Chapter 27
Ahfwyn said over and over again that he would come back to take me.
“I will come back for you.”
His words were sincere, but I had no intention of waiting for him.
I remembered that before my regression, it had taken Ahfwyn two full years to regain his status and come to Rohiltern. Staying here that long would be insane.
By that time, Charlotte would have returned to Rohiltern as well, and she would have figured out that I had been secretly working with Madam Hilton.
Still, I was happy he cared about me.
“Thank you. Oh, I’ll also tell you where the escape route is.”
I told him about the passageway that led outside.
“And while you’re leaving, take this too.”
I placed the moonstone necklace in Ahfwyn’s hand.
“What is this?”
“When you go to the Hilton Marquis family, tell the gatekeeper I sent you and hand this to him. He’ll know what to do.”
Ahfwyn stared at the necklace closely. More precisely, he was looking at the note tied to it.
“Do I deliver this letter together with it?”
“Yes.”
I could have explained what was written, but he didn’t ask.
“Understood.”
He answered shortly, as if he wasn’t interested.
But he still hesitated until the end, showing regret about leaving me behind.
“Are you really not coming with me? You’re the only one who knows this passage. Even if you come with me, no one will know—”
“I have things to do here.”
When I cut him off firmly, he had no choice but to turn his back and leave.
I returned to my room only after he was completely gone.
Ahfwyn’s escape was discovered by the butler that afternoon.
A servant visited the basement once a day to deliver food, and that was in the afternoon.
I overheard the butler and the servant talking as I was on my way to dine with the Count.
Since it was a secret from the Count that a slave was locked in the basement, they kept their voices low.
But they didn’t think I was a threat, so I could eavesdrop easily.
“What? That guy disappeared?”
“Yes. Since the collar was left behind, it seems he got hold of the key.”
A slave who could never step outside the basement couldn’t have gotten the key on his own. Someone had to unlock it for him.
“Who on earth would do such a thing?!”
The butler raised his voice for a moment, then quickly looked around and clamped his mouth shut.
“What should we do? Should we send people after him?”
He was asking if they should track him down.
The butler thought for a moment and shook his head.
“Keep quiet for now.”
“What?”
“We already don’t have enough workers. Where do you expect me to get people to chase him?”
The only people the butler could send were servants and maids, none of whom were trained to track someone.
To catch a slave, they would need to hire a problem solver or send the family knights, but either way they would have to report to the Count.
The Count already disapproved of Charlotte. If he learned that his daughter had secretly bought a slave, he would explode with anger. He might even rush down to Mihllun.
“After all, isn’t it just a slave that ran away? What can he even do if he escapes? Just leave him.”
“But… what if the young lady gets angry later?”
“You idiot! If she asks later, just tell her he died on his own. He was weak and sickly anyway, so she’ll believe it.”
“Ah, I see!”
The servant looked impressed.
The restraint collar could be unlocked with a key, but it would also come off if the slave died.
“You had a plan all along, sir?”
“Plan? If you had watched him properly, I wouldn’t have had to think so hard!”
Even though the butler smacked him, the servant smiled in relief. He felt the problem was solved.
“So we’re not going to find out who helped him?”
The butler looked frustrated.
“Did you know where the key to the collar was?”
“No.”
“Neither did I.”
The butler clicked his tongue.
“We don’t even know what was stolen or where. How are we supposed to find the culprit?”
“Ah…”
“Anyway, keep this matter to yourself. Understood?”
“Yes, of course.”
It seemed they decided it was better to cover up the incident quietly than risk the Count finding out.
‘So the matter with Ahfwyn is more or less settled.’
Now I just had to get rid of the Count.
Once he was gone, nothing would stop me from escaping.
‘The Count can mobilize soldiers after all.’
But if I escaped while the Count was away from the mansion, no one could chase me.
Even if the Count later organized a pursuit team, I would already be far away and hiding. There was no need to worry.
I had already planned how to make the Count leave the mansion.
‘Tax evasion report.’
The four dukes who ruled their own territories each had their own laws, including tax laws.
In the East, the King and Duke Dyurnar collected taxes flexibly.
During harvest season, investigators were sent to each territory to check the harvest and other income sources.
Based on the reports, the dukes determined the amount of tax.
This method prevented poor territories from being overtaxed, but it also created major problems.
It became common for record keepers to be bribed by nobles to underreport taxes.
So the dukes had an inspection bureau, and if a territory seemed suspicious or if there was a report, inspectors would be sent immediately.
I used this loophole and wrote in the moonstone necklace’s letter, asking for the Count’s tax evasion to be reported.
Since it would be uncomfortable for an Eastern noble to report another noble, I also added instructions to bribe a commoner to make the report.
‘Madam Hilton will do it.’
I used her name, and the Count was full of dreams about receiving investment from the Hilton family.
But Madam Hilton never had any intention of investing. She was just using the deal she made with me as leverage, so she responded lukewarmly to the Count’s requests.
Once the tax issue surfaced, she could officially refuse the Count, using it as an excuse.
She wouldn’t miss such a perfect chance to clean up the mess I created.
So the inspector would definitely come to the Count’s estate.
The Count, who had plenty of things to hide, wouldn’t accept an inspection easily.
He might try to turn away the inspector, but with his weakened position due to Charlotte’s actions, it would be difficult to take such a risk.
‘The easiest option would be to run.’
He couldn’t stop the inspector from coming, but he could learn when they would arrive.
If he left the mansion at the same time the inspector came and called it a coincidence…
‘There’s nothing the inspector could do.’
If they found no evidence, they would have no choice but to return empty-handed.
The Count would just have to pay a fine for being away when the inspector arrived.
Many nobles had avoided inspections this way before, and the Count would do the same.
‘That’s when I’ll escape.’
All I had to do until then was recover my body.
I chewed on painkillers and medicinal herbs I hadn’t used before and waited.
Exactly four days later—
“The Duke’s family sent an inspector? What? A report? Who dared to accuse me?!”
The uproar I had been waiting for finally happened.
The Count, who hadn’t even covered up his tax evasion properly, was completely flustered.
His voice, as he rushed up and down the stairs shouting orders at the staff, was full of panic.
“From here to there! Move all the documents to my room—no, load them onto the carriage!”
“That’s impossible, sir. There are too many documents.”
“You fool! If one carriage isn’t enough, then use two!”
“Uh… To take all the documents, we’d need more than ten carriages.”
“Damn it!”
He punched a pillar in anger.
The inspectors had left the Duke’s estate two hours ago.
There was only one hour left before they arrived at the Count’s mansion.
It was impossible to quietly hire more than ten carriages and move all those documents without being noticed.
