Apparently, I’m a Poisonous Woman Who Sells One-Night Dreams, but I Ended Up Awakening a Hero’s Devoted Love - Chapter 1.25

Mariadoll returned from the workshop a little past two.

After having a slightly late lunch, she spent some time in her room painting the picture Bishop Mantel had requested, but eventually decided to go outside for a change of pace.

Though it was still a bit early for dusk, a pleasant breeze was blowing on the hill.

Since she was painting from a dream, the location didn’t really matter.

Setting up her easel in the garden and placing the canvas on it, she gathered her wind-tousled hair and gripped the charcoal.

She usually started with the people in her paintings, but this time her primary goal was to understand the books and map in the background. Recalling the items that had been placed on the desk, she began drawing them as accurately as possible.

Among the stacked books were several that Mariadoll recognized.

Many were what you might call business books, written about managing territories.

(Was this what the lady of the house was reading?)

She had assumed they would be novels, art books, or poetry collections, so this was unexpected.

It was possible that she had managed the territory together with Bishop Mantel, but the statement “I want to get my hands on the books my wife was reading again” felt odd.

As for the map, she had thought it might be a memorable place from a trip they took together, but that guess was completely off the mark.

(Is this a road? There are no buildings drawn around it, and it looks kind of like an anthill.)

When she saw it in the dream, she had focused on memorizing it and didn’t think about anything else, but as she progressed with the painting, the sense of unease grew.

Still concentrating on her sketch, she suddenly heard the rattle-clatter of wagon wheels.

Looking up, she saw a horse-drawn cart approaching. The silhouette holding the reins was small.

“Good afternoon. My father sent me to deliver some ingredients,” said a boy with green eyes exactly like Maderick’s as he climbed down from the driver’s seat.

“Thank you. I’ll show you to the kitchen. Um, your name is…?”

“Sorrick. I know where it is, my father told me. May I go in?”

“Yes, of course.”

Sorrick pushed back his slightly unruly chestnut hair as if annoyed by it, then picked up a wooden box and went into the mansion. His pimpled face looked youthful.

(The wooden boxes were more numerous than usual—was it because she had given Maderick more silver coins?)

Out of the corner of her eye, Mariadoll saw Sorrick make several trips back and forth before she turned her attention back to the painting.

After working with the charcoal for a while, she sensed someone behind her.

Turning around, she saw Sorrick staring intently at the painting. Behind him was Jerf, too.

“Oh, what is it? Not just Sorrick, but Lord Jerf as well?”

“Eh, Lord Jerf?”

Surprised, Sorrick turned to look behind him. He must have just noticed Jerf was there, because he jumped a few centimeters.

“The cook told me Sorrick had arrived, so I came out to the garden to thank him. Then I saw him staring at Mariadoll and wondered what was going on.”

“N-No! I wasn’t looking at the lady, I was looking at the painting!”

(I’m not the lady of the house!)

Maybe because he was a child, he didn’t understand the difference between being engaged and being married.

Jerf also gave a wry smile at Sorrick’s reply.

“I’m not jealous of a brat like you. More importantly, do you like paintings?”

“Yes—no, um. It’s not that I like them. I’m just curious about this map. How does the lady know about this map?”

Sorrick was pointing at that anthill-like map.

Even if he asked if she knew it, she couldn’t say she saw it in a dream.

Reluctantly, she replied that she had seen it at someone’s house. “I see…” he said, sounding unconvinced.

“Is something wrong with this map?”

“Ah, no. It’s nothing.”

“It can’t be nothing. The way you spoke sounded like someone who knows this map.”

The map was complex, and honestly, she wasn’t confident how accurately she had drawn it.

If he had this map, she wanted to see it—or better yet, have him give it to her.

Sorrick, like a child, was clearly averting his eyes.

Jerf raised the corner of his mouth as if to say, “Leave this to me.”

“I see. So, it’s a map you want to keep secret.”

A large hand landed with a thump on the boy’s slender shoulder. Of course, he was holding back, but Sorrick’s face instantly turned pale. Whether he was too pure or just bad at hiding his feelings, his emotions were plain to see.

“U-um. That is…”

“Don’t worry. I was a brat once, too. Maderick doesn’t know, does he? I promise I’ll keep it quiet, so why don’t you tell me?”

Sorrick shrank until he looked pitiful even to an observer.

He was mature enough to understand that Jerf was a duke—a noble.

“You know, Sorrick, this painting was requested by someone, and that person is looking for this map. So, if you have it, could you show it to me? If that’s not possible, could you at least tell me what kind of map it is? Then I might be able to buy it.”

“You can’t buy it. It’s not for sale.”

“Not for sale? Then what is it?”

She was the one who drew it, but no matter how you looked at it, it resembled an anthill.

Just then, Jerf gasped sharply.

“Could this be a map of a coal mine?”

“…Yes, it is. Um, is that a crime?”

“Well, having the map itself isn’t a problem, but if you obtained it through theft, that would be a crime.”

“No! A friend gave it to me. He said he got it from someone else, too. Actually, it was made by a group of people.”

Sorrick spoke rapidly in his panic, but she calmed him down and urged him to explain in order. Bit by bit, he told her the story.

The map was of a coal mine that had been abandoned.

The mine had numerous vertical and horizontal shafts running every which way, and if you made a wrong turn, you could get lost. Not only that, but some paths were unstable, and there were even shafts where poisonous gas had accumulated.

“I got it from the older boy next door, and he said he got it from an older friend. Then, the person who received the map would add their own findings and pass it on to a younger kid. That’s how this map has been handed down among us over the years.”

Sorrick puffed out his chest at the end, but essentially, it was a map of a playground passed down among mischievous boys.

(Now that I think of it, Maderick mentioned that abandoned mines still have minerals left, and kids go there hoping to strike it rich.)

That’s why Jerf had been discussing whether the mine should be sealed off due to the danger.

So that’s it. Who would have thought the person holding the root of all evil would be right here.

“…Sorrick, would you show me that map? I understand how you feel, but that place is dangerous.”

“But…”

“I promised I wouldn’t tell Maderick. I’ll return the map, too. Understood?”

Jerf’s tone at the end left no room for argument.

Sorrick pouted as if to say it wasn’t what he promised, but they couldn’t just let him do something dangerous. It could even cost him his life.

“Alright. When should I bring it?”

“I’ll pass by your house tomorrow, so give it to me then. I plan to go straight to the abandoned mine. As for the map… hmm, I’ll leave it under that flowerpot over there. You can come get it after I return to the royal capital.”

When Jerf pointed to the flowerpot in front of the villa, Sorrick reluctantly nodded.

They agreed to meet at the orchard just before Maderick’s house at nine o’clock.

After seeing off Sorrick, who trudged away with slumped shoulders, Jerf turned his gaze to Mariadoll. His eyebrows drooped apologetically.

“Mariadoll, I’m sorry. I’ll have to leave you alone tomorrow, but if anything happens, ask the servants…”

“Eh? I’m coming with you.”

Mariadoll looked back at him as if it were obvious, and Jerf blinked in surprise.

“No, it’s an abandoned mine. It’s dangerous.”

“I brought my lace-up boots with no heels. Besides, I seem to be the ‘lady of the house,’ so I’ll go wherever my husband goes.”

When she said “husband,” Jerf covered his face with one hand. His ears were slightly red.

“What’s wrong?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

“Then it’s settled, my lord.”

“…You’re doing that on purpose, aren’t you?”

The two of them chuckled.

At the time, they thought it would just be a little adventure.

Off to the abandoned mine. It definitely ends with something happening.