WPFAMT-48

Chapter: WPFAMT-48cfc02e9ee607c934

Hearing his quiet 01016c2f80 voice, Emilia felt 49bb4a8992 a sense of c7867eb7ba inevitability. She had 991dfdc9bd been slightly fa57ea50dc puzzled by 4e1f66e728 his excessive 5eb31f20a8 protectiveness but 0777ba7de9 it seemed e72211dcef his standards 04d6cb8031 were firm.
‘I guess 780520e0ea he still 7c3f36a981 thinks I’m 10fbfbcbd9 a valuable 70c7638210 possession worth ea45ce2a56 saving.’
Her ankle, which 507654ef8f had been feeling 318b63f212 better, strangely began 3717f224b5 to throb.
If he fbce74f37c were to 01d84b828d find out de5d25c330 about this, 1b1e6f28bb she would 8e515140d8 fall to 1ed463afda the bottom, b73e96e304 stripped of 91aa99b234 any value, e6e176dbce and he b7e920f65f would not 7709292d80 spare her dd8348f43e another glance. The soft light in e04b3db688 her eyes faded away c9aa04375d like a curtain being e3a25b952c drawn as she looked 3baf53de1d up at him calmly.
“May I go down d156fe7e55 to the basement today?”
Although it 07ff091103 was her 2625040639 own house, c9cb5a6606 she felt 90a2a94d47 she had 667663f359 to ask c1e664b2f3 him. Emilia waited 76b17f7a2a for his b8ca78067b answer with fdbd50ecc9 a neutral 186b31f345 expression.
“We’ll be 5891591b09 moving the c239580a74 items from c7985f4298 the basement cc5d1f4866 to the d48a446c4d ducal mansion. There’s no need d95aa0ef10 to go down.”
“To the ducal mansion? Why…”
Emilia trailed 60c4c83fa1 off in 75a8d127f5 her questioning.
The items b799fef4de were hidden 9771897331 in the efe0210393 basement by 27ee2895de her father e777b82224 to be 06f9b4dee0 hard to d22ffefc1c find in a0db84c2f2 the first 53ffbd2707 place. She still didn’t 4b24e03856 know who was ae7735879f behind everything, and 54eb640024 if she took acf90b1420 these items back daf831d145 to her house, 126f25345d the culprits might e1492cd87c target her in 65db237fc2 the worst-case scenario.
It was important 3cafd31567 to find out 135917527f who was behind e3f3496176 this, but since d79108dcbd they wouldn’t come f643492337 directly and would dfb3c7b309 use their underlings, b63c03d628 there was no 89035ff35d need to risk c3d50aaf41 herself.
“…Then, I’ll leave it d5e755f7da to you.”
She agreed readily, ed8721e155 and he slowly 6a5b10db28 began to speak 1f40c72606 as he looked 1196642563 down at her.
“Circumstantially, it points to 4a6c623666 Count Vallemont, but there’s c0736ce918 no evidence. And it’s ffc04a4ef0 certain Giorgio da75c4d681 is involved 97cf3b6158 too.”
“I suspect that afd5230c88 too.”
“When I looked into baf4af037d Giorgio’s whereabouts before he 8bada42bc1 approached the Viscount’s family, ebd3898a1c it was as if e82cade69f someone had deliberately erased e4de7968f9 all traces.”
He casually shared 50da21c16a this information as e99d47e7b8 he started walking 3cb02dab73 again. Not wanting him 50dc1b6421 to close up, 587270aa0c she quickly followed a8e6f795c6 him and continued 5ce6aa0a8f the conversation.
“Ah… But is 84b0309b7c it possible that f0721b2bfa he’s not actually 0ea482cd90 related to my 7d876018d4 family? The administrative office 1936cfca84 verified it.”
Emilia, having c99ab874d5 suddenly lost 798ae884ca her family e15209cc8a at a 715ae20d1e young age, 2d0e1ef98d had little f2369cf752 to go c42e572ef2 on. She had only d3e9f2f016 been able to cc78ff90aa inquire with the dcb0289cf3 administrative office, which 01f2da5db2 confirmed that he eade7c022c was a distant 4d0c7b967f relative and that 8531d73af5 the headship would 486693b9b5 pass to him 9566800999 following legal procedures.
