“Get a hold of yourself, Lily.”

No matter how much she wanted to get Herald’s letter back, it was an insane thing to rummage through Fredrick’s bedroom. There was no guarantee the letter would be there, and if she got caught secretly searching the room, Fredrick would certainly not stand still.

Of course, the one who searched Lily’s room first and stole the letter was Fredrick. More precisely, it was Robert who did it.

‘That’s the problem.’

Behind this matter must be Fredrick. However, his loyal assistant Robert would not admit to being ordered by Fredrick even with a knife to his throat. In other words, it meant that Fredrick could not be held accountable.

If a missing shoe or Herald’s letter was found in his bedroom or study, it would be a different story…

“……”

As the desire to retrieve the letter grew stronger, Lily clenched her jaw tightly. The fact that Fredrick and her in-laws were all out at the moment, and the situation where the servants did not even dare to come to the second floor, also encouraged her. It seemed that even if she searched Fredrick’s room now, she would not be caught.

“Let’s take a quick look.”

With her mind made up, Lily clutched the trailing hem of her dress. She tried to walk slowly to make as little noise as possible, but her pace gradually quickened. Lily, who had held her breath and quickly crossed the corridor, stopped in front of Fredrick’s study.

“Phew.”

Lily exhaled the breath she had been holding, her chest rising and falling greatly. She moistened her lips, which had gone dry from anxiety and impatience, with her tongue and entered Fredrick’s study.

Although it had been well over a year since she married Fredrick and lived together in this mansion, she had never once entered his study. When she requested to read books, Fredrick had given her permission to use the study, but Lily refused. It was because she did not want to enter his space.

But to think she would enter like this.

Lily carefully closed the door and took a sweeping glance around the study. It was an ordinary study with nothing special, but it felt icky just because it was Fredrick’s space. It was also unpleasant to feel his scent with every breath.

‘I should check quickly and get out.’

Lily glanced over the bookshelves crammed with books and approached the walnut-colored desk. On the large desk where the sunlight poured down to an unpleasant degree, a single book lay alone.

“In Praise of Love and Separation.”

Lily smirked upon seeing the book’s title. It was laughable that a man who would sell his soul to the devil for money and honor was reading such a philosophical book. She was also curious if he had really read it.

“This is not the time for this.”

She had to find the letter quickly. Lily searched every place where a letter could be hidden, including between books, boxes, and drawers. But nowhere could she find Herald’s letter, let alone the missing shoe.

Another dead end, it seemed. Her face darkened with disappointment. As Lily turned around with a deep sigh, she noticed the warm sunlight seeping through a long crack on the left side of the desk. Upon closer inspection, there was a space underneath.

A secret compartment in the desk. It looked suspicious no matter how she looked at it. With a strong feeling that the letter might be hidden here, Lily examined the desk from all angles.

“There must be a way to open it… Ah. This is it.”

When she pressed a button inside the first drawer, there was a click as if a latch was released, and the crack widened a bit more. Lily put her hand in the gap and pushed it hard to the left. As one side of the desk slid open like a sliding door, the secret space was revealed.

In the narrow space that could barely fit a shoe box, there were bundles of papers, but the letter she was looking for was not there. Naturally, no shoe was in sight either.

“It’s not here either.”

Disappointment flooded in as much as she had hoped. At the same time, what was strange was that all the bundles of paper were receipts issued by [Villeno Apothecary].

“What did he buy so much of?”

Suspicious of why he was keeping the receipts she knew about in a secret place, Lily frowned and checked the details. Everything was written in abbreviations, so she couldn’t tell what they were, but there was one word she knew.

“G.B. Gimberray.”

It was an herb with the effect of calming nerves and reducing pain, and it had once been used as a treatment for her late mother, so she recognized it immediately.

“A treatment for Mother?”

Gimberray was also used to treat arthritis, so it could be that. The only thing she couldn’t understand was that the amount of herbs purchased was too much for it to simply be for treatment purposes. From this alone, it felt as if Samantha’s arthritis was so severe that she couldn’t even walk.

It was still suspicious that the receipts were hidden in a secret place.

“…Young Madam!”

“Ah!”

Lily, who had been looking at the receipts again in case she had missed something, was startled by the voice calling for her and put down the papers. Before her mind could think about what to do, her body moved. In the blink of an eye, Lily put everything back in its place and hid behind the door.

