I Won’t Pick Up The Trash I Threw Away Again

The same drug was tested, and the result from the doctor named Mavel and the result from the Abeldan Pharmacy were different. That meant one of them was lying, and there was no way the Abeldan Pharmacy would lie.

So the doctor lied.

But why did he tell such a lie? What's the benefit?

Questions were lined up one after another. 

I made several hypotheses. The most probable hypothesis was that Mavel killed Cecily's child and blamed it on me and Misa.

But to think so, there's no way he could have held a grudge against me. Because I only saw him a few times, and even never had a conversation with him.   

It's more credible if Cecily was the one who brought him in though…

No. It can't be.

Would Cecily be that crazy to set me and Misa up with her child as collateral?

It was more profitable to have the child safely than to do so. Even if it was an illegitimate child, if it was a boy, he could become the heir to the duke family.

Still, even though I thought it couldn't be, I couldn't shake the uncomfortable feeling. I felt like I was missing something very important.

What could it be? 

“I already said it wasn’t stolen!”

"Do not lie to me. If it wasn't stolen, there's no reason for you to have it!"

On my way back to the mansion, I saw Sir Rohen arguing with a woman.

What is he doing over there?

“The duke family’s maid has exchanged it for something in my store!”

“What did she exchange with this expensive jewel?”

“Women’s products! She exchanged it for women’s products that were used when the monthly period arrived!”

“Is that expensive enough to exchange with this jewel? You're telling lies that aren't even funny."

“This is like an ordinary women’s product, but women’s products used by high-ranking people are expensive! Since she bought 4 months' worth, it is worth the price of this one jewel!”

The woman shouted with her veins popping up, but Sir Rohen didn't even listen at all.

“Seriously, what an inflexible man!”

At this, the woman became frustrated and pounded her chest.

There must be some serious misunderstanding.

Curious, I approached them.

"What's going on, Sir Rohen?"

"Who… My Lady!"

Sir Rohen greeted me with a salute, while the woman was startled and bowed her head.

“I see My Lady. Have you been okay all this time?!"

"Yes. Sir Rohen, too, have you been okay?”

"Of course!"

“But, what is happening? It's noisy.”

“Oh, it’s nothing… it's just because of this.”

What Sir Rohen showed me was a jewel the size of a fingernail.

“This woman had it, but it seems to be a stolen item, so I'm here to check it out.”

Stolen item? When I looked at the woman in surprise, she shook her hands.

“What do you mean stolen item?! Absolutely not, My Lady! I got it for a fair sale!”

Yeah, that's what she said. The maid of the Duke of Williot exchanged this jewel for women's products. But when I lived in the Duke of Williot, there's never such an errand.

There's no way Misa or Lauren would have given the jewel and sent the maid to do it, and neither would they.

Philen couldn't have bought it too.

Then… was it Cecily?

Was she the one who bought it?

Why? Pregnant women wouldn't need it… 

Don't tell me… 

“What did the maid look like?”

At the thought that flashed across my mind abruptly, I urgently asked the woman.

“It’s been more than 4 months, so I don’t remember very well…”

The woman replied stammeringly.

“She was about this tall and had a lot of freckles on her face. And she had brown hair.”

As I listened to the woman, a figure came to mind.

Cecily's maid, Ellie. Her description was very similar to hers. 

“The priest's side has been aware of the childcare project.”

Ver, who had expected they would run into a difficult problem, reported with a small frown.

“It has been their job for a long time to take care of children without guardians, so they expressed their displeasure, saying that Your Majesty has invaded their sacred territory without a word. They also said this is blasphemy against God.”

Kalian laughed a little.

"I'll have to tell them who the real blasphemers are." 

Ver shrugged lightly, then handed out a budget with a report on the childcare project.

“As long as the monthly donation to the temple is given, it's confirmed that there will be no major setbacks in the childcare project."

Another report was put down on the desk even before he could check the budget. 

“If the orphanage is built, someone other than the priest will have to take care of the children, and selecting those people is more difficult than expected.”

"The reason?"

“As it is about taking care of children, we need to select someone with a clear identity, but it is difficult to find someone with a clear identity among commoners.”

