ITMWG 61

Chapter 61…

It’s too much for him to bear.

“Murder?”

Pavel’s, who had been answering with a faint smile, hardened.

“Where did you hear of such a thing?”

The response was not ‘What are you talking about?’ but ‘Where did you hear that?’ The difference between the two was very big.

“… It seems like it wasn’t completely nonsense.”

“…”

Pavel looked somewhat baffled at what she said.

“I think there used to be a rumour like that going around among the servants. But all those people have left Aylesford now.”

Pavel looked like he had no idea where such a belief came from, so Nadia decided to answer his question.

“The doctor who came to Aylesford recently, Leon, is the son of the Aylesford household’s former doctor.”

“Pardon? That…”

“If it’s the former doctor, I think I know him. I heard that his family left the estate in a hurry after the fire incident. So he is his son.”

“Yes. The matter of the incident being a murder came from that person.”

“That…I’m guessing he heard it from his father, who was once the doctor here?”

“Yes.”

When she nodded as confirmation, Pavel’s brows furrowed slightly.

“So the story about the murder was not just a rumour…”

“Leone thinks his father was murdered for finding out what had truly happened. He believes that it was Altair who committed it…”

“Sorry?”

Pavel, who was lost in his thoughts, was startled and came closer to her.

“That is ridiculous! His lord was a child at the time!”

Even when he was surprised, he didn’t raise his voice.

“I know. And even if Altair had been an adult at that time, I also know that he would never have done such a scary thing.”

“I’m a little surprised. I can’t believe you said that knowing fully well how the lord handled Balhail.”

“That’s because… Balhail was not his family.”

The moment she said that, she realised her words were somewhat misleading. Balhail was Altair’s cousin, so in a larger sense, he could be considered his family.

“Of course they are relatives.”

Nadia hastily added, trying to convey her intention properly.

“But the family I’m talking about is not a family by definition sense, I’m talking about something more connected, based on trust, and…”

It was difficult to convey the concepts that were vaguely made out, so she continued to talk in gibberish, and Pavel nodded with a smile.

“I think I know what you mean. Madame and his lord are family. The knights and his lord are also family.”

“Yes, that’s right! Pavel and Altair too!”

As she nodded along, smiling broadly, happy that the meaning had been conveyed, Pavel cleared his throat and subtly avoided her gaze.

“It’s not a necessity, it’s a fact.”

Nadia tilted her head at his unexpected humility.

“In fact, Pavel and Altair are more like family than Altair and I. The Knights and Altair are also very close..Your relationship has lasted for quite long.”

Nadia was just laying out facts, but strange enough, the more she spoke, the more her shoulders drooped. Seeing her like that, Pavel narrowed his eyes.

“Madame, there is no family in the world closer than a married couple.”

“Is that so…”

Everyone said that, but didn’t that only apply to a real couple who loved each other?

But me and Altair are not that kind of relationship.

Like nobles, they married each other for mutual benefit, and although their relationship was not particularly bad, they were not as passionate as lovers who bore immense affection for one other. Simply put, they were a couple merely out of necessity. Altair needed a successor, and she just needed a place to escape from the tragic story of the novel.

In my attempt to run away, I ended up becoming more deeply involved with the characters in the novel…

That was her original intention. Even now, that intention probably had not changed.

She was so lost in thought that she couldn’t control her expression properly, so Pavel called her with concern.

At that, Nadia hurriedly shook her head and put on her usual smile.

“Anyway, I believe in Altair’s innocence. But it didn’t seem like Leon was making things up.”

If Altair was innocent and Leon was not lying, there was only one answer. It was true that the death of the predecessors was a homicide, but the culprit was someone else. Before Nadia could speak, the quick-witted Pavel noticed the hidden meaning of the matter and lowered his voice.

“There needs to be an investigation. But why are you telling me this and not the lord…?”

“If it had truly been a murder, it would be a great misery for Altair. It will be painful all the while he tries to find out the truth. I’m hoping to reduce that pain even just for a little… Is it a ridiculous thought?”

When Nadia asked with a sheepish smile, Pavel, who was staring at her, smiled gently and shook his head.

“No. It will definitely be painful for the lord. He still can’t even go to the place where the fire incident occurred…However, I have limited freedom of action, so it would be difficult for me to take the lead in investigating such a matter.”

Since most of his time was spent assisting Altair, it would be even more difficult to make a move without being watched.

“If you don’t mind, how about I tell this to Blan and ask him to investigate?”

“If it’s Blan, then sur-…”

“Isn’t he handling a mission assigned by Altair?”

“He will be back soon. It looks like the investigation has been roughly completed. The country bumpkin was so excited about spending time in the fancy capital that he was delaying his return, so the lord grumbled and sent out a letter asking him to come back immediately.”

“What was he investigating in the capital?”

It was a question that came up naturally along the flow of the conversation, but Pavel quickly shut his mouth and stared at her.

Ah, it means to stay out of it from here.

Altair had entrusted him with a secret mission, but it seemed she tried to pry too much. Nadia then smiled broadly at Pavel, telling him to overlook her mistake and not worry too much.

“I’m sorry. I made a mistake. The Knights’ espionage mission is not something I can pry into.”

“Ah, that’s not the reason…”

“It’s alright, I’m sorry for troubling you.”

