Hakushaku to Yousei - Volume 7 - Chapter 4

Chapter 4 • A lonely night alone

It was late at night, and London was shrouded in thick fog.
The Big Ben’s bells ringing sounded mired at the deepest part of the sleeping streets.
Standing on both sides of the road were street gas lights surrounded by fog, pouring out dim light, leaving a faint shadow of the building touching down on the ground.
Perhaps because of the cold and the fog, there was almost no one on the streets, there wasn't even a coach.
Kelpie was boldly walking towards the Earl's mansion.
Lydia said she was coming back to London, so he arrived one step ahead.
It would be nice if Lydia continued to have her vacation, but unfortunately, she was unwilling to stay there forever from the start.
He wished for Lydia to cancel her engagement with the Earl.
Kelpie could use his brute force to bring her back to the Scottish highlands.
This would be to protect Lydia from danger, so if he forced Lydia to stay in the highlands for some time, she will be able to understand and forgive him.
Kelpie thought about it while jumping over the fence covered with roses to sneak into the Earl's mansion, and then took a break at the fountain.
He inadvertently looked up to the second floor, and saw a figure preparing to slip out through the windows.
Turns out to be the seal woman, Kelpie mumbled.
Ermine was now a selkie, and she also had suspicious manners. Kelpie thought about how she was hiding something behind the Earl’s back, and couldn't help but to have his attention caught by her.
Of course he did not worry about the Earl, but it was because Lydia was around the count.
If you want to go out to work, you don't have to come out of the windows, not to mention that your own fairy conscious is weak, so you should be like ordinary people and use the door.
Kelpie became doubtful and decided to track Ermine. 
After leaving the Earl's mansion, Ermine rapidly walked in the streets. Whether it was fog or darkness, fairies were not like humans who couldn't see clearly, so Ermine was moving very fast.
She grew faster when she arrived on the road next to the park, in the remote outskirts, and then finally stopped when there were no more buildings. There was a grass-covered swamp, and she went to a house next to it.
She stood at the door, and someone inside opened the door right away; it seemed to be waiting for her visit. Kelpie hid to only see the house radiating a faint light, but the light soon disappeared, as the door was presumably shut.
Kelpie crept close to the house.
The house’s windows were nailed with wood planks, so it wouldn't expose light or so that no one could look into it.
Kelpie thought about how he could explore the estate, but just as he was walking around the house, some object fell from the sky, down to his feet. 
“What the hell? That narrowly missed me.”
The thing seemed to be coming from someone on the roof, but the layer of trees obscured the view, and he therefore could not see the movement near the windows.
Kelpie bent down to confirm what the object at his feet was, and it turned out to be an old suitcase.
Kelpie shook the trunk, and found that there seemed to be something, but it was locked, so he couldn't easily open it. 
“How are you?”
Kelpie sat on the ground trying to destroy the box, but a voice came from behind. 
“Hey, long time no see, female seal.”
Ermine had her arms crossed on her chest, she seemed upset at Kelpie. 
“What are you doing? Are you doing bad things behind the Earl?”
Ermine pressed her index finger against her lips as a sign to tell Kelpie to be quiet, and then a voice called out to Ermine from the door. She calmly walked over and responded only after she was at a far distance away from Kelpie: 
“No, there is no one outside.”
There was a young man’s shadow that was looming in the light of the door.
It was that guy! Kelpie’s eyes widened with astonishment.
This teen had the ability of a fairy doctor, had tricked Kelpie before, and had attempted to kill the count.
Now, however, one of the Earl’s trusted partners was standing in front of Kelpie. 
“You said that you saw something moving.”
“Yes, but I only saw a fox.”
“Search again properly.”
After the boy was done, he immediately went back into the house.
Ermine sighed with relief, and then turned again to Kelpie. 
“I'm not a fox.”
“You really get in the way of fairies.”
“Then why didn't you bring me up.”
“That way I will be forced to fight with you, and it is a waste of energy.”
Kelpie nodded, she must have also understood that if they were to fight one-on-one, she would stand no chance. 
“You betrayed the count with the guy who’s underneath everything?”
Ermine grabbed Kelpie’s shirt. Kelpie thought, that she was a human who became a selkie and that there was such a rare and beautiful fairy. Since she was so beautiful when she was still a human, the fact that the Earl did not bother to flirt with her was really abnormal. 
“Open the trunk, it should not be a problem with your brute force.”
Ermine avoided having problems with Kelpie. 
“Why?”
“Your friend is inside. I was going to sneak him out, but I was almost discovered while I was at it, so I just threw the thing through the window down here, and then ran out on the pretext that there was a suspicious movement outside, but I saw you... In short, quickly leave with what's inside.”
“I have no friends.”
“Oh, then it is a friend of someone important.”
Lydia’s friend? Kelpie was perplexed but destroyed the lock and opened the box to find out...
A gray cat that laid unconscious and paralysed in the suitcase. 
“So, it turned out to be this guy.”
Kelpie grabbed Nico, then turned to Ermine. 
