P. 122
However, she didn’t head to the Ashenbert house, but to a studio.
She knocked his door, but there was no reply. Since the housekeeper told her he should be in his room, Lydia guessed that he must be focused on his painting, so she stubbornly pounded on the door.
He finally opened the door, and whipped his paint stained hands on his trousers as he looked at Lydia with a surprised face.
“What? Uh---, I live alone, so it’s not a good idea for a young daughter to be in a room alone with a man….”
P. 123
“Eh, oh, nothing,” he replied.
She knew she was troubling him, but there was something she really needed to ask him, so they could only talk in a private s.p.a.ce. And besides, Lydia
“Excuse me.”
“Please tell me. What is Edgar plotting? You know, don’t you?”
“I think it would be best for you to ask the Earl himself.”
“Why is that?”
“That’s because Ulysses doesn’t seem to making any moves on us right now. When it turns to the time we need your help, I think the Earl would come and explain everything to you. And I have the feeling he wants to keep you away from danger as much as he can.”
P. 124
But still, she figured Paul would be able to consider Lydia’s position than Raven or Ermine could, who was extremely loyal to their master, and so she decided to come here.
“I went to the harem.”
“I found the wax doll that was wearing the black diamond. ….No, that doesn’t matter. Anyway, isn’t Prince looking for that black diamond and its white diamond pair?”
“A number of years ago, only the white diamond was found in Rome and even though it was going to be brought back to England, it was stolen, I heard that Edgar’s father was suspected for doing it. Isn’t Edgar trying to set a trap to capture the culprit who worked for Prince and stole the diamond at that time? The true culprit, the man who is called duke is a frequent customer of that harem, isn’t he?”
“Yes, that’s right. At the time when the white diamond was stolen, Duke Barkston had partic.i.p.ated in the mission to visit Rome along with Duke Sylvainford. The earl had given hints of the pair black diamond in front of Duke Barkston, and make him steal out the white diamond that he had been taking care of to present to Prince, by making the duke think that this was a perfect chance to out smart Prince and get his hands on both of the diamonds.”
“To tell the truth, it seems Ulysses has taken Jimmy hostage.”
“That’s why the Earl isn’t able to take any drastic measures, and so, while we keep our eyes on the enemy’s movements, we’re currently thinking what our next move should be.”
“Can you tell me one more thing? What kind of woman is Jean to Edgar?”
“She died? …..Was she his lover?”
“Oh, no, that would be impossible. She was a black girl and seemed to be quite young.”
P. 126
So, then that would mean that the wax doll doesn’t represent her.
“…..Oh, yes, the other lady also had the name Jean.”
“Uhh, her name is Jeanmary. The little black girls had apparantely asked the Earl to give her a name of a woman who was special to him, and so she was given the same name.”
“But, Lydia, that shouldn’t be something that should worry you….”
Lydia’s mind had become completely confused.
She couldn’t stop herself for letting her emotions spill out on Paul.
“That’s because, he is worried about you, and,”
“No, that isn’t,”
“It can’t be helped about that diamond. And we need for just a little while longer anyways.”
If it was him, then he deserved it, but Lydia realized that she was terrified of that happening.
He wasn’t in love with Lydia, and that’s why it didn’t trouble him to do dangerous things even if she was worried for him.
She quickly becomes emotional, and forgot about the Coblynau’s warnings and left Edgar all by himself.
Oh, no, she suddenly was filled with worry.
Lydia tried to stand up, but she caught her foot on one of the art supplies that was lying around on the floor and nearly fell over.
P. 128
“Are you all right?”
He was different from him who was surrounded by n.o.blewomen who carried the aromas of perfume with them. If it was her father, then he would have the smell of fine particles of crumbled stone and dust and medicine.
But, she knew of the part of him that had on only the smell of freshly washed s.h.i.+rt. What is going on for her to be frequently close in close proximity to him to be able to notice something like that?
Because that those kind of times, Lydia should be glaring at him most of the time.
“Please don’t try and push yourself. I’ve been made a fool of by Jimmy so many times.”
“I wouldn’t be attractive at all. Since I’m hard-headed and difficult to handle. I understand that even if a woman wasn’t beautiful, as long as she smiled, she’d look like she had an adorable side to her. But, I’m not able to do that, so I came here wanting to do what I’m able to do. And yet, when I get worried, or take actions which I thought were for the sake of good, does that come out as causing trouble for Edgar? If he doesn’t need a Fairy Doctor, then why is he so fixed on marriage? He isn’t even serious and yet goes around calling me his fiancée, how heartless is it of him to enjoy throwing me around like that. If it was like this, then I can’t rest easy and come to feel for him….”
