Chapter 64
Enduring a Lot (3)
Astor frowned at the musty smell clinging to his body as he stepped out of the magic laboratory.
“How shall we deal with him?”
“Treat him just enough to keep him alive. No more, no less—I only plan to make him suffer for exactly as long as he borrowed money from Wires.”
“Seven years…?”
Astor, walking down the corridor, glanced at Louis. His crimson eyes gleamed with a hint of madness.
“Why? Do you think it’s too much?”
“Not too much as such… but perhaps a waste. Is it really necessary to expend magical energy on someone like that?”
“I’ve barely broken his arms and legs. That’s nowhere near enough to erase all the debt he owes me.”
“Hmm.”
“Even the marquis’ wife and daughter were sold into slavery and have done their part, so shouldn’t the marquis get his chance to pay for his sins too? That’s only fair.”
Astor slowly traced his thumb across his red lips and smiled lazily.
“I can’t neglect the repayment I’m due just to save myself some effort. Especially when that debt belongs to Lucy.”
In other words, he had no intention of killing him easily. Louis understood this, but he couldn’t shake the sense of horror at Astor’s method.
Perhaps sensing his thoughts, Astor stopped walking and stared intently at Louis.
“Do you think my hands are too cruel?”
“They are somewhat extreme, yes.”
“I don’t think so.”
Astor’s twisted smile contorted grotesquely.
“I am restraining myself a lot right now, old man. I’m barely holding back from skinning him piece by piece and shoving it into his mouth.”
“…Your Highness.”
“If it weren’t for me!”
Astor’s crimson eyes flickered with murderous intent.
“Lucy would have ended up like that. No, she might have been utterly destroyed and dead. Do you still think I’m going too far?”
“….”
“I’ve been considerate enough already. My Lucy is alive and breathing in this mansion.”
Astor pressed his face close to Louis’ and smiled.
“I can’t very well emit this filthy, unpleasant smell in front of Lucy, can I?”
The murderous intent in his eyes was endless.
Louis reluctantly exhaled a sigh and replied,
“…I was thoughtless.”
Astor, satisfied, resumed walking as if nothing had happened.
Meanwhile, in Camilla’s room…
A maid stood trembling before Camilla, head bowed as though her neck were in the guillotine.
“So, you didn’t meet him?”
The maid, hands clasped tightly, bit her lip as she answered,
“He said he wouldn’t be coming to work for the time being.”
“Hm, I see.”
Camilla smiled gently at the mirror in front of her.
But unlike her smiling lips, her eyes didn’t move at all.
It made her appear even more sinister.
“Is that all?”
“Oh, no. I also placed an order for the flowers to decorate the ball in two weeks, as you instructed.”
“Good. And you made sure he knows he is to handle it personally?”
“Yes, Miss.”
Finally satisfied, Camilla’s eyes curved into a faintly cheerful shape. The maid behind her, fixing her hair, couldn’t help but tremble slightly.
“We’ll see what kind of face he has on that day.”
Camilla had sent knights to follow Noel wherever he went, but each time, he seemed to vanish. Recently, she discovered where he was going: the Fragrant Garden.
At first, she was too stunned to speak.
Although a servant planted in the Klaus household had told her, she hadn’t fully believed it.
Yet, when she confirmed that Noel had been visiting the commoner district daily, and the end of his route was the Fragrant Garden, Camilla had no choice but to accept it.
“He must regard it as something special.”
She assumed that was why he had ordered flowers from the branch in the commoner district rather than the main store in the aristocratic district.
Camilla traced her red lips and murmured,
“What was that child’s name again?”
“Lucy, Miss.”
“Such a… memorable name.”
Camilla stopped the maid’s hands as she lifted the hair ornament she had been holding.
The emerald-green ornament contrasted vividly with Camilla’s red hair and sparkled brilliantly.
She placed it on her head herself, a slow smile tugging at her lips.
“Still—”
The ornate hair ornament flashed brilliantly, as if devouring the light itself.
Camilla, staring intently at it, then smiled with satisfaction.
“It’s so common that it’ll be easy to forget.”
Her red lips twisted into a chilling smile, reminiscent of the excitement of that day.
Astor returned to Elusiana’s room after stepping out briefly; the sun was already halfway down the horizon.
He looked unusually tired, and his expression was dark, as if troubled by something serious.
But she didn’t ask—if it was something she needed to know, he would tell her himself.
“Thank you for your efforts. You may leave for today.”
Elusiana left the Sestain mansion with an inexplicable unease lingering.
Even while boarding the prepared carriage, she wondered briefly if she should have asked the duke, “Do you have some concern?” But she dismissed it.
“That would be presumptuous.”
Shoving aside the lingering anxiety like soot, she closed her eyes.
Soon after, she arrived at her destination, the Fragrant Garden.
“Thank you.”
After confirming the Sestain carriage had departed, Elusiana took the store’s key from her pocket.
The shop was already closed, as expected.
Click.
She opened the door and entered, a sense of peace washing over her.
It felt as if returning home, the sharp tension melting away.
Elusiana ran her hand over the table’s surface, worn from use, and smiled nostalgically.
“I was only away for a few days.”
It felt as though she had been away for months, even years.
As she chuckled at this unspeakable fondness, the store door suddenly burst open.
“Lucy!”
“…Noel?”
Like a dog greeting its owner, Noel charged forward and hugged her tightly.
“Hmph.”
“Lucy! Where have you been all this time? Do you know how much I missed you?”
Pinned tightly without a moment to breathe, Elusiana thumped his arms relentlessly.
“What are you doing? Will you release me right now?”
When she shouted, Noel loosened his grip and looked at her intently.
Her flushed face looked more adorable than any expression he had ever seen.
“I knew it was a lie.”
Noel smiled softly, pressing his forehead against her shoulder.
“What do you mean, ‘a lie’? Wait—step back a little. Noel. Why are you burying your face in someone else’s shoulder?”
“Just stay like this for a moment, Lucy. Okay?”
Elusiana frowned at how clingy he had become over just a few days.
“Calm down first, Noel.”
“How can I calm down? Do you know how many times I came here these past few days?”
Noel grabbed her shoulders and shouted. Elusiana, slightly intimidated, replied softly,
“Huh… how many times?”
“Hah, see? You had no idea. I came here two or three times every day just to see your face.”
Elusiana was a little surprised. She knew Noel came daily, but she hadn’t realized he persisted even when she wasn’t there.
She asked, puzzled,
“Did we promise to meet separately?”
“Do we need a promise to meet? Us?”
“Not really. I just wondered why you came every day.”
“Hah. Why? You really don’t know? I had to be sure. I couldn’t trust that you had abandoned this place.”
Noel swept the hair from his eyes irritably, frowning. For a moment, Elusiana was startled by his expression of anger.
“I abandoned this place?”
“You didn’t?”
“Of course not. I’m the owner here. You know that better than anyone.”
Noel exhaled a deep sigh, his nostrils twitching. He had believed she hadn’t, but hearing it from her directly reassured him. At least as long as the shop existed, she wouldn’t disappear.
“But who said such a thing?”
“No one. I must have misheard something. I worried for nothing. I really—”
Noel’s voice trailed off as he stared deeply into Elusiana’s crimson eyes.
“I missed you… so much, Lucy.”
His purple eyes, fixed directly on hers, held an intensity that was inescapable. The gaze was relentless, thick, almost suffocating.
