Chapter 14
When Emily was in a bad mood, the atmosphere of the mansion immediately turned gloomy the next day.
For reference, Killian’s mood was usually unreadable or just plain bad, so any changes in his disposition never really affected the mansion’s vibe.
So it was clear that everyone in the house was walking on eggshells because Emily was upset.
“Emily, are you okay?”
Johan, the cause of all this, played innocent and asked.
“Hm? What do you mean?”
“Uncle made you upset, didn’t he?”
To be honest, when Johan had first come up with this scheme, he’d only hoped his uncle would feel a little jealous seeing Emily and the Crown Prince together.
He never imagined that Killian would actually get angry at Emily or that the two would end up fighting.
‘Stupid uncle. Seriously, what the hell are you doing?’
Instead of reflecting on his own actions, Johan redirected his frustration toward Killian, who had turned the situation into such a mess.
“Johan.”
While he was internally cursing Killian, Emily placed a serious hand on Johan’s shoulder and asked,
“Did someone tell you that the marquis and I fought?”
“Huh? Ah, no, not really.”
There was no way he could admit to hiding in the room and eavesdropping.
When Killian had started speaking harshly to Emily, he’d wanted to run out of there so badly. But if he did, he was afraid Emily would see him as a bad kid forever.
“It’s just… the atmosphere. It really felt like you two had a fight.”
“I’m really sorry. You’re too young to be sensing things like that.”
For the first time in his seven years of life, Johan felt a pang of guilt.
“Don’t worry about me.”
But he still didn’t have the courage to confess. Flustered and uneasy, he scratched his head awkwardly and said,
“Shall we end today’s lesson here?”
“Thank you for thinking of me. Once things are settled, I’ll practice hard again.”
Emily patted Johan on the head, thinking him thoughtful.
With the time she had set aside for Johan now free, Emily called the butler to her personal study to get to the bottom of things.
“Alvin, have you found out when His Highness the Crown Prince sent the letter?”
“Yes. I checked with the royal administrator in charge of mail, and he said all correspondence from the Crown Prince’s palace was processed about a week ago.”
“How long does it usually take to be delivered?”
“Typically, within two to three days. If you want to trace the letter, we should summon the maid in charge of deliveries four or five days ago.”
“Have you found out who that is?”
Alvin nodded confidently.
“Chili. She was the one who took up the letters all last week.”
“Then summon her immediately.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Before long, Chili arrived in the study at Alvin’s call.
“Ma’am, you summoned me?”
From the moment the chill fell over the mansion, Chili had a gut feeling she was involved. She was sweating nervously, the result of making the first major mistake of her life in this mafia den.
“It’s nothing serious. I just have a few questions.”
“Please ask, ma’am.”
“In the letters you brought me over the past week, was there one from the Crown Prince?”
“Well… to be honest, I didn’t check the recipient names, so I’m not sure.”
“You didn’t check the recipient?”
No wonder even junk mail had been brought to her—Emily had found it odd.
In a noble household, it was standard procedure to sort letters by importance and report them accordingly. Sensing Emily’s suspicion, Alvin stepped in to explain.
“Usually, we only check mail for explosives or hazardous items. Chili, in particular, is an expert in bomb detection.”
Chili added her own explanation.
“I wasn’t sure if I was allowed to check recipients. Lord Killian is extremely private, so I’ve always tried to be extra careful when serving both of you.”
That meant there was no way to confirm whether the Crown Prince’s letter had ever reached Emily.
Chili glanced at the troubled Emily and hesitated to speak. A few days ago, Killian had specifically ordered something of a few attendants:
“If anything involving Johan comes up, report it directly to me. Not to her.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
Emily was the only one in this mafia-like household who treated Johan gently. Killian didn’t like that it was Johan, of all people—but he couldn’t take away her one source of comfort.
So he made arrangements to keep Emily from seeing Johan’s misbehavior.
“Well, it can’t be helped. You may go now.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
As soon as she left Emily’s room, Chili rushed straight to Giovanni.
“Sir Giovanni, may I have a moment? It’s important.”
Giovanni was under immense stress, having had to deal with Killian’s edgy mood these past few days.
To everyone else, Killian always looked the same—expressionless. But as his closest aide, Giovanni had taken the full brunt of his sharp aura.
