Don’t Ask, It’ll Hurt If You Know - Chapter 61

He didn’t like the wrist that fit right in one hand. The blue eyes that looked back at him with a flinch were also bothersome, so he unconsciously tightened his grip.

Despite the force that was strong enough to crush her wrist, Chloe frowned but didn’t let out a moan. Instead, she fixed her gaze on him and glared.

“Do you have something you want to say to me?”

He had a lot he wanted to say. It overflowed, so much that he didn’t know where to start, but Ian couldn’t easily say anything. Because of the damned wall named friend that stood between her and him. Her warning that there was a line that should never be crossed echoed in his ears like a mantra.

“……Are you alright?”

This much should be okay. Even friends ask about each other’s well-being.

At the words he managed to utter with difficulty, comforting himself, Chloe stared at him blankly, seemingly a little flustered. The wary blue eyes scratched savagely at his heart. Normally, she would have calmly said that she was fine, no matter what, and told him not to worry about unnecessary things, but her silence made him feel uneasy and worried.

What is troubling her? Is it perhaps related to Bianca Lloyd? Do you not need my help?

“Chloe.”

The questions he desperately wanted to ask, but couldn’t, mixed with her name and escaped like a sigh. As if she had sensed his feelings, Chloe smiled faintly.

“I’m fine. Nothing is wrong, so don’t worry.”

“Lies.”

“It’s not a lie. I’m really fine.”

That answer was also a lie. Her subtly trembling eyes clearly proved that fact, so Ian didn’t believe her words. He couldn’t just let her go like this. Because of that, Ian still couldn’t relax his grip.

“Ian.”

Chloe called his name in a gentle and affectionate voice, as if soothing a child. Then she took his hand, which was still holding her wrist. She stroked the back of his hand, where blue veins were visible, with her fingertips as if tickling it, and asked,

“We are friends, right?”

At the question that recalled the solid wall between them, the strength suddenly drained from his hand as if by magic. Seizing the opportunity, Chloe pulled her hand away from his and quickly hid her wrist, which was red enough to be bruised, beneath her sleeve.

“If you have nothing more to say, I’ll be going now.”

It would have been very awkward if he had grabbed her again this time, but fortunately, that didn’t happen.

* * *

Only after the MacMilden Houeshold’s carriage carrying Ian departed did the Count Elena’s carriage move. The destination was Viscount Lloyd’s mansion, which they reached quickly since it was right nearby.

When they announced they had brought the family’s eldest daughter, who had lost consciousness and collapsed, the tightly closed iron gate immediately opened. They didn’t even perform an identity check. Even though the carriage had the family’s crest drawn on it, a simple identity check was essential, and Mars clicked his tongue in disapproval that they hadn’t done one.

“The security is so lax, I wouldn’t even know if an outsider came in.”

“I know.”

Is that why the culprit who killed the maid was able to enter here so easily? Chloe pondered the sudden question as she stepped out of the carriage.

This was Chloe Elena’s first time visiting Viscount Lloyd’s mansion. Was that why? The feeling was strange. The landscape she saw frequently felt unfamiliar, as if she were seeing it for the first time.

“Oh my, Bianca!”

Ah, those people are annoying in the same way. Chloe chuckled and looked at Viscountess Lloyd, who was running toward them so hastily that her skirt was fluttering. Maria and the servants followed her into view, but Viscount Lloyd was nowhere to be seen.

When Mars carried Bianca out, holding her like a princess, the eyes of the stepmother and Maria grew even wider. Jealousy dripped particularly from Maria’s eyes.

“Take Bianca to her room immediately! Go and call the doctor, too……!”

While the servants moved in perfect order under the stepmother’s command, someone appeared from the direction of the garden, their back to the red sunset. It was Viscount Lloyd.

His eyes, confirming the deer crest drawn on the exterior of the carriage, glittered with ambition. The Viscount, who approached quickly, extended his hand toward Mars.

“I am Bruce Lloyd, the head of the Lloyd Viscounty.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Viscount. I am Mars Elena of the Count Elena.”

Mars also drew a polite smile on his lips and took Viscount Lloyd’s hand. As the Viscount’s gaze shifted to her, Chloe offered a handshake, just as he had done.

“I am Chloe Elena of the Count Elena.”

Noblewomen usually did not offer a handshake to men, except in special relationships such as business partners. So when Chloe extended her hand, Viscount Lloyd’s eyes shook with surprise, but only for a moment. He smiled favorably and took her hand as if nothing had happened.

