Even though Charlotte wept sadly as if wishing for sympathy, unfortunately, Irene’s tears were on the dry side. To sympathize with her and her plight, even though Charlotte was the woman who had killed Louise, who was her friend, three times.

…There would never be a joke like that.

Irene turned her steps and opened her mouth coldly.

“If that’s all you have to say, then I’ll go.”

Seeing her about to leave, Charlotte hurriedly stopped crying and shouted.

“Wh-where are you going to leave me?”

“I should talk to the Young Masters.”

“You want to… release me?”

Seeing Charlotte clinging to her even in these circumstances, derision flashed through Irene’s face and her mouth parted, “Is it impossible for you to understand the situation, or are you just a positive person…”

“…What?”

Irene then turned her steps and approached her again. She could see Charlotte shivering her shoulder involuntarily when she saw someone approaching. Perhaps, it was because she rekindled the fear of torture but Irene did not care.

She grabbed Charlotte’s shoulders, already tattered with injuries. Since she turned her back on the fire, her shadow draped over Charlotte.

Across from her, Irene opened her mouth as their gazes fixed on each other.

“I’ll tell you because you’re going to die soon anyway. Lichpen and Lavrenti’s feud is deeper than you think. There’s no reason to keep you, Lichpen’s nemesis, alive—neither from this side nor that side.”

“Ha, but I’m Madam Henrietta’s—”

“Abandoned pawn.”

Irene interrupted her and spoke.

“You may not know it, but the people of Knox take abandoning their subordinates for granted. Do you actually know that you were abandoned by Madam Henrietta?”

Tears welled up again in Charlotte’s big eyes.

“Ah, no. I… If I just go back…”

“When you go back, you’ll be dead. No one would welcome the trash that was thrown out when they came back. You’d have a bullet hole in your head right now. Maybe, that’s better. You’d be happier for that than falling into Madam Edith or Lady Veronica’s hands.”

“Hue, huueek! No, no… Huuk—heuk.”

As Irene’s words continued, Charlotte shook her head vigorously. In her head, she thought about the moment when Edith talked about the experiment with her. In addition, the clear scenery of Lichpen, which was usually vicious, overlapped with its miserable appearance.

That was also what Irene was aiming for.

“Even if Madam Henrietta abandoned me… heuk, Lady Veronica also wanted to keep me by my side. I—!”

“Oh, Lady Veronica?”

At those words, Irene smiled coldly, and she slowly lifted her hand away from sobbing Charlotte and raised up her upper body.

“You must know that Lady Veronica planted a spy in this mansion. Sooner or later, we’ll find and execute him. And, if that happens, who will Lady Veronica suspect first?”

Charlotte’s eyes began to tremble heavily as tears fell. It was like Irene said. If the spy, planted by Veronica, was discovered shortly after she was captured in Lavrenti, she was the only person she could guess as the source.

“You are destined to die and be abandoned by everyone, Charlotte Eunice.”

“No. Th-that’s ridiculous… no—Aahh!”

As she could not deny the reality, Charlotte eventually let out a scream. At the same time, Irene left the prison with her scream behind. Looking back on the stairs, it seemed that she could still hear her voice howling.

Of course, Irene had no reason to care about her.

゚· : * ✧ * :· ゚

Tak, tak.

Irene’s indoor shoes echoed on the stairs unusually loud. Considering that she normally walked without making any sound of footsteps, it felt even more new.

She was walking hastily. And, the destination was Ahibalt’s office.

Of course, it was already late at night for her to go to the office to meet her master. Still, she needed to move busily for the moment in order to succeed in what she was planning now. As long as she was sure that what Edith had fed Rodion was not poison, all she had to do was simple.

First, she had to help him cool off by his side until Rodion returned to normal.

‘Other people don’t know how to cool Rodion’s agitation.’

Above all, Rodion was in a state that did not allow access to anyone except for her. Although the exact reason was not known, it was clear from the fact that he had set the boundary strictly that he did not even recognize Ahibalt.

Therefore, it was natural for Irene to put him to sleep until he returned to normal.

‘I’ll have to ask him later why he drank the tea, knowing that it was poisoned.’

Rather, there was something more important than that right now.

…Meeting Edith.

In addition, conversing about the favorability system that she was researching. However, the challenge given to Irene was that this simple task was more difficult than expected.

‘If it were Veronica or Henrietta, it wouldn’t have been this difficult.’

Edith was more important as a researcher at Knox than as Rodion’s mother.

All of her research works played a significant role in supporting Knox’s stomach, so it was only natural that Knox was paying great attention to keeping her skills out. As a result, Edith naturally led a life with extremely limited contact with the outside world. That was the condition for her to receive support from Knox for all her studies.

‘…And now, Lichpen manages all of Edith’s external contracts because of the division in power within Knox.’

In other words, in Lavrenti, you could not contact her.

Edith herself had been ignoring Veronica and Henrietta in Lichpen, and she did not even let anyone in or come close to her lab. It was impossible for Irene to plant a spy and deliver a note or even to meet outside.

Nevertheless, that did not mean there was no way.

The moment she had a purpose for meeting Edith, Irene could recall in her head the blueprints of the way of meeting her. It was impossible for her to secretly deliver notes, and she could not even drag Edith out.

‘I can try to meet her in person.’

If she just gets rid of the disturbances lurking in Lichpen outside and goes to meet her in person, it would be resolved. It just so happens that in Lavrenti, which was just like her courtyard, had suitable materials like Veronica’s spy and Charlotte.

It would not be too difficult if she could carry out what she had planned.

Thinking so, Irene hurried to the top floor of the mansion where Ahibalt’s office was located — about Rodion, and she also needed to discuss Edith. As if to represent her heart, her hurried steps, close to jumping, seemed unlikely to slow down until she reached the office.

…If only there had not been a big commotion the moment she passed the hallway.

Thud—!

Her footsteps were seized by a loud commotion as if furniture and household items were being torn down and rolled around.

“Otis…!”

Then, a cry was heard.

Irene’s steps stopped. It was because she had noticed, like a thunderstorm, the owner of the voice, who had just shouted Otis.

“…Ahibalt?”

It was a realization in her subconscious that preceded her awareness. Ahibalt, who was usually excellent at maintaining his composure, had only ever raised his voice in anger like that once during her time in the game…

“Why were you there?!”

…When she threw her body to save Louise.

It seems that his voice was deeply engraved as much as the deep scar.

Irene, who unwittingly uttered Ahibalt’s name aloud, turned around and turned towards the direction of the commotion. She would never get lost. It was because Otis’s bedroom was the only room along the way.

Anxiety ran down her spine.

She immediately grabbed the doorknob without knocking.

“Excuse me!”

Irene, who spat her words out with urgent breath as if trying to catch dripping water, slammed the door open.

And, what she faced was…

“…Irene.”

“Irene?”

It was Ahibalt holding Otis’ collar, who seemed to have been beaten by him.

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