Actually, I was the Real One

Keira: “Mason?”

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Marquis: “Mason? Who is that?”

Keira: “Someone who was looking at us in the hallway on the third floor.”

Marquis: “In the hallway on the third floor?”

The Marquis of Edinburgh looked upwards to the annex far away.
No matter how open the window was, it wasn’t near enough to hear low whispers.

Marquis: “Were you familiar with the face?”

Keira: “If I wasn’t mistaken, he’s Cosette’s servant.”

Marquis: “…Servant?”

Keira: “Yes.
Her immediate servant.”

Then the Marquis breathed a short sigh of relief and clapped his hand.

Marquis: “I thought he could be a knight with mana skills.
You seem to have forgotten that the average person cannot hear a small sound from a distance.”

Keira: “I’m pretty sure he didn’t hear us from here.”

Marquis: “Then what’s the matter?”

Keira: “That…”

The simple fact that Cosette’s servant saw her having a secret conversation made it uncomfortable.
Even if they weren’t close enough to be heard.

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To make things more curious, Mason hid in a hurry when their eyes almost met.

‘Was it really Mason?’

It still bothered her.

Keira: “Grandfather, please head to the drawing room first.
I will stop by the annex for a while, then follow.”

Marquis: “What? Wait, Keira…!”

She could hear her grandfather call her, but she couldn’t afford to look back. 

The servant spying on her and her grandfather had to arrive long before he left.

Emily, who had been waiting in the distance, approached Keira when she saw her running.

Emily: “What’s the matter, milady?”

Keira: “I’ll explain later.”

Emily: “Huh? I-I’ll go with you!”

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It couldn’t have been more fortunate that there was a back door behind the annex.

Keira walked up the stairs, Emily trailing after her. 

The sound of her footsteps hurrying upstairs echoed loudly.

‘She saw me!’

He hurriedly lowered his body, but it was too late.

At the last moment, Keira and his eyes met.

Mason crawled to where there was no window.

‘D-did she recognize my face?’

According to Lady Cosette, those who can manipulate mana have more sensitive five senses than ordinary people.

‘What if I get punished for eavesdropping? Miss Cosette isn’t here now… no, I wasn’t even close enough to hear her voice.’

There was quite a distance between the third floor hallway and the pavilion. 

Unless you’re superhuman, it’s almost impossible to hear their whispers. 

He only peeked at the two through Cosette’s opera glasses to read their mouths and figure out their conversation.

It’s good I got to use the reading skill Miss Cosette taught me, but at this rate, I’m about to be kicked out of the mansion.

After a moment of anxiety, Mason soon changed his mind.

‘No, there’s no evidence that I was spying on their conversation.’

He lowered his hand right away when he saw Keira stop talking, so she wouldn’t have seen him spying through an opera-glass.

Miss Cosette once told him that no one would be able to kick out her immediate servant without any blatant fault. 

His gaze moved to the opera glasses in his hand.

No evidence.

It wouldn’t make sense if they accused him of overhearing their conversation when he was far away. 

‘I have to hide this first.’

He hurriedly looked around but couldn’t find a place to hide.
In the end, Mason hastily hid it in the vase displayed in the hallway.

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Shortly after that, Keira and her maid reached the third floor.

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Keira: “What are you doing here, Mason?”

Do not panic.
Act naturally.

Mason hid his trembling hands under his sleeve and answered.

Mason: “I was c-cleaning up Miss Cosette’s room and was just getting back.”

Keira: “Really? Cosette isn’t home now.
Do you have anything to organize in the unoccupied room?”

Mason: “But it’s still dusty, isn’t it? I have to ventilate once a day.
Besides, Lady Cosette will be back soon, so I’ll have to manage it in advance.”

Even Paula, the head maid, knew that he cleaned Lady Cosette’s bedroom every two days.

She can’t accuse me of lying.

Keira: “You were just standing by the window, weren’t you?”

Mason: “T-that…”

Keira: “Don’t even think about denying it.
There’s a limited number of people who can enter the third floor.”

Mason: “I’m sorry.
I was just on the way to go down after cleaning, but there were two people in the garden… I only hid because our eyes met suddenly and it surprised me.
I didn’t have any bad intentions.
Really!”

This is better than just saying it wasn’t me.

If there was anything he did wrong in that situation, he just made eye contact with his superior and avoided it first.

