Chapter 176
The hut Bridget found had a window to let in light, but it was set so high that peeking inside seemed difficult.
"It doesn't look like it's locked... We're going in."
Monica's eyes flew open at how quickly Bridget made her decision.
"What?! W-what if there's someone inside...?"
"If it's the real Prince Felix, all the better. If it's someone else, just say, 'I thought this was a storage shed.'"
With that, Bridget opened the door before Monica could stop her.
The inside of the hut was not a storage space, but rather a living area where someone seemed to reside.
The cooking counter and the simple furniture all had the well-worn look of things that had seen years of use.
Still, it was impossible to imagine that the real Prince Felix—a nobleman—could be living in a place like this. It was only somewhat better than the mountain hut where Monica had lived.
There was a bed at the back of the room, and someone appeared to be sleeping in it. At the sight of the mound beneath the covers, Bridget's profile lit up with anticipation.
She must have wanted to call out, "Your Highness!" Even so, Bridget closed her lips and approached the bed with quiet steps.
"...Mm? Is it time to eat?"
The person lying in the bed rolled over and looked toward them.
As Monica had expected, it was not the real Prince Felix. It was a thin old man with white hair.
"Hmm, and who might you ladies be...? New servants?"
The old man remained lying on the bed as he looked up at Bridget and Monica, his cloudy eyes widening in surprise.
When Monica found herself at a loss for words, Bridget spoke up in her place.
"Ah, sorry. We're here to tend the garden today, but we're lookin' for the tool shed so we can borrow a sickle for cuttin' weeds."
"Ah, ah, I see. Sorry, then. I just hurt my back. The sickle's in that wooden chest over there. All the other gardening tools are in there too, so take whatever you need."
Bridget thanked him and began rummaging through the wooden chest as instructed.
The chest contained nothing but tools used for tending the garden. In addition, work clothes and boots stained with mud and grass hung along the wall.
Monica found herself looking at the old man. He was thin, but his skin was a reddish brown from the sun.
"...Are you the gardener for this estate, sir?"
"Ah, I've served this household for forty years now."
Apparently, the gardener still tended the grounds every day... but age had taken a toll on his legs and back, so whenever there was extensive replanting like today, the work was left to people from outside.
In other words, this hut served as both the gardener's work shed and his home.
The old man laboriously got out of bed and said to Monica,
"Miss, could you fetch that medicine over there? Yes, that paper bag."
The old man must have found even getting out of bed a struggle. Monica picked up the paper bag as instructed.
The paper bag listed the type of medicine, the instruction to take one packet after meals, and the name of the person who had prescribed it.
Monica stared wide-eyed at the name.
──Peter Sams
That was the name of the man who had infiltrated the House of Duke Laneburg and caused the cursed dragon incident—the perpetrator who had sold out Monica's father.
Monica's heart thudded so hard it felt as though it might make a sound.
When Monica stared at the paper bag, the old man looked at her curiously and asked, "What's the matter?"
Monica forced an awkward smile and handed the paper bag to the old man as she asked,
"Um, I was once indebted to Peter Sams-san... So, is he still at this estate?"
After wracking her brain to come up with the question, the old man sighed a little sadly.
"Come to think of it, I haven't seen him lately. I'm in a bit of trouble, since I'm running low on the medicine he made for me."
"...Peter Sams-san made your medicine?"
"He was a doctor, you know... Hmm? No, was he the duke's personal researcher? ...Well, I suppose he was much the same as a doctor."
Peter was a genuine curse sorcerer who had trained under a cadet branch of House Albright, the house of the Abyssal Curse Sorcerer.
In some regions, it was not unusual for curse sorcerers to take on work resembling that of doctors or apothecaries.
At Duke Clockford's mansion, Peter must have posed as a doctor while conducting curse-magic research behind the scenes.
(As I thought, Peter Sams and Duke Clockford really were connected... Just as Abyssal Curse Sorcerer-sama said...)
Monica wanted a little more information about Peter.
Bridget regarded Monica suspiciously, but didn't rush her or interrupt.
Monica pressed a hand over her clothes where her heart pounded and steadied her breathing.
Monica was poor at improvising lies or probing for information through verbal sparring. Even so, she wanted to draw out as much information as she could, clumsy though her efforts might be.
"Peter-san also worked at this estate for a long time... right? How many years was it?"
"About ten years, I think. He arrived more or less just as the previous Dr. Arthur was leaving."
The name Arthur snagged in Monica's memory.
(Arthur? Who was that again? ...Oh, right. I remember now...)
Monica remembered the words Peter Sams had left behind as he lay dying.
'Ah, yes, His Grace would never let me escape anyway... Ha, haha, hahahahahaha! I refuse to meet the same fate as Arthur!'
Apparently, Arthur had been the doctor before Peter.
Peter had muttered, "I refuse to meet the same fate as Arthur," on the verge of death... Which meant Duke Clockford must have had Arthur eliminated as well.
As Monica pondered this, Bridget spoke to the old man, pretending to make small talk to fill the silence.
"You've served this estate for a long time, haven't you...? Then perhaps you saw Prince Felix when he was little?"
"Yes, Prince Felix did stay at this estate as a child, but he was a sickly boy. He couldn't go outside much, so I only saw him a handful of times... Besides..."
The old man broke off, his eyes drifting into the distance as he muttered,
"That incident and his illness occurred around the same time, and Prince Felix shut himself away completely afterward."
Monica saw Bridget's eyes flash behind her glasses.
Bridget put on the guise of a young woman who loved to gossip and leaned forward with eager interest.
"What incident?"
The old man did not answer immediately. He took a packet of powdered medicine from the paper bag and washed it down with water from a pitcher.
Then he set the paper bag beside his pillow and slowly surveyed the hut.
"This hut used to be even more run-down. Back then, I lived in the servants' quarters, and this was merely a storage shed... There was a fire here, you see. Two servants died trying to put it out."
An ominous premonition sent a chill down Monica's spine.
The fire that had broken out almost exactly when young Felix fell ill.
The two people who had died there.
"W-who was it that died?"
When Monica involuntarily interrupted, the old man muttered,
"Dr. Arthur, whom we mentioned earlier, and the young attendant who served His Highness. Old Lady Marcy, who had been head maid at the time, was so shaken by the incident that she entered a convent... His Highness had been very attached to that head maid and the attendant who died, so he apparently became utterly depressed and shut himself away."
"And, um... what was the name of the attendant who died?"
The wrinkles at the corners of the old man's eyes deepened, and his face took on a nostalgic expression.
"Isaac Walker... He was a kind, good boy who cared deeply for His Highness and often helped me with my work."