Of course, the subject of expression was not her, but that white cat who doesn’t even know about grace.
The butler who listened to her showed his respect in his own way and left the drawing room. Left alone, Acilla stared at the fine wooden door, then looked back at Ruby while resting her chin.
“You. Where the hell did you take me?”
Mew mew, I don’t know human geography! My butler is the only one who is important to me!
Ruby began to hit Acilla’s shoes with its front paws. It’s an ungrateful cat after all. I’m gonna cut off the salmon next month.
Leaving her feet to be the target of the cat’s anger, Acilla murmured quietly.
“Did you smell it too?”
Me–ow.
Count Artes’s butler, what the hell was he doing reeking of blood…?
There was no way a cat couldn’t smell that faint scent that she could. She glanced down to see Ruby whimpering, biting her riding pants.
Big blue eyes were brimming with worry and anger. A mysterious color that seems to have been deliberately added to a lot of water by a watercolor artist. Its eyes looked like they were going to cry if you touched them.
As if it could not wait patiently, Ruby let Acilla go and ran to the door and began to scrape it with its claws. The loud sound that was tearing up her eardrums made her frown.
The pure white figure rushed out as soon as Acilla opened the door reluctantly.
“What kind of trouble are you going to do now!”
The scope of accidents committed by that stupid pet cat was always beyond imagination. It was the absolute truth that the tearful experiences of the past showed.
Acilla quickly chased after Ruby and left the drawing room.
“Oh, Mary! That’s it! That thing scratched my face!”
At the same time, Ruby flinched and turned around at the mean voice coming from behind, and Acilla looked around with an ambiguous smile.
There’s no way it would have chosen that one as its future owner.
Interesting, this…?
While Acilla was sorting out the rumors about Count Artes in her head, the cat roared in annoyance and ran wildly.
Screams overflowed from the other end of the hallway, perhaps it’s scratching hard again. Acilla ignored the mess and calmly organized the information.
Count Artes. The Count and Countess have one son, Lloyd Artes.
Oh, come to think of it, didn’t they also have an illegitimate child?
“Mary, Mary!”
“Here, here, cat. Oh, my goodness. Young Master…”
Only then did Acilla roll her eyes to look at the scene of the accident.
He had nail marks on both cheeks as if it wasn’t enough. Ruby sat on the handsome boy’s head and slapped him on the cheek with its tail. It wasn’t a light prank like hitting Acilla or Reinhardt, but a ruthless attack like a tempered steel.
It’s pulling out his hair!
I was so damn right that it’s feisty. Acilla folded her arms at the new assessment.
“Mary, bring the rifle!”
“Young Master… even the rifle. Cat, stop shaking—”
“Hey, you stupid animal! No matter what you do, that illegitimate b*stard will die because of you!”
What?
Its white tail twitched. Its front paws, which had been beating his head hard, had also stopped. Ruby, hopping off Lloyd’s head, flexibly avoided his attack and ran to Acilla. Hngg, she nodded her head slightly as she looked at its sadly weeping blue eyes.
I understand, I would be stupid if I still haven’t noticed it so far.
The next owner of this cat, whom Reinhardt adores, was apparently the illegitimate child of Count Artes.
“That illegitimate b*stard will die because of you!”
And I see that she’s being abused. Now I understand why you held on to me like that.
The maid named Mary took the boy, whose hair was plucked out in a mess and had bloody cheeks, and painstakingly nudged him away. She wondered if the little boy had any common sense left when she said that he was in front of Count Artes’s guest—Oh, amazing!—He left in a relatively calm manner while gnashing his teeth.
The landscape outside the window was slowly turning dark.
It may be late for some, but it’s never too late for others. Acilla’s red eyes flashed bleakly through the surging night.
As she went down the stairs, the gatekeeper who had been muttering in the hallway bowed to her. His mouth was hanging over his ears as if he liked the money bag that he got for free.
“I have a favor to ask of you.”
The gatekeeper quickly brought a piece of paper and a pen at the promise that she would pay more money if he delivered the note to Duncan’s mansion.
[Acilla Duncan.]
Finishing her signature elegantly, Acilla looked down at the sullen cat. It was moaning while covering its ears with its front paws.
“Cat.”
“……”
“Get up.”
Ruby’s ears perked up, and Acilla nodded slowly.
There’s no time to lose. It looks like the child is injured, but it’s just sitting and sleeping, waiting for something.
At the thought of wiping out the house while being an uninvited guest, Acilla grinned.
…It’s a self-evident fact that it is difficult to treat a prestigious noble family recklessly, even as the successor of the Duncan family.
If so.
If it’s hard to make a mess, there’s only one answer.
‘Let’s play a game and fix it with money.’
For your information, spending money was one of the things she did best.
Acilla folded her eyes and smiled. Drawing an arc around her lips as if her knight riding on a pale horse was coming.
“Let’s go find your master.”
Yes, that’s it, Human! The Persian cat pricked up its ears and cried.
