Volume 5 - CH 4

P. 122

*

P. 132

She hasn’t seen the coblynau ever since she went with him to the harem. Most likely, the fae had gone to call its friends so that they could take care of the black diamond. 

Nico was no where in sight. Lydia had no idea where he was and what he was doing, but he had the frequent tendency to not come home for days after he discovered something enjoyable, so she wasn’t worried.

Lydia was in the garden gathering hawthorn berries that could be used to ward off evil spirits just when it started to rain lightly.

“Miss Carlton, you will get wet.”

Raven held out a shawl for her.

“Did Edgar tell you to do that?”

He remained silent, perhaps because she guessed right.

Because Lydia hadn’t been hiding the fact that she was avoiding Edgar since this morning, it looked like he was using Raven as the in-between.

That’s not going to put me in a good mood, thought Lydia.

“Please accept it.”

“Please tell him I don’t need it. More importantly, Raven, weren’t you yelled at by Edgar? For revealing to me of Madam Eve Palace.”

He couldn’t keep any secrets from Edgar, so if he was asked by his master, then he was sure to answer honestly.

P. 133

“He said if you would accept this, then he would forgive me.”

Wha-what a nasty scoundrel.

But, she gave up when she saw the desperate eyes of Raven, which easily let her see how determined he was in making sure she accepted the shawl, no matter what. 

“….I’m sorry. You went through such a troublesome experience because of me.”

“I didn’t feel troubled at all. Lord Edgar is periodically unreasonable because he urges me to put my efforts into thinking for myself, since I can only act when given orders.”

What a convenient interpretation he came up with.

His twisted personality is just unreasonable, is what it is.

But, Lydia didn’t want to throw cold water on Raven’s feelings of trust and loyalty he had towards Edgar.

Because the unreasonable and half-hearted and frivolous part of him seemed like it was actually helping Raven’s conscious be released into independence. 

That’s why she surrendered by taking the shawl and wrapping it around herself.

“Today’s a little colder than usual.”

“Yes, since it is the turn of the season where it suddenly turns cold. I will make sure to put fire in the hearth.”

When his business was over, he was quick to leave. 

P. 134

He probably didn’t want to be troubled if Lydia were to question him something again. 

I should head back as well, thought Lydia and passed through the garden and under the tree doorway.

Then she heard the talking voices of Edgar and Ermine from the open-windowed terrace. 

“The servant of the duke’s?”

There was no particular reason, but Lydia hid herself.

“It seems he was found collapsed by the side entrance of Mr. Slade’s club. We were able to find out his identity from one of the ‘Scarlet Moon’ members investigating about the Duke Barkston family, who thought the male servant’s face looked familiar, but the letter the boy was gripping in his hand was written by Jimmy begging for help.”

“Were you able to find out the location where Jimmy is held captive?”

“It is somewhere near the White Chapel.”

“And, how about the young boy?”

“It seems like he was put through a horrible beating, so he isn’t in any condition to answer questions.”

“So, Jimmy might also be getting the same treatment.”

Edgar appeared like he was in pain, like he was the one being tortured. And yet, what came out of his mouth next was surprisingly cruel.

“There’s a possibility that the letter could be Ulysses’trap. What reason would there be for a boy to go through a near-death experience in order to save Jimmy? Because Jimmy is a petty thief that snuck into the duke family’s house and got captured, right?”

P. 135

She imagined that he wanted to go and rescue him immediately, but Edgar wasn’t someone who could be moved by his emotions. That’s why he sometimes appeared like a cold liar. Lydia still didn’t know what he was really feeling in his core. 

“Mr. Slade says he will still go and rescue the boy and has led a group of his men from the ‘Scarlet Moon’ on the move.”

“Slade, huh. He is at the top of the group that doesn’t like how I work.”

Edgar seemed a little stumped as he tried to think of something.

“Oh, yes, I’ve heard Jimmy is an orphan from the slums and had been stealing all the time. Then he came to admire the ‘Scarlet Moon’ which was like Robin Hood’s gang of thieves and he came offering his skills in stealing and so Slade let him join.”

“That is what I also heard.”

Edgar thought about something even harder.

“Is there something that is bothering you?” asked Ermine.

P. 140

She was sure it was Ulysses.

“Hey, Lydia, don’t say something senseless like returning it to its owner. Because I don’t think the master of those goblins was a decent owner himself. I’m sure he had stolen it from somewhere.”

He may be right about that.

As Lydia thought about it, she looked back and forth from Kelpie to the diamond. 

Kelpie thinks that Lydia wants this diamond. It seems like he just happened to pick this up and he wanted to make Lydia happy.

