Chapter 56: Volume 11 - CH 7

After walking into glass greenhouse, the thick and dense greenery had covered Lucinda's line of sight. She headed towards the depths of the greenhouse, loathing the humidity and the plants’ intense fragrances that she was completely unfamiliar with.

She remembered hiding it under the base of the massive ivy ahead.

Lucinda approached that tall conspicuous plant, then crouched down and rummaged through, trying to find the bottom of the ivy. 

She used her hands to clasp the case. The beautiful jewel case was decorated with ivory fretwork carvings, just this alone was worth considering as a piece of art to be appreciated.

Used to conceal Madame Oughtred’s Regard necklace, it was indeed suitable.

The bottom of the case surely had a double tier design, or there was a mechanism that would open up from an unexpected area.

Lucinda confirmed this in many ways, like shaking the case, turning it over and so on, but ultimately, she still couldn’t find the Regard necklace.

“Do I have no other choice but to break the case?”

Although this was beautiful and considered to be an ornament, it was used as a jewel case and was expensive itself. However, the necklace ought to be more precious, and Lucinda thought that no matter what, she wanted to wear the Regard necklace. 

Even if she wasn’t able to meet with her aunt, as long as the necklace was found, it could be borrowed.

It didn’t matter despite this being her aunt’s jewel case, as she could say that Annie broke it.

She was already asked to leave here; in any case, a person who wasn’t present had no way to explain themselves.

In order to break the jewel case, Lucinda looked around, then saw a flower bed enclosed by a stone wall.

Hitting it should be able to break it.

As Lucinda stood up and lifted the case over her head, she heard the sound of leather shoes behind her.

She was startled and planned to turn around, then was caught from a person behind her. The jewel case accidentally dropped from her hands, and although the cover came off, it wasn’t damaged.

“So this is the jewel case adorned with the Regard necklace.”

A man picked up the jewel case and sneered towards Lucinda, who was caught.

When she noticed, she was already surrounded by several unfamiliar men.

“W-who are you guys……”

“Hey, quickly break it and confirm its contents.”

The man in front of Lucinda, whose mouth was covered, took the ivory jewel case and threw it against the stone wall.

The fragments burst out in all directions. The crowd of men gathered around the broken case, carefully inspecting the case’s bottom, the inside of the cover, and places with possible small cracks. Finally, a man among them muttered:

“…It’s not here.”

“The Regard necklace isn’t anywhere.”

What?

“Was it you who hid it? Hey, where did you hide it?” 

Lucinda, who had a knife against her by someone, was frightened. 

“Don’t….I don’t know…. Save me….”

“Hey Annie, what’s this about? Didn’t this girl hide the necklace?”

Annie?

Astonished, Lucinda gingerly stole a glance at her.

Standing before her was a black-haired woman. After seeing her appearance, she was sure that it was Annie.

“I just wanted to ask. What’s the matter? Miss Lucinda, if you know of the necklace’s whereabouts then hurry up and speak, or else I’m going to humiliate you.

“...Annie, why would you…”

“You want to ask, why the expelled maid would be together with these guys? They’re my comrades, we planned to steal in this mansion.”

“Y--You’re the thief...?”

“More or less. The reason why I approached you was in order to enter this mansion without being suspected. When I was temporarily hired here in the past, I was driven out because I stole a few coins. At that time, I heard that there were many expensive gems here.”

Afterwards, Annie changed the color of her hair, pretended that she couldn’t speak, and assumed her position as Lucinda’s maid. If she was a guest’s maid, neither the butler nor the head maid would investigate her experiences and cautiously observe her. In addition, Annie always lowered her head, so no one would recall that she resembled the temporarily hired maid. 

“I knew you wanted a maid who did not speak, so I decided to perform the role. Don’t you think the acting was cleverly done?”

The previous Annie, who would only tremble when she was cursed at by Lucinda, now unexpectedly changed into a person who seemed to show disdain for Lucinda, laughing as she poked fun at her.