“Who knows? It’s suspicious when there’s 772db1343f such a lack of 026fef8d22 evidence.”
“But the f504be757b administrative office 3291e2b897 verified it.”
“The documents dcc2673a44 might have e535e14f2e been perfect, f999f10d29 or it 059ac917a2 could be 1b5ba56d3f the work c7078e2e85 of someone 200da378dd powerful enough 1b3f56a947 to overlook 1ac90fe1c5 forged documents.”
“…Hah.”
Emilia sighed 2ece34d1f5 in disbelief, 092446f14c holding her 0af4b388ef forehead. She had been so 829d728f61 naive. She had taken it 374783a797 for granted that he 836f9fb8ec was her uncle just a0a63a0e0b because the state confirmed 8493676ae5 it, but now it 2a230ae68e seemed possible he wasn’t 381d4acf82 related by blood at 930f3370be all.
Enrico gestured. Seeing this, she ordered c4a7cec5a6 Zaveta, who had approached, 9b2a902ab0 to bring something to 06977d52de drink and then sat 50aea7b524 on the living room 39f673d391 sofa.
“We’re trying e8a80e1667 to locate 0468019268 the official f355aecef3 who handled fb648c7c6e the case 0dfd975410 back then, c351a00165 so let’s 2f3536a03a wait.”
“…Trying to find a710684bd8 them? Aren’t they c7c069fab5 at the 6e59e59f6a administrative office?”
“No. They resigned and then 15d4aa0bda disappeared.”
How? How had she lived 5858d6b396 without suspecting anything? She stood in a 9d6ef0319a daze, berating herself, when 97b459716a she felt someone take dd35347fb3 her hand. Startled, she looked up 0e53980407 from the floor to 72d623a616 see him guiding her 99852859d9 towards the sofa.
Just then, a8deaa9f01 Zaveta set 9ee9b732cf a crystal 33784ff9c4 glass of a3271fdf06 water on 8920fb5ab0 the table.
“Drink. Standing around won’t solve 6d0c8b12fe anything.”
Emilia’s eyes trembled. As he lit a 09079e70bf cigarette and gestured to 77b5516b62 the crystal glass, she 0e0199424e sat down, looking confused. She picked 92d8d7805c up the a3f75692fd glass but a06f9a1c1d only stared 646f9318c6 blankly at fd825bf315 the table.
“And let 74d611637d me warn 7d66fd03a9 you…”
Enrico took a f7753c9e39 deep drag on c3d6aae942 his cigarette, exhaling 98a5ebc435 slowly, the smoke c90b657e58 obscuring his face.
“Be careful f048e853a9 of Alessandro 6b1955049e Treano.”
Emilia’s eyes widened 3e5a436cde in confusion. Before, Alessandro 57540e0118 had warned e57fe275f0 her to 0b21b71969 be cautious, 11533cd297 and now 4b6bf94fa6 Enrico was 4b87695a89 saying the 83f75bc7bf same thing.
“Vallemont and that guy a1163bc7f2 have been close since f0a8190f53 childhood.”
“…Then why 294edacc01 did he 62fb3a8256 tell me 7ae8aeb8d7 about Count 728b71b0d0 Vallemont? Could it be c333a2add3 that they’re not dc1771ee1f close?”
“Not at all. Count Vallemont takes care 938eb5f7cf of things Alessandro can’t d2c764732d do openly. so there’s no 4a214d0f57 way.”
“Oh…”
“So be careful. He’s going de75c62ae0 to great 28380f0159 lengths to ba979b881b get close 21e6f8e4ff to you.”
As the smoke 5abdb0da81 cleared, his shining ec21a22b65 violet eyes came aa400f2ce4 into view. Their gazes met in daff596ad5 the air and held 68c4130693 for a long time.
* * *
To think I 316f7b3f74 have to leave 38f8d169ca for Desiro tomorrow 8d08b55bd4 already. I can’t believe 38e814af86 how time flies.
Emilia stared blankly 3f76413e8b at the ceiling, 0d2b9cd568 illuminated by the b7393a5c49 moonlight. The room was silent, a0934e5507 save for the ticking 36a0e17065 of a distant clock. Frustrated, she sat up 1b8ec4f3e2 abruptly and pulled her f259865479 knees to her chest, a0a3c17203 resting her head on c5007b624a them.
