“Where were you?”

“My brother’s……”

As she hesitated briefly, Lars raised one eyebrow. Lucienne thought about dodging the question but then realized there was no way he didn’t already know, so she answered honestly.

“The office.”

That was why she hadn’t disclosed her exact whereabouts in front of others. She didn’t want attention drawn to the fact that she frequented the office.

As if reading her mind, Lars let out a faint scoff. Tilting his head slightly and resting his temple on his fingers, he spoke in a languid tone.

“There’s more you know, isn’t there?”

“What would I know?”

“Let’s see. For example, who killed that woman?”

His long-drawn-out voice reminded her of a cat stretching lazily on a peaceful afternoon, but his eyes said otherwise. Lucienne bit her lips under the sharp gaze he was directing at her. Her stubborn attitude seemed to irritate him, and he clicked his tongue in disapproval.

“There’s no need to hold out. They say she died because of some dangerous task you assigned her. Then, naturally, you’d also know why she was killed.”

“I-I never said that……!”

“You said it all in your sleep. If secrets spill out while you’re asleep, it means they’re too much for you to handle on your own. So stop being stubborn and tell me. Who is it?”

Lucienne felt like a fish caught in a tightly woven net. Her thoughts raced as she blinked her swelling eyes wide open.

“This has nothing to do with you, Lord Lars.”

“I’ll decide that after hearing it.”

“I’ll handle it. I’ll make sure to do it myself.”

“I never said I’d help. I’m not that free, after all. But.”

As Lucienne opened her mouth to immediately ask why, he raised his hand lightly, cutting her off.

“If something unusual is happening in the Bickman household, I need to know the full story. Absolutely.”

Lars’s tone was firm, leaving no room for argument. Lucienne let out a faint sigh, vaguely understanding why.

Since he was secretly involved in some dealings with Kirhin, he would need to confirm whether any incident in the Bickman estate was connected to their opponent. Specifically, Count Balshwin.

Realizing that he wouldn’t back down, Lucienne emptied her glass of water. Then she began to tell him everything—about Nina’s behavior, Laurel’s ambitions, and her own thoughts. She left out the part about snooping in Nina’s room and anything related to Fatura.

Lars listened throughout with an expression that could only be described as utterly baffled. But as Lucienne explained, her thoughts seemed to become clearer than before. When she finally finished speaking, she licked her dry lips.

“……So. What do you plan to do?”

Taking a deep breath, Lars crossed his legs in the opposite direction and folded his arms.

“You know that even if an investigator comes, they won’t be able to take you away. At most, the name of the brilliant Lucienne Bickman will have a slight stain on its record. In other words, staying still won’t cause any major problems.”

As if he could hear her thinking, “But there’s no way I’d stay still,” Lars gave her a look and muttered something under his breath.

“I’m going to investigate Laurel’s room. And her recent activities. If I find out what she was looking for or what she found, I’ll also understand why it was a threat to Nina.”

Lucienne answered impulsively, but then she froze. If that’s the case, now was the time. In the afternoon, with all the commotion and people around, Nina wouldn’t have had the time to search Laurel’s room. She had to do it before it was too late. The timing was perfect for acting discreetly.

As soon as her calculations were complete, Lucienne steadied herself and hurriedly got out of bed. Lars, who had been watching her, furrowed his brows.

“You’re not seriously planning to go now……”

“If I don’t go now, it might be too late. What do you think? It’s not like this has anything to do with you, Lord Lars, does it?”

As she spoke, tying up the hem of her dress to keep it from dragging on the floor, Lars let out a long sigh.

“You were just crying in your sleep because of a nightmare, and now you’re going to investigate a dead woman’s room?”

“I told you, if I don’t do this now, I can’t. Laurel might have left something behind. If Nina gets her hands on it, Laurel’s death will mean nothing.”

Lucienne’s voice seemed to waver as she spoke, so she forced herself to maintain a neutral expression. Her back, still damp with cold sweat, hadn’t even dried yet. Gripping her dress tightly to hide her trembling hands, she straightened her posture.

