Thud, feeling something touch her instep, Lily, who had fallen into a light sleep, slowly opened her eyes. Her unfocused gaze swept across the room shrouded in darkness. Looking around the bedroom she had lived in for over a year as if she were a newcomer, she picked up the gossip magazine that had fallen to the floor. It was the cause of her awakening.

Lily generally liked anything she could read, be it essays, novels, or books, but not gossip magazines. Gossip magazines published articles on anything that could attract people’s attention and interest, regardless of whether it was true or not. Lily herself had been a victim several times, so she hated the sight of gossip magazines.

But the reason she had brought the gossip magazine Samantha was reading was because the cover boldly stated [Exclusive. Count Herald Braden, what’s his next move?]. The moment she saw his name, she picked up the magazine as if enchanted, and when she came to her senses, she was already sitting on the sofa in her bedroom reading it.

Compared to the big “exclusive” written on the cover, the content was nothing special. It only contained already known information, such as the Emperor planning to appoint Herald Braden, a hero of the empire and an outstanding knight, as the captain of the Imperial First Knights, or that nobles from the empire as well as other countries, and even royalty, were sending him marriage proposals to marry the still unmarried man.

Lily, who had needlessly read such things and was freshly reminded of the gap between herself and Herald, put down the gossip magazine on the sofa table with a bitter smile. She had intended to read it to the end since she had brought it, but it was so boring that she had fallen asleep. The fact that she had been losing sleep for the past few days due to having a lot on her mind was also one of the causes of her drowsiness.

How long had she slept? Lily checked the time. 11:20. Since she had started reading the gossip magazine around 8 o’clock, she had slept for over 3 hours.

“No wonder I feel refreshed.”

Lily, who was troubled by waking up when she should be going to sleep now, looked towards the window when she heard a tapping sound. She thought it was raining, but there was no rain, not even dark clouds. The cold and bright moonlight was softly illuminating the world.

“I must have heard wrong.”

She was about to dismiss it as unimportant, but then she heard another tapping sound. Unable to ignore the sound that had become heavier than before, Lily opened the window and checked outside. Her carelessly tied hair fluttered in the cold night breeze.

“There’s nothing…”

As Lily was looking around, she spotted Herald standing below the window and her eyes widened.

Why is that man here?

Unlike Lily, who was so surprised she even forgot to breathe, Herald smiled brightly and waved his hand. Seeing the moonlight pouring down on his head like a spotlight, it seemed as if he was standing on a stage rather than in the garden. Lily, who had been staring at him blankly like an audience watching a play, finally came to her senses and leaned her upper body out the window.

“Why are you here?”

Her voice was as small as an ant crawling. She wanted to shout loudly so Herald could hear her well, but she had to speak softly because others might hear if she did.

I wonder if he heard my voice. She was worried, but sure enough, Herald seemed not to have heard as he looked up at her blankly, then made a hand signal as if telling her to go inside.

Why is he telling me to go inside? Didn’t he come here because he has something to tell me?

Lily was puzzled, but she did as he instructed for now. As she stepped away from the window, there was a slightly dull sound, and then Herald entered through the wide-open window.

Lily’s bedroom was on the second floor of the mansion, at a height that couldn’t be reached just by jumping. There were no pillars or trees nearby that could be used for assistance either.

“H-how did you come up?”

But Herald had come up, so Lily asked in surprise. On the other hand, Herald answered nonchalantly as if it were nothing.

“As it involves my long-standing know-how, I’m afraid I can’t tell you, even if it’s you. Please understand.”

“That’s not what I meant…”

“May I close the window?”

When Lily nodded dazedly, Herald’s expression became slightly serious.

“Aren’t you allowing this too easily?”

“…Pardon?”

The sound of the window closing resonated a bit loudly.

“You shouldn’t easily allow a strange man to enter your bedroom at this late hour, Lily.”

“…”

Lily, who had been silently looking at Herald, opened the window again.

“Then would you like to leave?”

“I was wrong.”

Herald, who had tried to joke a little because Lily seemed too surprised, was rather taken aback by her unexpected reaction and immediately apologized.

“That’s fine then.”

Since she had no intention of kicking him out from the beginning, Lily accepted his apology and closed the window.

“You came because of the favor I asked, right?”

