When I Stopped Being Your Shadow - Chapter 108

Ines and Enoch moved and talked alone.

 

“Maybe there was an accomplice.”

 

Enoch, who had been thinking hard, suddenly opened his mouth.

 

“Young master Gott was a man of sturdy build. Whether the culprit was a man or a woman, it would be hard to move a dead body without help.”

 

“An accomplice sounds about right.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“……I agree.”

 

Ryan didn’t drown. He was killed by someone.

 

It was not yet completely confirmed who the criminal was.

 

But at this point, the person with the greatest motivation to harm Ryan was…

 

“Charlotte.”

 

Ines narrowed her brow.

 

Suppose Charlotte really hurt Ryan.

 

It was practically impossible for Charlotte, a slender woman, to move the big Ryan alone so she definitely had help.

 

“Then, first of all, we should investigate the whereabouts of the young master Gott the day before his death.”

 

“I’m already looking into it.”

 

Enoch continued.

 

“It’s clear that the young master Gott was murdered, so we can ask the security forces for help.”

 

“But if the media knows about the murder, it will definitely alert the culprits.”

 

“You only have to impose a reporting ban until the criminal is identified.”

 

Enoch explained like he told her not to worry.

 

“I am the owner of Elton Corporation and a member of the royal family. Don’t worry.”

 

“…….”

 

Ines felt reassured.

 

She looked at Enoch with a warm gaze, nodded and answered.

 

“Then I’ll finish looking for Felix’s whereabouts.”

 

“Felix?”

 

“Oh, the name of Marquis Usher’s disciple.”

 

For a moment Enoch’s eyes became sharp.

 

“You mean the young student who is good at drawing fine details?”

 

“That’s right.”

 

Ines frowned slightly.

 

“The other students are doing outside activities but he’s the only one who hasn’t been going outside at all recently.”

 

Enoch and Ines looked at each and stood up.

 

Most of the puzzles in the case were gathered.

 

Now the task of putting the puzzles together properly remained.

 

* * *

 

“Felix!”

 

A shrill cry broke out.

 

The little boy raised his head with great nervousness.

 

“Yes, Marquis Usher!”

 

Then a handsome middle-aged man frowned and stared at the boy.

 

“Why are you so slow? If someone calls you, you move quickly!”

 

“I’m sorry, Marquis!”

 

Felix, the boy, swallowed his dry saliva and looked down.

 

Marquis Usher was looking the boy up and down with an undesirable gaze, turned around, clicked his tongue as if displeased.

 

“Follow me. I have something to order.”

 

“Yes, yes!”

 

Felix quickly followed in the footsteps of the Marquis.

 

When they arrived…

 

“What?”

 

Felix tilted his head in curiosity.

 

“Isn’t this the office of the Marquis?”

 

Not sure if he could enter this room, Felix reflexively examined the Marquis’s face.

 

Felix was treated almost like a servant, not just a student.

 

As proof of that, Felix had never called the Marquis “teacher.”

 

He had never even set foot in the Marquis’s private space, always at the studio.

 

Click.

 

The office door opened.

 

Marquis Usher slipped into the office.

 

Felix hesitated to step into the office, forgot that he was scared and swallowed his dry saliva.

 

“Wow.”

 

He had never seen such a luxurious room.

 

Each item looked expensive.

 

Marquis Usher pointed to the sofa.

 

“Come and sit here.”

 

“Yes, yes.”

 

Felix sat down with a very nervous face.

 

The Marquis held a pen and two papers.

 

One had a signature, the other had no signature.

 

“Here, do you see this signature?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Copy that signature, exactly.”

 

“What?”

 

For a moment, Felix looked up at the Marquis with a puzzled face.

 

The Marquis felt irritated at his reluctance.

 

“What are you doing? Hurry.”

 

“Well, but…….”

 

Felix carefully examined the Marquis’s eyes.

 

Although he was only 12 years old, Felix knew that the current situation was a little strange.

 

He couldn’t understand why he had to copy another person’s signature.

 

Then the Marquis burst into a rage and suddenly raised his hand.

