Hakushaku to Yousei

Chapter 17

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P. 86
[Imposter who poses as the Earl, we are aware that you have no right to claim as the Blue Knight Earl. Relinquish the sword at once. Or else we will come hunting for the sword as well as your life.]
In the letter that was written with that message, of course there was no signature, only a mark of a crescent moon was drawn with red ink on the envelope.
“What a ridiculous letter.”
Edgar tossed that to his side and reached out to his teacup.
He was put in such a bad mood first thing in the morning.
The ball last night continued on till midnight and he finally went to sleep in the first hours of morning and when he woke up, it was already forenoon, but this was the lifestyle of a n.o.ble who would spend day in, day out in evening b.a.l.l.s.
The butler apparently was diligently waiting for his master to wake up to bring in that letter with the blood rushed out of his face and claimed that it was thrown in from the back door some time last night. Everyone had been so busy that one of them finally noticed it some time this morning.

P. 87
“My lord, what shall we do. Shall I notify the police?”
The sword was the proof that he was lord of this earl family.
There was no mistake that the one who alleged that Edgar was an earl imposter and ordered him to fork over the sword was connected to the man who targeted Raven yesterday and called him a ‘dog of Prince.’
“Hm, let’s see, the police still can’t find anything about the instructor that forgot his fingers here yet, right? Either way, it looks like all we can do is tighten our security for now.”
“That will be easily done.”
“Then, the rest will be taken care of by us.”
The butler replied “Understood” and didn’t press on about what he was going to do with the mysterious group of unverified origin. Even if he sensed Edgar had an acquaintance with a not-so-peaceful organization in the past, he never questioned him.
The Blue Knight Earl was said to have fairies and fae-related people under his dominion, and long ago, he had protected his mysterious people who had merrows blood in them from the harsh oppression of the Church.
Tomkins was from one of those clans. He displayed unbendable loyalty to the earl family.
Edgar imagined that for generations, the Blue Knight Earl must have been a Lord who was immensely trusted by them, which made him feel slightly apologetic.
He obtained the t.i.tle of earl, of course, because it was useful. But he had no intention of dirtying this name.

P. 88
Even if he was an imposter, he only had to become the real thing and he realizes that he has the responsibility of protecting this family.
He couldn’t be daunted each time at this kind of threat.
“However, my lord, please do not put yourself in harm’s way than the sword…..”
“Are you worrying for me?”
“You still do not have an heir.”
Since the family head was absent for hundred of years, the successor’s condition remained unknown, so the earl family name was not eliminated and left remained. However, if something were to happen to Edgar, then it may be decided that the bloodline had ended.
“I see. I still had that duty to perform. Tomkins, I would like to let you relax quickly, but I may have been hated by our future housewife candidate.”
“Everything is well, my lord, there are plenty of husbands who are hated by their wives.”
“……I see, that’s encouraging.”
The butler placed the newspaper, that had all of its wrinkles pressed out flat, in front of Edgar who made a sour smile and left the room. As he left, Raven came into the room.
“Raven, I have a feeling like there was an organization called “Scarlet Moon” in one of the underground organizations that we were investigating.”

P. 89
“Yes. They are not officially going by that name, but they are a robbery gang that donates their profits. They are quite famous within the lower parts of town and there is rumor that the golden coins that were scattered out onto St. Giles Street and Southwark was their doing, and sure enough there was money thrown into the houses at the East End. On a portion of the coins, a moon was drawn on by red ink.”
“A chivalrous robbery group, which means that the gold coins must have been stolen from somewhere, right?”
“It seems like they don’t go by the Scarlet Moon name when they steal so there is no definite. But there are wealthy families and individuals who claim that the golden coins that were scattered around had been stolen from their place.”
As he read from his memo, Raven read off names of wealthy families and companies from that.
There were some names that sounded familiar to Edgar.
“Those are Prince’s source of funds.”
“Yes.”
It was questionable if they were to make any damage against Prince who was at the top of a pyramid of money and wealth that he piled up by just s.n.a.t.c.hing away from golden coins near the foot of the mountain, but there was a possibility that they were doing dull activities against their target Prince.
That may be connected with the attack against Edgar this time.
“Have they killed any up till now?”
“There are no incidents that were big enough to be reported in the papers.”
“Since they are a donating robbery gang, murder would hinder their image.”

P. 90
And yet, from the sudden attack the other day and from reading this threatening letter, they seem br.i.m.m.i.n.g to kill him. On top of that, they are ordering him to hand over the earl family sword.
That wasn’t something that could be exchanged with gold, and even if they stole it, they would just be troubled at how to dispose it. More like, they were attached to the Blue Knight Earl name.
Like they didn’t want Edgar, an imposter and the henchman of Prince as they saw him to continue going on under the name of the earl.
“I wonder why it is the “Scarlet Moon”…..”
Moon.
The spell of an exchange with the moon.
The promise that the Blue Knight Earl made with the fairy queen.
It was like he was cursed by the moon.
Now that he thought about it, last night, Marygold was making a commotion about a moon ring or something.
Edgar had a feeling like he replied something like that case had to be dealt with through Lydia.
Marygold, last night, I thought I saw small, transparent wings on that little girl’s back…..
Standing atop of Nico’s head.
Nico, yes, that darn cat talked at him with his paws on his sides like he was giving him a lecture.
Yelling at him asking what he had done to Lydia.

