Chapter 42🌹

Chapter 42

For a moment, I tensed up, thinking, ‘Has the moment finally come?’

I had prepared excuses and explanations, but what if this man found even one weak hole in them?

However, contrary to my worries, Ash seemed to have made a generous decision.

“I’m a man who knows a thing or two about manners, so I won’t punish someone by grabbing the collar of the person who helped me. And I think I can already guess what answer you would give me.”

“……”

Having nothing to say, I idly fiddled with the stem of my wine glass until he turned his head toward me and whispered in a low voice.

“So please continue to help me from now on. Isn’t stopping a horrific crime ‘more’ important?”

In other words, he was saying that preventing the human trafficking case was more important than exposing my identity as someone suspected of being involved in the arson case, so he would let it slide for now, right?

I felt foolish for thinking I could seduce this man.

The more I flirted with Ash and smiled at him coyly, the more untrustworthy a person I would become.

Still, his words offered me the slightest bit of comfort.

‘I… am actually being helpful…….’

If I could prevent even a little of those wicked men’s crimes simply by searching through my old memories and informing him of Gale’s misdeeds, then I would gladly help, even if it meant being suspected more than I already was.

Perhaps that was something I wanted more desperately than becoming wealthy.

Because it might be the only way to comfort the me who had been a child.

“You seem to have misunderstood me a little, but I agree with what you said, Inspector, about preventing horrific crimes. Then, from now on, I’ll……”

Feeling better, I switched my wine glass for a champagne glass and swirled it around before looking at him and asking,

“Would I at least be considered your friend, Inspector?”

“……”

“Or am I simply an informant?”

“Does that matter?”

The bar was set pretty high.

He could have easily let me cross it.

“It matters to me. A relationship is what determines how much I trust you and how much I’ll tell you.”

Did that sound half like a threat?

Ash slightly raised the corners of his lips and nodded as though he understood.

“For now, shall we consider ourselves friends?”

“If you say ‘for now,’ does that mean there’s a possibility it could develop into something more?”

“No one knows how things will turn out in this world.”

Hmm.

That was an answer I liked for the first time in a while.

I still couldn’t tell whether he had feelings for me or was simply dangling bait in front of me.

“All right. Then…… may I call you ‘Ash’?”

“As much as you like.”

“Then please call me ‘Rosalyn’ as well. I’ll even permit you to call me ‘Rosie’ in particular.”

“Rosie? I suppose that’s Rosalyn’s nickname. Thank you for allowing me.”

The name, which was both Rosalyn’s nickname and my real name, sounded incredibly strange when whispered by a man whose allegiance I still could not determine.

It felt as though Ash were standing on the boundary between my truth and my lies.

‘Why did I tell this man he could call me Rosie?’

The words had slipped out without thought, but they were words I had never once said to anyone else.

Not even to Count and Countess Brough, the people I had been closest to since I began pretending to be Rosalyn.

“Rosie.”

He called me again.

“Ash.”

I called him as well.

The candlelight on the table was reflected in his eyes as he quietly stared at me, making them shimmer with a dark golden glow.

“You’re my first friend in Herona, and I hope I can gradually learn more and more about you from now on.”

That was when I realized it.

Perhaps I wanted him to learn a great deal about me.

To realize that I was Rosie Camden, that my life was being threatened by a vicious pimp and the head of a criminal organization, that I desperately wanted someone who would help me, and that I longed to be able to live as myself someday, and then take my hand……

But things like that only happened in fairy tales.

‘Because there is no one in this world who would show kindness without expecting anything in return.’

So, while I still couldn’t trust him, I had no choice but to give him an ambiguous answer.

“Yes. Me too.”

Just then, Lana’s song ended, and applause erupted from all around us.

But Ash and I merely stared at each other like beasts searching for an enemy.

***

“We won’t have any trouble later, will we?”

As Rowanson muttered while looking back at the Herona checkpoint they had passed through just before the city gates closed, Gale answered with a snort.

