CH 29.1

Stalker [Part 1]

I recently made an acquaintance of the same age, Maro-kun.

We were not exactly friends. I’d probably never see the five-year-old again because I’m a recluse who never leaves the house.

Maro was sickly, frail, and very nice, but…Maro? Maro? I think I heard of that name somewhere. Where was it?

…Then, chills ran through my body.

“Carol ojou-sama. I’ve been seeing some strange people around the mansion lately, you should be careful too, Miss.”

“Nn?”

Meiya, the maid, anxiously warned me.

Aside from me, who was an abomination and a ‘hated daughter’, Meiya’s daughter Maia was already a 12-year-old respectable young lady, although she was still very young. Wouldn’t it make everyone anxious if you noticed a strange person in your neighborhood?

It was possible that someone had just moved into the neighborhood, but as I recalled, this area was full of aristocratic residences, so it was unlikely that someone new would move in.

“Is it really suspicious?”

“Well…they look like ordinary merchants or regular passersby, but they seem to be investigating something…”

“Nn.”

Perhaps it has something to do with the cosmetics I wholesale to Flare?

I didn’t put out enough to make a big sale, but I heard that Flare uses them to negotiate with other nobles, so maybe nobles who were hostile to her were investigating me.

I should look into it and eliminate them as soon as possible. But before I do that, should I find out who’s behind this?

***

I was also busy, so I put off doing things I didn’t particularly enjoy. It was just too troublesome.

Then one day, Maia, my personal maid, didn’t look so good.

“What’s wrong?”

“Ma’am…”

Maia told me that when she went out shopping, she was followed by strangers, and that some people were peeping at her from outside the mansion.

Could it be a stalker?

In my previous life, I was also a quiet person with long black hair, so a stalker had been following me since I was in the upper grades of elementary school, convinced that I was someone else, so based on that thumb rule, I think the possibility was high.

Even though I didn’t know who the stalker was, I obtained information from an unexpected source just as I was about to start a full-fledged extermination mission.

“Hello Carol, how have you been? Oh, Bunny-san would be fine as long as she eats grass, right? I envy you savage sub-humans. It’s not easy for a human body because it can die so easily.”

“…”

Are you talking about yourself or the people you tried to kill?

Flare came to our house after a long time, spitting venom. What the hell was she doing here?

The cosmetics I wholesale to Flare were collected by the assassin maid under her command, so there should be no need for us to meet in person.

“The next batch isn’t ready yet.”

“Oh my, do you really think I’m going to show up for something as trivial as collecting an order? If you’re so incompetent as to miss a deadline, I’ll send an assassin out that very day, just like I did with the merchant who tried to find out about your relationship with me.”

“…”

Flare was being Flare as usual.

It was not a bad situation, but she didn’t seem to understand the importance of at least giving a warning before visiting.

“…What do you want?”

“You’re so boring. I’ve come to warn you because my friend Bunny-san is in trouble.”

“Nn?”

“Recently, a certain noble family has been looking into you. The Bunny-san here. He’s the same age as us, but I think he’s taken an interest in you. He’s got bad taste.”

“…who?”

“Ho-ho-ho. Did you think I’m going to tell you that? They are looking for a young, dark-haired half-elf, so I told them. That sounds like fun. Oh-ho-ho-ho!”

“…”

Sigh, yeah, Flare is just being Flare.

Flare had apparently come to inform me that I was being investigated and to see me in distress.

And it was me who was being stalked. What nonsense.

Flare did not tell me who this aristocrat bonbon was anyway.

I didn’t remember encountering that dangerous-looking person….

Okay, time to get rid of the stalker. Stalkers must die. Stalkers should not be given human rights, so I doubt that eliminating them would be a crime. Maybe.

“Setup [Arjuna Cloche]”