Chapter 32
In the original story, no one knew Kid’s true identity.
“Do not interfere with his plans, and to say that I don’t belong with him…”
From the very beginning, the letter addressed me by my maiden name before marriage, denying my relationship with Seniel. It was blatantly clear that the sender looked down on me. My fists trembled.
Honestly, I also wanted to stay as far away from Kid’s plans as possible, and I was well aware that Seniel and I didn’t suit each other! In fact, it would be even more dreadful if we did!
Setting aside the unfairness, I couldn’t even understand this letter at all. The letter itself was shaking my composure.
“This didn’t exist in the original story. If this is a threat because I’m disrupting Kid’s plans, then the heroine should have received a similar letter too.”
But Ezet had never received anything like this. In fact, she had even openly spread evidence of Kid’s existence to others.
The situation was unfolding so differently from the original that I felt a sudden surge of fear. It seemed that these unexpected deviations were happening because I had pushed aside the heroine’s role and was still alive.
The more I struggled to patch a cracked jar, the more it seemed to break further. The more I survived life-threatening situations, the deeper I sank into the mud. It felt as though I were some kind of virus in this world, with threats coming at me from all directions.
Just as my mind began to fade and I was on the verge of panic, I shook my head violently.
“Get a grip!”
I tightened my grip on the letter in my hand. As the situation spiraled further into disaster, a stubborn defiance began to rise within me.
It was only natural that when told not to do something, a rebellious instinct would grow wildly stronger. The more the situation cornered me, the stronger my determination became to survive no matter what.
Taking off my coat, I placed the items I had bought outside onto the desk. I instructed the butler to gather all the servants and have them wait in the reception room.
Since I had said they would all assemble within ten minutes, I only needed to sit on the sofa and wait.
I took out the letter again and carefully examined the ornate handwriting. I had a rough idea who had sent it.
“Joel.”
The only person in the story who would refer to Seniel as “that person” was Joel, the mastermind behind the scenes. Of course, this conclusion was based on the assumption that this person existed in the original work. If Joel wasn’t an original character, then I couldn’t proceed any further today.
“And if it’s Joel, he might know Kid’s identity. Since Joel is the one who designed the experiment, he might also know about its side effects.”
In the original story, not a single person was revealed to know Kid’s identity. However, at the same time, it was never explicitly stated that Joel didn’t know.
Come to think of it, there had never been any clear explanation of what Joel was thinking or where he was operating. Normally, when someone became Kid’s target, at least some concrete information would be provided.
“There are some ambiguous parts that make it hard to say it’s definitely Joel.”
Joel had once worshipped Seniel like a god. But that was when she was still “Seniel.” The experiment had failed, and Seniel had been split from Kid into separate bodies. Could he still continue to worship Seniel under those circumstances?
“This guy even treats Kid like a god… that’s suspicious.”
Judging from the warning not to interfere with Kid’s plans and the threat not to meet Ronan, this person clearly knew of Kid’s existence and revered him as a god.
“A cultist, then… maybe he believes in both Kid and Seniel.”
I decided to set that thought aside for now. Regardless of whether I found it convincing, Joel was the only person who could plausibly know Kid’s identity and who would use the term “that person.”
The more I read the letter, the stranger it became.
He claimed that if I ran away, he would report me to Kid—but how exactly would he do that?
Moreover, I hadn’t even used Ronan for anything yet, so how could he single him out so precisely?
“Is it because the only person I’ve met after the marriage is Ronan?”
Or perhaps he saw Ronan by my side during the smuggling attempt?
The only objective information this person seemed to have was that I had attempted to smuggle myself out of the country. If the blackmailer’s goal was to ensure Kid’s plans proceeded smoothly, then he could have sent this letter simply based on suspicion.
“Maybe he’s just suspicious that I tried to smuggle myself out right after marrying the high priest.”
If the blackmailer truly had solid evidence that I knew Kid’s identity, then what exactly had he seen to conclude that?
Even if he tried to place someone to watch me, it would have been difficult at night due to Kid’s heightened sensitivity.
“Did someone see me entering the first floor holding the recording orb and report it?”
That day, there had definitely been no one in the hallway. I had even looked outside the window to see if anyone was watching me, but there was no one.
“I don’t want to believe there’s a spy among the twenty or so servants.”
However, since that was the only conclusion I could reach earlier that morning, I had gone to Bay’s tea shop to buy a truth serum.
“For now, I’ll just go and find out.”
I heard a knock at the door from outside, along with the butler’s voice announcing that all the servants had gathered.
Picking up the truth serum from the desk, I followed the butler.
“Although the letter ended with an attempt at persuasion—‘If you cooperate with us, we will help you safely escape from the McCurt estate.’”
I couldn’t expect that someone who revered Kid to the point of calling him “that person” would obediently let me go after learning his identity.
I didn’t know why this blackmailer hadn’t killed me immediately, but there was no reason to hope he wouldn’t kill me later.
So I had to uncover the sender of the letter. If I could find them, I could either exploit their weakness or hand them over to Kid. Otherwise, even if I escaped this estate, I could still end up dead at their hands.
“If necessary, then you die, and I die. Why should only you get to report me to Kid? I’ll report you too.”
Let’s just die together. I couldn’t be the only one to die unfairly.
The door to the reception room opened.
Everyone looked disheveled, as if they had rushed over without even knowing why they were summoned. Leaves stuck to the gardener’s pants caught my eye.
“The truth serum’s effect lasts about ten minutes after ingestion.”
While waiting for the servants to gather, I had tested it myself to confirm its effectiveness, and it worked.
“There’s been a thief in the house. Since no outsiders have been allowed in, I’m afraid you are the first to be suspected.”
I decided to start with the butler.
Without showing any reaction, the butler immediately swallowed the truth serum I handed him. After confirming he had swallowed it, I began questioning him.
“Has anyone recently quit? Or has anyone new been hired?”
“No, ma’am. All of the staff have been here for over five years.”
So there were no sudden departures or new infiltrators.
“Do you serve anyone other than Seniel, or are you in contact with any outsiders?”
“Absolutely not! I would never do such a thing! This is such a good place to work—how could I betray it? There’s no place with shorter hours or better pay than here!”
Hurban strongly asserted his loyalty. It seemed he had no desire to lose this god-sent job. Tears began to well up beneath his furrowed brow.
“Alright, I understand.”
“If there really is a spy, I will personally deal with them! Of course, I’ll accept punishment for failing to properly manage the staff before that, but please, I beg you—do not fire me!”
Seeing the usually composed Hurban like this made me feel a bit uneasy. Yes… if I were a servant, I’d want to work here too…
“Recently, have you ever seen me on the first floor?”
Hurban, sniffling heavily, replied that he rarely went to the first floor and had never seen the mistress. Sincerely moved by his answer, I handed him some tissues to comfort him.
