341 The letter
“Let’s see.” Ben opened the letter and read, “Hoe pay you enter and cause trouble kill on look. Burn after read.”
Ben scratched his head and gave the letter to Vincent. “I have the gist of the badly written letter’s content and how this was planned. Maybe you can find more details since you might be brighter than me because of your origin.”
The soldiers curiously looked at Ben handing the letter to Vincent. Ben didn’t appear to act like this too often.
Soon, the soldiers started to piece the puzzle together. They could now begin to understand why Ben was dead set to take the alarm call instead of other vice captains and rush as if his life was on the line.
.
[Name] Letter
[Condition] Damaged
[Grade] Common
[Description]
.....
A letter badly written by Ted.
.
Vincent looked at the letter after he inspected it and discovered some clues.
[No surname. So it wasn’t a noble who wrote this letter. Furthermore, his writing is as bad as Ester’s handwriting. It indicates he isn’t a person that writes very often and doesn’t hold a high position in whatever criminal organization the person is in.]
-So, the owner of the letter must be the middleman.-
[The guess of my conclusion is similar.]
Vincent handed the letter back to Ben. “I hope what I discovered, and my assumptions can help. ” Vincent took some time explaining what he and Kazumi assume the letter’s owner does and their possible locations.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt“A woman called Big Nose Ted or two men called Wide Nose Ted, and Round Nose Ted come to mind. These three are known middlemen, and we can never find incriminating evidence to lock them up.” Ben placed the latter in his pocket for safekeeping as it is a piece of crucial evidence.
“Hahaha.” Ben laughed, surprising the soldiers preparing to carry the corpses outside. He patted Vincent’s shoulder and said, “The city changed when you came to live here.”
“You cleaned our ranks of a few incompetent soldiers promoted from connections.”
“Lord Blackheart overdosed himself to death.”
“A man in green eyes, which is very rare to find, helped us capture an illegal slave trader with evidence of some of his dealings with him.”
“And now I might be able to catch all three the Teds the next time I find them.”
Ben looked happy to clean the city of the filth, and he started to accept Vincent a little bit more. He waved his hand ordered the soldiers to carry the corpses outside. “Looks like cleaning is the only trouble you guys are in, haha.” Ben took one last look to check if he missed anything and exited the workshop while laughing.
Vincent, Lenn, and Renn led Ben and the soldiers back to the gate. Eliara and Fliara were waiting along with the soldiers and the woman sitting on the ground. She was shivering as if she was sitting on ice.
“We heard what happened, and we rushed here to help after we heard what happened, but it looks like it is over. ” Eliara said with a concerned expression on her face.
“Yeah, we woke up and saw everyone in the guest hall comforting Sakura. She always looked like a strong woman with a fun character, but she looked frightened now.” Fliara explained. She looked at the woman shivering on the ground and continued, “Poor woman must have been scared to see the thief.”
“D-d-demon! I sa-saw demon!” The woman scratched her head and was starting to lose her sanity. The soldiers were reassuring the woman in a caring tone, trying to calm her. Later they managed to calm her enough to take her away for a few questions and offer help.
Ben mounted his horse, and when he was about to leave with his platoon, he heard Vincent say, “I invite you and your family to attend my wedding in two days. It will be held in Lilith’s patents property.”
“Sure. See everyone there.” Ben waved and left.
[~Phew~ The situation is resolved at last. But poor Ester. She didn’t have much of a date. And poor Sakura. She seems to be traumatized by what Fliara said.]
-Yeah.-
“Lenn and Renn look exhausted after what happened. Could you two keep the place safe?” Vincent asked.
“Leave the security to us.” Both half-sisters said before they closed the gate and stood guard.
Vincent, Lenn, and Renn went to the guest hall. Everyone residing in the mansion except for the two guarding the gate were all in one place.
Vincent saw Sakura sleeping. She was resting her head on Lilith’s lap while Iris was holding a glass cup with a bit of greenish drink remaining. On the other hand, it seemed as if Ester was calming Lupa from causing a commotion.
[So she tried herself to sleep. I hope she doesn’t have nightmares.]
-I hope so too.-
“How is Sakura?” Vincent asked.
“She closed her eyes now.” Answered Yula while offering Vincent a glass of water.
