YNSYM 3

Chapter 3

“I heard that the person who saved you happened to be a passerby who was just passing through the area.”

“A passerby?”

“Yes. Apparently, he heard your scream while passing nearby and immediately ran toward the sound. Perhaps the killer was startled by him, because he fled without even realizing that he had dropped one of his belongings.”

“……”

“But by the time the passerby arrived, you had already fainted, so it seems he had no choice but to stay with you throughout the night. Thankfully, he handed you over to the police chief as soon as dawn broke, which is why you were able to return home like this.”

Anne let out a deep sigh, as though her startled heart still hadn’t settled down.

“Phew. Do you know how relieved I was when I heard what happened? You were lucky that a passerby happened to come by at just the right time. What would have happened if he hadn’t? You could have suffered something terrible!”

But, in truth, I was the one who was most bewildered right now.

So, putting together everything Anne had told me, the footsteps I’d heard last night…

Those footsteps really had belonged to the killer?

‘And I turned around without even realizing it…!’

A chill ran down my spine. My back felt icy cold, and my entire body began to tremble.

Of course, since I couldn’t remember anything, I had no idea that I’d actually encountered the killer, let alone what he looked like. But somehow, that made it even more terrifying.

“Ah!”

Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain in my cheek. When I touched it, Anne hurriedly brought over a wet cloth.

“It stings, doesn’t it? It seems you must have gotten that wound while struggling with the killer last night.”

When I checked the mirror, I saw that, just as Anne had said, there was a scratch-like wound on my cheek.

“Still, I’m just glad that’s all that happened to you.”

Anne was absolutely right. I might have ended up looking a little worse for wear, but this was still far better than dying.

At least, that was what the two of us thought.

“Elowin!”

My uncle, who apparently had heard that I’d woken up, kicked the door open and stormed inside. He certainly didn’t seem to think the situation was fortunate.

“As if humiliating us at the ball yesterday wasn’t enough, you went to Black Street and ran into a murderer? If people find out that you were wandering around in the middle of the night like some stray prostitute, who in the world would want to marry you?”

My uncle seemed completely unable to contain his anger, and even after yelling at me, his shoulders continued to heave for quite some time.

It was obvious that he was only afraid this incident might become known to the public. My safety was clearly the last thing on his mind.

Still, there was one thing that was fortunate for my uncle.

“Fortunately, I pulled some strings and made arrangements with the police chief so that the fact that you were the survivor of last night’s incident wouldn’t be made public. So stay quietly at home until your wound heals!”

With a deep sigh, my uncle closed the door with a loud bang and left.

Two weeks passed.

During that time, the newspapers ran articles day after day about how the sixth murder in Black Street had almost taken place, but fortunately, it had ended as an attempted murder.

Still, one thing I was grateful for was that, just as my uncle had said, my name never appeared in any of the articles.

All they reported was that the survivor had been saved by the help of a passing stranger, but had lost all her memories due to the shock and therefore could provide no additional clues about the killer.

That was all the newspapers had to say.

Well, strictly speaking, perhaps I couldn’t give my uncle the credit for that.

The reason it was possible to keep my identity as the survivor from becoming known was actually because of Chief Renford, the head of the police.

‘The killer won’t know that the survivor he failed to kill was a noblewoman. Miss Elowin was dressed as a maid that night, and there wasn’t a single streetlamp at the scene of the crime, so he probably couldn’t see her face clearly. Above all, there wouldn’t be any nobles wandering around the slums at that hour, so there’s even less reason for him to suspect anything.’

‘So please, Miss Elowin, keep this matter to yourself as well. Don’t tell anyone. Do you understand?’

I was incredibly grateful for Chief Renford’s consideration, but unfortunately, there was nothing I could do for him in return.

In fact, the chief had secretly come to see me several times to ask whether I remembered anything about the night of the twenty-fifth.

But my memory had been completely wiped clean.

I couldn’t give him even the slightest clue.

By the time the wound on my face had completely healed, however, another ball was held.

And I was being dragged to that ball right now.

Of course, it wasn’t by my own choice.

‘The Marquess will be attending tonight’s masquerade ball. So you absolutely cannot make any mistakes this time! And, of course, don’t say a single word about what happened on the night of the twenty-fifth! Understand?’

To prevent me from running away like I had last time, my uncle had even added one particularly ruthless condition.

‘If you run away again tonight, not only will you be thrown out of the house, but so will Anne.’

And so, under my uncle’s relentless warnings, I once again found myself face-to-face with the Marquess.

The Marquess looked exactly the same as he had two weeks ago.

His narrow, leering eyes as they looked me over.

And that overpowering perfume that seemed strong enough to be smelled from a hundred meters away.

Thanks to those things, I recognized him immediately, even though more than half of his face was hidden behind a mask.

After staring at me silently for quite some time, the Marquess finally opened his mouth.

“I heard you suffered from a severe fever. They said you had a strong constitution, but it seems that isn’t quite the case.”

At first, I had no idea what he was talking about.

But I soon figured it out.

‘My uncle must have used an illness as an excuse for why I stayed shut up at home for two weeks.’

