Hakushaku to Yousei - Volume 2 - Chapter 4

P. 126
        ‘That’ was once said to be one of the treasures that was prized by the Granada royal family. 
        The water agate that was said to have the holy water at the time of the Creation of the Universe. There was an old legend that said the demons who touched this water agate would be sucked inside the crystal and so the one who possessed it would not be harmed by evil spirits, or in other words it was believed to be a charm stone to ward off evil. 
        It was unknown how it was brought over to England from the Granada kingdom, but from how it had a fine, light green pattern like the veins of a leaf and the size of it being near an egg, it was eventually called the ‘fairy egg’ and when you brought it up and shined the light through the thinly shaved part of its center, you could see the shadow of the water that was said to have been trapped in it since the ancient times.
        “No mistake, this is the one,” whispered Lydia as she compared the water agate in front of her and continued to read the inscription in a book.
        In its record, it says it was stored in the St Augustine's Abbey. However, in the 16th century, the abbey was faced with dissolution, and since then it was carefully hidden. 
        It was found out that this agate had sealed within the demon that had once shaken the city, and it was believed that it would be disastrous if it fell into the hands of the enemy country.

P. 127
        “Well, I guess if it was back then, people would believe that a demon might have that much power.”
        According to one legend, it was said that the royal family had custody of it. That sounded reasonable, but unfortunately there was no proof that it was pasted down till now. 
        This stone was said to have gotten into the hands of a nobleman collector. Even if it was the royal family or a peer, the idea that demons feared noble blood had been circulating since the old ages, and so they wouldn’t fear a stone that was said to seal a demon, and may have collected it as a rare precious stone, and it wouldn’t be unbelievable even if there was a family that had taken care of it furtively. 
        “Father’s articles are sure sentimental for a scholar.”
        Closing the book, she returned it to the shelf. Lydia had rushed back home in order to look up about this water-sealed agate, and although she was able to find a descriptive account about it, that was all the information there was and she was left to brood over it in her father’s study. 
        She wouldn’t be able to tell if there really was a demon hiding inside this water agate in front of her by staring at it. 
        “Anyhow, it if was bestowed to a peerage family, then it wouldn’t be a mystery if it come into Edgar’s household.”
        Lydia didn’t know what had happened to his family, but at any rate she guessed that Edgar was kidnapped when he had this stone with him and sold. 

P. 128
        If what Raven said was true, then during that time, he must have see the two fairies. 
        They probably weren’t real fairies, but it must have been two girls in clean, pretty dresses that made him think that they were. If they were real fairies, then they wouldn’t break the promise they made with an exchange. 
        Which means the girl that accepted this stone, didn’t know about that and yet had possession of this, so in other words Rosalie could have been the girl at that time. 
        (Oi, give me back that stone.)
        When she turned towards the voice, she saw the bogey beast clinging onto the outside of the window. 
        “All right, why don’t you take it?”
        Lydia opened the window for it. However, the bogey beast didn’t attempt to enter the room.
        (It’s useless to try to trick me with that. You’re going to bring it to me.)
        It looked like it knew that it would be sucked in if it touched the agate.
        A holy stone that warded off evil. She wondered why this bogey beast went through the trouble and hanged around Rosalie who had this.
        If Rosalie wasn’t the master of the bogey beast, then for what purpose did its real master have this creature stay near Rosalie?
        She wondered if Rosalie being the owner of this ‘fairy egg’ had anything to do with that.

P. 129
        None of this was making sense.
        “Shall I return it to the one who dropped it?”
        With the agate in her hand, Lydia walked over to the bogey beast.
        (Who, don’t come this way.)
        They bogey beast fralled around his thin arms and legs which made it lose its balance and fall off the edge of the window. 
        (You bloody woman! If it was my lord, he would have you immediately…)
        “Who’s ‘my lord’?”
        (No-nothing. Hurry up and come outside. My lady is waiting for you in her carriage. She came all this way to have her possession returned to her.)
        Rosalie is here?
        Then I’ll have to met her and solve my unclarified questions.
        Lydia gripped the stone and walked out of the room. A carriage was parked at the corner of the road a few houses down. She was told by Rosalie to get on like an order, and Lydia did as she said.
        “The Arab servant of the earl had said that he handed my stone to you.”
        She thought that Raven really wasn’t an Arab, but she wasn’t sure of that so remained silent.