P. 129
“Paul, it’s dangerous of you to not lock the door,” said a voice by the doorway.
Paul swiftly let go of Lydia and Lydia also rushed to step away from him, but her foot caught on another painting tool.
From pain and embarra.s.sment, Lydia felt her face turn red and quickly turned away.
Even if he didn’t want to be taken under the wrong impression, Lydia thought he didn’t have to go and deny it that hard and it made her depressed.
Edgar walked over to Lydia and tried to lean down to look into her face, and so she went on further into the darker part of the room.
“I don’t care about something like that.”
“That was just a figure of speech!”
“Lydia, we need to talk.”
“You’re my only lover.”
“That’s Jeanmary!”
“Now, Lydia, that building is a place that’s rumored to be a harem, so naturally, I didn’t want to reveal that to you. Because you already see me as a flirt, I didn’t want you to have the wrong impression.”
“No, you shouldn’t not care. I was hiding something from you, and that was wrong of me. So, I’ll explain everything to you…”
Lydia unraveled the bandage around her finger and held out her fist in front of him.
Did Edgar feel frustrated at Lydia’s att.i.tude of not allowing him to speak even one word?
“You can wear it and be by my side together,” he added.
“I’ll force you to come home with me,” he threatened.
Why is he always acting like this?
It was also her fault for being so stubborn and staying so obstinately unwilling, but Lydia was so blind to her own faults, that she was still confused at why she was being so irritated and shook away her hand.
Before he was able to take her home, she dashed out of Paul’s room.
P. 132
Nico was no where in sight. Lydia had no idea where he was and what he was doing, but he had the frequent tendency to not come home for days after he discovered something enjoyable, so she wasn’t worried.
“Miss Carlton, you will get wet.”
“Did Edgar tell you to do that?”
Because Lydia hadn’t been hiding the fact that she was avoiding Edgar since this morning, it looked like he was using Raven as the in-between.
“Please accept it.”
He couldn’t keep any secrets from Edgar, so if he was asked by his master, then he was sure to answer honestly.
P. 133
Wha-what a nasty scoundrel.
“….I’m sorry. You went through such a troublesome experience because of me.”
What a convenient interpretation he came up with.
But, Lydia didn’t want to throw cold water on Raven’s feelings of trust and loyalty he had towards Edgar.
That’s why she surrendered by taking the shawl and wrapping it around herself.
“Yes, since it is the turn of the season where it suddenly turns cold. I will make sure to put fire in the hearth.”
He probably didn’t want to be troubled if Lydia were to question him something again.
Then she heard the talking voices of Edgar and Ermine from the open-windowed terrace.
There was no particular reason, but Lydia hid herself.
“Were you able to find out the location where Jimmy is held captive?”
“And, how about the young boy?”
“So, Jimmy might also be getting the same treatment.”
“There’s a possibility that the letter could be Ulysses’trap. What reason would there be for a boy to go through a near-death experience in order to save Jimmy? Because Jimmy is a petty thief that snuck into the duke family’s house and got captured, right?”
P. 135
“Mr. Slade says he will still go and rescue the boy and has led a group of his men from the ‘Scarlet Moon’ on the move.”
Edgar seemed a little stumped as he tried to think of something.
“That is what I also heard.”
“Is there something that is bothering you?” asked Ermine.
Ermine nodded and was about to leave, but she stopped like she had remembered something.
“Why,” asked Edgar.
"Ermine, what about you? Can’t you see fairies now that normal people aren’t able to see?”
“I do see them, but I do not have the knowledge regarding fairies.”
In the end, it only appeared like Edgar’s decision in discussing with Lydia was out of the question.
The soft sprinkle falling down in-between the faint, dark clouds wasn’t that heavy enough to be called rain, but time had pa.s.sed so much that her hair and clothing was completely soaking wet.
“What on earth am I doing?”
And yet, she felt like she was being kicked out of the circle by him.
Her eyes fell down to the ring on her finger that was feeling like a nuisance, and she struggled with the unnecessary effort to take it off.
P. 137
Lately, she felt like all her efforts were going around in pointless circles, and now she was starting to not be able to tell what she wanted from Edgar or what she wanted to do.
Lydia turned her head up while she flinched back in caution.