“Are you afraid that I would tell that you betrayed them, so you just gave me the cat to keep my mouth shut? If Lydia saw him, she will be very happy, but if she was involved in this, I would have not accepted this deal.”
“This is not a deal, I know you're not going to stand with Lord Edgar, because you don't want Miss Lydia to be snatched away by him. So, isn't there no need for me to seal your lips? And you think that, as long as Lord Edgar disappears from this world, you and Miss Lydia can go back to Scotland to live, if I'm not mistaken.”
“Do you intend to kill the Earl?”
Ermine seemingly lowered her eyes in annoyance. 
“I don't want Lord Edgar to be taken away from me.”
What do these words mean? Did Ermine want to protect the Earl? Or is her betrayal to the Earl was because he couldn't be hers?
Kelpie realized that he had similar feelings towards Lydia.
Kelpie didn't want Lydia to be sad, he only wanted to protect her. He once thought that he could forcibly drag Lydia to the bottom, even if he did so it wouldn't matter if Lydia hated him, over time she would give up and stay by his side.
In conclusion, this was a way of protecting Lydia, wasn't it?
“You don’t say, you will trouble Lydia if you do!”
“In any case, look for ways to keep Miss Lydia away from Lord Edgar.”
Ermine picked up the empty trunk and left the backyard.

“Nico, wake up! Oh, please don't die!”
Lydia let Nico lying on the chair, and stroked his hard body.
Nico was paralysed and laid there motionless.
Raven and Edgar also came back to the mansion in London and were in the living room, observing Nico’s situation.
“He does not seem to be hurt.”
Edgar was unable to resist turning and turning Nico around, then picked up his tail, and lifted his foot. Lydia worried and had to stop him.
“He is sick? Fairies get sick?”
“I'm not sure, don't mistreat him.”
Lydia had just returned to the London residence, and met the housekeeper who told her that Nico was found this morning in front of the gate.
Edgar, Raven and Lydia came home all the way from the station, then the two heard the news, and also came to look at Nico, but Lydia thought she probably shouldn't have let them come.
“If he can smell the aroma of black tea, maybe he will wake up.”
“Stop it, go back!”
Lydia held Nico and some tears were welling up in her eyes, so she quickly turned her back to Edgar.
“Lydia, I'm kidding, I just want to soothe your sad mood.”
“Then be quiet.”
“Ah.”
Raven inadvertently made a sound, which made them glance towards him.
“… I beg your pardon, I’ll keep quiet.”
“It doesn't matter if it’s you that speaks, Raven, if you notice anything, please tell me.”
“Raven and I get different treatment from you?”
“That's for sure.”
Raven saw his master losing his temper, and dared not to speak, until Edgar waved at him to allow him to talk, and so he said:
“Nico's whiskers are gone.”
What's this?
Lydia looked at Nico's face, and discovered that the whiskers that he has always been proud of were really cut off.
“But he's a fairy, even if his whiskers were cut, it will not cause him pain or restrict his mobility...”
Lydia was not done talking, as Nico slightly opened his eyes.
“Nico! You finally woke up!”
“…… My whiskers…...”
Nico mumbled, then opened his eyes widely and broke free away from Lydia, and hid under the pillow.
“Looks like you are quite well.”
Edgar pulled the cushion, and Nico savagely held onto it.
“No, you are not allowed to look! Do not look at my face!”
“What's the matter? Is it because you have no whiskers?”
“Don't say it!”
“Forget about it, do you know the whereabouts of Paul and Banshee?”
Nico knew that it was urgency, so after thinking for a long while, he seriously answered:
“They were taken to an empty house on the outskirts. At the south of Chelsea, there is a river, and after crossing the river, you'll see that there is a watermill attached to the house. Ulysses is there, but I don't know how the fairy painter and Banshee are.”
“You were caught by Ulysses too?”
“He grabbed me, and most importantly, shaved my whiskers… The blow was too much, so I lost consciousness after, and then my memories completely ran out.”
“So do you remember anything? Even how you got back to the mansion, you don’t remember?”
“I don't know!”
Nico gripped the cushion to cover his face, and while maintaining the pose, he called out to Lydia with a sad voice:
“Lydia… Bring me the mirror...”
Lydia handed him a mirror and Nico presumably wanted to confirm that he lost his whiskers.
“Uwaahhh!”
Nico let out a scream, then collapsed on the seat again, probably because he was too shocked and fainted.
Lydia sighed, on one hand she felt helpless, and on the other hand she felt more at ease.
She picked up the cushion and seeing Nico’s faint and depressed look, she took care of him by stroking him just like when he stroked Lydia when she was crying.
“Perhaps Ulysses can feel other people’s most taboo things. Fortunately, Nico’s life was saved.”
“Well, I'm just glad Nico is okay.”
Lydia relaxed, then bent over to fasten Nico’s crooked bow tie again. Edgar had a lonely look as he silently watched Lydia, but she didn't notice.
“Raven, please tell Scarlet Moon to immediately split up to find the empty cottage that Nico had talked about.”
Lydia looked at Edgar who was giving Raven a command, and then stood up.