P. 130
        “Yes, I have it. But Miss Rosalie, do you have any idea what that is?”
        “It’s a magic stone. It grants any of my wishes.”
        The carriage started to move.
        “Where are we going?”
        “To a place where we can talk quietly. Miss Carlton, isn’t there something that you wished to say to me?”
        She didn’t see any sight of the bogey beast inside the carriage.
        “Could you first return the stone to me?”
        Of course, since it wasn’t Lydia’s, she couldn’t keep it herself, so she handed it to Rosalie. 
        “Say, how long have you had that fairy? Let me guess, since you obtained that stone?”
        “Oh, no, I believe it was some years after. This stone is the egg of a fairy. It apparantely takes quite some time to hatch, but a fairy will be born from this. To serve its owner. That’s what I was told.”
        Even if it was called the ‘fairy egg’ it was impossible for a fairy to be born from a water-sealed agate. Because the thing inside it isn’t able to get out on its own.
        That was a lie that the bogey beast told Rosalie to deceive her to begin with. That was what Lydia wanted to tell her, but seeing as how Rosalie was having a conversation with her calmly, she thought it was best not to say something what would deny what she had just said. 

P. 131
        At any rate, the bogey beast knows something behind this agate, and approached Rosalie. The fairy was plotting something that had to do with the ‘fairy egg.’
        “Uh, Lady Rosalie, how did you obtain that stone of yours?”
        To her question, Rosalie made a troubled face.
        “The person who gave you this, I wonder why that person would relinquish such a precious stone.”
        “…..What are you trying to say?”
        She was glared at with a harsh tone.
        “I just think that the ‘fairy egg’ isn’t something that would grant the wish of his owner, and so I wanted to ask about the previous owner.”
        “Fine, I’ll tell you. The person who owned this before me wasn’t able to receive the blessing of the fairy. Of course he wouldn’t, even if he had the stone, that was because he stole it.”
        “Stole it? Really?”
        “That’s the only explanation. That’s why the fairy decided to come to my side. We’re almost there. To the place where I met this stone. It’s a place where we can talk in peace.”
I        t was turning to dusk, and the fog was coming out again. The place where the carriage stopped was somewhere near the harbor and there were old buildings lined up around them. 

P. 132
        Rosalie entered one of the warehouse-like buildings that looked as if it hadn’t been used for decades. Lydia followed her but she only saw that it was filled with dust and cob-webs. There was a round window up near the ceiling which made dark and moldy.
        Opening a door to a small room, Rosalie stepped in and stopped in its open, empty space.
        “Eight years ago, I believe it was. There was a young boy who was lying here. He looked like some child of a vagrant and was wearing clothes that were burnt and had holes and covered with dirt. That’s why I immediately knew. This boy had done something wrong and was caught because of it.”
        “Eh, wait just a moment. How could you determine that…”
        “Of course he was. His arms were tied together; a child that hadn’t done anything wrong wouldn’t be in that state. Besides, do you think a child that would sleep around at the harbor of downtown has never stolen anything before?”
        Lydia was appalled at how she could just illogically jump to such a conclusion, but for a young lady who thought the world revolved around her, there must have been no other way she could have thought of it. 
        “That boy asked us for help him. How impudent of him to ask such a thing. But I noticed the stone that the boy had in his hand, and I told him that I’ll help him if he gave me the stone, but such a beautiful stone like this surely wasn’t some ordinary cheap rock. There was no mistake that the boy had stolen it. There’s no reason to help a thief. That’s what I told him.”

P. 133
        “Did the boy get angry?”
        “I don’t know, he didn’t look like he had that much energy. Now that I think about it, Doris was terribly worried if he might come back to get even with us.”
        So the one who was with her was Doris. 
        “The reason Doris is afraid of the fogman is because of that boy. Because that boy was mumbling something about the fogman in his sleep, so she must have believed he was taken away by the fogman.”
        Two young girls dressed in clean, pretty clothes in a dirty warehouse. They appeared like two little fairies….
        As she was in deep thought, Lydia knelt down to the floor that the boy was said to be lying on. 
        She reached down to touch the floor covered in dust.
        She felt like she was touching the part of Edgar’s past.
        If she was able to reach out through time to the deep, foggy darkness, then she would.
        How stupid of her to think such a thing.
        And then a thought came to her. If it was Edgar who was lying here, then how would he think of the two girls who wondered into here.
        He couldn’t have possibly believed they were really fairies. Even if they looked like fairies then, once you thought about it later, you could figure out they were really human.
        Either way, he handed the water-sealed agate to the girl. 

P. 134
        He handed over the only thing that could have proved his origin to an unfamiliar girl, whether she was a fairy or human, was probably because that was the only chance to save himself. 
        But he wasn’t rescued, and it took many years to finally escape. 
        And lost so many people because of it. 
        If he found out that the two girls who took away his water-sealed agate was actually Rosalie and Doris. 
        ….Or, perhaps, he already knows?
        Was that why he stuck his business into the disappearance case of Lady Doris? And told Lydia about the fogman and the ‘fairy egg’?
        Oh, wait, hold on a moment. 
        If that were so, then what is Edgar planning to do? What if he had no intention of helping to look for Lady Doris and…..
        Sensing the wind made by a swinging door, Lydia turned around. What she saw was the door being shut, and at the same time, heard the latching sound of a lock.
        “Lady Rosalie? What are you doing? Stop fooling around.”
        “I’m not fooling around.”
        “Open the door!”
        She pounded on the door, but Rosalie only snickered back through the door.

