trouble to pick that lock and then only take the most conspicuous items? If you think about it, you’ll know.”

Tom and Jack fell silent, as if considering who it might be.