Chapter 20 - Hidden Ties

 Amon and I stood in silence before the unconscious Hayden. It would be more accurate to say that words couldn't come out of our mouths.

“So, no, I…”

“You came to Hayden and proposed a deal. To murder Russell.”

Amon finished after me.

It was disturbing in many ways. I wondered how Hayden was able to come to his decision and entrust Julia with the secret passage, knowingly putting her in danger.

'She said she would kill Russell and take her own life after...'

Once again, Julia's unwavering determination left an impression on me. She was so determined to kill Russell, how unfortunate.

“…What now?”

I asked, barely suppressing my emotions.

"We can't just wait here, can we? We don't know how long it'll take for him to come back to his senses. It'll become a problem if the butler comes into this."

The room was filled with tension, and Amon's eyes fixed on the door. Eventually, he opened his mouth to break the silence.

“In reality, Duke Bolev is dead. So Lord Hayden must believe that the Lady succeeded in her plan.”

“I guess so. Since I came with the Knights, he would have thought that I confessed everything.”

Subsequently, he must have been extremely surprised to the point of losing consciousness.

“…It would be dangerous to leave everything as it is.”

"What?"

Amon quickly stood up and retrieved a pair of sleek silver shackles from his sleeves. The shackles were a luxurious item similar to the Blue Knights' brooch.

“What are you planning to do?”

“I will take Lord Hayden to the Knights' Templar.”

“You're going to arrest him? Is that necessary?"

I jumped up in surprise and Amon stared at me sternly.

“Lord Hayden firmly believes that the Lady is the culprit. What would happen when he informs anyone else of this information?"

"Ah..."

“What if this reaches the ears of the true culprit?"

Anxiety overwhelmed me in an instant. If that happened, the true culprit would undoubtedly attempt to use Hayden.

“They will frame me.”

"That's right. Besides, isn't it true that the Lady did stab Duke Bolev?”

Only Amon and I were aware of the fact that there existed a true culprit who poisoned Russell. No, even we were closer to believing than actually determining it as a fact.

'There is no evidence that such a culprit even exists.'

If Hayden's testimony were to be revealed in this situation, it would pose a threat to me, as Amon said.

“The real culprit must never know what happened between the Lady and Lord Hayden. So, we must safeguard Lord Hayden.”

Amon approached Hayden who was lying in a chair in an unconscious state and secured the shackles around his slender wrists.

"Is it possible to proceed without sufficient evidence? Perhaps we should consider taking the time to persuade him instead."

"I'll try to persuade him later. Do you not see that he is currently in a state of distress? Anything we say will be challenging for him to process."

Hayden was in such a state of shock that I couldn't bring myself to contradict Amon. It seemed like this man believed that any words I spoke were an attempt to shift the blame onto him.

I heard an unpleasant metallic sound. Amon secured the shackles on Hayden and stood up.

“We must leave the mansion first. After we escort him to the Knights Templar, we'll talk slowly."

Amon picked up a blanket from the sofa and wrapped it around Hayden's body.

After his diminutive body and the shackles on his wrists were concealed underneath the blanket, Amon lifted Hayden's body. The weight of the unconscious man did not seem to affect Amon's complexion.

“Are we leaving now?"

"We are."

Amon's hasty movements indicated a desire to prevent Hayden and the true culprit from having the opportunity to meet.

'Wouldn't this be considered more of a kidnapping than an arrest?'

I attempted to remain alert in the rapidly evolving situation. After quickly tidying up the drawing room, I prepared to follow Amon. However, just as I was about to move, a knock on the door interrupted me.

Amon and I stopped moving.

“Master, it is me.”

The source of the knocking was none other than the butler who guided us. I gulped and made eye contact with Amon, but neither of us said anything.

“…Master Hayden?”

With a slightly louder knock, the butler's voice was heard again.

'What do we do?'

I observed the entrance anxiously, but Amon took the initiative and approached it. To my surprise, he opened the door without any hesitation and revealed Hayden, whom he was carrying like a piece of baggage.

“Ah, Sir Knight. Are you still speaking... young master?"

