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Chapter 157

Translated by: Miss Ruby

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This was the first time I had tracked down the specific location of a client using the mark I gave to them . But who would have thought that my client would be located in the Crawford mansion .

However, I had done a rough estimate of this client’s mark location before and they were certainly not in the East . So from that, I could tell that the person with my mark must be a guest who had been staying at the Crawford mansion for some time .

In fact, I could have snuck into the Crawford mansion at night and secretly checked them out . But as I have mentioned before, the security in the Crawford mansion was so thorough that with the slightest mistake, I could end up stirring a hornet’s nest .

Most of all, imagine how annoying it would be if Kalian noticed me…

It has happened more than a few times, and I was tired of running into him like that .

“Welcome, welcome!”

Bastian welcomed us extravagantly . After all, he was worried enough to come to my house to see me himself .

“Hello, Grandpa . Here is a present for you . ”

“Oh, you didn’t have to!”

I brought Bastian some snacks that he enjoyed at the coffeehouse .

I figured it would be a good idea to take a break from work at the coffeehouse, so I stopped by to talk to Gilbert then I bought these . Besides, with the chaos from the heretic hunt going on lately, it would be better to just quietly watch over the situation .

Mr . Gilbert was very reluctant . Still, since he had contracted me to work with a flexible schedule, he didn’t hold me back for too long . Nevertheless, I do have a conscience, so I decided to not take any payment for this month since I was absent from work even though it was unavoidable .

Bastian took my present and handed it to the butler . Then he ordered them to prepare a table of refreshments with my present, before turning back to me .

“But why has your face slimmed down? Are you unwell?”

Bastian said worriedly after taking a close look at my face .

But I was exactly the same; I hadn’t even lost 1kg . So if my face looked smaller to him, it was probably because Bastian was looking at me with eyes from his heart .

“I should be asking you, Grandpa . You look tired today . Maybe I shouldn’t have come; you should be getting some rest . ”

“What are you talking about? Absolutely not! I can always rest!”

“But Grandpa, Ms . Yuri has a point, you do look tired today . Let’s sit down, instead of standing around like this . ”

Like before, we sat facing each other at the table . Soon enough, the servants came in and set up the refreshments .

“Right, have you dealt with everything you needed to do in your hometown?”

“Yes, it was so sudden that I wasn’t able to tell you before leaving . Sorry for worrying you . ”

“Not at all, it must have been quite urgent . ”

Bastian said, looking at me to show that he understood .

For now, I didn’t want to make Bastian worry any further so I told Bastian that an urgent personal situation had come up so I had to make a short visit to my hometown .

Judging by the fact that Bastian’s face didn’t change after hearing what I said, it seemed Kalian also didn’t tell Bastian about meeting me when I was locked up .

Then again, he was originally dissatisfied about my relationship with Bastian so he probably didn’t want to bring that up and make Bastian pay more attention to me .

“Grandpa, are you really sleeping well? You’re not going to bed late again, are you?”

“What are you talking about? I’m getting enough sleep . ”

“I say that because the bags under your eyes look like they are getting darker . You’re not still staying up late to talk with Tatiana-nim, right?”

Before I knew it, Anne-Marie was studying Bastian with her caretaker eyes .

Faced with the suspicion in Anne-Marie’s eyes, Bastian looked away slightly and coughed uncomfortably .

And when I heard that name, I realized it was the name of the guest currently staying in the Crawford house .

“More importantly, it is quite hectic outside lately so you two have to be extra careful and take care of yourselves . ”

Bastian’s desire to change the topic was obvious . I could tell he wanted to avoid Anne-Marie’s barrage of pointed questions, but it was more effective than I expected .

Anne-Marie, who was about to say something stern to Bastian, shut her mouth .

“You must be talking about the heretic search . ”

I lifted my teacup and calmly replied to what he said . I could feel Anne-Marie glance at me for a second .

“When I met Mr . Gilbert today, he was also worried about the turbulence outside and he said the atmosphere on the street is nothing like before . I don’t know how long this will last . ”

“Indeed . I’m just a retired old man now so I don’t know much but from what I’ve heard, it seems the intensity will reduce after the praying ceremony . So don’t worry too much . ”

Bastian casually answered my question . His words confirmed that my prediction was right .

I nodded my head and took another sip of my tea .

Right then, Anne-Marie spoke up after hesitating for a bit .

“Um, Grandpa . What will happen to the heretics that are caught? If they are found innocent, they will be released back, right?”

Bastian’s hand on his teacup paused . Soon, he turned to look at Anne-Marie .