P. 135
        “Honestly speaking, you’re a nuisance. You don’t suit the earl at all, so don’t get close to him.”
        “Stop playing around!”
        “Since my fairy says that this is the best way to make you understand, I’m going to have you stay here for a while.”
        “……Bogey beast….. Don’t trust what it says! And Edgar too, he’s also plotting something wicked. Lady Rosalie, you mustn’t be cajoled by what he says!”
        “See? I knew you were jealous.”
        “Oh, would you just listen, you’re wrong…..”
        “Well, farewell, Miss Lydia.”
        With those last words, however much Lydia pounded on the door, there was no response from outside the door.
        “Oh, no, I should have brought along Nico.”
        But he was quite pleased with the earl house’s soft chairs and tea so he must be staying in her office. He probably wasn’t even back home yet.
        “Oh, he really isn’t reliable when you need him.”
        At any rate, Lydia fount back against the fear and panic that was building up inside her and tried to stay calm.

P. 136
        She raised her voice and yelled for help. But she recalled this area being only empty buildings.
        The small room that only had the light from the cracks of the door made Lydia fall into deeper despair.
        She wondered if Edgar was also feeling this way. He was still a young child, and yet he was left weak and alone in such a place. Just imagining it made her feel out of breath and unbearable.
        She couldn’t remain still and yelled out as she banged on the door. She even slammed her body against it.
        And then, there was the sound of a crack, and the door frame fell out of the hole in the wall and Lydia went flying out and crumbled down with the body of the door on the outside floor.
        “You’re kidding……, no, but, I couldn’t have that much superhuman strength….. Oh, the latch part of the doorway was rusted. I guess I was saved to be in such an old warehouse.”
        But just because she was able to escape that small room, the door of the warehouse itself had a lock on it. This door was made of steel, so there was no way she could break it down.
        But thanks to the light shining in from the skylight and there being plenty of room, she was able to remain much calmer than before.
        Now that she thought about it, Rosalie had the key to this warehouse and opened it up herself. 
        Oh, no. Am I going to be left in here alone and die emaciated?......, oh, but she wanted to think that Rosalie wouldn’t go that far.

P. 137
        Lydia decided to search inside the warehouse for a different exit.
        Rosalie had the key to here. Since she had gotten in here when she was a child and found the young boy who was here, then that means that this building might belong to her family. 
        But, if that were so, that means the one who had locked the boy up here, would be a member of her family. 
        Which means, the one who sold off Edgar, was someone related to Rosalie….?
        She gradually became confused in her own thoughts.
        That was because Lydia was dragged into this mess without being told of the important details.
        Most likely, Edgar knew quite a lot about what was going on. He knew, and he was plotting something.
        Most likely, Lydia was being used for his scheme. 
        “Oooooh, and he said he wasn’t hiding anything, the liar…., ahhhh!”
        She gave out another yell because her foot treaded through a floorboard and she fell down.
        When she tried to get up, she heard a faint, whispering voice.
        “Is there…..someone there?”
        It was the voice of a young girl.
        “Eh, wh-who is it?”
        “I’m sorry, uh, I, my name is Doris Worpole.”

P. 138
        “Doris…., you mean the baron daughter?”
        “Yes… Um, if it isn’t rude of me to ask, would you be able to help me out? If you are not a member of those bad men.”
        She walked over to the door where the voice came from. That door also had a latch that locked it shut, and so it couldn’t be opened from the inside.
        When Lydia lifted up the latch, the girl who came out from inside came falling into Lydia’s arms.
        “Are you all right?”
        “Yes…., my strength went out after I felt relieved so suddenly.”
        “Um, I was also locked in another room here. I was looking around for an exit.”
        “Oh, my, then Uncle also brought you here?”
        “Uncle? So the one who locked you up…., was Lord Graham!”
        With her hair let down and the plain clothes she wore, she didn’t resemble a nobleman’s daughter at all, but the girl with the worn-out face must have become disappointed from the realization that she wasn’t saved and went over in a tired way to sit down on a wooden box.
        According to her story, if the front entrance door was locked, then there was no other way out.
        This warehouse belonged to Lord Graham who had a shipping business and she and Rosalie had sneaked in to explore inside in the past. 

