Chapter 19 – Part 4

“Yes, Your Grace. Right this way.”

Rain led Raphael and Kristin to the room at the far end of the mansion. Upon arriving at the room located in the far corner of the mansion, he selected a key from the bundle and opened the door, then spoke to them.

“I’m not sure since I didn’t observe closely, but the director has used this place almost like an office. She brought all sorts of documents in here.”

As he said this, Rain stepped aside to allow Kristin and Raphael to enter.

After they entered, he gestured for them to go ahead and began checking the back of the room.

He felt uneasy about the possibility of the director suddenly arriving.

“I guess I’ll keep watching here to see if the director comes. Please feel free to look around.”

“Make sure to keep a close eye.”

Raphael said this and slowly scanned the room.

However, there was nothing in the room—no safe or storage space for anything. Only a single desk stood alone, on which there were folders labeled “Vincent Orphanage Budget Project,” along with documents detailing where the money had been spent.

At first glance, nothing seemed suspicious. Kristin even opened the desk drawers and searched, but found no sign of any double-entry bookkeeping or anything incriminating.

However, something peculiar caught Kristin’s eye—a small alarm clock.

Although the hour and minute hands were moving, the time displayed on the clock seemed completely wrong.

Kristin had a simple reason for thinking this: given the amount of time that had passed since they entered the mansion, it should have been well past 10 a.m. by now. But strangely, the clock was stuck at 4 o’clock, not even close to 10.

While one might think the clock was broken, given Director Blair’s meticulous nature, it was unlikely she would leave a broken clock unattended after committing such crimes without being caught. A person who went to such lengths to hide her crimes wouldn’t allow for such a careless mistake.

As Kristin pondered this, she moved closer to the alarm clock and began to notice something unusual.

When she peered inside the clock’s glass, she saw a round black button that seemed completely out of place. It didn’t appear to be a part of the clock at all.

Watching Raphael continue to search the room and gather documents, Kristin hesitated for a moment but then decided to investigate the clock further.

After opening the clock and pressing the button, noise erupted from it, revealing a secret compartment inside.

Rumble—

The vibration ceased, and Kristin reached into the compartment to pull out documents. As she suspected, the alarm clock was not just an ordinary timepiece.

“Your Grace,” Kristin called out.

“Kristin?”

“There’s a hidden compartment in the clock, and look over there.”

Kristin pointed to the fireplace next to the clock, which was oddly twisted.

“Why is that? Why is the fireplace so spotless, without a speck of dust? If it had been used for a long time, it should be covered in dust, but it’s completely clean.”

“Your Grace, it seems that the inside of this fireplace leads to another room.”

Kristin was astonished by this revelation, realizing that Director Blair had created such a space to avoid being discovered.

“Is that a secret passage? I had no idea while working here. Occasionally, I heard some kind of vibrating noise, but I didn’t think much of it.”

“It seems we should go in there.”

But then, it happened.

“P-please save us. D-Director.”

A faint voice, unmistakably that of a child, came from inside the fireplace.

Kristin shook her head in disbelief, but memories of her troubled past surged, prompting her to rush in before Raphael could enter.

“Kristin, it’s dangerous.”

“What should we do, Your Grace? Come in! There are children here!”

Though Kristin tried to call out to the Duke, the horrific reality she saw before her left her unable to continue speaking.

Inside, there were emaciated children, each with bruises on their bodies, and one child in particularly bad shape lay collapsed, barely breathing.

Words failed her; all she could think was how horrific the scene was. As she finally regained her composure and approached the children, a boy grabbed her wrist and spoke.

“I-I’m sorry. Please… Let us out of here.”

Kristin couldn’t understand what the boy thought he had done wrong, but when she looked closer, she realized his eyes were half closed as he slipped into unconsciousness.

“Wake up!”

Even as she called out, the boy remained unconscious. Kristin gently laid him down on the ground and hurried to check on the other children. Their condition was no better.

It was unclear how long they had been trapped, but the space inside the fireplace barely let in any light, and bugs were crawling everywhere.

Five children were crammed into a small area of about 10 square meters, leading to a lack of oxygen and poor nutrition from days of hunger.

“We need to get the children out of here. If we wait any longer, they could be in danger.”

“You’re right. Let’s move them,” Raphael agreed.

As Kristin checked each child, Rain, who had been standing watch outside, spoke urgently.

“I hear footsteps approaching. It seems like the director is coming.”

“What did you say?”

At Rain’s words, Kristin hurriedly moved the children from the room, gathered the documents hidden inside the alarm clock, and scanned the surroundings.

Just as they were about to leave the room, a sharp voice called out from outside.

“Is someone there?”

It was a soft, even tone, but Kristin immediately recognized it as Blair Adley’s voice.

Although her tone was calm, it felt chilling, and Rain, standing in the hallway by the door, quickly greeted her.

“Uh, well, um, Director.”

“No, Rain. I had a feeling something was off. While I was talking with Lady Selena Scarlet, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong with my room. I heard from the other teachers that someone entered the storage room and hadn’t come out. Oh, and where are the other knights?”

Blair, who had been speaking kindly, suddenly seemed unable to contain her anger.

“Why is there light coming from that room? I specifically told you not to linger near that room, didn’t I?”

Her footsteps grew louder as she hurried toward them; the sound of Blair’s quick footsteps echoed as a sharp slap rang out.

Seeing this through the open door, Kristin panicked and reached out to protect the children lying on the floor, while Blair spoke to her.