If he said he did it because he was nervous and startled, she wouldn’t be able to accuse him anymore.

In fact, Keira looked somewhat confused, yet convinced.

‘Even if the window was open, it wasn’t loud enough to hear you up to here.’

Mason was quick-witted.
Other than that, he was just an ordinary servant.

It was a far-fetched task for an ordinary boy to hear a voice from afar.

Keira was about to go back when Emily suddenly spoke.

Emily: “Mason, were you cleaning Miss Cosette’s room?”

Mason: “Yes? Yes.”

Emily: “Then did you clean the annex hallway?”

Mason: “No, but… Why are you asking that?”

Emily: “Ah, well, I’m actually in charge of cleaning the annex hallway.”

Seeing her smile like that, she sounded like she wanted to pass on the task of cleaning the hallway to Mason.

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Keira, who recognized Emily’s intentions, lowly called out her name.

Keira: “Emily.”

Emily: “I-I was just wondering.
I didn’t mean for him clean it up.”

Keira: “Haa…”

Keira sighed and placed her palm on her forehead. 

Keira: “You must have a lot of work, so go ahead.”

Mason: “T-thank you, Miss.”

As Mason nodded and went downstairs, Keira walked toward where she had found him.

‘This is the window.’

She stood there and looked down at the garden.
She could see the pavilion, but it was defintely not a distance where he could have heard them.

Keira was relieved at the thought that he didn’t hear her conversation with her grandfather.
Just as she was about to return…

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Keira: “…What are you doing, Emily?”

Emily groaned as she tried to get the vase on top of the cabinet.

Emily: “I asked him if he was cleaning the hallway as well.”

Keira: “And?”

Emily: “Sarah and I cleaned this hallway this morning.
I know this vase because I polished it.
The direction of the silk fabric is the opposite of what I have placed.”

In response, she took an object out of the vase.

Opera glasses.

Emily: “When I asked that, it seems he was trying to hide this.
Is this milady’s? Oh my god, did he really try to steal your stuff? So he must have been so embarrassed?”

Keira: “It’s not mine.”

Emily: “Then it must be Miss Cosette’s.
Her room is just around here, too.
But it’s weird.
Why would he want to steal this? If it’s jewelry…”

Emily tilted her head in doubt.
Even if he hid jewelry in the vase, she still didn’t understand.

Mason was the closest employee to Cosette.
If he had asked for it, he could have gotten it without having to steal.

‘He didn’t even look like the greedy type…’

Emily’s expression grew suspicious.

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Keira: “Would you mind giving me that for a second?”

Emily: “Yes, milady.”

Keira took the opera glasses and went back to where Mason had stood.
It looked like the pavilion was right in front of her when she looked through the lens.

“…”

He must have observed their conversation very vividly.

‘…Did he read our lips?’

It was absurd to think that an ordinary boy learned to read lips.
But if it was Cosette’s servant, that was different altogether.

Keira’s face darkened at the thought that he might have ‘heard’ her conversation with her grandfather.

Emily: “Milady, what’s the matter? Is something out there?”

Keira: “It’s nothing.
Rather, let’s keep it a secret for the time being that we discovered this.”

Emily: “Yes? Why? Of course, if he stole something…”

Keira: “Strictly speaking, there is no evidence that Mason was trying to steal this.
It’s all coincidental.
That kid is Cosette’s direct servant.
If I try to kick him out without solid evidence, I will be at a disadvantage.”

Cosette wasn’t one to pass up that opportunity. 

However, Keira couldn’t leave those who might have figured out the secret alone.

It was impossible to move an already built hideout to another place, and even if they destroyed it in a hurry, traces were bound to remain.

‘Cosette’s not here right now, so there’s no way to convey the information… But it’s just a matter of time anyway.’

If Ludwig found out she had secretly prepared a hideout, things would get complicated.

‘Even if I have to endure Cosette’s counterattack, should I keep my mouth shut?’

But what if Mason couldn’t read her lips? What if she got paranoid in fear she might have gotten caught? 

So, wasn’t it like she was giving Cosette ammo?

Keira bit her lips nervously.

As if noticing her unusual look, Emily cautiously opened her mouth.

Emily: “Really… are you okay?”

Keira: “For now, let’s go down.”

Emily: “Yes.”

Emily kept her mouth shut and followed her.