P. 139

P. 140
        She must be talking about when they found the young boy, but more importantly, Lydia wanted to ask about Lord Graham.
        “To tell you the truth, I had found out that my uncle had been using the Worpole family fortune. And so I decided to ask for help by writing a letter to my tutor in the past, but he found what I was doing… For a while, I was locked up in a room in a house that apparently belonged to one of my uncle’s men. But this morning I was thrown into here, and was told I was going to be sold off to somewhere overseas. It seemed like he had doing that sort of practice from the past, ….I can’t believe that not only had he put his hands on our fortune but committed such an atrocious crime….”
        “Then it wasn’t like you had disappeared because of the bogey beast.”
        “Bogey….?”
        “Miss Rosalie’s servant fairy. I was told that you had a quarrel with her and was terrified of fairies. And so I was told of your disappearance by Ms. Marl and was searching for you.”
        “Miss Marl came to you? Um, but, then you are…”
        “My name is Lydia Carlton. I’m the fairy doctor hired by the earl of Ashenbert. Miss Marl was worried about the story you were saying about the fairy and came to visit the earl asking for help.”
        “…..The Earl Ashenbert…”
        Doris let out a sigh of relief. She must have felt confirmed that Lydia was on her side.

P. 141
        “I was indeed fearful of fairies. I had made a pledge with Rosalie when we did a fortune-telling game and promised hold secrets against one another, but I, I couldn’t tell her the truth about our uncle. Because it was such bitter news…. And Rosalie got along well with our flamboyant uncle, and seemed like she trusted him, so I couldn’t say anything without any proof. But she realized that I was worried about something and looked depressed, and so I angered her.”
        “And so you were threatened that you will be attacked by the fogman?”
        “Well, yes… But I don’t think she was serious. Rosalie does say hurtful things often, but she isn’t cruel at the core…. And besides, I have been afraid of the fogman up till now, but I think that humans are more terrifying than fairies.”
        She might be right. Fairies were good neighbors as long as you knew the rules of their world.
        The inside of the warehouse grew darker. When it turns night, they were sure to be engulfed in pure darkness. And it will grow colder.
        She didn’t know how long Rosalie was planning on locking up Lydia, but she wasn’t going to remain waiting here patiently until she was satisfied.
        Because there was a possibility that Graham’s men might come to carry off Doris. 
        “Anyways, Miss Doris, we cannot give up to get out of here,” said Lydia with all the energy she could breathe out and stood up.
        “But, what should we do?”

P. 142
        “Let’s look for something we can use for a tool.”
        Just then, she heard the strange crackling laughing voice. When she looked above their heads, she saw the bogey beast sitting atop one of the beams.
        “You….., how dare you say such a wicked thing to Miss Rosalie. What are you planning to do with me!”
        (Fairy doctor, you’re in our way.”
        “What have I ever done to you? If you want to put together Rosalie and Edgar, you’re laying the blame on the wrong person.”
        The bogey beast jumped up from the beam and dropped down on top of the wooden boxes that were pilled up.
        (Hah! That human girl, does she actually believe she would have the chance to grab the earl. What an unfortunate noddle she’s got.)
        “What are you plotting to do?”
        The bogey beast snickered sonically again. Widening its ugly lips that split across its face even further.
        “Um, Miss Lydia, is there something there?”
        Doris leaned over to her frantically.
        “Yes, the fairy that’s hanging around Rosalie. You can’t see it?”
        “Nothing…..there’s nothing that I can see. Every so often it would move something that’s near by it to show me.”
        (That girl is a dull one. Since she can’t even see me when I’m making myself appear like this. That baron daughter seemed like she would useful for Master, but since she’s useless, I decided to use her cousin.)

P. 143
        “Master, so your real Master. ….Would that be Lord Graham?”
        (Huh? Don’t make fun of me. Why would I serve a messily human?”
        The Bogey beast’s master isn’t a human.
        It appeared by Rosalie who had gotten the water-sealed agate.
        Its master, perhaps, was the thing said to be sealed within the agate.
        “….A demon….?”
        The fae made a tut-tut sound with its tongue.
        (Master doesn’t like to be called by that. Master doesn’t want to be put in the same group as them. Because Master is much stronger than a demon, a great fogman!)
        A fogman is inside Rosalie’s water agate….
        Satisfied with the shocked look upon Lydia’s face, the bogey beast was elated and got carried away and started to ramble on.
        (It’s terrible how he is trapped inside a rock like that. And to top it off, all of the humans that possessed that stone all had noble blood that didn’t even let him let out his voice.)
        Just like her father had written, noble blood must have been protecting the ‘fairy egg’ all this time.

