“Lisa said she would speak directly about Marien.”

Guard member Timothy added an explanation for his perplexed superiors.

Wanting to speak directly? Sidney carefully observed Lisa greeting Walter and the man standing next to her.

As their eyes met, the man introduced himself and extended his hand.

“I am Fabien, designer at La Sena Boutique.”

“I am Walter Asner of the Imperial Guard. Did you make Miss Marien’s stage costume?”

Walter shook hands with designer Fabien on Sidney’s behalf. However, Fabien did not even glance at Walter and addressed Sidney.

“Yes, that’s right. But what is the knight’s name?”

“Sidney Warden. Why are you curious about me?”

“You have a very similar aura to someone I know…”

“…?”

A similar aura? Everyone’s gaze turned to Fabien. Despite such attention, Fabien continued to stare at Sidney.

Just as his dreamy gaze was becoming quite burdensome, Lisa lightly elbowed Fabien’s side.

“That’s what Fabien always says. Let’s sit down and talk.”

And she led Walter by the arm to guide him to the sofa. Even as he reluctantly moved his feet, Walter glared at Fabien, not letting his guard down.

“I’d like to see this shop’s ledger first.”

“There’s information about other clients, so please only view it here.”

“I’ll only take notes on parts related to the case, so don’t worry.”

Walter replied perfunctorily as he opened the black ledger handed to him by Fabien. As his expression looked unusual, Sidney and Andy sat down on either side of him.

Sidney read the ledger aloud, looking at Fabien as if interrogating him.

“September 12th, Cielo Strip Club dancer Marien… 6000 pions? 6000 pions seems more expensive than dresses worn by ladies of prominent noble families.”

6000 pions. Considering their salary of 1000 pions in the Imperial Guard, this was truly a large sum.

Walter pointed out while tapping the amount written in the ledger with his finger.

“More than that, this kind of amount is paid by check. Even nobles don’t carry around 6000 pions in cash.”

A bit of a sense of authority, perhaps. Nobles preferred to take out their checkbooks and sign rather than carry cash.

“It was sixty 100-pion bills. I remember exactly because the owner told me to count it.”

Sidney asked a question to Fabien, who was demonstrating the motion of counting money.

“Then what was the name or description of that man?”

This was a leading question to find out if Marien had an escort, and if that escort was male.

Fortunately, Fabien did not notice this and confirmed Sidney’s guess while reciting the man’s description.

“He was in his mid-thirties, with a thin build and wore glasses. But that person was more like…”

“He was probably someone serving Marien’s patron. Most patrons are like that.”

As Lisa interjected, Fabien glanced at her and shut his mouth.

A designer trusted enough by the owner to be entrusted with the ledger is so wary of a mere customer? Sidney looked for Lisa’s purchase records in the ledger.

As expected, Lisa’s name appeared here and there in the ledger. However, the charged amounts were less than half the price compared to other customers.

Suspicious indeed. No matter how regular a customer, there shouldn’t be such a big difference…

While Sidney was lost in thought, Walter continued his conversation with Lisa.

“Then it would be right to talk about Miss Marien’s patron. Should we hear that from you, Lisa?”

“I’ve never seen that person either. But considering she became the main dancer as soon as she came to Cielo… Marien’s patron must be remarkable.”

Patron? Sidney tapped the name written next to the billed amount with her index finger. Then her fingertip slid down.

Most dancers have one or two patrons. But most of the patrons listed in the ledger gifted stage costumes to Lisa.

Sidney took the ledger from Walter and looked it over again from the beginning. And she discovered one rule.

Most patrons gifted clothes to Lisa and then cut off their patronage. As if paying her some kind of compensation.

Sidney lightly tapped the ledger while staring intently at Lisa. Just then, Walter cleared his throat and asked a question.

“If such rumors are circulating… does that mean Miss Marien received special treatment?”

“Of course. First of all, she debuted at Cielo without an audition. And posters were even produced, and the owner took special care of her.”

“Then the patron could be the owner.”

Lisa waved her hands dismissively and laughed coquettishly.

“That stingy owner would never buy such expensive costumes. Above all, he would have said this shop was absolutely not allowed.”

A price that even the owner would consider absurd.

In other words, it meant the dancers had some kind of deal with the shop.

The shop overcharged the patrons, then gave a portion back to the dancers.

Sidney recalled the poster in Marien’s room and spoke.

“Even with a patron, for her to have a debut poster drawn, Miss Marien’s dancing skills must have been exceptional…”

“That’s not it. Anyone can become the main dancer if they meet a good patron.”

“If she became the main dancer like that, everyone must have hated Marien.”

