Seeking for Your Forgiveness

glance when she gave him endless opportunities, but now he came and irritated her.

 

Swing.

 

Turning her back, she glared fiercely at Kristoff.
Facing Marianne, who wore an angry expression, he looked embarrassed like a child who didn’t know what to do.

 

A feeble and pitiful face.

 

“……”

 

Marianne eventually turned her back to him again without saying anything.
She took steps forward angrily while shaking her shoulders wildly, such a manner was so unlike Lady Schneider.

 

The persistent footsteps haunted her.

 

***

 

“Good morning.”

 

Marianne, who greeted everyone brightly as she entered the office, felt a strange atmosphere and slowly stopped her footsteps.
Nicholas, Maxim Florian, and Ian.
all the team members were already in the office.

 

Is she late? That can’t be.

 

She threw a brief glance out of the window and returned her gaze back into the office.
The atmosphere was heavy.

 

For some reason, Marianne couldn’t get through them easily because she felt like she was under some sort of mysterious pressure and just stood there while looking at the four men.

 

Maxim stared at her with his big and sharp eyes, Florian just turned away from her with a cold expression.
Ian, just like her, watched the three men.
And there was Nicholas.

 

“Marianne Haveck.”

 

“Yes, Inspector Nicholas.”

 

Marianne replied more enthusiastically than before.
Nicholas, who sat at the desk, folded his arms and stared at her.

 

Just as his blue eyes seemed to become more mysterious.

 

“How did you figure it out?”

 

“What? What?”

 

Nicholas frowned slightly at her question.
Ian, who was beside her, spoke in a small voice, “About the jewelry robber she caught yesterday.”

 

“A stolen gem was found in his house.
We only found about half of it.
The other half seems to have already been squandered.”

 

Only then did Marianne, who nodded, scratch her cheek indifferently.
It was a flippant act that Lady Schneider would never do, but it was natural for Marianne.

 

“It was easy to recognize him after looking at the montage.”

 

There was another brief silence in her calm reply.
The silence felt uncomfortable, as if it pricked her. Prick, her cheeks hurt.

 

Nicholas remembered the face of a jewelry robber who had been locked up in the prison cell.
Regardless of how many times he saw the montage, it was difficult to recognize the culprit at a single glance.

 

It wouldn’t have been easy unless it were Maxim and Florian, who have an old hand in this kind of stuff.
He had to admit that she had special eyes.
She might be more than he expected.

 

―Let’s see what Marianne can do here.

 

Commissioner Simon’s words came to his mind when she came here for the first time.

 

There’s something she can do.
Perhaps.

 

“D*mn it.”

 

Maxim, who couldn’t stand it, leaped up from his seat and left the office after releasing profanities through his teeth.
Florian still stared coldly at the window.

 

Nicholas spoke in a softer voice.

 

“Your appearance has changed a lot, but I still managed to recognize you.
Good job.”

 

Good job.

 

There was a hint of warmth in his words.
Marianne looked at him with an embarrassed gaze, and she muttered, “Thank you” after a long while and entwined her lips.
Her cheeks flushed brightly.

 

Nicholas, who nodded, brought his butt off the desk and looked at the team members.

 

“Well, let’s work hard today, too.
Florian, I have to look at the current progress of the investigation, and Ian, go and get Maxim.
And Marianne.”

 

“……”

 

Marianne stared at him with so much expectations in the air.
Her sparkling, indigo-colored eyes blazed like a star.

 

Nicholas raised his hand and pointed to the desk where the documents were piled up.

 

“I’ll ask for those papers today.”

 

“……Yes.”

 

With slumping shoulders, she trudged and moved weakly. “Oh, before that,” she heard Nicholas call her again.
Marianne turned her head sullenly.

 

“See the doctor first.”

 

“Doctor? Oh.”

 

She brought her hand to her forehead.
Although she felt a throbbing pain, she could still endure it.

 

“It’s nothing, Inspector.”

 

“It’s not going to be the only place where you got hurt anyway.”

 

Marianne opened her eyes wide at Nicholas’ words that seemed to know everything.

 

Could the inspector see through the scars under her clothes?

 

“Ian said so.
I mean, you hit the killer while flying.
I heard there was a suspicious noise during the fight.
Is your bone alright?”

 

“……Yes.”

 

Marianne nodded while avoiding his gaze.
After a moment passed, she thought she didn’t have to do that.

 

However, she couldn’t think of any other way at that moment.

 

“In order to keep doing this job for a long time, you need to know how to save yourself.
There’s a small clinic one block away from here.
It’s a place that many police officers visit, so if you tell them you’re from the Police Agency, they’ll take good care of you.
The doctor is a great guy.”

 

“Yes.”

 

Marianne nodded.
She looked away from Nicholas’ back and quietly repeated what he had just said.

 

“In order to keep doing this job for a long time,”

A faint smile suddenly hung around her lips.

 

***

 

“Ms.
Marianne Haveck, please come in.”

 

Following the nurse’s guidance, she opened the door of the doctor’s office and entered.
The small and cozy clinic gave off a clean atmosphere, as if it had just been built.
Instead of the smell of disinfectant, it smelled a bit like dry paint.

 

“Ms…… Marianne Haveck?”

 

The doctor across the desk casted her a favorable look.
Marianne couldn’t hide her surprised expression and opened her eyes widely.

 

He had a friendly impression with that attractive smile on his face.
The mild atmosphere surrounding him was able to relieve the patient’s anxiousness.
He was quite different from the overbearing doctors she had met until now.

 

Especially with Schneider’s unfriendly doctor.

 

“My name is Liam Fluke.
You can call me Doctor Fluke.
Are you sick anywhere?”

 

Marianne casually fiddled with her forehead.

 

“Oh, dear.”