Chapter 91

"Matilda, something terrible has happened."

"You look pale, Silas. What did the Marquis want with you?"

"It seems that the Earl of Ashberry came to our family home regarding the mercenaries."

"Huh?"

Matilda, who had been looking at the ledger, raised her head, furrowed her thin eyebrows, and looked at Silas.

"Did they find out that your family hired the mercenaries? Those mercenaries not only failed their job but were also followed, right? Honestly, they are utterly useless!"

"According to the Earl, the woman you tried to eliminate is the wife of a Viscount, who serves as the Deputy Minister of Military Affairs. We tried to kill someone we shouldn't have."

Matilda's eyes widened, and her mouth opened slightly.

"I'm surprised. I thought she was dressed quite well. So, that woman had such a big catch..."

"Matilda, it's impossible for the Deputy Minister's wife of the Ashberry Kingdom to be a former agent of Haggle."

"Are you saying I made a mistake?"

"N-no, that's not it, but my father and brother say it's impossible."

"Huh?"

Silas was overwhelmed by Matilda's intensity and fell silent.

When he was called by his father and went home, his father and brother were furious. He wasn't even allowed to sit down and was stood before them, facing an ultimatum.

"You gathered mercenaries, claiming they were agents of Haggle who were trying to frame you and tarnish our family's history. But the target was a legitimate noblewoman! Her husband is the right-hand man of the new king. Silas, this is the end. Our family will never have anything to do with you again. If you ever contact us, we will not hesitate to kill you."

"Father! No! I was just a victim, acting on the orders of my uncle, the Minister!"

The Marquis looked at his son with cold eyes.

"Until you sent the mercenaries, you were just a pitiful second son. But now, you have become a disaster that could destroy our family, the Harrows. Silas, this is the end. You must never cause us any more trouble. If you ever try to use our name, consider your life forfeit. We will not rely on the guards; we will deal with you ourselves."

Silas could see that his father and brother were serious, their eyes filled with deep loathing.

Silas deeply regretted agreeing to Matilda's proposal as he returned home.

"Matilda, I think we should leave here. If that woman is a former agent, she might send assassins to retaliate. It would be safer to go to another country for a while."

Matilda slammed the pen she was holding onto the desk. Ink splattered, but she ignored it, glaring at Silas with raised eyebrows.

"No way. Do you know how much effort I put into getting to this position? I've supported you, who just receives an allowance, eats, sleeps, and does nothing. I don't want to go anywhere. If that woman comes, let her come. I'll take her down."

To suppress her explosive anger, Matilda stood up, went into her room, and locked the door. She sat on the sofa, trying to calm herself down.

She had escaped from the Haggle organization and done anything to survive.

She was surprised to hear that the man in Randall's tavern, who boasted about being a former noble, was Silas Harrows. He was the target of a job Chloe had successfully completed.

(I might be able to use the fact that he was deceived by Chloe someday. Plus, being raised as a noble could be useful. I can use him as the public face of the business.)

She continued a close relationship with Silas while opening a tavern and an underground gambling den. It took a lot of effort and hardship to reach this point.

Matilda had eliminated her rivals one by one and risen to become a prominent figure in the underworld.

(As a former agent, I thought I had achieved the highest level of success.) But Chloe's existence plunged her into a deep pit of jealousy.

Chloe was the top achiever among her peers at the training facility and the ace of the special operations team.

A woman who always looked at her with cold eyes.

A woman who, after the talk of her marriage to Lancome, had become alarmingly thin and fell off a cliff to her death.

Yet, Chloe was alive and seemed happy.

"Ugh, how hateful!"

When she saw Chloe in the city, she was so shocked she couldn't breathe.

Since Chloe was particularly good at sensing when someone was watching her, Matilda kept her distance and observed her from afar using the opera glasses she always carried.

No matter how many times she looked, it was unmistakable. The woman was Chloe. She tried to calm her rage, which made her hair stand on end, and told herself:

"Finally, Silas will be useful."

She incited Silas to hire mercenaries using his father's name. Matilda provided the funds without hesitation.

When Silas suggested, "Ten should be enough," she scolded him, "Twenty won't be enough!" and made him hire fifty, but they lost track of Chloe.

Matilda looked around her luxurious bedroom. This was the castle she had built through her hard work.

"Will Chloe come this far?"

Even if Chloe came to retaliate, she had no intention of running away.

Giving up this place would mean throwing away all her hard work. Besides, Chloe was now thirty-three and probably not as she used to be.

