Chapter 32
“…….”
“I will personally strike that woman in front of you, Mother. Only then, I believe, will you think there’s room for things to change.”
The Marchioness looked up at her son standing close by. A long silence followed, then with a gesture from the Marchioness, the air moved again. The servants tidied the area and took Luirene, who had collapsed as if fainting, outside. That day’s lesson ended there as well.
Hitaon stood near the window, silently smoking a cigar until everyone had left. It was the day he broke his self-imposed rule of only one cigar per day, mindful of health and addiction.
Finally, in the space that had grown calm, he muttered darkly.
“What misunderstanding do you have?”
“A misunderstanding that should not exist.”
“With that woman, the caretaker. Me.”
“I heard the Nanny witnessed it directly.”
“I made it clear it was a misunderstanding. Right there on the spot that day!”
“……”
“Yet you still believed only Nanny’s words and did something like this. Mother, do you have any trust in me at all?”
“Hita. Don’t misunderstand.”
The Marchioness approached and stroked his forearm soothingly.
“I merely prevented a problem that might have occurred before it happened.”
“That answer itself is what humiliates me. You treat me like a fool who can’t conduct himself properly without adult intervention.”
“That’s not true. If I’ve offended you, I apologize.”
“I hope such a thing never happens again.”
*Never again.*
The Marchioness smiled generously at his emphasized words and stroked Hitaon’s arm. Despite the affectionate gesture, he felt only disgust.
It was right after he had witnessed firsthand how his angelic mother could transform into a demon toward others for the sake of the marquisate and her own honor. No matter how warm her touch, it only felt loathsome.
“I’ll call a servant to clean up properly. The air has grown foul.”
“…….”
“Might as well replace the carpet too.”
The demon said this.
As if she absolutely could not tolerate the sight of something that had flowed from a lowly creature staining her son’s bedroom. As if some dirty contaminant had splattered onto the masterpiece she had created…
Not a shred of compassion could be felt toward the one who had collapsed with her calf drenched in blood. The Marchioness only looked down. For the first time, her lofty words and actions felt grotesque. A nausea that made him want to spit her out like phlegm swarmed in his mind.
* * *
“Young master~”
A fluttering voice, like a butterfly, crossed the shooting range. At that moment, Hitaon had just run out of wooden practice rounds and was lowering his musket. Turning around, he saw Linjo approaching with a gait as light as his voice.
“I’m back~”
“Did you run into anyone on the way?”
After rolling in a carved wooden bullet, Hitaon pulled out a ramrod and tamped it down. As if standing still for even that brief moment was difficult, Linjo shifted his weight from one leg to the other and reported.
“There wasn’t anyone?”
Confirming the wooden round was seated deeply, Hitaon pulled out the rod and reloaded.
“How was Grandmother’s condition?”
“The old lady’s condition was, well, as usual.”
“Did you explain properly to the caretaker why you came?”
“That caretaker—she wasn’t there today either?”
He had lined up his sights, but couldn’t pull the trigger. Hitaon lowered the rifle and turned to look at Linjo.
With his fingers laced behind his head and his body swaying, Linjo’s face was utterly carefree. It wasn’t the face of someone hiding something. Not that he would have the nerve to hide anything—it all showed on him anyway.
“She wasn’t there?”
“Nope. So I just put the flowers in a vase as instructed and left.”
“…….”
“…From that look on your face, did I make another mistake?”
Seeing his bewildered expression, it seemed he truly had no guilty conscience. Instead, the twisting turmoil in Hitaon’s chest only grew stronger. His desire to shoot evaporated completely. With disinterested hands, Hitaon set the rifle down carelessly. Linjo tidied it up with his usual slack motions.
“Heeya, but really, you’re so romantic. Sending summer flowers as a gift just to announce the season has arrived. I hope the old lady recovers soon so she can see the young master’s sincere devotion with her own eyes!”
Sorry to Linjo, who was expressing his admiration, but the errands of the past three days had merely been a means to check on Luirene’s condition. For days now, the smell of blood would rise up just when he thought he might forget it, making his head throb.
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