He Opened A Matchmaking Agency In 18Th Century London [EN]: Chapter 23

23. A Sincere Request

Clang- Thud.

Following the guide, Tae-oh descended deep into the prison, passing through several iron doors.

The guide navigated the maze-like corridors and stairs with ease, relying on a small lamp even in the darkness.

However, the guide’s attire, viewed from behind, was peculiar.

The guide wore multiple layers of clothing, each piece of different shape and size, like a beggar performing in a variety show.

‘Did he dress like this because it’s cold inside the prison?’

Later, Tae-oh learned that the clothes he wore were bought from death row inmates just before their execution.

Condemned prisoners, resentful of dying without proper nourishment, would trade their clothes for clean, mold-free bread or fresh, unrotten fruit.

“Hehehe…”

After climbing the stairs for a while, the guide, standing before another iron door, glanced at Tae-oh and let out an unpleasant laugh for no reason.

Then, from the bundle of keys at his waist, he found one and unlocked the large padlock.

Clang- Thud. Creak-.

“Here we are, sir.”

In a space slightly less than 1.5 square meters [approximately 16 square feet], about a dozen prisoners were packed tightly. Huddled in the dark, damp room, their eyes resembled those of dying beasts rather than humans.

The prisoners, gaunt with hollow eyes, blocked the narrow doorway, prompting the guide to kick them mercilessly.

“Get out of the way!”

Thwack-

“I said, move!”

Thud-

The kicked prisoners collapsed powerlessly, either thrown into the corner of the cell or scrambling to get out of the way.

However, Antony Burns’ figure was nowhere to be seen among them.

Puzzled, Tae-oh looked at the guide, who pointed to another connecting passage and said,

“This way, sir.”

“Do we have to go further in?”

“Yes, we’re almost there.”

Following his guidance further inside, they reached a small room where four or five prisoners were huddled as if dead.

The guide approached the man in the far corner and nudged him with his foot.

“Hey, you. A gentleman has come to see you.”

Tae-oh examined the man, whose head was buried between his legs.

But no matter how he looked, it didn’t seem like the Burns he knew. The man’s appearance was too dirty and shabby.

“Is this really Lord Burns?”

“I don’t know about Burns or Burns, but he’s definitely the Earl of Kent’s murderer.”

The guide then tapped the man’s shoulder.

“Hey! You have a visitor! Can’t you hear me?”

When there was no response, the guide suddenly turned fierce, raising his foot high.

“Can’t come to your senses, huh?”

“Wait a moment!”

Tae-oh stopped him from kicking, quickly pressing a silver coin into his hand.

“Leave us alone with the Earl for a moment.”

However, the guide still wore a frown. He seemed to think the money wasn’t enough.

When Tae-oh took out another shining silver coin from his pocket, the guide snatched it up and then showed his few remaining yellow teeth, bowing repeatedly.

“Hehe~ Then, do your business, sir. But due to regulations, it can’t be too long. Hehe~. Of course… if there’s something particularly important to talk about, I might be able to bend the rules a little more. Hehehe~.”

Tae-oh grabbed the guide’s arm as he was about to turn around.

“Leave the lamp too.”

The guide held up the lamp in his hand and said,

“This thing?”

As Tae-oh took out a silver coin, the guide quickly placed the lamp on the floor and snatched the money.

“Hehehe~ Then, have a good talk. I’ll be waiting at the entrance.”

As the guide left, a faint voice was heard from below.

“Wh-…who is it?”

It was definitely Antony Burns’ voice.

“Lord, it’s me, Theo Sanderson.”

No sooner had the name Sanderson been spoken than the Earl’s head shot up.

“Ah… you’ve come… Mr. Sanderson…”

Antony Burns barely managed to hold back the tears that welled up as soon as he saw Tae-oh.

The sudden death of Francis Burns, who was like a father to him, was already unbearable, but the reality of being framed as the murderer of his uncle, the Earl, was too unfair and absurd.