P. 91
I hadn’t done anything to Lydia.
More importantly, it looks like I drank too much. There was no way a cat would talk.
No, didn’t he seem like he understood what people were saying from time to time?
“Raven, is Lydia here?”
“Not yet.”
“…..I wonder if she’ll come.”
“Mr. Nico was drinking tea in her office as usual, so I believe she may be arriving soon.”
Ahh, tea. Yes, he was a cat who loved tea. And yet, the butler and Raven serve him tea as if it was natural.
“By the way, Raven, I was always wondering about it, but why do you call a cat Mister?”
“He was a cat?”
He returned a question like he was confused.
“He isn’t a cat?”
“Since Lord Edgar would periodically talk to him, I thought he was different.”
When he thought about it again, Edgar became confused as well.
“For some reason or other, I have a feeling like a conversation is going on between us. First of all, I can’t think that he could do such a trick of picking up a tea cup and drinking from it…”

P. 92
Oh, well.
Ever since he came to know Lydia, her magical and mysterious reality was sinking into him.
Even last night, he witnessed an ebony black horse jump and disappear into the fountain.
Yes, that fairy, he was the fairy that proposed to Lydia.
He didn’t want to lose against a horse.
“One more thing, Lord Edgar, Mister Paul Foreman is here to see you.”
“Paul? I don’t think I promised him.”
“He says he will wait for how ever many hours. It’s been two hours already.”
Letting out a sigh, Edgar stood up to get himself ready.
“Then, he’ll be able to wait some more.”

Lydia finally arrived at her workplace palace in Mayfair and only gave a simple and quick greeting to the butler and rushed into her office.
She didn’t know what kind of face she should put on to meet Edgar so she decided she was going to stay-put in this room for today.

P. 93
To tell the truth, Lydia didn’t remember all that well what happened after that at the ball.
She was in such a despair that she chugged down three gla.s.ses of punch, but after that, she didn’t care about it much.
According to her father, she was in quite high spirits and was dancing gaily but the more the ball pressed on into the night, the more everyone got drunk, so courtesy and manners and anything well-mannered gradually slipped away as it got more louder and more foolish.
That’s why, even if Lydia was drunk, it wasn’t so much that she stood out, but her father had apparently token her home before she made a fool of herself.
She changed her state of mind and decided to get to work by first getting her hands on the letters that just arrived addressed to the fairy doctor.
However, it wasn’t a situation where she could concentrate on work. Marygold, in the form of a little human girl came bursting into her office.
“Miss Lydia, oh, how I have been waiting for you. I needed to ask for your opinion at once…. The earl would only tell me that he leaves all fairy-related ordeals to Miss Lydia, but Miss Lydia wasn’t sober last night, so Mister Nico told me to wait until tomorrow,”
“……What is the matter?”
“The “Moon” of My Majesty isn’t coming off of that man’s finger. That was to be presented to the man, to the earl, who was going to marry Our Majesty,”

P. 94
Oh, yes, she had forgotten about that. Kelpie had stolen it from Marygold and tried to give it to Lydia, but it was mistakenly accepted by Paul.
Which means, Paul who was wearing the “Moon” ring was tied to the moon promise of marrying the fairy queen.
If the fairy queen decided she wanted him as replacement to the earl, then as long as he had the ring, it would be difficult to stop him from being taken to the land of the fairies.
“At this rate, we would be left to have that man marry our highness.”
“Well, wait, Marygold. You just need the ring to come off, right?”
As Lydia said that, she could imagine that if that happened, then Marygold would be going after Edgar and telling him to accept the “Moon.”
He just didn’t have to accept it. She didn’t have the strength like Kelpie to force it on him.
But, Edgar had a soft spot for women, so there might be some sort of mistake and he might end up accepting it.
She was trying to think up of something, so when there was a knock on the door, she didn’t think and answered “Come in.”
“Good morning, Lydia.”
As soon as she saw Edgar’s face, Lydia felt her face turn hotter and quickly faced down.

P. 95
She hid her face behind the letter she was holding, pretending to read it.
“….What is it? I’m a little busy right now.”
“The letter, it’s upside-down.”
He swiped the letter from her hands that was panic-stricken and looked down at her from above.
“Paul is here. It looks like it is your job to save him.”
It was rare for him to suddenly get to the main topic without any of his usual tiresomely-long flattery and back-scratching.
Lydia sat blankly as the wind was taken out of her sails but also revealed, so she was finally able to raise her head.
She was nervous if he would bring up what happened last night as she didn’t know what kind of reaction she would make.
At this rate, Edgar might have not even noticed the disarray in Lydia’s feelings.
“Oh, i-is that so. I was just talking with Marygold about him.”
“It seems he was barged in at his boarding house room to hurry up and give back the rind.”
“Eh, by who?”
“I think Mister Kain.”
Ahh, that kelpie, how persistent!
He was nearly attacked by him as a horse but when he threw the Bible that was placed at his pillow-side, he disappeared, was what he saw in his dream.”