 

“How dare you refuse my order!”

 

His momentum was fierce as if he was going to hit him right away.

 

“Oh, no! I’ll do it now!”

 

Felix cringed his shoulders and grabbed the pen in a hurry.

 

At the same time, he was worried inside, so he tried to read the contents of the document with a side glance.

 

“…….”

 

The problem was that Felix did not learn to read well.

 

So all Felix recognized was the amount stated in the document.

 

“……50,000 gold?”

 

‘What? 50,000 gold?’

 

Felix’s eyes widened.

 

50,000 gold.

 

In Langdon, that amount could afford two of the most expensive houses.

 

For Felix it was a huge sum of money that he couldn’t see even if he worked for the rest of his life.

 

The hand holding the pen froze in fright.

 

The Marquis scolded like wildfire.

 

“What are you doing? Move!”

 

“Yes, yes!”

 

Frightened, Felix moved the pen in a hurry.

 

The Marquis frowned as he watched Felix copy the signature.

 

“Is this enough?”

 

Felix shrank reflexively.

 

Sure enough, a sharp cry broke out.

 

“That’s all you can do?”

 

The Marquis tore the documents in his hand into pieces with his eyes wide open.

 

“The shape is different! It has to be exactly the same!”

 

“I’m sorry! I’ll do it again!”

 

“You’re lazy while I pay for your meals!”

 

Felix began to copy the signature again and again many times.

 

Only after some time had passed and the sun was completely dark could Felix get out of the office.

 

“Phew.”

 

Felix, exhausted, trudged across the corridor and let out a long sigh.

 

The fingers that had been holding the pen all day were throbbing.

 

‘Today is a very strange day.’

 

‘No, I think I’ve been going through strange things since about a month ago.’

 

The beginning was when the teacher started to meet with some aristocrats.

 

At first glance, the aristocrat’s name was Count Hanson.

 

When he met the Count, Marquis Usher looked generally happy.

 

Above all, he was so fixated with Count Hanson that he had no interest in Felix’s talent at all.

 

Felix secretly waited for Count Hanson to visit every day.

 

Because Marquis Usher was not angry with him when the Count visited.

 

And then suddenly today……he called him to copy a signature.

 

Ines Brierton.

 

Felix pored over the name.

 

In the aristocratic world, Felix was close to blind but he still knew who the Countess of Brierton was.

 

It was because Marquis Usher gritted his teeth every time and gossiped about the Countess.

 

<“It’s only been a while since she made her debut in the art world and she’s showing off her friendship with the Duke of Sussex!”>

 

In fact, the words were misleading.

 

The Countess of Brierton had been a shadow painter for Viscount Gott’s brother even before the divorce.

 

This meant that the entire career of young master Gott was created by the Countess of Brierton.

 

Marquis Usher, however, seemed to have great hate for the Countess.

 

<“Exchange exhibition? Overseas exhibition? What’s the big deal about that?”>

 

The Marquis banged his fist on the armrest of the chair, unable to beat his anger.

 

<“I let you off your high horse because you’re an artist and now you’re building a school?!”>

 

…… She certainly did.

 

Why did he want to copy the signature of Countess Brierton?

 

The last completed signature, which Felix had copied, looked very much the same.

 

<“Yes, it should be like this.”>

 

Only then did the Marquis laugh with satisfaction.

 

Before he sent Felix out he said in warning.

 

<“You can’t tell anyone what happened today. Understand?”>

 

Unprovoked anxiety eroded the boy’s whole body.

 

“…….”

 

Feeling very dry in his mouth, Felix shrugged his shoulders and walked away.

 

And a few days later.

 

“Did you hear that? Countess Brierton!”

 

“I heard she got a bribe while purchasing the school site?”

 

Atelier’s other apprentices gathered in twos and threes to talk.

 

The topic of conversation was the bribery case of the Countess of Brierton.

 

‘What happened?’

 

Felix rolled his eyes uneasily in the corner.

 

It was because he suddenly remembered the document that he copied the Countess’s signature.

 

***