CH 65

Elusiana, who managed to avoid his gaze, pretended to be calm and spoke calmly. “…I’m telling you. Nothing has changed. I told you to be careful with your choice of words. The Ladies will misunderstand you if you throw out words like that.”

“Lusi, don’t you know how I feel?”

Elusiana swept her heart at the sight of Noel, who quickly turned mischievous. He usually talks without a filter, but it was her first time seeing him being aggressive as he is now. Fyuu— I thought he was really confessing.

Elusiana, calming her thumping heart, opened the ledger beside the table. Then Noel pressed the ledger gently and said, “Are you going to work?”

“Yes.”

“Do you have to do it now? It’s been a really long time since we’ve seen each other.”

“Yes, I have to do it now.”

Elusiana shook off Noel’s hand and turned the ledger again.

“It’s not like that, Lusi. Can we talk?”

Again, Noel pressed down the ledger she was looking at and pushed his rugged face forward. His purple eyes touched her eyes as if bewitching her. But why? His face, which she thought was very handsome, now looked tired, as if he was troubled.

“Even if you make that face, it doesn’t work. I’m really busy.”

“Why are you so cold-hearted? You don’t think about me at all, do you?”

Shaking her head, Elusiana moved away his hand that covered the ledger. “Don’t bother me.”

“Lusi.”

“Can’t Lord think of me? I’ve been working since morning without a break.”

“You’re too much, really.”

The corners of Noel’s eyes dropped. He looked so pitiful as if he had been betrayed. But she knew that this was his habit. So she turned the ledger over again.

“…So, how long should I wait?”

“You have to wait to know.”

“Sigh… alright.”

Noel stood up, rolling his eyes like a puppy in the rain. “How about a cup of tea? I will prepare it.”

“You know where the pantry is, right?”

“Of course.”

Soon, Noel, who was smiling, went to the pantry and prepared the tea. Holding the refreshing peppermint tea on the tray, he set the cup down in front of her.

“Thank you.”

Noel, sitting opposite her, looked at her and said, “Lusi. I have a question.”

“What is it?” asked Elusiana, who had swallowed a sip of tea without taking her eyes off the ledger.

“Why are you working so hard?”

“What is my reason for working? I’m trying to eat and stay alive.”

“Isn’t it too much to just make a living?”

Noel was asking purely out of curiosity. He was even more curious because the profit of this store wasn’t small.

“There are children I have to take care of. Should I call it sponsorship? I’m just trying to help a bit. It’s something I’ve been doing for quite some time— Now I feel a sense of responsibility and can’t let it go. Even if I starve, the children shouldn’t starve. Huhu, it’s a little strange, right?”

A light smile spread around Elusiana’s mouth as she said that. It was to the point where he could feel how deeply she loved the children from her words.

“Where are the children?”

“The orphanage. Do you know the ‘Angel’s house’ on the outskirts?”

Elusiana, who said her words without thinking about it, flinched for a moment. It’s a place sponsored by Viscount Waieos. So people knew about it… Ah, there must be more people who don’t know about it. Clearly, there won’t be interest in the fallen family who still does sponsorship.

Elusiana smiled and stared at Noel. “If you’re interested, you can sponsor them.”

Maybe that’s why she was able to say such words quite comfortably. Because she knew that Noel was a brazen nobleman who was no different from the nobles who would swear, saying it was useless to do that. It was when that thought flashed across her face.

“Is it because of those children that you signed a contract with Grand Duke Sestein?”

“…How does Noel know that?”

At first glance, caution mixed in Elusiana’s eyes. Noel replied, shrugging his shoulders as if that question didn’t really matter. “I saw it the last time I came. Lusi was holding the envelope.”

“Papers?”

“Yes. The pattern of Grand Duke Sestein was stamped on it.”

He seemed to mean the day she received the contract from Louis. But it was just an envelope?

“How did you know it was a contract?”

“That’s— I just guessed. It’s the size of a contract.”

Elusiana still looked doubtful, but she accepted it. No, she thought there was no need to argue. Noel wondered what the secret of that employment contract was.

“That’s right. The slave— Ahem, I signed an employment contract.”