Lydia said she wanted the diamond only because she wanted to test Edgar, so it wasn’t like she really wanted it. And besides, she was not fit for this diamond.

But, if she had this, then Edgar would be able to prove his father’s innocence to society.

If he returned it along with the black diamond to the Royal family, then Ulysses and Prince won’t be able to get their hands on it.

Would he really give it to her?

She glanced up to him to try to see what he might be thinking, but Kelpie put the necklace over Lydia’s head and settled it down around her neck.

He then inspected her and then tilted his head.

“Wouldn’t a white clover look better on you?”

Is that supposed to mean I'm not sufficient to wear the diamond?

P. 141

“Oh, well. If you like it, it’s yours.”

“Yo-you’re giving it to me?”

“In exchange, how about, cancelling your engagement with him and returning to Scotland?”

Kelpie made a delightful grin. 

Well, there was no way he would give it away freely. 

Oh, no, what should I do, thought Lydia. 

It was a diamond that Edgar really wanted. He might just agree to annul their engagement.

But Kelpie figured that if it was those conditions, then Lydia would accept.

It was true, if he was asking her to leave the human realm right now and marry him, then she couldn’t nod to that, but if it was just returning to Scotland, then to Lydia, that just meant she was going to return to her previous lifestyle. 

Kelpie must have thought if he was able to spend time with Lydia in the peaceful countryside like before, then he would be satisfied.

“It’s not like you really want to marry that man, right? I can understand that you want to work as a Fairy Doctor and stay in the human world. But if you are just engaged to him just so you can void the promise to live with me, then let’s just return everything back to a blank slate. This situation you’re in, it’s unnatural.”

Most likely, it was just as Kelpie said.

P. 142

Lydia should put back everything to as it was before, and after that, she should think about her future. 

This situation, of not knowing Edgar’s true intentions, and become jealous and thrown around and having her feelings become jumbled up, was unnatural. 

“I’ll bring this up with Edgar.”

“Good, don’t lose.”

She wasn’t sure what part of it was a win or lose situation, but Kelpie patted Lydia’s head in a rough shake to perhaps, cheer her on. 

He was rough and she felt he treated her as a child or maybe even a pet, but since he didn’t have another hidden side to his character, she wasn’t bothered by it. 

“The rain, it’s growing heavier. It’s bad for human health if you get soaking wet, right. You should go home.”

P. 150

“Why don’t you listen to what your heart tells you?”

Lydia swiftly stood up and dashed over to the doorway.

“Am I not good enough? If I’m going to have you taken away, then the diamond can just go to hell. Kelpie can have it for all I care!”

Hearing his yell from behind her, but not knowing what to do, she ran out of the room. 

From where Lydia ran out and left him, Edgar didn’t move and just slumped back onto the sofa. 

After a while, Raven came in and reported that Lydia had gone home early. 

“It was not good news?” he asked.

“It was awful.”

Without hiding his misery, Edgar rested his chin in his palm.

“It seems that Kelpie had found the white diamond ‘Daydream.’ He’s saying that in exchange, I have to call off the engagement with Lydia.”

“Did you call it off?”

“Raven, even you think I would choose the diamond over her?”

P. 151

“…..I’m sorry.”

So he does think so.

Then Lydia’s reaction couldn’t be helped, but for Edgar - who thought he had been openly showing his feelings for her - it was a depressing reality.

“Ahh, what is it that’s wrong with me?”

“But, Lord Edgar, did you intend to choose Miss Carlton over the diamond?”

“You’re quite the harsh one aren’t you?”

To begin with, Edgar’s way of thinking wasn’t to choose just one of them. 

He needed Lydia. But, the diamond was also important. He couldn’t let Ulysses get it. 

At these kinds of moments, Edgar knew what it was he had to do.

“It isn’t like there wasn’t a way that I could have gotten both of them.”

“Then, why did you make Miss Carlton run off?”

Yes, exactly.

If he had done it right, he would have been able to keep Lydia, and at the same time, be able to get the white diamond from Kelpie, but since she looked so unconcerned, it frustrated him to see how sure she thought he would choose the diamond. 

And he let his emotions take control and lashed out on her, but if he wanted to get both, then anyone would have said he did the most stupidest thing.

P. 152

He had every intention of obtaining what he wanted and needed, so he didn’t intend to let Lydia go. He didn’t even need to rethink about that, as he was already decided on that matter, but it was so unlike him and a shock, for saying he’d let Kelpie have the diamond.

