Episode 29

Yeah, it was weird. No matter how I looked at him that day, he was weird.

"… Lady Ines, shouldn't you be discussing this with more formal friends? Not a maid like me."

"I don't have any friends."

Ines answered simply and clearly, her legs twitching as if they were ticklish as she applied perfume. How could she be so clear and bright on such a pessimistic topic about marriage?

Juana sighed again, looking at the back of her master's head as if she were looking at a worried younger sibling.

"What about the people who listened to the lecture together last time?"

"They are my mother's guests. Senoritas who might become Luciano's wives."

"Then shouldn't you start making it now?"

"No, I don't want to do anything annoying."

"You'll get lonely when you get married. Everyone says that. And just in case, Captain Escalante, I'm sure he wouldn't break a promise he made first, but still… … ."

"You want me to create a surveillance network?"

When Ines asked directly, Juana nodded cautiously.

As expected, no one believes that a dog can become a human. Cassel Escalante's suspicious expression was momentarily forgotten. Ines smiled happily.

"Okay. I trust Escalante."

"When did you say that a dog can suddenly become a human… … ."

"And my friend, you alone are enough."

"… … ."

"It's okay. I have you."

"… … ."

"You're so touched? You're speechless…"

"… I hope Ines makes some friends."

"Because it's annoying?"

"No. I just wanted others to know how special Ines is… because they don't believe me just by my words."

It was clear that she had been trying to say the strange thing in the most roundabout way possible. Instead of being offended by Juana, Ines turned around as if she had been waiting for the perfume to spread all over her back after those words.

At the end of her orphaned gaze, not caring whether she was a weirdo or not, ten-year-old Escalante was caught again.

'I'm sorry, but you can't live without me. Ines Ballestena.'

The next voice that rang in my ears as if mocking me was that of the twenty-three-year-old Escalante from a few days ago. Ines narrowed her eyes and then spat out, feeling as if she was taking out her anger on a child.

"…Just get rid of that thing now."

From 1/3 of episode 29

***

Jose Almenara looked around suspiciously from the doorway and entered the room. Cassel raised his head only after hearing the door close and frowned.

"…what?"

Even after closing the door, Jose's face had the exact same expression as a thief who has lost his footing. 'I am guilty, so please, no one should suspect me.'

"I figured it out."

Instead of sitting across from Cassel, Jose crept up behind the chair he was sitting in, bent down with his large body, and spoke very secretly.

Cassel raised his head obliquely, his expression still furrowed.

"… … Why are you so anxious that you can't see each and every one of them as a suspicious person?"

"No, because the matter is what it is."

"Whatever the matter is… … ."

Cassel clicked his tongue and gestured with his hand as if to tell him to do more. Jose dutifully leaned in closer and said.

"There isn't any."

"what?"

"There really isn't any."

It was an unexpected report, but Cassel seemed to understand it well enough, and the corners of his mouth slightly distorted. Jose, who didn't notice that part, whispered in Cassel's ear in the quietest of voices.

"The cat believes that it is impossible for Senorita Ballestena to be so well-behaved and virtuous, even in the Perez Castle. The owl guarding the hallway believes that, since she spends most of her days alone in her library, only a ghost could have had a lover. And the little mouse says, "Oh, this little mouse could watch everyone who comes and goes through the back door of the Ballestena family…"

"… A cat? A rat?"

"In espionage, passwords are the lifeblood."

It was an incredibly grandiose answer, considering that he had merely returned from a cursory background check on his superior's fiancée. Cassel shook his head and touched his forehead as if he had no answer.

"…so."

The reason he couldn't raise his head, resting his hand on his forehead, was probably his self-loathing for continuing to ask questions because he was curious. Maybe it was because of his own shabby current situation, where he was tracing his fiancée's past.

But once the thought that 'there must be someone' came to mind like an instinct, it didn't go away. It wasn't something he disliked or found annoying. It wasn't a sudden feeling of suspicion or jealousy... He just wanted to check. With his own eyes, if possible.

Who would have smiled so beautifully at that person with a face that didn't seem like it would bleed even if you stabbed it? What kind of man was that person? How on earth could he have persuaded that cold-blooded person to know men and women? The thought that had popped up like simple curiosity turned into a dry thirst.

"Anyway, he said he had never seen the Senorita go out in a suspicious manner or invite anyone in for a secret meeting. He said she was even reluctant to be with her family in the castle, let alone men… Why would she do that?"

Jose asked blankly, as if he had a question for himself.

"You're asking me, aren't you? You did the research?"

Cassel asked back with a fierce expression as if he was about to hit the adjutant's head. Jose spoke quickly with a dumbfounded face.

"As I was talking, I just got curious… … ."

"also?"