P. 96
“It isn’t a dream, most likely.”
“Anyways, he was told that he’ll come however many times until he gets it back, so Mister Foreman doesn’t want to continue having this dream because of the ring. He claims that the ring is surely cursed. And so, it seemed like Mister Kain had come to pay you a visit yesterday, so he came here for advice. Is it all right if I call him in?”
“Yes, of course. It’s my responsibility for getting him involved.”

After some while, Paul Foreman was led in by Raven, but he looked completely exhausted.
Standing up, Lydia greeted him.
“I’m terribly sorry, Paul. You had saved me yesterday and yet you’re in such a troubled situation.”
“Oh, no, I’m glad you were all right. ….But, I have no idea what is going on. And the earl claims that it is the work of a fairy.”
It seems like the fairy painter couldn’t believe it so easily that he had come in contact with a fairy.
Urged by Edgar, he sat down on a chair.
Lydia also sat down, but first had him show her the ring.
It was worn tightly on his right-hand middle-finger. It was quite a mature painter’s hand which was paint-stained and had several hard calluses made from tightly gripping a brush.

P. 97
“It’s a moonstone.”
As Edgar pointed out, it was a large moonstone. It was a glistening milky white colored gemstone. The s.h.i.+nning light that shown through its translucent inner side was shaped like a crescent moon.
“Marygold, are you saying that this moonstone waxes and wanes just like the real moon?”
“Yes. The width of the light inside it changes. On full moon nights, it spreads out wide and thins to a barely visible line on a new moon.”
After she said that, she shook her sunny-yellow wings and corrected herself.
“No, I meant to say that it is the real moon.”
She was in a little human girl’s form and yet she forgot to hide her wings.
But Edgar and Paul had not realized that or this wasn’t any situation to point that out as they were focused on the ring.
“You sure wouldn’t get bored if you looked at it everyday. Paul, in a way, you can see yourself as lucky.”
What a comment, it was a problem that didn’t concern himself.
“You have to be kidding me, that’s impossible.”
“So, why isn’t it coming off?”
“It’s because Kelpie forced it onto his finger. A part of the ring is bent and digging into his finger,” replied Lydia.

P. 98
“Kelpie?”
“Um, Kain is the aquatic horse, kelpie.”
Edgar only responded with a mm-hm, so he mustn’t know all that much about aquatic horses.
“He-he was a kelpie! The ones that are said to eat humans….?”
The fairy painter obviously had known and gave out a near shrieking voice. But, Edgar only responded in a matter-of-fact way.
“So he’s a man-eating horse.”
“They also eat domesticated animals, but they don’t touch the liver and leave it on the river-side.”
“What a wasteful taste. Foie Gras are the best thing there is.”
“More importantly, what should I do…..”
Paul desperately tried to refocus the topic that was slowly being turned off-course.
“At any rate, we should try to get the ring off.”
“I tried several options but it was impossible. Soap and oil didn’t work.”
“Then cutting the part of the ring is our only option, don’t you think? If we do it carefully, we could manage to not harm your precious fingers,” suggested Edgar.
“You mustn’t! If there was any damage harmed to Our Majesty’s ring, then, I will never be able to go home.”
Marygold burst out in tears.
“Oh, that would be terrible. Let’s think of something else,” said Edgar.

P. 99

P. 100
Edgar was quick to take her side.
“Is there another option?” asked Lydia.
“Wouldn’t it easily slip off if his finger got thinner? We just have to have Paul lose weight.”
He says to lost weight, but it wasn’t like Paul was fat.
“I’d say it would come off if he didn’t eat for a week, don’t you think?”
“Fo,…….for a week?”
“If it doesn’t come off, then another week.”
“I’ll die.”
Paul was on the verge of tears.
“It’s all right, one can still live even if they were skin and bone.”
Since Edgar said he wasn’t saying a joke but an actual fact, Paul slumped his shoulders like he was a prisoner who was given his death sentence.
“I will talk it over with kelpie. Although it isn’t full-proof, I think you should carry a Bible and cross just in case,” rea.s.sured Lydia.
“Thank you, Lydia……” said Paul.
Just when they thought everything had calmed down, Nico appeared on the windowsill.
“Oi, Lydia, we have another visitor.”

P. 101
She thought she saw a pair of thin wings behind Nico, then a small girl glided down to land on the windowsill.
“Lady Sweetpea!” cried Marygold and flew out to her.
“Marygold, I was wondering what was taking you so long, what are you doing? I can’t believe you are not even able to fulfill the duty that was entrusted to you by Our Majesty.”
“I-I’m terribly sorry, but, actually…..”
The fairy that was called Sweetpea was indeed wearing a faint pink dress. She apparently had a higher t.i.tle than Marygold but both of them looked like the same-aged little girls, so the sight of the both of them talking was a strange one.
“What?” Her Highness’ ring went into the hands of another man other than the earl?”
Sweetpea fell back like she went dizzy and Marygold rushed to straighten her.
Lydia secretly glared at Nico.
“Why did you have to bring such a troublesome fairy.”
“Well, I was just asked for directions.”
“Why are you always asked for directions?”
“Who knows, I was just taking a nap on top of the roof.”
He must have been leaning on his elbow as a pillow and crossing his legs, not acting like the average cat and pretentiously acting dignified.

