Chapter 33: Rafael

Before parting with Clive, he urged Eirene:

“Don’t forget that your health and safety are more important than any task.”

In the returning carriage, Eirene fingered the necklace she had received as an engagement gift while recalling Clive’s words. How could anything be more important than the task at hand? 

Of course, she needed to mind her health and safety, but not “more than the task.” She couldn’t understand why someone who was pretending to be in love and even enduring marriage for a purpose would think work shouldn’t come first. 

She let go of the necklace and pushed back the curtain to dispel these useless thoughts. All she could see was the desolate winter fields. Siaran apparently hadn’t yet informed the Count and Countess Phineas about their secret meeting. 

Perhaps he had forgotten due to Clive’s sudden proposal? That didn’t seem like him. Or maybe Count Phineas had heard but forgotten? That didn’t seem like the Count either. 

She wondered if perhaps her divine power no longer held much significance to them. They might have thought it would be better if Aishe had divine power after taking over Eirene’s body. 

That’s why it was important to know whether Aishe wanted to switch bodies because of the divine power. She wished she could get a clear answer, but there was no sign of resolution. Had she rashly suggested marriage to Clive? 

That seemed to have made things more urgent. 

As Eirene closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead with these complicated thoughts, the carriage slowed down and stopped. Since they were far from reaching the mansion, Gemma, sitting opposite her, opened the window to the driver’s seat.

“Why have we stopped?”

“Well, um.”

Clop. Clop. 

The sound of hooves approached Eirene’s side of the carriage. Realizing someone on horseback was approaching, she saw an unfamiliar man’s face appear at the window. Though not as large as Clive, he was quite big. 

The man, smiling at Eirene, had dark brown curly hair and wore expensive clothes, but his tie and buttons were undone, making him look disheveled. 

Tap. Tap. 

He knocked, indicating for her to open the window.

“Miss, please don’t open it! He’s a stranger and might be dangerous… Oh…”

Gemma’s warning came too late; Eirene’s hand was quicker. When she opened the window, the smell of cigars mixed with something unidentifiable wafted in. Though she knew it was impolite, she instinctively covered her nose.

“Blocking one window won’t protect you from danger, Gemma.”

If the man wanted to, he could easily break through even if all the carriage doors were locked.

“We’re within Phineas territory, so there’s no need for great concern.”

Hearing Eirene’s words, the man responded:

“You’re a wise person.”

The man’s eyes curved when he saw Eirene frowning.

“Why have you stopped us on our way?”

“You’re Lady Eirene Phineas, daughter of the Phineas family and fiancée of the Grand Duke of Dervel, correct?”

“Shouldn’t you introduce yourself before confirming who I am?”

“You’ve grown up to be quite prickly.”

How should she take his comment about growing up “prickly”? Was she really the Eirene this man knew? 

She barely restrained herself from asking if he knew her childhood. Instead, she asked in a cold tone:

“Tell me who you are.”

“You can call me Rafael. I’m just a pathetic fellow looking for amusement here and there.”

“Are you a nobleman?”

“Should I say so? Something like that.”

Rafael scratched his neck as he spoke. The more they conversed, the more Eirene noticed his imprecise pronunciation. He also seemed to sway slightly.

“Why did you stop us?”

“Just wanted to see your face. I was curious how you’d grown up.”

Tsk. Rafael’s eyebrows rose and fell.

“Have we met when I was younger?”

She finally asked the question she’d been wanting to ask. His comment about how she’d “grown up” clearly indicated he knew her from childhood.

“Yes. Back then, I had no idea you’d grow up to look like this.”

Suddenly, a person flashed through Eirene’s mind. A distant cousin! The cousin who wanted compensation in exchange for keeping Count Phineas’s secret! Had he come to meet her directly because the Count refused to pay? 

If he knew of her existence, he would also know about the switched Grand Duchess. Perhaps he decided it would be better to demand money from the Grand Duchess rather than the Count. 

Questions swirled in her mind, but she held back. Nothing was certain yet, and even if Rafael was indeed the cousin, he wasn’t someone to deal with carelessly.

“When did you see me?”

“When you were seven? No, eight? Or was it nine? It was so long ago, I can’t remember your exact age. But we saw each other’s faces quite often.”

He said “often.” If Rafael was truly Eirene’s cousin and had seen her at the age he remembered, it meant he hadn’t come to the Phineas Mansion when Eirene was just a baby. Strange. At that age, she had been in the basement. She had no memory of seeing Rafael.

“You still narrow your eyes when you’re curious, I see.”

Rafael leaned closer to Eirene’s face and whispered very softly:

“You’ll receive a separate contact. Ask your questions then.”

With only those words, he left. The sound of a horse speeding up, “hyah,” could be heard from a distance.

“Phew. The smell of alcohol.”

As soon as Rafael left and the carriage started moving again, Gemma waved her hand to dispel the smell.

“He must have drunk some strong liquor. Riding a horse while drunk.”

So that unidentifiable smell mixed with cigar smoke was alcohol. No wonder his pronunciation was imprecise. Though she wondered if she should trust a drunk person’s words, this wasn’t something to take lightly. 

He said he would contact her separately, so she would wait and see. She hoped he was indeed her cousin. At least then she might learn something about her family who had been wiped out by the Phineas clan. What if he demanded money? 

She would have to either borrow from Clive or sell the jewelry he had given her. Eirene sighed as she held up the pendant of her necklace. Their relationship had started with mutual help, but she seemed to be becoming the one who needed more assistance.

