Surfacing Above the Water (4)

Mar was waiting outside the door with the other servants as previously agreed with Linea.

‘As expected, can’t hear anything.’

Mar also knew that Wallace Hope was no ordinary person.

After all, this was information that Lost had requested while even revealing his own identity.

The identity of the new apostle that hadn’t yet been officially announced by the Pantheon Temple. Though she wasn’t sure where such information could be used, its value was certainly extraordinary.

And in exchange for providing information of such value, what he requested was information about House Hope’s movements. Anyone with a brain could tell there must be something about House Hope.

‘Still though.’

Nothing would happen inside. As Linea said, it was hard to imagine he would openly do anything while bearing the identity of an imperial duke.

That’s why she accepted waiting outside the door and agreed to stay quiet.

Perhaps because of that? She could see the true faces of House Spirin’s servants in a place without their master.

‘No wonder she’d hate a household like this.’

Their appearance of being uncomfortable with their master.

Even some of the younger servants were gossiping about how they wished Linea would leave soon.

It was strange that such an atmosphere had formed in the first place.

If their master was truly someone to be feared, they wouldn’t dare gossip like this in a place where the master’s guest was present. Yet they acted this way, which meant their master simply let them talk behind her back.

Is such a person scary?

‘No way.’

The Linea that Mar had seen wasn’t that kind of person at all. She was someone with abundant emotions who knew how to consider others.

That consideration had created this situation.

And there was one common thread in the servants’ gossip.

<I heard that….>

Stories that began with such openings.

The meaning was obvious.

They were acting so boldly just based on rumors they’d heard.

“Really, what a mess this household is.”

Mar let out a sigh. She couldn’t interfere in another household’s problems.

However, she just…

‘Now I get why she liked traveling with that guy.’

That must have been her best memory.

Mar could clearly understand what home meant to the girl named Linea Spirin.

When even home, which should be the most reassuring and comfortable place, was like this, even a harsh and painful journey could become a happy memory.

“The servants are being annoyingly chatty. Isn’t this work hours? Is this how House Spirin educates their staff?”

“…”

“If you have time to gossip, why not clean those windows? Can barely see outside. No wonder things are in this state given how you usually work.”

“We, we’re sorry.”

“Tsk.”

Mar didn’t hide her emotions. Her personality was too fiery to just pretend she hadn’t heard her friend being badmouthed.

As Mar was displaying her obvious discomfort and crushing the mood of the gossiping servants.

“Well then, I’ll be going now. Ah! No need to see me out, Lady Linea.”

Click.

Finally, the firmly closed reception room door opened and Wallace Hope appeared wearing a gentle smile.

“Oh?”

“…”

His gaze touched briefly on Mar who was standing near the door, and Mar naturally bowed her head.

“Pleased to meet you. I am Mar, Linea’s friend. Due to personal circumstances, I find it difficult to reveal my family name at present, so I ask for your understanding.”

Mar wasn’t nobility. But she knew it wouldn’t be a good choice to reveal that in this situation.

So she hid her family name while leaving the possibility that she might be nobility.

Her social skills learned at Shade.

Using those to leave as good an impression as possible.

She shouldn’t show that she’s suspicious of him even here. She was here purely as Linea’s friend after all.

Thus she greeted Wallace Hope in the most appropriate manner.

“What a well-mannered young lady. It was a pleasure meeting you.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

Fortunately, Wallace Hope didn’t seem interested in pressing the matter.

He maintained his gentle smile as he praised not just Mar but also the servants who had readily vacated their posts at his unreasonable request.

‘Well this is something…’

Those who had been complaining about the daughter of House Spirin, Linea, now nodded their heads as if it was an honor just from a few words from Wallace Hope.

A situation where priorities were completely reversed.

Mar found it hard to suppress her frown as she guessed what lay behind that gentle smile.

‘Well at least it’s clear he’s a bastard.’