“What is it? Is it important?”
“Yes, it’s about the lady.”
The moment Giovanni, half-dead from work, heard the word ‘lady’, he shot to his feet.
“Did something happen to her?!”
“No, not exactly…”
Chili explained how Johan had intercepted the letter a few days ago. Upon hearing the whole story, Giovanni groaned and clutched his forehead.
“You know exactly what kind of kid Johan is, and you still let yourself get fooled?!”
“I have no excuse.”
‘Ugh, that damned brat.’
Chili swore to never speak to Johan again for the rest of her life.
Still, a lead had finally emerged. Giovanni checked whether Johan had gone to the post office during the time the letter would have been sent.
Sure enough, the date matched exactly with when they believed the Crown Prince’s letter had been delivered.
After receiving Giovanni’s full report, Killian clicked his tongue.
“Unbelievable.”
But he couldn’t just lash out at Johan. He had a pretty good idea why the kid had done it.
‘It’s probably because of the handkerchief.’
Realizing that it was all ultimately his own fault, he sighed deeply again.
What was worse than that, however, was the fact that he still hadn’t properly apologized to Emily.
“Are you skipping dinner again tonight?”
“She probably doesn’t even want to see my face.”
Giovanni offered some advice, sympathy in his voice.
“Maybe it’s time you explained the relationship between the royal family and our household.”
“That’s out of the question.”
Killian was firm.
“Tell the Crown Prince’s side that it was all a servant’s prank. Say the servant’s been expelled from the estate.”
“Understood.”
“Also, remove Chili from the castle staff roster and send her back to headquarters.”
“How should I explain Chili’s departure to the lady?”
At that, Killian froze. Emily had declared she would handle things herself. If she found out he dealt with it behind her back like this, she might never speak to him again.
That was unacceptable.
“Wait. Put everything I just said on hold.”
“Understood.”
No matter how hard he thought, he couldn’t come up with a good solution.
Too many things had happened in too short a time. Killian decided to take a bath to clear his head.
As he headed to his room in a tangled state of mind, Alvin ran up and bowed hurriedly.
“My lord, I sincerely apologize. The bathtub is broken. Until it’s repaired, you’ll have to use the bathroom in the next room.”
It wasn’t a huge inconvenience—after all, the adjoining room was connected to the master bedroom. But Killian was curious: how does a bathtub even break?
Sensing the unspoken question, Alvin explained quickly.
“Ivan was fixing the plumbing, and the faucet flew off and cracked the tub.”
Ivan was a man with magic hands when it came to fixing things—and the same hands could destroy anything just as easily.
“I see. Just go.”
Understanding this could easily happen with Ivan, Killian just waved him off, too tired to care anymore.
He didn’t need anyone to help him bathe anyway, so using another bathroom wasn’t a big deal. Killian simply grabbed a towel and went into the next room.
At the same time, Emily had already finished her bath and was sitting in front of the mirror.
Cézanne and Roxy gently combed her hair and dressed her in a white chemise.
“We’ll be taking our leave now, milady.”
“Thanks. Sleep well, everyone.”
Emily lay down on the bed but couldn’t fall asleep.
She was still in a cold war with Killian, the culprit hadn’t been caught, and she had no idea what the Crown Prince’s letter had said.
She wasn’t expecting an apology from Killian anymore—but the fact that he seemed to be ignoring everything was quietly infuriating.
“I’m going to have to write a whole page of curses in my journal just to feel better.”
She got out of bed and went to the bookshelf. But where her journal had been, she noticed a book she hadn’t seen before.
<Do You Know What the Handle of a Millstone Is Called?>
“…You’ve got to be kidding me.”
It looked like a book explaining the culture of the Eastern Empire.
“Who titles a book like this?”
Unable to contain her curiosity, Emily pulled the book out. With a creaking sound, the bookshelf slowly began to move.
“This must be the other secret passage Alvin mentioned. Wait… why is the floor moving too?”
Secret passages behind bookshelves weren’t anything surprising. But when the floor beneath it shifted as well, Emily found herself sliding across to the opposite wall.
Thud.
Just as Killian was stepping out of the bath, Emily—still dressed only in her chemise—came tumbling out in front of him.
Startled, he dropped his towel on the floor.
