Chapter 96
“Truly, you never fail to meet my expectations.”
Lucy sighed and nodded toward Shan, and he threw punches at the men.
“You—what are you idiots doing! Why can’t you get up immediately? You can’t even handle one man properly…!”
Seeing his subordinates fall one by one, the Baron shouted in panic.
“You, go and bring more servants immediately! And you—come here!”
After giving orders to a maid trembling in the corner, the Baron roughly grabbed Lucy’s wrist.
“You’d better let go of that!”
Frowning, Lucy looked at the hand he had grabbed and mercilessly stomped on his foot with her heel.
“Ugh! You—!”
Seeing this, Shan rushed over and punched the Baron.
“Miss, are you all right?”
“I’m fine.”
“And this one?”
She looked down at the Baron, who was sitting on the floor clutching his stomach, and asked.
“Don’t kill him yet. After all, he is the father who raised me.”
Lucy stepped forward gently, knelt before him, and met his gaze with a tender voice.
“Father, for the sake of the time we shared, I’ll let you go today. But from now on, you will experience hell. Feel the kind of pain that slowly drains your blood, the pain that makes you wish for death.”
“Y-You… think such threats will work on me! You’re utterly mistaken if you think you can do anything relying on someone like that.”
“A mistake…? Honestly, I’m not sure what I can do yet. I’ll figure it out as I go. So look forward to it.”
Lucy smiled brightly, in a way the Baron had never seen before, and looked straight into his eyes.
For some reason, the Baron felt a chill run down his spine at her smile.
After the storm at the Baron’s residence, he became frantic in his search for Lucy.
“Foolish people! How hard can it be to find one woman? If all else fails, we’ll put up wanted posters. Yes, I’ll draw the likeness of the one who came that day and post it!”
If he offered a reward, someone who knew her would surely come forward.
He immediately summoned an artist and described Shan’s appearance, having him paint a portrait.
But even before the portrait was finished, misfortune slowly began to strike Baron Diallo.
It started with his trade partners.
“What do you mean? They won’t deliver from next month?”
“I don’t know the reason! They suddenly informed us, as if it were planned, so I’m trying to understand the situation.”
The trade partners suddenly began cutting ties.
At this point, Baron Diallo still thought simply that he could endure a little loss and find alternatives.
Next came his customers.
Baron Diallo had recently been expanding his territory from the capital to the provinces.
But a northern merchant group had started establishing a branch in the capital and suddenly began thriving.
Better quality and lower prices—his customers were obviously going to flock there.
But the Baron could not intervene recklessly.
“Of all people, the Pablo merchants…”
The Count Raeford, who ran the Pablo merchants, was the last person he wanted to confront.
‘But I can’t just let Pablo take all my customers…’
He thought it would be fine as long as he avoided meeting Count Raeford directly, and began devising a plan to drive the Pablo merchants out of the capital.
“All the tasks you instructed have been completed. Initially, some refused, but when offered extra, they agreed to supply us without complaint.”
Lucy took the documents from her assistant, nodding with satisfaction.
Immediately after meeting Baron Diallo, she began persuading his trade partners.
She also planned to obstruct any new partnerships in the future by any means necessary.
“It’ll be a lot of work, but check on the nobles connected to Baron Diallo and the main clients of the merchant group as well. Oh, and I have an appointment today, so I’ll be leaving early!”
After dumping the tasks on her assistant Nils, Lucy left the merchant house.
Today was the day Lucas was supposed to visit the townhouse.
When Lucy left early, Anna, who was waiting, helped her with her hair and attire.
“By the way, how’s Dino lately? Haven’t seen him much.”
Lucy asked as Anna brushed her hair.
They had both been busy, and Dino was usually active at night, so they rarely crossed paths.
“He’s sometimes in the hallway, but he seems almost invisible, quietly keeping to himself. What he’s doing, I have no idea.”
“Then he’s probably gone out by now?”
Lucy glanced at the wall clock.
“I’m not sure.”
It was still early evening, but she hoped Dino and Lucas wouldn’t run into each other.
“You’ll be dining with the Duke, right? Then will Duke Cretaine stay here for the night? Should we prepare the guest room in advance?”
After finishing her hair, Anna held up a dress, her eyes gleaming.
“No… He probably has a place nearby. We’ll just have dinner and tour the townhouse, that’s all.”
“Just that? Then next time, you can visit the Duke’s townhouse!”
Anna clapped her hands excitedly after a brief look of disappointment.
“The Duke’s townhouse is huge, so touring it will take a while. Make sure to stay overnight leisurely next time!”
Before Lucy could respond, Anna smirked mischievously.
At that moment, there was a knock at the door.
“Ma’am, Duke Cretaine has arrived.”
“Tell him to wait a moment. I’ll be right down!”
Lucy quickly finished her preparations and went out.
Descending to the first floor where Lucas was waiting, she was surprised by the two figures before her.
‘Dino? Of all times…’
In the lobby, Lucas and Dino were standing facing each other with a tense atmosphere.
“L-Lucas, have you been waiting long? Oh, Dino is here too… haha…”
Lucy approached awkwardly, smiling.
“Lucy, why is he here?”
“What’s this? Were you two visiting each other’s homes?”
Lucas asked, and this time Dino scowled at Lucy.
“He had nowhere to stay, so he’s staying here for now. Wasn’t Dino planning to go out?”
Lucy looked at Lucas and Dino in turn.
“Go out…? No, I changed my mind. I thought I’d have dinner at home today. If the Duke hasn’t eaten yet, let’s have dinner together.”
Dino turned his body, feigning casualness.
Lucy laughed awkwardly in the uncomfortable situation and looked at Lucas.
“That works out. I haven’t eaten yet either. Let’s all have dinner together.”
Lucas, seeming to understand her feelings, smiled gently without showing displeasure and looked at Lucy and Dino.
Dinner began, but Lucy felt suffocated by the awkward atmosphere.
Throughout the meal, Lucas and Dino, sitting across from her, stared at her intently.
“Oh, not eating? Doesn’t it taste good?”
“No, the food is excellent.”
Lucas glanced at Dino beside him and took a sip of wine.
Dino, sitting with his legs crossed, did not eat, instead wearing a sulky expression as he watched Lucy and Lucas.
Eventually, Lucy slammed down her fork in frustration.
“Dino! Do you have something to say?”
