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I fell into contemplation again.
'A way to catch the culprit without making things bigger...'
The auctioned item disappeared during the auction.
A perfect locked room, and the suspects who entered it were the servants who moved the auction items.
'How on earth did they steal the painting?'
Various clues were jumbled and tangled in my head.
But at that moment, I noticed the notebook in the knight's front pocket.
"Sir Lufen, does that notebook also record today's entrants?"
"Ah, yes. In case someone else approaches, I've noted who transported which auction item. Would you like to see it?"
I checked the notebook that the knight handed me.
As the knight said, the items and the names of the transporters were written in the notebook.
As I scanned the list, I found something and raised the corners of my lips.
"I think I've found the culprit."
A break room located in one part of the building.
The servants who had finished moving the auction items gathered there to rest.
After taking a sip of water and taking a breather, Andrew approached his colleague, Blan Richman, who was chuckling to himself in one corner of the room.
"Blan, is something good happening to you?"
"Huh? Oh?"
"You've been grinning to yourself like a madman since a while ago. I was wondering if something good happened."
Blan was momentarily flustered by his colleague's comment, but he quickly brushed it off with a clumsy excuse.
"Oh, I just keep thinking about a funny dream I had last night. Haha."
Andrew looked at Blan as if he found him strange, but that was all.
"Drink this and take a break."
As Andrew handed him a glass of water and went to the other colleagues, a sly smile reappeared on Blan's face.
The reason he was smiling was not because of a dream, but because of the emperor's auctioned item hidden in the ceiling of a remote room in this building.
[Burn the stolen real item immediately.]
Peidan told him to replace the emperor's auctioned item with a fake and burn the real item on the spot, but...
'Why burn something so expensive? It's worth a fortune if I sell it!'
If he stole it and sold it on the black market, he could get a huge amount of money.
He didn't know the exact amount, but it would probably be much more than the amount Peidan promised.
'And if I sell that painting, I can accuse the Duchess not only of mismanagement, but also of stealing the auctioned item. Wouldn't that be good for the Duke too?'
Ah, I want to get my hands on that money soon.
If he quit the servant job right away, it would be suspicious, so he should work for another 2-3 years and then quit, claiming he's going back to his hometown.
Blan was lost in sweet dreams and chuckling when...
The door of the break room opened and...
Click, clack.
Leticia entered with the sound of shoes. Idris was with her.
With their sudden appearance, the resting servants all stood up in tension.
Of course, Blan was no exception. No, he was the most surprised.
'Why, why is that woman here? Did she notice that I stole the painting?'
Like a thief with a guilty conscience, his imagination ran wild, but Blan quickly calmed himself down.
'...No, that can't be. Even if she knew the painting was switched, there's no way she'd know I was the culprit, right?'
Besides, if it was revealed that the painting had been switched, the atmosphere would have been turned upside down.
The fact that it was so quiet meant that they still didn't know.
'She must have come to give some instructions.'
Leticia seemed to be putting her heart and soul into this, as she was going to give instructions on every detail from the start of the bazaar.
But...
"Now that the auction is almost over, would everyone please load the auction items they were in charge of onto the carriage?"
Everyone was about to leave the break room according to Leticia's command, but Leticia singled out just one person.
"Ah, please, Mr. Blan, please stay behind for a moment."
Everyone was puzzled by this, but they left according to Leticia's order.
Blan, left alone in front of the two, finally sensed that the atmosphere was unusual.
But if he panicked here, it would only arouse suspicion.
'And in fact, it might not be a big deal? Then I'd just be acting like a thief with a guilty conscience...'
Blan decided to try to act as nonchalant as possible and opened his mouth first.
"What's the matter, Your Lad―"
"The painting. What happened to it?"
At the straightforward question without any preamble, Blan's eyes shook violently.
'She knows the painting was switched...?'
He deliberately switched the painting after the auction started.
Because after the auction started, there would be no reason to open the frame, and no time to do so.
So he thought they wouldn't know until the winning bidder checked it.
'But how on earth...?'
No, even if they found out while checking it.
'How did she know right away that I was the culprit?'
There were countless servants who went in and out to transport the auction items.
It was strange that she was singling him out and questioning him.
'Could it be, is she testing me?'
She doesn't have any evidence that I'm the culprit yet.
The answer is to play dumb until she presents definite evidence.
"Wh, what painting are you talking about? I don't know what you're suddenly―"
"Shall I ask you directly?"
Leticia leaned towards Blan, who was making excuses, and asked in a cold voice.
"Where did you put that painting you stole by hiding it in the quiver?"
When she pinpointed the exact method of stealing the painting, the face of the villain, who had been pretending not to know, turned white.
Leticia smiled coldly as she looked at him.
'Actually, if you think about it a little, you can deduce it.'
If you fold the painting, the value will be damaged.
But if you roll up the painting as it is and carry it out, you'll be caught right away.
So that means you hid it in some way and carried it out naturally.
'He probably hid it inside the auction item he was carrying.'
And among the auction items, there happened to be a fancy quiver decorated with jewels.
Leticia saw in the knight's records that Blan was the one who moved the quiver and went straight to the break room.
There were many servants waiting, but it was not difficult to find Blan among them.
As soon as she entered the break room, she saw his face turn black.
"S, surely you don't mean the auction item has disappeared? How could such a thing... But I swear to God, it's not me! Really!"
Leticia chuckled as she looked at Blan, who belatedly composed himself and groveled.
The sight of a man with a black face desperately denying it was just laughable.
"Idris."
Leticia turned to Idris, who was waiting next to her, and said.
"Then I'll leave it to you."
"I've been waiting for those words."
Click, clack. With the sound of shoes, Leticia left the break room, and now only Idris and Blan were left in this place.
Only then did Blan realize that he should have grabbed Leticia, but...
"Well, then, shall we have a candid conversation just between us?"
It was already too late to regret.
"Damn it, when is that dress auction going to end..."
Peidan yawned and muttered a curse in a low voice.
The emperor's painting auction would start when that damn fashion show ended, but it was taking longer than he thought.
Just as Peidan's patience was starting to reach its limit.
"Mariposa's new dress has been sold for 700,000 gold!"
Finally, the fashion show came to an end.
"Then, taking this heat, we will start the highlight of today's auction! The auction of that item that everyone has been waiting for!"
Only then did the light return to Peidan's eyes, which had been bored.
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