She wanted to appear unaffected. She wanted to show that she could handle this alone, without relying on anyone.

Lars, who had been silently watching her, eventually shook his head briefly and stood up.

“Fine. Lead the way.”

“……What?”

Startled, Lucienne blinked in confusion.

“You’re coming with me? What if someone catches us……”

“Do you think anyone here could harm me?”

Lars’s eyes gleamed coldly as he let out a cynical laugh. His profile, devoid of emotion, was breathtakingly beautiful, yet it exuded a chilling majesty akin to that of a warlord. That was why his words didn’t sound hollow.

“If what you say is true, Nina is someone who could kill to protect herself. You wouldn’t be an exception. She’s already crossed the line, so she wouldn’t hesitate to commit worse crimes.”

His low voice pierced deep into her heart. Following him with her gaze as he walked ahead, Lucienne asked,

“Is that why you’re coming with me? Are you worried Nina might catch me and kill me?”

Lars, who was about to open the door, glanced back at her. His narrowed eyes carried an expression of mild annoyance. As his gaze lowered, Lucienne bowed her head slightly, and his voice reached her ears.

“Is your foot healed?”

Her chest tightened reflexively. Every time Lars showed he remembered something about her, she felt an overwhelming happiness tinged with a faint sadness. Sniffling unnecessarily, she asked back,

“Is your arm healed?”

Lars smirked faintly at her sharp glare. Lucienne followed him as he began walking again. Though the world was shrouded in darkness and silence, she felt no fear.

＊＊＊

At some point, Laurel had mentioned the moldy smell of her room. But the room wasn’t as bad as Lucienne had imagined. At least, compared to the storage room she had used at Mrs. Almon’s house, it was still a proper “room.”

As she absentmindedly looked around, Lucienne suddenly froze. In the wardrobe hung one of Laurel’s favorite old skirts. The lace trim at the hem was frayed. Seeing that skirt brought a flood of memories of Laurel—vivid and alive.

A rush of heat surged in her chest. Feeling her eyes grow hot, Lucienne cleared her throat and began rummaging through Laurel’s desk drawers. There wasn’t much to see, as Laurel’s belongings were sparse.

Lars didn’t help her. He simply looked out the window, occasionally glancing at her. Thanks to that, Lucienne could move calmly and focus.

She thoroughly examined the small notes, letters, and books in the drawers but found nothing special. Next to a small amount of loose change were some receipts, which she decided to take. They might help in tracking Laurel’s activities.

“There doesn’t seem to be anything else worth seeing.”

“There are no signs of anyone having searched the place. If she had any sense, she wouldn’t have kept anything important here. Nina could enter at any time.”

His tone, as if he hadn’t expected much from the start, irritated Lucienne. Pouting, she perched on the edge of Laurel’s bed.

“Have you ever done that, Lord Lars?”

“Done what?”

“Spilled secrets in your sleep because they were too much to handle alone.”

Lars, who had been looking out the window, tilted his head slightly. His sharp eyes seemed to flicker with a faint trace of humor. Treating her like a child, he scoffed and replied,

“My stomach is far bigger than yours, kid.”

“But you must have had a first time. When you were small, like me.”

“Hmm. I don’t remember much from when I was three.”

His flippant response made Lucienne frown. Glaring at him like a sulking cat, she saw Lars smirk and mutter,

“Who knows. Maybe I did. But there was no one to listen to my sleep-talking when I was young.”

He didn’t seem sad. But the lack of emotion in his tone hurt Lucienne more, and she cautiously asked,

“Where were you when you were seventeen?”

“Askun.”

The unexpected answer made her eyes widen. She had heard from Kirhin that Lars had been on the battlefield, but she hadn’t realized he had been there at her age.

How much danger had he faced? How much death had he seen?

A little, just a little, Lucienne thought she understood why Lars treated her like a child. Of course, that didn’t mean she liked being treated that way.

“How did you end up going to that place……”