Ruby took the lead by moving its long legs, tak tak tak, and Acilla followed the running cat at a rather quick pace. Her heels ruthlessly trampled on the luxurious carpet.
Her clear smile foreshadowed a blue sky.
· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·
Tok tok. Ronell frowned and opened one of her eyes at the sudden sound, and the Countess stopped her hand as well.
“What’s going on?”
I’m sure I told Mary to properly lock the door. The Countess gritted her teeth and glared at the door. Butler Geran’s voice echoed from the other side.
“I’m sorry, Madam. But a guest suddenly came this evening.”
“Who is it?”
“It’s Lady Acilla Duncan.”
If you live in the Ederka Empire and didn’t know the name Duncan, then you’re a spy. Recognizing the name of the successor of the richest family in the Empire, the Countess calmed her rising anger.
It was definitely the name that would make the butler run away in surprise.
“I ask for her understanding that he’s on a business trip.”
“She said she’d like to meet you at least.”
Me? Why me?
That question arose, but Duncan’s successor was too well-known to turn down the request. The Countess clicked her tongue with an airy expression. She tried to throw the cane on the floor and stared at the trembling child.
“The mouse is dead.”
“Yes, yes.”
“…No.”
She grabbed Ronell’s back and dragged her to the next room. Surprised by her overly light weight, she threw the child into the closet on one wall.
“Ma-Madam, I’ll do my best. Please do—”
The door slammed shut before her petty pleading was over. I don’t want to hear it, she kept repeating it over and over in her mind.
She even locked it while she was at it. It would be disgraceful if that child comes out and ruins the VIP’s visit. Just thinking about a scandal that will spread in the social world is killing me.
She threw the cane randomly on the floor, and when she came out, the butler hurriedly bent his back. The woman rolled the key she was holding and asked a question.
“Where is she?”
“She’s waiting in the drawing room on the 2nd floor.”
“Okay.”
Even if she is the successor of a family that controls the economy of the Empire, it just shows how much she looks down on the Count’s family when she comes without asking for a visit. I have to say something sarcastic.
She arrived in front of the reception room where she was guided and opened the door.
“Huh?”
“Uh, where did she go…?”
Damn it!
The Countess hurriedly turned her feet and ran with an ominous premonition. A corner of her heart was terrified, and her eyes seemed to turn frantic as she turned back and went toward the way she had come from.
No, I don’t think so. No way.
Don’t tell me she went crazy and is now snooping in another family’s mansion. For her to have such courtesy as common sense—
“You’re late.”
In front of the door of the room where the illegitimate child is trapped, a woman was standing quietly. A white cat was gently wagging its tail beside her.
“Lady Duncan, why are you here—”
“Are you here, Mitchell?”
“I’m sorry I’m late, my Lady.”
The Countess turned around in dismay. A woman wearing horn-rimmed glasses passed by her and approached Acilla Duncan. Who the hell is she? There was no choice but to surrender to the new visitor, but the woman began to protest.
“Lady Duncan, how rude of you to—!”
“Your voice is deafeningly loud.”
Acilla shrugged and beckoned her secretary. Mitchell quickly took the cigarette out of her bag and handed it over, and she closed her eyes with the cigarette in her mouth. Black eyelashes resembling chestnuts scattered a mysterious light around the area. It was as bright as gold that glitters brightly through the surface of the water.
As the tip of the cigarette began to burn with green smoke, Acilla pulled it out and turned it around with a smile.
The Countess flinched again. Within the red eyes of the woman standing in front of her, the murderous intent wasn’t dull enough for it to be unnoticed.
“In the mansion of another family—”
“I know, it’s rude.”
“…However, how can you know—”
“So?”
“……”
“So what?”
The next moment, Acilla turned around and precisely kicked the door with her foot. The Countess couldn’t even scream, and her eyes widened.
Acilla went in the room and stepped on the shards without hesitation.
“Here she is.”
She said briefly.
…A faint cry was coming from the closet.
At the sound of the suppressed groan, Acilla narrowed her eyes. Ruby began clawing at the closet door to show that it could not stand it.
“Lady Duncan! You’re rude!”
“Move, cat.”
Acilla ignored the barking woman and gave a cold command. As Ruby scuttled away, she raised her foot again after confirming that the cat had distanced itself.
Clank.
A single kick broke the lock. Acilla threw back the lock that had lost its function and grabbed the handle of the closet door.
The hiccups were loud as if the child inside was surprised.
Mew mew. Open it, Human!
Ruby pounded the floor with its tail to urge her, and Acilla, who was weak against the cat’s nature, took a deep breath and opened the door.
It’s just as expected.
It was horrendous; a child with a messed-up face was crouching down with her hands trying to protect her head. Anger rose from the tear stains on her cheeks.
“Baby.”
The child raised her head very slowly. Looking so frightened, Acilla lamented unconsciously as she peered at the season that had passed.*
(T/N: By ‘the season that had passed’, she was referring to the spring that has already gone by since it’s now autumn.)
Her yellow-green pupils reminiscent of young sprouts shook in her reddened eyes.
It was a crumpled spring.