Chapter 74
Chapter 74
Benjamin wasn’t wasting time despising Isaac and the Downstream people. His attention was entirely focused on the Downstream woman lying in bed in the spare room upstairs. The other members of the Remains Investigation Team considered this a bad sign. However, none of them dared to openly challenge Viscount Lenota with their honest opinions. Arietta wasn’t doing much of anything. In truth, she was simply trying to figure out how to die without attracting Isaac’s attention in this situation, but to Benjamin, she appeared to be recovering emotionally. That was a relief.
The woman’s words, that her love was unrequited, kept bothering him. He paced anxiously by the stairs. He was never one to care about such things as romance, yet the woman he had met only yesterday was constantly on his mind. He wanted to get closer to her, but he also worried that she, who hadn’t even told him her name, might think him frivolous.
Until then, Benjamin had assumed this was a matter between only him and the woman in the bed. He had no inkling that an unexpected third party would enter the scene.
***
That afternoon, Isaac visited the Remains Investigation Team’s quarters to propose the next exploration zone and provide a brief overview. It was the first time since the formation of the 26th Remains Investigation Team that Marquis Tygra had personally come to give a briefing. Benjamin frowned, remembering his argument with Gamon about demanding this perfectly reasonable occurrence.
Isaac conducted the briefing in the meeting room. Despite his rough and wild image, he was precise when explaining the Downstream lands, and his explanations were easy to understand. Even so, it was true that he wasn’t intellectual, not by a long shot. He didn’t know sophisticated words, and every sentence he uttered was excessively direct. He was probably the least adept at euphemisms among all the titled nobles.
Benjamin felt as though his eyes met Isaac’s unusually often that day. A golden gaze would sweep across Benjamin’s face, and each time, an inexplicable sense of déjà vu made him frown.
‘Is it my imagination?’
It would have been better if it were simply his overblown ego.
The problem erupted after the briefing. Benjamin had been relatively quiet throughout. Aside from his inherent dislike of Isaac’s presence, there was nothing to find fault with. Besides, his focus was clearly elsewhere. Therefore, he was being quieter and more docile with Isaac than ever before. It was then that Isaac spoke to him, seemingly out of the blue. “Hey.”
Benjamin, who was gathering his notes, looked up. A man with a build quite different from his own, clad in clothes that unapologetically displayed his lean, sculpted physique, addressed him with a hostile tone.
“What is it?” Benjamin managed to ask without losing his composure. The woman was upstairs. Benjamin wanted to hurry up and see her, now that work was over. He wanted to shower attention on the woman whose love was unrequited. Looking at Isaac’s face, he thought, ‘Please keep it brief.’
“I heard you have something of mine,” Isaac said with a faint smile.
“Something of yours?” Benjamin frowned. This was news to him. He wasn’t familiar with Isaac’s belongings, and even if he were, he wouldn’t want them. The man before him was tasteless and rough. Benjamin couldn’t imagine what he could possibly desire from such a person.
“I don’t have anything of yours,” Benjamin stated flatly, his tone implying that he was being accused of theft.
But Isaac didn’t budge. He simply blocked Benjamin’s path, creating an uncomfortable atmosphere. Finally, he spoke. “The thing I’m talking about has legs. And it causes trouble sometimes.”
A question mark appeared on Benjamin’s face. Anyone from Downstream would have understood what Isaac meant with such a simple metaphor. But Benjamin… was the darling of the Sky City, unwilling to understand the Downstream. He looked at Isaac as if asking what on earth he was talking about. At that point, even Isaac almost gave up.
“I heard my prized possession, the Canary of the Glass Dome, wandered out of her cage and collapsed.”
Only then did Benjamin’s expression change significantly. She was Isaac’s? The Canary of the Glass Dome, Arietta? Then her breathtaking beauty made sense. Isaac wasn’t lying. His prized possession was indeed mystical and beautiful. There wasn’t a woman as beautiful as her, not in Downstream, nor in the Sky City.
“I heard Viscount Lenota picked her up and has her now.” At these words, Viscount Benjamin Lenota felt inexplicably offended.
Discussion
0 CommentsNo comments yet.