Although Nico returned safely, Paul and Banshee were with Ulysses, they don’t know if they're okay.
The problem has not yet been solved.
Edgar and Raven were preparing to leave, but Edgar suddenly stopped and abruptly asked Lydia a question.
“Lydia, does the Banshee’s death predictions have a maximum time span?”
“Huh? Why are you asking this?”
“Pure interest.”
Edgar was always interested in strange things, so Lydia did not think too much about it.
“… It will come true within almost a whole week.”
“I see. If there is anything about Paul, I will let you know if there is any progress.”

Edgar finished and left. Lydia went home waiting for him to send someone to report the latest news, and they were already there on the second day.
They found the empty house that Nico mentioned, but Raven explored it, and the house was empty. They only found Paul abandoned in a room, with his hands and feet tied up.
After Paul returned to the Earl's mansion, the calm was finally restored, and Lydia met him in the reception room.
Sitting at the corner of the living room was Paul, who has been beaten, as his face was bruised.
“… Mr. Paul, you’re okay!”
Paul scratched his head, embarrassed as usual, with only a minor injury which was fortunate but unlucky.
“I'm sorry for making you worry, but Banshee was taken away by them.”
“Perhaps Ulysses’ goal was Banshee?”
Those words came from Edgar, so Paul revealed an intriguing expression, then corrected his posture and replied:
“Yes, there is nothing wrong about that. However, Ulysses needs more than just Banshee, he is also looking for the amber that can unlock Banshee’s memory seal.”
“Amber can unlock the memory seal?”
“Banshee's memories seem to have been sealed inside tears of amber when she foresaw the prophecy of Lady Gladys’ death. But Ulysses can’t find the amber.”
“This is what Ulysses told you?”
Lydia was surprised, but Edgar seemed to understand.
“So he didn't kill you.”
Paul looked somehow apologetic, and nodded his head.
“Yes, he told me to look for the amber, and also constantly asked me if I knew its whereabouts, but I kept telling him that I had no clue, that I didn't know what he was talking about... So he told me to go to the Blue Knight Earl, since he should be able to find the amber with his fairy magic...”
Ulysses’ sentence was clearly provocative and Edgar laughed coldly.
“He ransacked someone else's house but could not find it, it's just like a lost dog that barks at nothing.”
Then again, if that amber is the Blue Knight Earl's important item, then Edgar must live up to the Blue Knight Earl's reputation and find it.
“Mr. Paul, is Ulysses keeping Banshee as his hostage?”
“Ah, no, I don't think he will lay his violent hands on Banshee.”
“In other words, the banshee acknowledges him as the descendant of the Blue Knight Earl?”
Paul apologized and hung his head, then said:
“However, why should Ulysses have Mr. Paul find the amber?”
“Because he found out that Paul's father had kept the amber. Although the amber’s location is unknown, but according to this, Paul's father was holding onto it.”
Presumably, Ulysses deliberately looked into Paul’s family line, then asked him to find out where the amber could be on Edgar's side, and therefore left Paul alive so that he could send the word to Edgar.
In other words, Ulysses was convinced that the amber was in Paul’s surroundings. He probably sent people to search Paul’s room, but didn't find anything, so they thought the amber was cleverly hidden somewhere, and that Paul was the key to finding it.
“I think the amber is at Mr. Paul's side.”
Lydia spoke her assertion.
“Oh, why do you think so?”
“Didn't Banshee appear in front of Mr. Paul? I think this is because Banshee sensed something.”
Paul pondered for a moment, but could not remember his father's possessions, as they all looked the same.
“Lydia, I have a question, if I find the amber and break that spell, and then brought Banshee back, does that mean I can really get the Blue Knight Earl's strength?”
“… There is a possibility. Since Lady Gladys sealed her memories in amber with fairy magic, then the amber probably has the same essence as fairy magic.”
“Ulysses seems very persistent about the amber. Maybe Prince wants to use its power, so if it falls into someone else’s hands, it will cause problems to Prince.”
“Prince killed the Blue Knight Earl’s lineage, perhaps he was afraid that the amber would fall into their hands.”
“Then I have to find the amber and break the spell on Banshee, but even if I can find the amber, I wouldn't know how to use it.”
Did Ulysses know?
Maybe he already knew, but it was also possible that after Banshee recognized him as the Blue Knight Earl, she recalled the way to break the seal and then told Ulysses.
“Finding out where the amber is, is a top priority. Mr. Paul, can we search your house?”
“Of course you can.”
“Paul, other than Raven, you call a few people to do that.”
Paul nodded, then looked up to Edgar uneasily.
“I'm sorry, my Lord, in fact, I have something I'd like to talk over with you.”
Lydia was about to leave, but upon hearing these words, she could not help but stop, however, Paul said apologetically:
“If you don’t mind, I hope that I can talk privately with my Lord.”
Before Edgar had to ask Lydia to leave, she automatically left the room, although her heart was reluctant to do so.
Will Edgar still need me in the upcoming days?
Since Edgar took off the ring, this question haunted Lydia, and it made her chest feel heavy.

