Chapter 3. Arrest (1)

Translator: Lili

Being falsely accused of murder and confronted with absurdly clear evidence pointing to herself as the culprit, it was almost laughable how blatant it all was. Every time she tried to defend herself, new evidence would appear, as if it were a surprise gift, making her question whether she had really committed the crime. It was maddening, truly maddening.

The day before Elma Hobb’s death, Shushu vividly remembered that she believed that day would end as just another ordinary day, as uneventful as usual.

Except for staying up all night in excitement after receiving an invitation to the academy reunion, it was a day devoid of any significant events. She had picked out an outfit for the reunion, laid in bed, and couldn’t sleep due to the fluttering anticipation.

The excitement wasn’t without reason. She had heard, quite by chance, that a boy she had harbored a youthful crush on during her school days would be attending the reunion. While she no longer carried feelings for him, the prospect of seeing her first love again was enough to make anyone’s heart race.

— Shushu, if I had lived with Edwin, I probably wouldn’t have been able to look at another man my whole life.

Her friends, noticing that Shushu was paying extra attention to her appearance that day, had offered advice at first. But by the end of their conversations, their tones had turned teasing as they made such remarks. Shushu would always laugh awkwardly, brushing off their comments.

She couldn’t blame them. After all, anyone who knew Edwin Isadoc, the man who had once lived at Shushu’s house until just last year, would likely say the same thing.

At just twenty years old, Edwin had succeeded Garnelly as the chief scientist and become the head of the prestigious Isadoc family, one of the Twelve Great Houses of Logwin. He was so popular that newspapers referred to him as a ‘walking hit product’. Unlike other celebrities entangled in scandals, his exemplary conduct meant that even the rare articles about him were nothing but glowing praise. It was no surprise that he consistently topped lists like ‘Most Desired Celebrity Boyfriend’ or ‘Dream Date’.

With his black hair—a hallmark of the Isadoc family—and green eyes, combined with his cold and stoic appearance, Edwin’s expressionless photos sometimes made him look more like a stern officer than a scientist. However, such moments were rare. His usual demeanor was one of a gentle smile, softening his striking features.

That smile, with relaxed eyes and slightly upturned lips, blended surprisingly well with his otherwise cold appearance. It made him seem like a kind-hearted scholar to those who saw him. Whichever way you looked at it, Edwin’s natural charm was undeniable, and it wasn’t hard to understand why people found themselves drawn to him.

But for Shushu, who had lived under the same roof as Edwin since the age of eleven, he was more like a little brother—or perhaps an older brother. Above all, though Edwin was now the perfect gentleman, Shushu still remembered him as the troubled young boy who had been left in her family’s care after a tragic accident claimed all of his relatives.

With doll-like features and a sharp tongue far beyond his years, Edwin had been the epitome of a problematic young master straight out of a child psychology textbook. The stark contrast between his childhood and who he was now sometimes made Shushu chuckle.

She still recalled moments like the time young Edwin, watching her taste jam with her fingers, had looked at her with utter disdain, as if she were eating off a toilet, and said,

“Are you a sewer rat?”

He was the type of child who would click his tongue in disapproval and furrow his brow if even a handkerchief wasn’t perfectly folded. Such was Edwin. Even now, as an adult, he retained traces of that perfectionism, though it had softened—his remarks evolving from “Are you a sewer rat?” to “You might get a stomachache, so it’s better to use a spoon”. Shushu considered this a testament to the success of her years of ‘raising’ him.

If you asked Edwin, he’d grumble that it wasn’t like that at all, but for Shushu it was truly no different than raising a child. When Edwin first came to live with them, her mother, Garnelly Mailey, who was both the household’s matriarch and Edwin’s official guardian, had already retreated into her reclusive lifestyle, leaving the task of teaching Edwin about his new life to Shushu.

From learning to live without ringing for servants to preparing his own meals in the kitchen, those days were like instilling survival skills in a young prince. Looking back, it had been a unique period of teaching life skills to a royal. But to Shushu, those times were memories of a childhood companion and a deep familial bond.

Still, no matter how much time they spent together, Shushu knew that Edwin wasn’t truly her family. Her mother was a renowned scientist, and their connection with Edwin had been forged through an unspeakable tragedy. Under normal circumstances, Edwin was the type of noble young master who wouldn’t even dine with a commoner like her.

This reality became clearer earlier that spring when Edwin, now an adult, officially ended their sponsorship arrangement and returned to the Isadoc family’s main house. When all his belongings were gone, and Shushu was left alone, she felt a little lonely. But it wasn’t unexpected, so she wasn’t too disheartened.

The Isadoc family was that kind of family—a pillar of Logwin, one of the Twelve Great Houses that had shaped the foundation of the nation. Having lost his immediate family in the accident, Edwin now bore the immense responsibility of making decisions for the powerful house. It was undoubtedly a grueling, exhausting role. Shushu’s concern for him was mixed with admiration for his resilience.

But by early spring, just a month after Edwin moved out, a new worry had crept into her heart.

Instead of staying at the house that was now officially his, Edwin had started visiting Shushu’s home more and more.

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