The Fake Madam Disappeared

“... Haa…”

Another letter was revealed. Though he was certain that it wouldn’t be any different than the letter she had written about the divorce papers, his hands refused to move and only flinched. Edmund nervously pulled out another cigarette and lit it.

Ssszzzz.

_‘One more.’ _

One, two, three and four.

It wasn’t until four cigarette butts were placed on the ashtray that Edmund finally found himself tightly grasping an empty cigarette case. Without knowing what is causing his hesitation, Edmund stared at the letter, as if he was in a staring contest with it.

_Knock, knock. _

A knock on the door broke the long silence.

“Your Excellency, a handmaid named Marinda insists on meeting you.”

Daphne’s handmaid, Marinda.

Just as he wondered why this maid was wandering about, he realized that it had been less than a few hours since he had left her punishment to Damian.

“Do not let her in.”

Edmund cut off his long train of thought and placed the letter and the divorce papers back into the drawer. Just as he was about to part his lips at the commotion outside, a woman’s shout echoed through.

“Your Excellency! Painting! I have something to tell you about the painting!”

Edmund immediately stood up and opened the door. As he expected, the handmaid was already struggling from his subordinate.

“Let her inside.”

As he returned to his seat, the handmaid broke free from the subordinate’s grip and entered the office.

“What were you going to say? Speak in detail.”

“Oh, y-yes.”

Impulsively visiting Edmund, Marinda found herself sweating with nervousness, her body bent forward. She had momentarily lost her composure when Angela provoked her outside her room. By the time she regained her senses, she had already done it and inside Edmund’s office.

_‘This is the only way.’ _

Instead of continuing to live in anxiety, constantly wary of others, it was better to get rid of the problem first. Marinda took a deep breath.

“I heard the rumor. That you’re looking for the Madam’s painting from five years ago. I know where that painting is.”

“... Can you take responsibility for your wods?”

“Yes, of course.”

Despite the bait she had thrown, Edmund showed no noticeable reaction. Marinda nervously bit her lip.

“Johann!”

Edmund called Johann after a brief silence. Not long after, Johann hurriedly entered the office.

“You called for me, Your Excellency?”

“This handmaid claims she knows where the painting is.”

Johann’s eyes widened, “That…”

“Lead the way.”

Rising from his seat, Edmund walked past Marinda and out of the office. Johann and Marinda quickly followed.

“Isn’t this the maids’ quarters?”

The place they arrived at was none other than the maids’ quarters. Despite Johann’s confusion, Marinda walked straight to the first door and flung it open without answering.

“Marinda?”

It was Angela’s room. Angela, who had been resting, awkwardly stood up, startled by Marinda’s sudden appearance.

“Sir Aide? Y-Your Excellency?”

Seeing Johann and Edmund follow behind, Angela hesitated.

“It’s time to stop now, Angela.”

“Wh-what?”

Ignoring the bewildered Angela, Marinda pushed past her and entered the room.

“What are you doing!”

Angela tried to stop Marinda’s sudden action, but Marinda was faster, pulling something out from under the bed.

“This is…”

It was a painting covered with a cloth.

“Sir Aide. Here is the painting.”

“W-Why is that here… .”

“Angela, you’ve already been caught! Stop lying now!”

As Johann received the painting from Marinda and was about to turn around, Edmund quickly stepped forward and snatched it from him.

Edmund pulled off the dust-covered cloth. It was the painting he remembered. Edmund in a tailcoat, something worn only on special occasions. But there was one difference from his memory.

“… Oh my.”

Despite Johann’s muttering, Edmund couldn’t take his eyes off the painting. More precisely, off the part where Daphne’s face, adorned in a wedding dress, had been torn to shreds.

— — —

“There’s nothing I can do.”

The art restorer Johann had hurriedly brought shook his head.

“But you must still try.”

“The painting could be damaged even more if touched unnecessarily. You need a more experienced art restorer than me.”

Despite Johann’s plea, the restorer remained resolute.

The damage to the painting was so extensive and old that the canvas would crumble at the slightest touch. After examining it without attempting any restoration, the restorer concluded that they needed to bring in someone with more experience.

Watching the situation unfold, Edmund issued an order to Johann.

“Contact the capital, and the artists who painted this painting.”

“Yes.”

“And I will personally conduct the interrogation of the maid who stole the painting.”

It had been nearly five years since Edmund had last conducted an interrogation. Moreover, the individuals Edmund had previously dealt with were influential figures, not someone as insignificant as a lowly maid.