Her chest heaved as she expelled rough breaths. Lily pressed her ear to the door and checked the situation outside. Fortunately, the maid’s voice calling for her did not get closer. It was clear that the maid would never think Lily would be in Fredrick’s study.

That was a relief, but it was still too early to relax. Lily kept her ear to the door, monitoring the situation outside, and when she heard no sound, she quietly opened the door.

Each step was more cautious than when she had entered the study. Lily, who had safely reached the central staircase without being discovered, stood in front of it, pondered for a moment, and went down to the first floor. Just then, she ran into the maid who had come up again to look for her.

“Oh, Young Madam. You were on the second floor. I looked for a while but there was no answer, so I thought you weren’t here…”

“I was looking for something in the dressing room, so I couldn’t answer.”

Lily lied calmly and descended the remaining stairs. The maid followed behind and informed her that a girl named Emily had come for an interview.

“But a young boy came with her… Are you also hiring a servant? He’s too young to be a servant…”

“You’re talkative today.”

When Lily pointed it out, meaning for the maid to be quiet, the maid pursed her lips and pouted. Lily was irritated by the maid’s disrespectful attitude, but she didn’t say anything. It wasn’t a problem that could be fixed by saying something, and she had many other things to worry about, so she didn’t want to be concerned about this too.

There were several people in the hall, but Lily immediately found who Emily was. It was thanks to the young boy who had come with Emily. There was no boy that young in the Benjamin estate.

Emily must have also recognized that Lily was the future Countess Benjamin she would have to serve, as she bowed deeply in greeting.

“It’s, it’s nice to meet you, Madam! My name is Emily.”

Her voice trembled, probably because she was very nervous. Upon closer look, her shoulders were also shaking slightly.

“It’s nice to meet you too, Emily.”

Lily gently brushed Emily’s shoulders, meaning for her not to be too nervous. The warm greeting she added must have also been effective, as the shaking of her shoulders subsided.

Lily’s gaze naturally shifted to the young boy next to Emily. Emily’s eyes were a common brown color, but the boy’s eyes were a deep blue resembling an abyss.

To think that the eye colors could be so different despite being biological siblings. Lily looked at the boy’s eyes with some amazement, as this was the first time she had seen such a case. The boy did not avoid Lily’s gaze, and the two stared at each other as if having a staring contest.

“Harry, you should greet Madam.”

As Emily stopped her brother, the staring contest that seemed like it would never end came to a close. Harry bowed deeply as his sister instructed.

“It’s nice to meet you, Madam. My name is Harry.”

Unlike his sister, the young brother did not tremble at all. Well, that must be why he didn’t avoid my eyes and looked straight at me. Lily liked Harry’s personality a bit more than Emily’s.

“Instead of doing this here, you should go to the drawing room and talk comfortably, Young Madam.”

Anna, who had been watching them from a distance, suddenly intervened, and Lily narrowed her eyes.

“So there are times when you say things for my sake.”

Anna replied with a nonchalant face, not even batting an eye.

“I’m always thinking of you, Young Madam.”

How could she spout such hypocrisy so well? Lily snorted and turned to the children. After seeing such a brazen face, looking at their innocent faces seemed to quell her irritation a little.

“Shall we go to the drawing room?”

The three of them walked side by side down the corridor. Then, Harry, who had been following behind Lily along with Emily, suddenly stopped, grabbed Emily’s arm, and whispered in a small voice.

“Excuse me, Madam. I think someone is looking for you.”

Emily relayed what she heard directly to Lily. Lily, who had stopped abruptly at those words, looked around, but no one was in the corridor except for them.

“Who is looking for me?”

“I can hear a voice from the hall.”

This time, Harry stepped up directly.

“It was faint, but I clearly heard a man’s voice calling for you, Madam.”

A voice calling for her from the hall could be heard all the way here? Lily couldn’t believe it, but since Harry said he clearly heard it, she returned to the hall.

“It’s almost lunchtime and she’s still not back.”

In the hall, a man Lily had never seen before was talking with Anna.

“When will Countess Benjamin return?”

“I don’t know that either. I don’t manage the Young Madam’s schedule.”

Anna let out a small sigh with a shadowed face.

“I also want to quickly inform the Young Madam of this unfortunate news, but I can’t, so I’m frustrated and anxious. If I knew where Madam was, I would at least send a letter…”

“I’m here, so there’s no need to send a letter.”