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Chapter 10
Fortunately, Edmund immediately recognized the library key I had deliberately dropped. Glancing around, the boy hid the key, his face flushed with unmistakable anticipation.
Well, of course. The library is an incredibly important place to Edmund.
And what Edmund had pointed out earlier was actually correct.
The fact that Edmund has no proper opportunity for education right now is a serious problem.
In the original story, that became a pretty big issue too. But this time, it wouldn’t happen.
What do you think my major was? I can’t just ignore a kid right in front of me who wants to study but can’t!
And the place happened to be the library. Killing two birds with one stone was all it took.
Come to think of it, while considering my major and how to teach Edmund, something else came to mind. That thing—deserving of being smashed to pieces—that had dragged me into this place.
[Looking for a private tutor]
Some unknown presence that had lured me with that scam of a job posting. I’d been the victim of an employment scam, sure, but in the end, it had entrusted Edmund to me.
—……I already know you’ll do that.
—Please take good care of that child, teacher. ^^
If I fulfill that request, my chances of escaping this absurd situation will probably go up.
Though honestly, even without that, if I’d seen a child like Edmund in front of me, I never would’ve been able to just walk away.
In any case, now was the time to give my all to the goal right in front of me. I smiled brightly and clenched my fist.
Alright! Yes! And then I’ll go back home—!
Suddenly, a forgotten fact slammed into the back of my head.
“Ah.”
…But I don’t have a home to go back to, do I?
It felt as if someone had dumped a bucket of cold water over me. I stood there in the hallway for a moment, dazed.
The boy succeeded in making it here from his bedroom without being seen by anyone.
He moved while suppressing his presence, using all kinds of side paths, side paths of side paths, and even small crawl holes that led out to the terrace. Since there were people watching him, escaping the villa altogether was impossible—but this much was doable.
It also helped that this was the place where he had spent his early childhood with his parents, so he knew the layout well. This villa was the original estate where the history of the Cohen ducal family had begun. After a massive new mansion was built in the capital, it became a villa, but it was tradition for heirs to be born and raised here. Naturally, it was familiar to Edmund.
My uncle probably doesn’t know that, though.
The true meaning of this estate. That was likely why he had left Edmund here to rot.
But I don’t have much time either.
If he stayed trapped in the villa like this, he never knew when he might be killed. But he couldn’t escape right away either. There was the practical issue that a young boy couldn’t run away on his own—but more importantly, there was a far more urgent reason.
Before escaping, I have to find the head of the family’s seal.
Only then could he return someday and reclaim the Cohen ducal house.
That was also the reason his uncle had kept him alive despite his powerlessness.
“Where is the head’s seal? It wasn’t found on your father’s body! You entrusted it to yourself, didn’t you? Where did you hide it?!”
When Edmund was seven years old and had just lost his parents, his uncle had beaten him while demanding the seal’s location. But the boy never opened his mouth. It wasn’t only because Edmund himself didn’t know the exact location.
If my uncle gets his hands on the seal too, then it’s really all over.
Edmund vividly remembered the red ruby ring that had always been on his father’s finger.
“Never forget, Edmund. The head of the family’s seal can only be possessed by the true Duke of Cohen. One day, it will be yours.”
“The seal serves only one master at a time. Only the master who carries the blood of the head.”
Because Edmund was so young, his father hadn’t explained the seal’s secrets in detail. Still, through hazy childhood memories and the relics left behind in this villa, the boy was certain.
The head of the family’s seal is hidden in this villa!
That was why obtaining the seal before escaping alive was the priority. Only then would Edmund’s chances of reclaiming the dukedom in the future increase.
Emerging from a passage hidden behind old curtains, Edmund looked at the door in front of him, his eyes filled with resolve.
The library!
Over the past six years, he had searched nearly every corner of the villa, but he hadn’t been able to check the library. It was due to his uncle’s scheme to deny him proper education. But now, he finally had a chance.
Click.
After confirming that no one was around, he carefully unlocked the door. Fortunately, it opened smoothly. Edmund quickly slipped inside and locked it again from within.
Yes!
A sense of victory—something he had hardly felt since losing his parents—filled the boy’s small chest. Joy, happiness, fulfillment, triumph—emotions he hadn’t experienced in a long time. His uncle had systematically stripped all positive feelings from him.
All to turn me into a puppet, I suppose.
But Edmund had no intention of losing.
With eyes full of anticipation and confidence, the boy surveyed the room filled with old books. The smell of aged furniture, books, and thickly settled dust stung his nose. Even that felt welcome.
The reason he hadn’t been able to determine the seal’s location for six years was likely because he’d never been able to enter this place.
Getting in was the only problem. Now I can find it right away!
He was certain.
Because I’m the sole heir of the Cohen ducal family!
The boy’s shoulders, once brimming with motivation and hope when he first entered the room, slumped.
I can’t find it! There’s nothing here!
Even as he told himself it was too soon to despair, the exhaustion was unavoidable.
No. There’s still time and opportunity. Don’t panic.
Just as the boy was steadying himself, he heard footsteps pattering in the hallway outside the library.
“…?”
Edmund froze in shock. He hoped the footsteps would move away, but unfortunately, they only drew closer. When the sound finally stopped in front of the library door—
Edmund quickly scanned his surroundings, then hid behind the thick curtain draped over the largest nearby window. His small, thin body was perfectly concealed by the dark curtain. The smell of long-settled dust made him want to sneeze, but he covered his mouth and held it in.
Click.
The door opened, and someone entered the library.
Only then did the boy hiding behind the curtain realize something.
The library is locked with a key. The only person who can come in here is someone who has that key.
And there was only one person in this villa who fit that condition. The girl who had dropped the library key—whether by a simple mistake or on purpose—right in front of him.
…Cassia.
Her wavy chestnut-brown hair swayed softly as the girl entered the library, looking oddly downcast. She wore an expression Edmund had never seen on her before.
What is it? Why does she look like that…?
It was different from merely looking upset or gloomy. It was an emotion Edmund had chewed over countless times in his just-over-ten-year-long life—one he could recognize at a glance.
At that moment, Cassia wore the expression of an orphan, utterly alone in the world.
Ever since losing his parents six years ago, the world had been Edmund’s enemy. He had always been an orphan. And until now, he had never seen anyone else with eyes or an expression like that.
Until he saw Cassia’s face.
Why? There’s no reason for her to—
Only then did it dawn on Edmund. Cassia was only fourteen herself. Marriage at that age was far from normal; engagement was what was typical.
And considering the circumstances of her husband—himself—the conclusion was obvious.
She was abandoned by her family too…
Baron Florence, one of his uncle’s close aides, had offered up his illegitimate daughter as a token of loyalty. To use her as a tool to monitor Edmund. And once his uncle got what he wanted from Edmund and killed him, Cassia would likely have only one remaining use.
He’ll probably kill me and frame Cassia as the culprit.
Even Edmund, only thirteen years old, could predict that. Considering the sharpness Cassia had shown while driving out Moretti, she must have realized it too. That was why she was struggling so desperately to survive.
Edmund realized anew that their situations were astonishingly similar.
“…!”
Then it happened—something Edmund never could have anticipated.
Plop.
A single tear slipped from the corner of the girl’s eye as she sat blankly at the library desk. The clear droplet felt, somehow, as though it had fallen straight onto the boy’s heart.
