For My Birthday, I Was Gifted Five Husbands - Chapter 180

Only now did she understand why her mother must have felt that sharing love with anyone other than her wandering-eyed husband felt like a kind of sin. Even if it helped keep her alive, it wouldn’t have mattered if her heart refused it.

“You’d better make your choice quickly, Eugenie Norton.”

Alokes glanced through the narrow gap between the curtains at the darkened view outside. No one from the imperial palace had arrived at the annex yet, but—

“If both the imperial family and the temple start moving at the same time, your freedom will shrink no matter which side you choose.”

“Ugh…!”

“They both want to secure you first.”

Sylvea wanted to throw Eugenie into Corbenic’s furnace.

The temple wanted her for the sake of Carter, the man they were backing.

But Eugenie didn’t hesitate for long.

“I’ve decided.”

There was still one place left where she could contact her husbands immediately.

* * *

From the moment she heard a warrant had been issued, she knew she couldn’t go anywhere publicly known.

That included their newlywed home, the old Norton estate, and every townhouse her husbands owned in the capital. But there was one place even Sylvea—and outsiders in general—wouldn’t know about.

The La Noir headquarters.

Of course, guards had already been dispatched there under the empress’s orders.

“Haa…! At least getting here worked.”

Even if they arrived, there was no way they’d know Eugenie had just appeared. The first place she’d ever used teleportation was none other than the store’s underground level.

‘A precious garden where desires flutter and entwine like butterflies.’

That was how Cassius had introduced the space. A private refuge for members of the upper class plagued by s****l concerns. Matters involving one’s lower half were inherently embarrassing, so this place was unlikely to ever be exposed publicly.

Alokes, who had followed her, looked around with unmistakable fascination. He stared at the wall lined with displayed d****s—the sight that had once overwhelmed Eugenie—as though he were admiring a gallery of fine art, nodding thoughtfully.

“Interesting… Do these imitation organs actually serve a purpose?”

“That’s not the point—ugh! He has to have left at least one of them here…!”

Eugenie sharply dismissed Alokes’s question and hurriedly began rummaging through Cassius’s cabinet. Nearly all the black-magic tools Cassius summoned came from this place.

‘There should be a spare communication earring here. I couldn’t bring one from the castle…’

If she could find one, she’d be able to reconnect with any of her husbands.

After digging through an assortment of colorful devices whose purposes she very much did not want to know, she finally spotted a pair of earrings sealed in a glass case. The moment she put on the shimmering onyx earrings, she knew—she’d come to the right place.

Before long, a familiar title echoed faintly in her ear.

—…Lady? Is that you, Lady?

“Cassius…! Can you hear me?”

—Yes. Where on earth are you?

It had been a long time since Cassius Lysander had sounded this hushed and urgent—probably not since the hunting festival. Still, true to his nature, once Eugenie summarized the situation in under a minute, he responded with his usual breezy composure.

“…So right now, I’m with a wizard from the Schroder family. The guy who tried to wipe out your family.”

—Good heavens, Lady.

“And apparently, I’m wanted.”

—Ah… If you’re arrested, don’t worry about bail. I’ll liquidate everything I own if I have to.

“Thanks, truly. How are things on your end? If everyone panicked because I vanished, let them know I’m alive.”

That was as far as Cassius’s easygoing tone went. When he heard the concern in her voice, Eugenie sensed him hesitate.

“Cassius? What is it? Did something happen to everyone?”

—Haa… things here are… really bad.

“What? What happened—”

—The priest nearly killed the Count and attacked me and the others.

“…What?”

—Then he blew up about a quarter of the castle and disappeared.

“…Excuse me?”

Eugenie stared blankly at the wall lined with displayed d****s, unable to believe what she was hearing.

One of her husbands had caused a catastrophic incident.

But the next words were even more shocking.

—And… Lady, the priest isn’t under a contract with Mrs. Norton. I don’t know how he did it, but he seems to have slipped in by imitating her handwriting.