If You Wish For My Death - Chapter 61

“What’s that sound?”

“I’m not sure. I’ll go check, you stay here.”

Harry caressed Veronica’s shoulder before leaving the room. Veronica also grabbed the dagger hidden in her pillow and lifted the sheet.

“I’m coming with you, Father.”

Harry took the lead, with Veronica following behind as they headed towards the direction of the noise.

At the far end of the hallway, an old maid and servant who seemed to have just woken up were coming out. When they went over, the room inside was in complete disarray.

“What happened?”

“Ah, Duke. You’re awake.”

Inside the room was Lord Thompson. He was picking up books and papers scattered on the floor.

Next to him, a cow-shaped ornament was broken in half, and all the drawers of the dresser were open.

The items presumed to have been inside were strewn across the floor like a path. The desk at the far end was also in poor condition.

“Was there a thief?”

“It seems so.”

Lord Thompson sighed as he stood up.

“A servant who briefly went outside in the middle of the night felt a presence and came in, only to see a stranger. They say the intruder jumped out the window as soon as they were discovered.”

As he said this, Lord Thompson’s gaze turned towards the window. The window right behind the desk was wide open. The intruder must have escaped that way upon being detected.

Harry, looking around the room, asked:

“Are any items missing?”

“I’m not certain… but it doesn’t seem so.”

“That’s a relief.”

Harry tried to help him clean up the books scattered on the floor, but Lord Thompson adamantly refused, saying he couldn’t let a guest do the work.

He assured them not to worry, as the household staff would help.

While picking up papers, he seemed somewhat hurried for some reason, but due to his firm attitude, the two had no choice but to return to their room.

Lately, Cassian’s condition had been strange.

He would avoid eye contact, react halfheartedly to any conversation, and often fall silent during talks.

He was never particularly affectionate and often cut off one-sided conversations, but this felt different from before. It didn’t seem like he was avoiding her.

He still showed up on promised days and stayed for the full hour. He would respond when spoken to. However.

“…Your Highness. Are you listening to me?”

“I am listening.”

It just seemed like he was constantly lost in thought.

“What’s wrong?”

“What do you mean?”

“You seem to be in a bad mood lately.”

“That can’t be. My mood is always bad.”

It was the usual sarcasm and grumpy face, but the uneasiness in one corner of her heart wouldn’t disappear.

Veronica narrowed her eyes, trying to unravel his inner thoughts, but to no avail.

Then she mumbled, “Was it that bad…?” but the meaning was unclear.

As she stared intently, their eyes met. Cassian quickly turned his head away.

Usually, it felt like he avoided eye contact because ‘looking at you irritates me’, but now it was clearly different. He seemed uncomfortable.

After the appointed time ended, Cassian escorted Veronica to the door. This ill-mannered man never accompanied her to the carriage.

But at the doorway, his gaze fixed on her intently.

“What’s wrong?”

“Are you empty-handed?”

“…? Yes.”

“…”

Suddenly he fell silent. His fixed gaze intensified. What’s wrong with him?

“Oh, should I have brought a visiting gift? I thought you wouldn’t like that.”

“Yes. I don’t like that.”

Then what are you trying to say?

Veronica met Cassian’s gaze with displeasure.

She didn’t know what he was irritated about, but she wished he would just say it out loud.

Silence filled with meaning was more annoying. He lowered his eyes and mumbled another incomprehensible monologue: “Is it not that bad…?”

At that moment, a wooden flower petal fell on his head. As she reached out to remove it-

Slap-!

“-!”

“Y-You suddenly came close!”

“…I was just trying to remove the flower petal on your head.”

Was that such a wrong action? At her words, Cassian flustered, but still maintaining his wariness, brushed his own hair.

The flower petal that had been stuck to his hair fluttered down. Only after confirming this did his wariness subside.

Suddenly, an awkward atmosphere flowed.

“…Don’t carelessly narrow the distance.”

“Has that distance ever been narrowed?”

Rubbing her stinging hand, Veronica added grumpily.

With the uneasy feeling doubled, she left the imperial palace. While riding back in the carriage, Veronica thought:

“Could he have heard something about Count Lauren?”

Soon she decided that wasn’t it. Here, Veronica had no connection with Count Lauren except for a brief encounter in childhood.

Only she knew about future events.

Veronica had once tried to kill Count Lauren, but that too was something only she knew about.

“Then why is he acting like that?”

This feeling of a wall being rebuilt after it had slightly crumbled – what could it be?

As she pondered deeply, she absent-mindedly looked out the window. Then among the passing people, she noticed two men walking arm in arm.

“That’s…”

It’s Lord Thompson. And moreover.

Her gaze, which had turned sharp, quickly scanned the man with his arm around Lord Thompson’s shoulders.

It was hard to notice because their bodies were pressed together, but a glinting knife could be seen near Lord Thompson’s side.

Veronica immediately had the carriage stopped and went outside.

“Lord Thompson.”

At her call, Lord Thompson turned his head. Next to his surprised face, she saw a wary man.

She could feel the arm around Lord Thompson’s shoulder tense up.

Veronica looked back at Lord Thompson and smiled brightly.

“What a coincidence, I was just on my way to see you. We had an appointment today, remember? Since we’re here, let’s go together. By the way, is this your friend?”

