Hakushaku to Yousei - Volume 21 - Chapter 5

Chapter 5 ♦ Being tossed around by the scheme 

Edgar unfolded a newspaper in the morning room of the country house. In the eyes of others, perhaps they seemed to think that he was resting, but he actually wasn’t reading the the newspaper at all.
Lydia didn’t return to the mansion last night. The Duchess told him after returning that Lota and Paul were in the village, and she was going to be staying with them.
He didn’t have to worry if she was with Lota, but he was afraid that Lydia might return to London at this point. If she went back to London then it was still fine, but if by any chance she went to Scotland......
However, he was still unable to go and meet up with Lydia, and so morning came.
He only loved Lydia, but if the fixation towards Sylvainford in his heart didn’t disappear, he might unintentionally harm Lydia again; it was only this point that he cared about.
“Yo Edgar, you’re in a great mood.”
As soon as he heard a carefree voice, he frowned and put down the newspaper. A one-eyed man stood in front of him.
“Francis, you’re talking about yourself, aren’t you?”
After arriving, he attracted the gazes of upper-class women, and seemed to be getting by quite happily. He also used one hand to brush off his shoulder-length silver hair, as if he was deliberately trying to make it flutter. He revealed a haughty smile; in the end, it wasn’t known whether or not he understood that if he did this, he would be classified as an amusing person in this country.
“Edgar, it turns out that you will misinterpret a woman’s feelings as well, I feel empathetic towards you.”
At least he seemed to know that he always misunderstood the feelings of the opposite sex.
“Apart from that, I heard that you have already located the house of the elderly woman, right? How about starting with investigating the menhir sites all the way through again?”
“Whaaaat? Let me rest today, I really want to experience the aristocratic life in a country house of England, and besides, that girl is tired as well.”
“You can go alone, can’t you?”
Francis shrugged his shoulders wearily.
“As long as Lydia isn’t here, you will be this ruthless. She is your brake for your conscience. You should treat her well.”
“I already know without you saying it.”
“It’ll be too late for regrets if you lose her.”
The majority of Francis’ statements were unpersuasive, but only these words echoed in his mind.
The feelings towards a lover he had lost made him try to serve the Blue Knight Earl family. He was trying with all of his might to find the path towards Ibrazel in his own way.
“Even if you abandon your ego for her now, you probably wouldn’t hesitate the least bit, and yet it turned out like this.”
Francis lowered his gaze. Edgar looked at him and began to worry. Was his obsession towards Sylvainford merely a kind of self-consciousness?
He chose the path of being the Blue Knight Earl, but after knowing that Sylvainford was going to be handed over to someone else, but it seemed he was really concerned about it.
“Lord Ashenbert, where is your wife?”
At this moment, Grandy called loudly and came over. Just seeing his face had worsened Edgar’s mood.
“Even now, your wife hasn’t come and apologized, what on earth is going on?”
Regarding what happened yesterday, due to the Duchess assuming the attitude of not wanting to turn it into something serious, everyone pretended that nothing happened. After the event, Kathleen seemed to have said that she was pushed by Lydia, but later on, she didn’t speak a single word of blame.
He didn’t expect Grandy to loudly emphasize that it was Lydia’s fault; apparently, it seemed that he didn’t want to consider Lydia as a noblewoman with a status equal to his fiancée’s.
There were many people like this in the upper class, but if it was an aristocrat who possessed a certain kind of knowledge, they would conceal this emotion. Lydia was loved by this place’s hostess, that is, the Duchess. If Grandy wished to have harmonious relations with Duke Masefield’s family, then he probably would have realized that there wouldn’t be any benefit in blaming Lydia, however, he didn’t seem to be an intelligent person.
“Apologize? On the contrary, I am waiting for you to apologize. The daughters of the Roden family saw you insult my wife as well.”
Grandy should have really found this to be unexpected. At first, perhaps he naturally wanted to insist on his claim, which he believed to be proper and expected, but upon being considered as the humiliated one, he probably felt angry at the thought of it. With a face flushed with anger, he continued to speak loudly:
“I am talking about what happened with my fiancée being pushed over.”
“Do you have any proof that my wife did it? In spite of being unable to walk properly, Miss Kathleen left the room by herself, didn’t she? Even if she fell when nothing happened, it wouldn’t be unusual either.”
“This was what she said!”
“Lord Grandy, it’s fine.”
At that moment, the voice that interrupted was Kathleen’s. She sat on a wheelchair that the maid was responsible for pushing and entered the morning room, glancing at Edgar with a remorseful expression.
“Earl, I didn’t think that it was Madam Lydia’s fault at all, my hand was just shaken off.”
