Episode 31
Inside the carriage, Maddy adjusted her slightly slipped glove and asked,
“Who was that person?”
“Shouldn’t I be the one asking that? Who the hell was that bastard?”
“Ooh, my man knows how to curse now.”
“…Didn’t you say you cleaned everything up?”
Yulician glared at Maddy from across her seat.
He assumed it was probably one of Maddy’s many boyfriends (even though she actually didn’t have any).
“I don’t have a boyfriend like that.”
“Then you’ve got another one? No—never mind. Whether you do or don’t, just don’t let rumors spread. You’re someone I hired, remember.”
“Your Grace, let’s make this clear. I really don’t know that guy. Seriously.”
Yulician no longer responded to Maddy’s words.
Because even the words “I don’t know him” were probably a lie.
Maddy looked down at Yulician’s thick fingers that had pushed the man away earlier and murmured softly.
“You don’t trust me, do you?”
“…Because you’ve never told me the truth.”
“That’s true.”
As always, Maddy hummed a tune as if it didn’t matter at all.
Whoever that man was, today’s ball performance was a success.
Yulician loved Maddy and was crazy about her.
At least, everyone who attended the ball tonight would agree on that “fact.”
Unfortunately, the hearts of the two at the center of this heated rumor seemed far from being in love.
Inside the running carriage, both made their own decisions.
‘As if he’s clean. He’s got a hidden niece, for crying out loud. I swear, I’ll dig up everything—from the first baby food he ate as a baby duke to the color of his poop yesterday.’
As someone who had once been the secret head of the back alleys, Crazy Maddy was capable of anything.
Yulician crossed his arms, lips pressed tightly, staring silently out the window.
‘How many men does she even have? I can’t just sit still. I’ll need to run a background check.’
Though he had briefly visited the slums, he had only wandered into the deeper backstreets by accident. Yulician now planned to use money to hire people to investigate.
Little did he know that all the information from those back alleys flowed through Maddy herself—an innocent misunderstanding.
Maddy resumed the investigation on “Astrid” that she had put off for a while.
The first stop: Nox’s house.
Disguise was a must.
“Yo!”
“Ah! Damn it, sis! What if I was changing clothes?”
“Then you’d just keep changing. What’s the big deal? Hey, I raised you since I was wiping your snot.”
“Ugh, gross. Don’t say things like that. We’re not even that far apart in age.”
“Aw, my prematurely-aged little conman Nox.”
Maddy ruffled Nox’s hair messily as she walked toward the inner room.
“You doing what I told you? The Montenezan Count guy?”
Sprawled out in a chair, Nox answered,
“Yeah, I just got back from the gambling house. That guy’s terrible at cards. It’s not even me trying—he’s just genuinely bad.”
“Haha! And the knight? Did you test him out? Any reaction?”
“The Countess’s side lover?”
“Yup.”
“He looked a bit nervous. Word’s gotten around, and he probably knows he can’t transfer to another knight order. He’s been whining that he might get fired soon.”
“Time to throw bait his way too. Good job! Nice work!”
Maddy marched out of the dressing room with a confident stride.
Though she looked more like a confident beggar.
Just as she was about to leave, she remembered something and turned to Nox.
“Oh, right. Nox. Do you know anyone with jet-black hair, red eyes, and a snake-like vibe?”
“Uh, there probably is someone like that somewhere.”
Maddy’s thick, scarred hand smacked Nox’s head.
“Not just anywhere—someone like us. I met him at the palace ball. He acted like he knew me.”
“He knew you, but you didn’t know him? Then there’s only one answer.”
“What?”
“Rondenes Empire security? Or maybe some cop from across the sea?”
“No, didn’t feel like that. He grabbed me like he was really happy to see me, like he met someone he knew.”
“Then maybe one of the noble victims from when you sold fake cruise tickets? Or the son of the noble you conned over that fake mine?”
“Oh yeah, could be. That noble did have black hair. It was all white the last time I saw him. Guess time really hit him hard.”
“His hair turned white from the stress of losing all that money because of you.”
“He’s the one who jacked up taxes on those poor villagers first. I was just taking their side.”
“You gave half back to the villagers and kept the rest, didn’t you?”
Ignoring the jab, Maddy returned to thinking seriously.
“Yeah, could’ve been one of the noble’s many sons. He had a ton of kids.”
“Look at her changing the subject. Trash.”
“Yep, I’ll take that out on my way.”
Maddy casually picked up some trash by the entrance and walked out.
Nox’s constant nagging wasn’t helping, and she figured she wouldn’t get much more from staying.
