The Obsessive Maniac Is Trying To Confine Me - Chapter 48

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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 48

Looking at the Gatekeeper’s face as he failed to understand my words, I kindly explained.

It was actually quite simple.

“Philip is going to cause trouble tonight.”

“…!”

“So we’ll tell Count Evantes just before that happens. Very simple, right?”

“B-But miss… then I….”

“Calm down. There’s no evidence that you trespassed on someone else’s private property. So… make an excuse that Philip seemed suspicious, so you pretended to follow his lead to monitor him. There’s no evidence you picked herbs anyway, right?”

Then the Gatekeeper clapped his hands as if he understood.

He seemed pleased that a way to escape this situation had occurred to him.

“Then I’ll go to Count Evantes right now…!”

“Wait a moment.”

I pressed my throbbing temples at the Gatekeeper’s overly quick action.

“Even if you meet Count Evantes now, there’s no evidence. What will you do if Philip says it’s slander?”

“…That’s.”

Of course, I could use the letter Philip received from Yurta as evidence, but since that wouldn’t benefit me either, I didn’t bother telling him about the letter.

“Don’t worry. We can create a witness. I said Philip would cause trouble today, right?”

“Then….”

“Watch Philip and go expose him right before he causes trouble. That’ll work.”

The Gatekeeper finally nodded as if he understood.

‘It seems like the Philip problem is solved this way….’

Then is there really a need to accept Rihardt’s proposal?

Rihardt told me to personally witness him rejecting Philip’s proposal tonight, but hmm….

Since the problem is solved this way….

‘Still, if I don’t go, Rihardt might accept Philip’s proposal.’

Then there wouldn’t be a fire either.

Taking that risk, I agreed to stay with the Gatekeeper through our agreement.

Since the fact that I was here would reach Arzen’s ears, I needed justification for that too.

So I ended up in a situation where I was conducting a joint investigation led by the Gatekeeper.

But….

I clearly told him to stop Philip, so why did a fire break out?

‘Things seem to have gotten a bit tangled….’

When I heard from Rihardt that there would be a fire, I desperately hoped it wouldn’t happen.

But when acrid black smoke began seeping into the room, I was going crazy.

‘This is insane….’

I was about to curse, but the black smoke made it hard to breathe.

“Cough….”

When I coughed, Rihardt covered my nose and mouth with his hand to protect me from the black smoke.

Rihardt’s blue eyes were sharp.

He seemed quite angry about this situation.

I pulled his other hand toward me and wrote letters on his palm.

[I’m fine.]

At his expression asking what could possibly be fine when we’re trapped in a fire, I moved my finger.

[Trust me.]

But Rihardt didn’t trust me at all. Rather, his face was serious.

This revealed our shallow trust in each other.

[I have a plan.]

[A plan? A plan to break down that door and escape together with me?]

[Only I will get out.]

“…?”

All sorts of question marks filled Rihardt’s eyes.

Before I could explain this situation to him, knights soon burst in.

“Put out the fire! Hurry!”

As I expected, the fire was extinguished.

[How did this happen?]

Rihardt left a question on my palm.

Though the fire was extinguished, the black smoke filling the room hadn’t cleared, so neither he nor I opened our mouths.

[I’ll tell you when we meet next time.]

At those words, Rihardt’s blue eyes curved long.

I was momentarily startled by his striking appearance, but his finger movements tickling my palm made me feel cold.

[Next. Time.]

What am I supposed to do about that?

[Next time. That sounds good.]

[….]

[Good. Next time.]

[….]

Right. Of course you would.

When I looked at Rihardt with a completely unimpressed face, he made a disappointed expression.

I was considering whether to write ‘fake’ on his palm when the door opened.

“Miss, are you alright?”

At the voice that naturally expected me to be here, Rihardt made a puzzled face, then soon realized the situation.

Then he greeted me.

“See you next time, miss.”

I didn’t bother to respond.

As if I’d be crazy enough to trust only Rihardt and cause trouble.

Actually, this was all planned.

The letter from Yurta that Philip had been keeping said to set fire to this place if Rihardt refused to answer.

He was completely insane.

I really thought about it a lot.