Annie and the thieves eyeing the jewels were unexpectedly accomplices!

An impatient man hit Lucinda, who was speechless. 

“Where is the Regard necklace? If you don’t know, then staying here is useless!”

Lucinda, who fell to ground, dragged her body wanting to escape, but was surrounded by the men.

"I beg you, Annie...save me. Didn’t I give you biscuits several times?”

Annie smiled and laughed as she stepped on Lucinda's skirt.

“Oh~~ wasn’t that you throwing your leftovers on the floor then ordering me to pick it up? Are you a fool? The more I remember it, the more I wanted to get my revenge.”

“How troublesome, do you want to kill her or not?”

At present, Lucinda could only sob incessantly.

"Hey thieves, it ends here!”

Suddenly, a voice was heard. 

Several familiar people appeared at the entrance of the greenhouse.

They were the servants of this mansion. For some reason, they were all holding pistols.

Furthermore, that slender figure with golden hair was…...

"You’ve already been cornered! It’s futile to resist so drop your weapons!”

Although the one who said this was a short-haired servant, Lucinda’s eyes only saw one person.

“Earl Ashenbert ......!”

However, although she wanted to stand up, her shoulders were held down by Annie.

She pressed a knife against Lucinda’s face, saying...

“Damn it, so that’s how it is. Everyone, we’ve been deceived by that aristocrat!”

What did she mean? 

“Saying that the Regard was hidden in that jewel case was a trap.” 

“You finally noticed.”

The handsome Earl exposed a shallow smile, and Lucinda gazed at him, her mind full of confusion.

It was a lie, that the Regard necklace was hidden in the ivory jewel case? Earl Ashenbert deliberately lied?

He knew Lucinda hid the jewel case.

He also knew that Lucinda would take the jewel case after hearing about this matter, and knew that Annie’s comrades would follow closely after her.

He exposed the matter of Annie being able to speak, because he knew that Annie was a member of the group of thieves.

While Annie took Lucinda hostage, who was at a loss, she retreated backwards.

“Bastard! You don’t care what happens to this girl? You should be the ones to drop your weapons!”

A man yelled out among them, his other companions seemingly gaining the courage and assuming this position.

Regardless, the servants still held their pistols as they gradually approached closer.

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Annie’s hand that held the knife began to use force, thus Lucinda panicked.

“D-don’t come here! I will be killed! Earl, save me!”

Lucinda believed that she was quite suited for him, but the Earl exposed a smile at her miserable screams.

But that smile wasn’t directed towards Lucinda, rather it was towards Annie.

“Annie, it’s useless even if you do that kind of thing. Shouldn’t you be quite clear about that?”

Annie, whose name was called, trembled.

She probably recalled the scene where the Earl approached her with scorching iron tongs.

Lucinda also felt afraid.

At that time, Earl Ashenbert hardly retreated from committing such cruel acts.

Now, he clearly told Annie that even if she held a hostage as a shield, it was useless. It meant that no matter how Lucinda was in the end, he wanted to catch Annie and these men. 

Just as Lucinda realized that Annie felt afraid, she was also unable to make a sound.

“Lieutenant, hurry up and take action.”

He urged him on indifferently. 

“However, the hostage…” 

“You must choose your master’s safety or the hostage’s life. Even if it’s only a split second, you guys can’t be at all loss, right?”

“.......I understand.” 

As they began to step forward, the sound of shattering glass was heard from behind Lucinda.

Just as everyone thought that a shadow jumped in, the man in front of Lucinda was kicked down. Subsequently, the shadow seized the opportunity to pull Lucinda away from Annie.

At the same time, a brawl unfolded all around.

Once the gunshots sounded, Lucinda held her head. But she was immediately pulled up by the man who jumped in just now.

This brown-skinned youth was Earl Ashenbert’s valet. 

“Hurry up and get out!”

The youth pushed Lucinda out of the greenhouse from the place where the glass had broken,  then she ran away without looking back.

