13 – 13. A Moment of Rest
Wiping away the flowing tears with my hand for a while. Until the eye makeup smudged and stained my hand a little.
The scream from my stomach growling started to bother me as expected.
“Um… I’m getting hungry. How about going to eat?”
“Food… ah.”
However, I am now more concerned about her expression.
With a not so good expression, she hesitates about me.
What could be wrong?
Surely, it can’t be something seriously wrong.
“Seeing through your eyes, may be faster…”
Saying that, she took my hand and stood up from her seat.
Is it an illusion that her eyes look like wings of something?
As I blankly stared at her face, she slightly lifted the corners of her mouth and opened the door, heading outside.
And what unfolded before my eyes was an eerily quiet mansion.
No sound could be heard. Not a single noise.
No sound of something moving, no footsteps of people.
Only the breaths of the two filled the emptiness.
With each step, the sound of footsteps echoed loudly.
“What, what on earth is happening? The servants, the maids? The knights…”
“They’ve all left. With Viscount Rambert.”
With Viscount Rambert? This mansion?
Did she run away because she was afraid? Well, she was quite terrifying that day.
The power to subdue knights wearing armor with bare hands.
Anyone would have been trembling.
But to think that even Viscount Rambert’s daughter would be afraid and run away.
I wonder if I fell for my own trick.
“Well, with your father -“
“My father,”
She slightly squeezed the hand that was held out to her.
Not the kind of pain she used to inflict, but rather a pressure that clearly expressed her intention.
“Don’t call him my father anymore. Not anymore. Didn’t I tell you? What kind of person my father is.”
“That’s right.”
“So, Rambert Melbus is not my father.”
Her words carried strength. Like a declaration, her determination collided forcefully with me.
Red pupils. When I met her eyes, which seemed to suck me in, she murmured softly.
“Are you saying it’s forced…?”
Her mouth was smiling, but her eyes were not.
She gave birth to me, but she didn’t raise me with love.
Simply because my blood was mixed, she claimed it as her own and raised me as a weapon.
She didn’t teach me things to become human, but rather things to become a tool.
So, she is not a father.
Rather… an inventor, a creator, someone with possessions. It seemed to fit better.
“…To define someone, at least if it’s your own opinion… you don’t need permission from others.
But if it becomes one’s opinion that is told to someone else, then the permission of someone’s understanding is necessary.”
“So, will you give permission… no, understanding?”
“If it were me, I would do the same.”
She gently placed her hand on his messy hair and brought it closer.
It seemed like he was startled by the approaching shadow of her eyes, but soon she relaxed as she felt the warmth, gently closing her eyes and savoring the moment.
As she stroked his tangled and unruly hair with one hand, she made a path through the black strands.
Enchanted by its sparkling and glossy softness, she immersed herself in it and slipped her fingers between them, tracing the lines with her hand.
“So now… I will call you Count Lambert, just like that.”
“…”
A soundless sigh. Her eyes gradually formed a crescent shape, and a wide smile bloomed.
…Although it had become a rather disgraceful sight, well, what can you do?
If she likes me, then that’s enough, I think.
The journey to get here wasn’t smooth sailing, though.
“So then… what about our meals?”
Gurgle.
Once again, the sound filled the hallway.
*
The safe was still in its place.
In the yard where all the furniture had been cleared, the sight of the safes being left alone looked somewhat amusing.
But there was a reason for it, namely the considerable weight.
If three or four strong men were to come together, it would be possible to move it… Count Lambert must have had his own thoughts on the matter.
“Do you happen to know where the key is?”
“I suppose it’ll be with Lord Lambert.”
“Ah…”
Well, that’s how it is. There’s probably no way to open the safe.
But as she watched me shaking the small lock in my hand, she asked me.
“Um… but why the safe?”
“You need money to buy something that can be a meal, don’t you think? There must be restaurants in the city.”
“So you mean…”
“Yes, a little outing – just the two of us.”
“Ah.” “Ah.”
Her face turned bright red,
And I finally understood her intentions a little too late.
“I, I’m sorry! That’s not what I meant…”
“No, let’s go on a little outing, just the two of us. Then.”
Her face lit up with just those words.
Her reactions were so lively and adorable.
“But still… we have to unlock this lock first -“
“Just unlock it, right?”
“Just a moment, what are you planning -“
“Wait for me!”
And with that shout, she disappeared from the room.
“No, what on earth are you trying to do?”
It might take a while for her to come back.
Well, of course, since I could feel the vibrations of her running and stomping all the way here.
Then… In the meantime, let me check the message window a bit –
Thump thump thump thump thump thump –
As I was about to go to the message window, I stopped and turned my eyes towards the door,
Something rushed into my arms in a flash.
“I’m here, I’m here!”
Drenched in sweat, breathing heavily,
Tears welled up in her eyes as she clung to me.