“You sure have on quite a glum look,” he said and then grabbed Lydia’s cheeks with both hands and pushed the sides of her lips up to force a smile.
“I thought I could make you smile.”
“Lydia, I’ll show you something you’ll sure to like.”
She had no idea what he was planning, but it seemed fun.
The object that Kelpie proudly hanged in front of Lydia’s eyes was the jeweled necklace.
P. 138
Huh, gasped Lydia and grabbed Kelpie’s hand to take a closer look.
“Th-this is….”
Oh my goodness, could this be the other pair ‘Daydream’?
At Lydia’s pressuring voice, Kelpie made a dubious face.
“It isn’t something that’s normally lying around somewhere!”
They were small fairies that were evil-natured. They loved to trouble people and pull pranks, but if they were to have dropped this, then they weren’t just any normal goblin.
“Hey, was there a master of the goblins?”
P. 139
P. 140
“Hey, Lydia, don’t say something senseless like returning it to its owner. Because I don’t think the master of those goblins was a decent owner himself. I’m sure he had stolen it from somewhere.”
As Lydia thought about it, she looked back and forth from Kelpie to the diamond.
Lydia said she wanted the diamond only because she wanted to test Edgar, so it wasn’t like she really wanted it. And besides, she was not fit for this diamond.
If he returned it along with the black diamond to the Royal family, then Ulysses and Prince won’t be able to get their hands on it.
She glanced up to him to try to see what he might be thinking, but Kelpie put the necklace over Lydia’s head and settled it down around her neck.
“Wouldn’t a white clover look better on you?”
“Oh, well. If you like it, it’s yours.”
“In exchange, how about, cancelling your engagement with him and returning to Scotland?”
Well, there was no way he would give it away freely.
It was a diamond that Edgar really wanted. He might just agree to annul their engagement.
It was true, if he was asking her to leave the human realm right now and marry him, then she couldn’t nod to that, but if it was just returning to Scotland, then to Lydia, that just meant she was going to return to her previous lifestyle.
“It’s not like you really want to marry that man, right? I can understand that you want to work as a Fairy Doctor and stay in the human world. But if you are just engaged to him just so you can void the promise to live with me, then let’s just return everything back to a blank slate. This situation you’re in, it’s unnatural.”
Lydia should put back everything to as it was before, and after that, she should think about her future.
“I’ll bring this up with Edgar.”
She wasn’t sure what part of it was a win or lose situation, but Kelpie patted Lydia’s head in a rough shake to perhaps, cheer her on.
“The rain, it’s growing heavier. It’s bad for human health if you get soaking wet, right. You should go home.”
He looked up to the sky and narrowed his eyes like he was irritated.
With the palm of his hand, Kelpie whipped Lydia’s face and made a grin, and then, disappeared.
“Lydia, you’re soaking wet. Where have you been?”
“Ohh, but, I’m so happy that you came to see me on your own. I was so worried that you wouldn’t speak with me for a while.”
“Edgar, I have something I want to discuss.”
“Is it something bad? Then let’s talk about it another time,”he said as he turned back towards Raven.
“If it’s me, I’m fine. And what I want to bring up isn’t anything bad.”
Lydia rushed to rub down the wrinkle between her brows and tried to make a smile.
“About when we should pick our wedding date?”
P. 144
“You don’t have to make such a stern face.”
She just wanted to get this over with. If she could make him annul the engagement and take off the ring, then Lydia could finally relax.
“There is a fire ready in the drawing room hearth,” said Raven as he handed a dry linen towel to Lydia.
Edgar said that as if he finally surrendered, as his hand naturally went around Lydia’s back and he escorted her out into the hallway.
This could have been a good experience for her. As she thought that, Lydia made a small sneeze.
When she lowered her guard, he was quick in holding her hands.
He sat down Lydia on a sofa that was relatively close to the hearth in the drawing room and then sat down next to her.
“I’ll listen next to you.”
“I found where the ‘Daydream’ is that you wanted so much. See, good news.”
For Lydia, returning to Scotland wasn’t that big of an issue and this wasn’t a seriously bad bargain.
She wasn’t sure if he was surprised or just couldn’t believe her as he made an ‘uh-huh’ kind of half-hearted reply.
“Goblins? You mean fairies?”
Edgar nodded and urged her to go on.
“It was found before the goblins.”
“By Kelpie.”
“Oh, no, it’s not that much of a problem. It’s easy, Edgar, you just need to call off our engagement.”
Edgar was silent. He was unexpectedly silent for such a long time, that it befuddled Lydia.