P. 102
From someone who was flying by, he was an eye-catcher no matter what. They would realize at first glance that he was a fairy.
“Oh, well, it can’t be helped. We will just have this man marry Her Highness.”
It was no time for Sweetpea to recover and make a decision. She grabbed ahold of Paul’s coat.
This was what Lydia was fearing.
“Hold on just a moment, are you saying any man will do as your queen’s husband?”
“All of us are tired of waiting for Her Majesty’s marriage. She won’t take anymore other than the earl and we went through so much trouble to get our hands on the ‘moon.’ We cannot wait any further. For the sake of our fairy clan’s prosperity, we need her to quickly get married. So, we will take this man back and go with him as the earl.”
What rough handling.
But it looked like Sweetpea was serious.
She looked around the room and saw what she was looking for and flew over to Edgar.
“Lord Earl, please forgive my sudden intrusion. My name is Sweetpea and I am one of the maids of Our Majesty the Queen.”
“Yes, nice to meet you.”
He looked like he didn’t know exactly what was going on, but he still gave the highest-quality of a smile.

P. 103
“Truth be told, we would have liked to guide you to our land, but since Our Lady had made the decision to marry the one who wears the ring, I can only humbly ask for your understanding this time.”
“I don’t mind at all.”
“I would be honored to pay you a visit once again.”
“Once again?”
“Yes, since a mortal’s life is short, there will be a need for Our Majesty to marry again.”
“Oh, I see. By that time, the earl wouldn’t be me, though. More than that, the problem at stake right now, is that he is a painter that I have a favor in. It would be quite troublesome for me if he is gone.”
It seems like for the most part, Edgar didn’t have the intention of turning his back on Paul.
Lydia was a little surprised at that. Edgar wasn’t a soft-hearted person. Even if he saw the gift of painting in him, she thought that he was the kind of person who would think twice about turning his back on him if that would mean the fairies would go away.
It hadn’t been that long since they met, and he wasn’t a woman, and she couldn’t imagine that the gift of a painter had that much value for Edgar.
So he must really like his personality.
“Then, let us trade with something.”
“No, no trade!”

P. 104
Lydia rushed to interrupt, as trading with a fairy was terribly dangerous.
“Then, you have no right to stop us. We will take him.”
Unlike Marygold, she was a stubborn fairy.
“Don’t talk stupid. That ‘moon’ belongs to me. I plan to giving it to Lydia, so don’t act like you’re in charge.”
Oh, why does he have to come out again.
She suddenly felt so tired as she turned around to see that a black wavy-haired young man was entering the room through the window.
“Oi, you little midgets, get out of my sight. Or else, I’ll gobble you up!”
Ahhhh, cried Sweetpea and Marygold and both of them clinged onto to both sides of Paul.
“You, say that you will go with us right now. Or else, we will fall prey to this ill-gotten loud fairy!”
Even as she s.h.i.+vered from fear of Kelpie, she desperately tried to persuade Paul.
“Why you little, don’t you dare make fun of a great and dignified kelpie!”
Things were getting out of control. Lydia lost her patience and screamed out:
“STOP IT ALREADY! If you come one more step near him, this fairy doctor in front of you will not allow it! Understand? Kelpie, and Marygold, and Sweetpea, you all have to go through me first!”

P. 105
She was breathing with her shoulders as everyone finally calmed down to silence.

Even if she was an inexperienced fairy doctor, there must have been some effect of her intimidating bl.u.s.ter.
The two little girls promised to wait patiently until the ring came off.
With Kelpie, he didn’t fear Lydia one little bit, but if the field fairies were not going to interfere, then he said he wouldn’t mind waiting until the ring got itself off.
The field fairies were fine since they were good-natured, but as with the kelpie, there was no a.s.surance that he wouldn’t do something rotten to Edgar even as he waited.
Lydia consulted with Edgar about letting Paul stay at the earl residence until the ring would come off.
The earl house which had the merrow’s sword was in one way the territory of the merrows. It was a ground where an aquatic horse couldn’t do as he pleased.
Edgar agreed readily and just while they were at it, offered Paul the job of painting a painting to hang in the house.

“Paul, you shouldn’t go that way. It would be a bad idea to go near the river.”

P. 106
Carrying a sketchbook in one arm, he was about to go off the path in the bushes, but rushed to come back.
“Then, let’s go on that hill.”
The kelpie’s magic growed stronger near the river. It would be best to take precautions. Lydia thought that the hill will do better and followed after him.
The reason Paul came out to the outskirts of London to sketch was to work on sketching a drawing of the painting he was asked by Edgar.
As he refrained from his meals in order to remove the ring, he was eager to get started on the job he was offered.
And the reason that Lydia came along with him on his sketch expedition was, unlike in the city, the wild fields was much more closer to the fairy’s domain.
Lydia was worried about him going to an area that had strong fairy magic, and the one who suggested she accompany him was Edgar.
[I’m jealous that he gets to be protected by you]
He said it in his usual light, frivolous way of talking but he was awfully quick to let her go.
On the night of the ball, he was persistently making a fuss about her getting too friendly with Paul, but for him to say she should go along with him, was surprising and unexpected for Lydia.
Now that she thought about it, since the night of the ball, he didn’t flirt or act like he was courting like always.

