I Ran Away And The Reverse Harem Started – Chapter 109

Author: Asternkm

As Colin stepped down from the carriage with a light load, he greeted me with a good morning. It was still early, before the morning dew had even dried.

Because Colin arrived in the capital earlier than expected, sleepyhead Lucas was still in his room, and Daniel was off working as usual, so I came out alone to greet him.

I looked at Colin and chuckled softly.

“Has it been that long that you’re greeting me like this? Anyone would think we haven’t seen each other in ages.”

“The time you three spent playing without me felt way too long to me.”

“Isn’t it lucky you came now, at least?”

I shrugged my shoulders.

Colin came up beside me, lightly carrying his bag. As we crossed the garden from where the carriage had stopped toward the mansion, he asked,

“From the look on your face, it seems like you’ve been having fun in the capital. Nothing happened while I was gone, right?”

At that question, I flinched slightly.

Did something happen? Oh, something definitely happened.

In that moment, without meaning to, my mind flashed back to what happened with Daniel a few days ago.

To make it worse, the garden we were now passing through with Colin was the very same one where I had kissed Daniel.

I glanced at the rose bushes blooming along the wall and clamped my mouth shut.

Even though several days had passed, the memory still played vividly in my head.

That night, even though I hadn’t had a drop of alcohol, I felt drunk. I boldly kissed Daniel, but I regretted it right after.

Thinking back, it was because Daniel was also staying at Roan’s mansion.

‘I messed up. I can’t even face him now! We’re even staying in the same house!’

Just thinking about it made my face flush with embarrassment. Was I going to end up with my hair and face the same color?

I couldn’t bring myself to face the guy I had kissed, so for days I wandered the capital with Lucas as soon as the sun came up.

Of course, I heard Daniel was busy with work and hardly left his room, even at Roan’s mansion.

That was at least a bit of a relief, but what on earth was I thinking when I—when we kissed…

“Rosie?”

Maybe because I suddenly stopped walking, Colin turned back to look at me.

Startled, I opened my mouth to mumble something, but then Colin’s hand touched my cheek.

“Rosie, your lips…”

“W-what? What about my lips?!”

Colin’s green eyes shimmered briefly in the sunlight.

His gaze was fixed on the corner of my mouth. In that instant, I stiffened like a kid caught doing something bad. My face started to heat up.

Then, Colin widened his eyes and lightly poked the corner of my mouth with his fingertip.

“Your lip’s split. Did you put on any ointment?”

I touched the corner of my mouth. Contrary to the impure thoughts I’d just been having, there was another reason it had split.

“How did that happen?”

“Ah… oh, this morning. I yawned too wide.”

It really did split from a big yawn before I even washed my face this morning. It was just a mishap caused by dry lips.

Still, the moment Colin looked at my lips, embarrassment rushed in with my flustered thoughts.

Colin probably had no idea what had happened between me and Daniel… I was basically acting like a thief feeling guilty on their own. Now I understood why people say you can’t live with a guilty conscience.

As I fumbled at my reddened lips, Colin let out a small, helpless laugh.

“Come up to my room later with the ointment. I’ll put it on for you.”

“I can do it myself…”

“I want to do it for you. We can’t let it scar.”

At those words, I hesitated a moment, then nodded. It was because I couldn’t think of anything else to say.

I instinctively glanced up at the third-floor guest room window where Daniel was staying.

Since the curtains were open, he probably was still in the room. Now that Colin had arrived at the townhouse too, we’d probably have breakfast together.

But I wasn’t ready to see his face yet.

“Excuse me, just a moment.”

Just then, as Colin and I were about to enter the mansion,

Someone called out to us from the entrance beyond the garden. A postman on a bicycle came to a screeching stop in front of the mansion.

“A rushed telegram for the Count!”

****

As soon as Daniel read the telegram, he immediately headed to the carriage maintenance station in the capital.

After parking the luxurious carriage he had ridden, which belonged to Roan, he switched to an old and shabby one. It was because someone might have been following him.

Sitting in the new carriage, Daniel fiddled with the telegram he had just received.

The sender was Deborah.

She had written to him in a hurried scrawl. The message said they had captured the person who kidnapped the second child of the Büllossen family and asked him to come quickly.

Daniel’s carriage stopped at a familiar place.