(But I can't be careless. I should increase my guards and hire someone specialized in assassinations.)

Mary, also known as Matilda Kimberly, counted the things she needed to prepare in her head.

◇ ◇ ◇

Nonna was stunned for only a few minutes after reading Victoria's note.

She quickly understood that her parents had left her behind to go to the enemy.

Nonna rushed into Victoria's room, where everything was perfectly tidied up.

She bit her lip, noticing that there were fewer items than usual in her mother's room.

"Right, what about there? Maybe something is left behind."

She moved the dresser and removed the floorboard. She had discovered the hidden safe during her exploration of the building right after returning from Shen.

The safe was locked, so the Nonna of that time didn't even try to open it.

However, when Victoria was working as Delphine's shadow, Chester had taught her a lot about lock-picking.

(I can open it now. Mother must have been able to open it too.)

Using the thin metal tools she had prepared with Chester's help, she easily opened the safe. Inside were several letters and notes tied with decorative ribbons. The letters, written in Randallian, contained trivial seasonal greetings and impressions of recently read books. There were no names, only a small bird drawn on them.

The notes were not encrypted, but the information was too fragmented to make sense.

(Why did the cautious Mother leave these behind?)

Thinking about the reason for the letters, her heart ached.

(Mother only has acquaintances from after coming to Ashberry. This person might be someone she knew from her time in Haggle. Mother, who grew up in the organization, worked in it, and escaped from it, must have valued her connection with this person with the bird symbol.)

Thinking this way, the reason for leaving the letters made sense.

(In this country where I can't talk about my true identity, I must have been a burden. I must have caused her a lot of trouble. I understand that she doesn't want to involve me in this, but Mother, I can't just sit at home and wait when your life is in danger. I've been training to protect you. I've been trying my best not to be a burden.)

Thinking about the harsh life her mother had lived and the strength and kindness she had shown in raising her, a stranger, Nonna's tears fell onto the letter.

Wiping the tears with the sleeve of her dress, she remembered her mother's voice scolding her for using her sleeve.

Wiping away the tears that kept falling with the sleeve of her dress, she read the letters. Important information was encrypted in the letters.

Sitting at her mother's desk, Nonna used the knowledge of cryptography she had learned from her mother to read the letters and wrote down the decoded words on a piece of paper.

After a while, she identified her parents' destination. She had already packed her bags in case of such an event.

Thinking for a moment before leaving, she rode to Clark's house. Clark, seeing Nonna on horseback, seemed to understand the situation immediately.

"Are you going to Randall?"

"Yes. Father and Mother have gone to the enemy. I'm going too. Clark, when you come back, will you take me to the opera again?"

"Of course. Hey, Nonna, would I be a burden if I went with you?"

"...Yes, I'm sorry."

Clark gently cupped Nonna's face with both hands, seeing her apologetic expression.

"Nonna, then take Il with you. He will be of great help. Uncle Edward said, 'Il is a master of Shen martial arts. He has been thoroughly trained.'"

"Will you be okay if I go with Il, Clark?"

"I want you to return safely, so I'm okay with it. Besides, it would be more convenient to have a seventeen-year-old Il with you than for a thirteen-year-old to travel alone. Nonna, promise me you'll come back?"

"Yes, I'll come to you first when I return."

"Good. I want you to do that. What about taking Mr. Miles from the ranch? Or our guards?"

Nonna shook her head.

"Adult men will slow down the horse more than I do. We don't have time."

"I see..."

Clark kissed Nonna's forehead gently.

"I'll be waiting for your return. Goodbye."

"Yes. Goodbye."

Clark smiled as he saw her off, but Nonna noticed his tightly clenched fists trembling. After turning her back, Nonna faced forward and thanked Clark.

"Sorry, Clark. And thank you for not stopping me."

Nonna went back home to get Il. She laughed when she saw Il, who was already packed and ready to leave.

Il was slightly surprised to see Nonna.

"Nonna, you're here. I thought you had already left."

"I was, but Clark said to take you with me."

"Wow. He looks soft but has a deep heart."

"Yes, Clark is a capable man. Come on, let's go. If we dawdle, we'll be caught by Reed. I left a note too, so we need to leave before it's found."

"Right. Since we're using the Asher family's horses, let's leave before we get scolded."

Thus, Nonna and Il quickly left home and headed for the border.

They continued their journey as a young lady and her servant, and everything went smoothly. They were sometimes approached by people looking for money, but they quickly dealt with them each time.

Nonna and Il are now traveling within Randall. They plan to reach the capital tomorrow.