Chapter 50
Chapter 50
She couldn’t hear what he was saying, and she couldn’t even see the shape of his mouth because he had covered it with his hand. Still, Rosalind looked closely at Albert’s face, just in case. Every minute of his change, she couldn’t miss it.
After whispering for a while, the man finally lifted his lips.
Albert turned to the man and ordered something.
Rosalind was anxious, not knowing what was going on, and blinked as Albert asked the man to go out. Eventually, he opened his mouth again only after the man who bowed his head lightly closed the door and left. His gaze filled with Rosalind shone sharply.
“So, it wasn’t a lie?”
“It appears that you have received a report confirming the truth of what I said.”
“Right. But, how did you know… what did I do?”
“Actually, I wasn’t quite sure. So, I thought about it until the very end. Though you were a bit suspicious for me to pass on.”
“Where did you see it?”
He asked as if he was genuinely suspicious.
“…I never once told you that your father died from multiple stabs. Not only me, although my mother didn’t want the family’s honor to be tarnished, so we never disclosed it. How do you know information that even my relatives don’t know exactly…”
She thought it was strange and suspicious.
On the day Albert told Rosalind, ‘I want to help,’ he asked her, “You said that he was stabbed several times, right?”
“Oh, did you? However, isn’t that obvious? A knife is the most common way to kill people. Only with that?”
“You lied to me.”
Once she got herself together, her words flowed without hesitation.
“Then, when I spilled my tea on you… at that time.”
Rosalind thought back at the vivid past with a trembling voice.
The day she visited Albert’s mansion, she spilled the tea on purpose. Albert obviously had something suspicious about him, and she needed a chance to check it out.
On the day of the incident, the clothes of the criminal who had a physical fight with his father were torn. She thought it must have caused a wound on his body. If it was a cut, it wouldn’t heal easily, and since the wound wasn’t too deep. Even if it has healed, she would be able to see the traces of it.
She entered his room as he was about to undress. Then, she saw the bandages wrapped around his arm. There were several layers of long, white fabric wrapped around very neatly. It was unbelievable if it was just tied.
“Who would tie such a cloth to a burn? Putting on an ice pack or rinsing with cold water to extinguish the heat is the first step. There was even no water, no ice, nothing in the room.”
As if she hadn’t done anything like that in the first place.
“I have suffered from a burn recently, so I know better than anyone.”
He didn’t deny it. Instead, he changed the direction of her words.
“It could just be an injury from training.”
“Right, but you deceived me. You talked to me as if you had treated a burn wound.”
His gaze fell sharply on her. Rosalind struggled to suppress her fears and spoke to him, “Is it strange? A country noble, knowing what I didn’t even tell you, has scars on his arm that he wants to hide and someone I can’t identify…”
Albert, who had listened to her quietly, asked a question again.
“Do you have any evidence other than such clumsy speculation? There must be evidence.”
“The evidence will come from your house. The clothes you were wearing at the time of the crime were torn, so finding them will provide solid evidence.”
“I would have thrown it away. If there’s evidence.”
Wasn’t that obvious?
She shook her head at his sneering voice.
“No. Would you ever let it go? It’s your mother’s legacy.”
The mockery was only fleeting. Hearing Rosalind’s following words, his expression sank down.
“You don’t wear brightly colored clothes if you’re going to harm someone. Wearing tear-prone and striking yellow clothes to kill people at night…? It’s really absurd. People usually wrap themselves tightly in dark colors… So, obviously, I thought the clothes must have a reason.”
His eyes seemed to darken little by little.
“By the way, I mean. At that time…I remembered your mother was wearing similar colored clothes in the portrait I saw at your house. Among the colorfully dressed families, only one person in yellow caught my eye. As you said, right now, it’s just speculation, though won’t the physical evidence come out soon?”
Albert didn’t answer for a while, then gazed into Rosalind’s face and burst into laughter. It was a big laugh.
