The Maid In The Reverse Harem Game Wants To Quit

Bang—!

“Keugh!”

The next moment, the smell of fishy blood filled the hallway with groans.

The main character was none other than Edith.

The bullet hit Edith’s instep. It was because the other hand intervened and changed the trajectory of the gun at the moment when a fierce physical fight broke out between the two.

“Be careful, Irene.”

A voice, soft and restrained like dried silk, separated Irene and Edith with just the same limited touch. Even though her vision was stained with pain, Edith could recognize the arrival of a new person right away.

“Ah, Ahibalt…!”

“It’s been a while, Edith.”

As if he had nothing to do with all this fuss, a neatly dressed man greeted her with a gentlemanly courtesy and a smile. If it weren’t for the numerous bloodstains adorning his suit, it would have wondered why a person who would only be seen at a ball was here.

Taking the gun from Edith’s hand, he then calmly fired the other shot.

Bang!

“Aaaakk!”

As Edith grabbed both of her punctured feet and rolled over, Ahibalt pulled the gun’s hammer back before opening his mouth again.

“See? She might run away, so it’s best to disable her leg first.”

“…I see. Thank you for your help.”

“You look reluctant.”

“Because I don’t like blood.”

“Being soft is a virtue, too. At least in Knox, it’s a rare talent.”

Having said that, Ahibalt put the gun into his inner pocket and pointed at the still-screaming Edith.

“Then, since we’ve found the target, let’s talk.”

It was the signal that Irene’s plan was completely successful.

ﾟ･ : * ✧ * :･ ﾟ

About a fortnight ago, at night.

Irene told Ahibalt about the plan she had. The main story was to release Phylloxera at Veronica’s vineyard and trick Henrietta into heading to Lowens.

“However, the biggest hurdle lies in implementing this plan.”

“It must be the part where we have to find the spy.”

When Ahibalt made a hasty decision, Irene shook her head.

“No, that’s… I think I can find it. It’s a bit risky, though.”

“What do you mean, it’s dangerous?”

At the question, Irene hesitated a little. It was because she was going to reveal the contents of the 「 A Blood Stained Portrait 」 episode. She had kept quiet about this to prevent any further variables from being introduced into the game.

If her purpose had still been ‘a safe departure,’ Irene would never have spoken up.

As the sun rises tomorrow, the game must continue. However, as long as she decided to meet Edith, her goal was quite different. So, the fact could soon have been written this way—meaning she should seize this opportunity by any means available.

Eventually, Irene opened her mouth.

“The painter who is painting the portrait of the Young Master is in communication with the spy. At first, he had nothing to do with it though he was threatened by the spy.”

Because of the detailed explanation, Ahibalt had a slightly surprised expression this time. No, it would be more accurate to say that he was shocked.

“Did you know this from the beginning?”

“I accidentally eavesdropped on a conversation a while ago. So, I decided to tell the young Master.”

Except for the contents of the original, of course, it was a lie. Irene also wanted to avoid raising unnecessary suspicion. Fortunately, Ahibalt didn’t seem to have any doubts. If it was really her words, did he intend to believe anything?

‘Or does he have other ideas…’

Although he said this, Irene wanted to ask Ahibalt once more if he trusted her.

Recalling the moment when Ahibalt came close to touching the bridge of her nose, she stopped. If he had given such a punishment to prevent her from saying, “Do you trust me?” it would’ve been a very effective way.

‘Perhaps, there’s no reason other than that.’

It would, and it had to be… that way, her heartbeat would also stop pounding quickly like this as well.

Taking a deep breath, Irene then opened her mouth again.

“I tried to identify who it was when I overheard it, but I couldn’t. So, if the Young Master uses the painter, we’ll quickly find out who the spy is.”

“Then what difficulty are you talking about?”

“It’s the part where you have to deceive the spy.”

