Chapter 99
Magnus, too, revealed the same side of himself, flashing a precarious smile. Unlike his impeccable eye for distinguishing the quality of luxury goods, Magnus wasn’t particularly fond of cigars.
But look at this priest?
“Things haven’t changed, have they? People never really change, do they? Do you think Norton knows about you smoking cigars?”
“Eugenie doesn’t need to know everything like this. Just keep your mouth shut.”
Carter casually shrugged his shoulders.
“By that logic, have you told Eugenie what’s inside that cane of yours?”
“……”
Magnus, who was pretending to remain composed, felt a gnawing sensation deep inside him. He was still chewing on the harsh words from Alfred Wilberforce the other day.
“Who was it among you that dealt a fatal blow to Mrs. Norton’s lifespan?”
No, this sense of unease had been there from the very beginning.
‘Especially when that Carter Livingston became Eugenie Norton’s first partner on the wedding night.’
It seemed like the other men didn’t care about the lingering traces left on Eugenie Norton. Only Magnus Napier was driven crazy by it, and his vision turned red with frustration.
But he couldn’t just let Carter Livingston win.
“By the way, it’s rare to see you showing signs of being nervous, Livingston.”
“Hm. Me…?”
“You’re not only falling behind Wilberforce but also Troys and that lowly one.”
This time, Carter’s face froze like ice.
Percival Troys, despite appearances, was a man who avoided conflict and preferred moderation.
‘I can see why you find that unusual—there weren’t such people around Eugenie.’
Cassius Lysander, like a younger brother or stray cat, seemed to have been given space to stay comfortably nearby.
‘Should I call that ‘losing favor’?’
In that case, Carter would understand the minds of the mistresses, fiercely competing for the Emperor’s favor. But Carter smiled faintly and genuinely.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“What…?”
“Eugenie will never leave me now.”
He had confessed his feelings to Eugenie, already predicting her rejection.
That confession had been part of the plan—and it had succeeded.
Before Magnus even opened his mouth, his brows furrowed in confusion at Carter’s ambiguous words.
“…Well.”
The voice of a man they both had never heard before drifted through.
“So you didn’t come alone after all?”
In an instant, the reception room they were in was engulfed by darkness, and the sharp tip of a massive, moss-covered tree trunk charged straight at them.
Carter and Magnus reacted immediately after seeing the tree trunk rushing toward them.
Especially Carter, who quickly scanned the surroundings while firing his gun.
‘As expected. It’s the same one as before.’
The same presence he had felt when Eugenie and the flower head were at the Hotel Mercedes was unmistakable. He hadn’t expected it to be this massive, though.
‘Was this Schroder’s weapon?’
Though he had gathered intelligence from the temple, it was the first time he had seen the actual form of the weapon with his own eyes.
Magnus, just as much as he was wielding the holy bullet, was making his own display. Unlike the thin blade inside that cane, which was extremely sturdy, Carter couldn’t help but sneer inside.
‘Typical Napier, all show and no substance.’
But just as that rebellious thought sprang to mind, the tree branch whizzed by from the direction Carter couldn’t shoot.
“Ugh!”
It didn’t pierce him. It wasn’t even poisonous.
However, a droplet of blood fell from the spot where it had grazed his hand.
Magnus, irritated, wiped away the scratch on his face with his fingers.
* * *
In the darkness, a silver-haired man calmly closed his eyes.
“Hmm…”
He had just tasted some very interesting ‘memories.’
Now, it was time to focus on Eugenie Norton.
* * *
The smell of rain mingled with the scent of damp earth as it spread through the air. The wild, leafy aroma of ancient foliage filled the atmosphere.
Yet despite nature’s fresh scent, the sound that echoed through the darkness brought with it the unmistakable scent of gunpowder.
Bang! Bang…!
Eugenie Norton, who had never once exercised in her life while living in the laboratory, was now desperately firing her gun for her life.
“Damn it.”
The last of the three ‘problems’ she had to deal with was, of course, ‘self-defense.’
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