Mary’s eyes which were looking towards me were of a mixture of sadness and regret.

She knew that the people in this house think I’m crazy.

Because she an employee, she can’t show it openly, but I know that Mary thinks the same way about me.

“There wasn’t one.”

She gave her firm answer and changed the subject.

“I brought you lots of blankets,”

she said.

“You’re in the studio all day long, but it’s so empty and cold.”

But still, what Mary gave me was out of her sincerity.

From the time I first came in to the count’s residence, Mary took great care of me as I was an orphan, who had nothing. I placed a blanket on my chair.

“For now, just sit in the chair and eat your breakfast.”

Mary quickly brought a tray full of food on it. Then stood behind me and started brushing my hair.

“Come on. In the meantime, you eat your breakfast and I’ll take care of your hair. It won’t interfere you with your meal.”

Even though she was doing this for me, I couldn’t act like a complaining child. I took a spoonful of soup. Did she say it was a potato soup?

I couldn’t taste it much. But all I could feel was a sense of warmth from it. Maybe it was the warmth that I felt in my heart.

“What happened to the butcher’s daughter who went missing last time?”

“Miss, that’s up to the military police to take care of. Even you don’t have to worry….”

“Where did the Baron’s second daughter who went missing?”

Realizing that she couldn’t stop me, Mary let out a soft sigh of her own.

“You mean Lady Catherine? She hasn’t come back yet.”

“It’s already been a month, right?”

Lady Catherine with her lush brown hair and light green eyes came into my mind. It was clear that she, too, had been victimized by the killer.

“Miss, your nails will get ruined if you keep doing that.”

She found herself grinding the tips of her fingernails as Mary pointed out.

Mary spoke cautiously as she pursed her lips a few times.

“That’s it. The Baron seems to be hiding this fact as it may ruin his reputation, but there is a word spreading around amongst commoners that Lady Catherine seems to have ran away with the house’s servant.”

“A servant?”

“Yes, should I say it’s an escape with a lover…..There are a lot of rumors amongst the maids.”

“So what you mean to say is that she was not kidnapped, but left on her own, right?”

“Yes that’s right!”

Her earnestness was evident in Mary’s voice. It seemed like she was hoping that I would agree with what she said. But she couldn’t live up to my expectations.

Even if no one else knew, Mary had to know the seriousness of this situation.

“What is the solid evidence?”

I asked, looking into Mary’s green eyes.

“Is there any evidence other than what the maids said?”

“There has always been an unusual atmosphere between Lady Catherine and that person for a long time…. I’m not an employee of that house, so I couldn’t see it in person.”

The actual truth was covered up because of these foolish rumors.

It was like that in the novel too. No matter how much the protagonist told the truth, everyone wanted to believe the absurd rumors rather than suspect the great magic tower lord.

“Mary, I know you think I’m crazy.”

“Oh, no. How dare I….”

Mary waved her hands hastily.

“But you have to keep in mind. What that murderer wants.”

I paused and pointed to Mary’s eyes and hair. The only difference was her brightness, she also had brown hair and green eyes like me.

“He wants a brown-haired and green-eyed woman.”

“Yes…I remember what you said before.”

“You know that even if some insignificant people like us disappear, there’s no one who will look after us, right?”

“Huh, how can you and I be on the same level?”

“Okay?”

Although she was called a lady, everyone in the count knew that she was no different from a servant.

Mary was the only one who treated her like a young lady on a regular basis. That’s why I didn’t want her to become the killer’s target.

“Okay, so you should be more careful than me.”

Mary swallowed.

“Now, this. Tell it to the Count.”

This was enough of me warning her. I handed the five finished bottles of potion to Mary.

It was an advanced recovery potion.

Originally, magic tools and magic items were distributed under the management of the Magic Tower. This was to maintain price stability and prevent monopolies.

So it was completely illegal to trade the potion I made here.

“Yes, miss.”

Of course, they were rarely made anywhere other than the Magic Tower.

It was because everyone didn’t have the ability to do that.

Naturally, there were no proper surveillance from the tower and some creators like me were not caught yet. So I was safely doing my work under the Count.

It was clear that the Count was aiming for that too.

‘Even so.’

It was extremely foolish to trade items managed by the Magic Tower in this way.

It would have been better to make counterfeit currency or help smuggle it into the country.

At least that way, you won’t have to encounter a magic tower lord.

* * *