“I see.”

In fact, there was something else Noel was really curious about. Why did she suddenly take up the job to become a maid on Grand Duchy Sestein after staying still all this time?

It was a natural question, having seen her for the past two years. As she had more pride and affection for her flower store than anyone else, she couldn’t have put a burden on herself by doing useless work. But she signed a contract with Grand Duke Sestein out of the blue? Wasn’t it clear there must be a reason for her to do that? It was too much, even though she said her reason was to earn more money. That’s why he impulsively uttered his words.

“Can you take me there?”

“…Where?”

“…To the children,” Noel said with a somehow insidious smile. “I have to know where I’m going to sponsor.”

“…!”

Elusiana opened her mouth without realizing it. What he said may have come as a bigger shock because she had no expectations in the first place.

“Are you serious?”

“Then should I say it’s a lie?”

“Yes. You’re the kind of person who will say something like that.”

“Is your trust in me that low?”

“You’re not asking because you don’t know that, are you?”

“Ha! That’s amazing, really.”

Noel frowned and let out a laugh. Elusiana burst into laughter as his figure looked like a pouting fox.

“Now you’re laughing.”

“Hmm. I used to laugh a lot though?”

Elusiana cleared her throat, then turned her gaze to the ledger. Unlike the first time, her earlobes were slightly red.

“But what are you doing so seriously?”

“It’s not like that— Huh?”

Elusiana’s scarlet eyes, which were checking the ledger, shook sharply. In the atmosphere that suddenly became serious, Noel glanced over the ledger she was looking at. But what else is this?

“…Count Eragost?”

It was about the order that Camilla had given through her maid.

* * *

“Now, it’s done.”

Noel, who closed the store on behalf of Elusiana, smiled. His golden hair glistened from the moonlight.

Maybe it’s because it’s night, it looked more shiny. Perhaps because the handsome man had bathed in the soft moonlight, he looked more handsome today.

“Lusi, shall we go now?”

Elusiana’s expression, which was about to say thank you, quickly hardened when Noel stretched out his hand with a big smile.

“…Yes? Where are we going?”

“Why are you looking so surprised? I told you I’d take you home today.”

Elusiana stared at Noel with her eyes wide open. What on earth?

Noel said with a gentle smile in his eyes. “I said it again and again when we came out. Didn’t you hear that?”

She shook her head as she stared at Noel. What he said didn’t sound like a lie, but it was difficult for him to take her home. Which commoner on the continent would have a house at the island’s center that only nobles live in?

“Thank you for your kindness, but I will decline it.”

“Don’t you know vicious rumors are going around here these days?”

Elusiana, who seemed to have spoken to persuade herself, frowned as she looked out at the dark-looking road.

“I’m not kidding, Lusi. Didn’t you hear that several corpses were found around here?”

“C-corpses?”

“Yes, only young women.”

Flinching at Noel’s low whispered words as if to scare her, Elusiana took a couple steps back. The security here was very poor compared to modern times. It was to the point you could die while wandering around the road if you were unlucky. Even if you went into a dark alley right away, it was common for you to die without a bird or mouse knowing about it.

But that was someone else’s business. It wasn’t something around her that could make her a victim right now. For some reason, Elusiana got goosebumps.

At that time, Noel, who was looking at Elusiana’s expression, stuttered and quickly glossed over. “What, what’s so serious about your face? It’s a joke, a joke.”

“…!”

“Haha. I’m just saying it. Was… it a little too much? Hey, Lusi?”

Elusiana turned around with a blush. How could he joke about people’s lives as if he had nothing else to joke about?

Right. He could use a sword, right? There was nothing to be afraid of because he could definitely protect her body. She had forgotten this man was a noble.

Elusiana moved quickly without looking back. She didn’t want to be with that playboy who joked about human life lightly.

“Huh? Lusi! Are you really angry?”

“…”

“Joke. It’s just a joke. Hey, come with me! Wait!”

Noel scratched his head condescendingly as he watched her running with full hostility.

“You must be really angry.”

His statement about there being a murderer who killed only young women was true. He just glossed over it as a joke because she seemed too scared. Unfortunately, it backfired on him even more.