She could tell he was rotten to the core just from the fragmentary information she had.

But that was just a virtue he should naturally possess as a noble, considering his position as a duke.

Mar was quietly observing such a Wallace Hope when she headed to the reception room where Linea still remained.

“Hey, um. Did something happen?”

Seeing Linea sitting in the reception room chair staring at the empty seat, Mar carefully asked, sensing something off about the atmosphere.

“No, nothing happened.”

“Really? What did you talk about then?”

Mar immediately asked what conversation they had, as if she had expected Linea to say nothing happened.

Though nothing might have happened, he could have said words that would wound her heart.

Just looking at the atmosphere pervading the mansion including the servants, she could tell.

That she had hidden wounds and had run away from home because they were painful.

Though she could quickly find out if she went back to investigate at the Shade branch, Mar deliberately didn’t use such methods.

These things should be heard from the person themselves. At least from a friend.

“He kept asking about Lost. So I denied knowing anything. I actually don’t know much anyway…”

“That’s…”

Lost had many secrets.

He hadn’t even told his companions why he was wary of Wallace Hope.

He probably saw something that only he could see. A matter that could be accepted as such. But was that okay?

“This is messed up.”

It couldn’t be.

Of course there’s no law saying companions have to share everything.

But leaving things be until they reached this state was problematic.

She got involved without knowing anything, didn’t she? That’s a really messed up situation.

Just like how Mar hadn’t known about her mother’s death in the past.

“Let’s confront him when he gets back. At least you have the right to do that.”

“Do I?”

Linea gave a bitter smile.

Mar could tell that smile was just a facade.

Linea thought she had no right to demand Lost’s secrets even though she had been dragged into his affairs.

After all, wasn’t she keeping secrets herself too?

So she thought it was enough to just have a relationship where they could maintain each other’s secrets after this storm passed safely.

“Then shall we head back? As you probably noticed Mar, it’s a bit awkward to call this place my home.”

It makes her stomach churn.

It would almost be more comfortable lying on the ground camping.

“Yeah, this place is messed up too.”

“…Still, since it’s a place with precious memories for me, let’s stop talking about it like that?”

“Oh? Sorry.”

“Haha.”

Linea giggled at Mar’s joke. Her unpleasant mood seemed to have improved a bit.

Seeing Linea’s smile, Mar immediately went ahead out of the reception room with a frown.

The servants waiting outside hurriedly made way, afraid to meet Mar’s gaze, and Linea followed behind.

Mar’s own way of being considerate.

While watching this, Linea gave a bitter smile but…

“…”

Sorrow gathered at the corners of her eyes.

*     *     *

“I am deeply sorry, Lady Linea.”

Ramid, the butler who had come to find Linea, kept his head bowed and couldn’t lift it.

He had many duties to attend to so he couldn’t be present there.

But he could tell what kind of things the servants had been doing.

Because Mar had expressed her complaints and voiced her dissatisfaction.

Ramid felt apologetic since he too knew about such an atmosphere.

“Ah, it’s fine. It’s a common occurrence. It’s natural for some people to be uncomfortable when someone visits suddenly…”

“Just what the hell is wrong that you’re sitting there getting disrespected like this?!”

Mar burst out angrily at Linea’s unnecessarily tolerant attitude.

Wasn’t it because she forgave them like this that they were getting so uppity?

Even if it was someone else’s household matters, as a friend she couldn’t just watch.

“Hey, Ramid was it? Cut the pay of all those bastards. How long are you planning to leave them be? If you’re not going to fire them, at least punish them.”

“I will certainly do so.”

Ramid immediately agreed as if he had been waiting for those words.

It was clear that he too didn’t want to just watch the servants’ attitudes like this.

But he simply couldn’t do anything.

To take such measures required the master’s orders. Without that, all he could do was verbally reprimand them with basic warnings.

Until now she had continuously declined saying it was fine, but if not for that, these people would have already been fired.