"The senorita is so beautiful that you wouldn't even notice a speck of dust. She has a cold personality and sometimes she can be a bit unreasonable, but she's perfect in everything she does and how she conducts herself… … ."

"… It's all just the content of Ballestena's subordinates serving their masters. They just take the money and say things like, 'He's a bit of a brat, so sometimes he loses his temper…' and pretend to gossip about him… But our young lady is perfect? ​​Do you think you can give her money by listening to things like that?"

"No, whatever the problem."

"Where are the employees who would speak badly about their master? If you are going to investigate someone, shouldn't there be a variety of investigation teams? Have you ever done something like this before?"

"… Is this your first time? Is this your first time as well, Captain?"

Cassel's bear-like adjutant told the truth that had been pushed out without him knowing. Cassel stared at that dull yet honest face for a while in silence before letting out another sigh that felt like the ground was about to collapse.

I can't seem to suppress my feelings of inferiority. Sometimes, I do things like this, damn it...

In reality, even though there was some grand talk about background investigations and the past, the words that Jose was reciting were words that anyone in Mendoza could roughly fit together. There was nothing new, and they were just stories that anyone could have expected.

In addition, there were testimonies from the laundry maid, the servant guarding the back door, and so on… If it were an ordinary Ortega noble, there would have been endless stories that could have been extracted from them, but there was no way that there would have been such a great story hidden in Ines Ballestena's mansion.

And even if there were, how could such an inexperienced investigator catch anything?

He was also naively ordering his subordinates around. It was his first time investigating a woman, and since it was his first time, he didn't know what to do or how to find out anything, so he just kept pestering his subordinates like a bear for three days. Unlike Jose Almenara, the results came faster than expected, but as expected, there was nothing special to see.

However, for Cassel, who had never felt even a moment of curiosity about a woman's past in his life, it felt like he had committed a great crime just to have employed such an inexperienced spy.

If I'm going to suffer from this guilt, there has to be some kind of harvest… Cassel looked at Jose with narrowed eyes, thinking that. Jose seemed to have misunderstood the message and answered calmly.

"I… and although you are not my master, of course, it would be a great honor if I could have you as my master. In that sense, if you were my master and I were your employee, I would be more than… … ."

"what."

"… … ."

"Enough, okay."

"I thought I could offer some opinions about my master's unruly behavior, if only from a place where the captain can't see."

Look at this…? Cassel's eyes narrowed a little and took on a murderous expression.

"So you are ready to betray your superior at any time?"

"So you're saying that the testimonies of Ballestena's employees are quite objective… … Betrayal! I'm just saying that if those servants had something bad to say about Senorita Ballestena, they would have said it for a few silver coins. But Senorita has nothing to say. Oh, what should I say about this? Unlike you, Captain, who has so much to say… … ."

"… … ."

"… Are you going to hit me?"

"Almenara."

"yes?"

"You'd better learn how to speak to your mother again before you enlist."

As Cassel spoke, he implicitly accepted the objectivity that Jose was talking about. Yes, if it were to be dusted, he would have shed some dust and taken some more silver.

It's not surprising that Ines Ballestena doesn't show any dust no matter how much you shake her. She's just born that way, and she's the type of person who won't show her weaknesses even if she dies.

He felt a mixture of disappointment and relief. At the fact that Ines had no one…

'…Relief?'

What are you relieved of? Why, as if there was another mind… … . As soon as the word 'mind' came to mind, I felt like I had hives all over my body. Cassel shook his head as if he had been touched by something.

"… Is there any chance that my fiancée is too meticulous?"

"They say the maids all laughed at her. They say she looks at men like insects."

It's a possible story. I've seen such a talented fiancée as a small thing sometimes. Because he accomplished such a difficult task... As Cassel nodded and rested his chin on his hand as if he were deep in thought, Jose, as if trying to make up for his slip of the tongue just now, leaned forward again and whispered secretly.

"Even though I kept asking questions like this, I didn't have to worry about arousing their suspicions. Some of the women you briefly met, the captain, seem to occasionally do background checks to find Senorita's weaknesses—."

"-what?"

"The maids' reactions felt somehow familiar. They say there are frequent vagrants who come to dig up the back of the house. But, Captain, do I look like a vagrant? I look so urban, so I can't believe that…."

Jose, who seemed to have taken a detour for a moment, regained his proud expression.

"Anyway, when he asked if it was sent by a follower of Sir Escalante, I said yes, that's it, that's right… There were so many cases like that, it's hard to tell if it's true."

"… … ."

"Captain?"

Cassel slowly covered his face as he stared blankly at the adjutant's face, which seemed to ask, 'Didn't you really handle it so well?'

'How many cases like that are there...?' You all know that, right? There's no way you wouldn't know.

Now I get it. Ines Ballestena was just, like, a total slut.