CH 30

Bang!

“You’ve been hiding here.”

A woman with a face as cold as the north wind twisted her mouth and aimed her sword at Noel’s neck.

“Noel Marcia Klaus.”

Klaus? Elusiana’s eyes, startled by the knight’s words, immediately turned to Noel. That man is Noel Marcia Klaus? The eldest son of Marquis Klaus…?

Even after hearing it clearly with her own two ears, Elusiana couldn’t believe it right away. No, her brain, which received the information to be exact, was stubbornly rejecting it.

D-Does this make sense? The recipient of the flowers ordered from Count Eragost is t-t-this Customer?  Elusiana tightly closed her eyes as if to deny this threatening situation. No matter how much god hated her, how could he give this ordeal to her?

On the other hand, the female knight watched Noel with sharp and elaborate eyes like a blade.

“Ye-Yeri.”

“You escaped like a rat and managed to hide in a place like this, Brother?”

Noel smiled awkwardly and slightly pushed the sword away from his neck. But, of course, the sword didn’t budge.

“Let’s get rid of this and talk, right? It’s too dangerous.”

“Then are you going to push me away like last time and run away?”

“Cough cough, it was a mistake.”

“Yes, it must have been a mistake. That’s probably why you ran away without knowing your sister’s wrist was broken, right?”

“…I said I was sorry for that too, Yeri.”

Noel flinched at the ferocious gaze that seemed to be devouring him and spoke in a small voice as if he were about to crawl in. “I’ll be quiet.”

Yeriel snorted coldly. “That’s something I don’t really trust.”

“I’m telling you, I promise.”

Yeriel, who was threatening Noel, finally withdrew her sword. Only then could she find Elusiana, who was on the verge of fainting. That the blade pointed at her wicked brother, had also been pointed at this young lady’s neck.

Yeriel’s eyes, which had only been cold and calm, shook violently as if they had met a storm. Urgently withdrawing her sword, she spoke out in a haphazard voice, the exact opposite from when she was questioning Noel.

“E-Excuse me, a-are you alright? No, where did you get hurt… Were you surprised? I-I’m sorry, what should I do?”

* * *

About three hours after the two siblings of Marquis Klaus stormed the Fragrant Garden.

Rattle. Rattle. Elusiana, in the public carriage, looked at the flower basket the size of her body, then hugged herself.

“Haa… I’m going crazy.”

Who would have known that the rude, flirtatious man was the eldest son of the Marquis Klaus?

Gorgeous blond hair and dark purple eyes. When she saw that unusual appearance, she should have been suspicious. Elusiana shook her head as she recalled Noel’s miserable back, who was being held by Yeriel’s hands.

“I made him look like that, but how dare I bring it to him.” It was rather fortunate that she didn’t get kicked out of the door.

Elusiana sighed as she stared at the colorful basket of purple and white statice flowers.  But the real problem… is this. She let out a sigh as she looked down at the outer envelope decorated with glittering pearls. A name clearly written on the light purple envelope. It read ‘My Dear  Noel’.

“This, I can’t believe I have to deliver this directly to the person concerned. Ugh.”

Elusiana tore her hair and made a groaning noise.

“Be sure to deliver it on time and make sure to bring the confirmation, Lady.”

Trisha’s words, which she had been begging for, echoed in her ears. If I had known it would be like this, I would have bought someone and made them pretend to be a staff.  Unless you’re the client, you wouldn’t know whether they were the staff.

However, for Elusiana, who had more bad days than good days, it was necessary to take care of it. Yes, there was no other way anyway. Elusiana sighed as if the mountain was about to collapse and looked like she had lost the world.

Then a knock could be heard. Perhaps she had arrived at her destination before she knew it as the coachman knocked on the carriage door.

“Customer, we have arrived at the mansion of Marquis Klaus.”

“…Yes.”

Elusiana got out of the carriage after wearing a dark purple hood. She was telling herself it would be okay and it wasn’t a big deal, but she couldn’t help being nervous.

“Phew, work is work though.”

Elusiana looked up slowly, ignoring the sweat in her hands.

“Ah…!”

Elusiana, who burst into exclamations without realizing it, bit her lips. Her breath was automatically choked by the overwhelming majesty of the mansion. The mansion of the Waieos family wasn’t small in scale, but the mansion of Marquis Klaus in front of her was like a strong fortress holding a blade.

“…shall I just go back?”

She should have just refused the favor. But, she couldn’t turn back to the past, and is regretting it now.

