Duchess Pichet apparently didn’t pay much attention to the garden, as the landscaping was simple and barren. Considering the rumor that one of her lovers was a gardener, this might have been expected.

Exhaling a short, amused sigh, Lars headed toward the path leading to the garden but suddenly paused. He had heard something.

It wasn’t the sound of servants moving around carrying things. It was clearly a sound made with the intention of concealing one’s presence.

As he surveyed the darkness-shrouded surroundings of the mansion, his eyes caught sight of slightly rustling bushes. Without taking his eyes off the spot, he slowly approached, when suddenly something darted out and began running toward the garden.

It could have been a petty thief who had snuck in during the bustling party, but the man’s movements triggered Lars’s senses.

The loosely tied long hair and sleek, efficient movements. The silhouette reminded him of someone he had never forgotten.

……Quido!

The moment he saw the man’s lower face covered by a mask as he glanced back, Lars began chasing after him.

Wind carrying the thick scent of vegetation brushed against his cheek. As he entered the forest connecting to the edge of the garden, the darkness created by the shadows of tall trees rippled.

Lars’s eyes adapted quickly to darkness. If not, he wouldn’t have survived the countless night raids on the battlefield.

The masked man stood between two majestic oak trees.

“I wondered what kind of man this Duke Diconmeyer was, who appeared as if springing from the ground and pacified Freemont.”

Quido spoke calmly and bowed with an exaggerated gesture.

“It’s been a while. Your life thread is longer than I expected. To survive all those battles.”

His heart was racing and excitement made his blood surge, but conversely, his mind became extremely cold. The anger he had suppressed for so long was rising coolly, having found its rightful target.

“It wouldn’t make sense for me to die when you’re still alive. Right, Quido? As soon as I returned to Edmus, I looked for you first, but you were nowhere to be found. I really wanted to see you.”

“I’m just a lowly being who lives where light doesn’t reach. How could a noble lord like you find me?”

“What? I can’t hear you well.”

Lars pretended to cup his ear and smiled crookedly.

“Ah, is it because Kirhin tore your mouth?”

Quido’s eyes flashed in the darkness. A sound like a beast catching its breath quietly echoed through the forest. Soon, Quido spoke in an eerily subdued voice.

“I really suffered back then. It might have been better to die. The wound started to rot. I barely prevented it from spreading further by stitching the raw flesh, but the flesh decayed, leaving me with this hideous appearance.”

He raised his hand and pulled down his mask. His left lip was torn lengthwise, twisted and curled, making it look as if he were grotesquely smiling. In brighter light, one could have seen the miserable condition in detail.

“Every day I drool like a dog, and when the weather gets humid, the wound festers again. Baron Bickman left quite a gift.”

“You took his life. Isn’t that too trivial a price in comparison?”

“It’s because you failed to protect him.”

Lars faltered at the unexpected answer. Quido shook his head lightly and folded his arms.

“Who do you think Kirhin Bickman died for? Who dragged him into this in the first place? He was just an idle young man who enjoyed beautiful things and lived day by day. If he hadn’t been involved with you, he would probably still be alive, attending this party. Perhaps he would have married, maybe even had children.”

Quido’s eyes twisted into a smile-like grimace as he wiped away the saliva that had dripped down his lower lip with the back of his hand.

“Who do you think stole all that future from him?”

In the silence, his clenched fist trembled faintly. He could feel his nails digging painfully into his palm. Kirhin’s final face flickered before his eyes. Lars gritted his teeth, barely controlling his roughening breath before speaking.

“It was because of me. But isn’t it a particularly tasteless joke for you to exploit my guilt?”

“An even more tasteless joke is the fact that you’re getting engaged to Lucienne Bickman.”

Quido sneered as he spat out the rest.

“You, who caused her brother’s death.”

The responsibility for Kirhin’s death was something he would have to bear for the rest of his life. But that didn’t mean he would be deceived by Quido.

“……How strange.”

Lars frowned deliberately and took a step forward. Staring at Quido, who immediately stiffened, he continued.

“You seem overly emotional about Lucienne’s engagement. There’s no reason for you to be angry. And in my opinion, the most terrible joke is.”

Lars deliberately lowered his voice and added slowly.

“That you’re jealous of me getting engaged to Lucienne.”

