A Cruel Beast’s Leash

“Yes, Miss Herman,” he nodded.
“That is correct.
He went to the Lojak area to make sense of the situation.”

“I had no idea,” she repeated again, enunciating her distress.

Lord Berne’s eyebrows shot up.
“Right.
The news would have been delivered to Laute after he returned to the office.
But news must have probably spread during the banquet.
He wouldn’t have informed anyone else.”

“Of course…” Emma shifted her weight on both knees.
“There was a dinner party today.
Were you also absent from the dinner party yesterday, Lord Berne?”

“Ah.
Yesterday I had a veterans’ commission meeting, and today the advisory group meeting was prolonged, so I had dinner elsewhere.”

“I see.
I looked for you but somehow couldn’t find you.
I really wanted to see you there, My Lord.”

Baron Berne’s graying eyebrows scrunched when he heard Emma say that with grievances.
He was able to guess something had happened at the banquet.
“How was the dinner party?” he asked concernedly.

Emma’s eyes stung with tears as soon as he gave her his undivided attention.
“Nothing much happened.
There was a small crisis, but I think things went well.”

Baron Berne sighed.
“That’s a relief.”

Emma had continuously felt that she was alone in the cold castle without Irvan.
But now she had someone by her side.
Her heart felt heavy with regret for not having looked for Baron Berne earlier.

“By the way, I have something I’ve been wanting to say, My Lord,” she quipped.

Emma anxiously gripped the hems of her dress before speaking and furtively scanned her surroundings.
The area by the front door of the main building was crowded with lots of people, as it was a place where visitors frequently came and went.
That’s why she had to choose her words with extreme carefulness.

“What is it, madam?”

Emma studied Baron Berne wholeheartedly as she carefully opened her mouth.
“Uh… since Irvan is away, my mind is currently in shambles, and I feel on edge.
Even yesterday I wasted time checking the doors a few times if it was locked.
I think I will be doing that again today,” she finished nervously.

Baron Berne’s eyes grew larger then took on a solemn look as if he had learned something new.
“Oh… I see.”

“By any chance, My Lord, is there another place I can stay other than the annex?”

When she carefully asked this in a low voice, the wrinkles on Baron Berne’s forehead knotted deeper.

“Hm…” He remained silent for a while with a look of consideration before slowly opening his mouth.
“Aren’t you already staying at the castle as a guest? If you move to a different location…”

“It would obviously be rude of me,” Emma dejectedly supplied.

He nodded at her quick answer.
“That is right.
Moreover, it wouldn’t be good for Irvan’s image, as the person who had invited you.”

Emma bit her bottom lip slightly.
Her plan was a failure.
Being alone in Van Wert Castle made her too nervous, but how could she be tied down with no way out? When she had escaped the annex earlier, she had wondered if Collin would really let her go.
But people like him would have already calculated this variable.

‘Collin will definitely attempt something…’

Giving her a drink at the dinner party out of the blue was his intention to make her drunk.
When that was over, he had pushed his shameless being into the annex.
His many, impure intentions were clear.
Since he had already failed twice, he would do even more sly tricks the next time.

As for now, Emma couldn’t even guess what kind Collin would throw next… However, as it stands, whatever it was, it would not favor Emma, who was a mere outsider.

“What now…” Emma, who thought about it, struggled for words to say.
“Then can I ask a cautious favor, My Lord? It may be difficult…”

“I will do whatever I can to help, madam.”

Baron Berne, with his solemn and firm appearance, was trustworthy enough.
Since he was a veteran and Irvan’s closest aide, he was the first person introduced to Emma.

Finding him a ray of hope in her current affliction, her eyes glowed faintly at him.
“Can you arrange for me five servants until Irvan gets back?” she asked tentatively.

“…there are plenty of them in the castle,” he began.
He pointed out a loophole right away.

“Then, perhaps… handmaidens instead of servants,” Emma nodded as she quickly corrected her request.

“Handmaidens can handle the work, but not only will they be criticized for serving an outsider, but them alone may not be enough to prevent any untoward thing from happening…”

Baron Berne accurately pointed out Emma’s concerns with just a few words.
Emma’s face sunk.

“So, they are inadequate?”

Was Collin reckless enough to attempt something even if there were a few eyes watching? Furthermore, if handmaidens were arranged by Baron Berne, they still would not be on Emma’s side.
 The suspicion that was in her head soon became resolved with his reply.

“It is an easy task to call off the handmaidens, as it is the right principle for an employee to follow the instructions of his or her master.
Moreover, that master is an aristocrat,” he gravely stated.

That was right.
Emma is currently identified as a commoner, and similarly, the handmaidens with her would be commoners, too.
Commoners were supposed to obey an aristocrat’s order, despite their opinions.
Compared to the aristocrat Collin, Emma and her handmaidens would be beneath him.

“Then… what can I do?”

Emma stared at Baron Berne with trembling eyes.
Urgent desperation rose inside her.
He was the only person he could rely on right now; the only person in the whole castle whom she could trust.