“Yes. But why did you just carelessly throw it into the lake.”

The woman spoke again with that same resentful expression and pressed her lips shut.

It was almost amusing, the way she seemed to think that would serve as some kind of threat holding him accountable, but instead of laughing, Tristan said aloud what he had just realized.

“The precious necklace of yours. Is it the one hanging off the back of your dress right now.”

“Pardon?”

The woman’s expression shifted to one of bewilderment as she reached both hands behind her and felt around the back of her neck. When her fingertips touched the necklace cord caught on a button, she grabbed it and pulled it forward in a hurry.

In her haste she yanked too hard, and the snagged necklace came loose, sending a few buttons popping off, but the woman paid no attention to the fallen buttons and focused only on checking the necklace.

She opened the pendant, confirmed the photograph inside, let out a breath of relief, and closed her hand tightly around the necklace.

Then, seeming to finally understand the situation, she snapped to her feet.

“I’m… I’m so sorry. I made a completely absurd mistake and behaved very rudely.”

As the woman bowed her head toward Tristan, he noticed one shoulder of her dress slipping loosely down. The missing buttons at the back were clearly the cause.

“What were you doing out here?”

Tristan rose slowly to his feet, swept back his dripping hair, and asked.

“I… woke up early and was taking a walk when I lost my necklace somewhere near here. So I came back to the lake, but there was someone here, so I was waiting for you to leave before I looked for it.”

The woman spoke carefully toward Tristan, hands folded politely in front of her, her manner completely different from just moments before.

“I thought you had picked up my necklace, and then you suddenly threw it into the lake, so before I knew it… I just…….”

“But it was all your mistake.”

Tristan tilted his head slightly as he said it, and the woman flushed and lowered her gaze.

With both cheeks gone red, she looked just like a peach.

Around twenty years old, perhaps, or maybe younger.

Judging by her clothing, she appeared to be one of the servants.

That aside, what kind of dress was it that a few missing buttons sent it sliding off her like that, completely out of control. It had to be a shoddily made garment, put together with careless hands.

“Eek!”

Only then realizing how far her dress had slipped, the woman let out a shriek and dropped to the ground.

Tristan turned around, slowly picked up the shawl lying behind him that appeared to belong to her, and held it out to her.

“Th… thank you.”

The woman took the shawl with her free hand, the other still clutching her dress, bowed deeply at the waist, then spun around and ran off down the forest path as though fleeing.

That same night, after the dinner gathering, Cedric came to Tristan’s bedroom having drunk far more than his limit. Despite Tristan’s attempts to stop him, Cedric rambled on like a drunkard and then collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep right there.

With no way to rouse Cedric no matter how many times he tried, Tristan had no choice but to go sleep in the bedroom Cedric was supposed to have used.

He had no way of knowing the water in that room had been laced with something. And then there was the baffling intruder on top of it all……

Despite the heavy cloud cover making the night darker than usual, and despite having drunk quite a bit himself, Tristan remembered the woman he had held that night in considerable detail.

He had no doubt that the woman he had met at the lake that morning and the woman who had climbed on top of him that same night and stroked his hair were one and the same.

‘And after all that, she vanished and ran off? What was her purpose?’

He suspected some kind of scheme was at play, but the more he thought about it, the more inconsistencies and strange details piled up.

It was not poison. Whatever he had consumed was clearly a love potion, no matter how he looked at it.

For someone who had gone so far as to use a love potion, the woman had been a virgin.

Tristan clearly remembered pulling the woman who had climbed on top of him down and laying her properly on the bed, and how her shoulders had trembled faintly. And the sheets had been left with stains that were difficult to deny……

With talk of an engagement going around lately, he had wondered whether it was that kind of scheme, but even so, in a manner like this?

‘That woman… she wore clothing that looked like what a servant would wear, yet the shawl she carried was made of fine fabric, the kind nobles use. So had it been planned from that morning’s encounter at the lake?’

But no matter how he thought about it, the look in the woman’s eyes at the lake had been too genuine to be an act.

If it had been an act, then she truly had the makings of a remarkable actress.

Outside the window, a carriage came into view approaching the entrance of the estate.

