The Villainess' Son is Innocent - Chapter 21
Chapter 11.1
We abandoned our plan to bribe the merchant delivering the groceries.
Apparently, Duke Calixt’s influence among the high-ranking nobility was so formidable that nobody dared to double-cross him, afraid of facing not only the termination of business ties but also potential retaliation.
Instead, I opted for a different approach.
Clip-Clop…
“Agh, why are these horses suddenly stopping?”
Before the journey, I had sprinkled a favorable scent of horses along the road leading to Duke Calixt’s mansion.
It wasn’t a pheromone per se, just a scent close to something appetizing. The horses, tempted by the smell, halted by the roadside, engrossed in sniffing the flowers that were easy to pluck.
“If you damn horses keep this up, we’re going to be late. Huh? You guys already ate plenty of dry grass earlier.”
While the merchant tried to speak to and soothe the horses, I lifted the cover of the large cart and hid behind the boxes in the back.
“Come on, guys, please just move. Okay? Hyah! Hyah-hyah!”
As I climbed into the cart, I heard the desperate voice of the merchant struggling with the horses.
‘I didn’t expect it to be this bad… Sorry about this.’
The horses took quite a while to stop sniffing around, even after they finished plucking all of the grass. It wasn’t until nearly half an hour later that the scent disappeared, and the horses sullenly began to move.
Eventually, the cart came to a brief halt.
“You’re late today. The head chef is going to be furious.”
“The horses were causing trouble… Please, just let us pass quickly. Alright?”
Normally, transportation in and out of the mansion should be monitored, but the cart continued on its journey without any thorough inspection.
We ventured quite far into the mansion when the cart abruptly came to a stop.
‘Looks like we’ve arrived.’
I pressed my hat down further. When I lifted the covering cloth slightly, I saw the merchant apologizing to a couple of people.
“You’re lucky the duke isn’t here. I would have been held responsible for this!”
“Ah, Head Chef. I-I sincerely apologize…”
I’m so sorry… If I can find out who your family is, I’ll compensate them later.
‘Where’s Tilly?’
Peering outside, I spotted Tilly among the people moving in and out of the building.
“Head Chef, Assistant Chef.”
“This isn’t even your position. What’s going on?”
“They said the fire pit in the kitchen is about to go out… I was asked to call the both of you.”
“The fire pit? Good grief, why today of all days!”
Tilly signaled in my direction. Soon, the head chef, assistant chef, and other staff entered the building.
‘Now’s the time.’
Not missing the opportunity, I quickly slipped out of the cart.
It was still dawn, and my surroundings were somewhat dim, but finding a pile of oak barrels wasn’t too difficult.
‘I’m glad I dressed warmly.’
It was chilly despite it being early morning. Haa, my breath turned into a white cloud.
How much time had passed? I must have dozed off because when I opened my eyes, dawn was slowly breaking.
“Lady Velsia.”
Tilly, holding a loaf of bread, found me in front of the pile of oak barrels.
“Tilly, I’m here.”
“You haven’t eaten yet, have you? Please, take this bread at the very least.”
“What about you?”
“I ate a simple meal myself.”
I accepted the bread without hesitation. The bread was edible, so they clearly didn’t treat their servants terribly.
“Starting at this hour, I’ll be replenishing firewood and coal for each room and wing. Others will be arriving here soon.”
“We won’t get caught, will we?”
“If we stay here any longer, we will. So, let’s go upstairs now.”
Tilly lifted a heavy oak barrel and loaded it into a pushcart.
“Climb inside. Normally, we aren’t permitted to enter rooms where members of the mansion are sleeping until they’ve awoken, but since the young lord is an early riser, we can go now without raising suspicion.”
She handed me a mask made of cloth, warning me that splinters could dig into my skin and that inhaling the dust wasn’t good.
Once I got into the oak barrel, Tilly pushed the cart and circled along the building’s outer wall and to the opposite side.
“You’re on the pulley now. I’ll pull you up from the third floor.”
The moment I felt relieved that we were making smooth progress…
“Tilly, the head maid is looking for you.”
“The head maid…?”
“I’ll handle what you were doing. There wasn’t much to replenish on the second floor. Should I move this to the third floor?”
…This was a big problem. I was so nervous that I forgot to breathe.
“Y-you don’t have to push yourself too hard.”
“It’s alright. You helped me the other day. You should hurry back. You know how impatient the head maid gets.”
Pushed away by her fellow cheerful worker, Tilly moved away almost tearfully.
‘Am I really going to get caught like this?’
The humming maid also disappeared, clueless as I grew more restless in my anxious state.
But not long after, the pulley began to creak.
Creak, creak. The sound of the continuous creaking was probably the noise of the pulley ascending to the third floor.
Creaak! And the sound of it stopping meant that I was now hanging on the threshold of the third floor.
The maid, who sent Tilly away, stopped humming and used the threshold to her advantage to pull up the firewood.
“Oh my, why is this so heavy?”
Because it’s not just firewood you’re carrying, but also a twelve-year-old girl. Grunting, she set down the oak barrel.
“That’s strange…”
As she muttered, she sensed the presence of someone else.
“M-my lord…?”
…Emil?
There is only one person addressed as, “my lord,” at the Calixt residence, and that one person is Emil.
“The room should be locked, how did you get out…?”
“…”
It felt like Emil, but with the silence outside, it was unclear what the situation was. As if clearing up my confusion, Emil spoke.
“…Someone else is in charge of the third floor.”
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