Seeking for Your Forgiveness

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Marianne couldn’t stand it any longer and took a step forward to get into the backyard.
Hastily.

 

“!”

 

She was still until the next moment.
The backyard was messy with the muscadines having fallen from the branches.
To the point where there was no place to step on.

 

“Oh, dear.
My shoes…….”

 

When Marianne groaned, “Ugh!” worrying about the soles of her shoes that would get dirty.

 

“Oh……!”

 

A low exclamation slipped out through her teeth.
At the same time, a flash of realization flashed across her mind.
Marianne, whose eyes opened wide, turned her head quickly.

 

Kristoff, whose eyes met hers, stretched the corners of his mouth faintly.
It was a soft smile, unlike his personality.

 

“I’ll have to meet Paul again on the way back.
I also have to stop by the morgue.”

 

Marianne, who was staring at him, nodded ever so slowly.
Marianne thought the same thing, upon finally seeing the same thing as Kristoff, and held her left chest as if to grasp her quivering heart.

 

badump, badump.

 

She could feel her loudly pounding heart in the palm of her hand.
Thrilling ecstasy ran down her spine.
She closed her eyes tightly and opened them again, letting go of the breath she was holding for a moment.

 

It seemed that she was standing side by side with him for the first time.

 

***

 

“Are you all right, Madam?”

 

Mrs.
Keller nodded helplessly at Marianne’s tender voice.
She wiped her tears with a shabby handkerchief in her hand.

 

Kristoff looked at the sight of her indifferently.
Unfortunately, her mournful burst of tears didn’t move him.

 

He wasn’t very fond of having such an emotional client.
It was because he thought they wasted his time.
It was when he threw his bored gaze out the window.

 

“……”

 

Marianne rose from her seat.
Moving to the place beside Mrs.
Keller, she gently caressed the back of her hand.
The warmth slowly crept into Mrs.
Keller’s cold hands.

 

“There’s no way he would be fine.
There’s no way.”

 

Marianne’s voice was hushed and composed the entire time as if comforting her.
Mrs.
Keller’s sobbing grew even louder.

 

That was not the way to soothe a mourning fellow.

 

Kristoff stared at them reluctantly.
He seemed to have waited even longer.
He threw an intense glance at Klein, who was snooping over the fence.
Klein awkwardly turned his back on Kristoff after their eyes met.

 

“How heartbroken Madam must be to lose your daughter and even your son was taken by the police.
I don’t even dare to guess.
I can’t give empty words such as saying that I understand you.
However, Mrs.
Keller, you have to tell me everything.
That’s how you can save Paul.”

 

“Huhu…… Paul, my poor child.”

 

Her tears continued to stream down incessantly.

 

“Yes, he’s a poor child.
The child is waiting for your help now.
Mrs.
Keller, I know it’s hard, but take a deep breath and relax.
And think back to that time with a cool-head.
You can do it.
Because you are a mother…… The strongest person in the world.
You’re the only one who can help Paul now.”

 

“!”

 

Mrs.
Keller looked up slowly with a blank look on her face.
She was embarrassed like someone who has been hit on the back of their head.
The focus gradually returned to her shaking gaze.

 

“Yes, it’s you, his mother.
Paul’s mother.
And…… Nina’s mother.”

 

Marianne, who quietly stretched the corners of her mouth, spoke in a soft voice.

 

“I assure you.
Kristoff is the best lawyer in the kingdom.
So, you can trust him, because if he can’t, nobody else can.”

 

Kristoff’s eyes grew slightly wider at her words after displaying a glint of uninterest.
He looked like a child who just received an unexpected gift.

 

Emotions crept onto his previously aloof face.
Kristoff stared at Mrs.
Keller, his gaze even more serious than ever.

 

Marianne was watching him.
It was one of the most important trials she would experience in her life.
Such a fact weighed on his shoulders.

 

“I’ll wait until you’re ready to talk, Madam.”

 

“……No, I’m going to do it now.
I will tell you everything I know, Mr.
Lawyer.”

 

Mrs.
Keller nodded, squeezing her handkerchief with her hands.
Marianne patted the woman on the back of her hand, as if sending a rush of courage.

 

“You have to tell me the truth about everything you know.
If you hide anything, there is a possibility of being unexpectedly attacked in court.
That would be our disadvantage.
Therefore, you have to tell me everything.
The truth is the most powerful weapon we can get our hands on.”

 

“I will.”

 

Kristoff stared at Marianne, who helped the grieving mother stand up at once.
Perhaps, she was much more capable than he expected.

 

His mouth suddenly loosened.
The fingers movement scratching his temple turned languid.

 

“Where should we start?”

 

Mrs.
Keller looked at Kristoff with red eyes.
Slowly turning his eyes, he spoke in a plain tone.

 

“From beginning to end.”

 

His voice shook the snipping afternoon air.

 

“Tell me the truth as it is.
For example, like the carpet that was said to be placed under the stairs which was originally in the living room.”

 

“!”

 

Mary inhaled sharply.
Marianne also looked back at him with a surprised face.
The scene when he lifted the carpet on the day they found the body suddenly came to her mind.

 

The floor where the dust was supposed to pile up.

 

If the carpet was supposed to be there, the dust wouldn’t have been piling up on the floor.
Therefore, the carpet was not originally there.

 

Therefore, where was it placed? Marianne belatedly clicked her tongue in regret that she should have looked for the traces of the carpet in the house that day.

 

She still had a long way to go.
It was her mere imagination to think that she stood side by side with him.
She could see Kristoff’s back one step ahead of her.