As Hannah was about to open the door, two of Karl’s knights stopped her and went outside. Then, from beyond the door came a sound like something crashing down. Thud, crack, bang – those kinds of sounds.

After a few more seconds passed, the door slowly opened. As I stared intently at the opening door with great tension, the one who appeared was, as expected, Detective Alfonso.

“State your identity.”

“Wh-who are you to do this?”

The detective, bound and dragged in, was brought right in front of Karl and made to kneel.

“Who are you…”

At that, a knight beside him drew the pistol from his waist and aimed it. The sudden threat startled not only the detective.

Eek, why are they pulling out guns?

“State your name and identity.”

“Wh-why, why are you doing this? Isn’t this Madam Rebecca’s house?”

“Madam Rebecca.”

Madam Rebecca. It was the alias I had used since sneaking into Uruentum. No, more importantly, that knight’s gun was too close to Valerie. I slowly got up from my seat, trying to move away from the knight while holding Valerie.

“Lower your weapon.”

Karl raised his hand to stop the knight. At his single word, as if he had never been preparing to fire, the knight immediately lowered his hand and hid the gun behind his back.

“Is the Madam Rebecca this person is looking for you?”

“Huh? Uh, well…”

While I was hesitating, unsure how to answer, the detective who recognized my face butted in abruptly.

“That’s right. Madam Rebecca. I simply came to give an answer regarding the matter the Madam requested.”

This guy. What kind of detective has such a loose tongue? Shouldn’t a proper detective keep quiet about requested jobs and clients no matter what?

Seeing him immediately spill details about the request at the slightest threat, what little trust remained vanished in an instant.

“Bwah, bababa.”

Valerie’s babbling, which had momentarily stopped at the appearance of strangers, started again. Unaware of the gravity of the situation, the child giggled and tugged at my hair, even going so far as to suck on it.

“Papa, papa.”

And then she reached out towards Karl, calling for him. Just like yesterday, making the sound ‘papa’.

The poker face of the large man who seemed to be Karl’s closest aide finally crumbled. The deep wrinkles on his brow made me realize how confusing this situation was.

The gazes of the knights turned to Valerie, then to Karl, and finally to me.

Those looks alternating between Karl and me somehow felt unpleasant… No, whatever they’re thinking, it’s not like that…! I’m being wronged here!

The atmosphere turned strange. Though no one voiced the question of what was going on, that made the situation feel even more unjust.

The inner cry of injustice was buried in the silence. One knight ran to close the door that had been opened.

* * *

After a moment of bewilderment passed, it was Karl, who regained his composure first, who broke the silence.

“…Someone left this child in front of the house?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

Karl let out a small laugh, as if in disbelief.

“So you tried to find the child’s identity and parents through a detective?”

“That’s what I said.”

“Wouldn’t it have made more sense to go directly to the Security Office?”

“It’s not that I didn’t want to go, I couldn’t go. Why do you think I was hiding in this countryside using an alias?”

“Indeed. Why did you run away and hide here?”

Gulp.

I was at a loss for words. Somehow, the more I spoke, the more I seemed to be digging my own grave.

Hannah quickly moved her hand under the table and poked my thigh. It meant I should keep my mouth shut as much as possible.

“So you really don’t know this child? This… baby.”

“Well, that…”

“That child is indeed Madam Valerie’s child!”

That guy, with no tact, again!

Hannah’s attempt to explain or make excuses was cut off by the tactless detective’s exclamation. I glared at the detective from the corner of my eye, but his gaze was fixed solely on Karl and the knights.

It seemed he had sensed that the absolute authority here, holding his lifeline, was not me but these men. I thought he lacked tact, but it was the opposite…

“When she first came to me holding the child, I confirmed the blood relation between Madam Rebecca and the child. The child is indeed Madam Rebecca’s biological child.”

In the end, everyone found out that this baby was Celeste’s daughter. Once again, the knights’ gazes moved from the detective to me.

