T/L:
h.e.l.lo everyone! I"m sorry for the late update >.< i="" have="" some="" business="" i="" need="" to="" attend="" so="" i="" can"t="">
But here you go, a new chapter!
Enjoy~
=============================
It seemed the fake Agnes had been meeting famous n.o.bles every night in the brothel.
“You, have been to Cypress Inn before?”
“No.”
“Eh? No, no, you must be joking. You must have at least visited it once right?”
“That"s why I said, no.”
Cypress Inn was the finest brothel in the capital.
The shop that was said as paradise in the dark side of society, was filled by extraordinary beauties with fine education, well versed in various trendy fashions, and good at conversing with men that made them happy.
“Do you know Adeline Bourgault Ducoudray?”
“Who?”
“She is the top prost.i.tute who is called the Queen of prost.i.tution world.”
Bernard got irritated by Ernest"s off-topic talk and hurried him to get back to the main issue.
“Ah, right, right. So there were rumors that someone has appeared in the inn that shake Adeline Bourgault Ducoudray"s reputation.”
“And that is, Agnes Le Verges, who was once an earl daughter?”
“Yes.”
He prepared the money to buy her out from the brothel also left the negotiation to Bernard.
“Oh right. Why don"t you also enjoy it for once?”
“Ha?”
“This will suffice right?”
He took out a leather bag from his pocket and put it on top of the desk with heavy noise.
It was placed beside an invitation letter to the brothel, which only special people could get.
“It appears she hasn"t touched anyone yet.”
“Even though she was in a brothel?”
“Yeah. Everyone just went to see the rare thing. A virgin is troublesome, so go teach her some lessons.”
Bernard lost his words because he couldn"t processed what Ernest was talking about.
He grew up looking at his strict father and mother"s example.
He knew that there would only be one woman to spend his life with, and even a mistress would be impossible.
Even this conversation alone was already a nonsense, Ernest still proposed something more that would even insult a mistress.
“I will do the negotiation, but I won"t take any companion.”
“Why? Don"t tell me you are not good with women?”
“Who knows.”
“You"re weird.”
Bernard was about to say he"s not as weird as him but held it back.
“In the first place, why are you sticking to Agnes Le Verges"s case this much?”
“Because she is an interesting person.”
“Interesting, you say?”
“Yeah. I wonder how many years ago was it? I caught her staring at the garden party. Turned out she was not interested in me.”
As he thought about what"s wrong with that, Ernest laughed while holding his stomach.
“It"s the first time I met a lady who didn"t try to flatter me. Won"t it be satisfying if you can make that kind of person submit to you?”
“No, even if you ask me.”
“You don"t understand it huh.”
Bernard was thankful he didn"t understand it.
“Well, that"s why I spare no money if I could get Agnes Le Verges.”
Bernard was tired of listening to Ernest"s useless story. He stood up mid-way of their conversation and told him he will go to the brothel now.
“Thanks. I"m glad you take my request.”
He turned his back towards Ernest who lightly thanked him, took the money and invitation from desk, and left the room.
First he needed to consult with Captain Lazare, he quickly headed to the office.
***
“--I can only say that it"s terrible.”
Bernard talked about all the things he heard from Ernest.
“But such coincidence really do happened.”
“?”
He took out a doc.u.ment from inside the drawer and put it on the desk.
Written on it was a mission for today.
“Apparently, Cypress Inn has become a place for trading drugs.”
It seemed the intelligence team had been spying it up until now, but a few days ago they found a clue. They apparently managed to capture one of the people involved in it.
However, since the drug dealing in the shop hasn"t stopped, Lazare"s Special a.s.sault Unit III was ordered to investigate by infiltrating it and capture all suspects.
“It"s likely the mediator for drug dealing is a newcomer girl there. They don"t know the details, but she seems to be the one that Ernest Barthelemon thought as the fake Lady Agnes.”
This operation was a solo mission as follow, infiltrating the Cypress Inn, seizing the crime scene, and after that the other members will charge into the brothel.
“The infiltration will start in 3 hours”
“So, it"s during the day?”
“Yeah. The deal seems to have occurred in broad daylight.”
Whether it"s day or night, it didn"t matter for the top brothel.
Listening to another stupid story, a frown was formed between Bernard"s eyebrows.
“And then, the person in charge for infiltrating--”
Usually, a person who is skillful in acting would be chosen for this. But this time, he ordered Benard to go.
“Me, Sir?”
“Yeah. It will be a good experience right?”
Lazare"s decision was unexpected. Bernard himself had no experience in infiltration surveys, one could say he did not have the ability to act while reading the situation there.
“For the time being, the intelligence team member has been infiltrating there as a paying customer for several days. Regardless of your acting ability, they will think of you as an honorable customer and eventually show their tail.”
“Understood.”
“This is the invitation to the brothel.”
The invitation letter given to him was exactly the same as the one Ernest gave before.
For this time, he was told to use this one. After that, he was also given the wig and fake beard for disguise.
As for the clothes, he was told to wear daily clothes for travelling. Since he hadn"t changed into his uniform, he could go there as is.
“It will be best if you wear that wig in the carriage.”
“Yes.”
The other members were also gathered and the strategy meeting began.
Three hours later, the strategy was carried out.
Inside the rattling high-cla.s.s carriage prepared for the infiltration, Bernard disguised himself with the curtains closed.
He wore a dull blonde wig and attached the fake beard on his mouth. Lazare said that his eyes would be covered by the bangs so the others wouldn"t be able to read his emotions.
