I was writing a letter to Damian since he was going on break soon and coming back to us. He was sane most of the time, as long as I paid him enough attention.

Another villainess female lead might’ve wondered, why was he so obsessed with me? But me, being myself, loved every bit of it, as I always enjoyed being the center of attention. It had puzzled me from the first time I had read of it, how could anyone find adoration annoying, or be dense enough not to notice it? It was just another way to make the female lead perfect.

A knock came at the door and interrupted my pen.

“Who is it?”

“Sir Williams, my lady.”

I couldn’t think of any reason he would want to meet with me, but he wasn’t unwelcomed.

“Come in.”

The knight entered, and I got up to greet him. He bowed.

“I have a letter for you, my lady.”

“Oh?”

It obviously wasn’t any ordinary letter for our knight commander to deliver personally, and I took it from him with interest. When I saw the name of the sender on the envelope, my heart sped up in excitement.

My loyal knights, with another report, likely on the accident of the female lead. I couldn’t wait to see it, but I still didn’t know why Sir Williams was the one to deliver it. I looked up at him.

“His Grace likes to visit the Avington manor in the capital to get away from court sometimes, and I accompanied him on such an occasion this morning. This letter was just delivered there, and the steward was going to send it with a servant, but I decided to bring it instead, when I saw that it was from a knight.”

It was very kind of him, albeit unnecessary.

“Thank you, Sir Williams.”

I waited for a moment, expecting him to leave so I could read the letter with privacy. When he didn’t I tilted my head. He understood my look.

“Apologies, my lady, but Sir Harrod recently wrote to me concerning a certain subject this letter is likely about. It would be best if you were to read it now, so I can clear up any misunderstandings.”

I frowned, anger rising. Who did Sir Harrod think he was, revealing my business to someone else? They’d better have found something worth the hassle.

“Please know, my lady, that he only did it so he can serve you best. We are all on House Avington and Your Ladyship’s side.”

Sir Williams had a point, so I supposed I could let it go. My curiosity quickly overpowered my annoyance anyways, and I opened the letter.

‘My lady,

Sir Harrod and the knights of my squadron have worked hard to discover the truth behind the accident of Lady Catherine Bryant. However, Sir Harrod advises that you consult Sir Williams for more answers, and he has already written to him.’

I appreciated that Mikhail was considerate enough to warn me, though it did little good.

‘I am sending this letter to the Avington manor in the capital through secure channels, so please be assured that no outsider will know of this. We trust Your Ladyship to use this information well.’

All this was just making it more suspenseful. I bit my lip, butterflies in my stomach. Could they have found the key to the female lead? No, I shouldn’t get my hopes up too early.

‘It was no ‘accident’ that happened to the last Baroness Bryant and her daughter.’

I knew it! My heart skipped a beat and my hands trembled slightly.

‘As Your Ladyship know, the official statement is that the tragedy was caused by demons that attacked their carriage. The baroness and all servants except one was found dead at the scene. The two bodies not recovered were of the young Lady Catherine, one at the time, and a servant that had been with the baron since childhood, by the name of Charles Fletcher.

Of course, Fletcher’s disappearance is much less talked about. Yet it is very odd that he was on the carriage instead of with the baron, given that he had always been his chamberlain and rarely left his side. They had grown up together, and it was said Baron Bryant treated him as a friend and trusted him completely.

There is a river close to where the accident occured, so it was concluded that they fell in trying to escape, but again, their bodies never washed up.

Though there is no proof, it is highly likely that this man was the one that claimed to be ‘Rin’s’ uncle, and ‘Rin’ is Lady Catherine.’

So there had been someone helping her? No wonder the one-year-old managed to escape from demons that the rest of her company could not. The novel had led me to assume it was because of her sainthood, but this made much more sense.

‘The knights looked into why he was on that carriage in the first place and reviewed the files of the incident, which, interestingly, had been sealed. Of course, the knights were able to obtain copies from other methods.

The baroness was dressed in commoners’ clothing that day, which is extremely strange in itself and not what one would wear to visit a noble friend, like what she had claimed to be planning to do. They seemed to have been designed for quick movement, like getting away, as if she dressed knowing that she would have to run.

The baron sent out a large force of knights that day, but not with the baroness directly. It seems that he sent them ahead of the carriage, waiting in the woods where the accident occured, almost as if he knew their only chance of winning against their opponent came from the element of surprise. That is, assuming he knew something would happen in the first place, which he wouldn’t with a demon accident.

If it was paranoia that made him send those knights, well-trained knights can easily take down a few demons, especially the number he sent. And if it were demons, they weren’t very powerful, because of the limited damage to the environment.

Analysis of the records show that the wounds inflicted on bodies found dead could have very well been formed by swords. Additionally, the bodies had not been eaten, like demons would have. In fact, careful observation would reveal that the sword techniques match the unique style taught only to the knights of House Avington.’

My mind was thoroughly muddled, and my gaze slipped over the page several times, trying to make sense of this. I failed completely and gave up.

‘A few conclusions can be reached from this.

One, demons didn’t attack the carriage. The bodies weren’t eaten, and if it had been demons, they would’ve been taken down by the Bryant knights. It wasn’t an accident at all, because Baron Bryant knew to send knights, but in secret.

Two, Baron Bryant knew something was going to happen, and planned for it. He had his servant travel with his wife and daughter, so he could take care of them should something happen. His wife was dressed like she was prepared to go into hiding.

Two, it’s likely that the Avington knights were the ones that did attack them. Baron Bryant knew his knights could not have won against the Avington knights in a fair battle, so he tried to surprise them.

Certainly, these are only speculations backed with circumstantial evidence, which is why Sir Williams will clarify this for Your Ladyship.’

Bless Mikhail for summarizing the deduction for me. It was the end of the letter, before his signature, and also the only part that I understood. My brain worked like machinery, furiously trying to process all of this.

If my brain was a machine, smoke would be coming out of it, and it would likely soon explode.

The main piece of puzzle here was how we were connected to the female lead even before the novel started. It made sense, since I already knew there was a connection with the current Baroness Bryant. Maybe these things were even linked.

This letter brought more questions than answers, and I didn’t like that. But mark my words, I was going to get to the bottom of this.

“Sir Williams, would you care to explain?”