Miss Charlotte’s Case Journal - Chapter 12

“No, no, that’s not what I meant….”

Charlotte waved her hands frantically, but Lucy shook her head.

“Ask whatever you want.”

“Lucy, I really….”

“I don’t think you came because you suspect me, Charlotte.”

Lucy reached out and clasped Charlotte’s hand tightly. Her tone was calm and steady as she spoke softly.

“You came instead of the man from the Metropolitan Police. I know it’s because you were being considerate of me, worrying that I might get stressed. Isn’t that right?”

“…Yeah.”

Charlotte’s face turned slightly red, embarrassed that her true intentions had been seen through so easily.

“Ask whatever you want. I’ll tell you everything. …I want to know who killed my husband too.”

Lucy’s voice trembled faintly as she spoke. The hand covering Charlotte’s trembled as well. Charlotte turned her palm over and squeezed Lucy’s cold hand tightly.

Maybe it was better for Lucy to know everything. After all, no secret stays buried forever. It was better than finding out someday later, by accident, when it would hurt even more. Charlotte bit her lip, trying to convince herself.

“So… so, you know Miss May, right?”

“Of course. She’s one of our employees.”

“…Miss May is… in the capital now. Because of the interrogation….”

“Yes, I know.”

“So, they interviewed all the other servants too… but do you know why Miss May is the only one still being held by the police? I mean….”

Charlotte had worked up the courage to ask, but once she started speaking, her words came out awkward and tangled. Get it together, Charlotte Robern. Is that really the best you can do? She shut her eyes tightly in frustration.

“Do you mean because May was going in and out of my husband’s bedroom?”

What? Charlotte’s eyes flew open.

“You… knew?”

Lucy nodded slowly. She looked surprisingly calm, like a composed noblewoman completely unfazed by her husband’s affair. Or perhaps she had already cried so much that she’d simply run out of tears.

“How could I not know? There are too many eyes and ears in this house. It was only a matter of time before someone found out.”

“…Right, that’s true.”

Just because people were of lower status didn’t mean they were blind or deaf. Charlotte nodded bitterly.

“I was drinking tea with my husband one afternoon when May brought in the tea set. But everyone subtly stepped in to block her from getting too close to him.”

“Oh….”

Charlotte could almost see it—the baron’s hand reaching out beneath the table, groping the maid’s body in the shadows while his wife sat right across from him.

“It felt strange, so later I asked some of the servants about it. They hesitated at first, but something like that can’t stay hidden forever. One by one, they started to talk. They said they’d seen May behind the garden bushes with the master. Someone saw her leaving his study with her uniform rumpled and holding a teapot. Another said they caught her secretly washing her clothes in the middle of the night, and something strange was stained on them….”

Lucy let out a dry, bitter laugh and shrugged her thin shoulders.

“How could I not notice something like that?”

That bastard. He was already dead, but Charlotte cursed Baron Turobe again in her mind, wishing he could die a second time.

“…Still, he wasn’t such a bad person. He tried to hide it from me, at least. Since she was one of our servants and not an outsider, there was no risk of it spreading through society. And as his wife, he still treated me with respect. I was satisfied with that.”

“That’s all it took for you to be satisfied?”

Lucy laughed softly. “‘That’s all’? Charlotte, there are plenty of people who don’t even get that much.”

Charlotte thought that even if she bit her tongue and died right there, got buried, and clawed her way out of the coffin with her bare hands, she would still never understand Lucy’s words, but she simply nodded. Lucy had spent years in high society, unlike herself.

“So, what about Sir Lau?”

“Hm?”

“Did you already forget? You were the one who asked if I’d heard anything from him.”

Oh, right. Charlotte gave an awkward laugh. Lucy reached out, brushed her cheek, then playfully pinched it, just like she used to do in the old days.

“I only wanted to ask if you knew about your husband’s affair. The other servants said Sir Lau’s loyalty to you was exceptional. Since he already knew, I thought maybe you’d heard about it from him too.”

She hadn’t expected Lucy to have already heard it from the servants. As Charlotte spoke, she gently took Lucy’s trembling hand away from her cheek.

“Sir Lau knew about it?”

“Hm?”

Charlotte looked straight into Lucy’s eyes in confusion. Lucy’s pupils looked slightly clouded as she murmured blankly.

“But Sir Lau never said a word to me…. Are you sure he knew?”

