Chapter 8

"What do you think?"

After Amelia left the living room, Logan asked the elderly man Oscar, who had served as a confidant of the Hernberg family since the previous generation.

"Rumors are unreliable, I thought."

Oscar, stroking his well-groomed white beard, said with a serious expression.

"Yeah... I thought it would be mostly rumors, but the gap between the real her and what I heard is just too much... It's like, I don't know, it throws me off balance..."

"Lord Logan, you are weak for innocent children, aren't you?"

In response to Oscar's teasing words, Logan scratched his head vigorously.

"The Amelia I had heard about beforehand was selfish and arrogant, barely spoke to anyone, was cold and uneducated, a poor child with no manners, couldn't even read or write properly, and was ugly and unhygienic..."

"Quite a mess, indeed. Yes... her figure is a bit too slim, and her clothes are a bit dirty, but in terms of personality..."

"Quite the opposite."

"Yes, she seems very sensible."

Oscar looked up at the ceiling as if recalling something.

"When I first greeted her, Amelia tried to carry her own luggage."

"Carry that huge trunk?"

"Yes. She said it was heavy because it was full of books. When I told her it was my job, she backed down but looked very apologetic."

"Can't really see her as selfish and arrogant, can you?"

"Rather, she seems too humble and polite for a noble lady... Ow..."

"Your back?"

"Yes. Unfortunately, when I carried the trunk just now, it put a strain on my back. Oh, age is a tough opponent."

"I think it's impressive that you can carry that huge trunk at your age..."

"I'm still in good shape."

"Wouldn't be much help if you weren't."

After a moment, Logan spoke again.

"Getting back to the topic, about Amelia's conversation earlier..."

Logan explained to Oscar about the questions Amelia had asked earlier—whether three meals would be served, if she could work to buy personal items, and if she could pick weeds from the garden.

"Those don't seem like questions a newly married noble lady would ask."

"I considered the possibility that she was putting on an act to make me let my guard down, but from what I saw, she doesn't seem like someone who would scheme."

"Rather, the opposite."

"Yeah, she seems absent-minded or natural... Would a newly married lady ask her older husband if she can pick weeds from the garden? Normally."

Given their long association, the two were in perfect sync.

"But in a way, isn't it as she planned?"

"What do you mean?"

"Lord Logan, you must have known that the rumors were somewhat exaggerated when you decided to proceed with this engagement, right?"

"To some extent. Two years ago... when I first met her, we only had a brief conversation, but I didn't think she had a destructive personality. I considered the possibility that she had changed over the past two years and approached the meeting with some preparation..."

The gap between the rumors and the real her.

Her dirty dress, her figure that didn't seem to have proper nutrition.

Her timid and fearful demeanor.

Amelia's extremely low expectations.

"Lord Logan, this is just a guess, but perhaps she is..."

"Yeah, I probably think the same. If it's true..."

Logan's fist clenched tightly.

For him, a man with a strong sense of justice, if his hypothesis were correct, it would be unforgivable.

"Oscar, I have a favor to ask."

"An investigation into the Haggle family's internal affairs and Amelia, right?"

"Yes, please."

"Leave it to me."

He had considered asking Amelia directly, but there was a possibility that she would be ordered by her family not to speak or would give a completely fabricated story.

(First, I need to gather objective evidence.)

With that, Logan returned to the task of reorganizing the priority of the mountain of paperwork he had to deal with.

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