Chapter 36
“Your Highness?”
As Rose hurried over, Reina immediately asked,
“Where’s the scarf?”
“Pardon?”
Rose wore a dumbfounded expression. It stung even more since she’d just pawned off her task on Mrs. Mary.
“If you mean the scarf, Mrs. Mary just took it. I was originally going to handle it myself, but…”
Just as she was about to pour out her excuses, Reina cut her off with another question.
“Mrs. Mary took it?”
Rose was annoyed at being interrupted, but sensing the unusual atmosphere, she instinctively adopted a submissive posture.
“Yes. I’m saying this in case you misunderstand, but I absolutely didn’t shirk my duties. Mrs. Mary said she wanted to do it, so I had no choice but to hand it over.”
Even so, her temper flared, and she rattled off her excuses irritably. It was because she’d been tormented all night and was at her limit.
Meanwhile, Reina’s face hardened at the mention that Mrs. Mary had taken it.
Her suspicions were growing stronger in a worse direction.
A moment later, Reina spoke with a cold expression.
“Call Mrs. Mary here right away. Have her bring the scarf just as it is.”
“Ma’am?”
“No. Let’s go together instead. That’ll be faster.”
The laundry room wasn’t far anyway.
Since they’d just parted ways, Mrs. Mary couldn’t have gone too far.
She grew anxious at the possibility that Mrs. Mary might try to destroy evidence in the meantime.
Urged on by Reina’s insistence, they hurried off, and Aiden, who happened to overhear the conversation, interjected.
“I’ll accompany you as well.”
“Aiden?”
Reina looked troubled.
It wasn’t certain yet that Mrs. Mary was the culprit.
Though she was half-convinced, of course.
She hesitated to interrogate Mrs. Mary in front of Aiden, who usually trusted her.
Seeing Reina’s hesitation, Aiden said,
“Mrs. Mary did something wrong, didn’t she?”
“What?”
“I overheard by chance while passing by. From the circumstances, it seems Mrs. Mary is involved in this incident, right?”
“It’s not certain yet.”
“Then all the more reason for me to join. This matter involves Dalia as well, doesn’t it? I have every right to hear about it.”
“But…”
“Even if I look frail, I’m good at providing support.”
Aiden naturally offered his arm to Reina.
It was probably a reference to his late wife, who had been in poor health.
Faced with his unexpectedly firm attitude, Reina meekly entrusted herself to him.
“Then please.”
* * *
After receiving the scarf from Rose, Mrs. Mary hurried down the hallway.
As soon as she reached a secluded spot, she swapped the one in the basket with a new one from her pocket.
‘Whew. That was close.’
She’d only meant to play a little prank, but things had escalated too much.
Who would have thought the duke himself would conduct a full investigation…!
At least switching the map while Rose was off guard had been a stroke of genius.
If she hadn’t done even that, she would have been the first suspect and missed her chance to destroy the evidence.
While all suspicion was directed at Rose, Mrs. Mary secretly pocketed the scarf that Dalia had lost.
Without it, there’d be no way to prove she’d committed the act.
Before the incident occurred.
Mrs. Mary had tampered with the scarf while Reina and Dalia were eating sandwiches and had taken it off.
She’d only mixed in an aphrodisiac that only snow foxes could smell, but the effect had been tremendous.
Mrs. Mary hadn’t anticipated that such a large pack would swarm into the safe zone, of all places.
She’d merely intended to give them a bit of a hard time and then dramatically pretend to rescue Dalia.
But since it had happened while she was away, there hadn’t even been time to save her.
Because of that, Reina had nearly died, putting Mrs. Mary on the verge of being accused of attempting to assassinate the duchess.
If she were caught, all her efforts up to now would vanish in an instant, so Mrs. Mary was on high alert.
She forced herself to remain calm as she headed to the laundry room.
And it was just as she arrived there.
Lily, who had been lying in wait, grabbed her wrist as if she’d been expecting her.
“Ah, you startled me. Miss Lily, what’s this all of a sudden?”
“Why are you so surprised? Do you have something to hide from me?”
For some reason, her face looked menacing, and Mrs. Mary flushed red.
“That’s rude. What’s this out of nowhere…”
She tried to shake her off immediately, but Lily gripped the basket even tighter and said,
“Hand over the basket.”
“Ah.”
Mrs. Mary’s face went pale as she pulled the basket back.
But quicker than that, Lily snatched it away, checked the contents, and growled,
“This isn’t the scarf. You couldn’t have washed it in that short time. Where did you stash Madam’s scarf?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I just brought it as I received it.”
As Mrs. Mary feigned ignorance, Lily’s face turned beet red with rage as she shouted,
“Don’t play dumb! Were you planning from the start to pin this on my sister?”
“I said that’s not it!”
Cornered, Mrs. Mary shrieked back, drawing the attention of the servants passing by.
With all eyes on them, Mrs. Mary looked uncomfortable.
The evidence was still in her pocket.
Seeing Mrs. Mary unnaturally hiding her pocket, Lily swiftly grabbed the hem of her skirt.
“It must be in here!”
“I said it’s not!”
Should she just run away and deny it later?
That’s what she was thinking when.
“Stop.”
At the familiar voice, Mrs. Mary flinched. It was the voice of the very person she hoped wouldn’t be there.
When she turned her head, Aiden was staring at her with a stern expression.
Beside him were Dalia and Reina as well.
Mrs. Mary called out to Aiden, her face ashen.
“Y-Young Duke…”
At that very moment, Lily nimbly pulled the scarf from Mrs. Mary’s pocket.
“Here it is, Madam!”
“Ah.”
It was over.
Mrs. Mary grimaced at being caught in the act of hiding the scarf right in front of them.
“Isn’t it?”
Aiden asked with a hardened face, and Mrs. Mary bit her lower lip.
This was in front of Aiden and Dalia.
What would be the point of running away now?
Mrs. Mary hung her head low and said,
“I’m sorry, Young Duke.”
Upon admitting her fault, Aiden sighed and pressed his forehead.
Dalia still wore an expression like she didn’t understand what was going on.
Reina said to Lily,
“Could you take Dalia and step away?”
“Yes, Madam.”
Lily immediately took Dalia’s hand and left the scene.
Dalia kept looking back, trying to check.
“Did the nanny make some mistake?”
“No, Miss.”
Lily smiled awkwardly and quickly removed Dalia from the area.
* * *
After Dalia disappeared, a cold silence settled over the hallway.
There were many watching eyes. Since the conversation seemed like it would drag on, they moved to a quiet room.
Aiden first checked the state of the scarf.
The scarf, mixed with aphrodisiac and blood, had a bluish tint.
Aiden, who immediately realized something had been done to the scarf, interrogated Mrs. Mary.
“Did you really sprinkle aphrodisiac on this?”
“I just wanted to show my loyalty…”
“Who in the world shows loyalty by putting their master in danger! Dalia almost got hurt because of it. And on top of that, my sister-in-law was already severely injured! Why on earth would you go this far?”
While Aiden fumed and seethed, Reina stood silently.
A moment later, Reina said,
“Sir Aiden. Calm down.”
“Aren’t you angry, Sister-in-law?”
“I am.”
At Reina’s low voice, Aiden flinched.
Her tone was clearly gentle, yet her eyes were as cold as ice.