“I forgot something and left it behind… Haah, I, I came back!”
“You forgot something… and left it behind?”
“Yes, I left it behind. I forgot. It could have been a big problem…”
Saying that, she pulled me tightly into her chest.
“You, you almost left without me.”
*
Darkness hung in the room all at once.
Sitting on the high seat, wearing a black coat, his face was calm as he waited for someone.
But inside, it burned black.
With such great anger, darkly, intensely.
His heart was dyed in darkness. Because of the overwhelming anger and hatred.
Above all, as a member of the Malverus family, Irene Malverus, who was an ability user and possessed exceptional swordsmanship by her own choice –
No, his vanguard, who could easily knock down dozens of knights even without weapons, had fallen into the hands of a lowly parasite woman.
And that happened in a very short amount of time.
This man knew very well that he could not retrieve her. He knew that the disgusting emotion had already completely permeated her.
If he couldn’t have her powerful presence, he had to get rid of her completely. Like the joker in a card game, he couldn’t tolerate it becoming a variable.
“You’ve come to this humble place yourself.”
The man who quietly opened the door and entered was a thief with an unkempt beard.
But the scars and the large sword on his back subtly implied that he was not an ordinary thief.
As if they had met several times before, he put the sword beside the door and naturally took a seat on a stone bench.
What he took out from his waist pouch was a bottle of alcohol with quite fancy decorations, contrasting with his appearance.
As if showing off, he smirked and presented two glass cups.
Of course, the Count refused.
“Hmm. It would have been quite good.”
“It won’t be a long meeting.”
“Well, as you wish.”
Seeing him blow into the bottle with his mouth, the Count immediately spoke up.
He kept the thought that he made the right choice by refusing the alcohol deep inside.
“There is something you must do for me.”
“Is it a genuine noble item? Last time, you gave me something quite spicy, and I was doing quite well, if I may say so.”
“No, I hope you would ransack my mansion.”
“Ransack my mansion?”
The burglar attempted to loot the empty mansion, leaving behind a safe. However, the young man and woman who were secretly inside were discovered by the thieves, and a fight broke out…
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It was quite a plausible story. Of course, there wouldn’t only be thieves in that place.
He planned to have some of his own people disguised as thieves there.
And the fire that erupted in the chaos would devour everything.
In his opinion, it wasn’t a bad idea.
If he were to drop a torch on the ground while the torches were fighting to illuminate the darkness, no one would notice that it was intentional.
Especially if the leader of this gang of thieves was present right in front of him.
That’s why he had come to find him in person.
“There are some valuable items that would be difficult to dispose of. I hope you can make it look like a theft.”
“However, it will actually become a real theft. But…”
The man absentmindedly stroked his beard. As if something was bothering him, he furrowed his eyebrows.
But the Earl did not tolerate it. With a glint in his eyes, he calmly asked a question.
“What’s the problem?”
“Oh, no, nothing. I’ll do as you ask.”
In a manner that didn’t suit his physique, the man, who was getting old, took another gulp of alcohol.
Tap, tap, his nails tapped on the armrest.
“Of all the tasks I’ve given you, have any of them caused harm to you?”
“No, not at all, yes, yes. Then, when should I…”
“The faster, the better. However, there should be no witnesses this time.”
“Is it because of someone important?”
“…You’re catching on.”
“I take it as a compliment.”
He had already received his fortune many times and robbed carriages or killed people.
By chance, when an incident occurred, the man in front of him skillfully took advantage of it. Regardless of the size.
But what’s the use of it all? This man, whose intellect was not particularly sharp, was satisfied as long as he received money.
And the employer in front of him always paid him handsomely.
After finishing the last sip of wine, the count quietly stood up from his seat and bid him farewell.
“Wait for news.”
“There won’t be any news to hear. Most likely.”
The staff outside the door sighed with relief as they watched him leave.
It wasn’t a pleasant feeling to be played with like a puppet by someone with mysterious abilities.
However, he stared at the luxurious empty bottle in his hand.
Would a common thief like him ever have a chance to touch such a bottle?
And even a fugitive with warrants issued in various territories?
Just by quietly receiving a few coins from behind him, his belly was already full.
This time, he allowed him to take things from the empty mansion on his estate as well.
The news was that he left in a hurry, but the reason for it was unknown.
It was rare to hear such news. The Melvus family was always shrouded in secrecy.
Once his decision was made, he stood up and recalled in his mind how many trustworthy subordinates he had.
Thievery had to be done quietly.
Especially since it was happening within his territory.
“How much loot will I get this time…”
He always demanded piles of documents, so it was obvious that if he rummaged through them this time, he would find plenty of valuable things to claim as his own.
Thinking that there was no need to complicate things, he immediately felt a surge of excitement and stretched out comfortably.
Resting before the big game was essential.