They could know nobles' identities with certainty because they belonged to a family, but not commoners.

If they decided to wash their identity, they could hide their bad past.

Of course, each territory had a ledger to record its inhabitants. However, it was not clear because there were many fake records, and there were often residents who did not report because they were afraid of taxes.

Was that all? People living in small villages, not territories, had no such record at all.

That's why it was difficult to select among the commoners to work in the orphanage.

“And we can’t choose nobles to take care of orphans.”

“I guess so.”  

Most children without guardians, including war orphans, were children of commoner or lower status. There was no way the nobles would want to take care of such children.

“For now, keep accepting applicants. I'll think about this a little bit more.”

"I understand." 

As soon as it was finished, Ver put down another document.

“A petition?”

“This is a petition from Marquis Hutton. He wants you to exclude Aldor Hutton from this pirate joint operation.”

“Truly, what a b*llsh*t.”

Kalian pushed the petition aside as if he didn't even need to read it.

It was an expected response, so Ver immediately started another report.

Near the end of the report, Rahel came in with a box of jewelry the size of his palm.

“The item you ordered has arrived.”

"Okay."

After receiving the jewel box from Rahel, Kalian opened it.

Like a deer, Ver poked his neck out and peered into the box. Inside the box was a necklace with a large blue jewel.

No way, Kalian ordered that necklace himself? 

“It’s Baron Aster’s birthday present, huh?” 

Kalian glanced at Ver instead of answering, and then closed the box.

“Aren't you busy?”

It meant to go out.

Ver smiled and shook the documents he was holding.

“I am busy, but I still have this much to report.”

Annoying. 

Kalian clicked his tongue and put the box into his desk drawer.

The report continued after that.

"Come to think of it, it's Baron Aster's birthday soon."

After finishing all the reports at last, Ver let out a small sigh.

“Baron Aster… can she get a proper birthday treat there?”

Kalian's hand with ink on the quill stopped for a moment.

Come to think of it, Cecily only went to the doctor named Mavel. And during pregnancy, she always wore the spirit stone necklace and took it off as soon as she gave birth to her stillbirth child.

Was that all? The drug she took was not an abortion drug, but a drug that helped pregnancy with no harm to the fetus.

When I found out this far, I thought someone else had killed Cecily's child and blamed me and Misa for the crime.

However, after hearing about women's products, I changed my mind completely and a hypothesis was established.

A huge hypothesis that she might fake her pregnancy!

If this hypothesis were true, it meant that Misa was simply sacrificed to cover it.

I had known for a long time that she was cunning and vicious, but I didn’t expect her to be this bad.

"Ha."

I clenched my fists so tightly that my veins popped up in rage.

I have to reveal it.

I had to make it clear what was false and what was true. That way, I could prove my innocence, and Misa, who died unjustly, could close her eyes comfortably.

While I was trying to figure out how to reveal it, Ness brought me unexpected news.

"Birthday present?"

"Yes."

Ness nodded and held out a bottle of champagne. Du Mazel. It was a high-quality champagne that was usually given to ladies as a birthday present.

If it had been given by someone else, or worse, Philen, I would have thought nothing, but I felt uncomfortable because it was from Cecily.

She slapped me as soon as she saw me, and now it's a champagne present? 

What on earth is she thinking?

“My Lady, what should I do with this?”

“There’s nothing you should do about that.”

I had no intention of eating what that woman gave me.

What did she add inside… Wait, what she added inside…

“Give me that and you go out for a while.”

After Ness handed me the champagne, she went out.

When I opened the cork, the uniquely sweet and tangy smell of champagne came up.

I poured the champagne into a glass and put a silver accessory in it.

The accessory sank as the bubble bubbled up. Nothing happened to the accessory like color changing or losing its shape.

That means there is no poison…

I can’t be sure just by looking at this.

Sir Hiltine once said. There are more poisons in the world that are more harmful than those that can be identified by silver. The surest way to check if it's poisoned or not is to feed it to the person who gave it as a gift.

“Ness, Ness!”

I closed the cork again and went to Ness.

“I must go see the Duke right now!”

Cecily, now that I know everything, I won't let you do what you want anymore. I’ll make sure to reveal everything, so be prepared.