Whether or not this was a fact wasn’t important in the end, it would be fine as long as Edgar believed that Lydia was not required to apologize.
“That why, if we forget what happened and reconcile......”
However, the men and women around them glanced over from time to time, which concerned him. These people probably didn’t hear what Kathleen said. Her charitable attitude as she showed consideration for a friend would make Lydia be scorned instead.
He couldn’t suggest that Lydia was interested in reconciling either. However, if he didn’t say so, Lydia would secretly be considered a horrible woman even more.
“That’s impossible.”
Francis interrupted abruptly.
“Edgar would even feel jealous towards Lydia’s close friends and want to drive them away, this was what the head butler here said. He must not want Lydia to make even more friends, right, Edgar?”
“Uh...... yes.”
“Edgar is that infatuated with her.”
Francis revealed an innocent smile; apparently, he seemed to have saved Edgar. However, Kathleen revealed a sad expression.
“But...... I won’t give up.”
She suddenly raised her head, looked directly at Edgar and spoke. What she said didn’t refer to Lydia, but to Edgar.
Even Edgar had already realised.
He current expression was the same as the one from when they were taking shelter from the rain on that hunting day, and where she said that Edgar was her destined person.
It’s not that Kathleen wanted to get close to Lydia, but Edgar wanted to think that she didn’t have an ulterior motive. Moreover, he couldn’t understand why Lydia said that she didn’t want to be friends with her.
“Do you like Lydia that much? In that case, that makes me feel even more troubled.”
He prayed that this tactful rejection could wake her up.
It must have been because she couldn’t forget the former happiness of Sylvainford that she clung to the feelings she harbored for Edgar. In reality, she was already engaged, and Edgar had a wife; this was an undeniable fact. It won’t be long before she would realize this.
“Hey, Edgar.”
Francis elbowed him. He inadvertently looked towards the doorway and saw Lydia turning around to leave.
“Lydia.”
He quickly got up and chased after Lydia.
“Lydia, hold on.”
She finally stopped in front of the guest room door.
Kelly came out and stood in front of Lydia, as if to protect her. Apparently, Edgar even seemed to have quickly lost the maid’s trust.
However, when Lydia turned around, she unexpectedly revealed a smile.
“My deepest apologies, I spent the night outside without permission. I only wanted to say this, but there were many people over there.”
Edgar breathed a sigh of relief and smiled.
“It doesn’t matter, I’m very happy that you have returned.”
“After all I promised the Duchess.”
Although she sounded cheerful, Edgar sensed some sarcasm within those words. Was it his imagination?
Yes, it was absolutely a figment of his imagination; what Lydia meant definitely wasn’t that she didn’t want to see his face when she didn’t finish her appointment with the Duchess.
“I have something I want to say to you.”
“I’m glad, me too.”
Her smile made Edgar sense the connected feelings between each other, but just as he thought that, she immediately added on:
“Lota and Mr. Paul are waiting in the pavilion of the lotus flower pond, can you ask Francis to come over as well? I have something to report to you about the swan fairy.”
“Uh, hold on, what I wanted to say wasn’t......”
“Then that’s it for now, I have to get changed.”
Lydia spoke briefly then entered inside. Kelly closed the door after respectfully giving her salutations, as if she was trying to stop him.
What is going on? Is she angry?
Edgar could only stand there, puzzled.

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The plants that were trimmed into beautiful cones were arranged along the red brick road. Up ahead, there was a round pond with lotus leaves floating on top as well as a swan sculpture in the middle.
The swan maiden, Swan, gazed towards the sculpture with a look of amazement.
“Is that my true appearance?”
“You can’t imagine it?”
“Because I don’t remember......”
“You will definitely remember soon.”
Lydia pulled her hand, helping her sit on the bench. Everybody gathered at the pavilion.
However, Nico disappeared without a trace. After the matter at Alder village, he went missing up until now.
The relationship between Patrick and Darnell, plus the appearance of the Prophet, seemed to have made him quite distressed.
Nico said that Darnell was a fake Prophet, did he know something about the genuine Prophet? But Darnell said that he was still an incomplete Prophet, and Nico didn’t deny his remark.
She didn’t want to think about these things again. Nico hoped so as well; Mother’s opinion also ought to have been the same.
Even though Francis, Paul and Lota met for the first time, they had already loosened up and chatted amongst themselves in a friendly manner. At that moment, Edgar and Raven just happened to appear.
Lydia sat down. Edgar intended to go beside here, but Lota pushed him away and sat down. With a face of dissatisfaction, Edgar sat across Lydia separated by the table, and after staring at her, he said,
“Do you know something?”
“Yes, that’s why she gathered everyone here.”
