Chapter 41
The Larrington Hotel’s fifth floor.
It was the first place where I met Madam Blanca and entrusted with her my first request.
That’s right, literally the ‘first place’. Once a customer had successfully given a request at that place, they would be able to use the services of Blanca’s guild in their other branches.
Bookstores, cafés, salons, etcetera, etcetera.
It was impossible to meet Madam Blanca in such places, but it was possible to send additional requests through those branches or to check the status of the current requests.
A few days ago, I sent a new request regarding ‘Diana’ under the guise of a book order at the Larrington Bookstore. That’s why what was being delivered today was not truly a book, but the status of that request thus far.
While sitting at the tea table for a while and lost in thought, I heard a few staccato knocks on the door.
It didn’t matter whether I’d go to the drawing room to meet them in person, but I called the messenger to my room just in case there were any prying eyes and ears around us.
‘I’ll check the book personally, that was my excuse.’
As I told them to come in, the door opened silently. A woman who was holding a few books entered the room.
“It’s nice to meet you, Lady Rosetta.”
I faced the woman who was bowing, her face covered by a light veil.
It was Blanca.
After she got up from her curtsy, Blanca sat opposite me. Her movements were languid. I waited for her to be seated before I propped my chin on one hand, elbow on the table. Then, I spoke.
“The maid said that an employee from the bookstore had come. I didn’t expect you to be here.”
“The Larrington Bookstore is an affiliate shop of the Larrington Hotel, so in a broader sense, the boss is also an employee. Still, I disguised myself just in case. I wore this veil before I entered through the door.”
“Is that so. You certainly wouldn’t have been able to pa.s.s through the main gates in such a suspicious outfit.”
“Oh my, what do you mean, suspicious? I wanted to see you, Ducal Princess, so I came here in person.”
Blanca replied in a very exaggerated tone.
As I glanced at her, I reached out and picked up my teacup, taking a sip of the red-tinged tea. Following my example, Blanca also picked up the teacup in front of her and moved her veil aside.
While the two of us were drinking tea, the room was filled with a tranquil silence.
Tak.
At the sharp sound of a teacup being set down, I faced Blanca and leaned my back against the chair.
“Let’s stop this farce. You’ve come today because you have something to tell me, right?”
“Of course. I just feel very apologetic about the delay. That’s why to compensate, I brought here results that would unconditionally satisfy you.”
She moved her hands, and the lace gloves over her skin appeared like b.u.t.terflies in the air. One hand soon reached into the bag she brought with her, and she rummaged through it.
Then, after a while, she took out a few sheets of paper.
Even at a glance, it was clear that those pieces of paper were densely packed with small handwriting.
“Here’s the data that you’ve requested.”
Unlike her playful tone of voice, which she spoke with all the time, the hand that reached out to give the papers was polite. I took them and skimmed the writing. What caught my eyes first was the word written at the very top.
‘Diana.’
The name of the woman I was looking for.
Next to the name, there was a crude portrait drawing of her. I had never met her before and all I knew about her was her name, but she did have much better looks than I thought.
“Are you satisfied?”
I was distracted momentarily by the face and name, but at the Madam’s question, I read the rest of the doc.u.ment that’s been written in small letters.
‘I’m not just satisfied. This is chilling.’
The doc.u.ment had details related to ‘Diana’s family relationship’, ‘Diana’s reputation with the people around her’, ‘Diana’s upbringing as a child’, ‘Diana’s current whereabouts and lifestyle’.
Even her weakness, which I needed the most.
“…How do you know how many pieces of tableware she has at home?”
“Well. It’s a trade secret.”
If it’s a trade secret, then it couldn’t be helped. She might be acquitting information through not-so-legal means, but that wasn’t my business.
“Is this all of the information you have on her?”
I went over the three sheets of paper once again. The doc.u.ment had details of what I requested at first, which included ‘information on Diana’ and the ‘scenario and fake identification to let her enter the duchy’.
“A few days ago, I sent an additional request regarding Diana to the bookstore. Along with the fee.”
“That’s right. You sent both the request and the commission fee.”
As she answered, Blanca removed the lace glove on her right hand.
On the fourth finger of her right hand, as her bare skin was clearly revealed, there lay a ring with a large diamond on a thin silver band.
It was what I sent to the bookstore the other day—the commission fee.
‘If she came here to show she was wearing it, then it means she accepted the request, but…’
“Pfft.”
As I tried to gauge Blanca’s hidden intentions, the prolonged silence within the room was broken by the slight sound of air breathed out. To be exact, it was close to a restrained puff of air.
Narrowing my eyes, I looked towards the source of such a sound.
Beneath Blanca’s veil, which fluttered slightly—
“Pfft… Ahem…”
The more that same sound was repeated, the more the veil fluttered. As her right hand continued to show the ring on her finger, that same hand trembled a little as it fell palm-side up on the table.
Still trembling, her right hand slowly began to tap the table. It might hurt her to keep doing that with the ring on, but the sound of the tapping on the table seemed to grow louder and louder, still.
The same was true of the sound that was coming from the veil. The sound of those restrained puffs of air gradually became clearer and clearer.
Soon, a lively peal of laughter began to resonate throughout the room.
Along with the tapping on the table.
Tak. Tak. Tak.
The ring continued to hit the table. It was a grating sound.
Although the person who was causing this seemed to be going crazy with laughter without a care to the world.
‘Is this a habit?’