Banshee received a letter where it was written that the true Blue Knight Earl was waiting for her, which was why she left the castle on Mannon Island, and there was a strong possibility that the one who presented the letter to Banshee was Ermine.
When Edgar listened to what Paul said, instead of being surprised, he felt the opposite and came to think about why there was amber that fell from Ermine’s shoulders.
Edgar, of course, didn't want to jump to his own conclusion that Ermine had betrayed him.
The one who handed the letter to Banshee should be indeed doubted, but Ermine may have simply transmitted a letter that she got to Banshee.
However, Ermine lied to Edgar and said that she hadn't met Banshee, and that was what was weighing on his mind.
All in all, he now had to be more careful than ever.
Edgar was alone in his study and was constantly thinking about this matter.
He was unable to see through Ermine's mind, just like how it was before.
Even if he asked Ermine, she probably wouldn't tell him the truth, and so now the only thing he could do was to carefully observe how the situation will develop, although Ermine was already being on her guard.
From now on, it was important to not let Ermine know anything, but if he only let her deal with small daily tasks, she would probably become suspicious.
Ermine was very keen, which was the most vexing thing about this.
Edgar clenched his hand on the desk. It was very difficult for him, but he told himself that he must absolutely find a way to solve this.
“……Why is it like this?”
He muttered to himself.
Why did Ermine still had to take orders from Prince and Ulysses?
After Ermine was reborn as a selkie, she could only turn into a human by taking off her selkie’s coat. Without their coat, selkies were unable to go back to the sea, so they had to submit to the people who took their coat, but Ulysses should have been unable to limit Ermine’s freedom.
Since Ermine’s coat was in Edgar's hands.
Edgar had no intention to bind Ermine, but he was keeping her coat as long as she would want him to. Edgar would give it back to her at any time, and Ermine knew that well.
Was Ermine obeying Prince and Ulysses out of her own will? If that was the case, then Edgar couldn't imagine what the reason was.
Did she want to ruin Edgar?
Maybe she was only doing this in order to save her soul.
Edgar gave her a ray of hope but could not use his hands to give her happiness, and so she felt resentment towards him...
In that case, Edgar will choose to die for her so that she could no longer be harmed again.
In the corner of his heart, Edgar was thinking about such a thing.
Since I cannot give anything to Ermine, rather than being alive...
He took out from his jacket’s pocket, an amber piece, and looked at it in the light.
Edgar thought that this amber may predict his death.
He brought the amber near the candle.
The amber was still emitting a faint light and was pushing back the flame.
“Oh, this is a harbinger of death.”
Edgar turned around, and saw Kelpie climbing in through the window.
“That's a tear from your house’s banshee.”
From head to toe, his perfect body looked like a Greek statue that was daring to stand in front of Edgar.
Edgar didn't even want to look at his face, especially not right now.
“What are you doing here?”
“Hey, Earl, you still don't intend to break off your engagement with Lydia?”
"You sure are tough, I definitely won’t.”
“You are going to die anyway, you should quickly break off your engagement with Lydia. Your death prophecy could harm her, and if anything happens to her, it’ll be too late by then.”
Edgar, of course, was also very worried about it, but he didn't want to give Lydia to Kelpie.
“I will guard Lydia, so leave me alone.”
“Let me say this first, I am also acting according to the norm, but if the situation is not good, even if Lydia doesn't want to, I can still force her to leave you...”
Kelpie’s dark pearl eyes were staring at Edgar.
I claimed the Blue Knight Earl title, but even this guy won't go away, this is ridiculous.
Edgar tried to evade Kelpie’s grasp, but his eyes bewitched him, which left him motionless.
Until someone knocked on his study’s door.
“Pardon me, Lord Edgar.”
Raven was here. Kelpie muttered “real trouble”, and then stepped back.
“Your servant is quite troublesome.”
Kelpie immediately disappeared, and Edgar helplessly looked at his opened window and sighed in frustration. Rather than his own eyes, Raven’s mystical eyes were quite strong.
“Was someone in the room?”
Upon entering the room, Raven seemed puzzled and looked around.
“Well, it was the horse.”
Raven nodded knowingly, then closed the window and locked it.
“I think you have to be careful of Kelpie, although he is Miss Lydia’s friend, he is not our comrade.”
“What happened?”
Raven rarely pointed his point of view with a firm tone, so Edgar couldn't help but ask.
“…… I saw him courting Miss Lydia.”
Raven’s subtle facial expression seemed to be somewhat different. If this was not an illusion, then Lydia probably showed Kelpie a side that Edgar had never seen.
If Lydia accepted Kelpie, was it because he was honest?
Lydia never refused him because he was a fairy, and never doubted his heart.
Because fairies didn't lie.
Edgar was not ready.
He had rushed to Lydia before she was allowed a change of heart. Although she didn't have a change of heart, Lydia had finally started to care about him, and so Edgar didn't want to give up.
However, even though Edgar wanted to do more for Lydia, time was running out.
“Raven, would you help me protect Lydia?”
Raven always faced Edgar’s sudden problems, and nodded without hesitation.
“Of course, because Miss Lydia is your fiancée.”
