Chapter 65 – Lennox Quinn Celeste

A long time passed with her crying alone like that, before a bewildered Inabelle hesitantly approached her. Tiana slowly wiped her leftover tears away.

“What’s wrong?”

Inabelle was even more puzzled at the question than she had been before. What was she even supposed to answer? She wasn’t the one crying alone on a swing. So she decided to ignore the question and said what she came to say.

“Your snack is ready, ma’am.”

“I’m not in the mood to eat.”

“But ma’am you need to eat if you don’t want your body to weaken. Just have a little bit, please.”

“I really don’t have an appetite. I just want some time to think right now.”

When Tiana spoke, holding the ledger tightly in her arms, Inabelle closed her mouth, not wanting to say anything else. Her stare fell on the ledger for a second and a hint of sadness crossed her heart. As close as she was to Tiana, she just watched her quietly, for even she knew about the ledger’s history.

After a good cry, Tiana calmed down a little. Feeling the gentle spring breeze passing by her face, she swung her feet out to move the swing. The moving swing smelled of fresh grass. A sweet scent came from the blossoming red flowers from the vine going up the rope handle.

As Tiana swung higher, her eyes caught the building on the opposite side. It was directly visible from where she was, not too far from the mansion. This building looked smaller than the main part of the mansion but its magnificent and brilliant appearance was just as good. Was that an annex? She hadn’t heard what the annex was used for.

Every time she took a walk through the garden, she was fascinated by the building in the distance. But Alfred, Loanna, Inabelle, and all the other servants had evaded answering her questions. Something made it look important, but why did they have to hide it from her? Tiana was getting ready to leave the mansion soon, but she hated that they had hidden it from her until the end.

At last, since it was just her and Inabelle, should she ask her?

She set her feet on the ground to stop the swing.

“They say that building over there is the annex, right?”

“Huh? Oh… yes.”

“I’ve been enduring it because no one has let me know, but since I don’t have much time left here, I think it’s time that I deserve to know. Who is staying there and why are you hiding it from me?”

“Uh, that…”

“What? Is some high-ranked noble hidden in there? Servants have been coming and going in that direction more often than not.”

Come to think of it, she had often witnessed servants heading toward there at a certain time every day. At first, she thought they went to clean up, but seeing not only the head cleaner but other maids going there together made her think something strange was going on. She had presumed it might be a guesthouse or a special place for invite-only guests. If someone were to receive an invitation to the duke’s mansion, it wouldn’t be weird to stay in the annex, but Tiana had never seen the guest before. Isn’t she also supposed to greet the guests invited to the mansion? On top of that, two months had already passed. It was strange for a guest to stay in the annex for more than two months. How long can someone stay in the duke’s mansion if they’re not really a special guest?

Edwin wasn’t the type to call people over, so who in the world was it?

She shifted her suspicious stare from the annex to the fidgeting Inabelle.

“Actually, right now… the young master is staying in the annex.”

“Young master? Who’s the young master?”

“It’s… your younger brother… Lennox”

“What? L-Lennox?”

Tiana froze at the unexpected answer and repeated it several times. Lennox. Lennox. Lennox. Surely a strange name. Lennox Quinn Celeste, Tiana’s younger brother and successor to the duke, from the original novel.

After having been possessed, she hadn’t seen him in the mansion, so she had assumed he was somewhere else, but all this time he had been in the annex. She thought maybe he had gone to the Imperial Academy. In the original book, it had been mentioned that Lennox had a great talent for magic and had entered an academy for senior wizards at Edwin’s recommendation.

The time when he had returned after graduation was when the original novel had progressed a little and Tiana had given Angelica a hard time while actively engaging in her social activities.

It had been before he made an appearance, but she thought he had already gone to the academy because she hadn’t been able to see him. Had he been here all along?

“Why is he in the annex? He’s my brother and successor to the duke.”

“About that… he is on probation.”

“Probation? Did he commit a crime or something?”

“Can we call it that? Not even I know the full details, but he was with you during your accident, ma’am. I think something happened to him at that time.”

“What? Something like what?”

“I’m not entirely sure. At the time, I was somewhere else, having received orders from you, ma’am.”

“Is that so…?”

Was Lennox involved in the accident? Did Lennox hear something strange and in a fit of anger caused the accident?

No… no way could he have done that to his own sister. Tiana wasn’t sure about their relationship, but there wasn’t a reason for Lennox to purposely cause the accident.

Unless it had something to do with the one who had possessed Tiana…