The Detective Agency for Regretful Male Leads Is Open for Business!

Chapter 4

***

After arriving in front of the room of the marquess’s mother, the head butler walked away saying he would speak with the marquess.

She’s been dead for some time. Will I find anything here? Wondering what I’d find, I cautiously opened the door and went inside. It was so clean it almost felt empty.

You have entered the room of the marquess’s mother.

You have received 500 Cash as a reward for entering it for the first time.

Importance: C+

Danger rating: F

Hidden Cash: 1,500

You discovered 200 Cash under [Dowager Marchioness’s Sheets].

You discovered 200 Cash between the cushions of [Sofa Where They Chatted].

You discovered 300 Cash in [Vase Where She Grew Flowers].

You discovered 100 Cash in [Illustrated Botany Book Chelsea Read to Her Before Bedtime].

Most of the late dowager marchioness’s things had been disposed of according to her will, and there was almost nothing left, other than some simple furnishings. That was why this room was only C+ in importance, and there weren’t many clues to find, not to mention Cash.

The only thing of note seemed to be that it had a lot of books for a bedroom. It looked like it had been her hobby to read before bed. I flipped through the pile of books, then discovered a small diary buried between some of them.

You discovered 700 Cash between the pages of [Hand-Written Gardening Diary].

Huh? That was worth 700 Cash? That’s the entire 1,500 already! The more Cash awarded, the more important it’s supposed to be… Is this gardening diary really worth that much? This amount of Cash was equal to what I’d received for finding the letters from the House of Larmin. Why was this ordinary-looking diary worth so much? I opened it cautiously.

“Required amount of sunlight, amount and frequency of watering required per day, gardening methods for rare plants… I don’t see anything out of the ordinary.”

The only thing I could tell was that the marquess’s mother had been really into horticulture. She had purchased all these gardening books and even kept a journal.

That’s some enthusiasm right there. I turned the pages slowly, then discovered a note between two of them.

⌈My dear Chelsea,

I would like to leave you the greenhouse I tended to with such care. You may have all the herbs, flowers, and trees that I have grown all my life. I know I could leave them in no better hands. I hope this diary helps.⌋

I took a moment to absorb what I’d read.

She must have really liked Chelsea. Until the marquess and Chelsea had fallen in love, I’d read that the only person in the manor who’d welcomed Chelsea was her mother-in-law, the dowager marchioness. She had cared deeply for her kind, gentle daughter-in-law—enough to leave the woman the greenhouse she’d cared so much about.

Room of the marquess’s mother cleared!

Chelsea and the late dowager marchioness were like mother and daughter. She was very interested in plants and left Chelsea the greenhouse in her will. What significance did the greenhouse and her mother-in-law have for Chelsea?

You gained occupational experience points.

Right on time, another clear notification appeared.

What the greenhouse and her mother-in-law meant to Chelsea? A greenhouse that the late marchioness had tended to for all her life must surely be much bigger than some ordinary flower bed. It probably contained exotic flowers, herbs with unheard-of medicinal effects, and so on.

And Chelsea left all of that behind? She might have taken other valuables with her, but the greenhouse wasn’t something that could be moved. I wasn’t sure if there was even anybody left to take care of it now that Chelsea had left. On top of that, it had been left to her by someone who might as well have been her mother, given how close they were, and yet she had abandoned it. Something about all this didn’t sit right.

I glared into space, grunting with mental effort.

Here’s a quiz to help you organize your thoughts!

You have investigated the rooms of the female protagonist and her mother-in-law. You have not yet found anything on Chelsea’s whereabouts. But you have succeeded in finding one of the two reasons that Chelsea ran away.

What was the clue?

1. The greenhouse

2. The box of seeds

3. The hand-baked cookies

The system window had appeared with a cheerful chirp.

A quiz? What’s this? I wasn’t sure what it was trying to do, but the answer was simple enough. I made my choice confidently.

2. The box of seeds.

Correct!

You have received 500 Cash as a reward.

The greenhouse couldn’t have had a negative effect on Chelsea’s psychology, and the cookies seemed too arbitrary. After eliminating those options, only the box was left. I didn’t have any details about the seeds, but they seemed to be one of the two reasons that Chelsea had left.

