P. 125
“And, so, Lord Edgar, did you show him the sword?”
“I showed him. He was earnestly admiring it, but that was all.”
Remained standing in attention, Raven thought about that deeply. Edgar was leaning against the sofa’s armrest with his elbow.
“It could just be coincidental.”
“However, it would be valuable information if they could find out if the real sword was in this house and what kind of shape and design it has.”
Edgar mulled over if the threatening letter from the ‘Scarlet Moon’ ordering him to hand over the earl family sword and the fact that Paul wanted to take a look at it.
“That’s right. But Paul, doesn’t look like he is the type that can do a spy. His reaction when he saw the sword looked completely natural.”
When he was young, he was simple-minded and easily believed what people told him and was a young man whose face immediately showed what he was thinking.
P. 126
He couldn’t think he had the acting ability that could deceive others.
Edgar believed that that part of him hadn’t changed, but who knows.
“No….., I’m fully aware, Raven. For an artist to be part of a secretive organization is almost a trend. I should decide more cautiously like you say.”
Large organizations would be the Freemasons and Rosicrucians. There were some nobles and educated scholars who held a seat in them. People from the outside only saw them as mysterious and severely creepy, and it was whispered in the shadows that they were plotting something unimaginable, but in truth, their anti-social sense of purpose was slim.
On the other hand, the really dangerous organizations would not surface into people’s rumors and manipulate society from behind the curtains.
If the ‘Scarlet Moon’ was a Robin Hood gang, then they would be heroes in the lower-parts of society. However, they only targeted dirty money that was connected to Prince. Which would mean, for someone who had a seat in that organization, they didn’t see themselves as committing a crime, but more like they were fighting for their ideal.
It wouldn’t be strange for someone pure like Paul to be mesmerized by that.
“The information we have on him so far is he was born in Kanata, his parents divorced when he was young and although he had been living with his mother, when she passed away he came back to England and taken in by his father and painter Andrew Foreman. While he was attending art school, his father retired from painting and is currently living in Dover. Since then, Paul has been living by himself in London. He is known as a person with good conduct and there are no bad rumors about him from the school he went to or his neighborhood and is dedicated in his artwork.”
P. 127
As he was listening, Edgar made a deep frown.
Raven saw that and stopped and silently waited for his master to speak.
“Andrew Foreman? Not O’neill? …… Well, it could just mean that Paul’s father had a different name he used as a painter.”
“There is no information about that in my investigation. If it was a painting signed by Mister Foreman, then there are a number of them, but none of them with O’neill.”
When Paul appeared, Edgar didn’t mind that much that his last name had changed from when he knew him in the past. There are many cases when an artist or actor would change their name however they liked.
But according to Edgar’s memory, his father was known as a painter by the name O’neill.
“Then Raven, investigate about a painter named O’neill.”
If a painter named O’neill existed and if he was the real painter that Edgar’s father had hired to make paintings for his house, then Paul, who was suppose to be O’neill’s son, would currently be assuming a false name.
Perhaps from there, the possibility could arise that Paul was somehow connected to the ‘Scarlet Moon.’
“Understood.”
“So, how about the Robin Hood gang?”
P. 128
“Just as Lord Edgar had said, after I went around to a number of secondhand stores, there was someone who came to sell a violin.”
The police claimed that they searched all the doctors of London but there was no match of a man who came with his fingers cut-off. But, he was sure that the man’s injuries were being taken care of by a secret underground doctor or someone in the organization.
But Edgar imagined that if he lost four of his fingers, then he wouldn’t be able to play his violin any more.
“Did you confirm the violin?”
“Yes. There was a scar on it that I made when I fought with him. Only, the one who came to sell it was a fat, black-beard man, so he must have been asked to go sell it or something like that.”
“You weren’t able to identify that man.”
“Yes. All I found out was that he was dressed-well and wore a ring that had a red stone on it. That was all the store owner could remember.”
“….A ring with a red stone.”
“Since it was a secondhand store, the owner was quite familiar with gemstones and so was curious if it was a red moonstone.”
Moonstone; the scarlet ‘moon.’
“Lord Edgar, is there a red-colored moonstones?”
P. 129
“Yes. There’s red, and white, and blue….”
As Edgar said that, he had a feeling like he saw a red moonstone somewhere recently.
But, he couldn’t remember when. He spent his days flying all over the ton and the number of people he met were endless. They were the kind of people that were accustomed to wear eye-catching gemstones.
There were sure to be a number of them that were stoutly built and black-haired.
As he was thinking, there was a sound of a knock. But, it wasn’t from the door, but from the window.
Raven opened the window and a gray-haired cat slipped into the room.
What kind of cat is there that can knock.
“Hello there, Nico, did you need something?”
“Can you call it quits and release Lydia? It’s past the hour for her to go home, yet Mister artist is still absorbed in his work.”