* * *

Eirene’s daily routine started quite early. She woke up shortly after dawn, washed briefly, and had breakfast. Count and Countess Phineas started their day a little later than Eirene, and Aishe’s waking times were irregular since she was often away from the mansion. 

Kailro was nowhere to be seen. The Phineas Mansion had been quiet since Eirene’s engagement. Servants who saw Eirene were cautious and submissive, while the Count and Countess tended to avoid her. 

None of this mattered to her, but the Count and Countess’s constant presence in the mansion limited her activities. She needed them to leave so she could visit the office at least once more, but the Count was guarding it, making it difficult. 

Even the early morning hours when she could move around were gone now. Servants who were wary of Eirene secretly came at dawn to leave letters. Each one contained pleas for forgiveness, some with visible tear stains. 

Perhaps it was time to start calling them in one by one. First, she summoned the head maid who had been the first to ask for forgiveness. 

She had Betty spread the word that something good was going to happen, which made the head maid look cheerful when she entered the bedroom.

“I still have a scar on my thigh from when you spilled soup on me.”

The scar was a lie. But the hot soup being spilled was true, which darkened the head maid’s previously bright face.

“Miss! I must have been out of my mind then. I’m so sorry!”

“Fine. Let’s say you were out of your mind then. But were you out of your mind all this time that you never came to see me?”

“T-that’s not it.”

“I didn’t call you to blame you for the past, so relax. I called you because I’m thinking of taking some servants with me when I marry and go to Dervel. Could you recommend some?”

The head maid, who had been keeping her head down the entire time, cautiously raised her eyes.

“The servants have contracts with the Phineas family. It’s impossible.”

“The Grand Duke is someone who makes the impossible possible, isn’t he?”

“Yes, t-that’s true.”

“I’ll obviously take Gemma and Betty with me. What about you?”

“Me too? But I belong here…”

She seemed reluctant. She couldn’t help but feel anxious. For the head maid, a space without Eirene would be much more comfortable.

“I don’t know how much you’re paid, but I can pay more.”

The head maid’s eyes lit up. Since they were all people who cared about compensation, money was the way to move their hearts.

“Will the Count allow it?”

“I’ll have to persuade him.”

“May I ask how much more you’ll pay?”

“Twice what you’re getting now.”

“I will follow you, Lady Eirene!”

The head maid bowed so deeply her head nearly touched the floor. Eirene smiled warmly. She had not the slightest intention of taking the head maid to Dervel.

* * *

Count and Countess Phineas left early in the morning. Unlike usual, they were dressed very plainly, so Eirene asked Gemma to find out where they were going.

“They’re going to the Imperial Palace.”

Why such plain attire for a visit to the palace? 

If they had been wearing black, one might have mistaken them for attending a funeral. Countess Phineas, boarding the carriage, looked up at Eirene who was watching from the bedroom window. She glared murderously before closing the door, and the carriage departed. 

Eirene followed Gemma, who was going to clean the office. She had done well to arrange for Gemma to be solely responsible for cleaning the office in advance with the head maid. 

Standing in the middle of the office, she looked around. No matter how she looked, there was nothing suspicious. She had observed where Count Phineas went during the days he was at home. He was only in his office. 

Gemma also said that when the Count wasn’t out, he almost always guarded his office. The greenhouse had no hiding places. She had secretly visited the Countess and Aishe’s bedrooms too, but they had even fewer hiding places than the office, leading her to wonder if something might be buried somewhere in the garden. 

In case she had missed something, she picked up the raven statue she had touched before and put it down again. Still no change. She walked slowly across the carpet, wondering where it could be. After a few steps, her toe caught on something. It was slightly raised. 

As she felt it with her hand, Eirene recalled once falling in the same situation. She went to the raven statue, picked it up and put it down again, then returned to where her foot had caught. 

There was nothing. 

She picked up and put down the statue again, and it appeared. She rolled up the carpet and found the spot. There was a square-shaped gap in the floor, with a small handle-shaped metal piece sticking up on one side. 

She had wondered if it might be in the floor, but never expected it to actually be there. Eirene grabbed the handle and pulled it up. 

It was quite heavy, requiring several attempts before she managed to open it, revealing stairs leading down below the floor. She carefully descended about ten steps. 

The space, barely illuminated by light from above, was a passage only wide enough for one person and too low to stand up straight. Like the secret space above, small bookshelves were stacked with bundles of papers. Eirene picked one up and took it to where the light was best to read. 

These were the Phineas family ledgers she had been looking for. Taking a deep breath, she read through them and finally understood what the symbols in the personal information meant. 

Though she had suspected it, facing the truth was beyond anger; it was heartbreaking. X meant a dead child. The amount of loss incurred was recorded. Question marks were for children who were sold but disappeared, with financial losses noted. 

For children marked with circles, she could see how much they were sold for. She felt tears coming but held them back. Eirene went deeper to see if there were documents with different content. At the very end, she found papers recording amounts sent to the temple every year and every month. 

Clive’s guess had been right. 

She found another document. Because the cover was a different color, she pulled out the papers inside to read, and her hands trembled. The temple had provided the children. 

More precisely, the temple had designated which children to bring. Though the reasons for selection weren’t written, these were children chosen by the temple. As she read through, she discovered the name “Eirene.” 

Could she also have come to the Phineas family through the temple’s influence? 

Thinking her name might be in the personal information documents, she went back up. She wondered why she hadn’t thought to look for her name in the personal records before. 

Entering the secret space, Eirene frantically searched through the documents.