Apparently, I’m a Poisonous Woman Who Sells One-Night Dreams, but I Ended Up Awakening a Hero’s Devoted Love - Chapter 1.7

“Next, please take me to Drolly Jewelers.”

“Understood.”

The coachman gave the reins a sharp crack and headed toward the location Mariadoll had indicated.

After passing through the main street and turning a corner, they stopped, but the door wouldn’t open.

As Mariadoll tilted her head in confusion while holding her luggage, the coachman finally opened the door.

“Did something happen?”

“Yes, it appears thieves broke into Drolly Jewelers. I heard there are injured people, and knights from the royal palace are handling the situation.”

“Injured people!? Is Lord Cobalt alright?”

“The injured appear to be employees, so Viscount Cobalt Drolly seems to be fine. What shall we do? Should we come back another time?”

The coachman glanced briefly at Mariadoll’s luggage.

Drolly Jewelers was also famous for purchasing jewels. He probably had a good idea of what was in Mariadoll’s bag.

(My business can wait for another day. I’m worried, so I’d like to at least check on the situation. I might be able to help with something, and if I’m in the way, I can just leave right away.)

Viscount Cobalt had lost his wife over twenty years ago and hadn’t remarried since. His children were adults with grandchildren of their own and lived separately, so now he lived with long-serving attendants.

“Could you wait here for a little while?”

“Understood. Then I’ll park the carriage in the park at the next corner. Staying here might get in the knights’ way.”

“Yes, please do that.”

Mariadoll picked up her luggage and got out of the carriage toward the shop. If she left it in the carriage and it got stolen, it would become the coachman’s responsibility. She felt that would be unfair, so she decided to take it with her even if it was a bit cumbersome.

After getting permission from a knight and proceeding into the store, she saw Cobalt sitting slumped at a table normally used for business discussions. He usually gave the impression of a dashing middle-aged man, but today his back looked small.

“Lord Cobalt, are you alright?”

“Eh? Miss Mariadoll. What are you doing here?”

“I came to consult about something and found this commotion. I was worried and came to check on you. I heard you weren’t injured, but how are you feeling?”

As she asked, she glanced toward the counter in the back. Employees usually brought tea from the door behind it, so it probably led to the kitchen.

“If you’d like, I can make some tea.”

“No, no, I’ll have someone prepare it. They just finished questioning me, so I should be allowed a little freedom.”

Viscount Cobalt called to an available employee, instructing them to prepare tea and inform the knights that an acquaintance had come to see him.

“I’m sorry. You seem to be fine, so perhaps I should go home after all.”

“No, I’d like you to keep me company if possible. I’ve been on edge since morning and I’m exhausted.”

A servant placed tea and immediately left. Even so, it wasn’t a situation where she could stay long.

“Where did the thieves break in from?”

“Well, this is embarrassing to say, but it was an employee.”

His heavy sigh sounded weary.

His romance-gray head drooped dejectedly.

“It was a porter in his mid-forties named Zach whom I hired six months ago. We got along well since he’d also lost his wife, like me. Recently I’d even been entrusting him with warehouse organization and miscellaneous tasks.”

That was probably when he learned the location of the safe where the warehouse keys were stored.

Of course, he hadn’t been told the combination, but it seemed Zach was a skilled locksmith.

There were purchased jewels in the warehouse, with the more valuable ones kept in a safe, but that had apparently been picked open too.

“Fortunately, the night shift guard made his rounds earlier than usual, so only about a quarter was taken.”

“Isn’t the patrol time fixed?”

“I allow about an hour’s leeway at his discretion. The theft is infuriating, but what’s really shocking is that the painting you drew for me was damaged.”

The painting hung in Viscount Cobalt’s office.

The safe containing the warehouse keys was in the viscount’s room, and it seemed that when they broke in in the dark, they bumped into it, leaving what appeared to be marks from being scraped by something hard on the bottom left.

“That’s terrible. Please let me take it for restoration.”

“I appreciate the offer, but Miss Mariadoll can only remember my wife for two months. Since you drew that painting two years ago, it should be impossible now.”

“I can’t paint a new portrait of your wife, but restoration shouldn’t be a problem. However, I have urgent work right now, so it might take some time.”

“That’s fine. Then wait a moment.”

Viscount Cobalt made his way through the knights in the store to his office and returned carrying a painting about size 30.

“Then, I’ll take this…”

“W-wait a moment! Viscount Cobalt, please don’t act arbitrarily when the investigation isn’t finished yet.”

A tall knight spoke from behind Viscount Cobalt.

When Mariadoll looked that way, she blinked her eyes in surprise.

Standing behind that knight, overseeing the situation, was a black-haired knight.

“Lord Jerf, what are you doing here?”

Jerf, wearing his crisp uniform, turned at Mariadoll’s voice.

He seemed surprised too, his narrow red eyes widening.

“Mariadoll, what are you doing here?”

Jerf approached, dragging his right leg slightly, and looked alternately between Viscount Cobalt and Maria Dol.

His gaze toward Viscount Cobalt seemed somewhat sharp, but she wanted to think it was her imagination.

“I came to Drolly Jewelers and found this commotion, so I came to check if Viscount Cobalt was alright.”

“I see. The viscount isn’t injured. The investigation isn’t finished yet, so you should probably go home.”

“Yes, you’re right. I’m sorry. I’d like to take the painting, but is that not allowed?”

When she said “painting,” Jerf looked at the frame Viscount Cobalt was holding.

He seemed to understand what the tall knight had been referring to, and Jerf shook his head.

“That painting may have been touched by the perpetrator. Lord Cobalt, we’d like to keep it in our custody for a while. Is that acceptable?”

“I see. Then there’s no helping it. Miss Mariadoll, let’s have you restore it after the painting is returned.”

“Mariadoll is restoring it? So you painted this, Mariadoll?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Viscount Cobalt, who had been listening to Mariadoll and Jerf’s exchange, frowned slightly.

“Are you acquainted with Duke Stanley, Mariadoll?”

“Yes, we got engaged the other day.”

“!!”

You didn’t have to say that especially now, Mariadoll thought, her mouth opening and closing wordlessly.

But Jerf paid no mind and stood next to Mariadoll.

(U-um, isn’t he a bit too close?)