Chapter 122. A person who saw a similar woman
Silence hung inside the carriage.
Robin held his breath and repeatedly observed the atmosphere on the opposite side.
He was watching Raymond von Cheister, who had been sitting without a single movement for a long time.
For two hours already, people had been deployed to search every place Deborah might go, but there was no one who had seen her anywhere.
Inns, markets, and even the surrounding parks—
They had even searched through the taverns thoroughly, yet her whereabouts remained shrouded in mystery.
Where on earth did she go after leaving the mansion?
The only things she had in her possession would be a few months’ worth of wages and the money Mrs. Charlotte reportedly gave her.
Robin felt inherently puzzled even amidst his worry, wondering if the traces of a person with nowhere to rely on could truly be this elusive.
Meanwhile, Robin’s gaze suddenly landed on the right window.
Seeing that the sky visible through the carriage window had turned dark before he knew it, Robin looked back at the Duke.
Just as he was about to ask if they should return to the mansion first since night was falling—
Knock, knock.
At the sound of knocking on the door, the gazes of the two men turned there simultaneously.
Upon quickly opening the door, a man stood outside with a face full of tension.
He was one of the group that had gone toward the deserted back alleys a moment ago.
The man, who flinched for a moment at the gazes gathered on his face, soon swallowed once and began to open his mouth slowly.
“That… there is someone who says they saw a woman with a similar appearance.”
Finally!
At the good news heard after almost two hours, Robin looked back at Raymond with a face full of excitement.
For a brief moment, an unidentifiable emotion flickered across the face that had been stiff all along, but that was only for a moment—it soon disappeared without a trace.
“Lead the way.”
“Ah, yes, yessir!”
As he issued a short command while stepping down from the carriage, the man began to move his feet hurriedly.
The shadows of the two men, who followed quickly behind him, vanished behind a dark alley a moment later.
At the hour when the sun had set.
The scenery inside the bookstore, after all the customers had left, was very serene.
“What, is there someone you’re waiting for?”
Ah, there was still one person remaining.
Roderick Hugo, a long-time regular of Wilkins Bookstore.
He was a man obsessed with collecting old books to the point that jokes circulated saying he would probably even sell his wife for a rare edition.
Although they had known each other for a very long time, he was the type whose eccentric personality often troubled Jade as well.
At Roderick’s sudden words, Jade blinked his eyes once widely.
As if asking what on earth he meant by that.
Roderick, noticing the meaning, suddenly burst out laughing loudly as if the bookstore might ring.
“No, it’s just that what you’ve been doing for a while is quite like that. You’re restless exactly like a man who has hidden a pretty woman at home, so…”
“…What kind of nonsense are you talking about again?”
Jade, who seemed slightly flustered, immediately narrowed his brows and took a serious tone.
Roderick’s eyes, not missing that moment, instantly narrowed thinly.
“It was just a comment, but it seems it’s true? What, have you been dating behind my back all this time?”
“….”
“No, then you should have introduced her. Are we really only at that level of a relationship?”
“…That’s not it—”
“This is disappointing. I still thought we were old friends.”
He should have cut off that delusion running ahead on its own right at the root at that point, but the reason he couldn’t do so was because of the conscience residing in a corner of his heart.
Of course, it was a completely different situation from the absurd things he was saying, but when he thought of the person at his house, it wasn’t entirely incorrect either.
Two days ago, he was momentarily dumbfounded when she said she was going to look for a place to sleep late in the evening again, wondering if she had properly listened to the advice he gave.
For a woman alone, especially a young woman like Deborah, a low-class inn was not a very safe place to stay.
Of course, the circumstances of high-class inns were a bit different.
First of all, the very locations where those inns were situated were in the city center where many people passed by, and the level of the guests coming and going was also vastly different from low-class inns.
However, the problem was that it didn’t seem likely Deborah would seek out a high-class inn where she had to pay 10 shillings or 1 pound for a night’s stay.
—Come to my house.
At that moment, the words came out immediately without even needing to think.
In any case, there were dozens of spare rooms, so even if he gave one to Deborah, it was not something that would be a big problem from Jade’s perspective.
No, in his honest heart, he wanted her to come.
Because he sincerely wanted to help her, who was placed in a difficult situation.
