“My lord! My lady! Are you all right?”

“We’re fine,” Alec replied calmly.

Everything had happened in a matter of seconds.

“Alec, what’s going on? Someone screamed.”

Louise, still shaken, glanced around anxiously.

After briefly inspecting the carriage, Alec spoke to her.

“It would be best for you to return to the estate first. The road ahead should be safe.”

“What? But—”

“I have some urgent business to take care of. I’ll join you once I’m done.”

“What…?”

Louise looked at him in confusion but then nodded, realizing there was no other option.

“All right, but whatever it is, be careful.”

“I will.”

She gave him one last puzzled look, but understanding he couldn’t explain in detail, she climbed back into the carriage.

It was a relief that she already knew about his powers.

Marcel, still not in his right mind, was glaring and trying to fire again.

But before he could react, Alec appeared before him, faster than light, and shattered the musket.

Before Marcel could even fully comprehend what had happened, Alec grabbed him by the collar and, in a blink, hurled him to the ground. In that instant, the scene shifted—they were now deep in a deserted forest.

“Argh!”

The impact raised a cloud of dust as Marcel let out a scream of agony, feeling as though his bones were being wrenched apart.

Alec slowly approached him.

“Marcel.”

“…! Alec… Alec, you bastard!”

Marcel’s eyes were bloodshot as he struggled to get up, but a chilling fear, like an icy grip, spread through his bones. Suddenly, a massive shadow loomed behind Alec.

A lion? A bear?

Marcel’s eyes widened as he made out the glowing eyes of the mysterious creature.

“…!”

Instinctively, Marcel knew that this was no ordinary beast, and terror gripped his heart.

Alec’s voice, tinged with a sinister smile, echoed in the air.

“You don’t seem eager to apologize. I guess I’ll just have to keep beating you until you’re ready to kneel before me in front of my wife.”

…Impossible!

Marcel’s scream echoed only within his mind, too paralyzed by an overwhelming sense of dread to voice it aloud.

“It seems Louise would really like that.”

Roar!

“Ahhh!”

—

“Are you returning alone, my lady?”

When I arrived back at the estate, the servants were understandably puzzled, glancing behind me.

Alec and Andrew, who had left with me, were nowhere to be seen.

Andrew had likely stayed behind, caught up in mingling with people he hadn’t seen in a while.

As for Alec, it seemed he had stayed to resolve whatever strange incident had caused that explosion earlier.

‘Could it be that Marcel tried to throw a bomb at our carriage?’

If someone had attacked us, Marcel was the most likely suspect.

He probably wanted to kill us, but there was no way he could touch even a hair on Alec.

I gave my answer as I stepped inside the mansion.

“They both had some things to take care of, so I came back alone. Is Eloise home?”

“Yes, my lady. She returned a little while ago and is resting in her room.”

“And mother?”

“She’s already gone to bed.”

“Well, it *is* late. I’ll stop by Eloise’s room before heading to mine.”

“Understood, my lady. Shall I prepare a bath for you?”

“Yes, that would be nice.”

“Very well, my lady.”

Exchanging a faint smile with the servants, I turned away. I wasn’t sure exactly what had happened after we left the ballroom, but Alec would return safely. Still, I hoped he wouldn’t come back too late.

With that thought, I headed towards Eloise’s room. She had attended a different ball tonight, and I was curious to hear how things had gone there.

‘She even wore that polar bear fur coat,’ I thought.

Knock, knock.

After tapping lightly on the door, I opened it.

Eloise, who was being helped out of her dress by the maids, jumped in surprise and turned to face me.

“You’re just getting back now?”

“I came back alone.”

“Why? Did something happen?”

“I’m not sure yet.”

“What does that mean?”

Her eyes narrowed at my vague answer.

Smiling, I moved to sit on the sofa.

“Did you have fun at the ball?”

At my question, Eloise’s face instantly lit up. She abandoned getting undressed and hurried over to sit next to me.

“Speaking of which, do you have any more of that polar bear fur?”

