CH 171

“…I’ll bring you some clothes. You can dry it.”

Aria stood up, remembering the shirt Lloyd had left off the other day. And at the same time he grabbed Aria’s wrist.

Aria couldn’t move under the gentle pressure that didn’t exert any force.

She paused for a moment, her lips twitching. Then he said, leading her hand towards him.

“It wouldn’t fit.”

“Ah.”

Come to think of it, the last time she saw him was half a year ago.

Seeing how he had grown so much in the meantime, there was a high probability that it would not fit as he said.

‘Then because he didn’t have clothes to wear, he was doing that? I’m again…….’

She thought he was tempting her.

Thinking it was all her misunderstanding, Aria blushed and coughed heavily.

“But wouldn’t it be better to wear it even if it’s a little small. You can’t stay naked like that all the time.”

“Can’t I?”

What?

“What does that mean…”

Aria turned her head away, embarrassed by the whispered answer.

She was startled when she saw Lloyd’s face coming up too close. If their eyes meet each other, their lips will rub.

“……”

“……”

Aria couldn’t take her eyes off Lloyd’s eyes that gleamed as brightly as the night that she had waited to come.

She couldn’t move. No, she actually didn’t want to move from him.

It was around the time Lloyd slowly bowed his head.

Knock, knock–

Someone knocked on their door.

“……”

After a moment’s silence, he clenched his lips.

“Ignore it.”

Bam, bam-!

“This is the message from the Lord!”

“It would be hard to ignore.”

Aria said, pushing him away.

The Lord’s agent knows that they are at home, so if they ignore the Lord’s agent, they may be kicked out of the territory.

Aria, who wanted to pretend she was a meek and ordinary person while she lived here, had already turned her attention towards the door.

“I’ll be back.”

Lloyd said so and opened the door.

Through the slightly open door, the situation outside got clearly visible.

“Gasp!”

Lloyd towered over him so the agent made a terrified sound.

“Speak.”

“Wh, what?”

What is with this tone out of nowhere?

“This cra…”

This crazy punk, he meant to say that.

However, when the gray eyes and gaze met him, he lost his words.

It was because he had a strong foreboding that if he spit out those words, he would encounter his late father.

“Cra, cra…….”

Lloyd tilted his head languidly urging the agent to keep talking.

“Cra… crazy bandits they are. You must have been very tired today to subdue the bandits. Let’s just get down to business.”

It was unbelievably cowardly.

He tried to speak strongly, not understanding why he was talking in a lower posture in front of Lloyd, who was nothing but the estate’s citizen.

“Are you Eden Valen? The Lord has decided to hold a festival to commemorate today’s event for your honor. Know that it’s a glory!”

“Is that it?”

“N, no! The Lord invited you to the castle. A carriage will be sent tomorrow morning, so you are ordered to come with your wife.”

“……”

“……”

“……”

“Can, can you please come…”

The agent who could not overcome the feeling of intimidation and murderous energy, ended up begging.

He was almost on the verge of crying.

Lloyd answered immediately, leaving no room.

“I don’t need it…”

He knew this would happen.

Before Lloyd could finish his words, Aria swung the door open and interfered naturally.

‘I have some business to do with the Lord.’

Aria stood between Lloyd and the agent and held out a card.

[Please convey that it’s an honor.]

“Oh, that’s great!”

The agent, tired of Lloyd’s intimidation, reacted as if he had met his savior when he saw her.

“Then I’ll say that you accepted it, so I’ll go for now!”

And he spit out his words out quickly, and hurriedly got onto the carriage and urged the coachman.

Looking like he wanted to leave as soon as possible.

The carriage the agent was riding in disappeared in an instant.

The next morning, as the agent said, the Attis region was in full swing with the preparations for the festival.

Aria gazed in a strange way at the scenery outside the window of the Lord’s carriage.

Lloyd, who was staring at her, spoke.

“The Lord’s son seems to be bothering you.”

Aria remembered the young man that was being talked about at every turn she went.

‘When did you hear that?’

Did the wives say that yesterday?

“There was such a person.”

In fact, she didn’t even care about it, so she couldn’t remember the exact impression.

She can’t even remember what he looks like, except that his hair is blonde…….

She thought that she didn’t want anything to do with him as there were countless stories for a long time.

“If it bothers you, should I kill him?”

