“How did you get here, Madam…”

Mary’s eyes, which had naturally risen towards Gelda’s house, trembled. Just like the chaotic environment at the daytime hotel, Gelda was being carried out with her eyes closed.

“Gelda!”

Mary ran to Gelda in surprise. However, the woman who had already lost her life did not answer. Mary could not believe that her colleague, whom she had conversed with just that morning, had become a cold corpse.

But it was already too late.

Mary slumped to the ground.

“Are you alright?”

Ansi supported Mary in surprise. Mary muttered as she looked at Ansi with a blank face.

“I should have told you earlier that the witness was Gelda. Then maybe Gelda wouldn’t have died…”

It was clear that Mary knew something. Ansi clasped her hand. Although it may be cruel to someone who had just experienced the death of a friend, Ansi needed the information she knew right now.

“Mary, what do you know?”

Ansi asked desperately.

“Originally, I was supposed to be in charge of the 10th floor today. But a while ago, Gelda asked to switch with me, so I did. But since then, Gelda had been acting strange.”

Mary frowned as she recalled that time. Ansi and Henet silently waited for her to speak. Soon, Mary continued.

“It seemed like she had some kind of secret. Even this morning… She was particularly concerned about that room. From around 3 o’clock, she was away from her post for quite a while.”

“Was she on the 10th floor?”

“Yes. I secretly followed Gelda, wondering what was going on. And… I saw Gelda secretly letting a man into that room.”

“…!”

Ansi’s lips parted slightly.

It meant that there was someone else besides Damion.

Hope swirled in Ansi’s mind. With this, she could prove his innocence.

On the other hand, she also felt a strong sense of disillusionment. Even the witness was all part of a set-up. She felt foolish for being played by Kardian.

“I went to Gelda and asked her. What she had just done. Gelda took me to the 1st floor and said that with this one time, she could treat her younger sibling.”

“It seems she agreed to take money.”

At Henet’s words, Mary bit her lip and nodded sadly.

“She said she would receive the money tonight… and take a week off starting tomorrow to go see her sibling. And she went back up to the 10th floor and didn’t come down until the incident occurred. By the time I went up, the guest had already been stabbed…”

It seemed Gelda had waited on the 10th floor until Damion arrived. Ansi, who had been listening to the story, asked.

“Mary, then did you not go to the 10th floor after that?”

“No.”

Ansi nodded with downcast eyes. Then there was circumstantial evidence that someone else had stabbed Bekishi, but they could not completely collect the testimony for that time period.

Gelda, who could have testified, was already dead, and Mary was not at the scene. Then who on earth could…

Suddenly, a thought flashed through Ansi’s mind.

“Is the 10th floor well soundproofed?”

“Small noises are okay, but I’m not sure about loud ones.”

“You said the guests on the 10th floor were turned away today. Then there should be a list of those people. Can you share that with us?”

“But, but that’s customer information…”

“Those people could die. Like Gelda.”

Ansi, who spoke firmly, stared intently at Mary.

Mary flinched. In the eyes of the lady sitting in front of her, a chilling flame was lingering.

“I’ll try to get the hotel’s cooperation. But I’m asking you because it’s urgent, Mary. It’s about finding the bastard who killed Gelda, isn’t it?”

Henet gently added, sensing the somewhat frozen atmosphere.

Mary, who had been agonizing, nodded.

Gelda was killed by the person she was supposed to receive money from. Mary also wanted to catch that culprit.

“Then I’ll ask you now.”

The three of them got into Henet’s car together.

Henet glanced at Ansi sitting in the passenger seat. The woman’s expression was now indifferently hardened.

Since learning that Gelda was the primary contributor to framing Damion, the compassion in her expression had rapidly disappeared.

Now, regardless of Gelda’s death, Ansi was simply engrossed in finding clues to save Damion.

That was the right thing to do, but… Henet felt that her slightly misaligned eyes were a bit eerie.

“The surgery was successful. But we’ll have to wait and see if she can wake up.”

“I see.”

The surgery ended late into the night. Kardian nodded sadly at the result conveyed by the exhausted doctor.

Despite the rampant rumors that his wife had cheated on him, the viscount was worried about his wife. The doctor, thinking that the viscount’s uprightness was impressive, meddled and offered consolation.