“I didn't mean that, I meant that even if I am not here, I want you to protect Lydia as a friend.”
Raven tilted his head, seeming unable to understand the meaning behind Edgar’s words.
He didn't need to understand it now anyway, it would be enough if he were to understand someday.
The same goes about Ermine being his sister, too.
Edgar did not intend to tell Raven his concerns about Ermine, because once he knew, he would hastily proceed to kill his own sister. In Raven’s heart, his loyalty to Edgar was still more important than love between siblings.
Edgar believed that even if Ermine’s betrayal was true, he should not let Raven know.
Otherwise, he'll never value a human being’s life.
“So, you went to Paul’s house to search? Have you found the amber?”
“No, we even looked into the paintings’ frames and the oil paintings, but we failed to find anything similar to amber.”
“Maybe when we look at it at a first glance, it does not resemble amber.”
“Amber that doesn't look like amber...?”
Edgar said that, but he couldn't imagine it. He had speculated that there might be some paint camouflaging on amber, although the enemies must have thought of that. After all, as long as there were suspicious objects, they would be exposed soon enough.
Even Ulysses must be certain that it was in an unexpected shape.
He was going to let Edgar find the amber and then snatch it? Banshee was in their hands, so just knowing the whereabouts of the amber was enough to recover her memories.
“We also have Slade’s club.”
Raven nodded and when he was about to leave the room, Edgar inadvertently stopped him.
“Where is Lydia? At Paul's house?”
“Miss Lydia has returned to her house, after she heard that her father had just concluded a research trip and came back home.”
“Oh, right.”
It seemed like even if he wanted to invite her for dinner, she wouldn't have agreed.
This was also one of his bad habits. Because when he was with Lydia, he could forget about his worries, so he always asked her to accompany him, even though he was just selfishly using her.
If Lydia really wanted to, he should have let her go back to her home in Scotland. Then again, if Edgar got this determination, he should have done that when Lydia was taking her long vacation.
Edgar was now hesitating and felt troubled, and put the amber into his pocket.

“Nico, you're not going to eat dinner?”
No matter what Lydia did, Nico kept silent, went under her bed and then refused to come out.
“My father brought some gifts back, and there is smoked salmon and whiskey, if you don't eat, everything will be eaten.”
It has been a long time since Lydia didn't have dinner alone together with her father. After she was done eating, she hurried back to her bedroom on the second floor, feeling that Nico must have been really hurt. Even alcohol didn't interest him.
Nico’s fluffy tail had peeped up a little from the bed, but when Lydia sat down on her bed, he immediately hid his tail.
“Nico, even without your whiskers, you are still a great gentleman. When Paul and Banshee were taken away, you still followed them to see where they were being taken to, despite the situation being really bad and dangerous.”
There was still nothing from under the bed.
“Even though you are capricious and sometimes cold-hearted, I know that you have many good points.”
Lydia brought a small parcel on the bed.
“On my way home, I saw something nice, so I bought it. It’s a mask for casual parties and masquerades. It’s a doll accessory so it’s small, but it’s just the right size for you. With it, you can hide your lost whiskers.”
Nico seemed uninterested.
But when Lydia was just about to walk out of the room, he suddenly began to speak.
“Lydia, you have to be careful, Ermine might be betraying the Earl.”
“Gee! How could that be?”
Nico said this sentence too suddenly, so Lydia thought it was a silly joke and laughed, but Nico continued on and said seriously:
“Banshee received a letter which said that she will be allowed to meet with the true Blue Knight Earl. It’s possible that Ermine handed the letter to Banshee and led her to meet Ulysses. Paul also knows about it, so he should have already told Edgar.”
Was that what Paul and Edgar were talking about earlier?
Lydia thought about it, and suddenly felt like Nico may have some credibility.
But if important people once again betrayed him...
Edgar must have suffered a deep blow.
And right now, was he being alone?
Wait, what he is doing now shouldn't matter? Lydia was upset to be thinking about Edgar.
No, he is so thick-skinned, he should be fine.
No matter what happened, he could always remain calm, which was what Lydia knew well about Edgar.
However, he was very good at hiding his inner thoughts.
Lydia walked back downstairs to the living room. Her father was reading academic records. She sat down next to her father.
“Lydia, it began to snow outside again, tonight seems to be very cold.”
“Indeed, father.”
I'm so stupid, I don't have to worry about Edgar.
Even if he was feeling unbearably lonely and was hurting inside, it was not up for her to worry about him anyway, or to comfort him since she was a girl.
It was because Lydia didn't want to become one of his female friends, and would deliberately keep her distance between him.

Edgar came to a club exclusively for men from the upper class, where only members could access.
The club was operated by Slade, where people met to socialize, and was also being a secret organization called “Scarlet Moon” that was sponsored by the artist members of the organization.
Thus, the club was decorated with fine art, such as paintings and sculptures.
In order to be worthy of the high reputation of the club, they carefully selected exquisite works and displayed them, though of course there were many works from the hands of artists that have actually not yet been known as artists.
