Chapter 16
Having received the imperial decree and hastily made their way up to the capital, there were still more than three months left until the Little Saints’ Prayer Assembly.
Thus, the Basilian family decided to stay in their capital townhouse until then, before crossing over to the Holy Empire.
The Basilian count’s capital townhouse was splendid.
Having grown accustomed to the dreary castles of the east, Cheshire had no expectations at all, but it turned out to be beyond what she imagined.
It was decorated more lavishly than the mansions of most noble families.
The interior, ornaments, and furniture were all aligned with the latest trends.
What Cheshire liked most was the garden.
Filled to the brim with flowers suited to the season, the garden alone lifted her spirits just by looking at it.
Cheshire strolled through the garden every single day.
And every time she strolled through the garden, annoying pests clung to her.
‘This is really annoying.’
Grumbling inwardly, Cheshire glanced back over her shoulder.
Trailing behind her toddling steps were the twins, following closely.
With his hands shoved into his pockets in a delinquent posture, Karha nodded toward a flower blooming in the garden.
“Baby, look over here. The flower’s pretty.”
Cheshire paid no attention and kept moving forward.
Then, this time, Ishuel spoke up.
“Want me to carry you? Your feet are so tiny. You might trip while walking.”
Of course, she didn’t respond to him any more than she had to Karha.
She diligently continued her steps, earnestly inhaling the scent of grass and flowers.
Even though she consistently ignored them, the twins found something endlessly amusing about it and giggled.
Chuckling softly, they matched their pace to her toddling walk and followed along.
Cheshire shot them a half-hearted glare over her shoulder, only to tangle her feet in the process.
“Eek!”
Just as she was about to flop face-first, hands grabbed her firmly from both sides.
The twins, each holding one side of Cheshire, grinned identically.
Their smirks were so infuriating that if she could, she truly wanted to give each of them a solid flick on the forehead.
Still, since they had caught her, she at least offered a thank you.
“Thwank you.”
“Thwank you?”
“Thwank you, huh?”
The twins latched onto that one phrase from Cheshire and teased her relentlessly.
Finally, unable to maintain her composure, Cheshire shot them an angry glare, which only made the two of them burst into hysterical laughter, practically gasping for air.
The servants passing by smiled at the sight of the three bickering playfully.
They let out audible laughs before quickly composing their expressions.
The servants of the Basilian household were an exceptionally quiet bunch.
They attended to their masters like ghosts, but lately, because of Cheshire, instances of the servants smiling without realizing it had been increasing.
After the countess’s death, silence and stillness had lingered over the Basilian household for a long time.
This was a first for them, so the servants acted awkwardly, unsure if it was okay to laugh so freely.
However, it was clear that they all adored their new little master.
In this situation where everyone else was enjoying themselves, only Cheshire was getting irritated.
‘Sigh.’
Cheshire let out a deep sigh.
She had left the Serpent’s Castle and come to the capital townhouse.
Originally, she had planned to leave right away, but with time still remaining until the Little Saints’ Prayer Assembly,
and having found Kierne suspicious during her observation while entering the palace, she decided to investigate a bit more.
She had even sent Hata back.
‘But there’s still no results!’
During the day, the twins, obsessed with their new toy, followed her around relentlessly all day long.
In the evenings, at least the twins took turns going out, but one of them always stuck by Cheshire’s side.
And at night, Kierne tormented her.
Since arriving in the capital, for some reason, Kierne hardly ever came home.
But whenever he did return, he invariably sought out Cheshire’s room.
Then, he would kidnap her and take her to his bedroom.
“I’m scared to sleep alone. I have to sleep with Cheshire.”
He would say, offering such an absurd excuse.
Every time, a faint scent of blood lingered on Kierne.
She was curious about what he was up to and was considering tailing him soon.
In any case, not knowing when Kierne might show up, she couldn’t wander around freely for long periods at night either.
Whenever she had a brief moment, she would sneak into the study and pilfer through documents, but there was no meaningful information.
‘It was the same at the Serpent’s Castle, and here too…’
It felt like something was being hidden, and she had the sense she was missing it.
‘I need to leave the count’s household quickly before it gets too annoying.’
Cheshire recalled the person she had met at the palace.
A man in a pristine white uniform, untainted by even the slightest speck.
His blue eyes, still clean and beautiful.
‘Hailon as an escort knight…’
Considering the influence, status, and abilities he held in Hilderd.
Being assigned as the escort knight for a child attending the Little Saints’ Prayer Assembly was an enormous waste of high-level talent.
No, first of all, it didn’t make sense for an inquisitor to be playing the role of a mere escort knight.
These were inquisitors who could make even a crying baby stop its tears in an instant.
Those who slaughtered heretics with mad cruelty—how could they be babysitting children?