Lord Burns expected his innocence to be proven soon and vehemently pleaded his case in court.

However, the moment he met the hateful eyes of the jurors, he sensed that he was caught in a tight snare from which he could not escape.

And before long, he realized that there was no one who could help him clear his name.

Neither the distraught Countess, nor the magistrate Rodney, nor the Kent family’s exclusive lawyers, nor his friends… when he was accused of being the Earl’s murderer, they only cast suspicious glances and no one actively stepped forward to help.

He was falling into endless despair in a time of shocking and painful events.

But why was that?

In that desperate moment, the person who came to his mind was, unexpectedly, Theo Sanderson.

Theo Sanderson, who had suddenly appeared at the Intelligence Club, which was full of intelligent people, had captivated the club members at once with his overwhelming intellect and judgment.

Theo Sanderson was not merely knowledgeable and eloquent.

When talking to him, one would often get the illusion that he could see right through the other person’s heart, and this was a feeling shared by most of the club members, not just Lord Burns.

Antony Burns, who had always admired Theo Sanderson’s insight and judgment, harbored a faint hope that perhaps he could save him from this crisis, and that was how he contacted him through the Countess.

Thud-

Tae-oh, sitting down next to Lord Burns, spoke first.

“The weather has become very warm. I saw primroses, which you like, blooming everywhere outside.”

“……”

Antony Burns was overwhelmed by Tae-oh’s unexpected first words.

His heart, which had been gradually drying up in the dark and gloomy prison without a single window for weeks, felt as if it was being caressed by the warm spring sunshine at Tae-oh’s words.

Primroses were heart-shaped pink wildflowers that bloomed in England in April, and they were flowers that Lord Burns had cherished since childhood because of memories with his mother, and Tae-oh remembered that story.

Most people, upon seeing the Earl, would have been eager to extract information, such as whether he had really killed the Earl or for what reason he had followed the trail.

The Kent family’s lawyers, who had visited last time, were also busy constantly asking such questions.

Although they had come to help the Earl, Antony’s heart felt inexplicably more stifled and constrained. And he didn’t want to say more because he felt a sense of despair that they could never solve his problem.

But Tae-oh was different. Even in the darkness, he seemed to see right through his heart and already understand and soothe his unfair feelings.

In fact, Tae-oh first attempted to exchange emotions rather than information, and he was grasping the psychological state by reading the Earl’s subtle expressions.

Tae-oh knew well that when the other person is mentally struggling, trying to extract information rather than emotions only makes the other person feel uneasy and causes them to shut their mouth.

Also, even if you force an answer, it is difficult to obtain truthful information from it.

It is part of such emotional exchange that investigators in the modern era listen to the criminal’s grievances and have the food they want delivered before the full-scale investigation.

The lawyers, who had failed to have a proper emotional exchange with Lord Burns, dismissed the Earl’s unfair appeals as mere excuses and focused only on finding out the reason for killing the Earl.

Antony Burns, whose emotions were heightened by this, closed his mouth tightly.

Human emotions have their own unique energy. That’s why even if languages ​​are different and races are different, the same emotions can be conveyed.

Tae-oh was able to immediately read from the unconscious signals of emotion emanating from the Earl’s face and gestures how sad he was and how angry he was because he was so wronged.

When Antony Burns’ emotions had calmed down to some extent, Tae-oh began to talk about the incident in earnest.

“In the meantime, did the Earl have any grudges that others didn’t know about?”

Lord Burns shook his head vigorously.

“No, no. There was nothing at all. The Earl was a person who tried his best throughout his life not to say or do anything that would hurt others, even if he suffered a loss himself. Even when he scolded me, he always hugged me warmly at the end, saying he was sorry for getting angry.”

“What about the witnesses’ testimony that you followed the Earl into the trail?”

The Earl sighed and replied.