The cane in his hand was actually a sword, he also hid some other weapons around his body.
“We know where the fake earl daughter"s room is. We will be waiting nearby, so if you see them taking out the medicine, you need to open the window. That will be our signal and we will charge in.”
“Understood.”
He double checked their strategy to make sure there would be no mistake.
Wearing a well-tailored coat for disguise, he waited for the carriage to arrive at Cypress Inn.
Lazare suddenly burst out laughing inside the quiet carriage.
“You look totally different.”
“?”
Bernard was puzzled by his words, but understood it after he was handed a mirror.
He only looked on some parts when he put on his wig and beard, so he never saw his whole appearance.
He understood why Lazare was laughing after seeing his disguise.
“Right. ...If I look at it, you look similar to your father.”
“Is that so.”
It was a meaningless conversation, but it had made Bernard"s tension to lessen.
The carriage arrived at the inn, it was the appointed time for executing the plan, so he started to infiltrate.
“Oi, you forgot something.”
“What is it?”
“Here.”
Lazare handed over a fine wine to him. He was told to bring it as a souvenir.
After listening to the content of the special sake, Bernard thought it was a rea.s.suring ally.
The red-light district were lined up with splendid buildings that were comparable to aristocrate social gathering house.
Even among those buildings, Cypress Inn had particularly luxurious appearance.
If someone showed the invitation at the entrance gate, they will be guided inside.
At the entrance, there was a hostess waiting and welcomed him. He handed the invitation over, and she immediately guided him to a room.
“--Then, please take your time.”
He surprisingly could get through the room easily.
After he knocked on the door, he heard a reply. As the voice telling him to come in, he turned the door k.n.o.b and entered the room.
The room inside was unexpectedly bright.
It was like inside a living room, and there were tea and snacks served on top of the table.
There was another room in the back, he thought it must be the bedroom.
The window was located on the opposite side of the door. He thought that the others were waiting around there.
As he was surveying the situation, a woman appeared from the back room.
“--Nice to meet you.”
The woman greeted him with a luring high voice.
As he expected, she introduced herself as Agnes Le Verges. Seeing her, Bernard was surprised.
The fake girl who named herself as Agnes Le Verges, looked very similar to the real Agnes.
“First, let"s enjoy the tea.”
“.....yeah, sure.”
He sat down and observed her carefully.
After he looked closely, he noticed the impostor was wearing thick makeup that made her appearance looked like Agnes, it turned out they were not very similar.
Her atmosphere and the way she talked was that of a n.o.ble lady.
These kind of behaviour was not something you can learn immediately. It was something you naturally acquired by being treated as a high cla.s.s n.o.bility.
He suspected that the cause of the bad rumors sounding Agnes lies in the woman in front of him.
“This sweet here is scone from the White Rabbit Cafe that is popular in the city. It"s very delicious, so if you"d like,”
The scone from White Rabbit Cafe.
As he thought he had heard it before, he looked at the baked sweet with red fruits in it.
“--oh.”
“Is something wrong?”
“N-no, just the other day--”
It was the sweet that Carol and Celia wanted to eat.
He continued his last sentence and it came to that his sisters wanted to eat it.
He already knew the twins from their births, so they were like little sisters to him.
“If so, please take it home as a souvenir. Here--”
The fake Agnes wrapped the four scones on the plate and gave them to Bernard. He thanked her for her favor.
As if being reminded by the talk about sister, the fake Agnes began talking more.
Bernard also listening to her patiently.
Halfway through, he invited her to drink the wine he brought as a souvenir, and she complied easily.
The fake Ages who was drinking the wine, became more and more talkative.
Finally, her talk came to the core of the case.
“--I"m already fed up with this kind of life.”
“What do you mean?”
“Deceiving people, taking their money, and doing bad things…”
She said as her tears fell down. The effect from the wine with truth serum in it was enormous.
Without saying anything, she took out a box out from the shelf and threw it to the floor.
There was white powder coming out from the box.
And then she fell to her knees in front of Bernard, who was standing.
“...P-please, save me.”
She was born from a poor house, and she could only remember for always being hungry.
One day when she turned ten, someone invited him to his place because she resembled Agnes and offered to be her subst.i.tute.
From there, for seven years, she learned about the culture and manner of a n.o.ble lady.
If she became the perfect lady, she could take a leap in the society.
“By that, you mean about the recent story here?”
“Ye, yes.”
She said she had done a lot of bad things.
“I want to see my little sisters. It"s been years, since I saw them..... I want to give them delicious scones.”
Bernard said as he looked down at the unfortunate woman.
“--I understand. I will save you.”
Saying that, he opened the window.
The cold wind blowing and made the white powder that was spilled on the floor danced in the air.
In that instant, the brothel"s entrance was destroyed, and the raid began.
***
In the end, it wasn"t only the fake Agnes who was dealing drugs.
A large amount of drugs were hidden inside the brothel.
The officers arrested the people one after another, just like they were pulling potato"s vine and harvested a lot of it.
After the big job, Bernard took the last carriage to his home.
It was a really hard day, he was returning home while trying to loosen his frown.
Agnes was waiting at the entrance. It was warm inside of his house, his fingertips which were exposed in the cold until now, stung.
When he saw Agnes showed a gentle smile, somehow he felt very relieved. He wondered if it was because he just heard a miserable story and stayed in a place filled with malice.
“Welcome home, Master.”
Listening to Agnes voice, his tense heart finally relaxed, for the first time Bernard answered with "I"m home,".
=========================
I haven"t double check this chapter. I might miss something or there might be typos out there...