Yet Hailon had concealed his identity and approached the Basilian count’s household.
‘They might have already started the investigation.’
The inquisitors of the Holy Empire were disgustingly perceptive.
Perhaps they had already finished gathering evidence and were just waiting to spring a trap at the decisive moment.
Especially since Hailon had personally stepped in.
It meant that the inquisitors considered the Basilains a primary target for investigation.
‘This is really giving me a headache.’
Knowing that Kierne wanted to bring back the dead made her even more uneasy.
She had to leave quickly, before the inquisitors tore apart the Basilian family, and before participating in the Little Saints’ Prayer Assembly.
‘I’ll find out something today, no matter what.’
It was at that moment when Cheshire steeled her resolve.
“Miss!”
A servant approached with quick, pattering steps.
Upon seeing Cheshire with her arms caught by the twins, forced into a pose like she was cheering in victory, the servant suddenly bit her lips hard.
Struggling with all her might not to laugh, she managed to speak in a composed voice.
“The tutor has arrived.”
They had said that starting today, a tutor would be assigned to teach Cheshire etiquette.
Incidentally, the twins would also receive a simple review of etiquette before their debut in high society.
No one in the Basilian count’s household had ever made a debut in high society.
They hadn’t even done what was utterly natural and basic for the young ladies and gentlemen of noble families.
Thus, they were scheduled to make their first appearance in society at the upcoming banquet hosted by the Duke of Ivroyel’s family.
‘I already know all about etiquette.’
She had often wandered around pretending to be a noble.
Because of that, she was more proficient in etiquette and conversation than most noble young ladies.
‘Though conversation skills won’t mean much.’
No matter how skillfully she maneuvered her short tongue, it would just come out as garbled pronunciation.
Pondering how to appear like a baby learning etiquette for the first time, she headed to the drawing room with the twins.
As soon as Cheshire sat in the drawing room and spotted the person elegantly sipping tea, she genuinely recoiled in disgust.
‘Count Rudin?!’
Count Rudin was sitting side by side with a noblewoman.
Across from them sat Belzeon.
Belzeon wore a blank expression, but a faint irritation flickered in his red eyes.
Count Rudin, who had been sipping his black tea, raised his eyebrows upon seeing the twins and Cheshire enter the drawing room.
The noblewoman immediately smoothed her dress skirt and rose gracefully.
“What adorable young masters and miss. Pleased to meet you. Starting today, I’ll be teaching you etiquette.”
She was Countess Rudin.
‘Why her, of all people!’
There were plenty of tutors in the capital who could teach etiquette, so why on earth was Countess Rudin the home tutor?
And she had even brought her husband along.
Count Rudin cleared his throat pompously and spoke arrogantly.
“I hold the Basilian count’s household in special regard, so I’ve assigned my wife as the tutor.”
“…….”
Belzeon flashed a wry smile.
She could vaguely guess what had happened.
He had chased away the originally scheduled tutor and barged in with his wife, insisting on it.
Count Rudin’s eyes were busily darting around, scrutinizing the count’s residence.
The reason for such behavior was obvious.
‘His goal must be to spy.’
All the men of the Basilian family possessed appearances that were bound to draw attention once they started socializing in high society.
On top of that, it was a family that enjoyed the emperor’s trust to the extent of having private audiences with him.
From Count Rudin’s perspective, he must have felt the need to check them in advance, before they became competitors.
The fact that he had timed his visit for when Kierne was absent also revealed his intentions.
He probably figured that with only children around, he could act as he pleased.
“Why is everyone so quiet?”
Countess Rudin chided sharply.
The twins, who had been silently nudging each other, belatedly responded with yes and offered greetings.
Cheshire followed suit with a perfunctory greeting.
Countess Rudin’s eyes gleamed like a fox that had caught its prey.
“Then, shall we start with Miss Cheshire? If you’re attending the duke’s banquet, we need to diligently begin lessons right away.”
She covered her mouth with her hand and laughed.
“It would be troublesome if it shows that you’re from an orphanage.”
Cheshire blinked.
‘Such childish provocation.’
It wasn’t even funny.
She deemed it not worth responding to.
“…!”
Cheshire’s eyes widened in surprise.
A small gust of wind rustled her hair.
Karha, who had been right beside her a moment ago, was now standing in front of Countess Rudin.
Karha held his sword in its scabbard.
He lightly tapped the underside of the countess’s chin with the tip of the sword and grinned wickedly.
“Hey, watch your mouth.”
Ishuel, who was holding Cheshire, tilted his head slightly and continued the words.
“We’d be in trouble if we heard such things too. It really makes us agonize.”
The boy whispered in a soft, youthful voice.
“Whether to kill or not.”