“Y-yeah… Miss May said so herself. She told me Sir Lau found out and scolded her, told her to quit immediately….”

“Really? …Then why didn’t he tell me?”

Lucy’s voice sounded small and disheartened. She seemed a little shocked that someone she trusted so deeply had kept such a thing from her, especially about her husband’s affair.

“He probably didn’t want to upset you. That’s why he warned Miss May instead. I think he just hoped everything would go back to normal without you ever finding out.”

“Is that so? So then….”

“So then?”

Lucy hesitated for a moment before speaking carefully, “Actually, I sometimes ask Sir Lau to run small errands for me.”

“…A knight?”

“I know. It’s something I should’ve asked a servant to do. But I had to ask Sir Lau. It’s… a little embarrassing.”

Charlotte said nothing, just quietly studied her friend’s face. A faint blush colored Lucy’s otherwise pale, beautiful features. The tiny mole below her eye caught Charlotte’s gaze. Feeling her stare, Lucy shyly raised a hand to cover her cheek.

“Once a month, I ask him to buy me medicine. Normally, he goes alone, but last month he said he needed Miss May to come along. He said he needed her help.”

“So that’s when he must’ve taken her out to warn her.”

“Yes, that must be it.”

Lucy chuckled softly and reached for her teacup. But before she could bring it to her lips, her hand trembled. The teacup tilted in midair, bounced once on the bed, and rolled onto the floor. Thanks to the soft rug, it didn’t break, but the blanket over Lucy’s lap was drenched. Dark red tea seeped into the white sheets, leaving a deep stain.

“Are you okay?!”

“…Ah.”

Charlotte quickly pulled the blanket away and tossed it aside. Though the weather was still warm and the blanket thin, the tea had cooled enough that it hadn’t burned her. Lucy’s hand, suspended in midair, trembled violently. Charlotte grabbed it quickly and pulled the cord beside the bed to call for a maid.

“I must’ve tired you out today.”

“No, not at all… I’m just a little tired.”

“All right, then rest well. I’ll get going.”

While two maids quickly tidied the bed and cleared away the tea set, Charlotte helped Lucy to the table and seated her in a chair. When Lucy said, “Then I’ll see you off,” and tried to stand, Charlotte firmly shook her head and gently pressed her shoulder back down.

“No, I came here with someone from the Metropolitan Police anyway. You should rest a bit. You look pale.”

“…Do I?”

Lucy smiled faintly, looking a little embarrassed. As Charlotte followed the maids out with the trolley, she turned back slightly. Lucy was waving, mouthing the word, “Goodbye.” Charlotte gave her a small smile in return before leaving the room and closing the door.

The mansion’s corridor was long and richly decorated. As she walked slowly, Charlotte glanced out one of the windows set into the wall. A beautifully maintained garden stretched out below.

At its center stood an enormous tree. Paths had been built around it, and the flowerbeds were arranged in neat, balanced sections. It was breathtakingly beautiful.

Charlotte left the mansion and walked straight toward the garden. The tree looked even larger up close. Its smooth, grayish bark and sharply pointed leaves marked it as a beech tree. As she brushed her hand over the trunk, her eyes caught on a small headstone nearby.

[The Most Lovely Dog in the World, Toby]

The headstone was small, but its craftsmanship and details were exquisite. Even the engraved decorations around the edge looked expensive.

Lucy must have come here often to remember her small, adorable Toby. Charlotte crouched down and gently touched the stone. The cold, heavy feel of it pressed against her fingertips.

What a brilliant time that had been. Charlotte missed those days she’d shared with her friends terribly. But she could never return to them again.

Lifting her head, Charlotte looked up at the sky. The sunlight was so bright it stung her eyes. She shut them tightly, a deep sigh escaping her lips.

Lucy had been her closest friend during their four years at the academy. They’d always shared the same dormitory room and aligned their class schedules whenever they could. They knew everything about each other’s habits and preferences.

Lucy was compassionate and easily moved to tears. She wasn’t the type to push forward, always taking one step back instead. Once she set a goal, she never gave up until she achieved it. She also had a generous heart, helping others whenever she could, so everyone loved her.

When she ate her favorite food, her eyes would widen slightly and sparkle. When she was focused on something, she would furrow her brow a little and tap her fingers. And when she told a lie, she would look the person straight in the eye, then avert her gaze at the very end and give a shy smile, her face faintly flushed. Just like she had a moment ago, when they’d been talking about Sir Lau.