“I thought you were a complete idiot… You’re smarter than I think. You’ve been trying your best to guess.”
He slowly walked towards Rosalind as if intrigued.
“I don’t hate smart women, but I do when they know too much.”
The next moment, he pulled out a sword from the scabbard on his waist and held it high. Unlike the indifferent eyes, the sword that received the light shone brightly. The sword rushed at her in an instant.
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
The knife stopped right in front of her neck, leaving no gap. As the sharp blade touched her delicate skin, a straight line was drawn little by little. The blood that flowed from that line was smeared on the silver sword.
Rosalind froze, unable to even breathe properly.
“Don’t say anything that provokes me. All right?”
Sensing the danger from Albert’s voice, she bit the inside of her lip. Suddenly, there was another knock on the door from outside again.
Where was this? Could she escape if she went out that door?
‘How are Leo and mother doing…?’
Thousands of thoughts run through her mind.
With tears in her eyes, Rosalind deliberately turned her gaze towards the door. The man he saw earlier came back inside. Albert, still holding a knife to her neck, said without looking at the man.
“Let’s talk there so she can hear everything.”
“…All the soldiers were either dead or wounded. There will be no more pursuit. The way has been opened, so you can leave immediately.”
Albert smiled contentedly and withdrew the sword.
“Did you hear that? Let me think more about whether to kill you or not.”
As he blinked, a man came and forced Rosalind to her feet. He began to tie her tighter with the rope once more. Even as the stranger touched her, she was just immersed in thoughts with a bewildered face.
…All the soldiers dead or wounded? They would never come after her.
Her only hope was for the soldiers to come to find her.
…But, if the man’s words were true—
Rosalind’s eyes became distant. She couldn’t see any other way. In her desperate reality, something she had been holding back seemed to rise. Still, she couldn’t give up like this. She had a reason to get out of here, no matter what.
“Move!”
The man’s menacing force pushed her, checking the cords around her several times, and Rosalind’s feet began to move arbitrarily. She calmly assessed the situation in her mind.
There was a door. Were there other people guarding it when she walked out that door? How could she escape? Was now the time to take advantage and move…?
However, the multi-layered ropes were tightening as if they were digging into her flesh, and the hand of the man who was dragging her was only harsh. Nonetheless, the moment she decided to try it, a sharp thing pierced her side.
“Don’t even think about running away.”
Rosalind swallowed her breath as if he had read her head. She was only anxious as each step she took was like standing on a single wooden plank.
Creak—
The door opened.
She didn’t know because the room was in a tidy condition, but when she came out of the room, it was a completely abandoned house.
There was dust all over the house, and most of the furniture was broken or the only thing left was the old ones. The windows and all sorts of things were also messy. In addition, the sound of shards of glass shattered with every step on the stairs.
It was obvious that it had not been taken care of for a long time. Even though Rosalind was confident that this neighborhood was still quite familiar, she had no idea where she was or how far it was.
Taking her steps slowly, looking around, she seemed to have to go down the stairs and wait for the big door to open. Her heart was beating like crazy.
“Why are you so slow!”
Then, the man yelled and pushed her on the back. The sudden shock tripped her foot, and she fell to the floor. Her hands were tied behind her back, so she couldn’t focus, but she luckily did not hit her head.
A dull pain felt near her arm, but Rosalind swallowed the groan down her throat.
Thanks to her lavish dress, she didn’t get cut by a piece of glass. Nevertheless, the pain didn’t go away easily.
This time, Albert, not the stranger, lifted her up.
“Get up.”
But, the man who wrinkled his impression came back and grabbed her arm roughly. As she was dragged away by the man, she arrived at a large door, and as she walked through the door, she finally felt the wind.
It was a dense forest. The trees were so dense that she couldn’t even get a sense of what was behind them.
How far was it from that market? Where is this forest…? It wouldn’t be very far from the fact that the soldiers had come close, though it didn’t seem like it was very close either.
Dozens of questions came to her mind, but before she could answer them, she arrived at the carriage.