P. 144
        It was noble blood that had been protecting it so the demon’s power who had been trapped inside it didn’t leak out even a little.
        Not unlike the newly formed Worpole family, but old blood that continued from the Middle Ages, had the latent power to ward off evil forces.
        (But, he will finally be able to be free. I, the great bogey beast, had picked up his voice, and helped him up for that. Ahh, this means luck is finally heading my way. I am going to get back the old ways with the lord fogman. Children these days aren’t scared at all when I pinch them. What do they think of this great bogey beast.)
        At a child’s age, people are more able to spot fairies, but recently, that hasn’t been the case. Perhaps because the existence of fairies has become dim, and people weren’t hearing the stories of terrifying fairies, they wouldn’t know what happened even if they were pinched.
        (Watch out, you messily humans. It will be the rebirth of the lord fogman. The London fog will once again bask this city in fear. We aren’t going to let the Blue Knight Earl descendant get in our way. This time, for sure, lord fogman is going to lay him in his coffin!)

P. 145
        “What has the earl ever done to you two.”
        (Of course he did. The one who sealed Master Fogman was the Blue Knight Earl. If we break the water agate, then Master would be able to get out, but because he’s been sealed in it for so long he’s grown weak. But his powers will return if he eats the Blue Knight Earl who sealed him. I’m preparing the conditions so that as soon as he is released, he will be able to gobble him up. With his death comes the revival of my master!)
        “Miss Lydia, is everything all right?”
        She felt faint and nearly swayed. Doris quickly steadied her. 
        (The Blue Knight Earl who has been missing for so long has finally returned. Which means all the conditions are met!)
        The one who was granted the title of Blue Knight Earl was the man who pledged his loyalty as the lord of the fairy land to the King of England. His descendants, the heirs who inherited the Ashenbert title, were each called earl, but the earl had been going back and forth between the human world and his land in the fairy world, and legend says that he had magical powers. 
        If that was true, she didn’t know which earl from each era, but there was an earl who aimed to punish the fogman who had been kidnapping people by swallowing them into his fog, and used an agate stone that had holy water sealed in it, and sealed the evil fairy within it.
        From that time until now, the fogman had been plotting and waiting to exact his return and revenge. 
        For a long time, the fogman had to wait patiently inside the agate that was kept in the watchful eyes of the abbey and the old nobleman’s house, but when the ‘fairy egg’ got into the hands of Rosalie, it seeped out some of his magic gradually from the agate, and started making its move.

P. 146
        In response to the calls of the magic, several years later, the bogey beast appeared. It join forces with this small fairy, and the fogman took advantage of Rosalie who had ties with the ton, and searched for the earl who inherited the title of the Blue Knight. 
        It was only a month ago that Edgar Ashenbert, the heir of Blue Knight Earl who had been absent for three hundred years, had appeared. His name had already been known throughout the ton. That means, ever since Rosalie had met Edgar, the bogey beast and the fogman had their eyes set on him as the one to exact their revenge on. 
        But it was absurd for them to take their long grude from hundreds of years ago, because Edgar wasn’t the real bloodline of the Blue Knight Earl. Of course, he wouldn’t have the power to fight with the fogman. 
        And Lydia wouldn’t have the sort of power either.
        Edgar must have some sort of plot up his sleeve, and stuck his business into Lady Doris’ disappearance, and came in contact with Rosalie, but in a matter of speaking Rosalie was being manipulated by the fogman in the agate and the bogey beast and made to get close to Edgar.
        It would be all over if the fogman managed to get out of the agate. But what should she do….
        As Lydia tried to think of something, she stole a glance at the bogey beast. If the fogman inside the agate has partnering up with this little mischievous fae, then that means it couldn’t do anything without this fae’s help.
        Because it was sealed, it had to resort to the help of others, and the only one who responded to its calls must have been this one.

P. 147
        Then all she had to do has make sure this bogey beast didn’t interfere anymore.
        She looked around to see if there wasn’t anything that could help her catch it.
        And then Lydia’s eyes looked down to find an empty glass bottle laying on the floor by her feet.
        She hid it under the hem of her skirt, and pretended to swoon to kneel down. She gently wrapped her fingers around the bottle.
        She planned to yank out at least one of the hairs from the chest of the bogey beast covered in thick hair and put it in the empty bottle. For a fairy who had no true body, even one of its hairs was a part of its soul. When it tried to get its hair back from the bottle and enter it, she planned to screw the cap and trap it in.
        It was only a bottle. It couldn’t trap the fae in it forever, but it should be able to gain her some valuable time.
        (What’s the matter, fairy doctor? Are you trembling in fear hearing that I was with the lord fogman!)
        “…..Oh, such a terrifying fairy…., I don’t want anything to do with it…..”
        Lydia acted like she was trembling and crying.
        (Well, even if you were a fairy doctor, if it was a young chit like you, then you would be no match for us.)
        The bogey beast held up its head and strutted over to Lydia. It brought back its lips to make a disgustingly grin and leaned over to look at her expression.
        Now! Lydia whipped her hand out and lunged at the bogey beast.
        But it instantly shrinked its body down to the size of a mouse and dogged Lydia’s arm.
        Before she could react, the bogey beast yanked a hair from Lydia’s head and threw the hair it got into the glass bottle and capped it shut.