I turned to look at Anne-Marie too .

“Even if the explosions really happened because of those people, I’m sure there are other kind and well-meaning heretics . So I hope the innocent ones aren’t hauled away as well . ”

I knew why Anne-Marie was saying this .

‘She’s thinking of me and the two patients in the house . ’

The fact that she thought of us as good heretics was certainly nice . But considering the atmosphere in the East right now, it was dangerous to say such things out loud . Moreover, even though Bastia might look like a harmless grandfather, he is the former head of the Crawford family which was leading the heretic hunt .

Clink .

Bastian put down his teacup . But unlike what I expected, Bastian spoke in a mild tone .

“You are right, Anne-Marie . There are surely good heretics as well . ”

His words were a little surprising .

It seemed Anne-Marie also didn’t expect him to respond positively because her eyes went round .

After that, we didn’t talk about heretics anymore but thanks to his reply, the atmosphere which almost grew heavy, was once again relaxed .

After a while, I left the room, using the excuse of going to the bathroom . This was because I noticed that the person with my mark who had been in a room this whole time, had moved .

“The old man has a guest?”

“Yes, so it will be some time before…”

“It should be the caretaker at this time though . I’ve been allowed to accompany him when the caretaker is here, so it should be fine . ”

“There is another guest alongside the caretaker . ”

“Another guest?”

I could hear the butler talking with a woman at the corner of the hallway .

Clack .

A while later, I turned around the corner of the hallway and the two of them turned to look at me when they heard my footsteps .

The butler spoke first, in greeting to me .

“Yuri-nim, are you heading back already?”

“No, I’m going to the bathroom . ”

“Oh, I see . Then let me get a maid to guide you . ”

“It’s alright . I know the way . ”

After rejecting the butler’s offer to call a maid, I turned my head towards the gaze that was almost piercing my head .

An old madam with her hair elegantly tied up in a bun was staring at me without blinking .

‘So this is my client . ’

But something about her was familiar . I quickly realized why .

She was the old lady I had walked past at the exhibition ground . That said, she was staring at me way too much . So for a moment, I wondered ‘Did she know what I look like before commissioning me as Arachne?’ but sure enough, that wasn’t the case .

“Oh dear, you really look like Selena . ”

The old lady said a moment later and broke out in a refreshing smile .

“No wonder . I thought he was growing foolish in his old age, but this makes sense . ”

From what I could see, she didn’t seem to know I was Arachne in the underworld but…

I hid the fact that I was observing her and asked .

“Are you Tatiana-nim?”

“You know my name?”

The old lady’s eyes narrowed .

“Sorry if I offended you . I just remembered them talking about a guest staying at the mansion . ”

I did not miss the interest gathering in her eyes, which were fixated on me .

“I see . You said you were going to the bathroom, right? I happen to have something to do in that direction, so come with me . ”

The old lady said and turned around first, leaving the butler behind . I gladly followed after her .

It was a pretty good suggestion to me since I wanted to dig up something about the person in front of me .

* * *

“Krreung . ”

Leo had been feeling suspicious of Siren’s movement lately, so he was observing her .

This time, their positions had flipped so Leo was the one staying quietly in the monastery while Siren was the one sneaking out in the middle of the night .

Leo already knew that Yuri was back .

The reason he was stopping himself from going out in the first place was because Yuri had asked him to . So Leo had not even seen Hestia for a while .

“Leo!”

“Kng?!”

However, a girl in a pink dress appeared at the entrance of the monastery .

“H-Hestia?”

“Hi, I came to play with you today . ”

Leo sprang to his feet with a start . Then he ran over to Hestia .

“H-How did you know about this place?”

“Didn’t you bring me here last time?”

Hestia tilted her head, wondering why he was so surprised .

She seemed to be talking about the one time Leo had carried Hestia to the monastery on his back .

Hestia’s hair and clothes were littered with dry, yellow grass, probably because she passed through the tall grasses in front of the monastery .

“I was the only one at home, so I came out to play . ”

Anne-Marie and Yuri went out together, and the dark-haired patient that was staying in their house was in the process of leaving . The yellow-haired patient had already been discharged(?) so he went back to Yuri’s house .

“Are you always stuck at home?”

Hestia dusted her skirt and looked at Leo .

“Let’s go out . It’s stuffy here . ”

“Krng!”

Leo’s tail wagged furiously .

“Ah, but we can’t go to places with people . There are scary people going around right now . ”

“I, I know that too! We can go where nobody is!”

And so, the two of them held hands together and happily went out to play .

Hestia was kidnapped an hour later .