“Don’t mind the outside rumors, and talk to your wife when she wakes up.”

“…”

Kardian raised an eyebrow. The role of the doctor standing in front of him was simply to perform the surgery, nothing more. But he found it presumptuous and worthless for the doctor to mention rumors and make unnecessary comments.

“Yes, good work.”

Marianne, who read Kardian’s expression, answered the doctor instead.

“Now, let’s go see Bekishi. Let’s go, dear.”

Marianne led Basilov and Kardian to the hospital room where Bekishi was lying.

Bekishi’s heart was beating. But with her eyes closed, she looked like a dead person.

“Beki, you need to wake up.”

Kardian approached Bekishi and spoke. He reached out his hand and pretended to stroke Bekishi. But in fact, he did not touch her with a single fingertip. He did not find it pleasant to touch a woman who was nearly dead.

No matter how much he looked, Bekishi showed no sign of waking up. But if she did wake up…

Bekishi, who knew that Damion was not the culprit, would be a huge obstacle.

Kardian’s gaze sank.

“Tsk, Kardian! What will you do if the rumors about Bekishi are true?”

“Well… Beki will explain when she wakes up.”

Basilov thought it was so embarrassing that he could die, as something so vulgar that he couldn’t even say out loud had happened between his son and daughter-in-law. Seeing Kardian calmly worrying about Bekishi made him sigh deeply in frustration.

On the other hand, Marianne watched her son’s appearance from behind with her mouth tightly shut.

“I’ll go out for some air.”

“Yes, go ahead. We’ll stay by Bekishi’s side.”

Marianne spoke readily and sat on the sofa next to Bekishi. As Kardian went out, her gaze sank meaningfully.

Meanwhile, Kardian’s subordinate signaled to him from afar as he exited the hospital. It meant there was an urgent message to convey.

Kardian entered a blind spot behind the hospital where no one could see. The subordinate who approached him quietly delivered the message.

Kardian’s face hardened coldly upon hearing the story.

“Why is Ansi looking for that woman?”

Originally, until Damion’s case was settled, no one should have met the witness anymore. Since outsiders would think the witness had taken a week off and gone to another region, there would be no reason for anyone to look for her.

But Ansi de Orphet, that woman, had found the dead witness.

This was unexpected.

The police had already conducted an investigation into the witness. But for her, who was not even the police, to find the witness without waiting for the results.

It seemed he had underestimated that woman’s proactiveness.

“Damn it.”

She probably hadn’t obtained any information from the witness who could no longer speak.

But he didn’t know how things would turn out.

He had to prepare for any situation.

“Get rid of the man too.”

It was his mistake in the first place that they couldn’t completely cut off Bekishi’s breath, increasing the points they had to worry about. If he was that sloppy, traces could be discovered.

Kardian periodically replaced the servants who did this kind of work to prevent getting caught, and it seemed this servant could no longer be used.

“Damn it.”

Anger boiled up.

To ruin the investment in Bekishi like this.

Unable to contain his anger, Kardian kicked the subordinate with his foot. As Kardian kicked him several times, the subordinate endured the pain without even groaning.

“Haa…”

After a long time, Kardian, who had finally found stability, let out a long breath. Originally, he thought it was pathetic to openly express emotions and get excited, but today, his patience had run out.

“Bring a proper one for the next servant. Otherwise, you’ll be the one disposed of.”

“Understood.”

The subordinate bowed deeply. Kardian turned around with a calm face as usual.

At the sound of footsteps approaching, Damion slowly raised his head from behind the bars. The police officer in charge of him approached, unlocked the cell, and opened the door.

“You’ve been excluded from the list of suspects.”

Damion frowned.

They clearly had the momentum to send him straight to prison as a criminal caught in the act. How?

The police officer, reading Damion’s expression, shrugged and explained.

“There’s a witness who saw another man enter before you arrived at the scene. Crucially, they heard a scream from the next room. Anyway, congratulations.”

Damion left the police station. Reporters trying to dig into the details of the incident clung to him. However, Damion slowly scanned his surroundings without a word.

Soon, a flash of light crossed his sunken eyes. His dry, cracked lips parted slightly.

“Damion.”

Seeing his wife who had come to meet him, Damion let out a chuckle.