Chapter 49

While Ramona was muttering to herself, Jefferson stood up from the floor, his brow furrowed deeply. There was no time to rub his legs, which throbbed as if his shins were broken.

The opponent was a woman, but she was the mother of the household’s heir and was staying as a guest. It was certain that even the Duke would lend an ear to a single word from her.

“I-I’m telling you again, I’ve already paid for my crimes.”

“The victim says that ‘payment’ was far too light. Since the person involved died because of it, how exactly do you intend to pay for this?”

“I never told that woman to die!”

“You didn’t tell her to die, but you made her die. You have to take responsibility for that.”

Looking at Ramona, who seemed to be asking how he dared to slink away after receiving a punishment that wasn’t even a punishment, Jefferson bit his lip hard. If he ran away like this, it was obvious he would be kicked out of this house. In that case, he just had to make sure she never opened her mouth again.

Confident that he could turn her into a plaything who would move exactly as he commanded forever, Jefferson lunged toward Ramona like a moth to a flame. Just as his mind filled with insidious thoughts, a pitch-black shadow leaped out from between the flowering plants.

Tadatadatat tadat—

The petite creature leaped gracefully and executed a flying kick toward Jefferson.

Thwack!

“Urgh!”

Toto, having blasted Jefferson’s jaw with a sturdy hind leg, performed a somersault and landed naturally on the ground. Not stopping there, it hopped up and down on Jefferson’s face, which was distorted in agony.

“Toto? Not there, the crotch.”

In the moonlight, Toto’s pink fur looked particularly divine today. As if understanding exactly what Ramona meant, the rabbit mercilessly kicked his face one last time before landing right on top of his “unmentionables” and beginning a series of stompings. As if expressing extreme displeasure, it pounded its hind legs down with a rhythmic thud-thud, as if trying to stamp them into the earth.

“Ugh…!”

A memory flickered through Jefferson’s mind of someone once telling him that it was the only part of the body that couldn’t be toughened through training. Proving that statement true, Jefferson frothed at the mouth and fainted under Toto’s stomping.

After checking the man’s condition, Toto hopped lightly into Ramona’s arms. Wiping Toto’s hind paws with a handkerchief, Ramona stroked its soft fur.

Seeing Toto’s nose twitch, it seemed to be in a good mood.

Since everything was resolved without her having to lift a finger, Ramona turned to comfort Amy, who was still weeping.

“Uwaaaaaah, my poor sister… hic.”

Jennifer had worked so hard to feed her younger siblings since she was a child that her fingernails and toenails were worn down to the point of never needing to be cut. In the midst of that, she had saved money tenaciously to marry the man she loved.

However, that money had allegedly vanished into Jefferson’s scam. They had caught Jefferson, but because he had already squandered it all on gambling, there was no way to get it back. At those words, Ramona patted Amy’s shoulder.

Since a flower bud that was just about to bloom had been heartlessly snapped off, the hearts of her family members must be wandering through hell.

“That guy… hic… he’s still alive and can do anything. Sniff. But my sister can’t do anything anymore… she can’t even say goodnight… she can’t love… it’s so unfair. So, so unfair.”

The young sibling who grew up under her sister’s care had become an adult, but she was still frozen in the pain of that day.

“Amy, your sister is watching you from heaven; are you going to keep crying?”

“Hwaaaaaah.”

“She would be so happy that the sister she raised so dearly got a job at such a wonderful place. How can you cry like this? You need to pull yourself together and move on to the next step.”

Not knowing what the “next step” meant, Amy lifted her head and looked at Ramona with wide, rabbit-like eyes.

“Amy, you just watch on your sister’s behalf. We’ll do the work.”

With a beaming smile, Ramona stood up. At that, Anna began rummaging through her things and pulled something out.

“When did you prepare this?”

“To be with you, sister, this level of preparation is basic. Ho ho ho.”

Seeing the sturdy rope Anna pulled from inside her skirt, Ramona gave a triumphant smile. She then threaded the rope through the right sleeve of the unconscious Jefferson’s clothes, out the left sleeve, and tied his arms tightly to the rope with extra string so they wouldn’t slip.

“Now! Shall we hang the rag out to dry? A rag is still a rag even if you wash it, so it might smell a bit, but doing this should make it at least a little cleaner.”

She lashed the rope binding Jefferson to a sturdy tree. It seemed like it would be quite strenuous, but Ramona wore a chilly smile as if she found the task delightful.

“Ah! Wait a moment. Sister, if we just hang him up, people might misunderstand, so it would be better to leave a note.”

