She knew instinctively that doing so would only make him more insufferably pleased with himself.

Angela let him go.

“Stealing from James’s treatment room means it was almost certainly an inside job. Emily. Let’s go to the room and talk more.”

When they arrived at her room, a man was already standing in front of the door.

A man who appeared to be in his thirties, with a lean and capable look about him.

“I am Philip of House Knowles.”

Philip bowed with polite formality. He carried no weapons since they were inside the residence, but anyone could see he was a trained man.

“Ha.”

She was at a loss. Her brow furrowed involuntarily.

For someone said to be shy, the speed of this was remarkable.

Shortly after, the people sent by Ashley and Isaac arrived as well.

In an instant, there were three guards at her door.

The moment Angela stepped inside, Emily studied her face and pulled her over.

“Miss, come lie down over here. It’s been a lot today. Let me give you a massage.”

Angela lay down obediently as Emily directed.

“This needs to be resolved quickly.”

She composed her expression and asked Emily gently.

“Emily, are you all right? Not too shaken?”

“It was so chaotic there was no time to be shaken. Are you all right, Miss?”

“I feel terrible. If I could, I’d like to be sick or scream at whoever did this.”

“Oh, Miss. You’re under far too much stress. Here, let my massage take care of it.”

“I’m always grateful for you, Emily.”

“Then, my dear Miss, I’ll be expecting a little extra in my pay this time as a show of that gratitude.”

Emily winked. It was so absurd and so endearing that Angela let out a small laugh.

It genuinely seemed to loosen some of the tension. As Emily worked, Angela asked.

“Emily, what do you think?”

“If the killer is the same person…… they killed the Count and then coldly went after a child too. To act this way while circling close to you, that takes nerve. It frightens me.”

“Yes. If it’s the same person, they would be truly bold and ruthless. And perhaps……”

“Perhaps?”

“The person who killed Joel and the person who gave Castle the medicine might be two different people.”

“What would anyone gain from that?”

Emily asked with genuine puzzlement.

“If the person who gave Castle the medicine is someone different……”

The tangled threads in her mind sharpened into a single clear line.

“The person who stands to gain the most from this…… would be Natasha.”

If there was no one with a grudge against House Maister.

If this had nothing to do with Joel.

The person who had behaved most unnaturally and had the most to gain was her.

“What?”

Emily let out a baffled sound.

“Natasha is anxious about being driven out of this residence. The older Castle gets, the more she worries about the secret being discovered, so gaining sympathy is one way to secure her position.”

It was only speculation, but if so, there was one thing that did not fit.

“The strange part is that Natasha seemed genuinely not to know what kind of medicine it was. If she had staged this herself, she would have used something harmless enough to give her own child. If she truly used her own child as a pawn for something like this, that would make her the lowest kind of person from the very start.”

Pouring poison into her own child’s mouth seemed too much even for Natasha, who did at least have some affection for the child.

And without the child, Natasha had no grounds to remain in this residence.

“So Emily, I’m hoping my thinking is wrong. Even if it means I’ve been a cold person for suspecting a mother of harming her own child for gain.”

If someone with a grudge against House Maister was targeting its bloodline, Phillip was also in danger.

If there was a grudge deep enough to drive someone to act like this from within, Phillip would have been more afraid or would have taken precautions.

But Phillip had not considered that possibility at all. Not even when Joel died.

It was difficult to see it that way, but the truth was that the world was full of strange people, and some would rage over things that seemed insignificant.

Emily pressed her hands firmly into Angela’s shoulders as she massaged her, trying to comfort her.

“Miss is not cold. You always try to find a rational and reasonable solution. You don’t let yourself be swept away by emotion.”

“You flatter me.”

That was not true.

If she truly were unaffected by emotion, she would not be fighting this hard to keep from becoming emotional.

And she would not still be reacting so strongly to ‘that incident,’ unable to put it behind her.

What remained vivid in the blurred memory was the moment all freedom of movement had been stripped from her body.

And the terrifying, overwhelming force.

Everything else was tangled together in a dark mass, impossible to recall clearly.

Only the ugly feelings and the fear from that time remained, branded into her like a mark.

“It’s true. So now please let your body go and relax. Your shoulders are in knots. You’ve been carrying too much lately.”

“Thank you.”

Angela closed her eyes.

Emily kneaded away at Angela and grumbled.

“I understand she was frightened about the child, but Lady Natasha Barton went too far today. She was openly making eyes at Lord Wilton, right in front of the man who’s supposed to be courting you.”

“She may have been too frightened to think clearly.”

“No. Miss, you may not have noticed, but from one woman’s eyes, that was blatant flirting. Trying to latch onto someone by any means available. Men are simple, and they can fall for that sort of thing. And he’s the one you think most highly of.”

Angela answered with a cool smile.

“He may be the killer. I didn’t accept those men because I wanted to play at romance, Emily. When we met last time, I mentioned that someone had seen Lord Wilton and Joel arguing.”

“What?”

“It may be a fabricated story meant to slander him…… but if it’s true, it gives him a motive for the killing.”

“Goodness, what in the world……”

Emily’s eyes drooped at the corners.

“I’m sorry, Miss. Making you revisit painful memories.”

“It’s all right. This is something I have to keep thinking about regardless.”

Angela’s eyes snapped open.

When lost in a maze, the first thing to do was find the path directly ahead.

First, she needed to confirm whether the person who killed Joel and the person who harmed Castle were the same.

“I cannot forget for a single moment, not until the killer who murdered Joel is caught.”

Angela looked directly at Emily.

“Emily, there’s something I need you to do right now.”

❀❀❀

The two maids assigned to Natasha’s room looked at each other with frightened faces.

They were the ones who had been with Castle until the child fell asleep.

After leaving the room, one had taken the soiled sheets to the laundry, and the other had gone outside to fetch snacks.

Natasha had been looking through a catalogue with a merchant, planning to buy new clothes.

They had done nothing wrong, but they had been the last ones with Castle before it happened.

“I’m sure no one came in until the child was asleep. There was no bottle like that anywhere.”

“They won’t hand us over to the constables, will they?”

It had happened not long after Count Maister’s death. There had fortunately been no serious harm, but if someone were to assign blame, they could be dismissed without a letter of recommendation.

“What are you two whispering about?”

“Oh goodness, you startled me. It’s Emily.”

“Emily, what did the Madam say?”

Emily looked at the two maids clinging to her and smiled.

“Nothing to worry about. Madam didn’t say anything particular about you two. But……”

“But?”

“She seems to want to know more about exactly what happened and when. If you tell me, I’ll make sure to put in a good word for you.”

❀❀❀

“May I have a moment.”

A light knock, and the voice that followed was Ashley Rai Wilton’s.

It was late, but Angela had already sent Emily out and was waiting.

The hour was late enough that inviting him into her room would invite misunderstanding.

Angela draped a light shawl over her shoulders and stepped outside.

Ashley stood in the corridor, neat as always.

His face still carried its calm smile, but beneath the neatly combed golden hair, his blue eyes held a look of difficulty.

He reminded her of a model student receiving a scolding for the very first time.

“What brings you here?”

“I was hoping we could talk for a moment.”

“It’s late. Let’s leave it for another time.”

“I know this is rude of me, but if I wait until morning I believe I’ll be up all night.”

Angela let out a quiet sigh and nodded.