“I didn’t follow him. I told him to have dinner together after looking at the ball, but it was strange that he didn’t come back even after a long time, so I went out to see. He had never broken a promise, so I felt strangely ominous that day. So I hurriedly searched here and there along the trail.

Then, when I found my uncle covered in blood and carried him out, I saw people around pointing fingers, but I never thought they were looking at me strangely.

I was just so focused on saving the Earl that I carried him without thinking.

Only after hearing about the people who testified as witnesses in the local jury did I realize that they had doubts about my actions at the time.”

Tae-oh watched the subtle movements of Lord Burns’ eyes throughout the story.

People’s eyes usually tend to look to the upper left when recalling actual events, and to the upper right when making up things with imagination.

The direction may vary from person to person, but the Earl’s eyes, as Tae-oh remembered, were clearly normal.

And as expected, the Earl’s eyes were directed to the upper left when he was pulling out past memories throughout the story, indicating that he was telling his real memories.

“Some people speculate that you did that because they thought you would lose your position as the Earl’s successor if the Earl, who was recently married, had a son.”

At Tae-oh’s words, the Earl’s lips momentarily lifted, revealing his fangs before disappearing.

‘Scone….’

Scone [a fleeting expression of hostility, like baring fangs] is one of the most aggressive microexpressions that humans can make with facial expressions, an unconscious behavior that shows strong hostility, as if a wolf is baring its fangs.

It meant that Antony Burns was feeling great anger at the absurd story that he had killed Francis Burns in order to inherit his position.

‘The Earl didn’t kill the Earl.’

From a very young age, Tae-oh had a special talent for distinguishing people’s lies by feeling the emotions flowing from them. Moreover, its depth had been increased through years of psychological research and clinical experience.

Having met Lord Burns in person and read his hidden emotional messages, Tae-oh was convinced that he was not the culprit.

Lord Burns spoke with difficulty.

“Mr. Sanderson. I have a sincere request.”

“Yes, please tell me.”

“I can’t trust anyone right now. The lawyers have branded me as a cruel parricide [one who kills a close relative] and are just moving formally to collect their fees.

Mr. Sanderson… Could Mr. Sanderson save me from this trap instead of a lawyer?”

“Me?”

“Yes. Please, I beg you. If only Mr. Sanderson agrees, the Countess will help. To be honest, it would be a lie to say that I am not afraid of dying, but really… it is too painful that the Earl’s honor, my honor, and the Kent family’s honor are being pointed at and tarnished. Please help me clear this injustice.”

Tae-oh pondered for a moment and nodded.

“Okay. I am convinced that you would never do such a thing. Lies cannot hide the truth. I will do my best to reveal the truth and help you get out of here as soon as possible.”

Tae-oh’s powerful promise came as a ray of hope to Antony Burns, who was struggling in endless despair.

“Th-…thank you… sob… really… thank you so much.”

Antony Burns was sobbing sadly, holding Tae-oh’s hands tightly in both of his hands.

◈ The next day. Hampstead, Tae-oh’s house.

‘Hmm….’

Tae-oh was sitting at his desk in his study from the morning, deep in thought.

The paper on the desk was filled with notes that he had handwritten, summarizing the stories he had heard so far and the data given to him by Magistrate Lord Rodney regarding the murder of Francis Burns.

It was then.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

“Master? You have a guest.”

“What? A guest?”

“Yes, he said you would know if you told you that he is Baron August Murray who made a reservation?”

Tae-oh widened his eyes and tilted his head.

“Baron Murray? Who is it? Such a reservation… Ah… oh no!”

Having remembered something, Tae-oh was startled and jumped up from his seat.

He had been so caught up in Antony Burns’ problem that he had forgotten about the matchmaking reservation he had made before.

Baron August Murray was not a member of the Intelligence Club. He was a person who had been informed of the consultation request through the introduction of another nobleman in the club.

When he received the call, there was nothing special going on, so he made an appointment, but because of the sudden Earl Burns incident, he had completely forgotten that he was visiting this morning.