The cat that jumped up onto the sofa meowed his complaint as he leaned down onto it in a high and mighty attitude. Because he would act like that, he didn’t seem like a cat.
But if Nico was still here, that would mean, thought Edgar.
“Raven, is Lydia still modeling for Paul?”
“Now that I think about it, yes.”
P. 130
“Look what time it is. Tell him to let her go home already.”
Once Raven left the room, Nico let out a meow as if to call Edgar. And then, he stared at Edgar like he was blaming him.
“I happened to hear that Mister artist might be a spy? On top of that, he might be connected to that dance instructor from that incident?”
“Were you perhaps eavesdropping? Nico.”
“Is it safe to let a man like that get near Lydia.”
“Ahh, so you’re worried about Lydia. It isn’t like we are definitely sure that he is a spy, and there are the watchful eyes of the servants in this house, so they wouldn’t be left alone.”
Nico moved his neck, like he was saying what a bother.
Edgar lifted up his head after he became puzzled about something.
“Nico, are you perhaps talking like a human?”
“Meeoow.”
His feline-like cry sounded like he was doing it on purpose.
He walked over to Nico who was on the sofa.
“Hey, do you think that Lydia trusts Paul more than me?”
“Compared to you, wouldn’t anyone fall into the category of trustworthy?”
P. 131
P. 132
“Could she like him more than me.”
“Don’t ask me that.”
“…..Would she be hurt if he was a spy.”
Even Nico grew silent to that.
“That’s why, Nico, you should advise Lydia that she should choose me. And while you are at it, you should let her know about Paul’s bad side. Isn’t it a good idea?”
“Ummm, even if the painter turned out to be a spy, I sort of have the feeling that he would still be more preferable than you would be…..”
Edgar grabbed ahold of Nico by the scruff of his neck while he was still talking.
“It’s best not to go against me.”
Raven came into the room that Paul was using to paint his art, and reminded him that it was late which made him rush to put down his brush.
He was the type to lose track of time when he got absorbed into something.
Although, Lydia was also thinking about something so she lost track of time as well. She was trying to think of a way to deal with the problem between the fairies once the ‘moon’ ring came off.
P. 133
She wondered if there wasn’t a good idea that would drive away both the kelpie and the field fairies.
But in the end, she couldn’t come up with anything, and so Lydia knocked on the door of Edgar’s office so that she could go home. Because she asked Raven and he told her that Nico was there.
But instead of a reply, she heard a commotion like some sort of fight was going on. Surprised, Lydia whipped the door open and then a fluffy gray ball of fur came jumping into Lydia’s arms.
“Nico, what happened?”
“Bloody hell, that man is terrible! He trampled over my pride!”
There was a chair and lamp table that was lying on the floor on their side, probably from Nico who knocked them over while he was struggling to get away, and Edgar was still sitting down with those in between him and Lydia and gave her a smirk.
“Now, Edgar, what did you do to Nico.”
“I was just playing with him.”
He brushed off the gray hair that was stuck on his clothing as he stood up from the sofa.
“I said I’m not a cat, but he treated me like a bloody feline!”
“You seemed like you were enjoying it.”
“I couldn’t help it! This cat body would naturally respond….”
“This kind of sounds lewd.”
“Don’t be stupid! You bloody moron! Listen good, don’t ever touch me, pet me and make me purr!”
P. 134
Nico jumped down from Lydia’s arms and bolted out of the room in an instant.
But to be able to anger Nico who hates to be treated like a cat that much, must mean.
“You really are good in handling cats.”
“I’m confident in how to handle women too.”
Huh? Is he starting up again?
His fierce flirtatious attacks that had been dying down recently. But, by the time Lydia was feeling dangerous, Edgar was already standing right in front of her and obstructed Lydia from being able to move to go home.
He gazed down at Lydia from above like a hawk. It was a stance that was completely in hunting prey mode.
Why. Weren’t you tired of me already?
“You don’t have any duty to stay this late with Paul. If your return was late, Professor Carlton will be worried.”
“Yes, today, I also had sort of forgotten how much time flew by.”
“Was it that much fun?”
“……Yes, I guess so. He brought up many things to talk about so that I wouldn’t grow bored.”
“For example, what.”
He sure was questioning today.
“Mostly about art. I’m free to talk about anything, aren’t I?”
“What is that?”
P. 135
It seemed Edgar spotted the card that Lydia was holding in her hand. It would be strange to hide it, so she held it up for him to see.
“Paul gave it to me. As thanks for being his model.”
A flower of an iris was lightly painted on it. Paul’s brush was not indecisive and was quick and experienced which boldly reflected the lively power of the flower, and even though it was a card, it came out as a beautiful piece of art that captured anyone’s eye.
“An iris, huh. That flower’s message is the message of love. So it is a love letter to you.”
“That’s impossible. It was a flower that just happened to be close-by.”
