The carriage carrying Liliana left the Braden estate. Herald, who had been staring intently at the receding back of the carriage, walked towards the garden instead of the mansion. The ground was damp from the rain that had fallen all night. His shoes, which had been shiny enough to reflect light, were dirtied by the mud, but Herald walked inward without paying any attention.

The place where Herald stopped after walking for a while was the garden visible from the window of the mistress’s bedroom where Liliana had stayed. Herald thoroughly searched the inside of the bushes, but there was no statue anywhere.

In the first place, it was rare for people to put a statue in a garden created for the purpose of taking rest for the soul. This was because there were often cases where people were startled, thinking the statue was a real person.

But it was strange and eerie that Liliana said she saw a statue in the garden, and that too, a human-shaped statue. He came to check just in case, but no matter how much he looked around, there was no sign of a statue, which made it even more eerie.

Could it be… a real person?

If so, it meant that someone had entered the Braden estate last night.

While it was common for vagrants to reside freely in vacant houses on the streets where commoners lived, Royal White Street was not one of them. Not only could vagrants not enter this street, but most of all, Herald had looked around the mansion and garden while Liliana was washing up. At that time, he had not found any traces of someone being there at all.

Of course, he had not been able to thoroughly search every mouse hole because he was looking around quickly, but even if that were the case, it was strange that he had not felt any presence at all. Herald had immediately felt the presence and went to greet them when Coleman Jones and the maids entered the mansion through the back door.

It was the same now. Herald immediately realized that Dillon and Coleman Jones had arrived and turned around. Dillon approached him from the entrance of the garden, grumbling.

“What is the matter again this early morning, Captain?”

“I don’t think 9 o’clock in the morning is an early time. You wake up much earlier than this when training, don’t you?”

“That’s when we’re training. We need to rest when we rest.”

Despite saying that, Dillon’s clothes had a bit of dirt on them. He was also wearing his training attire. It was obvious that he had woken up early in the morning and practiced swordsmanship in the vacant lot. And yet he was grumbling. Herald laughed as if he was snickering and ordered.

“It seems someone infiltrated the estate last night, so I’d like you to look for them.”

“What?”

“Pardon?”

Dillon and Coleman reacted at the same time, surprised.

“No, what crazy bastard would infiltrate a noble’s mansion? He would have to give up his life the moment he was discovered…”

“You still don’t know that there are more crazy bastards in the world than you think?”

“Well, that’s true.”

Dillon nodded as if he understood, glancing sideways at Herald.

“Ahem, ahem.”

Then, when Dillon’s eyes met Herald’s, he cleared his throat and feigned ignorance. Dillon, who had been avoiding the sharp gaze while slightly touching the back of his neck, asked Coleman Jones, who was still dumbfounded from the shock.

“Did you happen to know that an outsider had infiltrated last night?”

Coleman, who finally came to his senses, shook his head from side to side.

“No. I had no idea at all. If I had known, I would have immediately informed the young master.”

“Oh my, to think that someone infiltrated the mansion without the Captain or the butler noticing…”

Dillon, who had been lost in thought while stroking his chin, suddenly had a dark expression on his face. He approached Herald closely and asked in a small voice that only he could hear.

“Could it be that there were remnants of the Salaman tribe left? And they infiltrated to hold a grudge and take revenge on the Captain…”

The sound of Herald slapping the back of Dillon’s head rang out cheerfully in the spacious garden. He had hit him so hard that Dillon’s body leaned forward. Thanks to the reflexes he had developed while training in swordsmanship, he didn’t face-plant, but instead, his palm got dirty. The back of his head that had been hit hard was numb.

“Why are you hitting me!”

When Dillon shouted angrily, Herald’s eyes narrowed.

“Do you seriously think you didn’t do anything to deserve being hit?”

“…”

Recalling the fact that he had been glancing at Herald with impure eyes a moment ago, Dillon couldn’t bring himself to deny it and shut his mouth. Inwardly, he grumbled about why he was getting revenge for that now, but outwardly, he didn’t express it at all.

“It’s also ridiculous to think that there would be remnants of the Salaman tribe left. Not only would that never happen, but even if, by some miracle, there were surviving remnants, they wouldn’t have been able to come this far.”

“Well, that’s true. There are checkpoints in this street as well.”

As it was a street where high-ranking nobles lived, one had to go through inspections to enter the street, just like when entering the capital.

“Stop thinking about useless things and see if you can find any clues that an intruder entered.”

“Well…”

Dillon trailed off, quickly scanning the garden, and then shook his head.