She didn’t know why she heard the words ‘I’m going to kill him because he annoys you’.

Aria wanted to let Lloyd do his thing, but she shook her head. Because she still had to stay here.

“You know Lloyd. That I have a reason to stay here.”

“Tsk.”

Lloyd clicked his tongue and turned his gaze out of the window.

As expected, it seemed that the Lord’s son was bothering her.

‘But Lloyd will be patient.’

He was the person who wanted Aria to survive safely more than anyone else.

Five years ago, while analyzing all the information in the Attis region, they discovered a legend.

‘Ice Flower.’

The Ice Flower, which is said to grow only in the snowy mountains of the Attis region, had the effect of detoxifying all poisons.

“The legend of the Ice Flower? Hey, where could it be? It’s a made-up story.”

The people of this region thought that the Ice Flower was just a fictional flower in legend.

No one had found the Ice Flower, let alone kept it. Including locals and foreigners.

But Aria thought there wasn’t no possibility at all.

This is because the Attis region was the only land adjacent to Atlantis, which was loved by God.

‘As long as Atlantis and the Siren are true, the Ice Flower won’t be just a legend either.’

She judged so, and decided to study it a little more closely.

‘Of course, in the first place, I had no intention of staying here.’

She initially agreed to stay for a few days while traveling with Lloyd.

She hides her identity in order to be comfortable. But as soon as she set foot on this land, she realized it.

‘It has the energy of God.’

To be precise, traces of Atlantis were faintly left here.

It was also the reason why rare plants that grow in Attis could not grow in other lands.

And finally, Aria found traces of the Ice Flower.

‘Winter is coming soon.’

Ice Flower will be in full bloom on the snowy mountain.

‘We’re really close now.’

All that was left was how to consume the Ice Flower, which freezes everything it touches.

The Lord of Attis, Viscount Norton had never gone up to the capital.

‘It seems like he’s doing everything he can to get an invitation from the Imperial Palace.’

But to no avail.

It was because the Norton family was not only powerless, but was also hated by the Imperial family.

‘The previous head went out of the Emperor’s eyes and was expelled to the outskirts in an exile, so there’s absolutely no need to be called to the Imperial palace.’

It was also the reason why Aria and Lloyd could stay here without changing their appearance.

By the way……. Aria glanced at Viscount Norton, then the Viscountess, and then their son.

The Young Viscount looked like he was buried in clothes and jewels, as if all of his fortune were spent on dressing him.

‘Although I thought that it was on the more luxurious side compared to the estate’s assets…….’

As she did not pay attention, she had no idea it would be this bad.

Aria held up a card to the Viscount family.

[Did anything good happen?]

“Haha, to ask the obvious. Isn’t it a very monumental day when the bandits completely disappeared from Attis!”

She thought he would go wild, as he had made himself an incompetent leader. Viscount Norton chuckled and greeted them warmly.

Aria exchanged gazes with Lloyd for a moment, then gave him a look.

Anyone could tell he seemed to be up to something.

“Come, come on. I’m going to make a good offer for you, so don’t leave me standing still. Come and sit down.”

As soon as they sat on the sofa in the parlor, the Viscount got right to it from the beginning.

“My family was invited as a distinguished guest of another country.”

They received an invitation from another country?

‘Are you trying to get asylum in another country?’

Aria narrowed her eyes suspiciously for a moment, then held out a card.

[What exactly are you going for?]

“Ah, well the point is…”

“Wait.”

That was then.

Young Viscount Norton, who had been scrutinizing Lloyd with distasteful eyes all the time, suddenly interrupted the conversation.

“You don’t have a mouth? Why are you letting your wife speak for you?”

Does he want to die?

‘The moment Lloyd opens his mouth, everything will be in vain, so I’m meditating in the middle.’

Aria stared blankly at the Young Viscount for a moment with a meaningful gaze. Then, the Young Viscount, who received her gaze, suddenly blushed, and avoided her gaze.

Lloyd’s smile came as he watched the scene, tilting his head crookedly.

– Lloyd, be patient.

Aria sent him a message, pressing her hand to Lloyd’s knee. She was afraid he couldn’t stand it and killed Young Viscount Norton.

“Don’t you interfere.”

Viscount Norton, who looked at his son with pity for a moment, spoke.

“Cough, anyway, the place we are going is Garcia.”