Sigh, this is driving me crazy. I can’t help but sigh deeply.

A moment ago, after Valerie called Karl ‘papa’, the atmosphere in the room became unsettled.

Although Karl didn’t say anything special and started interrogating the detective, seemingly trying to divert attention, I could feel that the knights’ attention was entirely focused on me.

Karl’s expression became distorted. He seemed angry, and also surprised. A slight displeasure of unknown reason appeared on his face, but soon disappeared behind his poker face.

“How did you confirm it?”

“Actually, I have…”

The detective wiggled his waist as if asking for his hands to be untied. What is he going to say now?

At Karl’s nod, the brown-haired knight strode over and untied the rope binding the detective’s hands. Though it was brief, the detective grimaced once, his arms seemingly stiff from being bound, and then reached into his breast pocket.

What he immediately pulled out was a long glass bottle. Identical to the one he had taken out a week ago, saying he would do a paternity test for the child and me.

“What is this?”

“It’s a potion that finds blood relations. By dropping a drop of blood each and observing if the color changes, you can tell if they are blood relatives.”

“…Magic potions should be prohibited for personal possession. You’re not part of the Security Office, so how do you have this?”

“Well, you see, enforcing personal possession bans in such a rural area is quite difficult, so…”

Is he really a detective? Does he not know that saying such things will only be disadvantageous to him?

Hannah shook her head as she watched the detective whose credibility was dropping with every word he spoke. A sigh of disbelief also escaped from Karl’s lips.

“You boldly brag about taking advantage of relatively lax security to commit illegal acts. How dare you prattle on about defying imperial orders in front of the Imperial Knights.”

“What? Imperial Knights?”

His eyes grew twice as large as before. The detective, scanning Karl and the large knight with wide eyes, seemed to finally notice the golden shoulder boards and golden badges on their chests. He quickly bowed, as if about to bang his forehead on the floor.

“Ah, no! No, this potion has been in my family long before it was banned by imperial law, so I haven’t recklessly defied imperial orders or committed any crimes!”

At the words ‘Imperial Knights’ from Karl’s mouth, the detective turned pale and prostrated himself on the floor.

How does he work as a detective with such a weak heart? Turning blue at Karl’s single word, then trembling all over. Seeing even his hands shaking uncontrollably, I couldn’t help but shake my head.

“Now, Countess Louisette. I need to hear an explanation directly from you.”

“What? Me?”

Why is the arrow suddenly turning back to me? I, who had been inwardly clicking my tongue at the detective, blinked in confusion at the sudden attention.

“What explanation…”

“The real reason you suddenly left the capital to hide in Uruentum. And if, as you say, it’s been over half a year since you came here, how can you prove that you didn’t assassinate Duke Schwaben? And…”

I could guess the next words without hearing them. Karl’s gaze was blatantly directed at Valerie.

“About that child as well.”

As expected. The first two questions felt like just a smokescreen. It seemed like the last question was what he was really curious about. But what should I say? I bit my lip gently in bewilderment.

I’m not from this place. The truth is I just entered into a novel I was reading, and so I fled here fearing I might be executed after the Duke’s death. I don’t know why, when, where, or with whom Celeste had the child because it wasn’t written in the book. Should I tell the truth like that?

…If I did, I’d probably be treated like a crazy person.

“I don’t know well either. That’s all I can say.”

One of Karl’s eyebrows went up. It was an expression that said, ‘What nonsense are you talking about?’

“Well, um. You see, that. I…”

I need to think. I need to think of something, any words, a plausible excuse to get through this situation!

*

One-line summary: He acts like he doesn’t like her but is actually playing hard to get.

Synopsis:

Xu Muzhou like her. He has liked her for a very long time, and through repeated schemes, he finally closed the distance with her.

But this is still far from enough.

He wants to be the one who stands out among her many suitors, to fight for her attention, and to make her take the initiative to pursue him.

_____

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