P. 148
        Doris rushed over to Lydia who suddenly lost consciousness and fell over.
        “Miss Lydia, what’s the matter? Wake up.”
        But no matter how much Doris called, or shook her body, Lydia didn’t wake up.
        She wanted to trap the bogey beast but failed.
        In turn, the fairy trapped Lydia’s soul inside the bottle.

*

        When Carlton made a visit to the earl’s house claiming that Lydia hadn’t come home yet, it seemed like he had already went to several places to look for his daughter and to top it off the thought of picking up a hack completely slipped his mind, so he apparently had walked all the way to the earl’s residence.
        According to the housekeeper’s account, Lydia had left to go home early sometime just after noon and shut herself in Carlton’s study, but then went out again sometime in the evening.
        When she left, Lydia said she was going out to give back something forgotten to someone and she only had on light clothing that didn’t look like she was going to stay out long.
        “Pardon me, my lord. I thought she might had some sort of business here, so I came.”

P. 149
        When Carlton found out that Lydia wasn’t there as well, he looked like he was about to take off again.
        “Mr. Carlton, please try to calm down. I’ll also go around to places that she might have gone to,” said Edgar to prevent him from leaving.
        He had his butler prepare his coat and hat, and called for Raven.
        When Edgar heard this news, Rosalie immediately came to mind.
        After the solo recital was over and he returned home, Rosalie made a terrible fuse that she had dropped something. As soon as Raven said that he had handed the thing he picked up to Lydia, the color of her face changed and she sped out of his house.
Raven said that what she dropped looked like ‘a stone similar to an Easter egg,’ but Edgar intuitively knew that it was the ‘fairy egg.’
        That originally was his possession.
        In the ‘Wonder Chamber’ that took up a corner of the large manor house that Edgar grew up in, there were endless numbers of rare treasures from all ages and countries that were collected by his past generation family members. Like its name, it was a room that was made to surprise the guests that entered it. There were numerous relics with strange and interesting histories and although it might appear vulgar or gross to gaze in wonder at unidentifiable mummies and stuffed animals but that wasn’t unusual in the families of the peerage.

P. 150
        The ‘fairy egg’ was just one of the many artifacts that were on display there.
        With a pattern that looked like it was covered with thin veins of a leaf and the water that was trapped inside. As a child, he was drawn to the mysterious movement of the water’s shadows that moved inside the stone.
        He didn’t know that it was an agate, or its other name was the ‘fairy egg’ or the legend behind it and had secretly taken it out off his father’s ‘Wonder Chamber.’ He remembered that he always had it hidden in his pocket. But couldn’t remember when he lost it. 
        Until he found out that Rosalie had that agate stone.
        The first time he met her was at the seat of a tea party hosted by a certain noblewoman. She claimed that the glass ball used in the fortune-telling game was a mere child’s play and so Rosalie showed that agate stone to the young ladies there.
        At that moment the jumbled memories of Edgar immediately pieced themselves together.
        A hazy memory of a cold dark room he was tied up in. Plagued by a horrifying nightmare and not being able to tell dream from reality as he feared the approach of the fogman. The two girls he thought were an illusion. He remembered that he handed over the water-sealed agate stone he always carried around with him to them. 
        And then, at that moment, he realized. If Rosalie was the girl from that time, then the one who was the cause of all his pain and torture was someone that was in close proximity to her. 
        From then on, Edgar narrowed down the names of the one who was involved in his kidnapping to Lord Graham who was related to her and started his investigation.

P. 151
        He immediately found out that Rosalie was unaware of the criminal acts of Graham. She was just a selfish, egotistical, naïve young lady.
        Since he found that out, Edgar wasn’t all that interested in the bogey beast that Lydia was talking about. There was no mistake that Graham was unrelated to that. 
        So he figured that if Lydia hadn’t come home and something happened, it must only be another fight that continued from the one this morning with Rosalie and so unrelated with Graham. 
        But Graham was near Rosalie. If he found Lydia, then the situation would turn worse.
        “Um, has Lydia gotten herself involved with something dangerous again?”
        “Everything’s fine. I think she’s just kept back by a little willful acquaintance,” said Edgar in a calm tone like no big deal as much as he could. Since Carlton showed such a worried face to him.
        He was a man on the thinner side and his appearance made him looked tired and aged, and it was hard to try to find a resemblance with Lydia, but he pushed up his round spectacles that played up his goofy appearance and looked straight in the eye at Edgar. 
        “My lord, Lydia has her trust in you. A fairy doctor’s job comes with its dangers but if my daughter has chosen to work for the earl family, would you please protect her.”
        The scholar-like sharp eyes that were used for observation must have figured out what sort of character Edgar was.

