Chapter 14: Prayer and Confession

“Morning, Mr. Rhys.”

Bound by her persona, Rosie still replied politely.

Then she turned her head to look at the bodyguard and greeted, “Mr. Sandek, good morning to you too.”

“Heh.”

Before the bodyguard could speak, a certain someone’s chuckle reached her ear.

‘Inhale… exhale… don’t get angry, don’t get angry.’

Rosie pretended not to hear.

“Mm.”

Dennis Sandek nodded slightly, his attitude towards her returning to its lukewarm state.

Rosie didn’t mind.

She turned her head to look at the closed door of the dining room and asked, “Have you two gone in to check? Hannah, she…”

It was Hermann who replied.

He shrugged his shoulders.

“Haven’t gone in yet. Mr. Sandek and I arrived at the same time.”

“He wanted to go in immediately, but I stopped him. The situation is unclear right now. It’s better to wait until everyone is here before doing anything.”

“Saves us from getting into a mess that’s hard to clean up, like a drunkard vomiting all over himself.”

Neither of their approaches could be faulted.

It was merely a matter of how their personal relationships determined their mode of thinking.

Although they hadn’t known each other for long, Rosie had an extremely good impression of her “best friend,” Hannah Carter.

From a personal standpoint, she, like the bodyguard, wanted to push the door open immediately to check on Hannah’s safety.
However, she couldn’t find any suitable words to refute Hermann Rhys.

The young lady’s dark brows furrowed slightly, like a light mist in April, tinged with a hint of sorrow.

“However, three people have arrived now. Including Miss Carter in the room, that’s half of us. If Miss Moulton is worried about her friend, it’s fine to go in and check now.”

‘Hm, why did he change his mind?’
Rosie felt a bit strange and turned her head to look at the man who had spoken.

Hermann’s lips were slightly curved.
Beneath his dark brows, a pair of light brown eyes stared at her with a burning gaze.

Seeing the young lady look over, not only did he not shy away, but he even raised an eyebrow, a roguish air washing over her.

“I wonder if Miss Moulton is satisfied with this arrangement.”

The man’s slightly fawning voice entered her ear, giving Rosie goosebumps.

She… she was being courted by a man?
It was hard to describe Rosie’s current feeling.

It was as if someone had unreasonably stuffed a large piece of soft, fatty meat into her mouth, and before she could react, she was forced to drink a large mouthful of whole milk, swallowing it down with a gulp.
That greasy feeling was truly nauseating.
Not to mention her dozen or so years of experience as the male Lin Yu, which made the current Rosie Moulton, with a changed core, feel a deep-seated resistance to this kind of fawning behavior.

Rosie forced a smile, her tone a bit stiff.
“Then let’s go in and take a look together.”
After speaking, she ignored Hermann, quickly turned around, took a step forward, placed her hand on the door, and pushed with force.

Whoosh—

A wave of heat, like a summer wind in July, rushed towards her, messing up the fine strands of hair on her forehead.

Muggy, hot.

This was Rosie’s first direct sensation.
Then, an indescribable smell filled her nostrils.

Salty, fishy, pungent, foul.

Four distinctly different smells were jumbled together, making one want to vomit upon smelling them.

Rosie’s body had been pampered and raised in a honey pot in a baron’s family.
How could she have ever smelled such a foul odor?

She immediately had a physiological reaction and couldn’t help but dry heave.
She raised her hand to wipe away the physiological tears that had welled up in the corners of her eyes.

Her pair of misty-blue eyes looked up at the dining table straight ahead.

Her cherry-pink, rose-like lips parted slightly, and a few fragmented words escaped from between her pearly white teeth.

“Han…nah?”

Straight ahead, the originally white tablecloth was dotted with plum blossoms.
In the first seat to the right of the head seat, a girl in a light blue long dress had her hands clasped into fists in front of her chest, as if in prayer, as if in repentance.

But what she was actually doing could not be determined from her expression, because above the lace-trimmed collar, there was nothing.

Only a scarlet line and the congealed bloodstains on her white neck remained.

The sudden scene brought a huge shock to Rosie.

Her head felt dizzy and swollen, but her tongue was numb, and she couldn’t utter a single word.

Without a doubt, this headless female corpse was Hannah.

She was still wearing the same dress from when they had met.

The girl who had seemed to glow just yesterday was now separated from her by life and death.

Her feet felt weak, and her thighs went soft.
Rosie lost her balance and fell backward.
Suddenly, a large hand grabbed her arm and, without any gentleness, lifted her half-fallen body up.

Rosie was still a bit dazed.

She looked up blankly.

The candlelight from above shone down against the light, and she could only see the man’s somewhat stiff and tense jawline.

Tap.

It was the sound of footsteps.

“Mr. Sandek, please control your emotions. In this situation, no matter what, we must wait for everyone else to arrive before taking action.”

The voice she somewhat disliked,

Hermann’s, came from above her ear.

“Hermann Rhys…!”

Dennis Sandek’s voice was very low, somewhat hoarse, like a volcano that could erupt at any moment.

For a moment, the atmosphere became tense.

‘No, Lin Yu, do you really think you’re some baron’s daughter?’

‘A person who has died once, what is there to be afraid of?’

‘There are three men present, how come you’re the only one who can’t even stand steady?!’

Rosie came back to her senses from the shock of witnessing the “crime scene” for the first time.

She gritted her teeth, broke free from the large hand supporting her, pursed her lips, and stood up straight.

“Thank you.”

Rosie turned her head slightly and thanked the man who had just helped her.

Hermann looked down at the young lady.
Before he could speak, a high-decibel female voice came from behind.

“Ah—!!!”

At the open door behind them, Bev Hardy screamed, then staggered back two steps, turned her head, and buried her face in the chest of the man beside her, trembling all over as if she were walking naked in the dead of winter.

Dewitt Nair was a little stronger than her, but not by much.

As if infected by his lover, his body trembled slightly, and he couldn’t even hold his cane steady.

His eyes were half-open, half-closed, as if he wanted to look but didn’t dare.

“…What happened?”

This old gentleman was finally flustered, his calm demeanor from yesterday completely gone.

After Rosie recovered from the shock of her “best friend’s” death, another complex and more painful emotion welled up in her heart.

Annoyance, regret.

If she had been more decisive when she left yesterday and left either the gun or the dagger with Hannah for self-defense, would things be different now?

Or even earlier, when the situation became unfavorable, if she had joined forces with Dennis Sandek, not to control the others, but to rush out with the young girl Hannah, not writing on this stupid parchment, not leaving Hannah alone in this room, would it have been better?

The parchment…

She had also written Hannah’s name.

Rationally, Rosie knew that the unknown murderer was responsible for Hannah’s death.

But emotionally, she felt indebted.

Finally, Rosie raised her head, glanced in the direction of the dining table from afar, lowered her eyes, and stated the cruel fact.

“Hannah Carter… she’s been murdered.”