“Ah, but that’s too…”

“No, Lady Linea. Since your friend has also expressed discomfort, this has already become an issue for all of House Spirin. I will handle this matter at my level somehow.”

Until now there had been no one expressing complaints, that’s why things were like this.

But now that someone had directly spoken up, Ramid also had justification.

He already seemed confident he could persuade even the Count of Spirin.

“Oh, then, let’s go…”

Mar got into the carriage, deflated by that enthusiastic response. She had wanted to vent her anger thoroughly but having it responded to in such a way left her fury with nowhere to go.

“…Still, please make sure they don’t lose their jobs. They’re family we’ve been with for a long time, aren’t they?”

“…”

At Linea’s attitude of asking for leniency until the end, Ramid’s brow twitched for a moment but he soon nodded as if he had no choice.

“I understand.”

He hadn’t planned to fire them from the start. As Mar said, there would be issues with firing that many people at once.

So for this incident, there would be stern warnings as well as direct punishments like pay cuts.

“Then I’ll escort you back.”

As if that was enough for now, Ramid sat in the driver’s seat.

Though he was the head butler in charge of one of House Spirin’s branch houses, he didn’t mind such work.

The reason he could rise to head butler. His absolute loyalty to the members of House Spirin.

‘You’ve made a good friend.’

Ramid smiled warmly thinking of Mar who knew how to get angry on Linea’s behalf.

In fact, he couldn’t know that Mar had directly interacted with Linea for barely a week.

That much.

He hadn’t noticed how isolated Linea’s environment had been.

*     *     *

Wallace Hope headed in the opposite direction from Linea’s group as he left House Spirin earlier.

He created his alibi by displaying that scene to everyone.

“Heh, hehehehehe.”

He remembered the face of the fox beastkin girl he had conversed with.

A girl who never let her guard down from start to finish and carefully watched every word she spoke. It was enjoyable gradually dyeing the light in her eyes with despair.

From the start, Wallace Hope didn’t have much to discuss with Linea.

Cornering her identity was just entertainment.

“Making sure not to make mistakes, wondering if she’s doing well. Watching every single word so carefully… How amusing.”

Not just that.

Linea had thrown out bait while racking her brains trying to probe Wallace Hope’s purpose.

Even though her heart was already thoroughly rotted by Wallace Hope’s words, she still struggled believing there must be meaning to her life.

A meaningless effort.

She had clearly recognized that she had been unconsciously valuing her own life lowly.

That had already become an unstoppable matter like a lit fuse.

It would explode as time passed.

It’s regrettable he won’t get to see it directly.

“Anyway, humans… only know how to look at what’s right in front of them.”

Linea’s wariness was right. Being careful with every word was also correct.

Such an attitude was worth evaluating.

But she didn’t realize Wallace Hope had already achieved his goal.

Wallace Hope’s purpose wasn’t in the conversation with Linea.

“Why can’t they realize that the very act of moving was the problem?”

The fact that she moved.

Wallace Hope visiting House Spirin and calling for Linea wasn’t to extract something from her through words or harm her.

The purpose was just her route of movement from the Pantheon Temple to House Spirin.

He just needed that route.

‘Right about now she’s probably feeling relieved thinking she somehow overcame the crisis.’

When Linea crawls into the trap on her own feet, who could suspect Wallace Hope?

His alibi was solid but.

He didn’t need to take direct action.

If Linea truly meant to be wary, she should have somehow held Wallace Hope back and endured.

She should have made Lost come all the way to House Spirin like that.

An immature girl fleeing from fear by ending the meeting.

At that point Wallace Hope’s plan was as good as complete.

“Dealing with one naive youngster shouldn’t be a problem. Now I just need to watch the results.”

All that remained was for the perpetrator Margaret to handle the matter smoothly.

Wallace Hope advanced onto the road where darkness was beginning to fall, his back to the setting sun.