She felt like she was silently pressurized by Edgar who didn’t move a muscle as he sat right next to her. Lydia was starting to feel uncomfortable and wanted to escape from her spot.
He finally opened his mouth to say that.
P. 147
“And so, you thought that wasn’t a bad condition.”
Lydia’s towel was quietly taken away and she was peered down by his ash mauve eyes, putting her in dismay.
“Do you realize what you’re saying is horrible?”
“Did you think that I would happily agree to that? If so, then there couldn’t be any worse insult than this.”
“I’ve said it countless times. I love you. Please marry me. You won’t allow yourself to accept that so easily but even if our feelings slipped pa.s.s each other, I felt like our feelings were slowly coming closer together. And yet, you thought I would choose the diamond.”
“You can’t believe in what I say that much?”
“If you say that my wish would come true if I bargain, then tell me. What is it that I have to exchange so you’ll become mine?”
That heat stayed there for a short moment. And yet, Lydia had definitely felt it touch her lips as she sat in complete shock, her eyes locked on Edgar right in front of her.
At that moment, Lydia finally pushed him back.
“I haven’t done anything yet.”
“That doesn’t fall under a kiss. A kiss is more like this….”
“Don’t use me as someone’s replacement!”
P. 149
P. 150
Lydia swiftly stood up and dashed over to the doorway.
Hearing his yell from behind her, but not knowing what to do, she ran out of the room.
After a while, Raven came in and reported that Lydia had gone home early.
“It was awful.”
“It seems that Kelpie had found the white diamond ‘Daydream.’ He’s saying that in exchange, I have to call off the engagement with Lydia.”
“Raven, even you think I would choose the diamond over her?”
P. 151
So he does think so.
“Ahh, what is it that’s wrong with me?”
“You’re quite the harsh one aren’t you?”
He needed Lydia. But, the diamond was also important. He couldn’t let Ulysses get it.
“It isn’t like there wasn’t a way that I could have gotten both of them.”
Yes, exactly.
And he let his emotions take control and lashed out on her, but if he wanted to get both, then anyone would have said he did the most stupidest thing.
P. 152
He was adept at lying. But, there was no point in a lie that didn’t have profit. There shouldn’t be any meaning in what he said to her before she left, but if what he said were to have just spilled out of him, it could have been what he was really feeling.
“Raven, it isn’t like she has escaped.”
Raven held out a handkerchief.
He was careful not to force himself on her, so lately, when Edgar would get close to her, Lydia hadn’t put her guard up like before.
“I couldn’t hold myself back.”
“Ahh, maybe this really is the curse of the diamond.”
And in the next moment, he swiftly stepped over to guard Edgar.
By the time Edgar turned around, a young man with black wavy hair was sitting down on the windowsill like he had been there all along.
“What’s your business, Kelpie.”
This fae was the one who had the white diamond that Edgar wanted so much. On top of that, he brought up the idea of bargaining to Lydia.
“Hey, what did you do to Lydia?”
“It does. Since the diamond I have seems to be the blame. Ahhh, I picked it up intending to give it to Lydia, and yet it was something you were looking for. When I was a little worried and came to check things out, I find Lydia bright red in the face and running out of here and hear you saying a ridiculous thing like you want both Lydia and the diamond.”
P. 154
He had a seductive, perfect beauty. That’s why Edgar didn’t like this kelpie.
That’s why he hated men who had a much more attractive face than him.
If the only reason for Lydia to be engaged with Edgar was so she could remain in the human world, then as for her personal feelings, she might actually have positive feelings towards Kelpie than Edgar, and that was another irritation for him.
“She wants to call it off. That’s why it was such an ease for her to be able to bring this up with you.”
“So?”
Ulysses.
He wanted the diamond, and Lydia.
But, was that really possible? He mulled that thought around in his mind.
Even if Lydia was a soft-hearted girl, that would make her never trust Edgar again.
“What are you going to do?” asked Kelpie.
Although he hadn’t made a decision yet, Edgar’s emotions made a mumbling response.
“Hmmm, so that’s your response?”
Kelpie tutted and then, vanished.
“Raven, what on earth am I doing.”
“There is no problem. Lord Edgar, no matter whose hands it falls into, I will retrieve the white diamond. But, I can do nothing about Miss Carlton.”
That could be true. However, Edgar was more befuddled about his own uncontrollable feelings, than wondering if it was the right decision or not to kick away the bargain with Kelpie.