I understood the situation, but I had no idea how to respond, so I hesitated.

Then my uncle suddenly cut in.

“Actually, our Elowin was deeply upset that day. She wanted to show you her best side, Your Lordship, but she kept making mistake after mistake. Perhaps that’s why her heartache eventually manifested as a fever.”

Of course, I was speechless.

‘Unless it was an illness that made me lose my sense of smell, what nonsense is he talking about?’

Come to think of it, my uncle really was something.

Unless my face had somehow changed, there was no way the Marquess would ever take a liking to me.

And yet, seeing my uncle go so far as to tell such lies in an attempt to change the Marquess’s mind, I almost had to admire his effort.

But then, an unexpected remark slipped from the Marquess’s lips as he looked at me.

“Hmm. She does have a rather cute side.”

Huh?

What did he just say?

Perhaps because I’d heard something so absurd, but suddenly I felt a wave of heat rush over me.

The Marquess frowned slightly as he looked at the back of my neck, which wasn’t fully covered by my mask.

“You don’t seem to have completely recovered yet. Here, at least have a drink of this. It should help bring your fever down.”

A glass of lemonade from the Marquess was placed before me, just like the champagne had been last time.

But that wasn’t important right now.

Cute.

Those three words were so shocking that I couldn’t see or hear anything else.

Once again, my uncle was the one who reacted in my place.

“My goodness! How thoughtful of you, Your Lordship. Elowin! Drink it quickly. His Lordship is thinking of you, so you should accept it.”

Since my uncle practically held the glass to my lips, I had no choice but to take the lemonade and drink.

Gulp, gulp.

But my mind was still in complete turmoil.

I was forcing the lemonade down, yet I couldn’t taste or smell a thing.

Then, as the Marquess continued watching me, his lips parted once more.

“These days, the world has truly fallen into decline. If they have enough money, even commoners think they’ve become nobles, while noble ladies only pretend to be refined on the outside. In reality, they conduct themselves as shamelessly as prostitutes from the slums. And so…”

The Marquess paused for a moment before gently tucking a strand of my brown hair, which had slipped over my mask, behind my ear.

“Perhaps a woman who may seem somewhat lacking on the outside, yet possesses an innocence untouched by the world, is actually the true makings of a noble lady.”

I nearly dropped the glass of lemonade in my hand.

What on earth was he saying?

Surely he didn’t mean that woman was me?

But my uncle seemed absolutely delighted by the situation.

“Exactly! As expected of someone with such discerning eyes, Your Lordship! Our Elowin is precisely that kind of woman, but everyone is so blinded by things that sparkle that they fail to recognize true value!”

“Well, young gentlemen can be forgiven for that. But now that I’m at this age and looking to take a fourth wife, I finally understand.”

The Marquess twisted the tip of his mustache as he continued.

“Something doesn’t have to sparkle to be a genuine jewel.”

This was insane.

This was a development I never could have anticipated.

Would it be better if I told him about what happened on the night of the twenty-fifth, even now?

‘Then the Marquess’s opinion of me would surely change! He’d think I was a promiscuous woman…’

It was then.

‘Huh?’

My mind suddenly went blank.

It couldn’t help it.

A strange scent had suddenly drifted toward me.

It was intense, yet subtle.

A scent so captivating that I couldn’t help but turn toward it.

As if drawn by some enormous gravitational force, I followed the scent with my eyes.

And then, a man entered my field of vision.

‘Ah—.’

I think I stopped breathing at that moment.

The instant I saw him, I simply couldn’t help it.

Of course, because he was wearing a mask, all I could see were his eyes, lower face, and hair.

But that was more than enough.

Black hair that fluttered lightly like the night sky.

Deep crimson eyes set beneath long, narrow eyes.

And beneath them, a distinct beauty mark like a single morning star.

He looked as though he had been created from the very scent that had captivated me so strongly just moments ago.

In other words, he was exactly my ideal ‘scent’ of a man.

He possessed the coolness of the air at sunset, yet there was something dreamlike about him, like a crimson sunset bathing everything in red.

He was precisely the ideal ‘scent’ of man I had dreamed of for so long.

It was astonishing.

A man like this actually existed.

Even though I had yearned for someone like him for so long, deep down, I had always believed that such a person could never truly exist.

Yet this man stood right before my eyes, proving that all those thoughts had been premature.

He was simply too perfect.

But there was something even more astonishing.

What was this?

Why did I have the strange feeling that this man was looking directly at me?

‘No way. That can’t be. There’s no way a man like that would be looking at me among all these people…’

But then, the man slowly began to move.

And when he finally stopped right in front of me—

“How have you been?”

I froze.

‘W-what? Is there someone behind me?’

But when I turned around, all I saw was the wall.

In the end, I barely managed to swallow and ask,

“Do… you know me?”

The corner of the man’s lips curved into a crooked smile.

I had no idea why, but I found myself staring blankly at that captivating smile.

Then he slowly bent down.

And when his lips came close to my ear, a cool voice, gentle as waves breaking upon the shore, softly washed over me.

“Of course I do. We spent the night together, after all.”