The butler seemed to belatedly notice Hayden's condition. Amon dragged the shocked old man into the drawing room and slammed the door shut.

I let out a sigh of relief as the Knights' Templar finally came into view through the windowsill. Hayden had remained unconscious throughout the entire journey from the mansion to now.

Amon issued a stern warning to Hayden's butler after he entered the drawing room.

He claimed that his master was a suspicious suspect and that Hayden himself agreed to be detained in the Templar, but he suddenly lost consciousness.

Amon cornered the butler and didn't explain the situation in detail. He even threatened that if anything leaked out, it would be solely the butler's fault.

The blackmail was effective. The Bolev Dukedom valued face to the point of hiding Hayden, ashamed of his chronic illness. There was no way they would publicly reveal the fact that a direct descendant of the duchy had become a suspect in a murder.

'Though I don't know how long he'll keep his mouth shut.'

Hayden had always lived with a sense of indifference from others, but he was currently at the center of a complicated inheritance issue. There would likely be many people who'd ask to meet him.

‘A day or two… A few days at most.'

We had to convince Hayden in that short time.

The carriage soon stopped moving, and Amon pulled the blanket over Hayden's face and lifted him again.

As we entered the building, the eyes of the members fixated on us. One of the members inquired about Hayden's identity, to which Amon simply replied that there was nothing to worry about. We headed down to the basement.

I glanced around while following after him.

“I didn’t know a place like this existed.”

A series of identical doors were arranged along a lengthy hallway. The layout bore some resemblance to the accommodations on the second floor where I was residing, but the overall ambiance was rather ominous and murky, possibly due to the presence of gray stone walls and iron doors.

“This place is used when detaining or interrogating a suspect.”

Amon strode to the end of the hallway and opened a thick iron door that seemed to let no air pass through. Only one bed existed inside the bleak room. Amon laid Hayden on the bed.

“Now what?”

“We will have to wait until he comes to his senses. If we forcefully wake him up, it could cause problems.”

“Is it okay to leave him here?”

“If the door isn't opened from the outside, he won't be able to leave. It is not uncommon for the knights to operate in secrecy, therefore, the Templar should not have any inquiries."

“Rather than that…”

I stared down at Hayden.

“Personally, I would be surprised to find myself in this situation upon regaining consciousness."

"Pardon?"

“It would be scary. He seems rather weak as well.”

“…Is that so?"

Amon reached for the light hanging from the ceiling inside the empty room. He cast a soft glow and turned to face me, his expression questioning if everything was alright now.

'Is it because of the lighting?'

The light was so soft that it felt eerie. I tilted my head.

“I think this would be more frightening.”

“…I'll write down a note. Will you be satisfied then?"

“That would be nice.”

Amon tore up a note and hastily scribbled a message. He stuck it on Hayden's chest and turned towards me with an accomplished face.

"Yes, I like it."

It didn't look very nice, but this was better than nothing.

“Then let’s go now.”

We carefully locked the door behind us and proceeded down a lengthy hallway that lacked any windows. As we walked, I opened my mouth.

“I also wish to speak with Lord Hayden again, is that possible?”

Hayden was the only person I was aware that met the real Julia and not me. I was hoping to learn something about her through his experience, but Amon shook his head.

“I think it would be best to speak after I persuade him."

Right. Just looking at my face makes him tremble in fear.

"Alright. I have one more thing to tell you.”

“Have you recovered any memories?”

Amon gazed at me with expectant eyes.

“No, not that. There is one thing that bothers me. While we were at Lord Hayden's mansion earlier, the butler knocked outside.”

"Right."

“And although we didn’t answer, he didn’t think to come in despite his worry."

"Isn't it natural one can't open the door without their master's permission?"

"Well, I guess so.”

It would have been natural for Amon, but I was rather lacking in the knowledge of the etiquette in this world.

“But I suddenly remembered. When I was inside the bedroom alongside Russell's corpse, the knight turned the doorknob without permission.”

Tak. Amon stopped walking. He seemed to understand what I was trying to say.

"Why did the knight try to open the bedroom door without his master's permission?"

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