Marquis Direan’s estate was quite large.
‘Well, according to what I’ve heard, even this estate is on the verge of being lost to gambling debts.’
Come to think of it, what would happen to the Blood Ravens if the marquis ran out of money entirely?
‘No, enough with the idle thoughts. I need to focus on retrieving the evidence first.’
According to the original novel, the correspondence exchanged with the Blood Ravens was kept in Marquis Direan’s study.
‘The guards’ lack of a fixed patrol pattern is a little worrying. I’ll have to improvise as things come up. Hopefully, they’re so lazy that they’ve practically given up on guarding the place altogether.’
With all sorts of fervent hopes running through my mind, I approached the estate even more quietly.
Fortunately, there were no guards patrolling the garden at the moment. It was chilly at night, so they had probably all gone inside.
“What are you going to do?”
At his low-voiced question, I surveyed the estate before answering.
“As planned, I’m going to enter through the second floor.”
“You mean the plan to climb the wall?”
“Yes. No one’s watching from outside, and the study is on the second floor, too.”
I pointed toward the back of the estate.
There was no sign of anyone moving around. However, there was one conspicuous object near the estate’s wall.
A large statue resembling a knight.
It was the foothold I’d chosen.
“Is that the eldest son’s room? The one who supposedly went abroad to study?”
“No, there’ll be an assassin in there.”
His eyebrows furrowed ever so slightly, as though he couldn’t understand.
“The assassins staying at the estate are young, and they’re lazy. Besides, the eldest son has been away from the estate for quite some time.”
“…Are you saying the assassins are using his room?”
“The marquis is so steeped in alcohol and gambling that he wouldn’t even know about something like that.”
“Even so, it’s the heir’s room…”
No, I was certain that was exactly what had happened.
According to the original novel, the marquis’s estate had been left practically abandoned ever since Nadia’s mother, the marchioness, died.
As I mentioned, the eldest son and heir was studying abroad, while the eldest daughter had grown so fed up with her father’s drinking and gambling that she’d left to find a marriage partner on her own.
That left only Marquis Direan, who was probably still drowning himself in alcohol, and Nadia, who lived in a separate building.
‘If Marquis Direan falls from power because of this, Nadia won’t have to be sold off, either… So this will be good for her, too.’
After organizing my thoughts, I quietly moved forward.
“I’m going up.”
As planned, I braced myself against the statue’s shoulder and used its two hands, which gripped a sword, as footholds to climb onto its head.
I leaped lightly and grabbed the nearby window frame with both hands, then continued climbing by stepping on the decorative molding attached to the frieze.
‘The window… is locked, but this much is easy enough.’
I slipped the small hook I’d prepared into the gap in the window. With a soft click, the lock disengaged.
I quickly climbed inside, then leaned out of the window.
“Come up the same way I did.”
“Huh.”
For some reason, Rashak looked at me as though he couldn’t believe what he’d just witnessed, but he didn’t hesitate any longer.
After climbing over the window frame, he brushed off his hands and asked,
“Where are we?”
“A storage room. Normally, the servants would spend most of their time here, but…”
“You were certain no one would use it because the owner is practically a scarecrow. I understand now.”
I gave a vague nod and approached the door.
There was no sign of anyone nearby, so I opened the door and stepped into the corridor, moving along the wall. Just then—
Creeeak.
Someone emerged from a room at the end of the corridor, which was shrouded in darkness. It was the heir’s room.
However, the person who came out wasn’t a noble.
He was dressed just like the member of the Blood Ravens we’d caught behind the brown wall a few days ago.
He was even yawning widely, looking as though he’d just woken up. His head was turned directly toward us.
And just as the assassin closed his eyes for the third yawn—
Tap.
I quickly grabbed Rashak’s outstretched arm.
‘Stay still.’
I understood what Rashak was thinking. If we did nothing, the assassin would obviously come our way, so Rashak had probably been preparing to ambush him.
But…
‘He’s going that way.’
I pointed toward the stairs with my other hand. And in the very next moment, the assassin stretched his arms and genuinely began descending to the first floor.
Rashak didn’t speak until the sound of the assassin’s footsteps had completely faded away.
“…Did you know he was going somewhere else?”
“His head was facing us, but the tips of his feet were pointed slightly in the other direction. Even when someone’s sleepy, their body tends to lean toward where they’re going.”
This was a life skill I’d developed over twenty-five years of being a coward.
If you wanted to live as a scaredy-cat, you needed to be an exceptionally keen observer.
“Using force should always be the last resort.”
I released Rashak and resumed walking.
“…I can hear voices downstairs.”
“Looks like we’re not the only guests here.”
Raucous laughter mingled with the voices.
“Let’s secure the evidence first.”
Rashak and I kept to the shadows as we approached the study. When I turned the doorknob, it rattled against the lock.
“It’s locked. Can you open this one, too?”
Unlike a window, a heavy door like this often had a complicated locking mechanism.
