Apparently, I’m a Poisonous Woman Who Sells One-Night Dreams, but I Ended Up Awakening a Hero’s Devoted Love - Chapter 1.34

Several days later, I was summoned once again by Duke Stanley.

I had known this would happen. If anything, it was later than I expected.

Sure enough, the moment I entered the room, Duke Stanley roared at me with terrible fury: “One of the keys went missing after you left. You stole it, didn’t you?”

I desperately suppressed the urge to laugh at his perpetually red face, lowered my eyebrows, and waved both hands in front of my chest, saying, “How absurd.”

Then, without lowering my arms, I approached Duke Stanley on the other side of the desk.

“I have done nothing. If you suspect me, please search my person first, then the mansion.”

As I spoke, I used the tip of my other shoe to peel off the key that I had stuck to the sole with clay and slid it under the desk.

From Duke Stanley’s position on the other side of the desk, the entire movement was hidden from view.

Duke Stanley shrieked, “If it’s found, you won’t get away with it!” and called for the butler to search me. Of course, no key was found.

When he then ordered the butler to search the baron’s mansion, I pointed under the desk.

“There seems to be something like a key there.”

At my words, the butler hurriedly got down on all fours and picked up the key I had kicked in.

Naturally, both of them looked at me with suspicion. Of course, they would. They must have searched under the desk multiple times. For a key that wasn’t there before to appear after I arrived was highly suspicious.

“So, you did have it after all! You threw it under the desk when I confronted you, didn’t you?!”

“Lord Duke Stanley, I understand your feelings, but I have kept my hands raised ever since I entered the room. In this position, I couldn’t possibly take anything out of my pockets.”

“Th-that… hmm.”

As Duke Stanley fell silent, the butler looked at him with suspicion. I continued speaking.

“If I had it, please explain how I could have hidden the key under the desk. Even I don’t want to be falsely accused.”

“Hmm. That’s true indeed. And, how many days has it been since you came?”

“Four days. I don’t know what key it is, but if it’s important, you should have noticed it missing immediately. It’s impossible that Lord Duke Stanley wouldn’t have noticed it was missing for several days.”

“Hmm. That’s right. No, I must have lost it yesterday.”

Perhaps he found thinking troublesome, Duke Stanley nodded and dismissed the butler from the room.

Judging by his condition, he might not even remember opening the hidden door in front of me.

When I carefully pieced together what I had learned through cautious questioning, it seemed Duke Stanley didn’t remember anything except telling me about the abandoned mine.

Even that, he had confirmed while looking at his notebook. Furthermore, the handwriting in the notebook I peeked at was the butlers. I felt like laughing mockingly at how unreliable his memory had become.

“By the way, Lord Duke Stanley, I have brought some fine wine. I accidentally left it in the carriage. May I go retrieve it?”

“Oh, wine? Bring it immediately.”

“Yes, as you wish.”

I quickly returned to the carriage, peeled the dirty clay from my shoe sole, and put fresh clay in my pocket. Then, taking two bottles of wine, I returned to the study.

I had already mixed sleeping pills into the wine.

After a few drinks, Duke Stanley slumped over the desk just like last time and began snoring. Really, is wine that delicious?

Carefully, I reached for Duke Stanley’s neck and pulled the cord over his head.

Probably, he usually kept one key in a drawer and wore the other around his neck at all times.

But even that level of caution is useless when drunk.

I carefully pressed the key into the clay to make an impression, then placed it back around Duke Stanley’s neck. If this key went missing too, I would definitely be suspected, so today I would only take the impression.

Through my connections managing the iron-producing mines, I know many blacksmiths.

The key I stole last time has already been duplicated by a blacksmith acquaintance.

This time, I plan to give this clay impression to a different craftsman and have him duplicate the key based on it.

That way, I’ll have both keys.

All that’s left is to hire some thugs for the dirty work and have them carry it out on a day when I have a perfect alibi.

I’m not doing anything wrong.

Duke Stanley has overflowing wealth and a fine son.

It shouldn’t matter if I take a ring he doesn’t use anymore.

No, I don’t need anyone’s permission. If it saves my son’s life.