He was adept at lying. But, there was no point in a lie that didn’t have profit. There shouldn’t be any meaning in what he said to her before she left, but if what he said were to have just spilled out of him, it could have been what he was really feeling. 

As he remained confused, Edgar stood up.

“Raven, it isn’t like she has escaped.”

“But, she left marks on you.”

Raven held out a handkerchief.

Good God, this was also unexpected.

He was careful not to force himself on her, so lately, when Edgar would get close to her, Lydia hadn’t put her guard up like before.

However, if he was going to kiss her, there should have been a suitable situation than just now. And he had been holding himself back all this time, and yet, he did it at the worst possible timing out of all the situations he could have chosen.

“I couldn’t hold myself back.”

So annoyed and in a fret, he rubbed the blood that was oozing out of his cheek with the palm of his hand. 

P. 153

“Ahh, maybe this really is the curse of the diamond.”

Just then, Raven suddenly turned his head towards the window with a nervous look. 

And in the next moment, he swiftly stepped over to guard Edgar.

“Like always, that servant of yours is quick to notice.”

By the time Edgar turned around, a young man with black wavy hair was sitting down on the windowsill like he had been there all along. 

“What’s up, Blue Knight Earl.”

“What’s your business, Kelpie.”

The water horse wore a faint grin but glared at Edgar.

This fae was the one who had the white diamond that Edgar wanted so much. On top of that, he brought up the idea of bargaining to Lydia. 

He was the source of Edgar’s depression.

“Hey, what did you do to Lydia?”

“It has nothing to do with you.”

“It does. Since the diamond I have seems to be the blame. Ahhh, I picked it up intending to give it to Lydia, and yet it was something you were looking for. When I was a little worried and came to check things out, I find Lydia bright red in the face and running out of here and hear you saying a ridiculous thing like you want both Lydia and the diamond.”

P. 154

Kelpie narrowed his black pearl eyes in a suggestive way.

He had a seductive, perfect beauty. That’s why Edgar didn’t like this kelpie. 

To Edgar, his only weapon was his looks. He was well aware that on the inside, he was unfair, narrow-minded, had a jealous nature and was self-centered. For him to seduce women and make people his allies was all thanks to his smart talk and deceiving them with his looks.

That’s why he hated men who had a much more attractive face than him. 

If it was a human, then they were sure to have a fault, and if they were offensive and detesting, then he'd be satisfied by embarrassing them, but if it was a fairy, then there was nothing he could do.

If the only reason for Lydia to be engaged with Edgar was so she could remain in the human world, then as for her personal feelings, she might actually have positive feelings towards Kelpie than Edgar, and that was another irritation for him. 

“Lydia is my fiancée. There is no way I would exchange her for a diamond.”

“She wants to call it off. That’s why it was such an ease for her to be able to bring this up with you.”

True. That’s why, Edgar became even more furious.

“So?”

“Then, how about a bargain with me. Let her go. If you can’t, I’ll give this to the another who wants this. A human with light blond hair; the one who looks like a young boy but can control fairies.”

P. 155

Ulysses.

Edgar looked straight back into Kelpie’s eyes as he tried to think. 

He wanted the diamond, and Lydia.

If he were to agree in annulling the engagement, then he would get the white diamond that Kelpie had. Even if he returned his relationship with Lydia to a blank slate, there was still a chance for him to win her over. 

But, was that really possible? He mulled that thought around in his mind. 

He lost his temper when Lydia brought up the suggestion of calling off their engagement, and made her cry, and yet, if she were to find out he bargained with Kelpie...

Even if Lydia was a soft-hearted girl, that would make her never trust Edgar again. 

But she didn’t trust him from the start. No matter what her feelings, there were plenty of methods to have her agree in their marriage.

“What are you going to do?” asked Kelpie.

Kelpie made a grin like he was enjoying how he was able to play with him. 

Although he hadn’t made a decision yet, Edgar’s emotions made a mumbling response. 

“Get out of my sight.”

“Hmmm, so that’s your response?”

“I’m not bargaining. Lydia is my fiancée!”

P. 156

Kelpie tutted and then, vanished.

At that same time, Edgar felt the strength in his body go out. He grasped the windowsill that Kelpie was on with both hands.

“Raven, what on earth am I doing.”

He wasn’t able to make a rash, clear-minded decision. He ended up letting the diamond go, that was hanging right in front of him.

“There is no problem. Lord Edgar, no matter whose hands it falls into, I will retrieve the white diamond. But, I can do nothing about Miss Carlton.”

That could be true. However, Edgar was more befuddled about his own uncontrollable feelings, than wondering if it was the right decision or not to kick away the bargain with Kelpie.