The End of Your Arrogance - Chapter 47.1

The cabin was nestled among towering trees. As they ascended the wooden steps, a spacious balcony appeared. Magic lanterns on the balcony emitted a faint glow.

“Let’s go up,” he said.

Creaking and groaning, they climbed the wooden steps and reached the cabin’s balcony. Relying on the dim light, Ilya carefully examined the surrounding trees. The mark Evelyn pulled it with mentioned was still nowhere to be seen.

“The entrance must be over there. It’s hard to see because of the tree in front,” he pointed out.

When they arrived at the entrance, they exchanged quick glances.

Nikolas withdrew his dagger and pressed against one of the walls. Ilya, with a sword in one hand, pulled the doorknob with all his might.

“It’s open,” he said.

They lined up and entered the cabin one by one.

“There’s nothing here. We went through this rain for nothing,” Nikolas grumbled, surveying the empty interior. Ilya approached the window.

“Don’t they usually make the windows bigger in places like this? It’s like no light can come in even during the day,” he remarked.

Nikolas looked at the small window and replied, “True.”

Ilya grabbed the window handle and pulled it with force. With a creaking sound, the window opened. His voice carried a faint tremor.

“We finally found it.”

Interlocking branches resembling a twisted shape, the clue Evelyn mentioned.

He gazed at the branches before him, his expression becoming complex. Ilya murmured in a low voice.

“It’s here.”

“What is it?” Nikolas approached Ilya quickly, standing by his side.

“A clue,” Ilya said, extending his arm outside the window.

“If an adult woman stretched her arm, she could reach it,” Nikolas said.

Ilya agreed with his opinion. Assuming someone was trapped here, they could open the window and barely reach out to create a branch like that.

“Do you think there’s something inside the tree?” Nikolas put his hand inside the branch, feeling it around for a while. After a moment, something caught in his hand.

“What’s this?” he asked.

“It looks like pieces of cloth,” Ilya replied. Nikolas carefully examined the fabric under faint moonlight.

“It seems roughly cut with scissors. It was originally white cloth, but who stained it red? It’s completely crimson.”

As Nikolas described, the small pieces of cloth were so heavily dyed red that it was difficult to recognize their original color.

“I think I can smell something.” Nikolas brought the cloth close to his nose.

“It has a rather artificial scent. Considering the condition of the fabric, it seems old, but the scent lingers faintly.”

Ilya nodded.

It’s here.

I am here.

The blood-stained cloth is here.

What did the missing maid want to leave behind?

Ilya spoke to Nikolas, who had a bewildered expression.

“For now, let’s go back.”

The two of them melted back into darkness once again.

****

The next day, the Knights’ Commander’s office was bustling with people.

“Your Highness, why have you been avoiding me since last time?” Naz complained.

“When did I avoid you?”

“When you went to the Black Forest, you left me here too! And last night…” Naz’s voice trailed off.

After hearing about the missing maid from René, Naz waited all night for Ilya’s summons. Judging from their lord’s personality, it was evident that he would infiltrate the Duchess’s garden tonight. As the Commander of the Black Forest Knights, Naz had made all the necessary preparations to accompany him. But reality…

Watching the bickering between Ilya and Naz, René clapped his hands.

“Let’s have a meeting, gentlemen,” Ilya began.

“Last night, I infiltrated the Duchess’s garden with the Commander of the Holy Knights,” he continued, observing Naz’s disgruntled expression. Ilya smirked.

“We found traces of that maid there. It seems she was trapped in a cabin within the garden before she disappeared.”

Ilya took out a piece of fabric from his pocket and placed it on the table.

“We found it in a tree near the cabin. It seems to be an item hidden by that maid.”

René carefully examined the fabric, frowning at the red stains.

“Is this blood spilled by that maid?” he asked.

“Either it belongs to her or to the owner of this fabric,” Ilya replied.

“I think I can smell perfume too,” René said, bringing the fabric close to his nose and sniffing.

“The scent lingers faintly, but it’s hard to tell since it’s been a while.”

“Alright, enough about that,” Ilya said, shifting his gaze to Stas this time.

“Tell us about her family or any relatives,” he demanded.

Stas rummaged through the documents he had brought and answered, “She’s an orphan. As soon as she became an adult, she worked as a maid in the Duchess’s mansion on the recommendation of the orphanage director.”

“Did she work in the separate cottage from the beginning?” Stas shook his head.

“At first I worked in the main building. He started doing chores like laundry, and later took charge of the clothes of the former Grand Duke.”

“Clothes?”

Stars answered, looking at the piece of cloth with distraught eyes.

“Yes, Your Highness. They are so dexterous that the lady-in-waiting specially assigned them that way.”

Rene, who had carefully touched the piece of cloth, opened her mouth.

“Your Highness, I think this is the fabric used for bathrobes.”

Illya looked at Stas.

“This maid, it seems, had something to say about the former Grand Duke.”