She couldn’t hear what he was saying, and she couldn’t even see the shape of his mouth because he had covered it with his hand. Still, Rosalind looked closely at Albert’s face, just in case. Every minute of his change, she couldn’t miss it.
After whispering for a while, the man finally lifted his lips.
Albert turned to the man and ordered something.
Rosalind was anxious, not knowing what was going on, and blinked as Albert asked the man to go out. Eventually, he opened his mouth again only after the man who bowed his head lightly closed the door and left. His gaze filled with Rosalind shone sharply.
“So, it wasn’t a lie?”
“It appears that you have received a report confirming the truth of what I said.”
“Right. But, how did you know… what did I do?”
“Actually, I wasn’t quite sure. So, I thought about it until the very end. Though you were a bit suspicious for me to pass on.”
“Where did you see it?”
He asked as if he was genuinely suspicious.
“…I never once told you that your father died from multiple stabs. Not only me, although my mother didn’t want the family’s honor to be tarnished, so we never disclosed it. How do you know information that even my relatives don’t know exactly…”
She thought it was strange and suspicious.
On the day Albert told Rosalind, ‘I want to help,’ he asked her, “You said that he was stabbed several times, right?”
“Oh, did you? However, isn’t that obvious? A knife is the most common way to kill people. Only with that?”
“You lied to me.”
Once she got herself together, her words flowed without hesitation.
“Then, when I spilled my tea on you… at that time.”
Rosalind thought back at the vivid past with a trembling voice.
The day she visited Albert’s mansion, she spilled the tea on purpose. Albert obviously had something suspicious about him, and she needed a chance to check it out.
On the day of the incident, the clothes of the criminal who had a physical fight with his father were torn. She thought it must have caused a wound on his body. If it was a cut, it wouldn’t heal easily, and since the wound wasn’t too deep. Even if it has healed, she would be able to see the traces of it.
She entered his room as he was about to undress. Then, she saw the bandages wrapped around his arm. There were several layers of long, white fabric wrapped around very neatly. It was unbelievable if it was just tied.
“Who would tie such a cloth to a burn? Putting on an ice pack or rinsing with cold water to extinguish the heat is the first step. There was even no water, no ice, nothing in the room.”
As if she hadn’t done anything like that in the first place.
“I have suffered from a burn recently, so I know better than anyone.”
He didn’t deny it. Instead, he changed the direction of her words.
“It could just be an injury from training.”
“Right, but you deceived me. You talked to me as if you had treated a burn wound.”
His gaze fell sharply on her. Rosalind struggled to suppress her fears and spoke to him, “Is it strange? A country noble, knowing what I didn’t even tell you, has scars on his arm that he wants to hide and someone I can’t identify…”
Albert, who had listened to her quietly, asked a question again.
“Do you have any evidence other than such clumsy speculation? There must be evidence.”
“The evidence will come from your house. The clothes you were wearing at the time of the crime were torn, so finding them will provide solid evidence.”
“I would have thrown it away. If there’s evidence.”
Wasn’t that obvious?
She shook her head at his sneering voice.
“No. Would you ever let it go? It’s your mother’s legacy.”
The mockery was only fleeting. Hearing Rosalind’s following words, his expression sank down.
“You don’t wear brightly colored clothes if you’re going to harm someone. Wearing tear-prone and striking yellow clothes to kill people at night…? It’s really absurd. People usually wrap themselves tightly in dark colors… So, obviously, I thought the clothes must have a reason.”
His eyes seemed to darken little by little.
“By the way, I mean. At that time…I remembered your mother was wearing similar colored clothes in the portrait I saw at your house. Among the colorfully dressed families, only one person in yellow caught my eye. As you said, right now, it’s just speculation, though won’t the physical evidence come out soon?”
Albert didn’t answer for a while, then gazed into Rosalind’s face and burst into laughter. It was a big laugh.
“I thought you were a complete idiot… You’re smarter than I think. You’ve been trying your best to guess.”
