Leaning his head back on his fluffy luxury chair, he looked up at the ceiling with thoughtful eyes.

---

Squeak! Toward the end of the first act of the three-hour opera, the door of the guesthouse opened slightly without a knock.

Robert leaned his head and waited for the person to reveal their ident.i.ty. He didn't think a person would come until after the play, but the person came sooner than he expected.

"Thank you, Your Excellency, for coming."

He raised himself from the chair when he heard the voice that remained in his distant memory. The person came to his side and looked at the owner of the theater who greeted her politely.

"That's you."

It was Maribel, who had received Stella and Julietta who had nowhere to go after they had been kicked out by Ivana. Robert's voice softened to the fullest extent because she had taken care of them to the end, preventing them from dying of hunger and cold in the street.

"What made you call me so secretly?" Robert looked at Maribel incomprehensibly.

"Because there are people who do not want our meeting."

Robert's face was chilled by the careful words of the owner of the theater. "Who the h.e.l.l? For what?"

Maribel quickly brought her index finger near her mouth at the Marquis's elevated voice.

"Shh! Keep your voice down, sir. Please leave your seat for now. Time is running out to get back before the end of the play."

Robert did not kill his sharp spirit at Maribel's words, which encouraged him to stand up. "I don't intend to be played around by unknown things, so tell me why. What's going on?"

Maribel spoke as if she did not wish to, as the Marquis seemed to have no intention of getting up before he heard the answer. "It's about Julietta. Please hurry."

At Maribel's words, Robert was dazed. "Why are you talking about a child who died twelve years ago now?"

When the Marquis asked as if he could not understand, Maribel shook her head and urged him.

"I'll tell you when we leave. Let's move on."

Robert hurriedly rose from his seat and followed in the footsteps of the troupe leader.

Maribel went down the staff stairs and into the secret underground pa.s.sageway next to her residence. Confirming that the Marquis had followed, she pa.s.sed through a narrow pa.s.sage and climbed into a plain black carriage waiting at the back door.

Maribel seemed unwilling to open her mouth until they arrived. Robert asked, "Where are we going?"

"Princess Kiellini recently opened a dressing shop outside of Eloz Street."

"The child? What kind of dressing shop did she open while not in good health? What's the relations.h.i.+p between that dressing shop and Julietta?"

Maribel once again dodged Robert's question. "Mrs. Raban will be there, too. I'll tell you both when we get there."

There was a risk of being killed by the Marquis before they even got to the dress shop if she said Julietta was alive.

The Eloz Theater and Chartreu Dressing Shop were within thirty minutes walking and ten minutes by wagons, so they were able to get there quickly. Their carriage pa.s.sed through the front gate of the dressing shop and stopped after heading into the coach house.

As he seemed to have arrived at his destination, Robert looked at Maribel opposite him and got out of the carriage. The coach house seemed to be attached to the dressing shop, and the family carriage of Kiellini stood at the innermost point, indicating Mrs. Raban had already arrived.

As they left the empty storage area, which had no caretaker yet, the waiting Amelie approached and greeted them, "Welcome, Your Excellency the Marquis. The troupe leader, welcome."

Maribel frowned as she saw Amelie waiting, "Do you have another guest? Why are you out here?"

Amelie shook her head quickly at Maribel's concern. "No. I was waiting for you because I was ordered to take you to a separate house as soon as you arrived. I have to lock the storage door so that no other carriages can enter."

"A separate house?"

With a slight nod to Maribel's doubtful question, Amelie hurriedly locked the door of the coach house and guided them toward the annex.

The two who followed Amelie into the annex attached to the dressing shop paused for a moment at the sight. Maribel was surprised at the appearance of the Prince who looked as comfortable as if this was his own home, and Robert was surprised by the appearance of a totally unexpected figure.

Robert quickly calmed down and greeted Killian, smiling at him. "Robert Anais gives greetings to the fifth son of the n.o.ble Emperor Claudio, Prince Killian."

The Marquis briefly gave a nod to Mrs. Raban, who sat opposite him after giving a curtsey to Killian.

"Maribel Grayson says h.e.l.lo to the Prince Your Highness."

Killian even received Maribel's greetings, and responded, "Welcome, the Marquis. You must have been surprised by being asked for such a secret meeting. The troupe leader, come. Mrs. Raban just arrived."

As Robert sat on the sofa to the right of the Prince at Killian's gesture, Maribel sat opposite him by Mrs. Raban. When everyone settled down, Ian went into the dining room as if he were familiar with it and brought them tea.

"I don't know if the tea will suit your taste. Still, the tea brewing tea skill of my servant is so great that you'll manage to drink it."