CH 34

Elusiana stood up from her seat as if possessed. Soon, she, who had just reached the door, burst open the closed door. A while ago, he and Simon parted away at the mansion’s entrance. Then he wouldn’t have gone far yet. If I shout, he might hear my voice.

Tak. Tak, tak. Her uneasy steps, as if he was about to fall, sped up with each step she took.

Every time you take another step, you get faster.

“As! Astein!”

Bloodshot eyes swept through every corner of the dark mansion. She shouted out her throat as she wandered to find even a single speck of him.

“As! Astein! You f*cking b*stard! Come back right now!”

Her footsteps, which were getting faster and faster, soon began to run. Her hands that went through the unorganized bushes were urgent and anxious. Her body staggered precariously as she ran down the road that wasn’t like a road. Still, she didn’t stop running.

“As!”

Before she knew it, Elusiana, who came out of the mansion, slumped down as if she was about to collapse.

“Heuk, heuk.”

He didn’t come back even after she shouted like this. Either he had already gone too far out of reach, or he didn’t want to come back. Either way, Astein won’t come back anymore. It was a certainty, not a guess.

“As… You f*cking… b*stard!”

Under the dark night sky, she dropped her head as if to deny reality. Her despondent cry was swallowed up at the tip of her neck.

“…you b*stard. How could you give me something and then leave without a word?”

Elusiana clenched her teeth, clutching her hands. The lisianthus necklace, lying haphazardly on her palm, glistened softly in the moonlight. The red lisianthus necklace was like him, who had no emotions.

Elusiana, who grabbed it tightly again, uttered a low curse. “D*mn you son of a b*tch! Try to come back! When you come back! I… I… Heuk.”

“Sweetie, Lusi!”

Simon, who was preparing the meal, ran to her side with a white face. Suddenly, a sound like a scream came out, but his daughter, who was supposed to be in the dining room, was missing. So he blindly followed the sound, but what was going on here?

“What are you doing here? Lusi, why are you doing this!”

“Father…”

Surprised by her cracked voice, as if she was swallowing her tears, Simon hugged her tightly. For whatever reason, he could feel that his daughter’s emotions were not stable.

“Heuk, heuk. Huhu… As… As is… huhu.”

“It’s alright. It’s going to be alright, sweetie.”

Simon stroked her back slowly, hoping that she would calm down. Her beautiful amber eyes filled with sadness and turned to the moon floating quietly in the sky.

Is it today, is it that time? My, my. A long time ago, Simon had told Astein.

“If the time comes when you want to leave, do as you please.”

It seemed that the day had finally come. Simon thought the moonlight was unusually bright today.

I thought you got attached to her, but you’re still heartless, Astein. What should I do with my daughter if you leave without a word like this? Simon’s eyes, looking at his daughter’s shoulders, sank deeply.

* * *

Shortly after Elusiana and Simon entered the annex, a cat’s meowing came from the bushes where she slumped down before. 

“Meow.”

The gray hairball Soda purred, rubbing its head against someone’s ankle.

“…Lusi.”

Astein, who was in the bushes, looked at the annex where Elusiana was staying. Their parting was only for a moment, but when he saw her tears, the longing he had turned away from so far weighed on his heart, making him unable to breathe.

Gulp. Astein swallowed his saliva, holding on to the lisianthus necklace. What was in his hand was Viscountess Waieos’s memento. A necklace identical to his, only the jewelry in the center was different.

“Young Master, it’s the madam’s keepsake.”

On the day he decided to return to the Grand Duchy Sestain, the necklace Louis handed over was originally made as a pair and was exchanged when the couple tied the knot. He didn’t know why the necklace he received from Louis and the other necklace that was paired with it was passed down from generation to generation in Elusiana’s mother’s family.

Is this fate? Astein, who swiped his thumb through the transparent and clear jewel, touched it as if to promise.

“Wait for a moment, Lusi. It won’t take… that long.”