※※

…After speaking that far, Bishop Mantel took a sip of water.

“I met that man, Zach, through a shady moneylender. He was a collector for a place that charged exorbitant interest rates, but soon the moneylending business was shut down. I had someone investigate a bit and learned about the tavern he frequented, where I proposed this plan.”

“So, it was Bishop Mantel who stole the Stanley family treasure?”

“Yes. I planned it. But I had Zach and his companions carry it out. I was already under suspicion when the first key went missing. Since there was no sign the second key had been stolen, I thought it would be safe, but just in case, we carried it out on the night of a soirée.”

During the soirée, while Bishop Mantel was talking with as many acquaintances as possible, Zach and his group broke in to steal. It seemed they had formed a theft ring after quitting debt collection, and they were quite skilled.

“But selling it immediately would leave traces. Still, keeping it was dangerous, so I decided to hide it. That place was the abandoned mine.”

They carried out the theft after it was decided the mine would be abandoned.

They hid it for about half a year, planning to sell it abroad afterward.

The mine is as complex as an anthill, so I marked the location of the Blood Ruby on a map, but then something unexpected happened.

Bishop Mantel’s mansion burned down completely, and the map was destroyed. Zach and the others blamed Bishop Mantel, and even recklessly tried to search for the Blood Ruby without the map, but ultimately couldn’t find it.

Zach demanded a large severance payment from Bishop Mantel. After paying it and renouncing his title, the search for the Blood Ruby was temporarily suspended.

“So, you called me to recreate the map?”

“My apologies, yes. I hid it quite deep to ensure it wouldn’t be found by chance, so without the map, the location of the Blood Ruby is unknown.”

As he spoke that far, Bishop Mantel’s voice grew hoarse with tears.

“It was divine punishment. The son I tried to save by resorting to evil deeds died in the fire. Not just my son, but my wife too, and several long-serving servants were caught in the blaze. I lost everything and thought I had incurred God’s wrath.”

“So that’s why you entered the monastery.”

“At the very least, I wanted to pray there for my wife and son. It was the only thing I could do. But then I heard about you from Marquis Haren. That’s when I thought to have you draw the map.”

“Did you plan to retrieve the gem and sell it?”

“No. I planned to return it to Lord Jerf. Lord Jerf has been worried about me and has been kind to my brother and his wife as well. Thanks to him introducing my brother’s swords to the knights, my brother can make a living as a blacksmith.”

His eyes, looking straight at Mariadoll, held no lies.

“And they found out about it.”

Zach rolled an empty bottle on the floor. It seemed he had finished one while Mariadoll and the others were talking.

“When we tried to get Cobalt drunk and make him spill where the key was, he started blabbering about unexpected things too. At first, I thought it was a joke. Honestly, I didn’t believe it when we stole the valuables. But I was a bit interested, so I looked into it, and it seems to be true. And the fact that you were going to Mantel’s place—isn’t that fateful?”

“You knew quite well that I was drawing a map of the abandoned mine.”

“I got it out of Mantel. He wouldn’t talk easily, but when I mentioned the names of his fellow bishops and sisters, he told me right away.”

“I’m sorry. I told him I would receive the drawing from Lady Mariadoll soon and asked him to wait until then, but he wouldn’t listen.”

“Lately there’s been movement at that mine. I don’t know why, but it seems they’ve started mining again, so we can’t take our time.”

Mariadoll glared at Zach, impressed that he had investigated that far.

The mining of heat-sensitive rocks is centered around Maverick’s acquaintances, but since the extraction amount is unknown, it shouldn’t be on a large scale.

“You have connections in that town?”

“Our information network is wide. And recently, I happened to meet a guy from that town who came to the capital looking for work at a tavern, and I brought him into our group.”

Saying that, he gestured with his chin toward the front of the wagon. Probably referring to that small man sitting in the driver’s seat.

(So, all the pieces connect. All that’s left is to find the gem.)

Near Zach was Mariadoll’s unfinished drawing.

At any rate, there’s still time.

I’ll behave myself here, Mariadoll thought, pulling the musty blanket closer and closing her eyes.