“I sincerely thank you both for safely bringing my daughter back.”

“Not at all. I only did what a friend naturally should.”

“Is Bianca a friend of Lady Chloe?”

Viscount Lloyd’s question, asked as if he couldn’t believe it, was amusing, so Chloe chuckled and nodded. The reactions of the stepmother and Maria, visible across from him, were even more of a spectacle.

“Yes. A very close friend. We became acquainted during the last Rumonie.”

“Ru…monie?”

“Oh, didn’t you know?”

Judging by his awkward reaction, he truly seemed unaware. The stepmother, on the other hand, flinched as if she knew something and stepped forward.

“Bianca also attended the last Rumonie.”

She seemed intent on vaguely glossing over or fixing the situation, but Chloe wouldn’t allow that. She propped her cheek on her hand and spoke as if talking to herself, yet in a voice loud enough for Viscount Lloyd to clearly hear.

“I wondered about it—I thought it was strange that she attended the Rumonie wearing clothes that were out of fashion and didn’t even fit……. She wasn’t cared for by anyone. Poor Bianca…….”

Chloe’s words, muttered as if to herself, had considerable ripple effects. The atmosphere, which had been relatively amicable, froze rapidly, causing goosebumps to prickle their arms.

The stepmother’s face turned so pale that it was a wonder she didn’t collapse immediately, and Maria glanced anxiously at her stepfather, not knowing what to do. The servants were speechless.

“Ah, the time has flown by. I should return home before it gets too late, so I’ll be leaving now.”

The one who had caused the atmosphere to freeze greeted them with a fresh smile, as if nothing had happened, and bid them farewell.

“Ah, since you’ve come all this way, perhaps dinner…….”

Ashley Lloyd, despite being utterly flustered, commendably tried to fulfill her role as the lady of the house, but she flinched and fell silent when her husband glared at her, signaling her to be quiet.

Viscount Lloyd forced a smile onto his cold, stiff face and spoke to the Elena siblings.

“My daughter’s condition is poor today, so I regret that I cannot properly host you, but I will surely do so next time, so please do visit again.”

“Yes. We will.”

Mars might not, but she might have occasion to come here again as Chloe Elena, so she readily agreed.

The Count Elena’s carriage, carrying the two of them, left Viscount Lloyd’s mansion and entered the complex downtown center.

Since it happened to coincide with the time when people were finishing their daily routines and returning home, the streets were congested. As the carriage couldn’t pick up speed, Chloe felt frustrated, yet also anxious, thinking that she didn’t know when she would turn into Bianca Lloyd. It was also a little strange that she had lasted this long.

“Even if I suddenly collapse, don’t be too surprised, and take me safely to my room.”

As this was a situation where it wouldn’t be strange if she lost consciousness and collapsed at any moment, Chloe warned her brother in advance for any contingency. Mars, who had been resting his chin on his hand and looking out the window, narrowed his eyes and looked back at her.

“It sounds like you’re announcing that you’re about to collapse. Is that just my imagination?”

“It’s not your imagination, it’s accurate. I don’t know if you’ve heard from others, but I developed narcolepsy after the riding accident. I sleep a lot more than usual, and—”

“It’s not just ‘a lot.’ I heard you sleep for at least sixteen hours, sometimes over two days?”

Mars’s brow furrowed intensely as he recalled a fact he had momentarily forgotten and confirmed anew how much thinner his sister was than before. He scanned Chloe generally and asked,

“Are you sure it’s really narcolepsy? Did you perhaps contract a different illness? Is it an illness that Dr. Bertrand doesn’t know about? If so, you should be examined by a more competent doctor or a priest…….”

“Stop, stop.”

As the nagging seemed like it would go on, Chloe waved her hand and cut him off. She knew well that he spoke out of worry for her, but she didn’t have the capacity or time to listen right now. It wasn’t an illness that could be cured by showing it to another doctor, and she couldn’t be examined by a priest.

“I fully understand that you are worried about me, so just let me do what I need to do for the time being.”

“So, you’re saying I should keep quiet and not ask anything.”

“Sorry.”

It wasn’t that she didn’t trust her family, but she wanted to be careful, as she didn’t know when, where, or how the secret might leak out. This was about black magic, of all things. If something went wrong, the lives of her family could also be in danger.

“Fine, alright. Then I’ll ask something else.”

……Can’t he just not ask? Chloe swallowed the sigh churning inside her and nodded. She had already shut him down once, and doing it again made her feel a little guilty.

“Are you really friends with Bianca Lloyd?”