Vincent drank the water and asked, “Lupa. Sofy. Could you two help me clean the workshop?”
“I can help too.” Ester offered.
Vincent shook his head. “You are needed here. Furthermore, this is your day, and I don’t want to ruin it more than it currently is.” He looked at Lilith and Iris with worried expressions on their faces. “They need your presence more than me.”
Maid Xu stepped forward. “Maid Yula and I will take care of the kids and the ladies. Lord Vincent, Lady Lupa, and Sofy can clean what happened without minding us.” She looked at Lilith and continued, “The new large bedroom with the new bed was installed this morning.”
“Lord Vincent and Lady Lupa, hehe.” Vincent chuckled.
Maid Xu lightly blushed. “I have to practice. That’s all.” She said bashfully.
“Big brother. Are the baddies gone?” Tula asked with Plow buried between her chest and arms.
“Yeah. Your brothers helped me a lot.” Vincent took a few steps back. “You can ask them.”
Luap and Sofy went beside Vincent. “If it’s cleaning work, I can clean you too.” Sofy teased. However, Lupa accepted the challenge and said, “Best girl Lupa can do better.”
[I wonder if you will be able to clean the workshop with these two. I think Ester should come with us. But I don’t dislike drama, hehe.]
“Ahem... let’s pick up cleaning tools and go. ” Vincent said before he, Lupa, and Sofy left.
In between currently and going to sleep, Vincent, Lupa, and Sofy cleaned the workshop and the place where Vincent killed the escaping man.
At the same time, Sakura was taken to the new large bedroom with the new huge custom-made bed Fabio brought when they visited his shop.
Iris monitored Sakura’s condition while Lilith read the sleeping Sakura a book, hoping she would dream of the romance story she was reading her.
Ester didn’t know what she could do to help. Her only skills were caring for others and dancing. However, both Iris and Lilith were already taking care of Sakura.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmEster remembered what Vincent told her, so she helped Iris by reassuring her that everything was going to be fine. Ester also asked Lilith about certain points of the story to reassure Lilith someone was listening to the story.
Later, Vincent, Lupa, and Sofy cleaned themselves and went to eat dinner, but Sakura was still sleeping. The spot of the tall lavender-colored oni made the dining hall feel a bit empty.
Vincent and his girls went to the bedroom. Plow became excited when she heard she could sleep on Vincent without waiting.
*Day 75 – A few minutes after midnight*
Sakura opened her eyes. She noticed she was in a new room, but the bed was the most comfortable bed she had ever slept on in her entire life.
Sakura turned her head and saw Ester sleeping beside her. ‘I was brought here to sleep with my sisters.’ She thought.
Sakura smiled and turned around. Vincent was on her other side. She blushed when his face suddenly became close to hers.
[Vincent. Sakura is up. Wake up if you want to talk to her, but she doesn’t look shaken as before.]
Vincent opened his eyes. “How are you feeling, Sakura?” He whispered.
Sakura felt defenseless yet reassured at the same time. “I. I had a good dream. We were married, and we lived a good life together. But...” Sakura smiled, moved her hand under the thin cover, and held his hand. “I feel like I am living that dream.”
“We cleaned the workshop, and Ben will take care of everything. Try to sleep and know that today will be an ordinary day.” Vincent used his thumb to rub her hand and closed his eyes. “Good night.”
“Good night. ” Sakura responded.
Sakura had woke up worried because she didn’t know if the situation was resolved or not. However, Vincent woke up and reassured her it was going to be fine.
Hours later, the moon faded and the sun shone brightly. The morning sunlight shone on the Lionheart mansion and the light soon reached Vincent’s face.
[Morning. It looks like you had a good sleep.]
-The bed feels great.-
[...]
Vincent woke up and looked to his sides. Only Plow was in the bedroom with him and she was cheekily lying comfortably and culty on his stomach.
“Plow wants to eat.” *Pho* Plow cutely blinked her eyes and begged.
Vincent brushed Plow’s soft fur and asked, “Then why are you here?”
*Pho?* “Vincent Vincent is here. Plow say on bed.”
[Plow didn’t want to leave you this morning. She kept saying this was her date day. Haha, this cute little fox was envious of Lupa so she must want the same treatment.]