Truly, that was all. A pure heart without a single point of dark motive.
However, seeing Deborah’s expression change instantly upon hearing those words, Jade realized only then that he had made a mistake.
—Ah, that, no, that’s not it… look, Deborah. What I mean is… I mean…
Stuttering in embarrassment, Jade explained to Deborah.
He said that if she went, she would see that he didn’t live alone, but it was a house where several people lived together.
He said that since there were dozens of rooms, other friends also often came and stayed before leaving.
Only after hearing those words did her stiffened expression soften a bit, but even so, Deborah did not readily say she would do so.
He even added the words asking how he could look at Teacher Helena’s face if something bad happened, and asking if friends shouldn’t help each other when things are difficult.
After bickering like that for a long time, Deborah, who let out a long sigh, replied that she would then take the favor for exactly just one day.
It was something said reluctantly, and even that was a statement with the condition of one day attached, but for now, he thought it was better than nothing.
After one night passed like that—.
Jade made the first move during breakfast.
He even joked around, saying that since things had turned out this way, wouldn’t it be better to leave after finding a safe place to stay, and as she could see, rooms were left over so there was no need to feel pressured at all.
Toward the opponent who still hesitated, Jade drove the point home by saying that if Teacher Helena had been there, she would have said the exact same thing as him.
Deborah, who agonized for a long time, replied that she would think about it.
And about an hour later, just before he was about to leave the mansion, Deborah came to find him.
—Then, though I am shameless… I will really take the favor for just a few more days. As soon as I find a place to work, I will leave right then.
Even though no one was urging her to leave, Deborah repeated and repeated the words that she would leave within a few days.
After that difficultly reached agreement, today was the 3rd day since Deborah stayed at his house.
When he thought about what kind of relationship Deborah had with Raymond von Cheister, he knew he shouldn’t be like this, but he couldn’t possibly stop his heart that flowed naturally.
Just by the single fact that Deborah was at his house, the time for returning home, which he used to repeat without thought, became fluttering and long-awaited.
Sitting at the same dining table with the woman he held in his heart to have a meal, and receiving a send-off greeting to have a good trip when leaving the house—he had not known before that it would be such a happy thing.
The person herself probably wouldn’t have noticed this heart of his even a little bit, and he felt pathetic for being like this, but still, he just hoped that moments like this would continue for just a little bit longer…
Jade merely wished so.
“Hey, what are you thinking about so much. Are you perhaps pouting just because I spoke some nonsense once?”
Guffaw, at the sound of loud laughter ringing in his ears, Jade finally woke up from his thoughts.
“If you know it’s nonsense, please stop now. The night is also late—”
Tinkle—
It was the moment Jade just stood up from his seat while letting out a long sigh.
The sound of a bell heard suddenly.
The gazes of the two men, puzzled by the sound heard at this late hour, headed toward the doorway at the same time.
And—
The pupils of Jade, who confirmed the person who opened the door and entered, shook greatly for an instant.
A face that immediately turned stiff and hard.
A man walking with long strides across the bookstore—
Jade’s expression, facing Raymond von Cheister, began to sink even more heavily.
In the late evening, at the time to close the
door, Roderick scanned the man who appeared out of nowhere with suspicious eyes.
A man who looked to be of high status even at a glance.
He couldn’t know exactly what status he
held since he wasn’t a nobleman himself, but it seemed clear he was definitely a fairly high-ranking noble.
The expensive fabric he was wearing was one thing, but above all, Roderick marveled at the man’s face, which was handsome enough to make one’s eyes bulge.
He thought Jade Wilkins, the owner of this bookstore, was also quite handsome, but standing side by side with the man who suddenly appeared, honestly, his presence seemed faint in comparison.
That was how overwhelming the man’s appearance was.
Roderick, who had been admiring the sculpture-like figure as if it were crafted with God’s full devotion while losing his soul for a while, belatedly regained his senses and cleared his throat, “Ahem.”
“Well, then I shall be…”
He felt that something was unusual about the two tall men glaring at each other without a word.
Roderick cautiously offered his parting words saying he would be going now, but unfortunately, there was no one who responded to those words.
After Roderick disappeared like that, the bookstore became filled with a suffocating silence.
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