Lota answered in Lydia’s place.
“I was asking Lydia.”
“What’s up with that, you philanderer who is proud of himself…”
Lota leaned in, intending to quarrel, but Lydia stopped her.
“It’s okay, Lota. More importantly, let’s begin the discussion.”
This morning, Lydia did think of how to fix the animosity between her and Edgar, and planned to confront him with her usual behaviour after returning to the mansion.
But once she saw him, complex emotions bubbled from within her, and as a result, she reacted in a way that was illogical.
When he and Kathleen were talking in the morning room, Francis and Lord Grandy were also there, she knew that it wasn’t the situation that asked for jealousy.
Even so, Lydia was still in a lot of pain, and there was no way for her to speak with Edgar at that time.
Darnell clearly stated that he was the Prophet, and this disturbed Lydia’s heart. She heard that the relationship between the Prophet and his fiancée was fate. Since that was the case, then was the pairing of her and Edgar a mistake?
The person who ought to be joined with Edgar is Kathleen, isn’t it?
Lydia tried to drive these thoughts out of her mind, and said,
“Just now, I heard Raven say that the old woman who lived with Swan and all the others seemed to have come from Alder village, and that village held swan festivals for the longest time. Moreover, the fields nearby that extend over from Wickerbone possess the same characteristics...... in other words, the land possesses the same characteristic magic, so regardless of which village in the surroundings it was, they would all hold the same festival, but now, it has become forgotten. But that village still has people who remember the festival even now, and she is one of them.”
“Swan festival? Is that the festival that the old woman spoke of?”
Even if Edgar asked, as long as she concentrated on her role as a fairy doctor, she could reply without caring at all.
“Alder village considers it as a festival, perhaps the other villages call it differently, but the essence of the festival should be the same.”
“Ohhh, how fascinating.”
Francis leaned on, interested.
“Then what sort of festival is it?”
“I heard that there are several pictures nearby drawn on the earth. Apparently, they are ancient remnants, and it’s isn’t known who created it and when. The majority of them are line drawings depicting animals. If they were placed wherever, they would be buried in dust and weeds, so once a year, they would tidy up the lines of the drawing, and as long as they did so, the earth’s energy would increase. I heard that it was a festival of praying for abundance.”
A swan picture was near Alder village, so whenever the season of the festival approached, the swans would come here, crowd around in the sky above the picture, rest their wings in the lake, and the villagers would be able to enjoy the beautiful scenery as well. There were also legends that said the swans would become maidens and dance in a circle around the lake.
“I think the old woman said that the festival to be held again was this one.”
“Where is the swan picture?”
It was rare that Edgar did not fool around and merely asked after receiving the information indifferently. Lydia believed that it was currently better this way, perhaps he also felt the distance between Lydia as well.
“It seems that it’s on the slope of the hill on the west side of the lake. I heard that one year, the lake was flooded and the picture was buried, afterwards it seemed that the festival wasn’t performed any more.”
The Duchess had also said that the number of swans decreased after the flooding.
“The disappearance of the swan picture might be related to Swan and the others being unable to return to their original form, this was what the old woman thought.”
“Which means that as long as the lost drawing reappears, the magic will be restored. But the slope on the west side of the hill is quite steep.”
“Yes, we can only confirm it at the lake.”
“Then let’s go now.”
Edgar stood up.
“Ah, I have a little business to attend to.”
Francis was planning on being lazy again, but Edgar did not say anything. In addition, he had his arm around Paul’s shoulder, whom he had just met.
“Paul and I formed an association for single men, we have to go and meet many lovely young ladies.”
“What!”
Paul was astonished, revealing an expression as if he had misheard. However, Francis did not pay any heed.
“Lota, you’re a member as well.”
“What? I’m not even a single man!”
“You’re quite similar to them anyway.”
“What did you say?”
“Then that settles it.”
Just like that, he firmly grasped Lota’s hands, and stubbornly took the two away.
“Francis, take a break today and have fun with the two of them.”
After Edgar said that to Francis’ back, he pulled Lota’s hand up.
“Eh...... Lota, hold on......”
After Lydia made sense of the situation, she had already been left behind in the pavilion with Edgar.
To be precise, there was still Raven and Kelly. Although Swan was here as well, for Lydia, it was no different than the two of them being alone.
But, she couldn’t show any weakness right now.
Although Lydia thought so, she actually wanted to reconcile with Edgar, but she didn’t know what ought to be done.
“Let’s go.”
She tried to look at Edgar and smile. The reason why Edgar frowned slightly was probably because Lydia didn’t give him the opportunity to hold her hand, as she had already used both her hands to lead Kelly and Swan along.
Edgar remained silent, not planning on coming to Lydia’s side forcefully.