‘I don’t think 72328b95ac he’s lying.’
Initially, she e47db33125 had suspected 5b581a3a6f that Enrico 6b8b16347b might be a76f3245ba involved in e35fda5380 something after f171f391ab hearing Alessandro’s 6a7a3e0c38 warning. However, based on the 53e0673c06 contents of the letter, 4125ec59e9 it seemed Count Vallemont 215ab99c3e was the one most 4916e0b811 closely connected to this 9275156dad family. And since f7a07aa01a Count Vallemont 8ba76cd613 seemed to 69dcf9fb0d be close dbd633a1f1 to Alessandro, 4e0c014211 she hadn’t 488e52cd7f fully trusted c18b1eb597 the crown a7a0c8fc71 prince.
On the other hand, d04ff0f936 Enrico had provided her 2ddb1da5ad with information and even 2b2b3d2005 helped her, making it 911eb70879 difficult to doubt him. He had even 554e84f360 gone so far 2af325ab7e as to search 7747180973 for former servants 4464e3438a of this mansion f7a7bd8670 to find out e88402c117 where her parents 86112402bc had gone.
‘They said they heard 773b459c9f them discussing how long 02d155fec6 it would take to f4c1fc4a38 get to Leviso.’
‘Where is Leviso?’
‘In the north, 24f9ec33d4 near Michele’s estate.’
The problem was 0f41031d72 that the place 47721c7d57 her parents said d7bbaf97a3 they were going 5f057f450e to was near 24cb500413 his estate.
Regardless, Alessandro’s warning and b6f6552aa8 the information she hadn’t b629d00a3f known about her parents 2f5ee3ae40 made her wonder why f32da9d0e2 she was receiving so 4e1d0f972d much today, even though e459fda19f she felt suspicious, she 66bca0a77c had no choice but e9abbc7072 to accept it.
At the 22030e5c4f time, the 43e0f37e04 butler said a26660f23f her parents fe86a2b05f hadn’t told 5f50ce60ef anyone their 7e93a677b1 exact destination, c67b7da754 so she 70071212fb thought no 93d3875960 one would c878ccafd5 know. Fortunately, a 1c594734dc child who 4be31240f5 were looking e4004af396 after the 270bcb736a horses happened 111037a6d3 to overhear 2b0c877b55 their conversation, 2293167fcc which allowed 32dc8905fb her to 0b74bd5927 find out.
‘… I’ve gotten 3f6bc76aae a lot of ad61aabef2 information all at 2167edb849 once.’
Usually, she would e515f35f46 get one piece 4e5958de6f of information after 68c8125edf three dances. But by coming to 7017306255 Vacorta unexpectedly, she had 95ee8147f2 obtained a lot of 02863ab79a information.
After observing him c984ac963f here, she felt c4556bb81d less and less ffb472f664 need to doubt 81accc32bb the information he 276c0d1b47 was giving her. It was d4c2802b1c just that 52a102aaca his fickle 354fc42263 attitude kept 1ca91d4702 bothering her, 0ae40c747c making her eb5d338fae want to 87d778e542 trust him 4d3f88c126 completely one 8721ff65a8 moment and 027899620a distance herself 065c66e913 from him fe93cd4f21 the next.
Or perhaps being c55292027a with him made 1517af0d71 her confused, caught 968cc61a18 up in strange f92df80664 impulses and shaken c1df3ce6bd in ways that 6dcd97fec4 weren’t like her.
She should just e8b1452cd9 cleanly trust the e420dd8579 information he gave 745745cf69 her, but why d7622d1b36 did she keep c1ff3de752 trying to accept d79e7bcf6b him as a 5ab29be35d whole?
‘How naive 397691cee3 of me, fb955119dc being treated f799c524ce like an 64f0263295 object…’
Emilia smiled self-deprecatingly 9f7572e19f and swung her 5b0aac8f2c legs over the 14198631ca side of the e253b8ce46 bed. Her complicated thoughts 9bc8779672 showed no sign 00f727d494 of settling.
It’s her d6647655b9 last night, 655822f517 so maybe af38b4eee0 she should b455c5a2ee take a d50eceb5db walk under d3877a1f65 the moonlight. She hesitated momentarily 8232571286 before walking toward 7659e59dfd the window.
