CH 17.4

“A freebie? What is that?”

Anthony asked curiously. Lucas had been surprised when she’d first said the word. He just didn’t say it out loud.

The thought of Lila made him smile for a moment, and then his expression softened. The five men who watched his expression change cringed.

“They say it’s a gift that comes with the sale.”

“I like that idea.”

Noel nodded at Lucas’s words.

“Did the Lord’s wife say she’d be selling beauty creams?”

Dick asked Owen with a curious look on his face. Owen pushed his glasses up with a polite expression.

“Yes.”

“Well then, Boss. What kind of freebies are you going to give away for beauty creams? Groceries are a little too far out there, aren’t they?”

Owen warned Dick, who was asking in a friendly manner.

“Be respectful to your superiors.”

The voice was as cold as a north wind, and Dick snapped.

“Okay, okay.”

“I’m curious, too. How are we going to do the giveaway?”

Lucas crossed his arms in silence at Anthony’s question.

“A jar of beauty cream, or a bag of wheat, or firewood, or a sack of dried fruit…”

Owen, Anthony, Beau, Dick, and Noel’s faces scrunched up at the list of items.

“… Isn’t that quite a lot for a beauty cream freebie? Are you sure you want to do this?”

Lucas grinned wickedly, like a villain, at Noel’s serious question.

“Yes, I hope the commoners are well prepared for winter. And the nobles who have missed their winter preparations are starving to death. Maybe then they’ll stop being so obsessed with their appearance.”

Even now, Lila was inundated with invitations. Gifts and invitations were coming from more places than before the Autumn Ball, and she was overwhelmed.

Lucas didn’t like it either. She’d been bullied by the social circles for being ugly, and now he wanted to kill everyone who came to cling to her.

There were too many people to kill, and the circumstances were not favourable.

Most of all, he didn’t want Lila to see his evil side. Looking into her clear eyes, it was as if a warm spring sun was shining on his numb heart.

“Hahaha, that sounds like something to see!”

Beau burst out laughing at Lucas’s words. He was joined in laughter by the others.

“By the way, does this apply for all nobles? Commoners like us, there’s no way we’ll have good feelings for the nobles, so even so… Isn’t there a difference between nobles of the upper ranks and nobles of the lower tier?”

Beau asked Lucas and Owen with a hint of amusement in his voice. Owen’s expression didn’t change.

“Are you all good just because you’re fellow commoners?”

The questioning tone of the answer caused Beau to burst out laughing again.

“I see, I asked a question I shouldn’t have. Oh, I almost forgot.”

Dabbing at his forehead, Beau continued.

“I’ve told you before, briefly, through my communications tool, but I think I should tell you properly this time.”

Lucas narrowed his eyes at the mention of something he didn’t recognise.

“What is it?”

“Well, I caught a weird one. No, not just any weirdo, but somehow he recognised the pottery of the Duchy of Charlesworth and thought he might be scamming us by making it look like it, and that’s why I caught him. The Charlesworth porcelain is only distributed at our company, and if he got it wrong, the victims would have come to our company. It’s a good thing I stumbled upon it, it could have been really bad.”

“What, you mean all the big ones?”

Dick blurted out. Owen turned to Lucas.

“Even if they weren’t, that’s what I was going to say.”

Lucas pondered, perhaps it would be useful for another scheme he was concocting. The imposter.

“Hmm, I’ll have to see him for myself.”

“This isn’t your average guy. This isn’t a trick he’s done once or twice. I don’t even know how he makes that pottery. They’re pretty close.”

“Okay, so where is it now?”

“I’ve got a man at the inn I’m asking about, my lord.”

“Okay. Just hold on to him, I think you all understand what I’m saying…”

As Lucas spoke, there was a knock on the door. Vincent must have known about the meeting, he thought.

Instead of Lucas, Owen answered.

“Come back later.”

“…Sorry.”

Lucas jumped out of his seat at the sound of Jessie’s voice, because he assumed it was Vincent. With quick steps, he opened the door.

“What’s going on? What happened to my wife?”

At his vaguely ferocious-sounding question, Jessie hesitated before answering.

“… It’s not that, it’s… that she’s awake, and for some reason she can’t seem to calm down, so I’ve decided to…”

“Good.”

The praise fell on Jessie’s head, who was afraid she would be chastised for coming in for nothing.

Lucas turned back to Owen and barked an order.

“The rest is up to you.”

He turned on his heel and left the room.

BANG.

The sound of the slamming door made the stunned regional leaders shudder.

“What did I just see? Did the Boss put his work on the back burner, or was that a ghost?”

“Watch your mouth.”

