“Fufu~ Look who decided to show up, Elysia. Isn’t this the young master from House Valmont, Young Master Lucien Valmont.”
“You didn’t need to tell me that, Big Sis. There’s no way I wouldn’t recognize someone like him.”
“Hmph! Good, the Ladies actually seem to know their place. So go ahead and accept my invitation to dance, it’s an honor for House Nocturne to dance with a descendant of House Valmont anyway.”
Elias had no idea what Evelyn was actually feeling underneath that smile of hers, since it blocked him from reading her at all.
But looking at Elysia, still flat-faced but with a vein starting to show on her forehead, it was pretty obvious she was holding herself back from causing a scene.
Right as Elias tried to slip away rather than get dragged into some noble kids’ drama, his wrist got grabbed by Evelyn, hard enough to actually hurt.
‘Good grief.
I get that you’re annoyed, but please don’t drag me into this!’
Elias shot a glance at Felix, who was busy stuffing his face with food.
Felix, catching Elias apparently trying to say something to him, just raised an eyebrow.
“What are you saying?”
“Shhh… Keep it down! Help me get out of here.”
Finding it weird that Elias was whispering, Felix glanced over at Evelyn and Elysia, who were currently squaring off against Lucien.
Realizing that jumping in might drag him into a mess he didn’t want any part of, Felix just gave Elias a thumbs up before going right back to eating.
“Good luck, kid.”
“Khhhk! You son of a… Where’s all that talk about us being brothers now?”
“We truly appreciate the thought, Young Master Lucien.”
Evelyn smiled, still keeping a firm grip on Elias’s hand.
“Your offer genuinely flatters us. It’s just a shame, we already have a dance partner.”
Instantly, Elias’s gamer instincts flared up, screaming that he was about to get dragged into something exhausting.
‘Not good, I need to get out of here…’
Before he could do anything, Evelyn had already pulled him closer and wrapped herself around his right arm.
Elysia followed right after, latching onto his left.
All Elias could do was stand there frozen, both arms now trapped between the two girls.
He’d already figured he might get pulled into some kind of trouble tonight, but he never imagined it would end up looking like this.
Catching Lucien glaring at him, Elias could only manage a weak little laugh, cold sweat already beading at his temples.
“…Haha… Hello?”
* * *
Back at the Nocturne estate, Arhan and Valeria sat together in one of the rooms that night, discussing the progress of the expedition sent into Blackwood Forest.
A stack of reports on the search for a cure to Valeria’s illness still sat on the table, while a warm cup of tea rested in her hands.
“How’s the expedition coming along?”
“Nothing much to report yet. They’ve pushed deeper into Blackwood Forest and found a few plants with properties similar to the medicinal ingredients we’re after.”
Arhan picked up one of the reports on the table and skimmed it again before continuing.
“But nothing’s been a perfect match so far. They’re planning to keep searching for a few more days.”
Seeing how exhausted her husband looked, Valeria lowered her head and let out a small sigh.
“I hope they’ll be alright.”
“I hope so too. We’ve been following the imperial physician’s lead so far, and we should find something eventually.”
Hearing that, Valeria just gave a small smile, looking down at her own pale hands, worn thin by the Mana Decay eating away at her.
The illness slowly drained the strength out of anyone who had it, and if left untreated, the pain that came from being unable to properly circulate mana would eventually become unbearable. The source of this chapter is g.com.
And for anyone with Mana Decay, the end was always the same, death.
Because of that, Valeria constantly had to absorb mana stones just to keep mana flowing through her body and hold the pain at bay a little longer.
Since she couldn’t sustain mana flow long enough to actually produce Arcana, she couldn’t use Magic at all anymore.
Even F-rank Magic was a struggle for her at this point.
“And yet I’ve told you countless times you don’t need to push yourself so hard over this, considering I don’t think I have much time left anyway.”
“And I’ve told you countless times that I don’t mind at all. As long as there’s still a chance, I’m not giving up the search.”
Arhan reached over and picked up Valeria’s teacup, noting the tea inside had gone nearly cold.
“Your tea’s gone cold.”
“Has it?”
“Here, drink mine instead.”
Arhan swapped their cups without waiting for her to respond.
Valeria just looked down at the cup now in her hand before glancing back up at Arhan with a faint smile.
“You always notice these little things.”
“If I don’t notice them, who will?”
Valeria let out a quiet laugh before finally taking a sip of the tea.
Once the conversation about the expedition wrapped up, Arhan leaned back in his chair, glancing over the remaining reports still scattered on the table.
“By the way, what do you think about Elias?”
