Chapter 6: Brian-sama’s Questions

For a moment, my eyes met Brian-sama’s.

He was staring straight at me.
It felt as though he intended to turn over everything inside my head and examine it thoroughly.

When I saw the cold light shining in his blue eyes, I was momentarily captivated by how beautiful they were.
Compared to Jason-sama’s meaningless smiles, these cold eyes were far more preferable.

At that moment, I thought again that I was glad I hadn’t married.

I hadn’t liked Jason-sama at all.
If anything, I was uncomfortable around him—no, to be honest, I might even have disliked him.

To only realize something like that now—how absentmindedly had I been living my life?

A sigh slipped out of me.

After waiting for me to raise my face, Brian-sama began to speak.

“After hearing what was said at the church, I confirmed matters with a footman from the Deal Marquis House.
It appears that a new maid exclusively assigned to Lady Maria was hired.
That is all we know at present.”

Brian-sama continued to look at me with those cold, shining eyes.

“As Lady Maria herself said, even if something had been plotted, if it was only an attempt and there is no evidence, we cannot charge him with a crime.”

I nodded timidly.

“May I first ask why you made the accusation?”

“…I didn’t want to die.”

I answered quietly.

“You’re exaggerating,”

Father scolded me.

“There were plenty of calmer ways to handle this.
You didn’t have to say it in a place like that.”

“Even if I had said it after the wedding, you would have called it an exaggeration just the same, wouldn’t you!?
Then I would have lived in my marital home, grown weaker little by little, and died.
And it would all end with, ‘She was a timid child, so it couldn’t be helped.’”

It seemed that the excitement from the ceremony still lingered.
Normally, I would have apologized immediately and withdrawn, but now I could state my own opinion.

I surprised myself.

Father looked equally surprised.
His daughter, who had never spoken back, had suddenly snapped at him.

After staring blankly for a moment, Father smoothed over his expression.

“That won’t happen.
We would investigate properly, and if there were anything suspicious, we would make inquiries to their side.”

I fell silent and thought.
Would that really have happened?
If I had acted more proactively, could something have changed?

“If there is anything you know about the maid prepared by the marquis house, please tell me.”

Brian-sama’s calm voice echoed.
Pulled back from the thoughts that were dragging me down, I lifted my face in surprise.

“Um, I believe her name is Mary.
She is the personal maid assigned to handle everything around me.
Her hair is dyed brown, and she likely hides her beauty mark with makeup.
She is a slender, supple beauty, and inside the estate she wears a cap pulled low and glasses.”

Brian-sama leaned back slightly, looking surprised.

“You know a great deal.”

Oh no.
I’ve given too much information.
As I shrank inward thinking that, he continued without pressing the point.

“So the maid’s name is Mary.
She arrived at the marquis estate two days ago.
If Lady Maria knows her name, then she must have been told by Jason in advance, or learned it from anonymous letters.”

Lloyd moved smoothly.

“May I ask the butler a question?”

Sensing Lloyd’s intent, Brian-sama asked Father for permission.
When Father agreed, Brian-sama turned to Lloyd.

“Was there any discussion about assigning an exclusive maid to Lady Maria from the Deal Marquis House?”

“There was none.
I am quite surprised to hear this now.
It was decided that maids from our household would accompany Lady Maria.
Even if someone were placed above them, or assigned to teach court etiquette, there would normally be an introduction beforehand.”

Beside me, Bell was trembling.
From her perspective, this treatment was unacceptable—far beyond being merely slighted.

And she must have realized that what I had said earlier, that she would be sent back to the Count House, was true.

Brian-sama seemed to notice Bell’s condition for a moment.

This conduct lacked even basic courtesy toward the Count House, so even Father looked troubled.

“What could the marquis house be thinking?”

His voice sounded uneasy.

“It seems they intended to send Bell back here and have the mistress watch me instead.
That’s why Bell would have been sent away immediately…
Yes, that’s right.
They probably didn’t even prepare a room for Bell over there.”

As I spoke, more memories surfaced.

Jason-sama had said everything would be prepared at the marquis house so that I could settle in quickly, and that I should adjust myself to their household customs.
I had accepted that at the time, but now that I thought about it, something felt off.

Brian-sama sighed and sat back in his chair.

“Thank you.
That will be one factor in our judgment.
From Jason’s behavior and the viscount house’s reactions at the church, I felt this was a gray area leaning heavily toward black.
If they planned to remove your maid as well, then I can only see it as a gray bordering on outright black.”

“Judgment?”

Father asked.

“He is a Royal Guard knight.
He is tasked with protecting the royal family.
That position carries a certain ethical standard.”

Saying that, he fixed Father with a steady gaze.

“Your son also serves in the Guard, does he not?
I do not believe he is colluding with Jason, but I intend to speak with him as well.”

“Y-Yes.
Understood.”

“Tomorrow, I will go to the Deal Marquis House to hear their side of the story.
After that, I may ask to speak with you again.
At the Count House, no one—including Lady Maria—was informed that her personal maid would be replaced.
Is that correct?”

“Yes.”

Father answered solemnly.

Brian-sama clearly stated that the personal maid would be replaced.
Realizing that he had deduced the situation correctly made me happy.

“By the way, Lady Maria, what was the trigger for the engagement?”

The sudden shift in topic caught me off guard, and I blinked rapidly.

It had been about a year and three months ago.
My brother had brought his colleague Jason home.
That was when he took a liking to me, or so I had been told.

After I explained that, he said,

“As I thought, I need to speak with Eric as well.
I will visit again tomorrow.
Until then, please refrain from discussions with the Deal Marquis House.”

The severity in Brian-sama’s eyes softened slightly.
Then, almost as an aside, he asked Father,

“Count, if the wedding had ended normally and the maid had returned tonight, what would you have done?”

Caught off guard by the sudden question, Father tilted his head.

“I suppose I would have asked the maid about what happened and made an inquiry tomorrow.”

“What do you think the marquis house would have answered tomorrow?
I find it difficult to imagine,”

Brian-sama added, sounding troubled.

“Ah… perhaps they would have said there was some miscommunication, or that Maria had already been informed.”

Father spoke with a strained smile, perhaps feeling relieved.

As expected, he was ready to be swept along by the marquis house’s excuses.
I let out a small breath.

Once again, my eyes met Brian-sama’s.
This man was observing everything in this room very carefully.
In that moment, I realized it clearly.

Sensing that the discussion had ended, Lloyd said, “I will see you out,” and opened the door.

When Father tried to go with them, Brian-sama stopped him, and left the room with Lloyd alone.

As the tension drained away, it felt easier to breathe.
The handkerchief I had been gripping was damp with sweat and completely crumpled.