P. 107
Oh, did he perhaps, notice that I was crying?
Just remembering how she acted, made Lydia panic-stricken but she managed to calm herself down.
If he had realized, there was no way he wouldn’t use that as a topic to tease her with.
Then he must have finally grew tired of me.
Edgar was going to parties here and there as usual, and if he was able to go about to all the ladies to court them as he pleased, then he wouldn’t have any time to be wasting on Lydia.
More like if he would remain calmed down like this, she would be able to work harmoniously as the earl family’s fairy doctor.
Once they decided on a spot on the hill, Paul immediately got to work concentrating on his sketching. Lydia spent her time taking a walk around the area and taking a peek at his sketches once in a while.
The maid that accompanied them also conversed with her, but to be able to come to a spot surrounded with greenery and feeling the wind brush against the frill of her bonnet and spending time without doing anything was peaceful and relaxing in itself.
“Are you bored at all?”
Paul had completed most of his work and spoke up to Lydia who was gazing at the scenery near him.
“Not at all. Not too long ago, I was living in the countryside, so there were always times when I was watching the clouds go by under a tree the whole day.”

P. 108
“What a wonderful way to spend the day.”
Being told like that, Lydia felt all warm inside and smiled.
“I had lived in the loud and busy city all my life so my dream is to buy a house someplace where the sky is clear and beautiful and live my days drawing wild flowers.”
He leaned his head in a somewhat embarra.s.sed manner.
“Even if I say that, I couldn’t possibly live that kind of luxury unless my work is recognized by society.”
“I’m sure you will be recognized. Edgar seems like he will also help you.”
“I hope so.”
After mulling it over, he said once again.
“I think the reason the earl is regarding me kindly is because of you. I have a feeling like his eyes caught my fairy painting so that he could make you happy. It seems like he wasn’t that interested in fairy paintings himself.”
“Impossible, Edgar doesn’t see me as that special a person.”
“Is that so? Aren’t you his main love?”
“Oh, Paul, you can tell by observing him for five minutes how much of a flirt he is, can’t you?”
With a troubled, sour smile, Paul scratched his head.
“Well, yes, I guess…., but I just have a feeling, like he saw you differently.”

P. 109
What part? She wanted to ask him that, but she thought it over, thinking it was ridiculously stupid. However it appeared to Paul, there was no mistake that Edgar was a skirt-chasing flirt.
“Paul, he is sure to realize your talent. Edgar has critical eyes about that. Especially with men.”
That’s right. He didn’t have any choice in regards to women, but with men, he definitely separated how he acted according to whom. He wasn’t just enjoying his time and fooling around in the ton, as he was putting his eyes on who had power in politics and wealth and getting familiar with them.
No matter how high a t.i.tle the n.o.ble possessed, he wouldn’t spare a glance to someone who only had a name and would proudly go up to someone who climbed up the ladder himself even though he was called a vulgarian behind his back.
Every day, there were more and more prominent figures who visited the earl house.
For Edgar, it wasn’t difficult at all to win the trust of someone he wanted to win the favor of.
And to increase his number of acquaintances and become famous himself and another measure to protect himself. If something were to happen to him and all of England would make a commotion about it, then it would make his enemies hesitant in making a move on him.
But, imagining that Edgar was going to take an advantage of building a strong wall around him and plotting his revenge, then Lydia was concerned for him increasing his number of ‘powerful friends.’
“How would you say it, he is liked by anyone.”
Yes. If it was someone who didn’t know the real him.
“Maybe when people meet him, he becomes more mysterious the more you talk to him, and yet that increases your interest and you want to know more about him. What kind of person is the earl, really? Lydia, you seem to know the earl more than anyone.”

P. 110
He’s a demon. But she couldn’t possibly say that.
But, even Lydia was fully aware about all the details.
All she knew was that even though Edgar was a scoundrel, he was a terribly sad man. He is still fighting against his destiny.
“When I see him, I remember about my past. To the first time I visited the estate of a n.o.ble when I was taken by my father who was a painter. It was an enormous palace, and it appeared like it was a world from out of a children’s book. So much that I believed the n.o.ble people who lived there were the descendants of the heroes who were sung in ballads. Especially the young son, he had bright, golden-blond hair and I think he was about twelve or thirteen, but he was a boy who was reminiscing Adonis.”
Lydia’s curiosity was strongly intrigued by that story.
“Did he look alike? ……..To Edgar.”
“Yes, the first time I met him, I thought he was that boy grown-up. But, that family wasn’t the Earl Ashenbert’s family.”
She was a little hesitant if she should ask or not. But, in the end, Lydia questioned him.
“What family lived there?”

