With a thud, the carriage shook greatly as if it had hit a stone. Lily, who had been staring blankly at the carriage floor with unfocused eyes, slightly raised her gaze. Then, she saw Herald sitting across from her. Looking at him basking in the warm sunlight, the conversation they had before boarding the carriage came to mind.

“I, it wasn’t me! I didn’t do it!”

Shocked at being named the culprit who killed Alvin, Lily shook her head so violently that her neatly tied-up hair came loose. Herald, who had taken a big step towards her, held her trembling small shoulders and said,

“No one thinks you did it, so you don’t need to worry, Lily.”

Lily looked up at him with moist eyes and asked,

“…Then why are you saying I was named the culprit?”

“The real culprit caught at the scene pointed to you as the mastermind.”

“The real culprit…?”

“The real culprit who killed Alvin is none other than Fredrick Benjamin’s younger brother, Brian.”

The younger brother of Fredrick that Lily knew, although he went around doing all sorts of delinquent things, was terrible at fighting and even quite cowardly. He was not someone who could kill another person.

So when she heard that Brian had killed Alvin, she was taken aback. It was even harder to believe that he had named her as the mastermind. When Lily looked at Herald with eyes asking if it was true, he held her hand.

“You’ll find out when we go to the guard post.”

And so, Lily left the mansion led by Herald and boarded the carriage. The carriage kept moving forward, but Lily’s thoughts remained in one place.

Why did Brian kill Alvin? What’s the reason for naming me as the mastermind?

In the midst of questions leading to more questions, Fredrick suddenly came to mind.

It couldn’t be… something he schemed, could it?

“Lily.”

“……”

Brought back to reality from her own world by his action of grasping her tightly clenched fist, Lily slowly blinked and looked at Herald who was watching her with concern.

“Are you alright?”

Nodding her head in lieu of an answer, Lily looked out the window. A gloomy grey building that looked like rainclouds was visible. Just by seeing the building, Lily realized they had arrived at the guard post. How could she not know? It was the place she had frequented every other day 2 years ago, when her dreams and hopes had been shattered. The terrible memories creeping up ate at her consciousness like bugs.

“You don’t look well.”

As Lily’s complexion grew paler and paler, Herald cupped her cheek with his large hand. Thanks to the serene sensation conveyed through the point of contact, her anxiously trembling heart gradually calmed.

“If you’re not feeling well, let’s just go back.”

“…Didn’t I receive a summons?”

“It’s still just a witness investigation, so you can go back if you don’t want to.”

After pondering for a moment, Lily soon shook her head. She was already under suspicion of instigating Brian to kill Alvin, so refusing the witness investigation would only deepen that suspicion. She also wanted to know the full story behind the incident.

Taking a deep breath to shake off the remaining anxiety, Lily got out of the carriage. The guard post had bars installed on all windows to prevent suspects under investigation from escaping. Because of that, the entire building felt like a prison and the pressure that fact gave off was immense. Even though she had done nothing wrong, her shoulders instinctively shrank, feeling intimidated for no reason.

“Let’s go in.”

Herald, who had given some instructions to the coachman, held out his hand. Instead of taking that hand, Lily threw out a question.

“Are you coming in with me?”

Quickly realizing that she was asking not out of simple curiosity but because she was worried about people’s gazes, Herald smiled faintly.

“We’ll be using the VIP passage, so you don’t need to worry.”

“The VIP passage?”

“Yes. Even if it’s just a witness investigation, there is a secret passage directly connected to the interrogation room to accommodate nobles who are reluctant to enter such a place. If we use that, you won’t encounter anyone besides the investigator.”

So there was such a place. While finding it fascinating as it was her first time learning of it, Lily was also puzzled. She was also a noble, so why didn’t the investigator at the time inform her of the existence of something like a VIP passage?

“This way.”

Lily felt she knew the reason, but not wanting to recall that strange feeling she didn’t want to bring up, she followed behind Herald.

Just as Herald had assured her not to worry, there was no one in the VIP passage. Not only were there no guests, but the investigator was also nowhere to be seen. The interior of the guard post was also full of the same crude and gloomy grey color, but this place was bright. If there had been no bars on the windows, she would have doubted whether she had entered a different building instead of the guard post.

The investigator who had been waiting only for Lily’s arrival in front of the interrogation room finally came running in a fluster when Herald appeared with her.

“Count Braden, what brings you here…?”

