From that day on, Rosenta entrusted most of the work to Aphra.
From the beginning, he had decided that Aphra would serve as the face of the transportation business. So, it was only right that he be the one to inspect the blacksmiths in person.
In a way, Rosenta was just someone who silently supported Aphra and worked in the shadows.
As of now, he was in charge of the final steps.
When Aphra finished a deal, Rosenta would curse those he brought.
It might not sound like much, but he was unexpectedly busy. He was called out every other day.
So those who knew him had no choice but to wonder about his frequent outings.
For example, Anna.
"Duke, aren’t you going out often these days? Why are you going out for?"
"I have some business to attend to."
"Oh, I see. If you’re worried about dust building up in the top room, I can clean it..."
At first, he wondered if Anna was worried about him going out so often without her.
But that didn't seem to be the case.
Gradually, she began to ask him why he didn't go to the top floor.
She even hinted that she wanted to go there.
He wouldn't have thought much about it normally.
But that was before he had seen the letter from Emma.
It felt uncomfortable for some reason.
Though unfounded, the name Emma itself raised his suspicions.
Without realizing it, he began to attach meaning to each of Anna’s words.
"You went so often as if there was some treasure trove on the top floor."
He listened to Anna's words and took the hint.
Anna was interested, as he thought, to see what was on the top floor.
"Did you want to clean up there?"
Anna's expression took on a strange color when he said that.
"It’s just... Since you don't go up to the top floor of the castle these days, I was worried that it might be dirty."
"Or maybe you’re just very interested?"
Anna paused slightly.
It was such a short pause that it almost went unnoticed.
But he saw it.
Of course, it was impossible to push Anna with just that momentary pause.
That’s why he quickly added,
"It’s to be expected, you are my dedicated maid."
This time Anna's face turned noticeably bright.
His words seemed to relieve her.
"Yes, of course! I am your dedicated maid, educated by my grandmother from a very young age!"
"That's right…"
He didn’t like it when she mentioned Emma.
When he heard Emma's name, he felt like his father was still watching him.
Of course, he never told Anna anything about this because she was her grandmother.
"Anna, if that's the case, I'd like you to organize my office as my dedicated maid."
"Office?"
"I did quite a lot of paperwork in my office yesterday, so it's going to be quite a mess right now."
"Yes! Then I'll go clean the office. Have a good rest."
Anna left the bedroom, as always, with a broom the size of her body.
‘Rattle’.
The sound of the door closing was clear, announcing that he was now the only one in the bedroom.
Only then did he speak the words, that he had been swallowing, out of his mouth.
"She’s being strange."
He didn't feel good about it.
There was no solid evidence, but something didn’t feel right.
However, it was too much of an annoyance to ignore.
He thought it would be better to quickly decide whether or not to completely trust Anna so that this awkwardness could end.
He couldn’t go around deceiving Anna forever.
So, he was planning to go find Enoch.
"Enoch should still be there today."
He opened the bedroom door, but he didn’t immediately rush out into the hallway.
He went out after carefully checking if anyone else was standing in the hallway.
The way to the office.
It was located at the midpoint to his destination, so he came to it quickly.
And he could see right away.
On the veranda connected to the hallway, Enoch was calmly staring at the sky.
"Enoch."
***
He read the correspondence as he sat at the old table in Enoch's private bedroom.
And after reading everything, the only thing he said to Enoch was,
"Is this all?"
"I can't say it's all, but this is all I collected while I’ve stayed in the castle."
"That means...."
Enoch wore a strange smile.
"In the time you weren’t here, it means that there would have been more correspondence."
"……I suppose so."
Even though Enoch had only been intercepting them for a limited time, he had siphoned off so many correspondences.
In addition, he had read the contents of each comprehensively, and it was not reassuring.
In fact, something came to Rosenta’s mind.
But he became curious about Enoch's opinion. Did he, as a third party, feel the same way as he did?
"Enoch, what do you think?"
"Unusual content, pretending to be ordinary. That's what I think."
It was similar to what Rosenta thought.
He inferred that this might be a cipher because the same words appeared repeatedly.
Attic, duke, your father, things, gardener, lilies, him.
The contents constantly used these words to describe things. As if trying to tell something.
One letter in particular was particularly eye-catching.
You remember the lilies in the garden, don't you?
As this grandmother got older, she hired a gardener because she was growing weak.
The gardener seemed to take good care of the lilies at first!
However, eventually, the lilies began to wilt, to the point where they didn't even smell fragrant anymore.
I didn't know what to do, so I called a person famous for their knowledge of flowers.
He said...
It seems that someone purposely infested the lilies with pests.
His family heirloom explained how to fight off pests, but he said there was no way to find it.
It's a shame.
It was an ordinary story.
But it seemed strange to Rosenta. It was full of inconsistencies from the beginning.
When Emma was taking care of him, he happened to see her passing by the flower garden.
She covered her mouth and sneezed a lot. She even kept rubbing her nose.
It was definitely a symptom of flower allergy.
So, why would she go to the countryside in her old age and grow flowers with such dedication?
"That's ridiculous."
He crumpled the letter haphazardly.
He couldn't believe it. It was disgusting. The plot kept thickening.
It was frustrating.
There was no reason for them to exchange such secret correspondence.
He pondered quietly.
In the meantime, since he was taking no action, Enoch spoke first.
"What are you going to do?"
"Whatever the reason may be, these secret correspondences are meant to deceive me. So....."
He couldn't finish his sentence because his thoughts became complicated.
He had yet to think of what to do with them, or rather Anna.
As if he had read his mind, Enoch continued his words calmly.
"It could become a threat in the future. Actions with no clear motive are concerning.”
"……I see."
Enoch's words were the correct response.
He would end up trying to interpret Anna’s every word to the point of exhaustion.
Even so, that didn’t mean that he would be able to grasp all her hidden intentions.
"Then it would be better to send Anna away."
He was talking to himself to organize his thoughts.
But in response to his words, Enoch enthusiastically answered,
"Yes, that sounds like a good idea."
He seemed to be in a good mood for some reason.
Rosenta thought he knew why. So, he told Enoch that it wouldn't be that easy.
"If Anna leaves, Enoch you will have to take charge of her duties for a while."
"I'm happy to do so."
Rather, Enoch's smile gradually grew wider.
Rosenta burst out laughing at the sight. Although it was an incredulous laugh, it was his first time laughing all day.
"Ha."
What is this?
Funnily enough, the constant sinking feeling he’d felt seemed to be getting better.
He shook his head and stood up slowly. Enoch then raised his head.
His pale, pale eyes full of wonder turned to him.
"Are you just going to leave like this?"
"What do you mean ‘like this’? Do you have any other correspondence?"
Enoch shook his head at the question. Instead, he uttered something unexpected.
"You didn't ask me to do it, but I acted on my own… I thought I would be punished."
A punishment.
As Enoch said, Rosenta never ordered him to collect the correspondence.
‘But it was for me.’
And didn't he ask him to do some incredible things?
It was a situation where simple praise wouldn’t be enough.
"It looks like you were waiting for punishment, right?"
No answer was immediately heard.
Because he reached out to Enoch at the same time as he asked the question.
He boldly stroked his hair. Like he was petting a puppy.
First on the head, then on the cheek, then resting on Enoch's chin.
Perhaps, surprised by his unexpected behavior, Enoch just stared at him.
Rosenta leisurely smiled.
"But what I want to give you is a compliment, not a punishment."