Astein pushed Soda from his ankle and disappeared into the darkness. With its head flat on its face, Soda meows for a while toward the empty darkness.

* * *

Meanwhile, Noel, who tried to escape by playing hide-and-seek with Elusiana, was caught by Yeriel in less than a couple of hours. And now he was kneeling before Marquis Klaus, bowing his head.

“Ahem.”

Marquis Klaus, who breathed an uncomfortable sigh, distorted his forehead. Noel was a gifted child with a promising future from an early age. But somehow—

“Tell me, Noel. How long do I have to put up with your foolish behavior?”

“…”

“When will you come to your senses and focus on training?”

“…”

“Now that child—”

Marquis Klaus glared at Noel for a long time, couldn’t bear to continue his words, and stood up from his seat. He felt even more frustrated because he didn’t know what his son was thinking.

“The eldest son of the Grand Duke Sestain has returned.”

Only then did Noel’s face slowly lift up. His cold, determined eyes were frighteningly sharp. Marquis Klaus, who clicked his tongue low, sighed as if in pain.

“Are you still suspicious of that child?”

“…”

“Didn’t you already check it? Genoyer had no reason to kill the child. At that time, he wasn’t even there.”

“…”

“Huu, you ugly bastard. The invitation has arrived, so go see it. Go there, and don’t cause unnecessary trouble. It’s a headache to deal with the accident you caused.”

“…Thank you, Father.”

Nowel, bowing his head deeply, quickly left the office. After he left, Marquis Klaus sat down in the chair as if he was exhausted.

“It wasn’t meant to be.”

Edelvais Pein Diana. That child was Noel’s first love. Edelvais, the daughter of a local noble, was on the verge of being destroyed as soon as she inherited her family. At that time, the only solution for her to escape the destruction was to marry a noble about her father’s age. Still, Edelvais didn’t make such a choice, so she followed her ancestor’s ties and came to find Marquis Klaus. Her skills as a knight were recognized, and she became the knight of the Klaus family. But how did she end up like that?

“It’s a pity.”

The face of that child who was dying with her heart pierced by an arrow that flew in suddenly came to his mind. And his poor son, who cried desperately while holding that child in his arms.

* * *

It was spring in full bloom. Two years have passed since Astein disappeared without a word.

Elusiana, who had been looking for him like crazy at first, didn’t bother to recall her memories. They were memories about something stupid, so if she didn’t recall, she would forget them on their own at some time… No, could they be forgotten? Those memories still haunt her relentlessly. Haa, damn bastard.

Clack. Elusiana sighed slightly as she opened the door and entered Fragrant Garden.

“Time flies.”

Putting her hand-knitted bag on the work table, she sat around the empty store. She passed by without noticing when it was noisy, but once in a while, she felt suffocated when this kind of silence came in. Because she felt like he would open the closed door, come in, and greet her. Astein didn’t even usually come here. Strangely, her memories of that time were beautifully fabricated, as if he had always done that.

“Yes, As. How are you doing? Are you eating well? …You didn’t get lost, did you?”

Elusiana, who was mumbling, took out the lisianthus necklace hidden in her clothes. A guy who doesn’t even know grace. He’s unfilial and doesn’t have much compassion.

“How did I raise him!”

Elusiana took out her anger by pressing down on the innocent lisianthus necklace. The necklace, decorated with a curved border like a wave on a round background and petals modeled separately one by one, was shaped like her mother’s memento, but it was completely different.

Elusiana glared at the red jewel in the middle and recited it quietly. “What’s the point of being red though?”

Originally, there was a transparent diamond in the center. But the red ruby was there instead. As if she shouldn’t forget his bright red eyes. Tsk. Playing with my emotions with this. That bastard. Elusiana twitched her lips as she tucked the necklace in her hand into her clothes.

It wasn’t until the next day, a week after Astein disappeared, that she found a note falling out of the box. A note with very fantastic content.

[Wait for me, Lusi.]