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Chapter 24
“Miss. A letter has arrived for you.”
Tonin placed a tray holding several letters on top of the desk.
“What’s all this?”
“From here to here are invitations, and this letter was sent by the Duchess of Ameron.”
“There are this many invitations?”
So this was why they kept calling it the social season of the nobility.
If I attended all of these, it felt like I’d end up tearing out one of the family’s pillars just to pay for dress expenses.
“If you read through them and select only the ones you plan to attend, we’ll send the replies for you.”
“Alright. I’ll look through them later.”
The sheer volume was overwhelming, so I picked up the letter from the Duchess of Ameron first.
Inside were two sheets: one with an incomprehensible string of numbers written on it, and another that read, “After confirming the third house on Pine Tree Road in the Barit District, please burn this letter. There is an auction today as well.”
“They’re really thorough about security.”
Apparently, you couldn’t even meet them unless another noblewoman recommended you. For a swindler, they were absurdly hard to get a glimpse of.
Still, thanks to the Duchess of Ameron, I found it easily.
I remembered that in the original story, the duchess was the first to be scammed, so that memory made it easy for me to get close.
Having obtained the information I wanted, I hurriedly stood up, intending to head there right away.
“The place I need to go to now is—”
Tonin was wearing a smile whose meaning I couldn’t decipher.
“What’s with that smile?”
She continued to smile enigmatically, and when I caught a glimpse of something like madness in her clear eyes, I took a step back.
She flipped over the tray she had been holding.
“This is…”
It was a paper envelope used by intelligence agencies—an ordinary envelope with a black line drawn across the center.
“Don’t tell me… you’re the agent?”
“Agent might be a bit much… let’s just say I’m on a business trip.”
She had been this close all along.
While I stood there, too shocked to react, Tonin stepped forward and held out the envelope.
“Please check it, and if you have anything to say afterward, go ahead.”
“Uh… um…”
Dazed, I took the envelope she offered.
“But you’re not going around there talking about my private life, are you?”
Tonin smiled again without saying a word.
“So you did. You told them. I knew it—there’s no one in this world you can really trust.”
Grumbling, I opened the envelope.
This was why you shouldn’t trust people. Still, maybe because she was one of Robert’s people, I didn’t feel particularly repulsed.
“Hmm…”
[Count Bleached Monzas. Thirty-five years old, unmarried.]
The report began with a brief description of the count, detailing how he became an art dealer and what artworks he was currently known to possess. On the next page was an explanation of Melchaski and information about him.
The very last page caught my eye.
“Third house on Pine Tree Road, Barit District.”
It was the same address the Duchess of Ameron had sent.
“He really got hold of Melchaski’s house?”
I had already read in the book that everything Count Monzas did was a scam, so I assumed all his words were lies. Yet he was using the real Melchaski’s former home as the transaction site.
“There’s an auction today too. I should go right away.”
If he was staying there, then the forger would be there as well.
“Tonin, come with me. Prepare the carriage.”
“Yes.”
When Tonin opened the door, the head butler was standing there.
“Ah, Miss. Young Master Haren has arrived.”
“Haren?”
“Rose. Get up right now.”
Rose, who had been drinking wine all night after the shock she received from Espin yesterday, struggled to open her swollen, barely openable eyes.
“Mom, I’m so tired. Let me sleep just a little longer.”
“This is no time for that. The son of the Duke of Ameron is at this house right now.”
At her mother’s words, accompanied by a sharp pinch to her thigh, Rose sprang upright.
“Haren? By himself?”
“Yes. So hurry up, change your clothes, and come out. I’ll try to make as much time as possible for just the two of you.”
“Y-yes, okay.”
Haren had long been someone Rose had her eye on. Ever since she first came to this house ten years ago, she had believed Haren was meant to be hers.
Tall, handsome, with a splendid physique befitting the vice-captain of the knight order—and most importantly, the halo of being the heir to the Duke of Ameron.
Haren was perfect in every way. If she became his wife and the Duchess of Ameron, no one in noble society would dare look down on Rose.
That was why Rose had always tried to get close to Haren, but that sly Espin and Flaria never allowed her near him. Especially Flaria, who would lash out at her the moment she saw her, making it impossible for Rose to get close.
And yet here he was, coming alone without Flaria. This was a heaven-sent opportunity.
“This social season, I have to win Haren’s heart.”
Count Leon didn’t seem inclined to arrange a marriage with the Ameron family, so she would have to take matters into her own hands. If Haren himself stepped forward saying he wanted it, who could stop it?
“Perfume—bring the perfume, quickly.”
The perfume rumored to have the power to seduce men. Rose doused herself liberally with the expensive perfume she had paid a fortune for, then marched aggressively toward the drawing room.
“Oh my, Sir Haren?”
Entering the drawing room naturally, Rose covered her mouth in feigned surprise upon seeing Haren sitting on the sofa, turning her chin slightly to hide her double chin and widening her eyes for effect.
“Ah, hello.”
“You don’t have to be so formal. You’re Espin’s friend, after all. That makes you my friend too.”
“Ah… yes.”
“You must have come to see Espin. Until she arrives, I’ll keep you company.”
“No, thank you. I’m more comfortable waiting alone.”
Haren was just that considerate. Firmly misunderstanding his refusal as consideration for her, Rose sat down beside him on the sofa.
“No, really. We have a guest. Of course I should keep you company.”
“……”
Sitting beside him, she noticed Haren was holding his breath.
It must be because of the seductive scent coming from her body.
Finding Haren cute as he struggled against desire, Rose placed her hand on his head.
“There’s something on your hair. Ah, I’m sorry. I got too close, didn’t I? If I made you uncomfortable, I apologize.”
“N-no, not at all.”
Haren was still holding his breath, his face burning red.
Seeing how easily he was falling for her, Rose smugly brushed back her hair.
“I’m sorry. Since Sir Haren is Espin’s friend, I thought of you as my friend too. Espin told me to get along well with you. Ah, I’m sorry—I called you Haren, didn’t I? It just slipped out….”
“……”
Even being called “Haren” so familiarly, he showed no reaction.
At this rate, wouldn’t they be having their wedding right after this social season ended?
Rose began imagining all sorts of splendid wedding ceremonies, picturing what kind of wedding would suit her and Haren best.
“Haren?”
Ignoring the countess who tried to pick a fight with me in the hallway, I entered the drawing room—and there I saw Rose wearing a lecherous smile and Haren holding his breath.
When Haren’s eyes met mine, his face finally lit up as if he’d been saved, and he stood up. Letting out the breath he’d been holding, he walked over to me and whispered in a small voice.
“That was seriously terrifying. And there was that weird smell coming from the young lady—felt like I was going to die.”
“Oh, so that smell was Rose’s?”
The owner of the strange odor filling the spacious drawing room was Rose.
“I really thought I was done for. Ha, I can’t take it anymore. Espin, that person back then was a marriage-swindling con artist—one who went around pretending to be an illegitimate child of a duke.”
Haren continued speaking without even glancing in Rose’s direction.
“So I’m going straight to court. Don’t worry about it anymore. I need to go now—I need some fresh air.”
Without even saying goodbye, Haren strode out the door.
“Haren? Haren? Where are you going, Haren?”
Rose chased after him, even as he disappeared without so much as a farewell, and Haren quickened his steps as if he couldn’t hear her at all.
“Haren! Haren! At least have some tea with me!”
Only Rose’s desperate voice echoed down the hallway.