P. 111
“Oh, it was a family of a duke. He was the young son of the Duke of Silvainford.”
Ducal family? That’s the highest there is.
“At that age, it would be normal for him to be attending a public school. But he apparently had a weak health and had a number of tutors as he stayed in the family manor house.”
But, he had a weak health. So, he must be someone different.
“My father was hired by the Duke and painting the castle and garden and family members. I was sixteen at the time and I didn’t have any wish to become a painter but I was made to go along with my father as his a.s.sistant and prepared his paint and made his canvases…. The young son would come and watch as I did that.”
“And so the two of you grew as friends?”
“Yes, it was just for a few months, though, the young son didn’t have anyone to play with so I must have been the ideal catch. He saw my sorry excuses of a drawing even though I wasn’t interested in becoming an artist and claimed that I had talent. If he were to succeed as duke, he said that he’ll look after me as well. Even though he was a child, since he was surrounded with magnificent and sophisticated pieces of art, I was slightly put in high-spirits. I was young so I easily promised him that I’ll become a painter but I had no talent what-so-ever and went through pain-staking work after that. But thanks to that, I realized that the painting that my father had criticized and I had kept away from was actually what I loved doing the most. He truly was a fair and warm-hearted young boy who really made you realize what good breeding was.”

P. 112
Even at that part, Lydia wanted to tilt her head.
“That’s why, when I heard that he and the duke family members had all died, I was shocked.”
But the idea that he was a different person was easily changed.
Edgar had said that he was a man who was supposed to be dead. That he was robed of everything, his parents, his house and his name.
“……They died, but how,”
“I heard it was a fire. It was hard for me to imagine that the people, and that beautiful castle, the garden, all no longer exist. I was hoping that I could show my art to the young son more than anyone else once I became a recognized painter.”
When Lydia realized it, she was tightly holding her trembling fingers.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I brought up such a strange thing to say.”
“Oh, no, not at all.”
“Oh, but the only part that the son and the earl resembled each other, was their hair and eye colors.”
In other words, once he got acquainted with Edgar, he found out that he had a completely different personality than the young son of the duke family.
I wonder if his two-faced personality was severe from when he was young.
“….Uh, if that young boy was still alive, do you think he would remember you?”
He gave Lydia a puzzled look. It was a strange question to ask when he said the boy was dead.
Yet, he answered her after he thought about it.

P. 113
“I would be very happy if he did remember.”

Edgar had surely remembered him.
That’s why he was offering Paul a chance to get his name out.
Just like how Paul was reminiscing about the young boy he met at the duke family house, Edgar too, was feeling nostalgic.
He protected Paul from the fairies and is allowing Lydia to put aside her work for the earl family and accompanying him.
Lydia first-handedly experienced the heart-less, cruel side of Edgar, but she also feels that he is someone warmhearted and compa.s.sionate.
He would become cruel only for the sake of his comrades who supported each other and survived through the most desperate and dangerous situations.
It was no wonder if he treasured the friends.h.i.+p that he was with Paul in the past.
“Lydia, I’m thrilled to be gazed by you this much, but could you at least not make a frown while you do it.”
When Lydia realized her situation, she had been staring at Edgar like she was glaring at him from across the table in between them.
“Eh, ah, oh, I was just thinking….”

P. 114
“If it’s about me, then you don’t have to think, I’ll answer. Anything you want to know.”
Lydia had been taking lunch with Edgar who was unusually at his own home near noon-time.
It was just the two of them on the terrace that was filled with the sunlight. Paul was continuing his efforts to lose weight and it just so happened that he would forget to have his meals when he got absorbed into his artwork.
Even when they offered him to join them for meals, he would reply yes but never show up.
That’s why, right now, it was just Edgar and Lydia. Now that she thought about it, they didn’t speak as just the two of them since the night of the ball, which suddenly made Lydia go into a nervous fit.
“Did you used to have bad health?”
She opened her mouth in an attempt to evade the situation, so she spoke what was going through her mind.
“Uh-hm,” replied Edgar without a hesitation.
“I was cramped up in the house because of asthma. It went away when I was ten, though, my mother was still terribly worried. So I hadn’t shown my face to most of all the guests that came to our manor house.”
“That’s why there is no one who knows you from then in the ton.”
“Though, excluding one person.”
That one was Paul. He must have realized that Paul had said something to her that made Lydia suddenly bring this up.

P. 115
“But, weren’t there a lot of servants? And tutors.”
“My tutors and the upper staff were closely acquainted with my family, so they are all dead. The servants that survived must not even know my face.”
It was said that in an estate that was operated with hundreds of servants, other than just the few numbers of the upper staff, such as the butler, housekeeper, lady’s maids and footman, servants normally didn’t come in contact with the master of the house and his family.
“Even if there was people who remembered that boy, they wouldn’t think that I was him. He has a grave. There’s a body in it. I don’t know who it is. Well, it isn’t like I opened up the coffin and made sure, but there is an unidentifiable gendered, burnt to a black crisp body of a child.”
He purposefully said it like that so as to baffle her and took a bite out off a roast chicken like nothing was wrong.
She immediately lost her appet.i.te and placed her knife and fork down but Lydia thought for some reason that she didn’t want to lose.
“The reason you apparently don’t look anything like that boy is because your personality is completely different from his. At the least, you must have not been someone who had an aggressive or overbearing side to you and didn’t tease others rotten?”
He brought up a gla.s.s to his eyes to gaze up at the reflection of himself in it.
“Yes. I think so too. Too many things have happened to me. I become confused myself when I think if I am the same person from me back then.”

