MEBD 31

Chapter 31

Mousetrap (4)

The box pulled out from beneath the bed was a fairly heavy wooden one—about the size used to store a pair of shoes.

It even had a padlock, giving off a suspicious air no matter how you looked at it.

For a few seconds, everyone just stared at it in silence.

Glancing briefly at Berenice, Lowell stepped forward and said,

“Open it.”

“Yes, young master.”

As if waiting for the command, one of the servants who had come prepared for such an occasion quickly produced a hammer and raised it to smash the lock—

“I’m innocent!”

Marienne was dragged in, crying out in a high-pitched, desperate voice.

She was held tightly by two knights, each gripping one of her arms.

“Sir Walker.”

“Young master.”

“Where did you catch her?”

“She was in a café on the edge of the plaza, having rented a private room—apparently waiting for someone.”

“Waiting?”

“Yes. I left two knights and three soldiers behind. Whoever comes looking for her will be caught and brought here.”

“No! I—I just wanted to have some tea quietly…!”

Marienne’s frantic voice trembled, on the verge of tears. Her eyes darted toward Berenice.

Perhaps she saw some glimmer of hope in the woman’s calm face—free of both anger and sorrow.

Wrenching herself free from the knights’ grip, Marienne dropped to her knees and crawled toward Berenice, clutching at her skirts.

“Miss! Miss, please! Say something! I didn’t do anything wrong! I swear it!”

To anyone unaware of the situation, she might have looked like a woman being cruelly wronged.

But no one present thought so.

Berenice turned her gaze away from Marienne, who was sobbing and sniffling into her skirts, and looked toward the man standing awkwardly before the box with the hammer.

“Open it.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

As though he’d been dying to hear those words, the man raised the hammer high and brought it down with force.

Bang!

The lock shattered instantly. The man stepped back, looking satisfied, while Berenice lifted the lid of the box.

“Oh, my goodness…”

“They’re really here!”

“There’s so many!”

Inside lay a pair of ruby earrings, two diamond rings, and a gold-and-opal bracelet.

Along with the valuables stolen from the vault, there were also a single small emerald earring, three thin silver rings, and two leather pouches of differing sizes whose contents were unknown.

As everyone craned their necks to peer into the box and murmured among themselves, Marienne’s face drained of all color.

“N-no… no, that’s not true!”

Her trembling voice was thick with terror.

But Berenice seemed not to hear her. She picked up the smaller leather pouch and loosened its tightly knotted string.

The lively murmuring around them died away into total silence.

When she turned the pouch over, a single item fell into her pale palm—and everyone in the room recognized it immediately.

A sapphire cufflink.

The one Berenice had gifted to Bleddyn.
The one Bleddyn had lost.

It gleamed brightly under the light.

“…It was you?”

Berenice’s voice trembled as she finally forced out the words.

That was all it took.

The room erupted in anger.

How dare she!

“Sir Walker.”

“Yes, my lady.”

“Take her to Father. Now.”

“Yes.”

“And Lowell… help me.”

Still holding the cufflink tightly in one trembling hand, Berenice’s voice quivered with emotion.

Her reddened eyes looked on the verge of tears, her shoulders shaking faintly with hurt and betrayal.

Lowell helped his twin to her feet and motioned for the head maid to take charge of Marienne’s box.

“Let’s go.”

“…Okay.”

Lowell’s voice was stiff, as though barely containing his own fury.

Marienne realized things were going badly for her, yet she could no longer scream her innocence as before.

The box was undeniably hers.

Some of the items inside were indeed her possessions.

But there were also things that most certainly were not.

No… no, I didn’t steal them!

Especially that cufflink—she had only ever seen it once, years ago, in passing.

She had no idea where its owner had lost it. So why was it in her room?

Marienne was innocent—or so she believed.

But she couldn’t open her mouth to say so.

Because one particular item that should have been inside the box was missing.

Who… who took it?

It was a relief no one else had noticed its absence, but the fact that it was missing at all terrified her.

If the marquis—or worse, the person she’d sold information to—found it first…

I’ll die!

And not quickly, but horribly.

Wh-what do I do?

Though she was known for her cleverness, this time there was no trick or excuse to get her out of the situation.

“W-wait, please…!”

As they reached the marquis’s office, Marienne tried to resist, but there was no escaping the knights’ grip.

“M-my lord.”

Had he already been informed of what had happened in her room?

The marquis’s cold violet eyes made it feel as though her throat were being crushed.

The marchioness beside him was no less terrifying.

Marienne swallowed hard as she met the woman’s burning gaze—her arm protectively around Berenice, who was leaning weakly against her.

If the marquis’s stare was icy, the marchioness’s felt hot enough to incinerate her on the spot.

“I… I mean…”

“Silence.”

“…”

“Marienne Wood. It’s not your turn to speak.”

The head maid placed the box on the desk and opened the lid.

The marquis examined the contents slowly.

The stolen treasures.
The unclaimed trinkets.
A large pouch stuffed with gold coins.

And lastly, his son’s cufflink.

Berenice had placed it on the desk herself the moment she entered, saying it was found in Marienne’s box.

The marquis remembered well how delighted his eldest son had been when he’d received the gift—and how devastated he’d been when he’d lost it.

If only I’d found it sooner, I could’ve placed it in Bleddyn’s coffin.

As the marquis’s eyes darkened with regret and rage, Marienne darted glances around the room, desperately searching for an escape.

But there was none.

The trust she’d built with Berenice was gone—shattered by her own hands. She couldn’t rely on her anymore.

But she’s soft-hearted…!

If she begged forgiveness, perhaps she’d be spared.

After all, she hadn’t actually stolen the cufflink!

Yes—if she found the real thief, she could survive this!

…But how do I even find them?

Her breath caught in her throat as her thoughts spun wildly.

Then the marquis’s voice cut through the silence.

“I never imagined I’d find a thief living under my own roof.”

“N-no! I didn’t steal anything!”

“Then tell me—why did my son’s possession end up among your things?”

“T-that’s…!”

Marienne herself wanted to know that answer more than anyone.

Why was it there?

Something that should have been there was gone, and something that shouldn’t was in its place. Her mind went blank.

Watching her falter, the marquis gestured toward his knight captain.

“Louis.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Lock her in the cellar. Find out if these are all the items she’s stolen.”

“Yes, sir.”

“N-no! Lady Berenice! Please, save me! I—!”

Marienne screamed and struggled as the knights dragged her away, her voice raw and desperate.

“M-my lady?”

But the only thing that came back to her was the sight of Berenice—nestled in the marchioness’s arms—smiling.

The angle was such that only Marienne could see it, but that faint smile was unmistakably mocking.

The same Berenice she’d always thought of as naïve and easy to fool—smiling at her.

Marienne froze, eyes wide.

Berenice, face buried against her mother’s shoulder, suppressed the laughter bubbling up from within.

The pain and fury she’d once felt at Marienne’s betrayal—before she returned to this life—had finally begun to ease.

All that work last night was worth it.

As the marchioness gently stroked her back, Berenice recalled what she had done the night before.