“What would you do if you were wrong?”
What I would do. As in my reply?
Or rather, I said I was so happy and accepted it gladly.
“If it were him, you wouldn’t cry if he courted you.”
Huh? What does that mean…..?
Before she realized what he meant, Lydia felt her face burn hot.
He saw her. How she acted on the night of the ball.
“I continued to think about why I made you cry, but I couldn’t figure it out. Did I say something that hurt you? But why? What part?”
Even Lydia didn’t know that. But for some reason she suddenly felt suffocated and unbearable.
P. 136
She didn’t want her heart to be confused and put out of order by Edgar’s whims. And that made her angry so Lydia couldn’t help but act defensive.
“It doesn’t matter to you who I like. You said you would back down.”
“That was a lie.”
“What?”
“I said that to look pompous, but it wasn’t what I was really thinking.”
“You lie so easily like that, that’s why I can’t trust you.”
“You’re right, I can’t count the number of times I have lied to you.”
“Enough already, move aside.”
However, he didn’t move and remained blocking her path.
“But, you, you always forgive me. It was like that from the start. When you found out that I was a thief, you forgave me for trying to deceiving you. Because of how you were like that, I want you by my side. The crimes I committed won’t disappear, but if you wouldn’t run out on me, then I feel like I am forgiven for living with the earl name.”
Lydia’s heart flew up in her chest at his unusually serious tone of voice.
“You know about the rotten part of me. But you also understand the circumstances that left me no choice but to be that, right? This is how I really am, my true self that you said you didn’t hate. From now on, I’m sure there will be secrets that I would have to carry on that I can’t open up to anyone, but only you accepted my feelings with sincerity which I thought only my comrades who went through the same experience as me would understand. Couldn’t just that be a reason for me to think of you as special? Do you consider this as not serious and a lie too?”
P. 137
But he was a person who could easily say this even if he didn’t mean it.
“Even if it isn’t a lie, it isn’t serious.”
“…….That hurts.”
“There isn’t serious love anywhere in you. The only thing that takes up your heart isn’t women but your nemesis. Even if I was able to be useful by soothing and comforting your heart, it isn’t love. It’s just me being useful.”
She was surely on the mark.
Even Lydia had learned her lesson a little. He would cleverly say anything in order to obtain what he thought was needed for him.
Even if his feelings of need wasn’t a lie, it wasn’t love.
“Couldn’t this be friendship? I’m fine if I can be of any use. Even I am able to do work as a fairy doctor thanks to you. If we can be considerate and thoughtful to each other as friends, then we shouldn’t need anything more than that. I want to believe that you aren’t just using me as a simple useful tool.”
P. 138
However, he fixed his eyes hard at Lydia like he was still displeased.
“That goes against my principle. It’s over when a man to be friends by a woman.”
Huh?
Because of things like that about you, I’m not able to trust you more and more.
Oh, I can’t take this anymore, she thought, and tried to slip by him but that rather irritated him and he placed his hands on either side of Lydia on the wall to stop her from going.
She had the feeling like he suddenly changed to a bad mood or more like he was furious.
“Are you scared?”
But the tone of his voice that he hushed down to a whisper was a meltingly-sweet one.
Lydia wasn’t sophisticated enough to realize he changed his tactics and so she was completely deceived and went into a panic.
“A-about what….?”
“You seemed scared of falling in love.”
She suddenly felt like she wanted to cry.
“To tell the truth, you appeared like that to my eyes on the night of the ball. If I chase after you too hard, it seemed like it would frighten you even more, and make you run-off, so I refrained myself, but I can’t bear to watch you grow feelings for Paul at this rate.”
“…..Like I said, it isn’t like that with Paul.”
Edgar had been keeping quiet for the past few days, but now it felt like everything that was bottle-up was now being released all at once like a open dam.
If I knew, I wouldn’t have wanted him to refrain himself. Since she had let her guard down, now she was cornered.
It was embarrassing and blood was rushing to her face, which made Lydia not know what to do.
“Is the reason you don’t open up because you were confessed by the extended part of a game when you were young?”
Oh, no, what’ll I do.
“……It’s not like I’m scared of falling in love. I did fall in love once, although it was my one-sided feelings. But, it’s impossible for love to happen between us. Because, if I were to love you, you would be troubled. Think about it, you would be troubled if I were to become serious and be completely enamored about you and follow you around, wouldn’t you? I would be in the way even more once a marriage was brought up between a noble’s daughter. However you look at it, there is no way you would sincerely accept a woman who grew serious about you when she doesn’t suit you. That’s why, if I was treated coldly, I might sell off your secrets to the tabloids in revenge. That itself wouldn’t be any good for you at all.”
Lydia kept on talking like crazy. He made a slightly troubled face.
P. 140
See, I thought so.
“I understand.”
“If you understand, then get out of my way.”