There was only one reason Edmund was taking on this interrogation personally.

‘Madam…’

Because of the missing Madam. Edmund stepped forward because this involved the missing Madam.

Johann anxiously bit his lips. But knowing that provoking Edmund by trying to dissuade him would do more harm than good, he swallowed back the words that rose to his throat.

“... I will make the preparations.”

Edmund looked back to the painting.

Its preservation wasn’t terrible. Considering it had been shoved under a bed, it almost seemed like it had been taken care of. Whether by fortune or misfortune, the damage to the painting was concentrated solely on Daphne’s face. Her face had been slashed so severely by a sharp object that it was unrecognizable.

The mystery surrounding Daphne’s face only deepened.

After the restorer left, Johann approached Edmund, who was lost in thought.

“There are unusual movements in the temple, Your Excellency.”

A faint crease formed in Edmund’s brows at the mention of the temple.

“They suddenly began deploying large forces all over the continent.”

“When did you discover this?”

“It has only been a few hours, but I don’t know exactly when they started. The Imperial Family doesn’t seem to have noticed it yet.”

The temple is an independent entity, unaffiliated with any nation.

Long before the Empire was established, when the heavenly, demonic, and human realms weren’t yet separated, the world was in utter chaos without order or rules. Among the three races, humans were the weakest and suffered the most, so they prayed to the demon god. Hearing their desperate pleas, the demon god sent down five humans created from his breath – a wizard, a spirit summoner, a swordsman, a saintess, and an unknown entity.

Each of the five possessed immense power, and they intervened in the battle between the heavenly and demonic races, waging a bloody war for a century without rest.

During this time, the wizard, spirit summoner, swordsman, and saintess had descendants, spreading their abilities far and wide, and as time passed, humanity’s strength grew.

Ultimately, the demonic and heavenly races were overwhelmed by humanity’s growing population.

The unknown entity, who never bore descendants, sacrificed themselves to become the guardian of the demonic boundary. However, a few hundred years ago, monsters – creatures born of demonic energy – began to appear, casting doubt on the very existence of the ‘unknown entity,’ about whom records were already scarce.

The role of guarding the heavenly boundary fell to the saintess. During her life, she bore only two children.

One of them, who inherited the saintess’s bloodline strongly, was revered as the second saintess and left with others to seek a new land, while the remaining child settled in the country founded by the swordsman, merging with humanity. That is the origin of the temple and the Bled family.

But the reality of the temple, which is said to be noble and beautiful, was far from what was known. Human corruption has long since tainted the temple.

“The High Priest’s movements are also unusual.”

The temple and Edmund held each other's weakness. They had agreed, through a contract, not to reveal these weaknesses or interfere with each other, but now, of all times, suspicious movements within the temple have been discovered.

“They’ve even deployed their personal troops.”

“The reason? You haven’t found it yet?”

“No, but it’s reported that some of the Black Knights who were on a mission happened to capture a holy knight.”

This was good news. Holy knights were fanatically loyal, but there were plenty of ways to extract the truth from one.

“Prepare the drugs. Also…” Edmund habitually pulled out his cigarette case. Noticing it was empty as he opened it, he continued speaking, “Two days left.”

“... Everything has been prepared.”

To meet the deadline Edmund mentioned, they needed to start the operation today if they were to bring Nick Archer to the North within two days.

Edmund tucked the cigarette case back into his inner pocket.

“Let’s start the interrogation right away.”

“I’ll send the person up as soon as you’re ready.”

Johann left the office, heading for the basement, when he encountered someone in the hallway.

“Ah, Sir Aide!”

“Do you need something?”

It was Marinda, the handmaid who said about the whereabouts of the painting.

“How will Angela be punished?”

Marinda’s voice trembled as she spoke. Then, she broke into sobs, burying her face in her hands.

“That’s for His Excellency to decide.”

“Oh… I see…” Marinda murmured, her voice teary. “If I had known a little sooner…”

“If you’re finished, be on your way.”

It was an urgent situation, and Johann needed to get Nick out as quickly as possible. Narrowing his eyes, Johann brushed past Marinda.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Marinda nervously bit her nails as she watched Johann’s retreating figure. She had intended to ask Johann about Angela’s punishment but hadn’t been able to bring herself to do so. As rumored, Johann was a loyal hound who only cared about his master.

_‘There’s no way they would give her a light punishment for stealing from the Master, right?’ _

Shaking with anxiety, Marinda murmured, “I must… I must act quickly…”

For her plan to be perfect, Angela, the sole witness, had to die.