Perhaps with regards to Lydia, who pushed Kathleen and was still unwilling to apologize, he felt disillusioned. No, at least he felt a little fed up with this.
She should have properly explained the facts to him. Lydia thought that if this was the case, then he probably would have understood. However, if she discussed Kathleen with him, it would be equal to getting in contact with the part of Edgar’s inner world that was related to Sylvainford.
Lydia was afraid of knowing that he earnestly wished that he could retrieve Sylvainford from the bottom of his heart.
Although there were five people altogether, everyone ended up walking without saying a word.
After arriving at the lake, they immediately climbed the mild slope on the west side, but there was nothing on the hill other than the thinly covered grass; there wasn’t even half of a tree that could be considered as a landmark.
“There is nothing at all.”
Kelly said as she sighed.
“Hey, Swan, do you remember anything?”
She pondered a little, then shook her head bleakly.
“How was the picture created? Was it something like lining up the stones?”
Even if at last there were words spoken, Edgar merely said the minimum of what was necessary.
“I heard that if you dig up the ground a little, it will reveal a layer of white limestone. As a result, this area is a barren land where crops won’t grow, but...... in other words, the picture is portrayed from digging up the white soil.”
Despite looking carefully at the ground, any traces that were similar to a line drawing couldn’t be seen.
“Oh, that’s right, the Duchess said that there is a rock on this slope, and the maidens would dance around it.”
“Speaking of rocks, is it like the menhir that Wickerbone has as well?”
“I think that’s probably the case.”
“Then does the rock have something to do with the picture?”
“I think the two should appear in places where the vital point of magic is. Fairies will dwell or build passages in those sorts of places, so if this slope has a menhir, then the drawing will definitely be in the same area as well.”
Lydia walked while taking note of whether or not there were rocks buried by her feet, and Edgar walked alongside her. By the time they became aware that they were alone, they were already up the top of the hill.
Although Lydia’s thoughts were in disarray, she nonchalantly tried to turn around.
“Lydia.”
He simply called out, and she was unable to move. She didn’t even know whether or not she wanted to run away in the end.
"Do you hate me?”
“Wh--what are you saying?”
“Then look into my eyes properly.”
Although she tried to do so, she suddenly wanted to cry, thus she lowered her head.
“I don't want to argue with you.”
“Which means...... Although you don’t want to talk, you’re actually disappointed in me already?”
“If that was the case, then do you think I would still try my best to investigate the ship?”
Lydia was unable to look at his face, and spoke that way.
It ought to be him who feels disappointed.
“I’m sorry.....”
The sorrowful voice made her chest ache.
“What can I do to restore your trust in me?”
That sort of thing.....
“I don’t know!”
Lydia couldn’t help but raise her head.
The wind blew, and Edgar’s hair floated. Even though his hair covered his eyes, he didn’t brush it aside, and gazed at Lydia with his sorrowful eyes.
“I also wanted to ask you, what should I do to bring about your true desires?”
I like everything about him, whether it’s his transparent blonde hair, his sentimental ash-mauve eyes, slender body, or his strong and vigorous arms.
So, I don’t want to become a woman who hinders him.
“Lydia.”
Edgar took a step closer.
If I’m pulled into his embrace, I probably won’t be able to think about anything. It’ll be alright, as long as I can stay by his side, it won’t matter even if I can’t understand his true thoughts.
Really? Is it really fine like this?
“My wish is merely to be with you......”
“......There’s no way for me to fulfill your wishes, you ought to understand this the most.”
He didn’t move any further. Lydia ran away from there.

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“What on earth is going on with Lydia?”
Meg began to mutter, and Ann was feeding the parrot while turning her head around.
“Didn’t she push Miss Kathleen over and say that she didn’t want to reconcile or apologize? I didn’t expect her to be that kind of person.”
Meg’s tone was stiff, and after hearing that, Ann shrugged her shoulders, saying:
“I don’t think Lydia did it on purpose.”
“But even if it wasn’t ill-intended, she should apologize.”
“I think she probably understands that. Perhaps there’s a reason for it.”
Beth, the third daughter, rushed in.
“Hey, listen to me! It’s terrible!”
“Calm down. What’s happening?”
“Miss Kathleen didn’t actually sprain her leg!”
“What did you say? What’s going on!”
Beth ran towards her two older sisters. Although it was already too late, she still lowered her voice.
“The maids in the private room were secretly talking about this.I heard that Miss Kathleen left the room by herself and came to the corridor, and in result, as soon as she saw Lydia, she began to drag one leg while walking, pretending that it was difficult to move.”
Ann and Meg exchanged looks.
“What..... in other words......”
