Chapter 41🌹

Chapter 41

Every time this happened, I realized that I had stolen Rosalyn Tessis’s fate.

Of course, it was thanks to Ash’s wealth that I had been able to come to a place like this.

“Thank you for the gift. I can hardly believe I get to hear Lana Lamore sing in person.”

“You’re very welcome. But wouldn’t it have been better if you had come here with someone else?”

“Who?”

When I widened my eyes as though I knew nothing, Ash looked at me as if he had something to say, but soon let out a faint chuckle.

I had the feeling that this was the first time I had met this man in private.

In other words, he looked so handsome that he felt almost like a stranger.

Then again, he was someone who had shone even while wearing a thoroughly wrinkled shirt at a small desk in the smoke-filled police headquarters, so that alone said enough.

His hair was neatly slicked back with pomade, he wore the bow tie that was supposedly fashionable these days, and his high-quality suit did not have a single wrinkle.

If I had met him without knowing who he was, I would have thought he was an actor.

“I wonder if I’ll be bullied by high society.”

“Is there any reason for them to do so?”

“I’m on a date with such a handsome unmarried man. It seems that in Herona, they look down on a country bumpkin dating a handsome man from the capital.”

At that, Ash smiled, raising the corners of his mouth a little more than before.

“Rather, I’m afraid it may damage Miss Rosalyn’s reputation. There are few illegitimate sons as famous as I am in Herona.”

“That’s all right. If we’re talking about bad reputations, I must have gained some fame of my own. Talking about things like this between the two of us would be like arguing over which acorn is taller, wouldn’t it?”

Whatever he found funny about that, he turned his head and let out a quiet laugh.

The slight crinkle at the corners of his eyes was quite charming.

And just then, the food was served.

As befitted such an expensive performance, the dishes placed on the table were extraordinary as well.

Oyster soup to whet the appetite before the meal, tenderly cooked fish steak and grilled asparagus, fragrant wine, and champagne.

The food was soft enough to crumble with the slightest pressure of a fork, so there was no need to make noise cutting meat with a knife, and the food’s aroma was not too strong, so it did not interfere with watching the performance.

Besides, the ingredients themselves were luxurious, and the flavors were excellent.

I felt sorry for Ash, but for someone like me who had memories of hunger, delicious food took priority over handsome men.

“Mmm! What kind of fish is this?”

“It should be cod.”

“Really? It’s not fishy at all and so light that it’s excellent even on its own, but with the sauce, I feel like I could eat it endlessly.”

“I’m glad it suits your taste.”

Did I eat too greedily?

Ash seemed to be looking at me as though he found me somewhat fascinating…

But this was my first time eating fish steak since coming here.

I had thought beef was the most delicious food in the world, but I suppose fish wasn’t something to be underestimated either.

Just as I was thoroughly enjoying the food in amazement, the surroundings grew somewhat darker, the lights on the stage brightened, and Lana Lamore appeared.

I hurriedly put down my cutlery and applauded.

No matter how delicious the food was, I couldn’t miss a performance that I might only get to see once in my lifetime.

“What a beautiful night. Thank you for allowing me a page in your lives.”

Lana greeted the audience with practiced ease, drawing their attention with light jokes before gradually beginning the performance.

“On a day in June when red rose petals were scattered, I realized that my life had become perfect. I was with you.”

Only after a soft accompaniment began beneath the song that had continued like a monologue did I realize that the song had started without accompaniment.

Lana’s voice resonated so deeply and beautifully that it needed no other instrument.

I felt an emotion similar to what I had felt the last time I watched Dolores perform.

‘There are so many extraordinarily talented artists in this world.’

It was enough to make my past, when I had dreamed of becoming the kingdom’s greatest actress while traveling with a country theater troupe, seem laughable.

The sorrow and self-pity over that foolishness sent a sharp ache through my heart, but that was all right in its own way.

The fact that I felt such regret and longing was proof that I had lived my life to the fullest.

With feelings that I could not tell whether they were depressing or pleasant, I watched the stage until her three songs had ended.