Lisa smiled coyly and boasted.

“It’s the opposite. Because they could be kicked out if they upset that patron. It’s much more advantageous to be friendly with Marien.”

Lisa, the main dancer of Club Cielo. The emotions glimpsed from her were…

Contempt and anger towards those who secured the main dancer position through patrons, and pride and superiority that she was different from them.

People like this are weak to praise. Sidney subtly praised Lisa.

“But even if you become the main dancer that way, it must be hard to maintain without outstanding skills like yours, Lisa. They’re just rookies who are nothing without a patron.”

“Well, that’s true. Patronage isn’t forever.”

Her sneering smile felt vile. It was a bit disgusting, but since she had lowered her guard and gained approval…

Sidney nodded slowly and then raised her eyes.

“So you made Marien and her patron’s relationship sour… and drove her out of Cielo? To keep that measly main dancer position?”

At some point, the soft background music had stopped playing. Thanks to that, the silence felt even more profound.

While everyone’s attention was on Lisa, who had turned pale and frozen, she barely managed to force a smile.

“In-teresting speculation. Do you have any evidence that I did that?”

As she spoke, Lisa’s expression became more natural. She was clearly confident there was no evidence.

Not funny at all. The reactions you’ve shown so far are the evidence.

Sidney unknowingly pulled up one corner of her mouth crookedly, just like Logan Redford.

“Kickbacks. According to this ledger… ‘La Sena Boutique’ gave back part of the amount received from selling dancers’ costumes to the dancers. The person connecting this shop and the dancers was… you, Lisa.”

“Where’s the evidence?”

There is none. But a little intimidation will make her spill testimony.

Sidney recalled Logan Redford’s gaze, expression, and way of speaking, which were best at doing that.

Her gaze flowed smoothly from Lisa to Fabien. Reading both the perplexed Lisa and the tense Fabien.

“If that’s not the case… the patrons who have been deceived so far won’t leave the owner and designers of ‘La Sena Boutique’ alone. They might overlook their mistresses’ cute pranks, but those who scammed nobles…”

Sidney trailed off, hoping Fabien would imagine the worst-case scenario. As if this was the last chance she was giving Fabien.

Sidney’s ensuing silence and sneer drained all color from Fabien’s face.

“We didn’t receive more than the cost of the clothes. Lisa and the dancers who brought patrons took all of that difference.”

“Fabien!”

“It’s the truth! Lisa promised to keep bringing customers if we just did that…”

Fabien roughly shook off Lisa’s hand. Sidney’s implication that he could only survive by ratting out Lisa and the dancers had worked.

“You think you can do this to me?”

“I have a ledger recording the amounts and dates returned to Lisa and the dancers. You can’t escape alone.”

“Calm down for now.”

Lisa rubbed her forehead, finally seeming to realize the seriousness of the situation. But soon she raised her head stiffly and quickly admitted.

“Fine. It’s easier to get gifts than cash from patrons, so everyone does it that way. Is that a problem?”

Legally, it’s not a problem. The victimized patrons will never come forward. Lisa knew this, which is why she admitted it so readily.

But what about ‘this world’ that Lisa had emphasized? All the standing and reputation she had enjoyed at Cielo so far will disappear, won’t it? I hope she fears that…

Sidney tossed the ledger onto the table demonstratively. And with her finger on Marien’s name, she slowly moved it down.

“As you can see, there’s only one record of Miss Marien purchasing a costume. And three days later… you, Lisa, bought a costume for 2000 pions in cash. This means it’s the same patron, right?”

“…”

Sidney turned a page and again pointed out each customer name and costume cost with her finger. All the while, she did not forget to observe Lisa’s changing complexion.

“It’s the same here. After Vanessa’s transactions stopped, you again purchased a costume for half the price two days later. Strangely, the patron names for Vanessa and you are the same.”

Just as she was about to turn to another page, Lisa, looking somewhat anxious, offered an excuse.

“Sir Warden, most of the dancers’ patrons are regulars at Cielo. So… patrons can overlap.”

“That could be. But you know what? If this isn’t just once or twice… anyone would have reasonable suspicion.”

“What suspicion? Everyone knows that I introduce ‘La Sena Boutique’.”

Lisa muttered, shaking her head as if denying the situation. Anxious like pitiful prey driven into a dead end, losing the will to escape.

So this is how it feels. Sidney recalled Logan Redford obtaining the testimony he wanted.

At that moment, her expression and gaze were chillingly similar to Logan’s.

“Lisa, a tiny spark can cause a massive forest fire. How is suspicion any different?”