“How dare you sneak into someone else’s mansion… Are you perhaps Lady Kristin? I was a bit suspicious when I suddenly received a donation through maids named Lenci and Cindy. While Viscountess Elesia used to sponsor us, the funding stopped long ago. And what a strange coincidence—those two maids who came here to volunteer have now disappeared without a trace.”

As Director Blair spoke, she narrowed her eyes sharply at Kristin, prompting Raphael, who was standing beside her, to respond.

“This is outrageous. Have you kept the children locked up like this all this time? And now you have the nerve to talk about trespassing as if you’ve done nothing wrong?”

Although Raphael spoke to her, Blair seemed completely unconcerned.

As the duke of the empire, even a countess would typically bow her head in his presence, but Blair held her head high, pouting her lips in annoyance.

After a moment of silence, the director finally replied.

“I think you’re mistaken, Duke. You don’t really believe that I respect or fear you, do you?”

“What did you just say?”

Kristin, seeing the children on the floor losing consciousness, shouted at the director.

“What have you done to these children? Even if they have no parents, how can you treat them this way?”

Blair smiled mockingly, looking at the children as if they were insects.

Then, without a hint of hesitation, she kicked the arm of one child who lay completely still and turned to Kristin.

“What do these useless children have to do with being orphans? Isn’t the term ‘noble’ meant for true aristocrats? Besides, these children have no inherited wealth, so they’re just like commoners.”

“Is that how you speak of the children whom many nobles in the empire trust you with? Even if they are orphans, they are still lives that deserve to be raised with care.”

“If you believe that, then why don’t you adopt these children and raise them yourself?”

After saying this to Kristin, Blair shifted her gaze to the alarm clock in the room.

Noticing that the cover of the alarm clock was slightly open, Blair seemed irritated and began to walk toward it. At that moment, Kristin asked her.

“The clock seems to be broken. Why don’t you fix it? It runs, but it looks quite odd to me.”

“Are you kidding? Not only did you trespass into someone else’s home, but you also meddled with my belongings?”

Seeing that the hidden button on the alarm clock had been pressed, Blair’s anger reached a boiling point as she glared between Kristin, Rain, and Raphael, biting her lip.

At that moment, one child, who had just regained consciousness, looked at Blair in shock and prostrated himself.

“I-I’m sorry, Director. I did something wrong.”

“What did I tell you to do inside there?”

“W-what?”

After a moment of hesitation, the frightened child answered in a small voice.

“You told us to be quiet.”

“And yet you made noise?”

“What are you saying to the child right now?”

Kristin stepped forward to intervene, trying to stop Blair from glaring at the child.

In an instant, Blair pulled a small knife from her pocket and slashed it across Kristin’s arm.

As a result, Kristin’s clothes tore, and bright red blood began to drip onto the floor.

However, despite the significant injury, Kristin did not scream. Instead, she spoke clearly to Blair.

“You can no longer remain the head of Vincent Orphanage. I won’t allow it.”

At that moment, Raphael drew his sword and pressed it against the director’s throat.

“If you want to leave here alive, you’d better throw that knife this way. If not, I’ll drive this sword into your neck.”

As Raphael pressed the sword closer to Blair’s throat, the blade began to tremble slightly with her movements.

The sword was gradually pressing against the director’s throat, and as blood began to flow down her neck, Blair reluctantly pretended to throw the knife away but instead pulled out a dagger from her cloak and threw it at Raphael.

The dagger grazed the duke’s arm, creating a wound, and his sword nearly slipped from his hand. However, regaining his grip just in time, he slashed at Blair’s leg as if brushing past it and spoke.

“I told you clearly, didn’t I? If you wanted to leave here alive, it would have been better to stay still. Did you think you and I were the same, living lavishly in this mansion while using the children? I’ve traversed countless battlefields. Now you’ve even lost your sense of shame.”

“Ugh… my leg…”

Blair fell to the floor, clutching her leg, barely managing to speak.

However, a strange glint began to appear in Raphael’s eyes, as if this was just the beginning.

Rumors had been circulating in the Union Empire that Raphael was a cold-blooded man. It wasn’t that he was inherently cruel; he simply didn’t show his brutal nature easily.

After his return, he had endured countless frustrations to stay by Kristin’s side, but Blair’s attack on Kristin had finally triggered his anger.

With an expression that had turned terrifying, Raphael raised his sword again, aiming it at Blair as he continued speaking.

“Ah, perhaps there was no need to keep you alive after all?”

“W-what?”

Realizing instinctively that Raphael was not joking, Blair began to crawl toward him, trying to save herself, but he swung the sword in the air, addressing her.

“From the beginning, you were the real pest. Pretending to care for the children while secretly indulging in all kinds of filth behind the scenes. And how do you think the Empire punishes a mere countess for daring to harm the future duchess?”

Blair trembled as she crawled toward the fallen children.

Then, she began to use one child as a shield, pleading.

“What will happen to these children if I die? What will become of these poor orphans? If I’m gone, there won’t be any noble left to take care of this orphanage. Who would want to take on the burdensome role of an orphanage director?”

Then Blair turned to Kristin.

“Lady, please spare my life. I still have so much I want to do.”

“Really, this is ridiculous. I don’t want to stain my sword with your blood. Rain, bind Director Blair. I’ll take her to the palace and hold her accountable for everything.”

At that, Rain, who had been standing in a corner unsure of what to do, approached Blair.

He quickly cut a piece of the curtain from one side of the room and bound Blair’s hands.

“If you try to escape or walk improperly, this sword will pierce your body, so you can look forward to that, Director Blair Adley.”

Raphael Rodney began to walk toward the entrance, supporting the children and Kristin as they exited the mansion.