I Ran Away And The Reverse Harem Started Chapter 115

Before heading to the Büllossen estate, Daniel recalled what had happened earlier at the not-yet-open café.

It was on the first floor, where the interior decor had already been installed. Two sturdy men hired by the guild stood quietly in the corners, while in the center sat a lone woman.

She looked to be over fifty. Her hair was completely white, making her appear even older. The first thing Daniel noticed was the black mole near her mouth.

‘So this is Rumi…’

Entering the café, Daniel narrowed his eyes and scrutinized the former maid named Rumi.

She wore a shabby brown robe and had her head bowed low. Even as Daniel entered, she sat there silently, not even glancing at him.

Only when Deborah stepped in behind him did Rumi finally lift her head.

Her cracked nails, tattered clothes, hastily tied white hair, and unfocused eyes made her look like someone who had borne the full weight of time.

It wasn’t what Daniel had imagined. If she’d taken part in a deal as serious as child abduction, she could have lived in luxury. But she looked destitute.

Deborah, too, saw the contrast. She remembered the image of Rumi from the past—an experienced maid in her early thirties, assigned to personally care for the young lady.

Yvette always brought her along when visiting the temple, so Deborah could easily recognize her.

Daniel and Deborah sat across from her on the sofa. Yet Rumi’s thin lips didn’t so much as twitch.

“Did you really conspire with Baron Louis Kazan to kidnap the child?”

“…”

“You were a maid of the Büllossen estate. Why would you kidnap their second daughter?”

Rumi, who had remained unresponsive until then, finally reacted. She tilted her lips into a crooked smirk and looked at Daniel.

“Why do you think, Count? For money, of course.”

Her tone implied the question was pointless.

“Right… money…”

Daniel thought of the letter Rumi had supposedly sent to Kazan Louis. It described how she’d conspired with him and received a large sum for her son’s sake.

“But for someone who got a lot of money, you sure look miserable.”

Daniel said coldly. Rumi looked utterly impoverished. Old and frail—it was hard to believe this withered woman had once stolen someone’s child.

“Miss Rumi, what happened to the kidnapped child?”

“…”

“I mean Irene Büllossen. What did you do with her? Did you kill her?”

Deborah’s tone was sharp.

Although Rumi had confessed to the crime since being captured by the guild, she had remained tight-lipped about what happened to the second daughter of the Büllossen family.

It was deliberate avoidance.

She spoke freely about her own guilt, even saying she felt relieved, but clammed up whenever Irene was mentioned. As if something weighed on her conscience.

Rumi was silent for a long time. Only when the guild members behind her started to approach did she finally speak.

“He ordered me to kill her. Baron Louis, that is.”

“…!”

Deborah’s eyes widened. How far was her father willing to fall?

‘It wasn’t enough to have Rumi kidnap her? He even ordered a murder—for what? The position of a saintess?’

She clenched her trembling fist, struggling to swallow her anger.

While Deborah calmed herself, Daniel asked,

“So? Did you do it? Did you really kill her?”

“I didn’t. I had at least that much of a conscience.”

“…”

“I was there when Lady Irene was born. I saw her umbilical cord being cut. How could I possibly kill someone like that with my own hands?”

“You’ve got some nerve to talk like that… As if not killing her absolves you. You kidnapped someone else’s child. You think that makes you innocent?”

At Daniel’s scathing words, Rumi flinched. But she quickly composed herself, donning a strange, almost peaceful expression.

She clasped her hands together and began to mutter a prayer.

When she finished, she said calmly,

“Regardless, I did not kill Lady Irene. I thought taking a life would be an unforgivable sin.”

“So what did you do instead?”

“I took her far away. Somewhere no one would ever find her. Some shabby orphanage.”

“Can you testify to that in court? You won’t change your story under oath?”

“Of course I can testify. Why would I change my story? The guild members here all heard it too.”

She turned toward the guild members standing behind her. Still, Daniel and Deborah regarded her with skepticism.

“Wait a second. Then that means… that child might still be alive. Irene Büllossen.”

Deborah spoke up.

“If you really want to ease your conscience even a little, tell us which orphanage. The Büllossen family deserves to find their daughter.”

“I agree with you. But I can’t do that.”

“…What?”

Rumi’s face twisted into a strange smile. The sight of it left Daniel and Deborah speechless.

“Miss Irene wasn’t killed by me. But she did die at the orphanage. After bouncing between a few poor ones, she died. They never even found a body.”