Red carpet was rolled out on the hall’s stairs, crossed under gorgeous chandeliers, and led to where Edgar and other gentlemen were playing all night long. Tonight, a few members recognized Edgar after he gave them a nod.
“Earl Ashenbert, recently, you often come here to see it.”
“People like me who often come to the club aren't bothered to not be able to visit it?” (?)
“More or less. Anyway, I have excused people from the back door first, but also asked everyone to treat it as if they had not seen it.”
Edgar turned away, didn't stop after hearing high-pitched laughter behind him coming from drunken gentlemen, and went straight into a room.
Edgar's destination was where a burglar broke into a few days ago and left the room upside down. Therefore, it has not yet been cleaned, so it was temporarily closed to visitors, instead some servants bowed down to Edgar and opened the door for him.
The club’s owner Slade was waiting for Edgar, at the other half of the room, where it was already cleaned up.
“Your Honour, I don't remember ever receiving amber-like items from O’Neill.”
“Don’t you have several of O’Neill's works?”
“Yes, I've placed them here and I'm preparing a thorough examination of them, but there are several picture frames that were destroyed, where the surface of the paintings were damaged, so we suffered huge losses.”
Edgar looked at the arrangement of paintings in the corner. Those were the works of Paul's father.
Painting landscapes gave him a familiar touch that he greatly missed. O’Neill had portrayed the Duke of Sylvainford’s mansion, so the Duke’s estate had displayed several of his works.
O’Neill had to draw paintings at the Duke's residence for some time, when he was a child, and that was how Edgar and Paul thus met.
O’Neill sketches showed the Sylvainford’s residence, as well as family portraits, but those works had burned in the fire, so of course, they could never appear at the club. However, O’Neill’s unique strokes evoked memories of Edgar’s home.
Edgar was now watching Paul's delicate brush strokes that were passed on. He then said:
“Slade, in the future, if there is any important information concerning the amber, I hope you will pass them to Paul, or tell me by yourself.”
“Can't I let another servant know?”
“Did you not say that the secret might be leaked by someone around me... This is for safe precautions.”
In order to prevent any news to get to Ermine, he must guard everything against her, which left Edgar’s heart ache.
To have to wonder about his own companions was very painful to him, and even if they were subsequently proved innocent, the fact that he once had doubts will linger in his chest.
The partner who betrayed was feeling painful too, there was no doubt.
Ermine may also feel that once she betrayed, even if she was forgiven later, she once again betrayed the party because she could not truly accept herself.
“That's just fine, there's something I want to talk to you about.”
With a solemn expression, Slade revealed the topic:
“It is about the Wallcave village’s Freya.”
Edgar was embroiled in a fury fight at the Wallcave village. The village was where the fluorite came from, and Ulysses attempted to use the magic of the Wyrm that produced an extremely rare fluorite, the Freya.
The Freya contained incredible magic, reportedly by the Wyrm that was reborn with the Freya, and later by the villagers that escaped, but Edgar had dispatched the Scarlet Moon members to search for their whereabouts.
“We found the bodies of the missing people, which might have been deliberately sunk into the sea from the cave. Their clothes were also filled with stones, as if they had encountered a storm of waves by chance.”
“What about the Freya?”
“I couldn't find it.”
Since their bodies were submerged, it was definitely homicide, and they died in the cave in the village, which means that the mayor with the Freya was shortly killed after he ran away.
However, Ermine told Edgar that she had chased the villagers, but had let some escape.
“Is a village’s murderer that killed them and took the Freya, necessarily one of Prince’s henchmen?”
Edgar turned around, ready to leave the room quietly. Slade was confused and called out to him.
“Earl, do you have any clue?”
“I have none...... I want to drink some wine and have some gin delivered.”
Edgar only dropped the topic, and then joined a riotous and noisy circle.
“Oh, Earl, did you not leave through the back door?”
“I just came back.”
“You were really fast, was there no lady to keep you?”
“Do you also want to have a look? They have not retained the prostitutes in the back alleys to leave them bored.”
Because this group of drunken men made silly and vulgar jokes and was laughing noisily, Edgar joined them and poured down some gin.
Just get drunk, you can temporarily think about nothing.
They tried to persuade Edgar to smoke tobacco mixed with a special flavour.
The room was full of white smoke, and Edgar inadvertently looked at a picture on the wall.
It was a painted portrait, with a maiden holding a shield.
The little painting was very simple; it seemed to be used to fill the gap between the other larger paintings that were hung on the walls. Kerosene lamps were very close to it, so the girl’s blonde hair looked even more dazzling under the light.
Edgar felt like he had met this woman somewhere.
It was probably an illusion. Or rather, her green eyes just made Edgar think about Lydia, was it why it looked familiar?
…… I am dying to see Lydia.
Accompanied by a strong yearning, his chest felt pain.

After confirming that her father was still working in his study, Lydia took the advantage of the night to sneak out of her house.
It was a cold snowy day, and her exhaled breath would turn into white mist, like cold wind that seemed to freeze at night. Even so, Lydia, with her bright red cheeks, boldly went out alone in the middle of the night while feeling shy.