Tristan glanced at the clock in his study and turned away from the window to head to the evening dinner that awaited him like another item on his schedule.

***

Lucille soaked a cloth in the basin of water, wrung it out, and dabbed at Liane’s forehead, where beads of sweat had gathered.

Lucille pressed her hand to Liane’s forehead, and her expression darkened.

The fever was quite high. It was clearly a situation that called for a doctor, but Liane was not in any condition to be taken to a clinic. Even if Lucille asked around for a local doctor, she had no certainty that one would agree to make a house call to an unfamiliar lodging like this. On top of that, she was not sure they had enough money to cover the cost.

What was she to do……

Lucille chewed her lower lip and let out a sigh.

After fleeing the Granville ducal estate, Lucille had boarded a carriage with Liane to return to the Aspel count’s estate. The journey required changing carriages at a post station, so they had not gotten far before arriving at the village next to Ordelin, where they tried to arrange the next carriage, but Liane’s condition suddenly took a turn for the worse.

Lucille gave up on arranging the carriage and found a nearby lodging, putting Liane to bed to rest, but once Liane fell asleep she began to moan and toss with illness.

‘She’s come down with body aches from the tension and exhaustion. Poor miss. She’s not someone who deserves to go through hardship like this…. But what are we to do now…….’

The only money they had was the weekly wages Lucille had earned working at the Granville ducal estate.

Thinking she needed to go out and at least buy some bread before it got any darker, Lucille placed a damp cloth on Liane’s forehead and got to her feet.

Intending to go and come back quickly before Liane woke up, Lucille set off at a brisk pace toward the food shop.

She bought a suitable amount of bread for the two of them, had it packed into a bag, and stepped out onto the street to head back to the lodging, when someone stepped in front of her and blocked her path.

“Lucillia Doberin. Are you the Lucillia Doberin who goes by Lucille?”

Lucille looked at the men in dark robes blocking her way and tightened her grip on the bag of bread in her arms, glancing between them with an uneasy look.

“Wh… who are you?”

“I asked whether you are the Lucillia Doberin who worked at the Granville ducal estate.”

The moment the words “Granville ducal estate” came from the man’s mouth, the color drained from Lucille’s face.

‘The duke has sent people out to catch whoever tried to poison him!’

“…What is this about?”

The men surrounded her in response to the question she barely managed to get out.

“Come with us. If you don’t want to cause a scene, it would be in your best interest to come along quietly.”

“But I…….”

“We will not tolerate any more stalling. Let’s go.”

She had been about to say she had left someone behind, but the men cut her off with a threatening tone, seized one of her arms, and began leading her away somewhere.

***

Lucille looked around the room with an anxious expression.

The men who had brought her there had taken her to an unfamiliar small room, left her alone, and gone.

It felt like several hours had passed since she arrived.

The night had already grown late, and she worried about how frightened Liane would be when she woke up and found Lucille gone.

Separate from that, her own situation was no less unsettling.

The primary suspect in the attempted poisoning of the Duke of Granville.

When it crossed her mind that she could end up in prison if charged under such a crime, Lucille’s heart pounded so hard it felt ready to leap out of her chest.

She was sinking into despair imagining one grim scenario after another when she heard the door behind her open. Lucille startled and jumped to her feet, spinning around.

A lean middle-aged man with a notable mustache walked in, his shoes clicking against the floor, and approached the table where Lucille had been sitting.

“You are Lucillia Doberin? Who worked as a maid at the Granville ducal estate until yesterday.”

“…….”

When Lucille did not answer, the middle-aged man let out a short sigh, gestured for her to sit back down, and took a seat across from her.

“I’m a busy man and it’s gotten very late, so I’ll get straight to the point. What is your connection to the blonde-haired woman who broke into the Granville ducal estate yesterday?”

The question came exactly as Lucille had expected, and she lowered her head with a pale expression. The man, who had been watching her with sharp eyes, spoke again.

“I am a detective hired by the Duke of Granville. Your reaction makes it clear you are involved. It will be in your own interest to tell me everything you know in full detail. There may be room for leniency.”

Lucille raised her head and looked at the detective with an anxious expression.

“I will tell you everything, the whole truth. In return, I ask that you please put in a good word so the duke might show us mercy.”