Chapter 763: Chapter 763: The Secret Garden (4)

Is “easy” just not written anywhere in my fate?

After wrapping up an unplanned duel and encounter with the Evil Eye, the building we arrived at was completely empty. Turns out the Marquis had already been taken away while I was fighting that damn thing...

“There’s a villa! A villa not too far from here!”

When I was advised to think carefully about where the Marquis might’ve hidden, Elthora pointed to a “villa.”

“A villa...?”

“A secret villa that only the Marquis knows! It’s within District 4!”

“If you know about it, it’s not exactly secret, is it?”

“It’s a place so hidden no one else knows! I—I only know because I visited when I was young! Not even anyone in the family knows about it!”

“When you were young...?”

I frowned, and Elthora, perhaps realizing I was misunderstanding something, quickly clarified.

“I mean when the original owner of this body was young. There was a diary in my room, written by the original owner, and it talked about the secret villa.”

Wow, so this bastard was born as the Chancellor’s son and started off with a diary from the body’s former owner?

I had to worry about getting axed in the face the moment I opened my eyes.

“My father took me to the villa... There was a beautifully blooming garden, and I was surprised to see my father tending to the flowers himself... That’s the kind of entry it was.”

“Hm?”

“Anyway, later, when I was trying not to get found out as a revenant, I secretly tried to figure out where the villa was. But even after digging through all of the Marquisate’s properties, there wasn’t a single trace.”

“Oh? So how’d you end up finding it?”

“Thanks to Countess Peproc. After she appeared, I started digging around just in case. Turns out she owned a plot of land—even though she didn’t even know she owned it. When I went to check it out, there was a villa with only one old gardener employed. When I talked to him, he didn’t even know the Marquis was the one who hired him.”

Huh. That does sound suspicious.

Except for one contradiction.

“If it’s that secret a place, how did the Marquis escape there? He’s unconscious right now.”

When I pointed that out, Elthora let out a little “Ah!”—an indirect way of telling me he hadn’t thought about that part at all.

But maybe he didn’t want to give up.

“Still... among his closest aides, there might be one who knows, no?”

Elthora tossed it out while glancing at me, but I just stared at him. Eventually, even he averted his gaze, knowing how weak that logic was.

But still...

“Fine. Let’s go check it out.”

“...Seriously?”

“Yeah. Better to do something than just stand around.”

So I decided we’d head to the “secret villa” Elthora mentioned.

The Chancellor had known this bastard was a revenant. Maybe someone among his inner circle did know about the villa and took the Marquis there.

Not that it seemed likely.

'Still, a place like that might yield some other kind of gain.'

Even if it turned out to be a wasted trip, confirming the Marquis’s secret villa would still be worth it.

There might be secrets there I don’t know about yet—like that hidden room we found before.

“Alright, tell me. Where exactly is this villa?”

“Not far from here!”

I entered the new destination into the navigation, and soon we arrived. High walls surrounded the place, and the building itself was modest—about two stories tall.

The moment I saw it, I couldn’t help but be reminded of that house, the one I used to stay in with Elwen.

As we climbed over the wall and entered the garden, just like Elthora said, we were greeted by a beautifully manicured landscape.

“...It’s been maintained.”

Amelia, who had descended into the garden, gently brushed the flowers and commented as she looked around.

“That means someone’s been tending to it—could be as recent as yesterday, or two days at most.”

Right... I can’t tell if something’s recently been tended or not, no matter how much I look.

But if Amelia says so, she’s probably right.

“Still, I have a bad feeling this is a dead lead... But just in case, let’s investigate the building. There could be a hidden room inside—and the Marquis might be in it.”

“Sounds good.”

Just as we were about to begin the villa sweep, per Amelia’s suggestion—

“......”

Suddenly, Amelia whipped her head toward the building and signaled to me with her eyes.

Seemed like she’d sensed a presence inside.

Step. Step.

No need to even concentrate—someone was walking around inside the building.

One person.

Maybe it was the old caretaker Elthora had mentioned?

“...Huh?”

But the figure that emerged... was the last person I expected.

“It’s been a while, Baron Yandel.”

The one who greeted me politely, with perfect decorum, was a woman.

Elthora reacted first.

“Harin Suevi...? Why are you here?”

“Good to see you again, Prince Tertherion. You were just here not too long ago, weren’t you?”

“Not too long ago? Wait, don’t tell me... back then too...?”

“Yes. I was hiding and watching. From the moment you started rummaging through the villa, right up until you uncovered the secret.”

Elthora’s face hardened at Hyeonbyeol’s candid response.

And then—

“What the hell are you plotting, you bit— Ow!”

He got smacked and shut up real quick.

“Don’t act up. Sit still.”

“...Fine.”

Geez. Calling your ex-girlfriend a bitch?

With Elthora now quiet, I picked up the conversation.

“Harin Suevi. Why are you here?”

Yeah, let’s start there.

Why the hell is Hyeonbyeol at the Marquis’s secret villa?

“...Huh?”

“I’ll ask again. Why are you here?”