She naturally pointed to the man beside him. The man turned his face away and pulled his hat down low.

Fortunately, Lord Thompson perceptively showed agreement with her words.

As guards approached from behind Veronica, the man clicked his tongue softly, hid the knife inside his clothes, and released Lord Thompson.

“I’ll see you later.”

The man hurried away. Veronica followed him with her eyes, then quickly shifted her attention back to Lord Thompson. He was looking at her with a gentle smile.

“Miss Hardness. Another chance encounter. But what appointment did we…”

“You were being threatened.”

At those words, Lord Thompson’s eyes widened, then he smiled faintly as if understanding the situation.

“It seems I’ve received help again.”

“I’ve heard it happens often, but isn’t it dangerous for you to be out alone at this point?”

“Things usually calm down after an incident like this.”

Scratching the back of his head, Lord Thompson laughed awkwardly, as if embarrassed to have shown such a scene.

For someone who had just been threatened with a knife, he seemed quite jovial. I wonder how frequent these incidents are for him to be so fearless.

“I’ll give you a ride.”

“No, I can’t trouble you again.”

“I’d feel better if I saw Lord Thompson get home safely. Lady Arin is also very worried about her husband.”

“…Then I’ll accept your kind offer.”

Lord Thompson followed her into the carriage. After taking their seats, the carriage started moving.

“You were on your way back from an outing, I see.”

“Yes, I was returning from the imperial palace.”

“You went to see His Highness the Crown Prince, your fiancé! I’ve already heard the news. In fact, all imperial citizens know about it. I sincerely congratulate you on your engagement. Ah, my congratulations may be too late.”

“Not at all. Thank you.”

Though it was a formal congratulation, Veronica graciously accepted it. Lord Thompson grinned broadly.

“My wife says that love makes a woman mature. She often boasted to me that Miss Hardness has changed a lot since getting engaged.”

Love making one mature, it seemed somewhat true at a glance. Veronica smirked.

“Did your wife say such things?”

“Yes. Besides that, on days when she meets Miss Hardness, she tells me a lot. She says you’re a cute and lovable young lady, and lately there’s much to learn from you. My wife is very fond of Miss Hardness.”

“Is that so.”

Answering indifferently, Veronica looked out the window.

In front, Lord Thompson was rambling on about Lady Arin, which Veronica wasn’t particularly interested in.

They say couples grow alike, I suppose this is what they mean by that.

As he was bragging about how he loved his wife’s strong points, he glanced out the window and asked:

“Ah, would it be alright if we briefly stopped by my workplace on the way?”

Veronica nodded willingly and then instructed the coachman to turn the carriage towards Lord Thompson’s workplace.

After a short while, the carriage stopped in front of a building. Even from the outside, it looked quite old.

Lord Thompson, who got out of the carriage, climbed the stairs of that building. Veronica followed him up to the second floor.

After climbing the narrow stairs that barely allowed one person to pass, they opened the door to reveal a small space.

It looked like an office filled with bookshelves, drawers, and desks piled high with books and papers.

Veronica, who entered, looked around.

“So this is where Lord Thompson works.”

“It’s quite small, isn’t it? Haha.”

Lord Thompson laughed as if embarrassed, just like when he had shown her around his mansion. It was indeed small and old.

Standing at the door, one could see the entire interior.

Inwardly, she marveled – to think such a small space exists in the world.

It was incomparably smaller than her room. The windows were so small she wondered if one could even breathe properly.

“Originally, I worked in a more presentable place, but circumstances turned bad. Having to move urgently, this was all I could find. Still, it’s manageable enough.”

“May I ask what kind of work you do?”

“I write on behalf of others. I go to people who can’t read or write, or those who need it, and ghost-write or transcribe for them. There are many people in the world who can’t read or write, you see.”

“I see.”

So that’s why. Veronica’s gaze swept over the papers strewn from the desk to the floor.

She had wondered why there were so many books and papers. Honestly, she thought the clutter was more of an issue than the size, but Veronica refrained from saying so out loud.

She lifted her skirt and looked for empty floor space to step on. There were so many papers and books everywhere that she couldn’t go far.

Giving up on going further inside, Veronica turned her attention to the bookshelf beside her. She picked up the paper at the front and read it.

“It seems you write your own works as well.”

It was a play script. Quite professional.

Lord Thompson smiled shyly.

“Yes, though it’s modest. This office was also created by people like that gathering together.”

“Do you write other things too?”

“When incidents occur in the capital, we investigate, compile the information in writing, and disseminate it. We also reported the news about the famous traveling theater troupe coming this time through this.”

Lord Thompson showed her a newsletter he had created with his colleagues. It was something Veronica occasionally saw as well.

It was the only item that reported news happening within this country, so it had gained quite a reputation even among noble houses.

Since it came out irregularly, she had been curious about who made it, but to think it was so close by.

Veronica picked up another paper nearby. Lord Thompson said it was content to be included in the next newsletter.

The single sheet of paper was densely filled with writing. There was also a paper with illustrations to be included.

He explained it lightly, but probably a lot of investigation was needed to write this one page.

Then, among the scattered papers, a certain writing caught her eye.

As she picked it up and read it absent-mindedly, Veronica’s eyes widened. This is…