“That’s right. I was going to send a letter, but I thought it would be better to explain in person, so I came like this.”

“Did something happen to Mrs. Megan?”

Lily asked, immediately realizing that something bad must have happened for him to come personally at such a late hour to explain. Herald nodded with all traces of a smile gone from his face.

“Brace yourself before you hear this, Lily.”

What could have happened for him to even give a warning? Lily swallowed dryly as she looked at Herald.

“Mrs. Megan… has died.”

“…!”

Even though she had braced herself, the news was too shocking and Lily staggered backwards. Thanks to Herald quickly catching her, she didn’t fall ungracefully.

“Are you alright?”

“I-I’m fine.”

Contrary to her answer, she was not fine at all, her body trembling like an aspen leaf. Lily grabbed both of Herald’s arms with hands that were shaking even more and asked.

“Why did Mrs. Megan… D-did my husband… did Fredrick kill her?”

He had been a bit puzzled that she was so shocked despite the prior warning, but now he understood why. Herald shook his head with a bitter smile.

“The killer of Mrs. Megan hasn’t been caught yet, but it seems to have nothing to do with Fredrick Benjamin, so you can rest easy.”

Lily’s expression was better than when she first heard the news, but she was still pale.

“Then who…?”

“Well, as I said, the culprit hasn’t been caught yet. But her husband, Olben, is a strong suspect.”

“Olben…?”

“Seems like you’re hearing this for the first time.”

Lily nodded. She had only talked with Megan about her mother’s condition, never once having a personal conversation.

“Then I suppose you don’t know that Mrs. Megan suffered severe domestic violence either.”

Her eyes, which had just been returning to their normal size, widened again.

“Is that true?”

“Yes. The investigator dispatched to the scene said that Mrs. Megan’s death also seems to be due to domestic violence.”

“…But you don’t think so.”

Lily, who read the slight sarcasm underlying his calm voice, said, and Herald quietly smiled.

“Who do you think the culprit is?”

“As it’s just my speculation, it’s difficult to say at this point. When I’m more certain, I’ll tell you then.”

Lily had a strong feeling that moment would never come, but as she too only had a hunch, she couldn’t press further.

“You promised.”

Instead, she said with a meaning of asking him to definitely tell her, and Herald readily agreed. Seeing this, she thought perhaps her concerns were unfounded.

“So, may I make a suggestion?”

“What suggestion?”

“I think I’ll have a lot more to tell you in the future, like about Mrs. Megan’s killer, but coming like this every time would be a great discourtesy. There’s also a risk of getting caught.”

…Right, it was discourteous.

Lily was surprised by Herald’s sudden visit, but that was it. She hadn’t thought it was discourteous at all, but hearing him say that made her head reel as if she’d been hit on the back of the head.

Why is it that things I thought weren’t allowed suddenly become possible when this man is involved?

“Openly exchanging letters also carries a big risk, so I’d like us to set a place to exchange letters from now on.”

“I don’t understand what you mean.”

“You can think of it simply. Do you remember the restaurant where we had dinner together before?”

Of course she remembered, so Lily nodded.

“That restaurant is run by a former subordinate of mine and his wife. I can trust that fellow, so I’ll leave letters there from now on. Then you can come and pick up the letters. If you have something to say to me, you can leave a letter there too.”

“Sounds good. I’ll do that.”

She had been worried that Fredrick or Samantha might intercept letters addressed to her, but this way there was no need to worry at all.

“Then I’ll look into it over the weekend and leave a letter around Monday morning.”

“I’ll be counting on you.”

The conversation ended there, but Herald didn’t leave. He just stared at her as if he still had something to say.

“What’s wrong?”

When Lily asked, meaning for him to say whatever he wanted to say, Herald smiled a bit sheepishly and shook his head.

“It’s nothing.”

“It’s not nothing. It seems like there’s something.”

“It really is nothing. I just… had a useless thought for a moment, so don’t worry about it.”

In truth, he wanted to ask. He wanted to ask if he could hug her once since he had granted her favor, but Herald held back knowing Lily would faint if he did. He was also worried she might misunderstand that he had granted the favor expecting something in return, and that she might never ask him for a favor again.

“Then I’ll be going.”

Just as Herald, who had decided it was right to leave without doing anything, turned around, Lily grabbed his arm.