“You are indeed frightened. You want to think that it wouldn’t work out from the beginning. That way, you wouldn’t have to be disappointed.”
It isn’t disappointment.
Even at that time, when she was young, she knew from the start that she was the kind of girl to receive a love letter. She had the sense that it was some sort of prank.
Because to that boy, Lydia wasn’t a human, but more like a fairy friend.
To get along with a girl who was rumored to be a changeling was like to secretly whisper with a fairy.
Since friends in your dreams aren’t real, she was someone who he was able to easily open up his troubles with.
There was no way that you would feel all right when a dream stepped out into your reality. He probably didn’t want Lydia, who knew his weakness, to speak to him in front of people.
And yet she misinterpreted that and troubled him.
Even though she should have been aware of her role. She thought that maybe, she might be able to get closer to friends in reality.
If she were to be frightened of something, it would be to be influenced and disordered by lies.
P. 141
If she made the mistake of the distance that she shouldn’t mistaken, then Edgar was sure to be displeased and annoyed.
“It isn’t that I don’t want to be disappointed, I just don’t want to mistake the distance that should be between me….”
“What is that, distance? That can be changed however much you want, and you can change if you wanted to, can’t you?”
She realized that Edgar was inching closer to Lydia.
“Like, for example our distance right now, we can make this normal for us.”
He whispered in a hush to her as he placed his hands on her shoulders. Lydia felt pressed up against the wall and couldn’t budge.
“No, let go….”
She tried to push him away but he grabbed that arm of hers and pressed his lips on her wrist right in front of her eyes.
Lydia shivered at the shock of being suddenly having her bare skin touched.
“Uh, my lord,”
Just then, the timid voice that interrupted them was from Paul who was standing in the doorway that was left open.
Lydia felt saved and relieved, but that was only for a moment, as Edgar’s eyes remained fixed onto her and calmly replied as he caressed her hair like he was playing with it.
“We’re currently in the middle of something, so would you shut the door and get out.”
Huh, Huuhhh?
“But, uh….”
P. 142
“I’m just having an in-depth chat with Lydia.”
This is a chat?
She wanted to cry out to Paul to wait, but since a pair of ash mauve eyes were right in front of her, she hesitated to open her mouth.
And she didn’t know if Paul would have the courage to go against Edgar when he was told to get out of the room. Oh, no, what will I do; Lydia was in such a panic that she couldn’t let out her voice.
“But, Lydia is trembling, my lord.”
Paul made the bold step of cautioning him.
Edgar made a deep frown. His face wasn’t one that looked like he was in outrage, but more saddened and painful.
Like he was tired, he let go of Lydia.
“What a gallant knight. It looks like he came to rescue you.”
“My lord, I wasn’t….”
“You’re free to go home. Our chat is over.”
He waved his hands like he was dismissing them, and he shut himself up in his room.
P. 143
Lydia returned to her house in a dazed state, then dashed into her room and sat down onto her bed without even turning on the lamp light.
That was so frightening. I’m still shivering.
She felt like there was still Edgar’s warmth was still lingering on her shoulders and hair.
“What was he thinking!”
Even if she screamed out loud, she couldn’t shake it off.
She tried to think of it as a practical joke? that went a little out of control than usual, but normally, he acted more frivolous, not like today where he didn’t allow her any chance to run away.
And for some reason, he seemed a in a bad mood.
If the cause of that was because she received the iris card from Paul, then that was such a selfish possessiveness and Lydia let out a sigh.
Edgar just didn’t like the fact of a woman who was by his side to become friendly with another man.
She was sure of that.
But Paul didn’t have the feelings for Lydia that Edgar could make a fuss and be angered over.
Even just now, for him to step up and go against an earl to help Lydia was more for Edgar’s sake.
Paul escorted Lydia to the carriage parked in front of the entrance door as she was still trembling and said to her without hiding his righteous indignation.
P. 144
He claim beforehand that he was in no position to put his mouth in Edgar’s matter of flirting with a woman [But if he isn’t serious, then I think he had gone too far towards a lady like you. He should know that commoners find it difficult to go against the wish of someone who has a higher title than them.]
Of course, it wasn’t like Lydia couldn’t make a run for it because he brought up their relationship of the difference in their social position and the fact that she was hired by him. To begin with, she didn’t see Edgar as an earl when he was suspicious from the first place and continued to talk to him like an equal.
But, for Paul who felt like that, it wasn’t like he went out to protect Lydia, but more like he wanted to have Edgar remain as a noble gentleman.
Like he didn’t want Edgar to be a man who would force his way on a pure young woman ranked below him by any mistake.
Even if he thought Edgar was different from the young son of the ducal family, he must have been seeing them as the same some where deep inside.
Which means, the reason he was being kind towards Lydia, could perhaps be he saw her as a woman who was specially treated by Edgar?
“”Well, that would be how it would be normally,” she murmured in a sigh.
