The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 334: A Love Story

["Sarah nodded hesitantly, her face etched with anxiety. She didn't believe her father would ever approve of her relationship with a commoner—the fact that he'd sent servants to watch her spoke volumes. Fortunately, the servants had decided to help her."]

["After a reluctant farewell to Adam, Sarah hurried back to the estate with the servants. 'I'm going to see my father,' she told them. 'Go back to your rooms and wait for me. And... thank you for keeping my secret. I'll tell Father I grew bored in my room and decided to take a walk.' With a final word of thanks, Sarah entered the house."]

["The servants remained in the garden. Eileen let out a sigh of relief and looked at Lu Li with bewilderment. 'Why did you... stand up for me?'"]

"Why did you stand up for me?" A personal note slipped into the baroness's voice as she repeated Eileen's line.

The consequences of Lu Li's interference were beginning to surface. The very nature of the question was unsettling—it was as if the evil spirit itself were speaking through the baroness.

"Because I like you."

A wave of malevolent cold seeped from the void. The exorcists felt it instantly and began searching warily for its source.

Petra gave Lu Li a thoughtful look.

["'Because I like you,' the servant whispered. Eileen froze. She suddenly recalled the small attentions from Lu Li, the glances he'd cast her way while cleaning her room. Could it be him...?"]

["'You're not angry? I'm the one who betrayed our mistress,' Eileen said, her head bowed, her voice filled with remorse."]The baroness, recovering her composure, recited her scripted line: "You're not angry? I'm the one who betrayed our mistress."

A few seconds passed, but the ancient voice did not speak. Lu Li answered himself, "No. If anyone should be angry, it's Sara."

The exorcists, who had been fruitlessly searching for the source of the strange energy, were stunned by his directness.

["Confusion washed over Eileen. She didn't know how to react to Lu Li's confession. With a deep bow, she quickly fled into the house."]

The baroness mirrored her actions, but she stumbled on the steps as she went up. Flustered, she disappeared behind the door.

As soon as the baroness was gone, the ancient voice fell silent. Perhaps it had followed her, or maybe the plot had shifted to focus on Sara.

"That was a bold move," David said with a grin, clapping Lu Li on the shoulder. "I wouldn't have risked drawing... its attention. Who knows what might happen."

Although the evil spirit was no longer focused on them, certain words and actions could still draw its attention, just as they had during the trial.

"If I hadn't changed the situation, things could have ended very badly for the baroness," Lu Li replied.

The fate of a maid who betrayed her mistress was never an enviable one.

It was still morning. Lu Li and the others returned to the baroness's room to wait.

The baroness was already in the room. When her eyes met Lu Li's, she immediately looked away. It seemed she was still under the influence of Eileen's persona.

After some time, Sara returned to the room. A red mark from a slap bloomed on her cheek—a detail the exorcists didn't hear from the evil spirit, but rather "sensed".

It was difficult to explain, but when Sara entered, the same thought occurred to all three of them: there was a slap mark on Sara's face.

Lu Li had encountered something like this before. On the ship that ferried the souls of the dead, he had seen "black of different shades."

The plot continued to unfold, gradually revealing to the "audience" what had happened to Sara.

The slap wasn't for her secret stroll. Only the servants knew about her meeting with Adam. Sara had been slapped for refusing the marriage her father had arranged for her.

Arranged marriages were common among the nobility. Long before, Sara's father had betrothed her to a count's son. Sara knew this but could do nothing about it. Life in a noble family provided a comfortable existence but deprived her of any real freedom.

Until one day, during a walk, Sara met Adam. Corresponding with the cheerful young man opened her eyes to the vastness of the world. She realized she had been a bird in a cage all along. Sara no longer wanted to accept her prescribed destiny; she wanted to break free.

If one were to forget the story's title and the fact that an evil spirit was controlling it, focusing only on the plot, it was a rather banal tale of a noblewoman and a commoner in love.

Sara didn't love Adam so much as she loved the freedom he represented.

The subsequent course of events was predictable. Sara's father would obstruct her relationship with Adam, which would only strengthen her desire to be with him.

Only one question remained: what kind of story did the evil spirit have in mind?

Sara, unaware of Eileen's betrayal, continued to treat her as her best friend. As for Lu Li and the other servants who had kept her secret, she had come to trust them.

["Eileen sympathetically pressed a towel filled with ice to Sara's cheek. But the pain didn't seem to bother Sara. She opened her jewelry box, grabbed several expensive pieces, and thrust them into Eileen's hands as if they were mere trinkets. 'Eileen, take these jewels to Adam. Tell him to sell them and buy an expensive gift!'"]

["Eileen couldn't understand Sara's decision. In response to her question, Sara offered a sad smile. 'I want to escape this cage.' Urged on by Sara, Eileen left the room. After a moment's hesitation, she headed for the master's study."]

The baroness left the room, holding dark silhouettes that resembled the outlines of jewelry. They were her own jewels, but the moment "Sara" touched them, they became part of the story.

["'I can't bear to watch my mistress ruin her life. What does she see in that pauper? No background, no breeding...' Eileen simply couldn't comprehend it. But just as she reached the master's door, a figure blocked her path."]

["It was the servant, Lu Li. Eileen looked at him in surprise. A flicker of fear crossed her eyes, and she averted her gaze. 'What do you want?'"]

The three exorcists in the room all looked at Lu Li at once.

Without a word, Lu Li turned and hurried out of the room, following the baroness.

["'I wouldn't advise you to do that,' Lu Li said calmly, looking at her and shaking his head."]

Muffled footsteps on the carpet. The baroness turned to see Lu Li, black lines appearing above his head, from which a dark mist swirled. He stopped in front of her, slightly out of breath.

"I wouldn't advise you to do that."