I fell into thought for a moment.
‘Is there a separate way to deliver it? Or do I have to stick it into the wall with a knife the same way? I haven’t thrown that one away yet……. But then that means someone breaks in while I’m sleeping again, doesn’t it? Hnngh, I don’t want thaaat—!’
Just imagining it made me tear up on my own. But that didn’t mean a brilliant solution magically appeared either.
“Let’s look for paper and a pen first.”
Judging by how the contents of the secret letter disappeared, it seemed they used special paper or solution.
I searched the room more carefully than before. I hadn’t been able to find them back then, but surely they were hidden somewhere in here.
‘Probably near the desk…….’
People instinctively keep their belongings in familiar and comfortable places. Especially paper and pens—she would have mainly used them at the desk.
First, I looked around the desk this way and that. I even checked underneath, but there was nothing particularly strange.
Next were the drawers attached to the desk. I began opening them one by one and rummaging through.
Rattle, clack.
Rattle, clack.
I opened two drawers in succession, and just as I was searching the third—
“Hm?”
Clunk, clunk.
The bottom of the third drawer gave off a strangely hollow sound. It wasn’t a big difference, but Lilian’s sensitive ears caught it immediately.
‘No way…….’
I carefully ran my fingers across the drawer bottom, which appeared unremarkable on the surface. Near the inner corner of the drawer, there was a groove that looked as if it had been slightly scratched.
I slipped my fingernail into that spot and gently lifted.
Creak.
As the bottom panel came out with an unpleasant sound, a very thin space became visible in the gap of the drawer. There, just as I had expected, were special paper and ink.
And—
[ Infiltration successful. At this rate, expected to complete the probation period without incident. Subject No. 32, who infiltrated before me, was disposed of by the Grand Duke……. ]
—An unfinished secret letter, written by Lilian.
“This is…….”
The moment I saw the cipher written in her handwriting. Lilian’s memories, deeply buried, surfaced faintly.
‘Be careful, you. There’s more than one girl who tried to approach His Highness and was thrown out without even a farewell.’
‘You know Karen from the other day? They say she got kicked out because of that too.’
Karen, whom the maids had mentioned last time. That maid was Subject No. 32 mentioned in the secret letter.
A maid with brilliant red hair was faintly drawn in my mind. That meant—
‘She wasn’t thrown out. She was disposed of.’
Goosebumps prickled all over my skin. As long as I was living in Lilian’s body, Subject No. 32’s death was not someone else’s problem.
‘I need to pull myself together!’
Whether it’s the Grand Duke of Pellium or the force behind the spy work.
If either side discovered my circumstances, I’d be quietly erased without a trace.
“Phew…….”
I steadied my breathing and checked the secret letter the owner of this body had left unfinished.
[ Infiltration successful. At this rate, expected to complete the probation period without incident.
It is certain that Subject No. 32, who infiltrated before me, was disposed of by the Grand Duke, but the whereabouts of the body are unknown. All potential evidence has been destroyed, so there should be no major issue. However— ]
That was the end.
Judging by the timing of the content, it seemed to have been written a few days before I possessed this body.
‘I don’t know why she stopped writing midway.’
For me now, it was truly fortunate.
I referenced the faint memories and this secret letter as I wrote out the cipher. The content itself was honestly nothing special.
[ The Grand Duke met with Madame Brandt. Related to salon patronage. After that, he has been secluding himself without any particular social activity. ]
I had simply taken that content and padded it out appropriately.
To summarize, it was a three-line report, and I can’t tell you how much trouble I had stretching it out. It was so bad I nearly wrote that Madame Brandt was very pretty and married.
‘Still, I did my best, all things considered.’
After double-checking that there were no errors in the cipher, I folded the secret letter. It looked exactly the same as the first secret letter I had received here.
Creak—
I cautiously opened the door and poked my head out. Perhaps because it was late, there was no one outside.
Slowly, carefully, I checked my surroundings and stepped outside. If I happened to run into anyone, I planned to pretend I was going to get water.
‘Please, let me not run into anyone……!’
I was astonishingly bad at lying. Even if I’d thought up an excuse in advance, it meant I had no confidence in delivering it naturally. If I could just avoid stuttering, that would be a blessing.
“Ah, almost there!”
Was it because I’d prayed so earnestly?
I managed to avoid any signs of people and secretly reached the back door of the annex. It was a feat accomplished by Lilian’s sharp senses and my survival instincts.
“One, two, three, four…….”
I counted the bricks of the back door wall from the left, one by one, and stopped at exactly the ninth brick. Then I wedged the secret letter into the ground where it met that brick, as if burying it.
‘This time, it’s here.’
The location for exchanging secret letters changed every time. But there was a certain rule to it as well. Based on that calculation, this time’s location was here.
‘Phew, thank goodness, really.’
Lilian’s memories had surfaced just in time.
They were very fragmentary memories, but still, this was something. I nearly got stabbed again because I didn’t know how to report.
Having completed my mission like that, I crept back to my room just as before.
“Ahh, that’s a relief!”
Farewell, days when I couldn’t even sleep comfortably in my own room—!
With the tension released, I was able to fall into a deep sleep for the first time in a long while.
* * *
If only it had ended there, how wonderful would that have been?
Unfortunately, this peace did not last very long.
[ Insufficient information. ]
Because a secret letter had arrived again at the location I checked just in case. It had been only two days.
‘No, seriously, that was all there was!’
At the very least, that was the entirety of the Grand Duke’s recent situation that I could know. Frankly, I couldn’t exactly fabricate things that hadn’t happened, could I?
“Haah…….”
A deep sigh escaped me without my realizing it.
Since it had come to this, there was no helping it. I had no choice but to do voluntary ‘overtime.’
“Oh my, Lilian.”
“You already finished that too?”
“Good heavens!”
Even among the astonished maids, I silently brought over other people’s shares of laundry and hung them up.
Pat, pat, snap.
Pat, pat, snap.
Quick but never sloppy hand movements. It was a skill I’d learned by reading the room while drifting between relatives’ homes as an orphan. Thanks to that, the piled-up clothes were slowly beginning to show the bottom.
‘After this, I just need to dust the blankets and carpets…….’
Hmm, lunchtime will probably come a bit earlier than usual.
Having roughly estimated the time, I quickly organized the next schedule.
‘After lunch, the main building’s first floor, the garden, the east annex.’
For reference, this was the Grand Duke of Pellium’s usual movement route—and my ‘additional workplace.’
First of all, he hardly moved around the main building of the estate except for his bedroom, office, and study. Despite it being his own estate.
‘No wonder it was so hard to even see his face!’
But even in this situation, I steadily gathered information about him.
The Grand Ducal estate itself was a place that revolved around one man, the Grand Duke of Pellium, so it wasn’t all that difficult if I just lent an ear to the people around me.
‘His Highness the Grand Duke has awakened.’
‘He’s gone to the study now, so let’s start by tidying the office.’
‘The item His Highness ordered just arrived—what should we do?’
‘Ah, I’ll inform him—’
‘His Highness has asked that today’s meal be brought to his office. Please keep it simple.’
‘Yes, Adjutant.’
‘Good morning, Sir Günther.’
‘Haha, good morning to you too, Butler! By any chance, is His Highness……?’
‘He has documents that need urgent handling. He will be heading to the training grounds soon.’
‘Ah, in that case—’
Just very ordinary, trivial conversations.
Thanks to them, I was able to roughly guess the Grand Duke’s sphere of movement. It was an achievement I had managed on my own over the past few days, when I couldn’t even catch a glimpse of the master of the house’s hair.