As she tossed the trash and headed toward Astrid’s house, Maddy thought hard.
A deep male voice.
Eyes slitted at the corners.
A mouth that gaped when he smiled.
A sharp nose.
“Yeah, I don’t know him.”
Maddy quickly dismissed the thought.
Time to focus.
Right now, Yulician’s niece was far more important than some random guy.
[What are you going to do about Astrid? If you get married, Astrid will be left alone.]
Crockton, the guy pretending to be a friend, had said that.
And he was right—‘Astrid’ was Yulician’s weakness.
If she posed a threat to the contract, Maddy had to “deal with” her.
Maddy’s goal was to keep Yulician alive and safe.
So if a potential threat to that existed, it was better to handle it early.
She scanned the house slowly.
For a place supposedly hiding Yulician’s weakness, the red-brick home was far too exposed.
The small yard was overgrown, and the short fence looked like it’d collapse with a kick.
Vines climbing the walls blocked the sunlight, making the place feel eerie.
There was no sign of life.
Maddy circled the house to see if anyone was hiding nearby.
But no one appeared to be guarding it.
Yulician must’ve told only Crockton about Astrid, fearing information leaks.
“Ugh, my poor man is so dumb.”
So protective of his secret, and yet he hid it this sloppily?
If he was hiding someone he loved, he should’ve done a better job.
Anyone even slightly suspicious would find Astrid and use her as a hostage in no time.
Although, technically, Crockton had already made her half a hostage.
Maddy wanted to believe she was wrong.
That Crockton Vinyl was just an overly cautious friend to Yulician.
That carrying a sword into the dangerous ducal estate was natural, and that he was just more protective of Astrid.
But after fighting with Yulician, Maddy had kept all options open and investigated.
As expected, she was right.
After checking on Astrid, Crockton always met a one-eyed man.
The location changed, but the person was always the same.
And he gave detailed reports on Astrid’s condition.
Something a loyal friend would never do.
He was selling Astrid’s information weekly—and in extreme detail.
And every time Maddy saw his pocket stuffed full afterward, she wanted to slit his throat.
But she couldn’t just yet.
“There’ll be a right time. Just not now.”
Maddy rolled a small pebble in her hand while keeping watch over Astrid’s house.
Soon, at the scheduled time, Crockton appeared.
He glanced around and slipped quickly inside.
Nothing changed after he went in.
The curtains remained shut. Not a sliver of light escaped.
The red house, looming in the dark, looked almost monstrous.
Soon after, Crockton came out.
He said something to someone inside, then walked swiftly through the yard and out the alley without looking back.
Maddy approached some nearby vagrants.
“Ugh, I’m starving. Damn it. Not a single house gives out a piece of bread. Even that one over there doesn’t spare a single corn kernel.”
She scratched her messy hair and muttered, plopping down among the trash.
The homeless nearby responded.
“That place is quiet. Doesn’t even answer the door.”
“Yeah, like it’s haunted.”
Maddy took off her shoes and shook out the sand.
“Isn’t there a woman and a kid living there?”
“Never seen the kid.”
“Yeah, no one’s seen the kid.”
“But the woman sometimes comes back with toys.”
Maddy grabbed a drunken vagrant’s bottle and tilted it. A few drops fell into her throat.
“…So she’s hiding the kid inside.”
“Wouldn’t be strange. Raising a child alone can be like that.”
“It’s a dangerous world, after all.”
“Hahaha! That’s right. Dangerous world!”
As night fell, Maddy chatted and laughed with the homeless until the timing felt right.
“Where you going?”
“Under the bridge is too dark and windy. I want somewhere with light.”
They scoffed at her.
“There’s no light in this neighborhood.”
Maddy chuckled bitterly.
“That’s true. Still…”
[Still, you have to move. Even if you don’t see the light, move toward where you feel warmth. Crawl if you have to. Stick out your tongue. That’s how you survive.]
Suddenly, a strong voice echoed in her mind.
Whose voice was that?
“Still what?”
A vagrant asked, but Maddy tilted her head and waved it off.
“Nothing.”
Seeing them huddle together for warmth, a strange unease crept up her spine.
Trying to remember never helped.
But sometimes, in certain moments, the past whispered to her.
Telling her to go back.
She suddenly recalled what the man at the ball had said:
[Yan, come back.]
Bullshit.
Just thinking of his face gave her chills. Must’ve been filled with bad memories.
Maddy clenched her fist, digging her nails into her palm to feel grounded in reality, and crept quietly behind Astrid’s house.