P. 152
        He must also have realized that Lydia was involved in some sort of dangerous incident. 
        And yet he decided that he wouldn’t press any further if Lydia had her trust in him. 
        He did resemble his daughter as a father who also had a soft heart.
        “Yes, of course. Your daughter saved my life, and I’ll do everything in my power to protect her.”
        Carlton must have been satisfied with that response and went home.
        He wasn’t lying when he said he thought that she saved his life.
        But Lydia didn’t trust Edgar like Carlton claimed she was. Of course she wouldn’t
        It was normal to think that one should keep their distance away from a phony criminal. 
        Edgar himself, couldn’t show all of the cards he had in his hand.
        To tell the truth, she was different from Raven and his past comrades, so he was confused at how much distance he should put between them. 
        She wasn’t someone who shared the experience with him in the depths of despair and poverty and even if Lydia was told of someone else’s unlucky past, it would only be troublesome for her.
        He couldn’t be sure if that could be a reasonable excuse to take advantage of her and use her without telling Lydia the truth and his circumstances, but in the end Edgar only was using her half-handedly. 
        “Hmm, so you do have some conscience that condemns.”
        He felt that the meowing voice coming from the floor which was aimed at him as he had on a troubled expression was Nico.
        “Nico, where are you going?”

P. 153
        “To look for Lydia. I can’t rely on you any longer.”
        He watched as Nico dashed off outside the door and disappear, but that could have just been the fog that was passing by.
        Edgar took ahold of the stick that was held out to him by Raven and stepped outside.
        “Lord Edgar, I had just gotten some news from one of our informers.”
        “Is it bad news?”
        “At this timing, yes.”
        “…..Was the man who attacked Lydia in the park hired by Graham?”
        “Yes. The man was called ‘the dog tamer’ and was periodically used by Graham. Graham had also asked around to several hoodlums in the downtown area to go after the Earl Ashenbert’s fairy doctor. The man who previously helped out in slaying psychic girls, clairvoyantes, and girls who sees premonitions, but this time he refused or so I was told.”
        “Which means Graham is definitely one of Prince’s men.”
        Edgar went silent to concentrate for a moment, then asked Raven again.
        “And, what is that?”
        He asked because he saw Raven holding a can that was bent in one spot.
        “It wouldn’t stop saying to deliver it to the fairy doctor.”

P. 154
        “Who?”
        “This.”
        He didn’t understand what he meant, but Raven didn’t appear disturbed and carefully placed it in his coat pocket, so Edgar thought he didn’t have to worry about it.
        “By the way Raven, it seems like we’re going to have to change our plans at this rate.”
        “…..Yes. I thought there was nothing to worry about once she had returned home so this is unexpected. And it seemed like Miss Carlton was reframing from going out alone ever since the attack at the park.”
        She left the house because she wasn’t going to be alone. He didn’t know what Rosalie did to lure her out, but she apparently called Lydia out without going through the housekeeper of the Carlton house.
        If she went to get the stone she dropped then she should have just knocked the door normally. If there was something she had against Lydia and it was right to think that she called Lydia out, then Rosalie must have thought bitterly of Lydia than Edgar had thought. 
        Edgar had already investigated that Graham was suspicious in the incident regarding Doris, and he got close with Rosalie just because that was more convenient in getting good information, but he regretted that he didn’t pay more attention in her actions.
        “I forgotten that you shouldn’t think like you knew everything about women.”
        “That isn’t like you.”

P. 155
        Indeed, he mumbled, and Edgar got into his carriage.

*

        The letter that the Worpole family’s maid was secretly asked to take to Rosalie’s room was from Edgar.
        It only said that he wanted to see her, which made the young girl in high spirits, and departed alone to go to the famous hotel that was used by the people of the ton. 
        It was usually used by the nobles to stay long periods of time as they lived in the countryside and didn’t have a residence in London, otherwise, it was a respectable hotel that many of the ton members stayed at like their hiding place.
        The room that Rosalie was lead to was a guestroom that was furnished with completely composed, unobtrusive furniture. 
        The blond haired Earl met to greet her. She felt victorious at his smile.
        “I was surprised that you suddenly wanted to see me.”
        “Why? You knew that I was completely enamored of you?”
        When she was gazed down by his forlorn, doleful ash mauve eyes, her heart beaded rapidly.
        “But it hasn’t been that long since we parted.”
        “It’s been several hours. And besides, I wanted to talk with you more in private.”

P. 156
        It was just like the fairy said. As long as she listened to it, the happiness she was expecting came. 
        She gave herself up to the appealing whispers of his and took a sip of the wine he offered her, which all made Rosalie feel great.
        That girl named Lydia, she was such a liar for saying that Edgar was dangerous.
        Even if a man was a little dangerous, they would turn loyal in front of a charming lady.
        “Actually there was something that I wanted to give you.”
        “Oh, I wonder what?”
        Opening a velvet case he took out, there was a ruby necklace inside.
        “Oh, my, this is for me? Could I accept such an expensive gift.”
        “Do you like it?”
        “Yes, of course.”
        “Then please tell me where Lydia is.”
        She thought she misheard him. Because Edgar was still looking at Rosalie with gentle eyes like he was in love with her.
        “…..What did you say?”
        “You know, right? Where Lydia is. I thought she may still be with you, but the maid at the baron house said that you returned home alone quite some time ago. But Lydia remains missing ever since she has met you.”