P. 116
He suddenly had his family murdered and taken away to a foreign country. A man named Prince got possession of Edgar for some unknown reason and Lydia had no idea of how he was treated, but he was a slave there, who had no freedom and robed of his will.
Raven, who was also kept captive there and until he escaped with the comrades he came to befriend, he must have needed to acquire his two-face to hide what he was thinking and deceive his enemies, and his calm decisiveness, and the cruel, heartlessness in order to get through all of the dangerous situations.
Even after they escaped, they had to hide in the undergrounds of society to evade the pursuits of their enemies and fought and maneuvered through battles in order to steady their grounds….in a battleground that was right next to death.
There was no way he could remain a simple and innocent young n.o.ble.
Since there was no one who helped him, he changed himself in order to survive and fights to protect Raven.
“I don’t know you from the past, but, I don’t dislike you as you are now.”
“…..You really are….”
He was about to say something, but closed his mouth.
Then, he gave her a soft smile.
She couldn’t guess what Edgar was really thinking, but when she was faced with such a happy smile, Lydia felt relieved.
He may have changed, but there must be parts of him that remained the same.

P. 117
If it was someone who didn’t know the experience of peaceful bliss of happiness, no matter how good they acted, they probably would never be able to make this smile.
That’s why she couldn’t think of Edgar as just a criminal and wanted to help him win back his peaceful life.
She hoped that he could cut off his hatred of Prince and stay as the Earl Ashenbert.
“What are humans thinking to burn their meat.”
The sudden interrupting voice came from Kelpie. They hadn’t noticed that he had sat down on the chair that was set out for Paul and ripping a chunk out of the roast chicken in his hand.
“Raw is so much better.”
“What are you doing here!”
“To see you. How is it? Did the ring come off of his finger?”
“Even if the ring came off, I won’t let you take Lydia.”
Kelpie pa.s.sed a glance over to Edgar who said that.
“Don’t open that big sa.s.sy mouth of yours. Even if you’re the Blue Knight Earl, you can’t see fairies at all now. So to have Lydia work under you is intolerable.”
“If you want to be by her side that much, then I can hire you as well. You can at least pull a carriage, can’t you?”

P. 118
Treated as a horse, Kelpie must have blown his cool as he threw the chicken bone.
“I am not a horse. I’m the great and n.o.ble Waterhorse!”
He leaned himself out and glared at Edgar with threatening eyes. Lydia thought Edgar was such a daredevil to look back straight into Kelpie’s eyes.
He must not know of the ferocity of kelpies, as the seductive fairy’s eyes corrupted people’s hearts and desires.
There even were people who fainted from the immense fear.
“What is the matter, Earl, if you’re scared, shouldn’t you call that servant of yours?”
The reason the hot tempered kelpie didn’t immediately attack Edgar was apparently because he was being cautious of Raven.
“If it’s Raven, he isn’t here.”
And yet, Edgar didn’t hesitate to tell him that.
“Hmm, then if I wanted to snap that neck of yours, there is no one here to stop me.”
“I will stop you!”
Lydia held out the charm that warded off evil in front of Kelpie. It was a rolled-up ball of papers ripped out of the Bible.
He distorted his face to make a grimace, like something foul-smelling was suddenly stuck out in front of his nose. Even if kelpie disliked holy things, it only affected them to that level.

P. 119
And yet, he must not being seriously considering to attack him, as he stepped back.
“Aren’t you embarra.s.sed to be protected by a female?”
“It’s tremblingly thrilling to have Lydia drive off men who come after her for my sake.”
He wasn’t wrong, but it didn’t sound right.
“Lydia, where is the good in this kind of weakling with a big mouth? However you think about it, I’m the better choice.”
“Of course she would choose a human than a horse.”
“I told you I am not a horse! Oi, Lydia, make it clear. Me or him, which do you choose.”
He says choose, but what kind of choice is it to have between a man-eating fairy and a former criminal philanderer.
“Ohhh, both of you are like that!”
“Lydia’s favorite is the fairy painter,” murmured Edgar.
“Wha-what are you saying.”
“You accepted to be his model, didn’t you? But you said you didn’t want to.”
“That was, the way things went.”
When she went along on his sketch expedition, he asked if he could sketch her, so she just sat down on the gra.s.s.
Since it was an easy thing to do, if he asked her to do it again, there wasn’t any particular reason to refuse.