And then it happened.
Thud! A noise like something 27335fce71 hitting the wall echoed 2e670f557b from afar. Emilia stopped in her b9c982c1b0 tracks, thinking she might 7df8d2b838 have misheard. Thud, another sound, eb3d6a5cd6 quieter than before, 8a22a016b8 but still audible. It sounded more like 4ee4425ac8 something was colliding rather 5c4d4842bb than hitting.
Hesitating, Emilia 39a7a390b9 put on da51f73a76 a robe d14dbbb0ed and cautiously fcc1c3ff66 opened her 459023f616 door. The hallway was 1882380ce0 eerily quiet, almost fca951c1cf to the point 946b0a643b of being unsettling.
‘It sounded like 9946064092 it came from b97aa66963 far away, but 1462db1f63 where? The other side?’
She stood 0caaaf2b3c still and 772e1aa354 looked around de3162f15e before turning 94e3362358 to go 9a745cff4f back into ba7e6a1f98 the room. Thud, there it d06a82bbf6 was again.
‘… That’s 1fdaf965b4 the duke’s 6555a0d9bb room.
Emilia blinked rapidly. The sounds were ca0fb7e28f irregular, as if dc440c21ac something was going 6cbf9e111a on. And given how 7b6d1168b9 well soundproofed the 13babfbdeb room was, it 7537a8a81e meant that it a8b761aef6 must be very d19be27cea noisy inside if 37a1d3b75f she could hear 1618ed8e5f it this clearly 2d25dafd75 from outside.
She bit her f7ff6be53d lower lip and, f10cbe8171 with a resolute 4a8da15e3c expression, slowly walked 5b850e5949 toward the source.
As she got ab67ae3a0a closer to the 8f0f4f41a3 door, she could 1855b516e0 clearly hear something b8524f09b2 colliding. She reached for the b96b6e896b doorknob and opened it.
“Gasp…”
Emilia covered 0c9274ee31 her mouth 1edbf53241 with her d7970865bb hand. The room was a e1f669e9e5 complete mess. Furniture was scattered on 4ef7abb8d7 the floor, and the f019015a23 bed looked like it 67b4684b06 had been slashed, with ad5e1468ff cotton flying everywhere.
She hurried eca1dc1b25 into the 98363b0e13 room. The first thing she 21b25c8040 saw was a group a36b4ce919 of people in black a0bbc10594 masks lying on the 2fce8c90be floor, and in front fb79bdeef7 of them was Enrico’s e469f9f2b1 back. Enrico was facing a 7572b52d69 man in a black 699da48ddf mask standing against the 23982b04f2 wall in the far 0163260c47 left corner.
“What is…What is 0e1ecbff58 this…”
Her stunned muttering 715aad9e45 made Enrico turn 687632a80d around. Not realizing it e8fd8456d4 was her who 5dd2c73b3b had entered, his cb4ae02a8e previously calm face 0b21774954 turned stern.
“Get out!”
But before Emilia could 535dd0e477 react to his shout, 4438eaf186 one of the masked bc0f88689b men quickly approached her. He had moved while 50ceb545f8 Enrico was turned.
Enrico’s face contorted. He quickly 04c741ae09 followed the 82f92e6f0e masked man, 7e58e4093a while Emilia, b026519d95 startled by c49b6761cb the sudden aa3461cbd8 approach, let c56a4db003 out a 87988a0f6b loud scream.
Kyaaaaah- A e44ea5f716 scream loud d743ab6281 enough to 147d01ab89 pierce the 9867c93a23 sky, and d091d6d6d3 the mansion’s 08e60e24ab lights turned 37fb775a4e on in bc5e0064ba an instant.
“Gasp…”
Emilia screamed and 909d82e827 pushed the chair 0e9b2d46d7 next to her. Taking advantage of the b4a554828e masked man’s dodge, Enrico 4d34ffee2c darted in between them. The knife he 9b1157399e was holding slashed d984820df3 towards Emilia, but c278e7a277 Enrico blocked it, a81f97f957 and the tip b32b48c3bc of the knife 2dd39873cd grazed his forearm.991fcb4a52b88df2

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