P. 157
        Blood immediately rushed to her head. Rosalie felt like she was insulted and threw down the necklace.
        “How dare you, I don’t know anything about Miss Carlton! And I won’t accept this!”
        “It’s not me to return it to. That’s a present from Lord Graham to you.”
        “From Uncle…..?”
        That didn’t make any sense. 
        Edgar made a little chuckle and in that little second he appeared like a completely different man to Rosalie’s eyes.
        It was a chilling, inhuman smile that she never saw before.
        “Did you know that this hotel’s owner was Lord Graham? But he had a terribly large debt, that was built up from his excessive spending and the gambles he lost to, but this was also secured as his mortgage. So, I seized this place just now as I was his creditor and this room was used by Lord Graham and so it has his things still in it, but how interesting, there were so many interesting things that you couldn’t dare leave laying around in your house.”
        For example, said Edgar as he stood up and held out a group of papers. Rosalie, who was in a complete chaos, wasn’t able to accept them strongly, so the wad of papers all fell to the floor. 

P. 158
        “He had been using the fortune that was suppose to be Lady Doris’. Of course, you were also a victim of that. However he started to not be able to make up for the damage. So what was he going to do? He thought. First, he had Lady Doris go missing. You were wanting to make her do as you said and there were many who knew that you were unilaterally doing mean things to her. That was it. Your flamboyant and vain personality where you would supply ample money to men you took a liking to but didn’t realize that you were being an easy mark for your money, would become a key part of the plan. Lord Graham had already driven away several men in the past to stop you from throwing out all the family’s savings. Luckily, you were quick to fall for them but also quick to be bored of them and so you were quick to forget about the men you financed. But he used that against you and made it look like you had gotten your hands on Lady Doris’ savings. And when you also went missing, society would figure that you got rid of Doris and couldn’t hide that and went on an escape.”
        On a number of the paperwork that were scattered by her feet, she saw that they were signed as if in her handwriting to make it appear like Rosalie had been the one that was doing the expensive shopping. Even the ruby necklace must have been made to look like she bought it. 
        “Now I went this far and let you know of your dangerous situation. I’d really like it if you’d answered my question.”
        While in her disoriented state of mind, she was vaguely able to understand the actions of her uncle, but Rosalie was more terrified of Edgar in front of her.
        Who in the world is this man?
        She thought he was the kind, gentle, breathtakingly handsome earl, but now his perfectly sculptured face appeared chilling cold. 
        She backed away to tried to run but he grabbed ahold of Rosalie’s arm.

P. 159

P. 160
        “I…I’ll scream.”
        “Go ahead as much as you like. There are no other guests on this floor and I already had a word with the manager. To not pay attention even if they heard the sound of a screaming woman.”
        "Where’s Lydia?", he pressed on.
        “If something were to happen to me….you’ll never be able to find her…”
        “Is that so.”
        A second after those words had left his mouth, he turned his head and called for someone. 
        “Open the window.”
        For the first time, Rosalie realized that there was an auburn-skinned servant standing in the corner of the room.
        Edgar dragged her to the windowsill.
        “No, STOP! What are you doing?!”
        “If you don’t intend to talk, then it wouldn’t be any different to me if something were to happen to you.”
        Without any hesitation, he grabbed Rosalie’s neck. He pushed her further out the window as she lost her breath from suffocation.
        “Intoxicated by the wine and on a spree fell out the window, is what they’d think.”
        I’m going to be killed. Rosalie sensed his seriousness and lost control of herself and cried and screamed for her life. Most likely she must have spilled the truth about Lydia as she was crying. 
        When the suffocation stopped and she came to her senses, she was sitting on the floor. She couldn’t stop from sobbing convulsively and her body wouldn’t stop trembling. 

P. 161
        And yet, she felt an overpowering drowsiness come over her, there must have been something put in the wine.
        “Young naïve little lady. You should learn that you’re able to dream like the world revolves around you because of your blind ignorance.” 
        He swiftly put on his overcoat and was about to leave the room with his servant.
        “Oh, yes, the wine you had was also from this room. Although I don’t know what was in it.”
        No. I’m scared. If I lose consciousness here, then Uncle would come….
        But the blond devil walked out of the room, leaving Rosalie alone.
        For some reason, the memory of the blond young boy who she mercilessly abandoned, just like this, came to mind.