What to do about Philip.

I considered reporting Philip dozens of times, but if Philip confessed that Yurta made him do it, the Herthas would get involved too.

I’m Rose Herthas, and though I’m hiding my identity, I don’t know what adverse effects it might have later.

While pondering this, a question arose.

‘Why was Philip carrying the note?’

It would be dangerous if he got caught with it.

While pondering, the answer came quickly.

What if he intended to use this letter as evidence when his activities were discovered?

That seemed plausible.

‘Yurta is also a thorough guy, so he’ll probably find a way out somehow.’

In the end, I reached a conclusion.

I secretly entered Philip’s quarters during his working hours and stole the letter.

With that, the evidence was confiscated.

After that, I was going to wait for the Gatekeeper to handle it himself, but…

I had to consider the possibility that Rihardt might agree to Philip’s offer to help him escape.

So I stayed by Rihardt’s side to witness him rejecting Philip.

Instead, I had to explain this situation to Arzen to some extent.

I told him that someone seemed to be lurking around the basement in the middle of the night, so I would keep watch here today.

‘Is it over now?’

It had been an eventful day.

That’s what I thought, but…

“Read me a book, Roji.”

Arzen, lying on his bed, said languidly.

Right, the eventful day was just beginning.

* * *

As I just held the book without moving, Arzen urged me on.

“Aren’t you going to read it?”

Since when was it?

That Arzen’s way of speaking became somewhat lighter.

Normally, shouldn’t he say authoritatively, “Aren’t you going to read it?”

“Why aren’t you answering, Roji?”

Again, normally he should have said, “Why aren’t you answering, Roji?”

Why is he suddenly acting friendly?

“…Ah, no. I’ll read it for you.”

What kind of ordeal is this?

If I caught the culprit who tried to set fire to the basement, I should be rewarded, so why am I being punished?

Of course, the person in question didn’t seem to realize this was punishment.

‘He seems to be smiling subtly right now.’

Is he knowingly tormenting me?

“…Then I’ll read it.”

“Good.”

Whether he was tormenting me or not, there was nothing I could do.

Right now, I’m not Rose Herthas, just Roji.

Damn this class society.

“Once upon a time…”

Starting with “once upon a time” was the standard rule for fairy tales.

“A witch kidnapped a prince…”

The fairy tale went like this.

A witch who kidnapped a young prince brainwashed him to love her daughter.

The daughter initially turned away from the prince, but pitying him, she decided to break the brainwashing.

During this, they faced various crises and she freed the prince from the brainwashing.

‘Is this a dark fairy tale version…?’

As I read through the long fairy tale, my throat became dry and I paused for a moment.

Is this okay? I glanced at Arzen cautiously, but he was asleep.

‘I should quietly leave.’

This thought didn’t stem from consideration for the sleeping man, but from fear that I might be caught again if Arzen woke up.

As I tried to get up from my seat, I saw Arzen’s disheveled appearance.

And I discovered a black pattern where Arzen’s collarbone was exposed.

…I think it was near his neck before. It’s as if the pattern is moving.

‘Is it a tattoo?’

That can’t be right.

The nobles here consider tattoos vulgar.

There’s no way Arzen, who’s at the pinnacle of nobility, would have a tattoo…

Wait. I think I recognize this tattoo…

What was this? Just as I was pondering deeply, Arzen’s eyes suddenly opened wide.

“…”

“…”

“It’s a bit creepy when you stare at me like that.”

“You seemed to be sleeping soundly, so I was just checking…”

An awkward atmosphere was created.

I hastily stepped back and Arzen got up to neatly arrange his disheveled appearance.

“Did you see it?”

…He must be talking about the tattoo, right?

“I’m not sure what you’re referring to. I’m sorry.”

Nothing good would come from admitting I saw it.

When I pretended not to know, Arzen gave me a suspicious look.

That’s when it happened.

“Count, there’s something urgent I must tell you.”

An urgent voice was heard from outside.

“What’s the matter? Come in.”

Perhaps because his rest was interrupted, Arzen’s voice didn’t sound pleased.

The knight who entered the room while watching Arzen’s mood delivered the worst news.

“The Monster has escaped.”

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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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