In that case…
“Please keep watch here.”
After leaving Rashak with those instructions, I slipped into the very room where the assassin had been sleeping—the eldest son’s room.
I opened the window, quickly slipped halfway outside, and climbed along the wall toward the study’s window.
The window lock was just as simple as the one in the storage room. With the hook, it opened easily without leaving a single scratch.
I climbed inside and opened the study door for Rashak. He let out a dry chuckle.
“…You’re climbing the wall again?”
“No one was coming or going outside, right? In that case, climbing the wall is the safest way.”
Actually, the best option would have been to enter through the study window from the beginning. But we didn’t know whether anyone might be inside, so I’d chosen to enter the storage room first, where I was certain no one was present.
‘I’m halfway there now.’
All that remained was to obtain solid evidence that Marquis Direan had commissioned the assassination of Evan Berzen.
I paused for a moment and surveyed the study.
Bookshelves stood packed with books. According to the original novel’s description, there was a secret compartment in the first one.
I wasn’t sure whether it meant the first shelf from the left or the right.
‘I’ll just search them one by one.’
I carefully examined the first bookshelf on the right, and by an incredible stroke of luck, I immediately noticed something strange.
Among the books that all looked brand-new, there was one with a strangely crumpled corner.
It looked as though it had fallen from the shelf.
Now that I’d found it, there was no reason to hesitate. I removed the books around it and lightly tapped the wall behind them. It sounded hollow, and there was something resembling a handle.
So I pushed it open without delay.
‘…There’s nothing?’
The secret compartment was there, but it was completely empty.
Not a scrap of paper. Not even a speck of dust.
Rashak, who had been watching, approached and ran his hand along the inside of the compartment.
“This was built recently.”
“So… he hasn’t started using it properly yet.”
Damn it. I hadn’t considered that possibility.
Nadia had obtained the evidence after Evan’s death.
In other words, that would be sometime after this summer.
Until then, there was nothing strange about the evidence being kept somewhere else.
“Still, the fact that he plans to move it here means Marquis Direan thinks the location of his current safe is vulnerable.”
“Does that mean it’s still somewhere in the study…?”
“We’ll have to look. Can you do it?”
I turned away from Rashak and surveyed the study again.
I looked at the window I’d entered through, then examined the bookshelves one by one… before turning my gaze toward the study door.
Then I imagined the marquis.
‘Marquis Direan is fat and lazy.’
That meant his movements were limited. Judging by how clean the books on the shelves were, they were probably all just decorations.
‘Then all that’s left is…’
I quietly approached the bookshelves and searched their drawers.
I opened every drawer I could find, but all they contained were a few worthless scraps of paper.
There was nowhere else left to look. Even the table in the study looked as though it were brand-new.
‘He used to consider it the safest place… but now he thinks it’s vulnerable.’
In other words—
‘Somewhere obvious.’
The moment the realization struck me, I immediately crouched down and examined the floor directly beneath the desk.
Just as I’d done behind the bookshelf, I quickly tapped around the area with my hand.
Thud.
The sound was unmistakably hollow.
I could even make out something resembling a handle between the wood grain.
I dug my fingertips into the gap, and the wooden floor opened to reveal a hidden compartment.
Inside were stacks of cash… and letters.
“Boss…”
At my signal, Rashak approached and crouched down to examine the contents as well.
The piles of letters all bore Marquis Direan’s crest.
They also carried the same raven emblem that had been tattooed on the backs of the assassins’ heads.
And the most recent letter read:
[Deal with Evan Berzen. I absolutely must see that Berzen bastard brought to ruin.]
The part of the letter Rashak was gripping crumpled slightly in his hand. In a voice he was struggling to keep calm, he said,
“We’re withdrawing.”
I nodded and put everything back in order.
I let Rashak climb out through the window first, then locked the study door again from the inside. Afterward, I exited through the same study window he’d used and climbed down the wall to the first floor.
However, for some reason, Rashak was nowhere to be seen.
As I looked around, I spotted him standing beside a window.
Light flickered through it, and I could hear loud laughter. It seemed to be where the marquis was holding his gambling session.
‘He called me the leader! Why is he acting alone? He scared me!’
I approached him, still bewildered, when—
“But tell me, brother-in-law. Are you really going to kill Evan Berzen?”
The laughter stopped, and a voice came from beyond the window.
“What are you talking about all of a sudden, brother-in-law? Have you suddenly developed some sympathy you didn’t have before?”
“Oh, come on. Of course not. But Evan Berzen’s life is in your hands, isn’t it? You can do whatever you want with him whenever you please.”
The man chuckled before adding,
“Because you have the antidote.”
Rashak’s expression turned icy as the man continued speaking.
“Poison Evan and weaken his body… then, just before he dies, give him the antidote like some kind of savior. That way, you can make that Berzen bastard grovel at your feet. Wasn’t that the grand plan you’d been working toward for more than ten years, brother-in-law?”
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