Chapter 7: What is b.l.o.o.d.y wrong with everyone? Any reproduction, distribution or other type of use of these translations elsewhere is not allowed. In other words, do not repost. Hosted exclusively at Foxaholic.
"Nora Kranz. I need to talk to you."
On a certain day.
When Nora opened the door, a beautiful blonde lady with her hands on her waist stood in front of her.
"Pardon me but who are you?"
I feel like I"ve seen you somewhere.
"Even if you"re regretting it, can you stop bothering Allan? You"re no longer his fiancee after all."
Come to think of it, isn"t she the girl with Allan at the evening party?
During that time, she was wearing a condescending smile while putting up a charming facade. Now, she"s looking so picturesque, standing with the aura of a selfish young lady.
"I"m not regretting it. I hardly care about it. Um…" What"s your name again?
"Are you planning to keep feigning ignorance?!"
"To be honest, that was the first time I"ve met Allan… Um.."
I"m sure I"ve heard it. Even though she came all the way here, I can"t recall her name. This is so awkward and bothersome.
"You can"t deceive me. If you have something to say, go ahead."
"Well then, what is your name?
"What? Are you kidding me? You can"t fool me, I know you"re aiming for the Marquis" son."
You said I could say anything! But you didn"t answer me. Nora grumbled to herself.
"You"ve come all the way here, So…So… Soira?"
"It"s Sophia! Sophia Brandt!"
"Ah, I was so close! It was at the tip of my tongue. Well then, what did you say again?"
When she looked at Sophia after feeling as though something stuck in her throat was removed, she saw her face contort in anger.
"Even though you"ve been engaged with Allan for a short time, you"ve already gotten so full of yourself. But now, you"ve got nothing to do with him whatsoever!"
"Indeed."
In fact, I"ve got nothing to do him with in the first place.
"Engagement doesn"t equate to love."
"I know." That also means there"s not a fragment of love in your case.
"Your engagement has officially been cancelled."
"Yes, thankfully."
"–Stop messing with me!"
Nora simply answered truthfully but it seemed to have dampened Sophia"s mood.
"I don"t really get what you want, but I didn"t know about the engagement before. Which means I don"t have any lingering regrets about it whatsoever. By the way, isn"t Allan crazy over you? Then, there shouldn"t be any problem, right?"
"I will be part of the House of Marquis! I won"t be labelled as the Viscount"s daughter forever!" Sophia yelled threateningly.
Seems like we"re not on the same page. Probably better to just let her be.
"I see. Good luck then!" After cheering her on, Sophia gave her a demonic stare.
"Feigning ignorance is useless. Just wait and see." With that, Sophia got on the parked carriage and left.
Nora felt like she got entangled with all sorts of troublesome people.
I think I should do some cleansing.
Elias kept visiting Nora without fail.
He helped her with shopping, walked with her, and picked her up from her part-time job.
It"s said that poor people can"t afford to be idle, but it seems like rich people have nothing else but time to spare.
How enviable.
Nora has gotten used to his presence and was even thankful for his help during shopping. She"s also gotten used to the kids in the downtown area who kept asking, "Why does the handsome young gentleman carry Nora"s stuff?"
When they shortened it to "Mister Stuff", Nora felt a trickle of sweat crawl down her spine. But Elias didn"t seem to mind it and was even laughing so she felt relieved.
"Even now, you"re still playing with kids, Nora."
"We"ve been playing together since before so even now, I still look after them. The alleys here are quite confusing so most of them get lost around a lot."
The narrow alleys were complicated so it was easy to get lost even as an adult.
"Do you also let them listen to your songs?"
"Huh? Well, yeah, I sometimes sing for them especially to lost kids, to distract them so they"d stop crying."
I"ve never sung to a kid in front of Elias. I wonder how he knew?
Perhaps it"s because he"s seen Nora in her part-time job?
"I see." Elias nodded and waved in response to a child who called him "Mister Stuff."
"Nora, what"s that?" Elias dejectedly asked.
Following his line of sight, Nora noticed that he was referring to the flowers in her hand. Because he saw it, he probably knew what had happened.
On her way home from her part-time job, a man who referred to himself as a fan approached Nora in front of the restaurant. Saying that he was fascinated by her talent as the "Azure Nightingale", the man praised her song and handed her a small bouquet as he cheered her on.
"Even though you didn"t accept my flowers…" Nora was surprised to see him sulking.
"This was just a token of appreciation for your song. You didn"t need to take it home."
"You even said you didn"t want mine."
Looks like he"s jealous.
As the son of the Marquis, it seems like he was dissatisfied when he"s not prioritized over commoners.
How childish.
"What will you do with those flowers?"
"I can use it as a decoration in the house or perhaps the restaurant."
"…If I give you flowers, will you accept them?"
"I don"t need them."
Elias bowed his head despondently.
"Hey, Miss! You"re the "Azure Nightingale", right?"
When she finished her performance at her part-time job, a man called out to her on her way to the back of the restaurant.
The man, who was seemingly drunk, licked his lips from side to side as he looked at Nora.
She didn"t like the smell of liquor but she held it in because the other party was a customer. Nora couldn"t bear to lose her beloved part-time job. She had to endure and handle it well.
"Indeed, they"ve called me as such. How may I help you?"
"You"re not bad. How about serving me for a bit?"
Nora"s job was limited to singing. She didn"t serve customers.
In the first place, there was no such service in the restaurant that involved waiting tables. It was simply a place to eat while watching a performance on stage. It appeared as though the man was mistaken.
"I apologize but I…"
"It"s fine, just come here!" The man impatiently said as he extended his arms to grab Nora.
Just as Nora withdrew her hands in reflex, a figure appeared in front of her.
"What are you planning to do? You"re being rude." Elias stood and grabbed the man"s hand. Anger was clear in his tone.
"What the h.e.l.l, you rascal!"
"Mister, what"s wrong?" Before the man could say anything else, the restaurant manager swiftly arrived. As she looked in his direction, Nora could see Flora waving at her in the distance. Seemed like she has called him over.
At times like these, it"s easier for men in power to face each other and handle the situation than women.
The man went back to his seat as he was being pacified by the experienced manager. At the same time, everyone else went back to eating.
"Um, thank you." When she thanked Elias, his facial expression looked harder than before.
"Encountering people like that, it"s dangerous. Please rethink about working here."
"But-"
Indeed, she felt scared when she encountered that drunk man. However, it doesn"t always happen and she didn"t want to say that the restaurant wasn"t a good place.
Nora felt like he was against her.
No matter what Elias thinks, I don"t need his approval.
"I enjoy singing here and I earn money as well. It"s an important place for me."
She locked eyes with the grayish-brown haired young gentleman.
It was strange that he approached her because of the bet. It"s better not to get involved with him too much as they"re from different worlds.
She"s just gotten used to being with him, it"s as simple as that.
Even so, why is my heart in chaos?
"If you keep being against it, I don"t think we should still be friends."
"Nora…" Elias opened his mouth to say something but stopped and just quietly left the restaurant.
T/N: As some of you may already know, Foxaholic is moving to a . Hence, this will be the last chapter posted here and future chapters will then be uploaded in the new site instead. You can find this novel"s summary page in the new site .