Chapter 27

“I’ll take your silence as a positive.”

Liesel’s crawling voice echoes in the opulent but dimly lit room.

When he was sure there was no answer, he released Heidemarie’s chin from his grasp and clicked his tongue.

“Bingo. I’m disappointed in you, Heidemarie.”

The hand that had been touching the skin of the prostitute, rubbing it against the clothing as if it were dirty. Her make-up almond-shaped eyes were now filled with an overflowing disdain.

“When you took over the jail, you said you were trying to ‘create a comfortable environment for my child’. I was impressed. I thought you were a great woman, so I gave you a hand. And now what? Elma was just a pawn to you?”

–Ha!

From behind the backrest, he kicked the couch vigorously, the slender, yet massive sofa shook with his single kick.

“You’re a joke. You have no right to be Elma’s mother. Well? I’ll take Elma’s mother’s place. She will come home to live with us, and we will make her happy. And we’re going to let you go.”

“Elma is not coming back—“

“No, she’ll be back.”

When Heidemarie finally opened her mouth, Liesel quickly interrupted her.

“I heard you said to her, ‘Don’t come back until you know what a normal girl is like,’ right? It’s horrible – it’s not like she was raised by us to be normal. But it’s okay. I’ll take care of her.”

“What?”

Heidemarie looks back quickly.

Liesel chuckled when she saw that the white, doll-like beauty finally had a grim expression on her face.

“I told her, if you don’t think you can ever be normal you can ignore Marie’s orders and come home, no matter what you have to do.”

Liesel’s smile deepened as she recognized the distinctly irritated look in Heidemarie’s cat-like eyes.

“It’s not a mother’s job to give up her beloved child. It’s a mother’s job to create a place where even a child who doesn’t fit in is warmly welcomed.”

“Ouch! You, what, why, what! You just sprayed perfume in my eyes! Where did that perfume come from?”

“Valley.”

Heidemarie hesitantly replied.

“A brandy would have made me go blind. It’s a shame, or rather, a blessing, that the perfume contains only light alcohol.”

“Don’t be so blissful!”

Liesel screamed out while holding his eyes, and the door to the living room opened.

“What’s up? Do you want to get in on the action?”

Gilbert came in.

“No. I’m just upset.”

Heidemarie replied with a fluttery one hand and then added a little sulkily.

“[Jealousy] would deny my motherhood and my betting to the hilt.”

“It’s-”

An amused color floats on the intelligent face, which includes fearlessness. Gilbert lifted only one of his well-formed lips and tilted his head slightly.

“Reckless.”

“What”

When the pain in his eyes finally calmed down, Liesel glared at them, holding his bloodshot eyes with a handkerchief.

“Do you think this woman is maternal enough? What’s the bet?”

“I’m betting on whether Elma will be back on her own. By the way, I’m betting everything on ‘not coming back’, because I believe in her. I have faith in her.”

“Huh?”

Heidemarie smiled at Liesel, who did not hide his doubts.

“And I’ve never lost a bet of any kind in my life.”

“In connection with that bet,”

Gilbert cuts in. He was holding a piece of letterhead in one of his strong hands.

“According to a letter from our jailer, there will soon be a newcomer to the jail. The charge is attempted murder of a royalty.”

“Oh my. It’s been a while.”

“–and then?”

Heidemarie asks quietly, while Liesel blinks his eyes.

She folded her hands in her lap and stared at the chessboard on the table.

“Who the hell is coming?”

“Oh, that’s—“

Gilbert glanced at her and then opened his mouth to speak.