“Oi, Lydia, aren’t you going to eat dinner?”
Nico peered in through the doorway. Ever since he came home, he stood in front of the mirror and ferociously fixed and combed his fur coat, but once dinner was ready, it looked like his mood got better.
P. 145
However, Lydia’s mood didn’t recover. She held her knees as she sat on her bed and replied “I’m not hungry.”
“Fine, then” quickly said the cold-hearted fairy cat.
In the carriage on their way home, he asked Lydia who didn’t speak a word ‘if she was also petted around by the earl?’ which made her temper grew worse and so she tied a not in his tail. That must have been why he wasn’t approaching her.
He waved his fluffy tail in the air from side-to-side and trotted down the stairs on his hind legs.
Wasn’t he going to offer to cheer her up? Lydia grew tired and angry at everything.
She felt the bumping beat of her pulse with her hand as she touched her wrist and grew irritated when she imagined that that sound was felt by his lips.
“Hey there, I heard you won’t have dinner, did you eat something and upset your stomach?”
This time, Kelpie came in through her second-story window. Now that she remembered, Edgar had tricked him into eating liver, so she wondered if he had any problems.
Lydia hoped that he would have gotten food poisoning and went off running back to his country home as she replied to him.
P. 146
“Wouldn’t that be you.”
“Geesh, it took me hours to get the poison out of me. It wouldn’t take time at all if I were in the Highland waters, as the waters here are polluted.”
As she thought, organs were bad for kelpies.
Even if he had a human form, he still was tall and had a strong build, but he cleverly slipped his body through the small window. He leaned up against the window sill and set his seductive eyes at Lydia.
Knowing that his eyes had that sort of enchanting power and that they were unrelated to his will, she didn’t feel that much uncomfortable as compared to Edgar’s eyes.
“Were you diving in the Thames River?”
“Don’t be stupid. How could a fairy great as I live in a filthy river like that. I was at the lake at that park.”
Guessing from the direction he was pointing to, it must be Hyde Park. If she recalled, it had quite a large lake.
“That doesn’t matter but, I’m in a bad mood right now. Go home before I throw the Bible at you.”
“Why are you in a bad mood? Ahh, is it that. The time of the month when human females grow most irritated….”
She threw a cushion that was near her but he caught it with ease.
*
Paul pointed out that Lydia was trembling and he didn’t back down at that time.
If he entered the earl residence in order to search around the grounds, then he would have avoided doing something that would upset Edgar’s temper.
Which means, Paul is indeed unrelated to the “Scarlett Moon?”
Or did his sense of justice overpower his urge to complete his mission.
As Edgar was fumbling that over in his head, he quickly overwhelmed with self-hate and let out a sigh.
“Is something the matter?”
Raven, who was sitting near the door, looked over to him as he asked.
Beyond the glass window, the hustle and bustle of people who crowded the Oxford Streetpassed by.
He wanted to organize his thoughts on if Paul was connected to the Robin Hood gang, but however much he started a new train of thought, the image of Lydia’s face would pop up.
“Just a little something.”
P. 154
He felt remorse for making Lydiatremble in his arms, but Edgar had sensed the presence of Paul near at that time, and in order to see how he would move, he purposefully didn’t let Lydia go.
On the other hand, he was irritated at her for continuing to reject him and had a feeling like things would have turned ugly if he didn’t stop himself.
There was a cold side of him who was calculating Lydia’s worth and an emotional part of him who was just seeking for Lydia.
It would be troublesome for him if Lydia who had left him and so it would of course be best to build a friendship between them as she wished, but the proposal of that idea only upsetted him, so there was nothing else he could do.
“Raven, there’s no doubt that I’m using Lydia for my benefit, and yet I wonder why I don’t want her to think that I am.”
“How do you want her to think of her?”
“Like, I’m deeply in love with her so I don’t want to let her go at all costs.”
“Wouldn’t that be impossible at this point.”
That’s why I’m troubled, thought Edgar as he crossed his arms. No matter how much he said that, Lydia wouldn’t believe him.
“Sir, are you serious about that?”
“Yes, I don’t want to let her go at all.”
“No…..I didn’t mean about that.”
P. 155
“If I’m deeply in love? The problem is if everything would turn out wonderful if that were seriously the case, then I can get serious.”
Like he didn’t understand, Raven tilted his head.
“But, Lydia wouldn’t approve of that kind of seriousness.”
It will always be my one-sided feelings. Said Edgar, as he breathed out those words in a sigh.
“I’ve never heard of that kind of serious love.”
There was a voice that shouldn’t have belonged in the carriage.
“I can’t believe you. I knew I couldn’t leave Lydia in your hands.”
On the seat in front of him, the one who faintly appeared was a young man with wavy jet-black hair.
Edgar stopped Raven with only a glance as he was about to react.