“She wouldn’t have deliberately fallen, would she? If she can walk normally, a slight push based on a woman’s strength wouldn’t make a person fall.”
“Could it be that the maids saw it wrong? Is Miss Kathleen the type of prestigious lady that would do such things?”
“However if you think about it, that time when Lydia spilled the black tea, it seems that she purposely reached out in front of the cup. It was clear that it would spill if she did so, I found it quite strange at the time.”
“Why? That would just burn herself, wouldn’t it?”
“She can frame Lydia and gain sympathy. That time, didn’t Lord Grandy blame Lydia?”
“Then let us go and ask for clarification.”
Meg stood up. She wanted to get to the bottom of this no matter what.
“We can’t, we don’t know whether or not she’ll tell the truth after all. As long as she insists that she sprained her leg, we have no way out. Compared to the maid’s testimony, no matter who it is, they would believe what the noble daughter says, won’t they?”
Ann was always very calm.
“So at this rate, should we maintain status quo?”
“I have a good idea!”
Beth’s eyes shone, exuberant with curiosity, and the three of them brought their heads together, beginning their discussion.

After Kathleen returned to her room sitting on the wheelchair, she told the maid that she could leave and drove her out of the room, then stared into the hand mirror alone.
She was quite beautiful. Even if this honey blonde hair was misjudged, it wouldn’t be seen as red hair. She also knew that her meek, delicate smile attracted men.
The upper class girls ought to be in this way, and have these ideals as well. She couldn’t be defeated by a dull red-haired woman who came from the common class.
That’s why, that person will definitely realize our destiny.
Kathleen, you will definitely succeed.
She assured herself.
When she put the mirror back on the table, she suddenly found something.
There was a hat that she had never worn before placed on the table.
Did the maid forget to put it back? To go as far as to toss it onto the table like this. Just when Kathleen cautiously reached out for the hat, agitated, her body couldn’t help stiffen.
Underneath the hat, there was a coiled snake.
Kathleen immediately got up and ran out of the room frantically.
“Kathleen, what’s wrong?”
She heard someone calling her, thus she was scared to the point that she stopped. She saw her fiancé, Grandy, calmly approaching.
“There is a snake...... in my room......”
Although Kathleen was scared to the point of forgetting to pretend that her leg hurt, Grandy still hadn’t noticed.
Kathleen brought him towards the room, walking at her ordinary pace. Although she felt as if someone was hiding behind a pillar in the corridor, she didn’t have any extra energy to care about this, so she didn’t think to go and confirm it.
“There is nothing.”
After Grandy examined the inside of the room, he said this to Kathleen, who was by the doorway.
“There was one, surely. As soon as I picked up the hat......”
She slowly walked into the room and picked up the fallen hat; even the action of bending her knees could easily be done. Even though Grandy stared at her, she had already completely forgotten about pretending that she sprained her leg.
“I think that there shouldn’t be any snakes during this season.”
“It was a foreign snake. It’s only seen in an encyclopedia. Perhaps someone brought it in…”
“Kathleen, has your leg completely healed already? Or did it not hurt from the start?”
She was shocked and realized that she was standing up straight without any support. This couldn’t be hidden now so she could only lower her head.
“Didn’t you say that it was more painful today compared to when you fell yesterday?”
His words were reproachful.
“Well......”
“You can obviously walk, and yet you fell down because Madam Ashenbert shook you off?”
Kathleen sat down.
“I’m sorry...... I only wanted Madam Lydia to notice me, because if I fall over she will worry about me...... It was like that as well when I sprained my leg from the beginning...... Although the pain disappeared rather quickly, she just happened to be by my side, and so I wanted to become closer with her. However, the conversation circles in the salon consisted of people that I didn’t know, so I felt that if I pretended that I couldn’t walk, she probably would have been willing to be someone I could talk to.”
She covered her face with her hands, crying as she said everything on her mind.
“But Madam Lydia was so cold to me, so I......”
Sure enough, Grandy showed a sympathetic attitude, as if he had anticipated this.
“Ahhh, don’t cry, I’m not going to blame you.”
“I just wanted to make friends.”
As soon as Kathleen sobbed, the man, who was much older than her, bent down and placed his hand on her shoulder, as if he was soothing a child.
“......You must be very lonely, right? We still don’t really understand each other, and you don’t know anyone else in this place either.”
“I went as far to even lie.... but I can’t tell the truth...... I am a despicable woman who is unfit to be a lady. Lord Grandy, I am very sorry...... I have disgraced you, I am not qualified to be your fiancée.”