Her laughter and this tapping on the table overlapped with my memory of our meeting at the hotel the other day.
Blanca laughed like this, too.
It seemed to be a habit.
It doesn’t seem to be a good habit.
I quietly overlooked her actions and simply drank the black tea in my teacup.
Fortunately, her laughter quickly subsided. Perhaps she realized that she was inside a duke’s estate.
The thin veil fluttered in the air.
“Huu, I apologize. I tend to laugh a lot. It was rude of me to have laughed so hard in front of someone else.”
“Enough. Just tell me the reason. There must be one since you laughed so hard this time.”
As she hadn’t calmed down completely, her voice trembled slightly, and it contrasted greatly to my own dull tone of voice.
She nodded up and down.
So there really seemed to be a reason.
“How come every time, you always bring me such extraordinary requests… After I received it, it felt like I’ve been giggling for three days and three nights.”
Like a complete lunatic.
This last part was added only inwardly. This person handled many secrets.
And it looked like she was having a lot of fun.
Staring at Blanca, I carefully recalled my recent request.
“Was there anything to laugh about for three days and three nights?”
No. There shouldn’t be.
It was simply the plan I had concocted so that I could pull over ‘Diana’ to my side. However, I thought it would be difficult to do alone, so I asked for help through a request.
‘Isn’t it a rather normal request compared to what I’ve asked her to do in the past?’
I was left bewildered by her laughter at first, but eventually, I just nodded.
Right. Wasn’t it enough that those who liked to take pleasure in life should be left to enjoy it?
“Then, are the results of that request here?”
At my question, Blanca shrugged.
“Not exactly. I’m prepared to take you up on your request, but I just haven’t reached those results yet because I need a little help from you, Princess.”
“My help?”
“Yes. Without your help, the request would not be taken.”
“What is it?”
“I’ve left behind the details of it in between this book. After I leave, you may read it.”
As she said this, she tapped the book. It was one of the few that she brought in a while ago.
I wanted to ask why I should check after she’d leave, but I saved my question. There must be a good reason for that.
Currently and in many ways, I was ‘Party B’ to her in this contract between us. But wasn’t there a request of mine that hadn’t been answered yet?
That is, it was my request of ‘making Ca.s.sion the next duke’.
Now that talking about my additional request had been wrapped up, all that’s left was to talk about that. Blanca must be feeling the same way, and soon, the playful air around her gradually disappeared.
The atmosphere turned strange.
Heavy and light at the same time.
The tension in the air felt as though it was a battle of wits between us.
It was me who spoke first.
“Well, have you come to a conclusion regarding the proposal last time? As I can recall, the request I sent to the bookstore was a ‘pair’.”
My mouth was dry.
I couldn’t see her face from beyond the veil, so I had no idea what Blanca was thinking. From her reaction earlier, it’s reasonable to think that she had accepted the request, but making Ca.s.sion the next duke was not an easy task, and it was a sensitive one as well.
I was still not sure what her answer would be.
Again, this time, she did not respond right away. She stared at me directly for a moment, then she suddenly picked up the lace glove that she had taken off.
“I shall postpone my answer for a little longer. I’m not normally a person who likes to be in the center of conflict… Lady Rosetta, not only are you a source of delight for me, but you are also a source of strife. This is really… I’ve never felt this way before.”
As she wore her lace glove, her hand movements were as graceful as her voice.
It would have been better if she could utter a more positive response with that elegant tone of hers.
But, well. It’s not a rejection.
“Instead.”
I nodded to convey that I understood her point of view, but Blanca spoke once more and this singular word cut through the air.
I looked up at her face. No, to be exact, at her veil.
As she was now wearing her gloves properly, she faced me straightforwardly.
“Instead?”
“Instead, I’ll give you some information that would very much tempt you. It’s a story about your person, Your Ladyship.”
My person…
It was strange, hearing this for the first time. For her to say this, it was evident that she was talking about a secret relationship, correct?
…And that guess seemed to be right.
I stayed silent as I waited for her to continue what she was going to say. She was sitting upright until just now, but she slowly began to lean forward towards me over the table. Then, she whispered with a hushed voice.
“A funeral is being prepared.”
“A funeral?”
I asked back unconsciously. But I already knew what she meant. At this time, there was only one person around who could have a funeral.
“Yes. Unfortunately, the eldest son of House Carter pa.s.sed away at such a young age. They’ve planned to hold a funeral before the summer ends. You’re going to attend the funeral, right?”
After whispering this, she quietly leaned back on her seat again.
‘Ca.s.sion’s funeral.’
I was dazed as the words popped into my head.
It would be special. In many ways.
In the novel, it was the day Leo started to pay attention to Alicia.
Exactly on the day of the funeral.
It was indeed a psychotic notion that he started a pursuit of romance at the very funeral of the half-brother he handled(?).
Of course, this time, he wouldn’t even reach the ‘ro’ in ‘romance.
I will make sure of that.
Even if there was a slight risk to anything, I will be sure to prevent that ‘fatal first meeting’.
The corners of my lips twisted crookedly. As I reached for my teacup, I tilted my head to the side.
“Of course, I must go. I am mourning him deeply, so I shall be there and give him one last flower.”
Annoyance, anger, unfamiliarity. All these emotions mixed together with antic.i.p.ation, and my heart pounded momentarily—until they’d been cut off the next moment.
I raised the teacup to my lips.
The tea that had already cooled moistened my throat and flowed down.
Precisely, just like my emotions. Lukewarm.