“Why do you ask?”

“Everyone else wants to buy it.”

Her eyes sparkled.

Judging by her excitement, it was clear that she’d been boasting about the polar bear fur—our trophy from the northern expedition. The aristocratic ladies must have been envious.

“Who’s asking for it?”

“Just a bunch of different girls. They were fascinated, having never seen polar bear fur before!”

“I see. That must have felt good.”

I could feel my own eyes gleam slightly.

As expected of noble ladies, they had an eye for rare and luxurious items, especially those that were difficult to come by. And if Eloise, a trendsetter in this social circle, had shown up wearing it, it must have caused quite a stir.

I never imagined I’d benefit from Eloise’s influence this way.

If the nobility wanted polar bear fur, we had plenty of things we could ask for in return.

Suppressing my pleased thoughts, I put on a slightly regretful expression.

“But what a shame. It’s not really something we can sell for money.”

“I told them that too, but they don’t care how much it costs.”

“Really? They like it that much?”

“They just want it. It’s so rare!”

“True, it’s not about the money. The real problem is that you can’t easily catch a polar bear.”

Saying this, I reached over and stroked the polar bear fur shawl draped on the sofa.

The thick, bristly fur was durable enough to withstand the bitter cold atop Mount Kalanysh.

“Ouch, that’s prickly.”

I quickly pulled my hand away.

Though the fur looked soft and fluffy, it was coarse to the touch—after all, it had to keep polar bears warm in freezing temperatures.

Eloise looked at me with dissatisfaction, her eyes narrowing.

“But it’s fine, because it’s polar bear fur.”

“Still, I don’t think we can sell it. It’s too precious. You’ll just have to tell them it’s unavailable.”

“What? Why not? We could sell it for a lot!”

Eloise’s brows drooped in disappointment.

Had she perhaps promised to get it for them?

I put on a sympathetic expression, as if the decision was truly unfortunate.

“How could we sell something so rare so easily? But I’ll let you keep it for a few more days.”

“That’s not fair!”

I smiled at Eloise once more before leaving her room.

Though she glared at me sharply, her frustration was amusing rather than threatening.

Knowing that the fur was unattainable would only make those noble girls want it even more. And if their parents came knocking at our door, it would be even better.

After my bath, I changed into a comfortable indoor gown and sipped a warm cup of tea.

I wanted to stay awake until Alec returned, but sleepiness soon overtook me.

I must have dozed off, because the sudden sound of commotion snapped me awake. It felt like someone had arrived at the house, and I could hear bustling movement.

Knock, knock.

A knock came, as always.

When I responded, the servants entered. Noticing their uneasy expressions, I grew curious.

“My lady, the master has returned with a guest. They request your presence in the drawing room.”

“A guest? Who is it?”

“Well, um…”

Someone difficult to explain? I immediately got up, threw on my outer coat, and left the room.

At least Alec hadn’t come back too late, I thought with some relief.

When I entered the drawing room, I stopped in my tracks, unable to believe my eyes.

Alec spotted me and approached.

“Louise, you’re here.”

“Alec, you’re back early. I was waiting for you.”

I smiled at him before turning my attention to the guest sitting on the sofa, my expression becoming serious.

I recognized the face from earlier at the ball.

“I didn’t expect someone as noble as Marquis Howard to visit our humble home.”

“…”

Marcel sat there, fists clenched, teeth grinding. He couldn’t even look at me.

Shame and fear were written all over his face.

I took a closer look at Marcel, noting his state carefully.

The outfit that had been dazzlingly dressed at the ball earlier was now so damaged that I couldn’t even recognize it as the same clothing, and his face was radiant with hues of blue and red.

His lips were also cracked, showing signs of bleeding.

In contrast, Alec still looked neat, with not a single hair out of place.

I glanced between Alec and Marcel and asked,

“It seems our guest is quite hurt.”

“He’s not dead yet,” Alec replied.

TL NOTE: More advanced chapter of this story is already up to the site. Visit dusk blossoms for more advanced chapters and stories