She stopped a street carriage, and had the coachman drive her to the Earl's mansion.
Lydia was shuddering before she slowly calmed down, and didn't understand why she wanted to go to Edgar.
She even lied to her father that she would sleep and sneaked out of the house.
Even if she met Edgar, how would she confirm that he was depressed? Lydia even wondered if she could help him cheer up.
Moreover, he probably wasn't home tonight or had some female companion with him that Lydia didn't know...
Lydia thought about this, and wanted to retreat.
As she leaned forward, ready to tell the cabby to return, she saw the Earl’s mansion’s lights greet her, so Lydia could not help but swallow her words back, because she suddenly had a strange feeling about this, a feeling that Edgar was waiting for her.
It is impossible for Edgar to be waiting for me.
But Lydia had missed the opportunity to turn around, and so she finally remained in front of the count's mansion, after getting down the carriage.
The Earl's follower seemed to have found the carriage halted at the door, and Lydia has not yet walked up to the door, that the door had already opened.
Raven was the man who came out to greet her.
“Good evening, Raven.”
“Good evening, Miss Lydia, what's going on?”
Lydia never came to visit in the middle of the night, so Raven was probably amazed.
“Uh...... I have forgotten something here......”
Lydia thought that coming to see Edgar at midnight was very abnormal, and could not help but feel ashamed, so she lied about it.
She thought that while pretending to look for her forgotten item, she could check on Edgar's condition.
Lydia told Raven that she will immediately go back, so she kept her coat, which she took off, in her arms. Raven held a candle in his hand behind her, so Lydia took the opportunity to ask:
“Uh...... Is Edgar out?”
“Lord Edgar had just returned home.”
“That...... Is he feeling okay?”
Lydia asking about such a strange issue probably showed the sensitive attendant that she forgetting about something was just an excuse.
“He is very ordinary.”
Fortunately, Raven didn't notice anything and so she asked:
“Is he alone?”
Lydia felt slightly relieved, so asked more in-depth questions, however, Raven seemed to be silently confused. Lydia felt a little surprised, thinking that a woman might be accompanying Edgar.
“No, it’s nothing, it’s fine if he has guests, I'm not looking for him.”
But Raven seemed to be thinking about other things, and then abruptly said to Lydia:
“Miss Lydia, it is rare for you to come, please go see Lord Edgar.”
“Huh? But... but ...”
Despite Lydia’s hesitation, Raven quickly lit the lamp and turned to leave, it appeared that he was heading to Edgar.
If Raven didn’t bring Lydia to see Edgar after she came over, maybe he will be blamed later.
Lydia casually glanced over at the clock, and once again thought, what she should do in the end? Her relationship with Edgar was not close enough to worry about each other and she would be uninvited after coming at such a late time.
Even Edgar was hesitant about her, now.
Lydia sat down on her desk’s chair, began to worry about and wondered, could it be because Edgar has been mentioning the word fiancée so much, that she herself was now shaken?
“Have you found the forgotten item?”
Raven reappeared. Lydia quickly looked up, but saw that Raven was the only one here.
“Well, yes.”
“I will show you the way.”
Did Edgar not want to see her after all? Lydia followed behind Raven, but Raven walked past the living room, the state room, even the study, and so he did not mean to stop.
They both finally ended up in front Edgar's door.
Lydia had never entered Edgar’s room, and to enter the room of someone of the opposite sex in the middle of the night was utterly indecent, she could not help her heart from resisting.
And the owner of the room was a dangerous frivolous man.
Raven didn't know about Lydia’s fear and knocked on the door.
“Lord Edgar, Miss Lydia came over.”
Although no one responded, Raven just stood there in a straight posture.
Raven intended to wait until when? Just when Lydia began to wonder, the door opened.
“Lydia, I am so glad to see you.”
Edgar exposed a joyful smile, then took Lydia’s arm and pulled her in.
“I didn't think you would come at this time, and I'm dressed very casually right now, I hope you won't mind.”
Edgar’s tie had been taken off and his vest’s buttons were unbuttoned, which made him look particularly attractive, and Lydia could not help but fawn wildly.
“Uh, that...... I just came to get something...... So, I will be going back.”
“Don't say that, sit down, come drink with me.”
“No, I have to......”
The door closed behind her, Lydia noticed that Raven had left, and suddenly found herself alone with Edgar.
“I was just thinking about you, and you came, are we connected now?”
Edgar sat Lydia down on the sofa, and then sat beside her. The mood seemed to be as good as usual.
What, so he's feeling pretty good, I knew I shouldn't have worried about him.
If Edgar was in good spirits, being alone with him was dangerous, so Lydia’s heart wanted to go home as soon as possible.
At the same moment, Edgar suddenly hugged Lydia by her shoulder, then put a glass in her hand and poured some gin.
“People say that this gin is a labourer’s wine drink. I often used to drink this with my friends in America, it was a fuel before our battles.”
The gin’s alcohol smell was quite strong, so Lydia did not want to drink it, but she seemed to be able to see the cause for Edgar to be drinking his "fuel".
He seemed to be in excellent condition, but his mood was very low.