“Irene Büllossen is dead? What are you saying? Explain yourself!”

Deborah, unable to contain herself, raised her voice. Even Daniel couldn’t calm her down this time.

“The orphanage burned down. That dusty, broken place went up in flames. The whole building was destroyed. The other children survived, but they never found her body. What does that tell you? The fire took her. I didn’t have to get my hands dirty.”

Rumi’s voice wavered, then grew quiet, muttering in a daze,

“Maybe… I really did do it? Then again… who did?”

Daniel furrowed his brows.

“Wait. You’re saying the orphanage burned down, but they only didn’t find her body?”

The story sounded eerily familiar. Rumi nodded.

“It’s true. I checked. She was the only one who didn’t make it out. Back then, she wasn’t called Irene anymore. When I abandoned her, I left a note in her pocket with a new name. And they used that name.”

“You wrote a new name on a note? What was it?”

Rumi’s eyes trembled like a scolded child. She looked between the two of them, fingers pressed to her lips.

“Rosieta. There were roses blooming by the platform that day.”

 

 

****

 

 

 

 

Her name was Rosieta. It was a name taken from a rose blooming by the roadside.

On the carriage ride to the café, Daniel told me everything he knew.

That Deborah had been investigating the circumstances of the kidnapping, that the culprit was a maid from the Büllossen household, and that she had abandoned Irene Büllossen at an orphanage on Baron Louis Kazan’s orders.

As I listened to Daniel speak, my head started to spin.

A maid from the viscount’s household had kidnapped the second daughter, Irene. She’d placed a slip of paper with a new name in the child’s pocket—and Irene had gone on to use that name in the orphanage.

And that name was Rosieta…

“I didn’t think this was something just the two of us should hear, so I went to bring the family here. And since you happened to be there too…”

“I see…”

Daniel looked at me with concern. The others had taken a separate carriage, so it was just the two of us in the small one.

I felt dazed. There were too many similarities between me and the missing daughter of the Büllossen family.

Sure, plenty of girls are named after roses, but this felt like too much of a coincidence. And Irene… hadn’t her orphanage burned down too?

I’d learn more when we were all together, but already my heart was pounding like a drum against my ears.

A strange, unstable feeling was growing in me.

Could I really be…

It wasn’t hope so much as dread. My stomach churned. I knew from experience in Rewybourn not to get my hopes up too easily—it would only lead to disappointment.

Still, I couldn’t stop the feeling from rising.

I stared anxiously out the window. The moon had risen high.

 

 

*****

 

 

Soon we arrived at the café on the outskirts of the capital. Warm light glowed through the café windows, but the area was eerily quiet. Despite the summer night, it felt cold.

As the two carriages stopped, Deborah stepped out to greet us. In the few weeks since I’d last seen her, she’d visibly lost weight.

Yvette was the first to spot her.

“Saintess, why haven’t you contacted us all this time?”

She quickly approached, clearly shocked by Deborah’s appearance. Deborah hesitated, then met her gaze.

“I’m sorry, Lady Yvette. My mind was so clouded, I couldn’t face you. Honestly, I didn’t know if I even had the right to.”

“What are you saying? And who is this kidnapper?”

Daniel hadn’t told the Büllossen family anything. He had remained a third party in all of this.

Deborah had insisted on telling them herself—because it involved her father, Baron Louis Kazan, and because she too was connected to the kidnapping.

If anyone was going to reveal the truth to Yvette, it had to be Deborah.

She steadied her breathing.

“Lady Yvette. Madam. Please listen carefully. Before you meet the kidnapper, there’s something I must say first. And…”

“…”

“Even if you don’t forgive me afterward… even if you hate me… that’s okay.”

“What are you talking about?”

Yvette’s face was set in stone, dimly lit beneath the gaslight.

Before entering the café, we stood by the carriages and listened to Deborah’s story.

She told us that Baron Louis had orchestrated the kidnapping of Irene Büllossen. At her words, the viscountess staggered. Yvette bit her lip until it bled.

Deborah bowed her head, hands clasped tightly in front of her.

“I’m sorry it took me this long to tell you. I thought… I thought I could only say it once I had proof. Once we caught the kidnapper. I believed I had to correct this myself. That only then could I begin to atone.”

Yvette and the viscountess were silent for a long time. Just standing seemed to weigh on them, as though gravity was stronger for them than anyone else.

“…So you’ve been tracking the kidnapper alone?”

After a long silence, Yvette finally spoke. The corners of her lips trembled as she spoke.