“Mr. Kain, if you have business with me, then you would need to go through my butler first.”
“Human rules don’t apply to me. And besides, Lydia just wants to become a fairy doctor and doesn’t care about you at all. Don’t misunderstand that.”
“Wasn’t your proposal refused by her? At least, I haven’t been denied yet.”
“I don’t consider myself refused. Humans quickly grow old and incompetent and they come to hate each other and kill each other and deceive one another. If one was a fairy doctor, then eventually they are sure to choose a life with fairies than those kinds of creatures.”
P. 156
“You were a kelpie, was that right. Don’t you eat humans? I would think even Lydiawould have her guard up so that she wasn’t eaten by accident.”
“I would never eat her. A kelpie’s will is strong.”
“What a waste. I would want to taste Lydia.”
Kelpie didn’t hide his frown.
“You….., even though you’re a human. Are you a pervert?”
Edgar chuckled and raised his eyes.
“Why do you have feelings for Lydia? Isn’t against the nature of a water horse to have feelings for a human?”
“It’s because she doesn’t fear me. Of course, she sees me as dangerous since I’m a water horse. But, she sees me not as my species, but just as myself. Even if I get near her and talk to her, she doesn’t run away. I never met a human like that.”
“Then you were cut-off and lonely till you met Lydia.”
“Lonely? Water horses are like that. We don’t group even with our own kind and live in solitude.”
“But, you met her and discovered the comfort of being accepted by others. And so, you came to want her all for yourself.”
Kelpie stared back at him, like he was observing inside his heart. He had such beautiful, black pearl eyes.
P. 157
His inhuman and devilish shine shared a quality with Lydia’s golden-green eyes.
Like they saw passed anything, which made you feel that there was no use in hiding anything, hence, put you in a relax.
“So you know.”
“I’m the same. She didn’t fear what I had done in the past. She wasn’t swayed by the label that society would put on someone like me, but listened to what I had to say and pitied me. She helped me. She helped me remember the human part of me that no one should lose. As long as I have Lydia, I believe that I would remain relatively decent from now on as well.”
“Ohh, so you’re the type of human doomed for hell.”
Kelpie made a devilishly happy smirk. It made one dizzy, perhaps that was his magic as a fae. Now that I remember, his kind doesn’t choose and eats both man and woman. So men are also influenced by this mysterious beauty as well.
He’s like the finest of statues. No wonder people who want to get their hands on them and set them in traps.
“Lord Edgar!”
Raven shouted out to him and placed his hand on Edgar’s shoulder. In his other hand, he pointed a knife in the middle of Kelpie’s brow.
“Don’t get all steamed up, little boy. ….No, is that a snake? Or is it a bird?”
Once Kelpie pulled back, Edgar’s body suddenly felt lighter, like he was released from a bounding spell.
“I’m all right, Raven.”
P. 158
Whispered Edgar, as he made his valet pull back his knife.
“You could say that. Although I don’t believe in hell. ….That’s why, Mr. Kain, I have no intention of letting her free. That is definitely certain.”
The black fae laughed with a hmph.
“Challenge accepted.”
After Kelpie disappeared, the carriage stopped not long after.
The place Edgar came to was the UniversityCollege, a London university.
He stepped off of the carriage, and headed alone to the building where Carlton worked.
There was something he wanted to ask and discuss with him, so he had the professor open up his schedule between his private lessons.
He was guided by one of the college staff and when he reached the laboratory, Carlton, who had his hair untidy as he wore his spectacles, which made him more like a general office handyman more than a professor.
“Welcome, my lord. Pardon this room for being in such a state of chaos,” said Carltonas he slipped through a tall stack of paperwork and his desk, but the hem of his coat was caught on his chair and made the mountain of papers crashing down with a loud noise.
“Ahhh, now, I really shouldn’t have stacked all of these books on top of each other… Oh, my lord, please don’t be bothered. Please, have a seat.”
P. 159
He finally realized that there was another pile of paperwork that crowded on top of the sofa for guests and rushed to move them aside.
His manner and movements were so clumsy and disordered that unless his assistant Langley, who had been in the next room, didn’t quickly give a hand, he was sure to make that pile of papers come crashing down yet again.
“Uh, so then, you said you have something to discuss, did Lydia cause any sort of trouble?”
It seemed like the reason behind his restless behavior was because he was worried that Edgar might have come to complain about his daughter.
“Oh, no, Miss Carlton is brilliant in her work. My business was not in that regards, professor, I came to ask you about a certain gemstone.”
Hearing jewel, Carlton’s smile crumbled.
Mineralogy was his area of specialty. Just like Lydia would call him a mineralogy-mania, his face instantly switched the serious face of a scholar.
“It’s regarding moonstones; I heard that they actually wax and wane like the real moon.”
The reason why he was interested in learning about moonstones was because he felt like the gemstone was related to the name of Blue Knight Earl.
