The Obsessive Maniac Is Trying To Confine Me - Chapter 14

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 14

…Damn it.

Rihardt must have heard the conversation I had with the male servant outside.

Did I talk too loudly?

I felt troubled for a moment. It felt like I got caught gossiping behind someone’s back.

But I didn’t join in the badmouthing!

Without showing my flustered inner thoughts, I spoke bluntly.

“Biologically, you’re human.”

“…Biologically.”

“If not, then that’s unfortunate.”

Finding my answer amusing, he let out a low laugh.

“That’s correct. I am biologically human.”

“…Yes, please eat your meal.”

Understanding that I was telling him to shut up and just eat, Rihardt readily nodded.

I took out the plate I had washed beforehand.

Like yesterday, I had wrapped the plate in a towel to hide it when I came.

I transferred the food from the dog bowl onto the proper plate and handed it to Rihardt.

“Thank you, Maid.”

His blue eyes glowed mysteriously. Those jewel-like brilliant eyes were truly beautiful.

As I stared blankly at his eyes, at that moment Rihardt dropped the plate I had given him.

Crash!

The food spilled and the plate broke.

I couldn’t help but feel dismayed as I stared at the floor.

I’m sure I handed it to him properly, but something was strange. It was as if Rihardt had dropped it on purpose…

…No way. I must be mistaken.

Did he drop it because I was staring at Rihardt as if entranced?

“Maid.”

“Ah, I’m sorry…”

“I’m fine.”

I reflexively apologized and bent down to pick up the broken plate pieces.

“How disappointing, Maid.”

When I heard a mocking voice from above my head, I looked up halfway in surprise.

“…Don’t people usually say it’s okay?”

Has he decided to abandon that fake kindness now?

Ah, whatever. It’s my fault for dropping the plate.

Why did I make such a mistake…

“I’ll bring another one.”

“Please do.”

I hurriedly went back up to the kitchen, asked the Head Chef for understanding, and brought the food again.

“But Maid, aren’t you surprisingly dense?”

“…Are you picking a fight with me for dropping the plate?”

I was about to curse him for being petty when Rihardt suddenly burst into laughter.

What’s so funny about that?

“I wanted to see you get troubled, so I was going to not tell you, but I suppose that won’t do.”

What is he talking about now?

“Didn’t you notice anything strange when you came in?”

“Well? There was a strange guy.”

“Perfect for drawing attention.”

“…What do you mean by that?”

Unlike just moments ago when he was speaking freely, Rihardt closed his mouth without explaining.

When I sent him a menacing look, only then did he open his mouth.

“If I tell you, what can you do for me, Maid?”

“I think I can do anything except help you escape.”

“Good. That will be sufficient.”

“…What do you want from me?”

“Don’t just play with the Gatekeeper, play with me too, Maid.”

When did I ever play with the Gatekeeper…

Ah, could he be talking about how I’ve been living outside to monitor the Gatekeeper?

If so, that’s unfair. And whose fault is all this…

“Oh, and actually, I dropped the plate on purpose.”

“Wow, your character…”

“If you listen to everything I have to say, you’ll end up praising my character for telling you this.”

I gestured with my chin as if to say let’s hear it. He smiled slightly and continued.

“That servant who was bothering you today was there to draw your attention.”

“…What would he do by drawing my attention?”

“Well, to put something in my food.”

What…?

“I don’t know if the Gatekeeper was an accomplice or being used, but the Gatekeeper put something strange in my food and that guy was meant to distract you.”

I opened my mouth stupidly, and he explained the stories he had heard last night.

I almost got a death flag properly planted while trying to remove one.

I reflexively touched my neck. Fortunately, it was safe.

I couldn’t just sit still and take this.

“Fine. While we’re at it, I’ll get revenge for you too.”

“You’ll get revenge for me, Maid?”

“You got hit by the Gatekeeper. With a whip.”

“I thought you didn’t know, how surprising.”

He didn’t seem resentful at all as he propped his chin and answered leisurely.

“Aren’t you angry?”

“Since I let him hit me on purpose, I don’t really feel like getting angry.”

“…You let him hit you on purpose?”

Could he be the type who feels pleasure through pain? That can’t be right…

He would be closer to the type who feels pleasure when wielding violence.

Whether he knew my complicated thoughts or not, Rihardt answered cheerfully.

“You said you’re kind to patients.”

“…Why is that…”

“So I thought you’d be kind to me too.”

That’s the reason? Really?

This crazy bastard.

I was at a loss for words.

* * *

Mari waited quietly.

The fruit she gave to the Gatekeeper was in large quantities, so there should be an immediate reaction.

Mari was thinking of turning the tables. To make it seem like Roji had framed her.

However, no matter how long she waited, no news came.

‘I went to the trouble of bringing the fruit, and he stupidly couldn’t do anything?’

She thought he was an idiot, but she didn’t know he’d be this useless.

Just when she was getting anxious, good news reached her.

“Mari! That monster has collapsed!”

The maids who hadn’t spoken a single word to her while she was being accused as the culprit now made a fuss and delivered the shocking news, thinking Mari’s innocence had been proven.

Mari just smiled quietly.

According to her plan, the arrow of this incident would turn toward Roji.

Now the culprit was Roji, not herself.

* * *

Mari laughed.

She laughed, and laughed, and laughed. Had there ever been another time she felt this delighted?

The sensation of surviving a moment of crisis and throwing the one who had threatened her into an abyss was truly exhilarating.

Mari smiled and left the room with light steps.

And she worked as usual.

“Did you hear the rumor? About that monster. It collapsed.”

“There was poison in the food, right?”

The maids around her were all chattering about the monster.

Listening to the maids’ chatter was extremely enjoyable. Above all, what lifted her spirits the most was…

It was around dinner time.

Finally, the event she had been waiting for occurred.

She had thought today would unfold as a relatively quiet day, but it was an incident that would turn the Marquis House upside down.

“Why was there poison in the food!”

They said the monster suddenly had a seizure while eating.

It trembled in pain and then fainted, so its condition was critical now—the rumor spread quickly in a short time.

Roji, the very person who had brought the meal to the monster, was inevitably forced to kneel in the Central Hall.

Emily, the maid who had been close friends with her, made a tearful face and fidgeted restlessly.

Watching the two of them, Mari sneered.

That’s what you get for daring to mess with me. You should know your place.

Roji’s situation was very dire.

Considering the Marquis’s temperament, he might immediately try to throw Roji in prison.

“Roji must have framed Mari!”

“She’s definitely in cahoots with the Kitchen Maid!”

A maid who usually followed Mari chimed in from the side.

“That’s right! I saw Roji tormenting Mari!”

In fact, it was the opposite, but no one here cared about that truth.

“Roji, explain yourself.”

“…”

The actual party involved in the incident remained silent.

The Butler furrowed his brow and gestured with his chin toward the Gatekeeper standing nearby.

“Tell us everything that happened, exactly as you saw it.”

The Gatekeeper looked at Roji with wavering eyes, then finally began to speak haltingly.

“The maid brought the meal as usual.”

“Was there anything different from usual?”

“…There wasn’t.”

Having heard most of the story through the Gatekeeper, the Butler turned his gaze to Roji, who hadn’t said a single word until the end.

As Roji still said nothing, Emily beside her urged her with a desperate face to say something, anything.

Perhaps her friend’s earnest plea worked, as Roji finally opened her mouth.

“I don’t know anything about this.”

“If you don’t know, then who does? The kitchen is under strict surveillance by the Marquis’s orders so no one can enter, and Mari’s conduct, which you suspected yesterday, was watched by all the maids today.”

“Is that so.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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