Episode 197
Elisha was silent. Lucerne bent her body in agony.
“Then hold on a little longer.”
Lucerne's hands were shaking again.
“Just by being held in my arms today, you made me regret for years.”
Lucerne's hand slowly raised Elisha's hand.
“Lucerne.”
Said Elisha.
“I don't resent you. I can't explain everything. I owe you my heart. So we just have to end it. Look. If we've been a couple but trust hasn't developed, and the marriage lasts. I have to be afraid that you will change your mind and lock me up again.”
“Know.”
Lucerne said heavily.
“Trust. That's always a problem between us.”
Lucerne muttered.
“I know.”
“…….”
“But Elisha.”
Lucerne kissed the raised bone on the back of her hand.
“I am such a bastard. I imprisoned you and owned you, when I thought you would only live by me. I was so happy that I shuddered at that time. To the point where I thought it wouldn't matter if I died now. People in our family were born and ate like that.”
Elisha's cheeks turned red. She wanted to be angry. But I persevered. I knew it was true.
“I still think about it dozens of times a day. Even if you hate it, I want to bring you and keep you by my side. Even if you hate me, I want to live with you. But I can't do that anymore.”
“…… Why…… Yo. This?”
“Because now you are the most afraid.”
Lucerne said.
“Your unhappiness is the thing I fear most in my life. You can become my nightmare with just one hair cut.”
“…….”
“So take it easy. If I don't like you, I won't even approach you in the future.”
Lucerne said. Elisha's hand trembled slowly.
“Why the hell was it like that……. Are you honest? This is your weakness. You are not that kind of person.”
Why are you acting like an underdog now? Why do you reveal everything I didn't know why he acted like he would give it all. There were so many opportunities and so many quarters.
Even at that moment in the past life. Even at the moment when her life was hell. Even when they took away the child, they never stayed by my side. While she turned away from her in her countless hells.
Elisha was crying and angry. It was a feeling she couldn't even understand herself.
She said, 'You couldn't even remember me properly. You didn't even know me and my daughter existed!'
My eyes were red with tears. I felt like bursting into tears again.
“Know.”
Lucerne said.
“I'm going to fix everything right now. I told you.”
Lucerne continued quietly.
“Now that will be the way I love you.”
“…… There's nothing between us now. I have no feelings.”
“A lie.”
Lucerne let go of Elisha's hand and said.
“You still can't lie to your heart. My eyes are shaking.”
“…….”
“Be angry with me, resent me, and break me. Rather, it is a normal couple.”
Lucerne said. Elisha's eyes trembled. Tears poured down.
“Lucerne. It's a waste of time. Only if you and I work together will we repeat the same thing.”
“I will have to watch that.”
Her sadness, those countless hours. At last she was recognized by him and she began to take her form in front of him.
“So I'm going to start by giving you trust.”
* * *
Lucerne left the next morning. And the doctor came. The doctor said it would be fine with a few days of rest.
“It's an epidemic flu. It seems that the fever has risen quite a bit……. Wouldn't you rather be hospitalized? Fortunately, thanks to the good handling of last night, it seems to have passed without a big deal.”
“Ugh, anyway. A young wife could be so foolish. No, she should have woken me up when she was sick. Yes?”
Mrs. Seton nagged at the doctor behind her throughout the examination. Elisha's head hurt.
“Mrs Seton. I'm fine now. Even the doctor says it's okay.”
“No, is this a decent human face? Her face is cut in half! What would she have been if her husband hadn't come running in a month last night!”
Elisha hesitated.
“Husband…… What?”
“If I hadn't contacted her wife's family home, it would have been in real trouble.”
“…… She says your wife has been in touch? How does she know how to contact him.”
“You used the emergency contact network when you came here. She went in feeling unwell yesterday and since she hadn't heard back until dinner time, she sent a telegram to her husband's contact in the capital just in case. You know If anything happens, she'll call the family right away. She said that's the policy here.”
“…….”
Elisha hesitated.
'Then really……. Wasn't Lucerne spying on me?'
Elisha seemed to have a fever again. Perhaps Elisha herself, long entangled with her crazy family, had the disease of doubting her everything.
“By the way, her husband's address is that of the capital's general. Maybe her husband is a military official? Oh, can I become a knight for life? Even in the dark, he is not an ordinary handsome man, and his dignity and appearance are not ordinary. The seed of Black Lion, who is making a name for himself these days. Could it be that?”
Elisha turned her back and evaded her answer. But as she flirted around, her mind was elsewhere.
'Then she got a telegram and came here. Judging by the time, he came within a month of being contacted.'