During that time, I couldn’t bring myself to swallow any food, so I merely kept taking small sips of wine.

“Did you enjoy it?”

At the voice that suddenly reached me, I turned my head and saw Ash looking at me.

What was he asking if I had enjoyed?

Lana’s singing?

Or the wine?

Either way, there was only one answer.

“Yes. It was the best.”

The corners of his lips curved slightly.

“I’m glad I seem to have chosen the right gift. Do you admire actors or singers?”

“It’s just… When you see someone with that much talent, doesn’t your gaze naturally follow them?”

“You seem to be more focused than the others.”

I merely shrugged.

I had wanted to ramble on to someone about my past, about the dream I had once had, but that someone could not be this man.

And from now on, what mattered was not my impressions of the performance, but making the most of our limited time and getting this man on my side.

“I was embarrassed to keep looking only at the Inspector, so I had to find somewhere else to rest my eyes.”

“Oh, my. I was just about to ask you to look at me from now on.”

Ash lifted his wine glass and took a light sip before beginning to focus on accomplishing the purpose for which he had called me out today.

“Your letter regarding the human traffickers who appeared in Tessis was impressive. There are a few more things I’d like to ask you.”

“Please, go ahead.”

He continued asking questions without the slightest hint of a personal agenda.

The number of children <Mulberry> had kidnapped from Tessis, how Tessis had responded at the time, whether any of the children had been found later, and whether I knew anything about the routes along which the children had been sold.

Those sorts of things.

Since I had decided to cooperate regarding the human trafficking case, I answered according to what I knew without considering whether he might suspect me.

I tried my best to maintain a businesslike attitude, but because I had been the one who kept the adults’ attention occupied while Gale’s subordinates kidnapped the children, there were times when my breath caught in my throat.

While I had been performing a heart-pounding romance with my costar on stage, some children had had their futures destroyed.

“When did you begin to suspect that they had kidnapped the children?”

“When the missing-person reports first started coming in, Father naturally suspected them and had them investigated. But nothing was found, so he had no choice but to let them go.”

“And then?”

“But while the troupe had left and the case was being investigated, someone provided a tip. They said they had seen two carts being moved, claiming that the troupe sent their luggage ahead before completely withdrawing.”

I did not know whether such a tip had actually been given.

But I had heard from over Gale’s shoulder that they had gone around Tessis looking for the carts.

And their guess had been correct.

On the day they kidnapped a large number of children, Gale loaded the children onto carts he had prepared in advance and moved them elsewhere.

The carts carrying the children, who had been anesthetized with chloroform, were as quiet as though they were carrying luggage, and no one suspected them.

It had been a swift and silent kidnapping.

“But we couldn’t find them. No one knew where they had gone. Even if someone had known…”

Even if he had known, there was a high probability he would not have searched for them.

At least, not if it had been the late Baron Tessis.

It would have cost a great deal of money, and finding the children would not have benefited him in any particular way.

Just then, Lana, having changed her clothes, returned to the center of the stage and bowed.

Ash and I watched only the stage without saying a word while she sang another three songs.

“We were so young then. We loved without knowing it was a miracle, and parted without knowing it was sorrow.”

For some reason, Lana’s voice seemed to take hold of my heart and shake it.

Yes, I had been young then.

I knew nothing, and Gale had seemed omnipotent.

For me at the time, that had been an excuse to pretend not to see the younger children being dragged away.

But even if I went back to that time now, could I do anything differently?

‘No, I’d turn a blind eye again. Because I’d value my own life more.’

Suddenly, I felt disgusted with myself.

Confessing <Mulberry>’s crimes was practically the same as confessing my own guilt.

As I listed the events of that time as though viewing them through the eyes of a third party, the very idea that I could atone in this way felt so terribly hypocritical that I thought I might vomit.

It was just about the time I wanted to get up and leave.

“Miss Rosalyn’s information has been a tremendous help to me.”

Ash spoke without taking his eyes off the stage.

“To be honest, I have wondered how the only daughter of a baron could know so much in such detail, but…”