“What are you saying, if Lady Ashenbert was able to understand your anxiety and had gotten along with you nicely, then such a thing wouldn’t have happened...... you’re just too pure and not used to dealing with people, that’s all. If I can’t protect my fiancée at such a time, then I can’t be considered a man.”
Kathleen looked at him with her wet eyes, as if she wanted to rely on his kindness.
“Madam Lydia won’t really get along with women like me...... She must have thought that I was putting on airs.”
“This can’t be helped, as your family backgrounds are different after all. But if that’s the case, then she should respect you even more. It’s probably because she’s quite close with the Duchess, so she became conceited.”
The confusion in his mind with regards to Kathleen actually making a mistake had already become resent towards Lydia.
Kathleen deliberately revealed an astonished expression, then frowned and said:
“Could it have been Madam Lydia who put the snake......”
“What do you mean?”
“I heard that she knows a lot about fairies, so perhaps she found a way to bring that awful thing in nonchalantly..... But she wouldn’t, she probably isn’t that kind of person.”
“No, it’s hard to say, perhaps she is deliberately picking a fight with you.”
Grandy had completely fallen into her scheme.
Kathleen clung onto him appearing to be on the verge of tears.
“Lord Grandy, I saw a shadow in the corridor just now. If it was her who placed the snake in here and took it away, perhaps I might have been seen walking properly......”
“Seen by Madam Ashenbert?”
“Gossip will immediately spread, everyone will say that I am a horrible woman who lies...... Ahhh what should I do?”
The more Kathleen looked helpless and foolish, the more Grandy felt that he ought to protect her.
To him, Kathleen was a flawless young lady, and that she made a childish mistake simply because she was too well-educated. He probably believed that if he was a gentleman, he should naturally correct the conceited behaviour of the Countess, who had the background of a commoner.
“I’ll think of something. It’ll be alright, you don’t have to worry about anything.”

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The wind that shook the window incessantly blew. Lydia was in the bedroom by herself and closed her book, feeling at ease.
Lota and Paul said that they were going to stay in a hostel, so they went back to the village.
She heard Raven say that Edgar and Francis were in the middle of discussing something, and didn’t know whether or not he would return to the room tonight. Lydia thought to herself that she should take the opportunity to go to bed first.
However, if he comes back......
Continuing to harbour ill feelings for him like this certainly wasn’t a good thing.
If he came back to the room, should she welcome him properly, and speak her thoughts aloud to him?
However, what would Edgar think? If he doesn’t return, then it meant he also felt that confronting Lydia was difficult to bear.
This had never happened until now, so Lydia didn’t know what ought to be done even more.
At that moment, she heard a faint sound.
At first, she thought that it was the sound of the wind, but the sound that she strained to hear again seemed to be similar to footsteps. She also sensed the presence of someone, and it was coming from the dressing room next door.
The maid’s room was on the opposite side, so there shouldn’t be anyone in the dressing room.
Who is it?
Lydia was on edge, holding her breath.
Is it Edgar? Has he returned?
What should I do? Should I stay here and wait, or go out and greet him?
Worried, Lydia headed towards the door that lead to the dressing room, and opened the door slightly to take a peek at the situation outside.
She gazed at the moving shadow, and after seeing the figure that was shone upon under the faint moonlight by the window side, she gasped.
It’s not Edgar.
She didn’t even see their appearance clearly, but that person’s hair seemed to be black, their height was relatively short, and was nothing like Edgar.
A th--thief......?
Lydia covered her mouth, trying not to make a sound.
Would it be better to shout immediately? Perhaps Kelly will come, but that person might have a weapon, so if Kelly gets injured, what am I going to do?
What about Raven? Is he with Edgar? Or is he nearby? Lydia knew nothing about this, and so she panicked.
Just when he moved his body, the door made a creaking sound, and the man turned his head to look over.
She felt that their gazes seemed to have met. At this time, the man immediately came over.
Lydia hastily closed the door, then used her back to press up against it, but she sensed the man’s presence on the other side of the door.
“......Lady Ashenbert......”
She heard a faint voice.
“Your husband isn’t here, right? Could you please open the door?”
Could it be that he isn’t a thief......
The man knew that Edgar wasn’t here and so he came. After she sensed the person’s intention, she became frightened.
I have to escape. As she planned to move her feet, her slippers got caught on a corner of the rug in the pitch-black bedroom, which caused her to almost fall over.
There was the sound of the door opening from behind. Just when Lydia was stricken with panic, unable to make a sound, and could only stick close to the wall, she heard another voice.
“What are you doing?”
The man at the entrance of the bedroom was so shocked that he turned around, planning to escape.
The person who spoke was standing in the doorway of the room that connected to the corridor. Although the intruder tried to rush out, the person blocking the doorway grabbed him and as a result, the two began struggling.