Even if she wasn’t abandoned by the Earl, she was unable to think it would be like this.

She used her hands to touch her neck, which felt painful, and discovered that she was bleeding. 

Incognito? But...

“Excuse me, isn’t the Madame’s name Alexandrina?”

“Yes, her name is Alexandrina Victoria.”

“Whaat!? T-the Duchess is…!”

Lydia’s hands were stuck to her cheeks, and her whole body went stiff.

That’s can’t be, I carelessly spoke a bunch, as if I threw up grievances...

But also, I didn’t see her off.

“This way, I have already introduced my fiancée, and Her Majesty has seen you. Next, as long as you grandly take this special invitation card, then entering the court will be easy.”

“Bu--but social etiquette...”

“As long as you know the basics that will be fine. As soon as Madame Maysfield returns, she will teach you without delay again. Furthermore Lydia, the one whose manners are receiving attention shouldn’t be you, but rather me. After all, I must invite the lady which Her Majesty the Queen had noticed to dance.”

Haven’t I seen that kind of scene?

That dream… was a dream that matched reality?

Not knowing why, Lydia felt dizzy.

“If you can’t do it, it’s okay to let him deal with it for you. Aren’t the two of you getting married?”

Recalling the words of Duchess Brightbery, Lydia couldn’t help but be thankful for her consideration.

“In short, this time you can now announce your engagement to the public, but Lucinda will be quite remorseful.”

“It’s all right, she only liked my outward appearance, nothing more.”

What, liking outward appearances, didn’t he feel quite strange saying these words himself? In other words, Edgar deliberately ruined Lucinda’s dreams with regards to appearances?

“Uh, Edgar...”

“What is it?

“Umm... it can wait until later.” 

In any case, she could not ask him what he did to Lucinda and Annie in front of Madame Oughtred.

But the Madame seemed to have misunderstood and smiled, as she left the room to let them talk alone.

“You wanted to be alone with me sooner?”

“A--as if.”

“But I hoped that I would be alone with you sooner.”

Edgar leaned forward towards her, and as if it was an old habit he pulled the reddish brown hair that only he compared it to the color of caramel. 

“Hey, why did Annie take Lucinda hostage? Furthermore, she was afraid and said that she would be killed with Lucinda by you.”

Edgar played with Lydia’s hair he had picked up with his fingertips while feigning ignorance. 

“Because of a little accident.” 

An accident? Edgar, this man would have planned for an accident to occur, therefore this sentence was unconvincing.

As coercing Annie into making a dangerous promise was the same, he in no way would show his enemies mercy. Edgar, who was unable to abandon his callous side, always maintained this state of being able to immediately fight when something suddenly happens. Even now, his body and mind still hadn’t settled into the peaceful daily life.

Perhaps even now, he wasn’t only thinking of marriage. 

So to say… could it be that...

“Edgar, you wouldn’t... have known of Her Majesty the Queen coming here, right…”

“How could I have known?” 

He replied with a big grin.

That’s absolutely a lie.

In the end, where exactly did this man get state secrets?

This, on all kinds of levels, made Lydia dizzy.

“This good fortune is standing by our side.”

Indeed, he still gets carried away.

Lydia lifted her gaze, and that familiar smiling face was before her. This kind of shameless cheerful smile was perhaps the style most like Edgar.

His old enemy had already undoubtedly died, but he threw himself into battle. Although Lydia still didn’t know the reason, she hoped that she would be able to understand and support him without the slightest hesitation in that moment.

She earnestly hoped that whether it was being tactful or distressed, there would inevitably be one day that he wouldn’t need to conceal anything under that smile.

And because of this, despite Lydia lowering her head, unable to convey her happiness and gratitude for receiving the Regard necklace, she still felt that being needed by Edgar was her own wish, thus as always, she nervously used her hand to grasp his in response.

[1] Japanese T/N: Following the Japanese spelling of Dearest, ディアレスト (Di-ah-re-su-to). Which is why there is no jewel starting with an E included.

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