Possessing The Obsessive Maniac’s Cotton Doll - Chapter 46

Tap, tap, tap.

A regular noise rang out steadily. It was the sound of a man tapping his finger on the armrest of a chair. The sound was somehow bleak. Maybe it was because of the atmosphere the man gave off.

“Who the hell is that man?”

He murmured in a sullen voice. He remembered the pink-haired man he saw at the banquet hall the other day.

It was Duke Constantine Esirene who was thinking that.

“Have you found out anything yet? How much longer do I have to wait?”

Constantine questioned Robert, the butler, in a chilling voice.

Robert knew Constantine’s cruel nature, so he swallowed dryly. He withdrew his body, wiping the cold sweat that had formed on his forehead with the back of his hand subconsciously.

“I- I’m sorry… We will find out about the man as soon as possible.”

“This is the third time I’ve heard that already. I’ve heard the same thing three times.”

“I’m sorry…”

Robert was helpless even in the presence of a man half as young as he was.

He had been working for the Duke Esirene for generations, but this head of the family was exceptionally cruel and cold. He did not openly abuse the servants, but cut them off more mercilessly than anyone else when he deemed them useless.

It didn’t just stop at dismissal, he would also collect all the innocent sins and blame them, making them lose everything and eventually go to prison.

Knowing this fact, the servants in the Duke Esirene residence tried their best not to be seen by Constantine as much as possible. If it was what he commanded, he had to do it, even if he asked for a star in the sky.

What he wanted this time was to find out about the pink-haired man whom Archduke Orlov had taken out the day of the banquet.

He was willing to carry out the order relatively lightly, as at first he did not think it was too difficult. He thought that within four or three days he would be able to figure out the man’s identity. Of course, the whereabouts of Archduke Orlov was known to all the people of the empire. It meant that there were many eyes watching what he was doing.

Moreover, a guy with pink hair could not go unnoticed. The combination of Archduke Orlov and the pink-haired man, he thought it would be even more strange not to find things out.

But Robert’s hopes were shattered on the third day of the search for him.

It was also at this time that the limits of Constantine’s patience began to be revealed. Constantine began to make terrifying inquiries, but he found out nothing about the pink-haired man.

He couldn’t find anyone who knew of even the traces of the man. No one knew what his name was, how old he was, where he lived or who he was.

If there was no information about the man, it would be as if he had fallen from the sky or sprung up from the ground.

“Do I have to wait all this time to find out who that one man is? What do you think, Robert?”

Constantine asked in a cold voice. But in reality, his words were not a question. It was an unspoken threat meaning that he couldn’t wait any longer.

“I- if you give me a little more time…”

“How much more do you need to find out? A day? Two days? Then surely you can give me some information about the man? What is his name, who is his family, where he lived and how old he is! How he got to know Orlov? Can you figure out all of them?!”

His voice seemed to rise higher and higher until finally he let out a thunderous roar. Pressed down by that force, Robert trembled.

In front of Robert’s eyes, the faces of servants who had been expelled from the Duke Esirene’s residence after being unfairly framed flickered. It also reminded him of himself who savagely shook off those who grabbed him by the ankles and asked him to allow them to see the Duke just once, saying that they were wronged.

Now it was time for him to despair that he would become like them. A heavy knock sounded.

“This is Anderson.”

There was a ray of hope in Robert’s expression at the voice he heard outside the door.

Anderson was the shadow knight of the Esirene family, acting as an informant. Robert had ordered him to find out about the pink-haired man.

He had been waiting for a few days until his throat was about to be cut off, but there was no news, and now that he finally appeared, he was resentful yet so grateful to the point of being unable to say anything.

“I got Anderson to find out about the man.”

As if he had been waiting, Robert quickly gave his credit to Constantine. Then, Constantine’s cold face softened a little.

“Hmm, is that so?”

“”

“Yes. He must have gotten something.”

“I’ll look forward to it. Come in.”

Constantine responded briefly to Robert, then ordered Anderson to enter.

Soon the door opened and a stout man with curly dark brown hair appeared. He bowed to Constantine, then went over to Robert and whispered in his ears.

Robert’s face, which was full of anticipation, turned stranger the longer Anderson whispered.

“What is going on?”

“Th- that… It is said that the man and Archduke Orlov were seen together.”

“And then?”

“But he couldn’t find out about the man.”

“Ha, that’s ridiculous. So what does that mean? What good is it if you don’t know who the man is!”

“H- However, it is said that Archduke Orlov seemed to treat the man very affectionately.”

Robert added quickly to calm Constantine’s fury, which flared up again.

“It is said that Archduke Orlov was seen going out with a man at the market a few days ago. A man was pickpocketed by a circus performer, and Archduke Orlov personally revealed his identity and protected the man.”

“… Archduke Orlov did?”

“Y- yes! That’s right.”

Constantine asked, narrowing his eyes, and Robert replied with a big nod.

Even though he couldn’t get the information Constantine wanted, he felt a little relieved because it seemed to be something he might be interested in.

“Interesting.”

Sure enough, Constantine was interested. Gray sky blue eyes shone coolly. He couldn’t tell what he was thinking, but he seemed to be deep in thought.

“The worldly Orlov protected the man by revealing his true identity.”

Constantine lightly brushed his chin with a slender finger and smiled lightly. It was because the appearance of the two of them on the banquet day came to mind.

Orlov hurriedly left the mansion holding the pink-haired man. Even from a distance, it was clear that he was worried about who might see him.

From that scene alone, he could have guessed that the two were not in a normal relationship, but after hearing about this incident, it was clear that the two had a deep relationship.

“I’m surprised he could do such a cute thing.”

To protect the man, he revealed his true identity, and the clever Orlov couldn’t have not known that the news would spread. Nevertheless, revealing his identity must have meant that he wanted to protect the man that much. In other words, it also meant that the man was so precious.

“So you never figured out the identity of the man?”

“Other than that Orlov called the man ‘Yuri’…”

“Yuri?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

At Robert’s answer, Constantine narrowed his brows. ‘Yuri’ was a commoner’s name. Occasionally, he had heard before that it was used among nobles, but it was a name only used by lower-ranking nobles.

If so, the man would have been a commoner or, at best, a lower aristocrat. It was surprising that Orlov had been involved with a man of such a class.

Of course, it was quite useful information for him.

“Hmm… Does Orlov enjoy sodomy?”

Among the nobility, there were also those who secretly enjoyed sodomy. Enjoying sodomy wasn’t particularly a sin or something to be pointed at, but there was something awkward about it.

It was only a guess, but considering Orlov’s usual temperament, his eccentricity could not be explained except that he was fond of sodomy and dating a pink-haired man.

“This could make for a pretty interesting story.”

A satisfied smile formed on Constantine’s lips as he muttered to himself.