Long ago, the earl was said to made a promised marriage with a fairy queen [if he was given the moon.] And the thing that the queen had found was a white moonstone that was claimed to wax and wane like the moon itself.
The thought that came by Edgar’s head about how the Blue Knight Earl said that cliché, was that perhaps in truth, he just said it in order to refuse the marriage.
P. 160
And the other moon; the Robin Hood gang called the Scarlett Moon. If that name came from the red moonstone, then the question of why it had to be a moonstone arised.
He wondered what kind of meaning there was behind ‘moon’that they, who apparently couldn’t tolerate an imposter, posing as the Blue Knight Earl had.
Perhaps, the moonstone could be deeply related to the Blue Knight Earl.
However, Edgar didn’t know a thing about the earl family, where the family estate was in the fairyland, if it really existed and how all the lords of the family had dealt with the fairies.
“The light inside the moonstone is created by the reflection of two different types of minerals that overlap each other with one extremely thin layer on top of another. It is a terribly delicate construction process, so for example, by the light of the full moon and the light of a dark crescent moon, the light of that reflection might appear different.”
“So, it really is just a matter of impression, and its lighting isn’t actually shifting.”
“How knows. But if I were to say that, being in a position as one who goes after the truth behind the construction process and constitution, then that would be quite an unbelievable story much like agreeing that there is a certain type of diamond that is cursed. However, from ages ago, there are people who believe that a moonstone exists that really does waxes and wanes like the moon.”
For example, continued Carlton, as he searched in the back of his mind.
“A popular story, is that the Pope Leo X from the Middle Ages had a mysterious moonstone like that.”
P. 161
“Are there other stories like that?”
“To tell the truth, it is no exaggeration when I say there are as many as you wish. Just like its name, the moonstone is a gemstone that was thought to shift its form along with the moon or that it is a particle of the moon itself. The mind’s eye of people have been gazing at moonstones as a stone, though each to a different degree, which light waxes and wanes.”
Which means, the thing that was wished by the Blue Knight Earl, and found by the fairy queen, was just a stone that possessed a high degree in its fine reflective light amongst all the moonstones and didn’t have any kind of magical power.
He was checking the stone that was fixed onto Paul’s finger everyday, but there still was time until the next full moon. The width of the shine was only a degree that one could maybe agree was getting wider to one’s eyes.
After a thought-over, Edgar continued on.
“Professor, you know all about the legendary gemstones from all times and places. Even if it was the stone that was secretly possessed by the genie from Arabian Knights, wouldn’t you be able to decipher what kind it was from a mineralogist point of view?”
“It’s more like a hobby of mine.”
“Oh, no, there is no one else who is doing the same thing, so there is quite some worth in what you are doing.”
And, so, he was going to get to his real business.
“Actually, I am thinking that one of my ancestors in the earl family was looking for such a moonstone that waxes and wanes like that. I don’t know what the purpose was.”
P. 162
“Perhaps it was to search for a marriage partner?” chuckled Carlton, in a some what embarrassed manner.
“Since moonstones are said to be stones that keep the bonds of love together.”
“I didn’t know that. Does mineralogy research such romantic aspects as well?”
“Oh, no, no, I just happened to hear this. In the past, my wife wanted a moonstone for her wedding ring…. Ah, pardon, I’m shifting the topic. Uhh, you wanted to know about…..”
“Oh, no, professor, you told me such a wonderful story. I dream that I could present a moonstone to the woman I love someday.”
After he made a smile and said that, Carlton suddenly made a frightened face.
“My lord, you’re still so young, you don’t have to rush. I’m sure there are plenty of women for you, and there could be the case that you might regret it if you rush into it…..”
“Isn’t it more about each other’s feelings than age?”
His frantic reaction is so humorous, thought Edgar inappropriately.
“Is there such a lady you know of?”
“I was just generally speaking.”
Like he was relieved, he wiped the sweat off his forehead.
P. 163
“But, professor, it must be worrisome for you for having such an adorable daughter. There might be a man who would show up one day and win her heart with just one romantic gemstone.”
Carlton went frozen for a moment.
And when he came to, he forced the topic back on track.
“Ahh, now that I remember, my lord, in regards to marriage partners. One of your ancestors, the Lady who appears in the story about Lord Blue Knight, doesn’t she supposedly resemble the moonstone itself, if I can recall.”
That was unexpected news.
Of course, Edgar had also read the story about Lord Blue Knight many times. However, he had no recollection about a moonstone coming out.
“The Lord’s Lady, you mean, the master archer that was said to be his guardian fairy.”
There were two guardian fairies that were masters of archery. One of them was supposedly his wife.
As he nodded, Carltontook out a book from a bookcase and flipped through its pages.