“That’s right, what can I do? I have to do my job… but can I just go back?”

Elusiana, clutching the flower basket tightly, stood in front of the main gate, feeling like livestock being dragged to the slaughterhouse. The knight guarding the gate approached her.

“What brings you here?”

“F-Flower delivery is here.”

The knight checked the flower basket in her arms and opened the gate.

* * *

Led to the parlor of the Klaus Mansion, Elusiana sat on a chair. She was polite enough to be a delivery man, but she couldn’t ask suspicious questions. If they told her to wait, she had to wait.

“He’s not going to come and get it himself, is he?”

Elusiana stopped smiling at the question that wasn’t realistic even though she brought it herself. At that time, the main culprit behind her regret suddenly appeared in front of her eyes.

“We’re seeing each other again, right?”

The man, who didn’t know when he came in, smiled brightly, and placed both his hands on the tables.

“L-Lord?”

“Are you surprised?”

Noel smiled, apparently liking her embarrassed expression.

Elusiana, awakened by his laughter, quickly got up from her seat and straightened her dress.”

“Greetings to the young Master of Klaus. My name…”

“Hmm?”

“…Is Lu…si.”

Elusiana bowed her head again. She carefully lowered her unfolded dress and bit her lips. Funny enough, she just greeted him with noble manners.

To make such a mistake with this person as if it wasn’t enough to thoroughly deceive my identity. Don’t tell me… Did he notice that I’m a noble?  Elusiana’s heart beat rapidly.

“Well, sit down for now.”

Noel took his eyes off her dress, then said nothing of importance and sat down in the chair. His softly smiling face didn’t look any different from the first time.

Is he pretending not to know? Elusiana gently placed her hands on her lap while studying Noel’s expression. But overshadowing her worries, Noel seemed not to care at all. Still, I have to be careful. If she made a mistake, his fangs hidden behind his languid smile might bite her neck.

“Your name is… Lusi.”

Elusiana, who took a breath inside, replied with a relatively calm face. “Yes.”

“Lusi, My name is Noel.”

“…I know, Lord.”

“Lord?” Noel, who grinned, shrugged his shoulders and said, “Well, all right. It’s okay to call me whatever you want to call me. Lusi, do whatever you want. Instead, I want some compensation.”

“…Compensation?”

“Like I said, it’s the first time I’ve been rejected. I was a bit hurt.”

…What bullshit is this again? Elusiana gave a firm grip on her twitching mouth. If she let her guard down even a little, her intention to smack him might be let out first.

Noel talked with a meaningful smile on his face, whether or not he knew what Elusiana was thinking. “Actually, I think I should say sorry to Lusi.”

“What is Lord talking about…?”

“The flower basket. The one in front.”

Noel with his chin up smiled as he looked at the flower basket in the middle of the table. Elusiana sighed and asked calmly, wondering what other useless words this man was trying to say.

“What’s wrong with this flower basket?”

“I think you’ll have to take it back.”

“…yes?”

Noel’s finely folded eyes bent mischievously.

“I don’t need it.”

“B-But these are flowers delivered for Lord.”

“So, I told you beforehand. You will get compensation for hurting me. In addition… I’m a little sorry for you.”

T-This crazy trash! Elusiana almost let out a curse word that popped up in her mind.

He laughed softly but turned people inside out. What did he say by telling me beforehand? He’s feeling a little sorry?

But if she got angry here, her efforts would mean nothing. If she went back like this, the contract would have been canceled and she would have no face to see Trisha. Besides, the one who held the control is that fucking guy over no matter what.  

Elusiana managed to shake off her agitation and then parted her lips. “I understood what Lord said. But taking it back is difficult for me too.”

“Oh, but are you angry? Your expression… is very scary.”

At Noel, who pretended to be innocent and putting on his frightened expression, Elusiana managed to straighten her face that was about to be distorted. His brazenness in turning back words was really high quality. But getting angry would result in nothing.

“Lord misunderstood.”

“Aah— As expected, right? I thought you were angry at me for rejecting the flower basket again.”

Noel leaned against the back of the chair with a smile as if he had never been frightened before.

Elusiana’s anger rose to the top of her head, but she managed to maintain a resolute expression. Even if she didn’t know anything else, she could guess that this was his revenge for what happened before.

Wait, is that true? If revenge was his purpose, this hospitality was a little strange. He escorted the delivery man to the parlor used to greet nobles, and he spoke softly to somehow drag out the time… Elusiana’s eyebrows were slightly frowned.

“Lord wants something else from me.”