It was a building he had visited a few months ago. To be exact, it was the place where he had met with Deborah before attending the palace party with Logieta.

Daniel had recommended that Deborah use a café that was just a few days away from opening. Since it hadn’t opened yet, it served as a kind of secret hideout for the two of them.

When he arrived in front of the café and got off the carriage, he saw Deborah lingering nearby. Daniel approached her right away.

“Saintess.”

“Oh, Count…”

“You said the culprit was caught? That was quicker than I expected. Less than a week, even. So that woman, Rumi, must have been in the capital.”

Deborah nodded with a worried look on her face. Pale, she stammered as she continued.

“Yes, the guild caught her right away. I was really surprised too. I didn’t expect they’d catch her this fast… It was definitely unexpected. She’s sitting inside the café now, and the guild members are watching over her for both surveillance and protection. They said she didn’t put up much of a fight when they brought her in.”

“I see. Then let’s head in.”

Daniel glanced at the café building as he spoke. Officially, the café was still under construction, so the area was restricted to the public. Thanks to that, the street was quiet.

But even when he suggested going inside, Deborah hesitated and didn’t move.

“What’s the matter?”

“Wait a moment, Count.”

She spoke hesitantly.

“Something… feels off.”

“What feels off?”

A puzzled expression appeared on Daniel’s face.

Deborah had wanted to catch the true culprit behind the kidnapping of the Büllossen family’s second child more than anyone.

If she could catch the kidnapper who colluded with her father, she could finally free herself from the confines of being a saintess.

Daniel frowned slightly and looked closely at her face.

“Was it someone different from who you expected? Not the maid you mentioned before? Was it someone else with the same name?”

Deborah had said the Büllossen family maid was the prime suspect. The names were similar. But Deborah shook her head.

“No. It was her. Rumi. Rumi was the nickname Ms. Yvette used to call her. Even after all this time, I recognized her face right away.”

I thought so.

Daniel nodded with a blank expression.

“Then why do you look like that? We should reveal the truth quickly and inform the Büllossen family.”

If they revealed that the true culprit had been hired by Baron Louis, it would be an easy end. The baron and the culprit would be punished together.

Daniel was ready to expose everything as soon as he had solid evidence.

And informing the Büllossen family of the true culprit was something that had to be done.

Even so, Deborah was hesitating.

“Something just feels strange.”

“What exactly?”

With a troubled expression, Deborah let out a shaky breath. She had seen Rumi, whom the guild had brought in, before Daniel arrived.

She had to confirm it was really the person she’d been searching for.

She met her a few dozen minutes before Daniel arrived and even exchanged a few words.

Deborah had thought she’d feel relieved once the true culprit behind the kidnapping was caught.

It left a bitter taste to know the Büllossen family maid had helped her father, but at least the old case could finally be cleared up.

But after meeting Rumi, Deborah felt even more uneasy and uncomfortable.

“I saw Rumi sitting in the café. I tried talking to her. I asked her why she was lurking around the capital. If she stayed here, she could’ve been exposed or caught by someone else like today. It didn’t seem like a good place to hide after committing a crime. And she didn’t even resist much.”

“…And then?”

Daniel still looked confused.

“Then Rumi said she wanted to pay for her crimes as soon as possible. She even smiled at me with a relieved expression. That smile was absolutely horrifying. How could someone who kidnapped a child smile like that?”

At first, Deborah thought it was a relief that Rumi had at least some conscience.

If she confessed and even testified against Baron Louis, things would go smoothly.

But that relieved look on Rumi’s face strangely lingered in her mind. At one point, Rumi even held her hand like in prayer and said,

‘Saintess, I can finally leave with peace of mind now, right?’

That voice still echoed in her ears, sending chills down her spine.

It was strange. Kidnapping a noble was a serious crime. Even with a light sentence, she’d spend ten to twenty years rotting in prison.

Peace of mind? Leave?

And she had children too. Deborah had heard she had kids. How could someone about to go to prison leave her children behind and smile so brightly?

Now she suddenly felt repentant?

Deborah shuddered as she recalled Rumi’s empty, ashen eyes.

‘…What is this? Is she relying on something? Or could it be…’

With a grim face, Deborah fell deep into thought. Rumi looked far older than her age, as if she had suffered greatly, and her body was frail.