Whitman initially thought it was impossible. Edith, who had been caught in the manor for less than a month?

The time she had stayed was far too short to understand the manor’s politics and figure out what was happening.

Had she then collaborated with someone who knew about Count Portrion?

Whitman’s eyes flashed as he thought of a face.

Among the manor’s employees, if one asked who held the strongest grudge against the master and his wife, there was a man who could answer that.

The stable keeper, Walter.

If the two people imprisoned in the manor had decided to join forces, it would be no small nuisance.

“I’ll visit Miss Edith for a moment.”

Whitman sprang from his seat.

(This is a time separator.)

“Cast a restraint spell and pretend to be pregnant as a successor… Are you insane?”

Benjamin replied in a heavy voice as Edith’s story came to an end.

He was angry like never before and felt more troubled than ever. He had no idea she was going through this ordeal until his uncle contacted him.

“Edith, were you desperate because there was no one to rely on?”

However, Edith shook her head slightly.

“I’m not entirely alone, so don’t worry, Benjamin. There’s someone who’s helping to make sure I don’t follow Sophia’s plan.”

Edith deliberately did not tell Benjamin about Walter.

She trusted Benjamin, but she thought it would be rude to spill secrets she had heard directly from Walter.

Edith did not want to disappoint Walter, who had even found her necklace filled with memories.

“It’s a kind of trade, since I’m helping him too.”

“……I’m relieved, Edith.”

Benjamin smiled. He didn’t want to show an idiotic face that would become stern as soon as he heard Edith’s reference to ‘him.’

“The more people you get help from, the better. I’ll stay nearby for a while and often visit the mansion mixed in with the upper class, like this time. I know many people who can help with access.”

“Is that okay? I thought you had to go to the capital in a few days.”

Edith was worried about Benjamin.

But Benjamin forgot all about the promises of a fabulous new typewriter and better treatment from the newspaper as soon as he saw his entire heart reflected in her eyes.

How could those things be important when the woman who still occupied all his heart was trapped in the mansion by a restraint spell?

“If I had the sense of justice to leave a troubled hometown friend behind, I should quit my job as a reporter.”

Benjamin shrugged lightly.

“In fact, the reason I returned to the Portrion domain is because I was penalized. I got caught by my boss trying to sneak into the Lexion Ducal House because of my overenthusiasm.”

“The Lexion Ducal House? That sounds like a lie.”

“Believe it or not, it’s your choice, but if the penalty is lifted, even if you ask me for more help, I’ll have to return to the capital inevitably.”

Since Benjamin’s expression was not particularly dark while confessing about the penalty, Edith could not tell if he was lying or not.
Only one thing was certain.

“Thank you, Benjamin. It will be a great help.”

Edith smiled, crinkling the corners of her eyes. Benjamin turned his gaze away from her smiling face.

Then, a welldressed middleaged man was seen approaching, his eyes twinkling.

Edith, recognizing him as Head Butler Whitman, leaned on Benjamin and confronted him.

“Lady Edith. You are here.”

The Head Butler said with decorum. His attitude was so polite that she wouldn’t have doubted him at all had Walter not informed her about the intimate relationship between Sophia and the Head Butler.

“It’s been a while, Head Butler Whitman. It seems like you haven’t come to see me since the first time I came to the mansion.”

“I urgently need to see you, ma’am.”

Whitman, having said that, rolled his eyes and looked Benjamin up and down. Unexpectedly, he was a face he did not know at all.

“But I didn’t know you would be with another man.”

“……”

“If you were seen like this, the young master lying in bed would be very sad.”

Edith clicked her tongue internally. How brazen, considering he himself was having an affair with the mistress of the house.

On the other hand, Whitman found it strange that the man spending time with Edith was not a servant of the mansion.

‘I need to dig deeper to make sure.’

He knew well that his intuition was never wrong, so he added a lie.

“By the way, Lady Sophia gave me a command. It seems she wants me to take you to Hans… Follow me, I will guide you.”

“……”

Edith quietly ground her teeth, glaring at Whitman. There had never been such humiliation in front of a longtime friend.

It was then that Whitman reached out to the unfazed Edith.

“I thought our Head Butler Whitman only laid his hands on Lady Sophia’s body.”

“……!”

Walter, who had been quietly watching the Head Butler, struck the back of his neck.