I asked firmly, making it clear I expected a proper answer. Hyeonbyeol replied:

“Oh... You didn’t already know?”

“Huh?”

“I sent word, remember? Told you to come here. On that paper.”

Ah, the love note...

“You... didn’t read it?”

Uh... I didn’t exactly have time.

I awkwardly cleared my throat, and Hyeonbyeol shook her head with a sigh.

“It’s fine. Doesn’t matter how—we’re here now. That makes it feel even more like fate.”

“...Fate?”

That wasn’t me—it was Amelia mumbling under her breath. But Hyeonbyeol caught it anyway and shrugged.

“Yeah. No matter how twisted or delayed, people who are meant to meet always do.”

“Interesting thing to say.”

“Glad you think so. It’s nice to meet you, Amel— Oh, sorry, Emily Raines, right?”

Hyeonbyeol faltered slightly during her introduction.

Looked like a slip-up, but to me... it felt deliberate.

A subtle way of saying: I know your real name.

'...Not sure why she’d show her hand like that, though.'

Anyway.

“Yeah. Nice to meet you too, Harin Suevi.”

After the short greeting, Hyeonbyeol turned her attention back to me.

“So you asked why I’m here?”

“That’s right.”

“Come on in. Let’s talk inside.”

And so, we entered the villa.

***

The interior was incredibly modest.

If you looked closely, it was clearly an expensive interior job—but it didn’t have the flashy, ostentatious feel of a “secret Marquis villa.”

The vibe didn’t suit the Marquis at all.

It felt warm, homey... like a wealthy but affectionate family’s house.

“I’m sorry, but could the others give us a moment? I have something sensitive to discuss with just him. There’s a great room for resting in the back—”

“Rejected.”

Amelia shut that down immediately.

Hyeonbyeol silently glanced my way.

Sigh...

I let out an inner sigh and turned to Amelia.

“Sorry, but could you give us a moment? Let’s hear what she has to say first.”

“...Fine.”

Amelia took the others with her and left for the back room Hyeonbyeol mentioned. I sat down on the couch, feeling a vague sense of discomfort.

“Ah, wait a second.”

Hyeonbyeol pressed a button on a small device that looked like a recorder and placed it on the table.

It wasn’t a recorder, though—it was a magic device that prevented sounds from leaking outside its radius.

“Still the same, huh.”

“Hmm? What do you mean?”

“The one with control isn’t the one who chooses, but the one who creates the options. That was your favorite line, wasn’t it?”

“You’re still using that stiff tone?”

“Ah, it feels weird speaking in this body. Anyway, start talking. What’s this villa?”

I switched to Lee Hansu’s voice as best I could, and Hyeonbyeol gave a satisfied smile.

“Let’s see... Simply put, it’s the Duke Tertherion’s memory box.”

“Memory box...?”

“You know, a box where people store precious things from the past. Don’t you have one?”

“Nope...”

“What about the letters I gave you before...?”

...I threw them out.

Didn’t want to cling to old feelings.

I didn’t say that out loud, but Hyeonbyeol seemed to get the message and nodded.

“No wonder I couldn’t find anything in your room.”

“...This topic’s kind of veering off, don’t you think?”

“Oh, right... Anyway, this place is a memory box. Whenever things got hard, the Marquis came here to hide.”

“Okay, but why are you here?”

“Because the Marquis sent me.”

“What do you mean by that? Can you just skip to the point?”

“There’s a bunker beneath this villa. Countess Peproc is sleeping there. The Marquis told me to stay here and look after her.”

“So the Marquis isn’t here?”

“No... he’s not.”

“You don’t know where he is either?”

“Nope. How would I know that?”

“...I figured. You’re the one who arranged Ainard’s execution.”

“Oh, that? That was a coincidence. The Marquis stopped by briefly then. Asked me how the war was going, and we ended up chatting—just like old times.”

“...You chatted with the Marquis?”

“He’s surprisingly gentle. Quite the romantic too. Lonely, for his age.”

I don’t know about that.

But I guess everyone has unexpected sides.

“He really loves his daughter. Which is probably why he sees me—her friend and right hand—as so dear.”

“That so...”

“Oh, don’t brush me off like that! The whole reason he started this war was because of his daughter, you know.”

“...What?”

I flinched and looked up. Hyeonbyeol shrugged and pulled out a book.

I gave her a questioning look, but she just gestured for me to read it.

'Shff.'

As I opened to the first page and began reading from the top, I quickly realized what the book was.

[There is a rumor surrounding the Palace of Glory. On the night of a /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ grand ball, when the evening is in full bloom, a nameless girl is said to appear somewhere within the hall.]

[Witnesses say she is small and beautiful, with pure eyes and a bright voice.]

[But when nobles, enchanted by her, approach and ask her name, she smiles and chats happily—until, without answering, she vanishes like a ghost.]

[When I first heard the story, I laughed it off. But amazingly, the tale was true.]

[On July 16, in the height of summer, when even the night winds could not cool the heat, I attended the royal ball with my father...]

...it was the Marquis’s diary.