"The biggest secret?" Green, who sat opposite Charlotte in formal attire and dared not let his gaze linger on her, smiled. "Then I'm afraid quite a few people already know it."
Quite a few already... I thought that even if I wasn't the first, I would at least be one of the few... Charlotte froze, then asked in confusion:
"Who else knows about this besides you?"
Green glanced at Lila, the maid stationed at the drawing room door, and lowered his voice.
"I'm not sure, but there are certainly quite a few. I visited Roselle several times while he was working on that machine in the Old District. I got him an old loom and some materials, and once the prototype could run, I hired a few workers familiar with machinery to test it. They didn't understand the structure of the entire machine, but after seeing punched cards move the hooks, and seeing one person operate a loom that normally took two or three people, I imagine they would have found it hard to keep the secret.
"Of course, lately he hasn't let me visit that abandoned workshop anymore. My guess is either my attempts to dissuade him upset him, or the machine is nearly finished and he no longer needs my help.
"If it's the latter, I'm worried he'll cause serious trouble."
No, I'm afraid Roselle has another reason for keeping you out of that room... Charlotte lowered her gaze guiltily. Her brief dissatisfaction at not being the only person who knew the "biggest secret" faded, and she asked instead:
"Serious trouble?"
Green did not answer immediately. Instead, he looked up at the garden outside the drawing room window, and at the quiet, tidy streets of the Saint-Roc District, so different from those in the Lower Korus District. Only