“Those bastards probably want to get this over with and go home to pat their wives’ asses. They won’t think to examine our identification papers twice.”

Besides, the forged identification papers were sophisticated.

At a glance, there was nothing strange about them at all.

The group in Herona that had approached him with a business proposal had been that thorough in their preparations.

They had even organized the questions the capital guards were likely to ask and the answers to them, and advised him to use the evening hours, when inspections would be the most lax.

Thanks to that, they had just passed through the checkpoint without any problems, even though others had difficulty getting through despite having perfectly legitimate identification papers.

“By the way, when are you going to meet that baron’s young lady?”

Rowanson asked, apparently bothered by something else.

Then Angus, who was beside him, added,

“What will you do if that Rosie wench really burned to death?”

“If she’s dead, then that’s fortunate. What’s the problem?”

“I’m just worried that meeting a noble might cause trouble later. Rosie might have told that young lady about us……”

They were so tired of searching for Rosie that they subtly voiced their dissatisfaction toward Gale, who seemed ready to dig up even her grave after believing she was already dead.

But Gale did not change his plans even though he knew what they were thinking.

“There are no exceptions. I have to make sure she’s dead.”

That had been one of the ways he had survived.

When he first set foot in this vile and cruel world, there had been many boys around his age.

Of those, only half had survived this long, and of those, only a handful had subordinates under them, while the only person whose name was known across the entire country was Gale Showman.

What had created the difference between those boys who had all started out more or less the same?

Never become needlessly attached to humans.

A traitor must always be dealt with.

Never make exceptions.

There were a few more rules besides those, but the greatest reason Gale had been able to rule <Mulberry> perfectly for thirty years was precisely that.

‘Especially this time, I absolutely cannot let it pass lightly.’

Otherwise, it could set a very bad precedent.

There would certainly be underlings who would look down on him for having been defeated by a mere young girl.

But he couldn’t rush to Rosalyn right away.

“First, we have to meet the bastards who invited us and discuss business, so stop whining already.”

Gale clicked his tongue and headed toward the meeting place he had been informed of in advance by letter.

It was a tavern not far from the checkpoint, rather boldly chosen.

Whether it was surprising or perhaps only natural, the tavern was already packed with customers despite the early hour.

It would be difficult to notice even if someone inside were to speak their sinister intentions aloud.

“I thought you might get lost since it’s your first time here, but you found the place well enough.”

At the innermost six-person table of the tavern <Fabio>, the man who greeted Gale and his party was in his early forties, yet he did not even have a belly.

“I’m Gale Showman.”

“Rupert Telman. Pleased to meet you.”

“Maybe it’s because we’re in the capital, but even a scoundrel looking to get involved with a man like me is dressed up rather nicely.”

“This is all part of maintaining appearances for business. Anyway, you must be tired from coming all this way, so have something to eat first.”

When he snapped his fingers, steaming, greasy dishes began pouring out from the kitchen one after another.

But Gale did not eat immediately.

“I’d appreciate it if you tried it first.”

“Are you worried it might be poisoned?”

“Ever since I was stabbed in the back by a brazen wench a few years ago, I can’t afford to let my guard down over even the smallest thing.”

At those words, Gale’s subordinates reluctantly lowered the forks they had picked up and sighed.

Watching them, Rupert’s eyes gleamed with interest as he personally tore off a chicken leg and took a large bite of the meat.

Then, chewing the meat noisily, he asked,

“The infamous Gale Showman was defeated by a woman?”

“Even monkeys fall from trees…… though that’s not quite fair. That woman was simply too lucky.”

Gale tore into a chicken leg just like him and began talking about the slave who had slipped from his grasp.

About Rosie Camden, who was beautiful, quick-witted, and, though he hated to admit it, intelligent as well.

Then he got to the real reason he had brought up the subject.

“So, in exchange for passing on my know-how, help me dig up some dirt on that wench.”

“Is that woman in Herona?”

“They say she died in a fire, but I can’t trust it since I didn’t see it with my own eyes.”