79 – Clouds of war loom
Four days after Yulken secretly summoned Lux, the air in the castle changed.
The change may be positive for some and negative for others, but one thing is for sure.
“beggarly… … .”
It’s not a very good direction for Vincent, the old man who holds the glass in his hand as he sighs alone in his room.
And his anger was directed at Lux Feltner, who had promised to go through this gig together.
‘Why are you not contacting me? Like this f*cking bastard.’
There was a reason why Vincent’s relaxed mood changed in such a short time.
On the day Yulken arrived at the castle, a letter arrived to Vincent, but the content was unusual.
Its contents were very simple.
‘Since Lux blamed you for your sins, take care of yourself and sacrifice yourself.’
It did not specify what the crime was, nor who the sender of the letter was.
However, for Vincent, there couldn’t be anything that would make the conversation so chilling.
At first, he also thought that he was just an alien world, but after four days, Lux’s traces became strange, and anxiety overtook him.
Even though I knew in my head that I had to avoid contact as much as possible in the castle, it became difficult to sit calmly when the fire fell on my feet.
So Vincent tried to find a place to meet somehow, either by sending a letter to Lux or by talking to Lux instead through a servant.
However, he was silent.
No, to be precise, he was ignoring it on purpose.
If Lux had really committed all the sins against Vincent, he wouldn’t have told the truth.
At least, he must have prepared a hole for himself to escape, or he must have covered it up by saying that everyone who executed it was Vincent.
In such a situation, if contact with him is discovered, it could lead to suspicion that he was an accomplice.
‘He’s a bastard who won’t be happy even if he eats it.’
The reason Vincent has been able to observe this situation leisurely is simple.
Even if he becomes a suspect in the process of finding the culprit, there is no way to prove it.
In the end, when you come down from the level of evidence, you become negligent about finding physical evidence.
Even if you think you’ve erased all traces, there may be loopholes somewhere, but if you don’t even investigate, you can worry less about this part.
However, if Lux blew all the facts, the story would be different.
The investigation network will definitely narrow down Vincent, and eventually he will be discovered somewhere with an unexpected tail.
In the worst case, Lux, an accomplice, could think of finding evidence that Vincent had committed this incident and offering it to him.
‘All correspondence was burned. But there’s no guarantee that he did too.’
The two men had brief discussions in meetings, but most major issues were discussed through correspondence.
It was because the fact that there could be someone who listened to it had the biggest effect.
The problem is that, looking back now, it could be a stumbling block holding Vincent’s ankle.
He read the letter as soon as he received it and burned it on the spot, but the other party had no way of knowing what he had done.
What if you had left it until now?
Pudeuk.
Thinking of the worst, Vincent gnashed his teeth and shook his clenched fists.
‘I can’t watch for a long time now.’
If you can’t talk to Lux face to face, you’ll have to act on this side first to avoid the worst.
Even if he didn’t betray himself, it didn’t matter.
It’s a sprout that should have been cut off anyway when this gig was exposed.
Moving first before everything is revealed. that’s what you have to do now
* * * * * * *
Ariel had a really normal life for the past four days.
I learned official duties from Yulken, martial arts from Edgar, and learned knitting from Shuri for the first time.
Her days are always a continuation of learning.
However, Ariel enjoyed this daily life very much.
In the past, I couldn’t enjoy it because of the pressure of having to complete the bowl as a family head early, but that wasn’t even the case anymore.
“Isn’t it better to learn from Mr. Creed now?”
Edgar, who was breathing heavily after finishing sparring at the gymnasium as usual today, threw out a word.
Because her inaction had risen so much that there was nothing more to teach her.
Is this a true genius?
Edgar, who had been praised by Creed all over again, felt a bit funny about himself the other day.
Maybe if he saw her, even that Creed would open his mouth.
“Why? Is it because it’s cumbersome?”
However, Ariel asked in a somewhat subdued voice, unaware of Edgar’s feelings.
It was because it was hard to take care of training every day, so it sounded like I was leaving the burden on Creed.
“What are you talking about? No, I have nothing more to teach you.”
“I don’t really care… … .”
In the first place, she knew that Creed’s skills were better, and if there was a good teacher to teach her, she would have brought her from outside.
However, it wasn’t because of Ariel’s personal greed.
I just made up my mind about Edgar, and I wanted to pull his hand little by little, and I wanted to increase my contact with this and that.
Of course, there was no reason to practice martial arts, and it was possible because Edgar’s skills were also excellent.
The problem is that now, the belly button has become bigger than the belly.
In the end, Ariel felt like she would learn from Creed if she stayed like this, so she had no choice but to use white lies.