Huh? Two? Why are there two, come to think of it? One was the seeds under the bed. What’s the other?

“Excuse me, Detective!” came the urgent voice of the head butler, accompanied by some noises from the corridor. The man was walking over to me, a flustered look on his face.

“Oh? What is it?” I asked.

“Well, the…” he said uncertainly.

“What need is there to speak through the butler?” came a harsh voice from behind him.

The head butler was not alone—he was accompanied by an unwelcome individual. The riddle seemed to unravel as soon as I saw his face.

“You said you wanted to see my rooms? I’ll take you there myself.”

It was the disgruntled but good-looking Marquess Graydon, who narrowed his eyes at me as he leaned to one side.

Oh, it was you. Found you. You’re the other reason she ran away! He was the key to the so-called “regretful male protagonist” trope. How couldn’t he have contributed? No doubt he’d done plenty of unpleasant things, slowly degrading their relationship.

“You seem to be having quite the leisurely time,” the man said. He did absolutely nothing to hide his annoyance, and seemed genuinely displeased with me. “Perhaps I gave you too much time? To think you’d be wasting it in a place like this!”

“I’m not wasting my time,” I said. “This is necessary for me to understand the marchioness’s movements.”

“Well, you sure have a ready reply. Even now, that woman may be in some godforsaken place, all alone…”

His eyes grew dark. I saw countless emotions swirl through them—anxiety, worry, rage… longing, and affection. Together they combined to form a great crashing wave.

You should have been good to her while you had the chance. If you had time to threaten her for trying to leave, you could have treated her with more kindness.

“The marchioness will be safe,” I said.

“How can you be sure of that?” he asked.

“She’s a smart woman.”

And a protagonist. She had probably completed at least ninety percent of the necessary preparations before running away. The remaining ten percent was the margin for human error, which would ultimately allow her to reunite with the male protagonist.

“Come with me…” he said, turning and walking away immediately. He seemed to think that he was wasting his time talking to me, and that it was better to get this over with quickly.

***

The study was surprisingly ordinary. The bookshelves were spacious and filled with many expensive books, but it didn’t seem to be filled with expensive furniture like Chelsea’s quarters.

“We usually spent our time in the study and the drawing room next to it. As for the bed… We used hers.”

Had he not slept in his own bedroom after they’d married? I’d heard that it was common for nobles to keep their own bedrooms even after marrying, but judging from the fact that he’d lived in her room despite having his own, they seemed to have had a strong relationship.

You have entered the study of Marquess Graydon, the male protagonist.

You have received 1,000 Cash as a reward for entering it for the first time.

Importance: B+

Danger rating: B

Hidden Cash: 2,200

The importance and danger ratings are similar? How terribly inefficient. The system window’s information was lamentable. The importance aside, why was the danger rating so high, anyway? I wondered if there was some kind of life-threatening object in here, too.

The danger rating takes into account any physical, social, or contextual threat to your well-being. At the present moment, the following detail has been a key factor in deciding the danger rating.

Noteworthy detail: The owner of the manor is accompanying you.

I see… That made sense. Since I was with the owner, if I made the wrong move, it could be the literal death of me.

“If there is anything to find, find it,” the marquess said, gesturing arrogantly with his chin as he stood with his arms folded.

Oh, he’s making me so uncomfortable. What if I make a mistake, and he makes me really regret it? I suppose the danger rating would pop up to S+ if I looked through his documents. I hope there isn’t any Cash hidden in there.

Withholding a sigh, I carefully began my investigation.

You discovered 100 Cash on [Sofa Where She Fell Asleep on His Shoulder].

You discovered 200 Cash in a [Teapot Which He Used to Make Tea for Her While She Rested].

“Are those the things you came here to see? I think you might have forgotten your place and are attempting to view my secret documents.” He spoke scornfully as I hovered around looking for clues.

I’d love to do just that, but you’ll kill me for it, won’t you?

“It’s important that I find clues about the marchioness. Is there something that she often did, or an object that she deeply cared about?”

The marquess stared off into space, silent for a moment. He seemed to be dwelling on a memory.

“Chelsea, she… loved fruit. She ate them often.”

You discovered 600 Cash on [Table Where She Ate Fruit Against Her Will].

No, actually… she didn’t. No wonder you’re the male protagonist of the novel.