Valeria raised her eyes, the cup still resting against her lips.
“Elias?”
“Ever since he arrived, I’ve noticed our daughters seem a little different.”
“Hmm… I’ve actually been noticing that too these past few days. Our girls have changed a bit since Elias showed up. Elysia especially, she’s talking a lot more now. And Evelyn’s been laughing a lot more than she used to as well.”
“Elysia, that girl… she really does take after you when you were young.”
Valeria rose from her seat and walked over to Arhan, settling down beside him.
Then she leaned in close, studying his face with a smile.
“That’s basically you calling me old, isn’t it?”
“…T-that’s not what I meant at all. Besides, age is just a number. Just look at yourself in the mirror, you still look way too young to be a mother of two.”
“Well, well, dear. I honestly can’t tell if you’re trying to flatter me or annoy me, but one thing’s for sure, you’re annoying me right now~”
“Ahem! I can’t lie to my own wife, I’m a good husband after all!”
Valeria rested her head on Arhan’s shoulder, holding onto his hand, rough and calloused from years of work.
“Do you think the two of them might have feelings for the same person?”
“Haha… Goodness, don’t joke around like that. I wouldn’t mind Elias marrying one of our daughters, honestly, but there’s no way both our girls would fall for the exact same person.”
“That’s fair enough, but… let’s just say, hypothetically, they really did end up feeling that way. What would you do?”
Arhan lifted his head and squeezed Valeria’s hand tightly.
“Well… as their father, I’d support whatever it is our daughters want.”
* * *
‘Ugh…
I don’t know if it’s because of the killing intent radiating off these two, but I seriously feel like sneezing right now!
Who the hell’s talking about me back there!’
At that moment, Elias was still stuck between Evelyn and Elysia, both of them still going toe to toe with Lucien in a shouting match.
‘This is exhausting, seriously…’
“I can’t believe it. The Lady of House Nocturne, famous for her beauty, her elegance, and her supposedly remarkable intelligence, would rather dance with a Caretaker? I’m starting to doubt those rumors about Lady Nocturne being smart at all.”
“Goodness. As far as we’re concerned, this is way better than dancing with some spoiled brat from a Duke’s family who never shuts up about his background and his face.”
“Besides, we’re not exactly fans of that overpowering scent you’re wearing. And we’re not too keen on dancing with someone drowning in that many excessive accessories either. Our sides haven’t even started hurting from laughing yet.”
“Pftt!…”
Lucien shot Elias a sharp glare, a vein already starting to show along his jaw.
It was obvious he was already furious, and getting laughed at by Elias on top of it only made things worse.
Realizing Lucien’s glare was aimed right at him, Elias immediately wiped his expression back to neutral.
“Ah, sorry. Please, continue, Young Master Lucien.”
“Hmph! How ridiculous! What’s there to even be proud of with a Caretaker like him? Aside from that handsome face of his, I’m still far more handsome and far richer than he is!”
“Hmph! Nonsense. I won’t deny that you’re handsome. But more handsome than Elias? Goodness, did someone teach you how to do stand-up comedy too?”
‘I don’t get what they’re doing here.
They’re even going out of their way to say I’m handsome.
I mean, sure, I am handsome, no argument there, but saying it that openly right in front of Young Master Lucien?
What exactly are they planning…’
Before Elias could land on an answer to that question, he felt Evelyn’s hand brush against his jaw.
“Does he have a jawline this sharp?”
Then she moved on, trailing her fingers along Elias’s nose.
“Does he have a nose like this?”
“I-it’s…”
Before he could even respond, Elysia jumped in with the same question, brushing her fingers along Elias’s neck.
“Does he have a neck like this?”
“I-it has nothing to do with being handsome! Handsome comes from the face! Not whatever it is you two are talking about! And what’s with the way you’re touching his face like that, like you could just lick him right now without a shred of shame!”
Sweat started beading on Lucien’s cheeks, clearly running out of comebacks.
There was no way he was winning a shouting match against two people at once anyway.
“Sure, we could lick him. Right here.”
“Right in front of you. Right now.”
“W-what?”
Evelyn and Elysia stuck out their tongues and began leaning in toward Elias’s neck.
The warmth of their breath against his skin sent a shiver straight down his spine.
‘Damn it!
They’re actually going to do it!
This is terrifying!
I might be fine if it’s just a lick— No!
I will absolutely not be fine with that!
But the bigger problem is, what if they decide to bite my neck and drain every last drop of blood out of me?
No!
I have to do something before they actually sink their teeth into me!’
But before Elias could get a word out to stop the two of them, suddenly…