It was the well-read book which had the Lord Blue Knight as its main character and written in the Elizabethan era. It was a story that was filled with fairy episodes popular at the time, and even though it was based on an actual person, people now generally consider it a fabrication. Even if it was true that the ancestor of the Ashenbert earl family, Lord Blue Knight did in fact take an active part as the knight of the King of England and promoted to earl, but the part about fairies coming out and magic being used was difficult to take seriously.
P. 164
In any case, since Lydia knew fairies, she said it couldn’t all be fiction.
“Was I able to convince you that a master archer represents the moon?”
I see. The goddess of the moon Diana was the goddess of hunt. I wonder if it is because the cresent moon resembles a bow. The moon and bow were periodically used with the same meaning in literature and paintings from the old ages.
“And the moon also represents as a high rank within the fairies. The guardian fairy’s name was also thought to be given with the image of the moon.”
“Name, ……..the Lady fairy was Gwendolen, the other was Flandolen.”
“In Gale, they mean white bow, scarlett bow.”
“In other words, white moon and scarlett moon…..”
“Both are colors of the moonstone. In regards to Flandolen, there are tales that she was the child of Lord Blue Knight, and from the description that they had been wearing those gemstones, then wouldn’t you think that there is no other suitable one than the moonstone for them.”
Ah, that’s it.
In the past, the earl who had given the condition [if you would give me the moon] for the marriage with the field fairy queen, must have remembered about the guardian fairies of his ancestor in his head when he said that.
Edgar wondered if the earl was really looking for a marriage partner or if it was necessary to find a relative of the guardian fairy.
P. 165
However, all of that was now in the far past.
It was impossible to know if the moonstone ring on Paul’s finger originally belonged to Gwendolen or not, and even if that were so, since the fairy with that name no longer exists, the queen only found just the ring.
The thing that was related to Edgar right now, was the ‘Scarlett Moon.’
If the Robin Hood gang who sent him the death letter, called themselves ‘Scarlett Moon’ based off this story, then that would mean they considered themselves the guardians of the Blue Knight Earl.
That’s why they wouldn’t bear an imposter. So they came up with the idea of getting back the sword.
However, what was their connection with Prince?
For a gang who opposed Prince, what was the meaning of calling themselves by the name of the archer of the Blue Knight Earl?
It was Edgar’s personal job to investigate that.
Edgar stood up.
“Thank you very much, Professor. You were a great help.”
“I’m glad I could be of use.”
As they shook hands, he suddenly thought up of something he wanted to ask Lydia’s father.
“Professor, would it be all right if I ask you another question?”
“Yes, of course.”
P. 166
“I heard that your wife was a fairy doctor. Did you ned courage to love a woman who could see things that could not be seen?”
Like she could see through everything, your truth and weakness, however much you tried to cover that up.
“I had taken my wife away from her home island by my wish and taken her away from her close fairy friends. Ripping her away from the destiny that was bound for her there. I had taken away so much, and yet I think I was only able to give her so little in place of that. …Oh, goodness, I went off track again, but, isn’t there no need of courage to love someone? Isn’t it just something that you can’t fight against and fall into?”
He replied to Edgar with a calm smile.
Edgar was surprised and didn’t suspect that he had eloped. Carlton didn’t look at all like the madly romantic type.
“I’m sure for anyone, that time would come unexpectedly. Even if you don’t have courage, it would just be natural for us to step out into a dangerous path. At that time, I prepared myself for something. Just like I had taken away my wife from her family, Lydia would eventually find someone more important than me. But I think that has to be a natural choice for Lydia so much that she wouldn’t even have to think or worry about it.”
Edgar thought he was beat.
Carlton was somewhat clumsy and good-hearted by nature, but he was a sharp, quick-witted man.
P. 167
P. 168
And he softly made a declaration to Edgar.
It was useless for him to approach Lydia on a whim of a feeling.
If he was told that, Edgar was more like the type to have his urge to take up a fight heightened. That was the case when he was crossing glares with Kelpie.
But right now, unexpectedly, it made him depressed.
There were plenty of ways to keep Lydia from running off. If that meant he needed to become serious about her, he arrogantly thought that, sure, he could be serious.
But it was like that enthusiasm and scheme was easily pulled out by the root, which surprisingly just made Edgar simply want to see Lydia.
She had commuted to work to the earl family house today as well, but she locked herself in her office and didn’t even open the door for Edgar.
Even if he deserved it, it looked like she wasn’t going to talk to him for a while.
That was no that big of a deal. For Lydia, the job of a fairy doctor was important, and even if the reason was that she couldn’t allow herself to take a day off of work, so he thought that he wasn’t completely rejected by her.
He had the confidence that he could make yesterday’s ordeal be swept under the carpet.
But, even if he was able to do that, he realized that didn’t mean it would make Lydiaremain by his side on her own will.
P. 169
He sensed that he quite, really liked Lydia, and yet, he felt he was rebuffed and dismissed in that he was missing something conclusive.
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