At Anna’s request, Ramona hurried to find some paper. Just as Anna was looking apologetic for not preparing that as well, Amy handed over the paper she had brought for her own use.

“Is drawing your hobby?”

“Yes. My mom told me not to do it because it costs a lot of money, but my sister supported me from behind the scenes. I still draw a little bit even now…”

As if remembering her sister again, Amy burst into tears while handing over her paper, brushes, and paints.

Picking out a bright crimson color, Ramona wrote directly on the paper. Amy’s eyes went round at the sight of the letters, which were large enough to be seen from far away.

“I think this might soothe your sister’s resentment just a little bit.”

Seeing the “rag” hanging on the clothesline, Amy inadvertently grabbed the hem of Ramona’s skirt and spoke.

“S-Sister… from now on, I will serve you with all my heart as my elder sister. Sniff.”

***

The Next Day—

The Cassius’ estate was thrown into an uproar by Mia’s scream. People nearby gathered in an instant, and upon seeing Jefferson hanging from the clothesline, frothed at the mouth and unconscious, they immediately reported it to Adrian.

Adrian, who happened to be sparring with Freire at the nearby training grounds, headed straight for the garden.

“What on earth is…”

Seeing the employee fluttering like a flag on a clothesline, Adrian shook his head as he read the words written on the front and back of the man.

[I AM A CON ARTIST!]

Seeing the short and concise writing, Adrian looked at Sir Onyx, who had been on guard duty all night.

“Did you see this?”

“I am only seeing it now. There was no such thing when we were doing our rounds. We received no reports either.”

Seeing Kai quickly attending to the trembling Mia and leading her away, Adrian picked up Raon, who was standing nearby. It seemed the child had followed him out after waking up early to practice swordsmanship when the commotion started.

“Children shouldn’t see things like this.”

“It’s okay. I’ve seen it occasionally. She rarely gets angry, but…”

At Raon’s small murmur, Adrian shook his head and handed the child over to Freire. Giving a look that signaled to take him inside immediately, Freire took Raon and walked away quickly.

“Who is this man?”

“It’s Jefferson. Judging by his usual behavior, it seems heaven has struck him down. He was so silver-tongued that I’ve seen him borrow money from colleagues and not pay it back more than once or twice.”

There was no way Adrian would have memorized the personal details of every servant in the mansion. Thus, a person who worked in the same area as Jefferson spoke while shaking their head.

“Dear me, he’s been hit quite severely. To the point where, as a fellow man, I offer my sincere condolences.”

Sir Brandon, who knew a bit about medicine, looked at the man hanging on the rope with a pained expression. In particular, seeing that a certain delicate area seemed to have been targeted and stomped until it was bruised, Sir Brandon and the other men present instinctively brought their legs together modestly.

“I feel like paying my respects to a perfect crime that even blocked off the escape route completely.”

Underneath the man fluttering in the light breeze, a wooden board had been placed. Formidable large nails were sticking out, not downward, but upward, their sharpened edges bared like a predator watching its prey.

It seemed to mean that even if the human hanging on the clothesline woke up and wanted to escape, he wouldn’t be let off easily. Looking at how densely someone had driven the nails into the board in the middle of the night, there was a suspicion, but no evidence. Even if there were evidence, no one would dare say anything.

“Never pick a fight with my sister..”

“What do you mean…?”

“If you’re lucky, you’ll just end up hanging on the clothesline. If you’re really unlucky, you might meet Lord Jue a little sooner than expected.”

The words Anna had said recently suddenly flashed through his mind. If that was the case, the conclusion was that this man was currently very lucky. First of all, he wasn’t dead.

A sudden chill ran through Adrian’s body. As he watched the nail-studded board being cleared and the man being taken down, he spoke.

“Sir Billion.”

“Yes, you called?”

Billion, with his slender frame and expressionless face, emerged from behind a landscape tree to answer.

“You know who did this, don’t you?”

Early on, just in case, Adolf had told Sir Billion to secretly attach a few knights to protect Ramona. Therefore, a report on this matter must have been made.

“Sir Rage, report what you personally witnessed to the Young Duke.”

At Sir Billion’s command, Sir Rage, whom no one even knew was there, bowed slightly before Adrian and reported.

“Toto did it.”

“What?”

“It leaped through the darkness and incapacitated this man with a double flying side-kick. After that, it climbed on top of that place and performed a series of hind-leg stomps.”

Having been on the receiving end of Toto’s flying kick himself, Adrian inadvertently rubbed his arm and nodded.

“I suppose, I’ve been hit by Toto’s flying kick before, too…”

When the eyes of the men who heard Adrian’s words drifted downward, he barked out a shout.

“NOT THERE!”