“It seems impossible. No, it is impossible. If the person was skilled enough to hide their presence without the Captain sensing it at all, they wouldn’t have left any clues. Even if they did, it would have been completely erased by the rain that fell all night, so we wouldn’t be able to find it. For the same reason, there probably won’t be any witnesses either.”

Herald had the same thought. Still, he asked just in case, thinking that Dillon, who was an expert in this field, might know of another way, but the result didn’t change.

“Still, just in case, I’ll try to find witnesses. I’ll also ask the guards of Royal White Street.”

“Please do.”

After Dillon left, Herald turned to Coleman Jones. Coleman Jones, whose eyes met his, deeply bowed his head and apologized.

“I should have kept better control… I have no face to show, young master.”

“This is not your fault, so there’s no need to apologize. In the first place, you’re not even the butler in charge of this mansion.”

“However…”

“But I guess we’ll have to hire guards to protect the mansion on this occasion.”

Last night’s incident was also fundamentally due to the lack of security. If the guards had been guarding like an iron wall, not even a rat could have entered, and there would have been no incident of an outsider infiltrating.

But for what reason did that intruder enter here? Herald looked at the window of the bedroom where Liliana had stayed. The fact that Liliana discovered them meant that they had no intention of hiding their appearance. Or they thought that even if they were caught, it wouldn’t matter because the rain was pouring so heavily that their face wouldn’t be recognizable anyway.

Either way, it was equally unpleasant. Herald was most concerned about the fact that the intruder was in the garden with a view of the bedroom where Liliana had stayed. It seemed that Liliana was the intruder’s target.

If so, why did they not approach her and quietly leave? Questions that couldn’t be answered trailed long, one after another.

‘I have a feeling I know the bastard who has the answers.’

Recalling the gaunt face of Derius Kaman Andreas, the Second Prince, Herald frowned. It was a guess, but he had a strong feeling that the Second Prince was involved.

Should he meet the Second Prince in person and have a confrontation? Thinking that he should seek Austin’s opinion on this as well, Herald asked Coleman Jones.

“I’m sorry to ask this of you when you’re already busy, but could you hire guards to protect the mansion and servants to work here?”

“Servants, sir?”

It made sense to hire guards to prevent the intrusion of vagrants or thieves, but hiring servants was a bit puzzling, so Coleman rarely asked back.

“Yes. Since I’ll be staying here from now on, I’ll need servants.”

“How many do you need?”

Wasn’t Herald the one who didn’t listen even when the Duchess Maximilian begged him to go just once? Coleman was greatly surprised inwardly that he suddenly said he would stay here, but outwardly, he asked calmly. It was a side befitting an old butler who had devoted himself to the Maximilian ducal family for a long time.

“Well, I don’t really know how many I’ll need, so you can hire them as you see fit. I think you can also conduct the interviews.”

“I understand.”

Although he had taken on a bothersome task in his busy schedule, Coleman Jones’ face was brighter and more full of pride than ever. That was because servants were no different from the hands and feet of their master. Entrusting the hiring of such servants entirely to him meant that he was trusted that much, so Coleman Jones thought proudly.

“If you have nothing more to say, I’ll take my leave first.”

“Ah, and one more thing.”

When Coleman Jones was about to leave, Herald added as if he had just remembered.

“Make sure to hire the maids who attended to her.”

Herald didn’t state the reason, but Coleman, who understood, had a gentle smile on his lips.

“Yes, I will do that, young master.”

Liliana’s neck, which had descended in front of the Benjamin estate, was as stiff as if it were wrapped in bandages. Her face, which the maids had made lively with passion, was pale enough to be sickly rather than fair. The rose flower that had bloomed radiantly was nowhere to be seen, leaving only a withered flower with all its petals fallen.

Liliana bit her nicely painted lips several times and then went up the stairs. The thing she wished for the most was for nothing to happen and for it to pass, but that was no different from wishing for the sun to rise in the west.

Then please, just do as usual. Just end it with leaving a wound on the heart. Liliana desperately hoped and hoped that Fredrick would not do anything strange like that night.

“The master went out early in the morning, little madam.”

Perhaps the gods had finally answered Liliana’s wishes. Fredrick was not at home. Not only that, but Samantha and Brian were also out, so the color finally returned to her pale face.

However, she couldn’t be relieved because she didn’t know when they would return. Liliana instructed them to let her know when the young girl came for an interview, and then headed to the bedroom. Just in case, if a situation arose where she had to fight with Fredrick and leave the house, it was to prepare the items she must take with her in advance.

While thinking about what to prepare, Liliana suddenly remembered one thing and stopped. Then she turned her head towards the end of the second-floor corridor. It was the direction where Fredrick’s bedroom and study were located.

“…The letter.”

Herald’s letter that Fredrick had stolen. She wanted to take that letter.