Ahibalt strictly controlled Rodion’s collapse so that it wouldn’t spread throughout the mansion. However, because Louise announced it so loudly, there was no one in the vicinity of the tearoom at the time who didn’t know what had happened to Rodion.

So, if there were a spy in the middle, it would have been a situation where it would be impossible to exclude people.

“이 사건이 알려졌을 때 모여 있던 사람들 사이에는 첩자로 추정되는 사람이 없었어요.”
“There was no presumed spy among the people who gathered when this incident was known.”

“Have you picked out those who are presumed to be spies?”

“Yes, three. And no one was in the mansion at the time.”

On her way to see Charlotte, Irene investigated where the supposed spies were at the time of the incident.

The first candidate, housemaid Miriam, was out in the garden to help the laundry maid wash the laundry, and the second candidate, footman Joseph, was off duty and not at the mansion today. Ethan, the last candidate, said he had gone downtown to buy the items the painter had ordered him to buy.

In addition, as soon as the incident broke out, Ahibalt quickly controlled the rumors, and the time Otis returned was also at a time when it was almost midnight, so no one was wandering around the mansion.

It meant that none of the three could properly understand the case, even if they heard that Charlotte put something inside the tea and someone collapsed.

“So, if you manipulate rumors a little, you can make false information flow into Lichpen.”

“Your theory is good.”

Ahibalt interrupted Irene’s explanation.

“Still, it’s hard to imagine that the spy sent by my aunt would fall for such a shallow trick.”

The reason why Ahibalt didn’t change the servants even though he knew that there was a spy in Lavrenti was simple.

It was clear that finding the spy would be much more difficult with the influx of new people. It wasn’t for a day or two that they had a spy by their side, and since Knox’s affairs were unlikely to leak out of Lavrenti, they decided that it would be better to have some poison.

“We could destroy the house trying to catch mice. I don’t want to act rashly.”

“That’s true. It won’t be easy. Unless, of course, a new big case breaks out and confuses the spy while collecting information.”

After all, a rumor could be covered up by another rumor.

“It’s about making a very plausible case. The medicine used was a love potion, so something related to love would be good… For example, love’s escape.”

And, perhaps coincidentally, they had a very good material.

“I don’t know if you’ve heard, but the Second Master was originally scheduled to leave for Lowens tomorrow.”

“I heard. Even if this hadn’t happened, I wanted to ask you if you were going with him.”

“I was thinking of going with him.”

Tuk.

Archibald’s index finger, which had been tapping the table at regular intervals throughout the conversation, stopped.

“…Why?”

As I said, I was going to use it as a way to find the spy.”

“Aha.”

Irene told him about the spy, and together they confided the truth of her scandal along with an apology for causing a commotion. Of course, Ahibalt already knew about it through Otis’ revelations though he pretended not to know as he always did.

And, even now…

“Then, now that there’s another way to find the spy, there’s no reason for you to go?”

Ahibalt’s expression was a little more relaxed than before, but Irene was nodding her head so she didn’t notice.

“Yes. First of all, I have to be by the Youngest Master’s side. Above all, if I want to send Madam Henrietta to Lowens, there must be someone much better to accompany than me.”

“You mean Charlotte Eunice?”

Irene nodded her head instead of answering Ahibalt’s question. To be honest, she never felt remorse whether Charlotte died or not.

‘Still…’

Whatever it was, she didn’t want anyone to die. Maybe it was because she’d already seen too many people die?

“I think it’s better to make it up that she was leaving with the Second Master rather than killing her.”

“In short, you’re trying to trick people into not knowing who took the drug.”

“If that happens, anyone would think that the Second Master had taken the medicine, and it would be nice to confuse Madam Henrietta.”

Accordingly, the confusion would be a very good trigger for her to make her misjudgments.

“Then, Madam Henrietta would have no choice but to go to Lowens, while Lady Veronica won’t have time to stick around the mansion either because of the ruined vineyard.”

However, there was one fatal blind spot in this plan.

That was…