“Nonsense!”

With a sneer, something flew with a sharp sound, and Lars quickly rolled his body. A throwing star was quivering where it had stuck in a nearby tree.

“If you value your life, you’d better back off. That young lady has other uses.”

“Lucienne’s uses are determined by herself alone.”

Lars retorted coldly, staring at Quido with sharp eyes.

“It’s not something for the likes of you and Balshwin to meddle with.”

With a “ha,” a sigh-like chuckle, Quido twisted his wrist. A blade briefly flashed in the faint moonlight. His pronunciation became unclear as sound leaked through the torn corners of his torn mouth.

“What a predicament. You must be empty-handed without weapons, having come to attend a party. Why don’t you beg for your life and try to escape somewhere?”

“True. I’m honestly afraid.”

Lars lowered his body, following Quido’s threatening change of posture, his eyes gleaming.

“Afraid that the drool you’re spilling like a dog might get on my clothes.”

In that moment, Quido lunged forward with a beast-like roar full of rage.

Under the moonlight, the shadows of leaves shaking violently in the strong wind began to dance like a mad jester.

* * *

Unforgivable. Throwing me like bait among all these people and then slipping away.

Compared to dealing with women who stared at me as if dissecting me to the bone with their curious and envious gazes, being buried in a swamp of documents for three days and nights would be close to a blessing. I took the opportunity to leave my seat when people’s attention was drawn to the Duchess’s lovers quarreling.

What made Lars truly wicked was how excessively he attracted people’s attention. I never imagined he had such talent for acting. Seeing how he treated me in front of others, I sometimes had the illusion that he was truly smitten with me.

“What? Glad they found a suitable place? Looking like the goddess of victory who appeared in your dream?”

I grumbled while cooling my heated cheeks in the breeze. Even a decent con artist would be no match for him. If I didn’t keep my wits about me, I would be forever trapped in the words he fabricated.

But it didn’t seem bad. No, it might even make me happy. If I could just see him for the rest of my life, calmly listing praises for me and smiling with that somewhat mischievous expression.

I raised my hand and carefully traced the necklace that filled my otherwise bare neck. It truly was an excessively splendid necklace.

……Could that story be true? That he had so many jewels overflowing that he just had them made?

“Maybe he had a pretty woman he had his eye on in Freemont.”

If he had gone around without covering his face, they wouldn’t have left him alone. Besides, Freemont was famous for its beautiful women.

As I glared at unidentified women floating in the air with narrowed eyes, I suddenly heard someone calling me.

“Um, Miss Lucienne. Miss Lucienne?”

I turned my head at the polite and modest tone to find a neatly dressed maid standing there. When our eyes met, she smiled cautiously and said:

“The lord asks to meet you in the Blue Mask Room on the west side of the second floor. You can go up those stairs over there.”

“Lord? Which lord……”

I blinked and asked, but the maid had already bowed her head and was hurrying away. Walking to where she had gestured, I found stone stairs leading upward. They were antique spiral stairs.

Does he want to catch his breath quietly because too many people are showing interest?

Two people came to mind, but I had seen Chester being held by his fiancée Bianca before I came out. So it was most likely Lars, who had disappeared.

I looked around and climbed the stairs. Upon reaching the second floor, the noise from the banquet hall faded, creating a somewhat desolate feeling. Antique lamps hung in the corridor with red carpet, intermittently illuminating the darkness.

The meaning of the Blue Mask Room that the maid mentioned was immediately apparent. The rooms lined along the corridor had masks of various colors hanging on them, and the blue mask was on a door facing this way at the end of the corner. I could see light seeping through the slightly open door.

Opening the door and stepping inside, a spacious room resembling a reception area unfolded. Mirrors, bookshelves, and display cabinets lined the walls, while large chairs and sofas were arranged in front of the fireplace.

And someone was sitting in a single chair.

Seeing his hand picking up a champagne glass on the small table, I sighed.

“Didn’t you say you’d bring me something to drink?”

I approached with a complaining tone, but the seated man stood up.

I stopped in my tracks at the unfamiliar silhouette. My heart seemed to drop to the floor the moment I saw the muscular shoulders that hunched slightly forward, arms longer than those of ordinary people, and gray hair illuminated by the flickering light.

“If you want.”