As if recalling something, the investigator trailed off and glanced sideways at Lily. That gaze was somewhat rude, so Herald asked with his lips slanted.

“You, what’s your name?”

Even though there was a name tag on the investigator’s chest, purposely asking was a kind of threat. A terrifying threat to be careful of his words and actions, or else he would make it so that name could no longer be used.

The quick-witted investigator immediately understood the hidden meaning and lowered his gaze right away. He hastily covered the name tag with his palm, but it was too late. Herald had already checked his name.

“Please take good care of my wife, Sir Monteol.”

The investigator felt a cold sweat flow down his spine. It was the first time someone calling his name felt so chilling.

“Yes. Yes. Of course. It’s just a simple witness investigation, so you don’t need to worry, Count. Then, please come this way, Madam.”

The investigator guided Lily to the interrogation room in a somewhat servile manner. Before going inside, Lily glanced at Herald. Herald, whose eyes met hers, waved his hand with a faint smile as if to wish her a good trip.

Like the VIP passage, the interrogation room was also quite different from what Lily had known before. A plush carpet was laid on the floor, and the sofa and table were also luxurious. In the past, they didn’t even give her a cup of tea during interrogation, but now refreshments were prepared.

The reason I’m suddenly being treated well is probably thanks to that man. Realizing that fact anew, Lily smiled bitterly and sat down on the sofa.

“First, let me explain the situation.”

Although the investigator’s tone and expression were gentle, the content was not at all. As it was a terrible incident where a person was brutally murdered, just hearing the full story gave her goosebumps.

The estimated time of death for Alvin, Megan’s husband, was between 10 p.m. last night and 1 a.m. this morning. He had been stabbed dozens of times with a sharp blade and died from excessive bleeding. The culprit who stabbed Alvin was caught at the scene right away, and that culprit was none other than Brian.

At the time, Brian was so heavily intoxicated with alcohol and drugs that he couldn’t even recognize the officers who came to arrest him. He even put his hand on an officer’s shoulder, grinned foolishly, and babbled nonsense about going to a nice place, so that says it all.

“We kept interrogating him while feeding him cold water and stimulants, asking what happened, and he mentioned you, Madam. He said his sister-in-law ordered it. That if he killed that man, she would give him money.”

“That’s nonsense. You’re not suspecting me just based on the words of a drugged up person, are you?”

“Of course not. There was a bit of suspicion, but that part has been resolved as well.”

“Suspicion?”

“At the time, the culprit had your belongings in his possession. The money he used to gamble and buy drugs at the gambling den was also money he received by pawning your belongings as collateral.”

At those words, Lily recalled the incident when she was packing her bags to leave the Benjamin estate and Brian had followed her around asking strange things like how much money she was taking. He must have been doing preliminary research to steal.

“So we thought it might be related to you, but after meeting and talking with Viscount Benjamin a little while ago, all the suspicions were cleared.”

“You… met my husband?”

“Yes. Viscount Benjamin testified that the culprit stole your belongings and that it had nothing to do with you.”

That man took my side…?

Lily blankly stared down at the table. The investigator kept chattering on, but none of it entered her ears. The fact that Fredrick Benjamin, that man, had taken her side remained a question that kept swirling in her mind.

‘Why on earth?’

It would have been a good opportunity to torment her, so why did Fredrick give testimony favorable to her?

Lily pondered deeply, but no matter how much she racked her brain, she couldn’t fathom a reason. The more she thought about it, the more confused she became.

“When was the last time you saw the culprit?”

“You haven’t met the culprit since then? Not even once?”

“Do you have any idea why the culprit named you as the mastermind?”

In the midst of that, the investigator kept asking this and that, making her feel even more frazzled. Lily bit her lower lip hard and tried to straighten out her scattered mind. It would be big trouble if she made a mistake during the investigation. She had to keep her wits about her.

“I’m curious myself as to why he named me. Is it possible to have a visit with him?”

“I’m afraid that will be difficult as the investigation is still ongoing. You may be able to meet briefly before he goes to prison after the trial is over… Would you like to see him then?”

“No. It’s fine.”

Lily refused right away without a moment’s hesitation. The fact that the trial was over meant that Brian’s crimes had been fully exposed. There was no reason to meet that jerk. She didn’t want to meet him either.

More than that, I want to know why Fredrick Benjamin took my side first.

As she earnestly thought of a way, a glint flashed in her green eyes. Lily looked straight at the investigator who was organizing the notes he had written and said,

“The person who sent Brian to that gambling den was probably my husband.”