He slowly walked towards Rosalind as if intrigued.
“I don’t hate smart women, but I do when they know too much.”
The next moment, he pulled out a sword from the scabbard on his waist and held it high. Unlike the indifferent eyes, the sword that received the light shone brightly. The sword rushed at her in an instant.
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
The knife stopped right in front of her neck, leaving no gap. As the sharp blade touched her delicate skin, a straight line was drawn little by little. The blood that flowed from that line was smeared on the silver sword.
Rosalind froze, unable to even breathe properly.
“Don’t say anything that provokes me. All right?”
Sensing the danger from Albert’s voice, she bit the inside of her lip. Suddenly, there was another knock on the door from outside again.
Where was this? Could she escape if she went out that door?
‘How are Leo and mother doing…?’
Thousands of thoughts run through her mind.
With tears in her eyes, Rosalind deliberately turned her gaze towards the door. The man he saw earlier came back inside. Albert, still holding a knife to her neck, said without looking at the man.
“Let’s talk there so she can hear everything.”
“…All the soldiers were either dead or wounded. There will be no more pursuit. The way has been opened, so you can leave immediately.”
Albert smiled contentedly and withdrew the sword.
“Did you hear that? Let me think more about whether to kill you or not.”
As he blinked, a man came and forced Rosalind to her feet. He began to tie her tighter with the rope once more. Even as the stranger touched her, she was just immersed in thoughts with a bewildered face.
…All the soldiers dead or wounded? They would never come after her.
Her only hope was for the soldiers to come to find her.
…But, if the man’s words were true—
Rosalind’s eyes became distant. She couldn’t see any other way. In her desperate reality, something she had been holding back seemed to rise. Still, she couldn’t give up like this. She had a reason to get out of here, no matter what.
“Move!”
The man’s menacing force pushed her, checking the cords around her several times, and Rosalind’s feet began to move arbitrarily. She calmly assessed the situation in her mind.
There was a door. Were there other people guarding it when she walked out that door? How could she escape? Was now the time to take advantage and move…?
However, the multi-layered ropes were tightening as if they were digging into her flesh, and the hand of the man who was dragging her was only harsh. Nonetheless, the moment she decided to try it, a sharp thing pierced her side.
“Don’t even think about running away.”
Rosalind swallowed her breath as if he had read her head. She was only anxious as each step she took was like standing on a single wooden plank.
Creak—
The door opened.
She didn’t know because the room was in a tidy condition, but when she came out of the room, it was a completely abandoned house.
There was dust all over the house, and most of the furniture was broken or the only thing left was the old ones. The windows and all sorts of things were also messy. In addition, the sound of shards of glass shattered with every step on the stairs.
It was obvious that it had not been taken care of for a long time. Even though Rosalind was confident that this neighborhood was still quite familiar, she had no idea where she was or how far it was.
Taking her steps slowly, looking around, she seemed to have to go down the stairs and wait for the big door to open. Her heart was beating like crazy.
“Why are you so slow!”
Then, the man yelled and pushed her on the back. The sudden shock tripped her foot, and she fell to the floor. Her hands were tied behind her back, so she couldn’t focus, but she luckily did not hit her head.
A dull pain felt near her arm, but Rosalind swallowed the groan down her throat.
Thanks to her lavish dress, she didn’t get cut by a piece of glass. Nevertheless, the pain didn’t go away easily.
This time, Albert, not the stranger, lifted her up.
“Get up.”
But, the man who wrinkled his impression came back and grabbed her arm roughly. As she was dragged away by the man, she arrived at a large door, and as she walked through the door, she finally felt the wind.
It was a dense forest. The trees were so dense that she couldn’t even get a sense of what was behind them.
How far was it from that market? Where is this forest…? It wouldn’t be very far from the fact that the soldiers had come close, though it didn’t seem like it was very close either.
Dozens of questions came to her mind, but before she could answer them, she arrived at the carriage.
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