“He........Help, someone please help!”
Lydia finally shouted, and Raven ran in at the same time.
He swiftly used his arm to wrap around a man’s neck, then planned to proceed with kicking the other in the stomach, but Lydia shouted hastily:
“Raven, hold on! The thief is the man with the black hair!”
“Madam Lydia!”
After Kelly came in with a oil lamp illuminating the room and she glimpsed the man who dodged Raven’s kick run away towards the corridor.
The other man fell to the ground, coughing violently.
“Mr. Darnell!”
The shoulders of the red-haired Darnell shook up and down, trying to readjust his breathing.
“Is the intruder the one who escaped?”
After Raven muttered he immediately broke into a run. He probably wanted to chase after him.
Kelly handed a cup of water to Darnell, and he drank it in one gulp.
“Um, are you hurt?”
“You as well, are you hurt?”
“No, I’m fine...... thanks to you, you’ve rescued me.”
Darnell carefully got up, and handed over the object in his hand to Lydia. After she received it, she realized that it was her handkerchief and a letter.
“This was what that the man was holding just now.”
Giving a handkerchief to a man meant that the woman placed her trust in him. In the past, this was a way to secretly convey love, so there was no need to open the letter and guess its content.
The letter used Lydia’s name and had words of seduction towards another person written in it, so only then did that man try to enter the bedroom holding this.
After Lydia realized what nearly happened before, she trembled to the point that she couldn’t even say a word.
Naturally, Darnell had anticipated content of the letter as well, so he immediately turned around without asking anything more.
“I have to go.”
“No, Mr. Finn, I must express my thanks.”
Edgar appeared at the doorway, and closed the door to keep Darnell inside. It was probably Raven who informed him of this.
“Thank you for saving my wife.”
The attitude that Edgar displayed was contrary to what he said.  He glanced at Darnell scrutinizingly then shot a glance at the handkerchief and letter in Lydia’s hand.
“I’m afraid that someone has deliberately done this.”
The statement of Darnell protecting Lydia made Edgar increasingly unsettled, as he frowned deeply.
“That sort of thing I understand. Lydia isn’t a woman who will betray me.”
The atmosphere at the scene was too tense. Even Lydia involuntarily grabbed Kelly’s hand tightly, who was beside her.
Did Edgar truly believe that Lydia didn’t know? Even the thought of him having the slightest suspicion that she could be having an affair would make her faint.
“Did you see the face of the man who escaped?”
“No, it was very dark.”
Was the reason why he asked Darnell was because Raven wasn’t able to confirm the other man’s appearance either?
“Speaking of which, how did you find someone quietly entering Lydia’s room?”
Despite this being an expected question, it was quite clear that Edgar suspected Daniel.
“I just happened to pass by.”
“You just happened to pass by this guest room? Isn’t your room in the other building?”
“I was discussing music with the Duke in his study, and was just about to return.”
“Then did you see a figure coming in here? That would also mean you didn’t think that the person was an occupant of this room.”
“Earl, it was not you from behind.”
“I see, so you knew this was my room. You also knew that Lydia was alone in here, didn’t you?”
Edgar’s interrogative tone become increasingly tough, and Lydia could only listen from the side anxiously.
“It is because I do not think that Madam is the kind of person who would invite a man into her room in the middle of the night.”
Darnell was part of the McKeel clan, so perhaps he took note of Lydia’s situation frequently, and only then would he find that something was odd. But Darnell didn’t deny that he knew the location and condition of Lydia’s room; this was equivalent to him confessing that his concern towards Lydia was beyond average.
Darnell looked at Edgar and answered his question in a natural and relaxed manner. This seemed to have made Edgar rise in anger, as his tone became irritated.
“When Lydia was in danger, you just happened to be at the scene, was this a mere coincidence?”
“Are you saying that I was conspiring with that man from before?”
Darnell’s tone of voice began to toughen as well.
“Since your job is to stay in the ladies’ salon all day long, it’s quite easy to get your hands on a handkerchief, isn’t it?”
“Edgar.”
Lydia barely managed to squeeze out her voice.
“Don’t doubt him....... Besides, I want to calm down for a bit now.”
“Ahhh yes, you were frightened just a moment ago.”
He was more cautious than usual as he used his arm to embrace Lydia to help her sit on the sofa, then turned towards Darnell once more.
“I apologize, Mr. Finn, there are many things to worry about when having a beautiful wife.”
Although Edgar’s tone relaxed slightly, his gaze was still cold.
“In that case, I ask that you pay attention to the Madam, because with regards to the woman who has her heart set on you, the Madam is a hindrance.”
Darnell said and left the room. Lydia looked at his backside while pondering.