Elisha's cheeks turned slightly red.
'…… Really why that person. Aren't you sick?'
Elisha was a bit stung by his suspicions and cold treatment of him.
Even though she knows that all of those doubts are due to what happened, she…….
She had no choice but to do so.
* * *
Two days later, Elisha received an unexpected visit.
“A handsome male customer came to the first floor, and he looks like he's seen it somewhere.”
She wondered if it was Lucerne. Elisha stopped reading her book and she came out.
“Oh my, you are really handsome. Do all people in the capital look like that?”
“You know. Please tell me about the capital.”
I could hear the residents of the mansion and Elisha's neighbors laughing all the way down the stairs. Elisha is in the parlor on the first floor. When she arrived at the only room where guests could enter, she found Ian surrounded by women.
“Long time no see!”
Ian greeted me brightly and cheerfully. Elisha looked at him and she quietly turned her back.
“Oh, madam! I'm here with important news. Lady!”
She said as Ian jumped up from his seat. Elisha let out a sigh.
* * *
Elisha's mansion was, to borrow Mrs. Seton's phrase, 'very dignified' and 'rooted,' so grown-up male guests were never allowed into the house without proof that they belonged to her husband or family.
'But this mansion was completed this year. But how can there be a root?'
Elisha wondered, but she didn't dig too deep.
The drawing room on the first floor where Mrs. Seton resides almost every day. It was the only space to welcome male guests.
Elisha reluctantly prepared her tea.
“No, pretend not to know. I am hurt, madam.”
“Sorry. It's been a while since I've seen Lee An, and I'm unfamiliar with him. Seeing him like a playboy, I think I shouldn't interfere.”
“…… Wow. Do too much But it's nice to see you again after a long time. How much I look forward to the day when I can hear the lady's advice again at the residence of the general…….”
Elisha just cut off the witty Ian's words.
“So what are you here for today?”
Ian took a closer look around her and made sure the soundproofing was good. Then she handed Elisha a piece of her secretly well-folded letter.
“What is this?”
“Ah. It is our general's weakness.”
Elisha almost spit out a sip of tea. Fortunately, as always, her expression did not change much, only her eyebrows were raised.
“What is that…….”
“You asked me to tell you this. 'Don't think of threatening me with weak weapons like a marriage contract. If you want to catch a weakness, catch it right.'”
“…… Lucerne did that?”
Her head was dizzy.
'What is this man up to?'
Elisha unfolded the paper.
“This content is…….”
“Ah. Yes. If announced, the empire would be turned upside down. After the Cartier family has a mate, will this family be restored? Or, whether to destroy it as it is, the general had to choose the direction of revenge. Taking it, fixing it all, and handling it as you please, isn't it one way of revenge?”
“I can't let go of what the Cartier family has in their hands.”
Elisha snorted. Her Ian nodded her head.
“Yes, of course. They say that the mindset itself is different from others. You know! Anyway, various things happened and the general decided to accept the position of his successor. For that, it was necessary to deal with the people who filed the lawsuit instead of the family head. The other small places are not special, but the two biggest forces.”
“The emperor and the Great War?”
“Yes. Yes. You have to keep an eye on the two forces. Among the things Saint Undine revealed, there were cases where the two forces were intertwined, right?”
Elisha sighed. Elisha immediately understood the contents of the paper Ian gave her. It was obvious what the imperial family and the temple would ask for.
“Money the Cartier family has lent to the whole world. The biggest debtors of that money are the temple and imperial family. It seems that some of the debt was canceled illegally.”
“Yes. What. I made a virtual route through several business districts. Fake money moved, and various goods were imported from fake merchants. It's an outright lie. This is the record of the payment of the illegal debt.”
“Have you been to the lobby?”
“Well. It is a way to inflate and import holy relics and treasures kept in the imperial family and temples……. You know. Because everything is written. Anyway, the Cartier family also had to spend a lot of money. He lost his powers in the process. Lucerne acts as the head of the household, and the head of the house…… She was investigated for treason. Oh my gosh. That day has come for the Cartier family. Magic stones are the national wealth, and smuggling magic stones is treason.”
Elisha nodded her head. In any case, she summarized Ian's message. Lucerne was taking good care of the Cartier family.
'Really. He adapts really well, that man.'
But Lucerne will do just fine. Elisha always thought. It's not fair for someone like Jacob to take everything on bloodline alone……. She did not doubt Lucerne's ability.
“Okay. Therefore. If the contents of this paper are revealed, it will be a big deal. By the way. Ian. I found the wrong person to sell information to. I don't have the money to buy you this great information.”
