Chapter 91
“Hmm? Oh, uh, it’s just… you looked so cool!”
When Lavian suddenly asked her a question, Nina jumped in surprise and blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
That much was fine—but her voice came out a bit too loud.
Everyone inside the tram turned to look at them.
“Oh my, how cute…”
“Are they father and daughter?”
Warm laughter spread through the car. Across from them, Keith and Katya both wore utterly ridiculous expressions.
“If you had any shame at all…”
“Oh, sir, your daughter is so pretty! How old is she?”
A middle-aged woman cut off Keith’s growl with her cheerful voice, directing her question at Lavian.
Lavian blinked rapidly several times before replying.
“Six… I think?”
“My goodness, ‘you think’? Oh dear, such a careless father, with a daughter this adorable! Sweetie, would you like a piece of candy?”
Nina looked up at Lavian with an expression that clearly asked if she could accept it.
Lavian ignored Mersy, who was beside him coughing loudly to hide his laughter, and gave her a small nod.
“Thank youuu!”
Leaning sideways on Lavian’s lap, Nina took the candy with both hands.
The middle-aged woman chuckled warmly.
“Oh, how precious. My kids used to be like that too… Enjoy this while you can, young man. You’ll miss these days the most later, you know?”
Murmurs of agreement—“Yes, yes, that’s right”—came from all around.
How on earth did they all get into such perfect sync like that?
And why was it that whenever he was with this kid, people treated him like he’d lost all dignity?
While such serious questions were crossing his mind, Lavian placed a protective arm around Nina and pulled her a little closer.
Just then, the tram entered a bumpy section of unpaved track and began to rattle.
“Hey! Watch where you’re touching!”
“It’s shaking! What do you expect me to do?! Kyaah!”
“Ah! Don’t push me!”
While Keith and Katya bickered noisily across the aisle, Lavian turned his gaze to Mersy—who had, quite naturally, linked her arm through his.
“What are you doing…?”
“Hmm, just admiring how impressive your muscles are. The ride feels much more stable this way.”
“You mean you want a permanent one-way ticket out of this world?”
“I don’t understand difficult words. Nina, do you know what a ‘one-way ticket out of this world’ means?”
Instead of answering Mersy’s feigned innocence, Nina quickly changed the subject.
“Uncle Lavi, are you busy tomorrow?”
“Why?”
Still nestled against his arm, Nina looked up at him hesitantly.
How exactly was one supposed to ask a kidnapper out on a date so it didn’t sound weird?
Ahem, if you’re not too busy, perhaps we could go to the festival together on the last day…
“Do you… already have a date tomorrow?”
Her nerves got the better of her, and her words came out backward.
That’s not what I meant!
She already knew that Lavian was touchy about people prying into his private life.
Yet, she’d just made it sound like she was doing exactly that.
Lavian studied her flustered expression for a moment, then nodded.
“Yeah. With you.”
“…With me?”
“Right.”
“Oh! Okay!”
She wasn’t sure when that had been decided, but Nina decided not to dwell on small details.
Just then, the tram stopped in front of their hotel.
As everyone got off, the same middle-aged woman waved and called out cheerfully one last time.
“Oh, you’re getting off here? Take care, handsome young man! Goodbye, sweetie!”
“Goodbye, ma’am! Thanks for the candy!”
After waving back at the kind woman, Nina quickly hurried to Lavian’s side.
Her blue eyes sparkled with excitement.
“Uncle, don’t you think I’ve grown taller?”
“….”
Lavian’s face became a perfect replica of the expression Cheshire had worn just the day before—an expression that said, what is this tiny thing even talking about?
“I’m serious! Look, I can reach your hand now. Yesterday, when I was with Uncle Cheshire—”
“Cheshire?”
Lavian, who had been looking down at her blankly, raised an eyebrow.
Nina suddenly realized her mistake and tried to explain, but—
“You didn’t know?”
Mersy interrupted out of nowhere.
Lavian slowly blinked and turned to look at her.
“Didn’t know what.”
“That Cheshire came to see Nina.”
“Why would that guy come see a kid?”
“Well, a few days ago, we all ran into each other by accident while out at the festival. Then yesterday, he came to invite Nina out for parfaits. He even sent a formal invitation.”
“…Is that so.”
Lavian’s lips curled into a thin, chilly smile.
His sharp gaze flicked immediately toward Keith.
Startled, Keith began waving his arms frantically and sputtered an explanation no one had asked for.
“H-he was acting so confident, I thought maybe he’d struck some kind of deal with you, boss!”
“I see.”
“A-actually, Mira might’ve helped deliver the invitation in exchange for ten boxes of caviar, but—”
“Caviar?” Nina’s mouth dropped open.
That was the first she’d heard of it.
“So I was sold for ten boxes of caviar?”
“N-no! Not sold! We just… passed along the invitation instead of shredding it immediately!”
“And what did you get in return for letting me go so easily?”
“W-what?! N-nothing like that! Anyway, I was worried about you, so I secretly followed to keep you safe, remember? Haha! I even disguised myself as a top-class waiter!”
Before Keith could laugh himself to death, Lavian’s strong hand clamped onto the back of his neck.
“Got it. It’s been a while—let’s have a little executive meeting.”
“W-wait, hold on a sec! Guys, help me—!”
Keith cried out desperately as Lavian dragged him away by the collar.
Of course, no one helped him.
* * *
On the table sat a fruit box stamped with the logo of a famous distribution company—something Keith had received a few days ago through a messenger from Hwangdobal.
Mersy folded her arms, eyeing the box suspiciously.
“Fruit boxes are kind of out of fashion now, aren’t they?”
“There wasn’t enough room in the cookie box, what else was I supposed to do?”
Lavian, lounging lazily in his armchair, answered without looking up.
Mersy sighed, glancing around the room that now resembled a raccoon’s den.
“So how much is in there, exactly?”
“About a million darcs, give or take.”
“Surprising. Didn’t think the bald duke was that generous.”
The money they’d squeezed out of Duke Cerny matched the ransom amount Nina had first mentioned.
One million darcs.
Of course, Anubis hadn’t kidnapped the First Princess just to get a mere million darcs.
“For the Foreign Minister’s hush fund, that’s actually cheap. By the way, your ‘no-panty’ idea was genius.”
“Wow, praise for once? Don’t just talk—pay me a bonus.”
“No money.”
“There’s a million darcs right here. I’m thinking of using my bonus to ask Nina out instead. She must be getting tired of only going on dates with old men.”
“…”
Lavian turned his sleepy gaze from the ceiling to give her a long, narrow-eyed stare.
Mersy deflected smoothly.
“Anyway, boss, I don’t mind you taking matters into your own hands—but if you gathered all the guys from the capital, shouldn’t you at least explain the situation?”
Lavian turned his head again and exhaled a slow stream of smoke toward the ceiling.
The look in his eyes was a storm of complicated thoughts.
Mersy finally went over and opened the window.
Cool night air swept in, clearing the smoky haze in the study.
“I appreciate that you think highly of me, boss, but I’m no mind reader.”
“I’ll admit you guys aren’t quite up to my expectations. But you don’t have any foresight skills, either?”
“If I did, do you think we’d be in this mess?”
“Fair point. Useless brat. Go die.”
“…Boss, what the hell happened out there?”
If something had happened, there could only be one explanation.
But at that moment, Lavian didn’t seem capable of putting it into words.
“Do you remember what I told you before—about the hallucinations?”
At the sudden question, Mersy’s expression said, I knew it.
Whenever Lavian acted like this, it was always about Nina.
“You mean when you said you kept seeing her? The one where she always had her fingernails injured?”