P. 120
It wasn’t like he was going to paint Lydia, and if he was just going to use that sketch to make a fairy painting, then it wasn’t something to make a fuss about.
“Mister Kain, that’s why I am not the one you should be worried about.”
“Is that right? My rival is that man who stole away my ‘moon’?”
Stole? More like you forced it on him.
“Edgar, don’t say such an irresponsible thing.”
“If you have feelings for him, then I will be a man and withdraw. At least I don’t want to be hated.”
If he said it like that, there was nothing for Lydia to refute about.
If she strongly said he was wrong, then it would seem like she was desperately trying to clear up Edgar’s misunderstanding between her and Paul.
Even if he misunderstood, then it was a wish come true if he would stop pretending to court her just for fun.
That’s right. Paul was a good man, and there is no guarantee that I wouldn’t grow feelings for him.
But, for some reason, she was disappointed that he wasn’t jealous.
It felt a little unsatisfying to not be able to hear Edgar’s flirting attacks towards her…
Oh, no, that was impossible. I was just surprised, is all.
She panicked and come up with an excuse, but Lydia came to realize something.
Edgar, perhaps, didn’t want to be hated by Lydia, but he might not want to be hated by Paul. Even the fight between Kelpie for who gets to have Lydia was just a playful word game for him to enjoy and have fun. But he had no intention of playing that kind of game with Paul.

P. 121
He had no serious intention of fighting over Lydia, so there should be no point to displease Paul.
Lydia let the strength go out of her, and slumped down onto her chair.
Well, that figures.
I was perfectly aware that Edgar’s flirting behavior and his courting words weren’t really serious from the beginning.
“Oh, great, so it isn’t like you are serious about Lydia.”
The simple-minded kelpie opened his mouth and said to say such a thoughtless comment, which worsened Lydia’s tired mood. That’s why she didn’t realize that Edgar’s mood turned fowl and was silently acc.u.mulating.
As he watched Kelpie grab a hand-full of bread, Edgar slid one of his plates that he hadn’t touched to his direction.
“Mister Kain, taste this too if you like.”
Even as he said it tasted bad, the greedy kelpie swallowed the elegantly set meal in one gulp.
But then, the color of his face quickly changed and he stood up.
“Wh-what is this…. What did you give me!”
“A liver patty.”
Liver. …….Organs. What a kelpie never eats.

P. 122
Needless to say, the color drained out of Lydia’s face.
He had no idea what would happen if you seriously anger a kelpie. Even if this place was the earl estate grounds where magic was difficult to conduct, if a savage waterhorse were to go on the loose….
Lydia wouldn’t be able to stop him.
On the back of the kelpie, who was trembling from rage, his mane and tail grew out. His form of a horse was starting to seep out.
But, Edgar still talked like nothing was wrong.
“You know, it’s dangerous to put something in your mouth that was offered by someone you can’t trust.”
“How dare you…., next time I see you, I’ll ripe you to shreds!”
Kelpie leaped off the terrace like a gust of wind.
It seemed like eating organs was something that surprised and panicked the kelpie more than it making him mad.
Lydia felt relieved from the bottom of her heart, but at the same time, she wanted to plant her head in her hands.
“What were you thinking! It isn’t courageous if you are oblivious to danger!”
“He was the one who wasn’t taking me seriously.”
The thin smile that he made came from the darkness in him that didn’t normally surface.
He wasn’t oblivious to danger, he just wasn’t scared.
At least for him, a creature that might take away his life wasn’t any danger, but what he must fear the most, was the existence of his nemesis that kept him alive as he robed everything that he had.

P. 123
“Pardon me, my lord.”
Paul appeared at the terrace and Edgar turned his eyes to him with a look that was changed to the smile of a composed and generous earl.
“Paul, I’m afraid your meal was just eaten by Mister Kain. I’ll have a new dish prepared for you at once.”
“Oh, no, that is all right. More importantly, my lord, I have a favor I would like to ask.”
“What is it?”
After a little hesitation, his face changed to determination as he opened his mouth.
“May I take a look at the sword of Lord Blue Knight?”
According to legend, the sword was bestowed along with peerage from the King of England, Edward I to the founder of the earl family, Lord Blue Knight. It was a rare piece that served as one’s proof as heir to the earl family.
The reason Edgar, who was unrelated to the Ashenbert family, was accepted as the Earl of Ibrazel was because he obtained the sword.
And Paul is saying that he wishes to see the sword that was could also be a family treasure.
“In regards to the painting you ordered, I wanted to create a fairy painting based on the story of Lord Blue Knight. And if so, then I thought I should paint the legendary sword in it as well.”

P. 124
He must have thought it was a reckless thing to ask, as he continued to speak in a nervous manner.
“Oh, uh, I wouldn’t do anything like touching or dirtying it. Just seeing it would be enough. As long as I can burn the image of it in my head. I was thinking that if it was just a normal fairy painting, then it wouldn’t be fit to hang in this great house, and so I was mulling it over in my mind, and I just came up with this idea.”
Could it have been Lydia’s imagination that she thought she saw Edgar’s eyes narrow sharply as he looked at Paul.
But he answered like nothing was wrong.
“Go ahead. If that means your painting will become even more magnificent.”
Paul relaxed the muscles around his lips like he was released from his build-up tension and lowered his head, but for some reason, Edgar didn’t make a smile at all.

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