“…… You're joking……. It really breaks my heart.”
Ian was crying. Elisha calmly looked at Ian without moving.
“Didn't I just tell you? Why did I bring this information?”
Elisha had an idea. Lucerne said. Promise to restore her trust.
“Did Lucerne deliberately give me a weakness? I……. Do you want to have power?”
“What. Could it mean something similar? So, have you read everything?”
Elisha silently handed over her paper.
'How can you build trust by giving in to your weaknesses?'
But if Lucerne tries to imprison Elisha in her back, or she tries to do something bad to herself, Elisha could use this information.
'…… Indeed?'
Elisha wanted to frown. How much can she resist with this amount of information in the face of his now stronger power?
Whether or not she knew what Elisha was thinking, her Ian spoke casually.
“Then I will burn it.”
“If you're going to burn it, why show it?”
“Because the mistress is keeping this paper and you shouldn't be in danger because of it. According to the general, the lady will memorize it after reading it a few times.”
She was right. Elisha suddenly felt a bit tired.
'Anyway, it's another one. That person…….'
“Lady? Do not worry. It can be reissued at any time. Besides, if you want an infinite weakness other than this, he will provide you with any number.”
“Reissuance? What kind of office is this, an institution? What kind of service is that?”
“Oh, you mean the institution? As for the details of the secret agencies under the High Warlord, they are all classified. The story got a bit long.”
“…… All right, shut up. Ian.”
Elisha wondered why all of Lucerne's men were so abnormal.
“In the first place, our marriage may or may not last. What do you mean?”
“Iknow, right.”
Ian scratched her head and said as if he were talking to someone else.
“I guess you want to do your best.”
“…….”
Elisha felt strange.
'I think I know why. I don't want to know.'
There were many similarities between Elisha and Lucerne's mindset and direction of action. So Elisha felt a little worse for her.
“After acquiring the Cartier family, she must have wanted to be generous. He acts on every whim.”
“Maybe?”
Ian tilted her head.
Elisha suddenly thought that Ian and Sophie were similar. Where the hell does Lucerne produce these men?
“But if Madam told me to abandon the Cartier family, would you break it into pieces with your own hands? That barn. He is that kind of person.”
“…….”
“Isn't the madam urging me to obtain the family name because she wanted revenge in the first place? I guessed that too.”
“What do you mean? I'm not talking about things between other people's couples. Ian.”
Elisha was unknowingly straight.
“…… Yes sorry But I get that feeling.”
Ian quickly apologized. Elisha shook her head and turned around.
“…… More than that, how is Nora?”
“Ah. It's Nora. Well. Entered the temple. He said that he had been through a lot of things lately and he had no face in seeing the lady. He said that he would purify his heart there and come back. I think it's a bit difficult in many ways these days.”
“…… Why do you have no face to meet me?”
“Ugh. Ask Nora about it when you see her in person. That would be nice.”
Elisha wanted to ask more. She felt a surge of concern for Nora. But on the one hand, she wanted to distance herself from the people of Lucerne. So she didn't ask anymore.
Then Ian hesitated and she noticed. And she spoke carefully.
“And the general……. He these days…….”
“…… I don't want to know about him.”
Elisha just cut it. Ian rolled her eyes and she nodded.
“By the way, madam, are you mad at me?”
“…… I don't know about the other seeds. Ian must have known the truth about where I was when I was in confinement called recuperation. Was my guess wrong?”
Indeed, Ian put on a stern expression at those words.
“It may not have anything to do with Ian, but the acting of pretending not to know anything is excellent. I think that kind of Ian is pretty shameless.”
“Wow……. Lady. Yes. Sorry. Haha, but this is your original personality. As expected, our madam is full of charm.”
“There is nothing to be sorry about, so let's go back. And since you don't need these useless things, don't bring them anymore.”
Elisha interrupted her Ian. And got up from his seat. In front of Elisha, Ian took out a match from within her arms and burned her paper himself. Seeing her Ian put her remaining ashes into the vase, she had a hunch that Elisha would be the one to empty the vase today.
“And. Tell Lucerne.”
Said Elisha. She turned her calmly sunken eyes to Ian.
“If necessary, I'll take care of my weakness, so don't feed me.”
“…… Yes. Lady. All right.”
Ian sighed and nodded his head obediently. Elisha frowned and looked at her in front.
'He's a really funny guy. That person.'
Elisha was angry, and she felt like she was losing herself by being so angry.
She had to think of Lucerne all day, feeling like she was coming and going, and when she finally got into bed, her thoughts didn't stop. Elisha picked up her pillow and threw it away.