Owen snapped at Beau, who mumbled in surprise.

“Okay, okay, okay, but aren’t you surprised he’s not in a meeting right now?”

“I’ve never seen her before either, but…”


Anthony chimed in with a wry smile. Not only that, but Dick and Noel had the same look on their faces.

Owen pushed his glasses up with a familiar long finger.

“Let’s make a motion on the stockpile first, and we’ll have to do it without a sound.”

“No… is this supposed to be a meeting?”

Dick’s exasperated voice echoed through the large conference room.

Lucas, who had come up to the third floor on a run, flung open the door to the Duchess’s room.

“Wife!”

Lucas stormed in and headed for the bedroom.

“Lucas?”

Lila, who was sprawled out on the bed, looked up sharply.

“What the hell…”

Lucas, who wanted to ask what was going on, stopped for a moment when he saw Lyla, who was shedding tears like chicken droppings.

“Hmph, heuuk!”

Lila opened her eyes and immediately burst into tears of confusion. She couldn’t figure out what the hell was going on, and she was terrified.

She had instantly believed that what she knew was right, but the original story she knew had nothing to do with this world.

The fact that the Crown Prince had told her this made her even more terrified.

“Why are you crying? What did he say?”

Lucas, his eyes stung by her tears, stopped in his tracks and fumed.

“Hmph, Lucas…”

Lila, now even more upset, stretched out her arms as if she wanted a hug, but Lucas was already well and truly pissed.

“I won’t leave him alone.”

Her cobalt eyes, which had been brimming with beady tears, widened at his harshly muttered words.

Lucas spun on his heel and was about to stomp out when Lila rolled off the bed.

“Wife!”

Startled, Lucas rushed to her side. He gently lifted her up, and she threw her arms around his neck.

“Don’t go!”

“…”

At her desperate words, Lucas barely managed to calm his heart, which threatened to break through his ribs.

The more he thought about it, the more pissed off he got.

He couldn’t help but feel angry, angry at himself for coming now, for shaking Lila.

He was even angry at Lila.

“Didn’t you promise me you wouldn’t get hurt?”

His words were harsh, but his hands were wrapped around her, holding her close, and knowing that made her tear up even more.

Thank God I have him.

The thought made her feel even worse.

What have I done wrong? Why did the Reaper leave me in this place?

But she couldn’t ask to back off now.

Now she had Lucas and Michael. Even if the Reaper came and took her again, she wanted to refuse now.

The back-and-forth, the scrambling, the confusion only made Lila tighten her arms around Lucas’s neck.

“…I’m not hurt.”

Muttering in a disgruntled tone, Lucas lifted Lila from his arms and strode over to the bed.

Sitting down on the bed with her in his arms, he asked.

“So, why are you so upset, I’ll only know if you tell me what it is.”

“…”

As she buried her head in her hands, not answering his question, Lucas warned in a low voice.

“What did I tell you about what happens when you forget your promise?”

“… So…”

“You weren’t hurt when you got mixed up, were you?”

“…”

Lila pursed her lips as he cut her off at the knees. In truth, what the Crown Prince said was probably nothing.

But if he asks her why she fainted when she heard those words… She has no choice but to tell him the truth she had been hiding all along…

Would he believe me?

Lucas twisted the corner of his mouth in a pout as Lila raised her head to watch him carefully.

His wife still didn’t seem to know much about him.

“If you can’t answer that, then you will be punished.”

As he grinned wickedly, Lila had to think hard.

She really… wanted to come clean.

***

At that time, Heinrich was being escorted by the chamberlain to the audience room.

He fiddled with his cravat in frustration. He could almost see why the Emperor had called him.

But he had bigger things to worry about.

“Your Majesty, the Duke of Frederick has arrived.”

“Let him in.”

At the Emperor’s bidding, Heinrich entered the throne room. The Emperor, seated at the head of the throne, greeted him warmly.

“Welcome, Duke.”

“Your Majesty, the Sun of the Empire of Vassium.”

The Emperor smiled with satisfaction as he watched him bow. A single shallot yielded him a bountiful harvest.

‘I thought you were wise. Foolish, foolish.’

“I’m sure you know why I asked you to come.”

“… I apologise, Your Majesty.”

“I don’t think you’re going to get away with this one. People talk a lot about how I only favor Duke Frederick. There are two dukes in the empire, which seems unfair and unequal.”

“My apologies…”

Heinrich agonised over how to handle this situation. All the nobles had seen what Charlotte had done. Even with the Emperor’s help, she was practically a social pariah.

What was more disturbing to him now was…

‘Charlotte, where the hell are you?’

She had vanished without a trace.