Even if I get caught later, I feel like I can catch it then.
“Can’t we just learn more like this? Creed said it would be enough if he continued to learn from you.”
“what? Did Mr. Creed say that?”
“yes.”
Ariel, who calmly lies without blinking an eye.
At this, Edgar put on a worried expression, but since he was Creed, he thought it was quite possible.
Since Creed’s assurances could not be questioned by anyone else, Edgar eventually decided to take care of Ariel’s training.
Ariel only nodded her head calmly on the outside while exclaiming joy on the inside, wondering if he would be suspicious if he reacted too excitedly.
Even her parents would not have known that the grand duchess’ teaching to hide their emotions as much as possible when negotiating would see the light of day at a time like this.
After finishing the story, the two sat down on the floor of the gymnasium.
Recently, it was practice-oriented training such as sparring rather than holding posture like in the past, so my stamina often fell early.
“But why has it been quiet for the past few days?”
“Are you quiet?”
Ariel tilted her head at Edgar’s muttering that came out of nowhere.
In fact, he already noticed what he was saying, but he deliberately acted somewhat exaggeratedly to pretend he didn’t know.
“Since that happened, I tend to be as careful as possible when I go out. But it was so quiet that it made me feel bad.”
“Isn’t it nice to be quiet? Thanks to that, it’s comfortable to be together.”
“That’s right.”
Anyway, peace is good news.
However, one thing that made Edgar uncomfortable was that he hadn’t heard anything from Ariel.
I was told that I had told Yulken about the events of the day, but I was told nothing about how it was going.
To the point where it feels like you’re intentionally avoiding the topic of it.
‘There’s no way this has already been resolved.’
Although the possibility is slim, it is clear that he would have said it even if he did.
Maybe it’s because he’s secretly doing a background investigation that he shouldn’t even tell himself.
Since he was also a party to the incident, he wanted to hear about how the situation continued after that, but he couldn’t blindly use it.
After all, once he realized that the enemy was inside, Edgar, who didn’t know enough about them, wasn’t much help.
It’s not like I have the ability to hire people to dig up information.
“Ed, what are you thinking?”
As soon as Edgar’s red eyes popped into his field of vision, he flinched slightly and laughed.
It’s really pretty eyes, but there are many times when you come in without notice like this, and even those who are used to it are often surprised.
I don’t know if it’s because it’s such a heterogeneous eye.
“ah… just. Even though it’s so quiet, I think you’re anxious.”
“What is there to be anxious about? I am by your side.”
“It’s very reassuring.”
As the body that will become the owner of the next grand duke’s family speaks, the credibility has risen sharply.
‘Well, if it’s the power of the Loveheim family, I’ll be able to solve this incident without a big deal.’
No news is good news.
Thinking that way, Edgar decided to put his mind at ease and patted Ariel on the shoulder as he sneaked into his arms.
“Yeah, Ed. I have something to ask you.”
“Tell me.”
“If someone killed or tried to kill your family or lover… What do you think?”
Edgar expressed his puzzlement at the fairly absurd question.
I wondered if this was just a joke question, but judging by the seriousness in her eyes, it seemed to be quite sensitive.
Edgar pondered over it and came up with an appropriate compromise.
“I’m sure you want to kill me. Of course, I wonder if answering murder with murder would be justified.”
“yes? I have a slightly different opinion.”
“How are you?”
I thought it was a trivial question, but the more I ask a question like this, the more I wonder about the other person’s feelings.
Ariel, who stared blankly at Edgar’s question for a while, hugged him and buried his face in his shoulder before muttering quietly.
“I will show you the horror I tasted. I want to engrave the fear of losing a loved one deep into my bones.”
“… It’s bloody.”
“Grace is multiplied, vengeance a hundredfold. It is a tradition passed down in our family.”
Ariel responded with a very fresh smile, hard to believe it was the smile of the woman who had spoken bloody words a moment ago.
Then, holding onto Edgar’s neck, enjoying the heartbeat he felt, he handed a short apology to himself.
‘I’m sorry, Ed.’
Even though it may not be the way you want, I will pay you back on your behalf in my own way.
The fact that the people who tried to reach out to you with such a dirty hand are still alive, enough to make you want to regret it.
If you find out this way, you might hate me for being kind, so resent me for not being able to tell the truth.
But even so, I can’t let you go.
It’s because you fell in love with a woman like that.
A woman who is greedy enough to be second to none in the world and never hands her things over to others.
A selfish woman who would do anything to make you stay with me.
Because you became such a witch’s most prized treasure in the world.