Fish Don't Know About Water - Chapter 32

“But why did you empty the groom’s side of the guest seats? There were already few guests, making the venue even more desolate.”

“Why don’t you go down and fill the bride’s side of the guest seats?”

“No, thank you. It would be embarrassing… The groom’s ex-fiancée showing up at the wedding would only be a laughingstock.”

She shook her head and took out an envelope from her bag.

“As you ordered, I investigated more around Senior Law. But I found some unexpected information from an unexpected source.”

“Unexpected source?”

“The Count of Cochrun.”

Cecilia lowered her voice as she glanced below the railing. The priest’s long and tedious sermon showed no sign of ending.

“I found out that he was an agent of the Security Bureau in his youth.”

She took out an old envelope from her bag. Hinler raised an eyebrow, looking intrigued.

“That greedy fox-like man? …That’s surprising.”

“He joined the Security Bureau because of his greed.”

She handed him the envelope and explained.

“At that time, he was pushed out of the succession fight, so he secured the title of Count by contributing to the country.”

“He was more proactive than I thought.”

Hinler snorted and took several yellowed papers from the envelope. They were documents about Poisin Cochrun, the father of Phenelity.

A photo of young Poisin was attached to a corner of the document, and below it were detailed records of his counter-espionage activities.

Poisin, who was recognized as a competent agent, left the Security Bureau about 20 years ago, around the time the novel <Pepe> began serialization.

“He left the Security Bureau due to security issues.”

Hinler muttered, tapping Poisin’s records with his fingers.

“He could have aimed for the position of Director of the Security Bureau, surprisingly.”

“The Count’s role was to supervise the tracking and monitoring of spies operating domestically. At that time, he was mainly called by the code name ‘Command Tower.'”

Cecilia explained with a nonchalant face.

“Becoming the Director was unrealistic, but a senior position was definitely possible. The problem was that the Count wasn’t someone who would be satisfied with just that.”

Having pushed his brother aside and secured the title of Count, Poisin Cochrun left the Security Bureau without hesitation. The glory of the family as the parent of the Little Lady was more appealing than the power he could gain as a senior member of the Security Bureau.

“The main targets were Easton spies. The number of spies the Count personally uncovered was quite significant.”

Cecilia took the envelope from Hinler’s hand and pulled out a clipped newspaper page.

“These are the spies Poisin Cochrun personally supervised the uncovering of.”

Hinler looked up and checked the date on the newspaper she handed him.

“It’s a newspaper from over 20 years ago.”

“It’s an article about spies who infiltrated various parts of the Westenia government.”

“I vaguely remember… They were the ones who planned to assassinate the king.”

“That’s right. There was even a big shot like the former Navy Commander involved, which caused a huge uproar nationwide. Besides that, there were Zen Poirot of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rosalyn Doyle, and Damond Otterburn of the Royal Guard.”

They were all prominent spies who had caused a stir in Westenia. Cecilia pointed to each photo in the article with her finger. The black-and-white photos of the mentioned individuals were listed in the newspaper.

Next to them was a montage of a woman. A bizarre montage that seemed deliberately playful. It was a mess like a child’s drawing, but the eyes, nose, and mouth were distinct.

Her short, curly hair tied in one, small nose, overly large eyes, thin lips, sharp gaze, and heart-shaped face were strangely familiar.

“And lastly…”

Cecilia pointed to the woman’s montage with her finger.

“Adele Byers, who was a rookie in the Ministry of Magic.”

“Adele… Byers? Did you just say Adele Byers?”

Hinler’s face turned pale in an instant as he quietly repeated the name. Cecilia, surprised by his sudden reaction, slowly withdrew her hand from the newspaper.

“Yes. Adele Byers was the only spy whose photo we couldn’t obtain. All related records and materials were completely incinerated.”

“Damn, I just remembered.”

Hinler ground his teeth and hurriedly searched his briefcase. He pulled out the file Cecilia had submitted earlier.

“No wonder I thought her face looked familiar.”

He roughly pulled out a photo from the file. It was Hughey Gallant’s family photo. He pointed to the woman holding a baby in the photo.

“This woman is Adele Byers.”

“What? But this woman is…”

Cecilia’s mouth dropped open as she confirmed the woman in the photo. She held the photo with a bewildered expression.

“No way. This woman is Hughey Gallant’s wife?”

“She was disguised as a staff member in the Special Magic Department. I had a few encounters with her because it was right next to my department, so I vaguely remembered Adele Byers’ face.”

Hinler said as he threw the file back into his bag.

“Adele Byers burned everything related to her, down to a small ID photo, and then disappeared.”

“So that’s why a montage was in the newspaper instead of a photo.”

“That montage was drawn by Byers’ mentor, Burnell.”

“Sir Burnell? That man is a famous drunkard! No wonder the drawing skills were a mess…”

Cecilia glared at the poorly drawn montage and then widened her eyes.

“Wait a minute. Are we sure now that Hughey Gallant is a traitor who colluded with an Easton spy?”

She grabbed her elegantly styled hair in shock.

“My God, does the puzzle fit together like this? Not only was the great actor involved with a spy from an enemy country, but they even had a child together…?”

She couldn’t help but lament how devastated Princess Rose would be if she found out. Hinler tightly grasped the family photo of Adele Byers laughing brightly.

“The other spies took their own lives as soon as their identities were discovered, but we could never find any trace of Adele Byers.”

“So the couple disappeared together, with the baby too?”

Cecilia mumbled absent-mindedly, looking down below the railing. Phenelity was pinching the prince’s arm and complaining about something, but she didn’t notice the scene.

She was too shocked to escape the realization that the legendary actor had betrayed his country.

“Hughey Gallant… could he have secretly defected to Easton following his wife?”

“If he had, the Easton government would have surely used him in propaganda films. There’s no traitor as useful as a world-famous movie star.”

Hinler shook his head firmly and looked down below the railing. His wary gaze fixed on Hilias Law, who was quietly watching the wedding.

“What do you think the reason is for that physician keeping a spy’s photo in his wallet?”

He lightly shook the family photo of Hughey Gallant in his hand. Cecilia quickly collected her thoughts and proposed a hypothesis.

“What if Count Cochrun had taken the photo during his days as an agent and Senior Law daringly stole it?”

“Would a mere physician risk so much to steal his employer’s belongings?”

“But this photo is the only one left by Adele Byers.”

She turned her gaze to Hilias Law. He was watching Phenelity link arms with Viett with a forlorn expression.

“If Adele Byers really was important to Senior Law… he would have wanted to cherish the only remnant of her.”

“…This means we can no longer trust the information that the physician is from Costonia.”

Hinler squinted his eyes, glaring at the back of Hilias Law.

“Adele Byers was also an immigrant from Costonia. At least, according to the records.”

He deliberately pronounced the word ‘records’ slowly.

“But she was a professional assassin born and raised in Easton, and the name and identity of Adele Byers were also fake.”

Cecilia pondered deeply, sitting on the railing.

“If the hypothesis that Senior Law and Adele Byers had a special relationship is true…”

“Then he would have a significant grudge against the Count who exposed Byers.”

“That explains why he gave up his career and applied to be the physician of the Count’s family.”

“Yes… the closer the target of revenge, the better.”

A strange smile spread across Hinler’s lips. Just like you stayed close to King Raus IV? Cecilia almost blurted out impulsively but held back. At the same time, the smile vanished from Hinler’s face.