Pavel pressed his lips together at her uncomfortable expression. Before long, Nadia quickly changed the subject so as not to make it awkward for him any further.

Fortunately, the change of topic was successful. Pavel shook his head, unable to hide his displease at the mention of Melissa’s name.

“She seemed like someone who would go back and spread rumours no matter how we treat her.”

“That…that’s not wrong, but…”

It was funny that he was able to accurately perceive Melissa’s personality in such a short period of time, so Nadia started laughing without realising it.

“If we treat her well and strange rumours spread, then Melissa is slandering us, but if we really treat her poorly, then what she says will be true.”

The capital’s nobles valued their social circles as much as their lives. Life there was everything to them. As a result, they were able to quickly tell who was bluffing and who was telling the truth. Of course, there were many idiots who didn’t even know that, but they were never anyone worth mentioning anyway.

“We should pay attention to the servants who came with Melissa as well. The rumours will spread implicitly, and servants are the source of all rumors.”

“Do people even care about rumours in distant social circles?”

“We will soon be selling magic stones, and our main customers will be wealthy capital nobles. In order to deal smoothly with them, we need to show that we have common sense and are decent noble. Apparently, the people in the capital think of the eastern nobles as… umm…”

“They think we are undignified and rude. And that we are too low of a class to be interacting with them.”

“That…”

Nadia had no idea that it would come out so bluntly. However, since the capital’s nobles really evaluated the eastern nobles in that way, it was difficult to refute what he said. Seeing her smiling awkwardly, Pavel seemed to understand and lowered his head with the same tender smile.

“If it is your wish, I shall do my best to serve her.”

Huh, there’s nothing to find fault with…

Melissa frowned as she looked down at the perfectly prepared meal. She was so vicious that she was determined to get Nadia into trouble. However, it was so flawless that she couldn’t possibly do anything about it.

I’ll somehow find something to blame them…

As Melissa rolled her eyes back and forth, a crispy grilled dish of Latmong caught her eye. Her eyes sparkled as she thought, ‘This is it!’

“What is this? You are serving grilled Latmong without Etam sauce*?”

Melissa rolled her eyes and glared at the Aylesford maid. Serving Etam sauce on grilled Latmong was a long-standing tradition. But Etam sauce was very challenging to make and the ingredients were so expensive that it was difficult to serve it properly unless one was a high-ranking noble. But tradition was tradition. That alone was enough to be criticised as a fault. Melissa sprang up from her seat, ready to overturn the table.

“I can’t believe you treat guests like this! Call Nadia right now and tell her to apologie for this outrageous rudeness…”

The moment she was about to shout, ‘Tell her to kneel and apologise!’ the maid, keeping her mouth shut, quickly took a small bowl out of the trolley and set it down next to her grilled Latmong.

“I prepared it in case you need it. Etam sauce.”

“W-what?!”

Melissa looked at the bowl in surprise. It was an Etam sauce with perfect flavour and colour. She could not eat it often because it’s hard to find even in the Marquis of Vine. But how come they had the sauce here…? Although she was a little perplexed, Melissa did not give up and kept nitpicking again.

“Ha. Don’t you know that Etam sauce should be topped with fresh Gilan herbs?”

Gilan herbs were more expensive than gold due to the strict cultivation conditions. The standard for Etam sauce was to be finished with Gilan herbs, but few nobles would go to that length with their sauce. Melissa had only tasted it at banquets hosted by the imperial family, so there was no way Gilan herbs could be found in a remote area like this. Melissa became confident and raised her voice.

“Some people do not want Gilan herbs because of their strong scent, so we prepared them separately. I’ll add it now.”

Before Melissa could finish her sentence, the maid took out fresh Gilan herbs from her trolley and topped the Etam sauce in abundance. It was similar to the one seen at the imperial banquet.

“This-… that-…! Right! Butter! I want butter with fragrant dill herbs…”

“Knowing that you only eat with it in your dish, the Madame has already given instructions to the kitchen in advance.”

This time a plate of dill butter popped out of the trolley. After that, despite all kinds of excuses Melissa made, each time, without fail, the maid took out what she had requested in front of Melissa, as if she had been waiting.

Why-, why does it keep popping out?!

Eventually, Melissa gave up trying to find fault with it and, with a sullen expression on her face, sliced through the grilled Latmong and stuffed it into her mouth. She was even more annoyed because the food that had been carefully prepared with precious ingredients was so delicious.

So that girl gets to eat such delicious food every day?

She had felt it since she lay her eyes on the well-decorated castle, but seeing the cooking done so well made her feel certain that she had hit the jackpot.

She could not believe Nadia was enjoying such a luxury meanwhile.

No, no. Do not think that you’re inferior to her, Melissa Vine.

Melissa gritted her teeth, collected her expression, and put the tableware down on the table. The maid looked at her nervously, wondering if Melissa was going to find something else to start it again, but contrary to what she thought, there was a bright smile on her face. It almost made the maid wonder if she was the same person who had been complaining with irritation a little while ago. The moment the maid lowered her head with puzzlement. Melissa got up from her seat and said sweetly.

“His lord has prepared such a divine meal for me, so I would like to express my gratitude. Can you guide me to the lord?”