Would it...... be Kathleen? But she was unable to move freely, could she have schemed this sort of thing?
Without knowing when, Edgar sat next to Lydia, leaned his body over slightly, and extended his hand.
“Can you let me have a look at that? I must find out who did this.”
She was grasping a handkerchief and a letter in her hand. Lydia held onto it with an unexpected strength, and her fingers were so stiff that she couldn’t stretch them out.
This letter had brazen words of seduction written in Lydia’s name. At the thought of that, she even wanted to burn the letter immediately.
Lydia looked up at Edgar, frightened.
“I...... didn’t write this.”
Edgar was shocked and frowned sadly.
“Of course I wouldn’t doubt you.”
“But...... what if the handwriting is similar to mine by any chance? If the content of the letter was trying to invite someone here tonight, then only I could have truly known that I was in the room by myself.”
“No matter what the content is, it wasn’t written by you.”
After hearing Edgar answer flatly, some of the feelings that stubbornly remained in her heart might have loosened up a little.
Although Lydia was still quite anxious, and her mood was so tense that she wanted to cry but she couldn’t, she still did her best to hand the letter over.
“Thank you......”
After Edgar spoke briefly, he opened the letter, quickly skimming over the contents.
“This doesn’t seem like a woman’s writing, nor was it written by a person who snuck in. This is a fake letter that incited the man from before to come here.”
“You can recognise that sort of thing?”
“The location of the room was written with much detail, and they constantly emphasized that I wasn’t inside.”
Lydia sighed heavily, as she simply didn’t want to see the kind of letter that seduced men.
“Why would someone want to use my name to do such a thing......”
“In any case, it’s fortunate that other people weren’t involved. I think their aim is to cause a commotion.”
Lydia’s face revealed doubt, and Edgar replied with a solemn expression.
“The person who wrote this believed that it didn’t matter even if I was in the room, rather it would be favourable. If a disturbance was caused and the man who snuck in was caught, this letter would be revealed before everyone.”
The contents would probably be made public and considered to have been written by Lydia, and she would definitely be doubted even if she denied it.
Moreover, Lydia had been causing trouble up until now, and she didn’t know to what extent the Duchess believed in her words.
“It’s not a problem, everything can be prevented in advance.”
Despite Edgar saying this, the circumstances weren’t completely reassuring.
“Prevented in advance..... is...... that so?”
Although it had not developed into a commotion, Lydia was already hurt deeply.
“An unfamiliar man entered the room.”
“That was all that happened.”
“He wanted to touch me.”
“He didn’t touch you.”
Raven suddenly said.
“I heard the sound of footsteps, thinking that Lord Edgar had returned. Afterwards, I immediately sensed that it was the sound of someone else’s footsteps and ran over. This was when Mr. Finn was already fighting with that man, so he shouldn’t have had the time to lay a hand on Madam Lydia.”
“But he was very close.”
“Lydia, you don’t need to worry about it.”
He reached out and tried to embrace Lydia softly, but her whole body went stiff, and she shook her head like a child.
“I wasn’t able to call out right away.”
She found herself in a panic, and so her mind was even more in disarray. Without knowing what she wanted to express in the end, the pace of her breathing had also become erratic.
“Yeah, it that couldn’t be helped.”
The more he stroked Lydia as if to try and soothe her, the more nervous she became.
“Master, you can wait until tomorrow to discuss that, can’t you?”
Kelly couldn’t continue watching and so she began to talk.
“Yes...... that’s true.”
Troubled, Edgar looked at Lydia, then sighed.
“Kelly, can you stay by her side tonight?”
When Edgar stood up, he wanted to kiss Lydia at first, but because her body truly was too tense, he gave up and merely caressed her hair gently.
“I’ll sleep on the sofa in the dressing room. I will be nearby and I won’t let you face dreadful something dreadful again, so rest at ease.”
Even though she wished from the bottom of her heart for Edgar to be by her side, she wasn’t confident with regards to whether or not Edgar truly didn’t doubt her at all. Even if she wasn’t doubted, as long as she remember what nearly happened to her, she couldn’t stop trembling.
Lydia couldn’t say a word, and Edgar left her behind, walking away from the room.
“......I still only belong to Edgar, don’t I?”
Lydia wasn’t asking Kelly, who was beside her, but she was mumbling to herself.
She felt as if there was a force that couldn’t be resisted, trying to pull Edgar away from her side.
Darnell who claimed to be the Prophet, said that fate couldn’t be changed, so would this be the case?
“This is without doubt, Madam. Nothing can separate a married couple under the vow that is sworn towards each other before God.”
Lydia held onto Kelly’s hand tightly, as she could only rely on those words now.