“So, Lydia, did you forget something?”
“Well... Something that is not that big of a deal. Anyway, stay out of this Edgar, are you drunk?”
Lydia quickly changed the topic.
“Ah... I didn't drink much, I presumably took some strange pills at the club to be like this, but I feel particularly happy.”
Taking pills? Okay......
Lydia watched Edgar's face, trying to determine whether or not he was reluctant to put on a happy face.
But Edgar suddenly turned his head, and his eyes met Lydia’s.
The distance between the two was very close, Lydia could even see herself reflected in Edgar’s eyes, then he took her hand with a serious expression.
“How did you know that I wanted to see you?”
“I-I didn't know......”
"Did you hear what Nico said? And you guessed that what Paul privately talked to me about was the same thing, so you were worried about me and came over, right?”
Edgar ash mauve eyes were riveted on Lydia and they were as intense as they always were when he’s sober, so much that she had suspicions that he was only pretending to be drunk.
“Well...... I don’t really care... After all, I don't believe it much.”
Edgar's face had a rare serious look.
“You're not going to tell other people about it, right.”
“That is, of course, but what are you going to do?”
“…… I still don't know yet.”
“Also, no concrete evidence has been found yet, so I want to believe she is innocent.”
Edgar held Lydia’s hands, and put his hand on her face.
“Fortunately, you are willing to accompany me and comforted me.”
Lydia’s cheeks burned, and she suddenly had difficulties breathing, so she stood up to leave, but Edgar unwittingly pulled her coat, which slipped as a result.
Edgar had her coat in his arms, then used his usual joke and kissed the jacket.
“Stay a little longer.”
“It is very late.”
“Then I won't return the jacket to you.”
The atmosphere imperceptibly became a little ominous.
“Then I'll go home without it.”
Lydia turned her back and wanted to run away, but Edgar quickly got up and almost lost his balance, so Lydia rushed over and held onto him.
“Are you okay? Don't push yourself.”
“You're just too kind-hearted.”
Edgar seized Lydia in his arms, revealing a confident smile.
He tricked me?
However, Edgar looked terribly lonely, and he hugged Lydia.
“Please stay with me.”
Lydia felt cornered by Edgar’s desperate feelings, and thus lost the will to push him away.
Edgar's was actually grieving a lot, but lacked support, and yet Lydia couldn't even help him.
Lydia leaned against Edgar and he probably noticed that, so his arms that were around her waist held on even tighter.
“If you are worried about me, then is this indicating how much you are willing to help me? I can believe that you are here to support me as my lover, and that you’re not here to work or something.”
That’s not what I meant...
But it was clear to Lydia that she was here as herself, and not as a fairy doctor.
She believed that if Edgar was so sad, she could at least accompany him.
“Edgar, I didn't come because of work, but I came as a friend.”
He sighed, and didn't seem to be satisfied at Lydia’s answer.
His breath brushed on her neck, which felt so hot.
“I want to spend the night with you.”
“You, what are you talking about, I cannot......”
“I really need you, I can't let go of you, but I do not want to let Kelpie take you away, I want you to belong to me alone.”
“Wait a minute, why mention Kelpie, I don't belong to anyone.”
“You want to support me, right? If you give up on me, I'm going to die.”
Ah... This was Edgar’s usual way; he always exaggerated and talked about death lightly.
He also said that when they first met, but Lydia was being tricked by him.
Lydia knew, but when Edgar's lips touched her ear, she did not push him away.
“Edgar...... Don't do that.”

It was only from her mouth that Lydia refused, therefore it did not seem like a complete refusal to Edgar at all, so he gently picked her up.
As expected, I fell for his acting! Lydia tried to calm down, but she was so nervous that her whole body stiffened.
She didn't know what to do in order to escape from this, and she did not intend to do this to comfort him. 
“Hey, Edgar, put me down!”
Edgar obediently put her down, but on his bed. 
“…… I love you.”
Edgar always told her that with a deep gaze, but however, Lydia could almost believe him now. 
“But this sort of thing......”
“Despite me being a pathetic man, you still accept me as I am.”
Lydia couldn't say anything, and he kissed her on her forehead.
What Edgar needed now, was not comforting words.
Does he need me to remain by his side forever as a real proof?
Do you really need me?
“You'll forgive me, won’t you.”
Lydia did not understand, but to see him so sad like this, she could hardly refuse.
Lydia's mind was in a chaos, while feeling that Edgar was gently caressing her hair.
Then his lips came on her neck, and she froze.
At that moment, Edgar suddenly whispered into her ear. 
“Ermine......”
What!? Ermine......?
This………… That's it! You’re treating me like Ermine’s replacement?
I am so stupid, this is unbelievable.
Rather than anger, Lydia was unwilling to, but she felt sadder.
The one Edgar needs isn't me.
I just want to die......
Lydia suddenly felt weak, like she was hit with a gloomy mood. She turned her face and closed her eyes; she did not want to look at Edgar.
Lydia thought, I knew I shouldn't have worried about him, if I knew earlier that this would happen I wouldn't have came, I don't know what to do anymore.