“Lu, Lucy?”

As Kirhin tried to approach her, he froze at Beitram’s gesture of raising a finger slightly to stop him. Beitram’s gaze was fixed precisely on Lucienne. The way his lips were tilted askew, as if finding something quite interesting, was chilling.

What on earth was going on? What had happened while he was dozing? Instinctively turning his head to check the clock on the wall, Kirhin’s eyes bulged.

Four hours had passed since the time he vaguely remembered. The sun would rise in just a couple more hours.

Had they been playing chess continuously since then? Why on earth?

Unable to open his mouth because of the atmosphere Beitram was exuding, he alternately looked at Lucienne’s face and the chessboard, then raised his eyebrows.

Four white marble pieces and four black obsidian pieces remained on the board. It was difficult to hastily judge which side had the advantage.

Lucienne’s ash-gray eyes slowly moved across the chessboard. They were eyes so focused that one dared not disturb them. Her right hand placed on the table twitched as if calculating something.

In an atmosphere that made even onlookers tense, Kirhin swallowed dryly while reading the room. His throat was dry, but he decided to refrain from picking up a teacup, fearing Beitram wouldn’t leave him be.

The silence, like eternity, continued endlessly. Wondering if he should have just kept sleeping, Kirhin had been rolling his eyes idly when he suddenly straightened his back. Lucienne had picked up the black queen.

Her long fingers with somewhat prominently protruding knuckles then put the piece down.

“Checkmate.”

Her voice was hoarse from not speaking for so long. Thinking the game was finally over, he scanned the chessboard but couldn’t understand why it was checkmate with so many pieces still remaining.

Can I ask?

As Kirhin carefully shifted his gaze to Beitram, his mouth slowly opened. Beitram, with a chilling smile, willingly knocked over his own king on the chessboard.

“Your concentration is truly remarkable, Lady Bickman. I’ve lost.”

“Did, did you really beat the Count, Lucy? Really?”

Though he was surprised, he deliberately made a fuss out of concern for her bloodless face, but Lucienne didn’t budge. She was still looking at Beitram’s fallen king as if captivated by the chessboard. Beitram slowly rose.

“Now the Baron can see the morning sun with you.”

At those words, as if they were some kind of spell, Lucienne suddenly raised her head. Though Kirhin had approached her, the atmosphere remained tense, as if she still had a blade raised, making even placing a hand on her shoulder feel cautious. As he looked at Beitram along with her, the man opened his mouth with an expressionless face.

“The rain seems to have stopped, so I’ll take my leave. It was a pleasant night, Baron.”

“Are, are you leaving?”

“Don’t bother seeing me out. Next time, I’ll bring my queen and knight too, Lady.”

Beitram slightly lowered his head in courtesy to the lady and strode across the hallway. Kirhin followed him for a few steps before stopping.

“Are you really leaving? Count? Sir, Sir Balshwin?”

Not wanting to dissuade him at all, he closed his mouth at that point. Watching until Beitram, who had received a heavy coat from the faithful Brook who had somehow managed to stay awake, completely left the house, Kirhin finally exhaled a turbid breath.

“Why did he come anyway? To scare the life out of people? He couldn’t have come just to play chess. Lucy, did that man say anything to you? Did he threaten you? Why were you playing chess until this late dawn instead of going to bed? What on earth did he say?”

Pouring out his questions as he slumped onto the sofa, for some reason no answer came back.

“Lucy?”

Turning his head, Kirhin jumped up and quickly extended his arm. Like a puppet with its strings cut, Lucienne was collapsing right off her chair.

Kneeling on one knee on the floor while barely supporting her body, Kirhin drew in a short breath. He could feel Lucienne’s thin back soaked with sweat.

“Lucy! Brook, Brook!”

Her eyes were so tightly closed as if they would never open again, sending chills down his spine. Only then did Kirhin realize how much pressure this small body had endured, and he gritted his teeth. While he had been foolishly sleeping peacefully, Lucienne had been enduring alone.

“Quickly take Lucy to her room. And bring a doctor, right now!”

As he gave instructions to Brook and the servants rushing over and lifted Lucienne, something dropped to the floor. Kirhin’s eyes widened at what had rolled out from Lucienne’s limp fingertips.

“How did this……”

The intricately crafted perfume bottle was undoubtedly the one he had given as a gift. And the last time he had seen it was hanging from Lars’s waist.

……Did the Count bring it? If so, how much did he know?

Looking at Lucienne’s pale cheeks, Kirhin turned his head to stare at the door through which Beitram had disappeared.

It didn’t happen this time, but next time he might come with a sword. A sigh that escaped filled the air heavily.

* * *

Knock, knock, at the polite sound, Beitram opened the carriage door. Quido, with his head bowed, climbed in. Beitram’s eyes, sitting with legs crossed, narrowed. He smelled blood.

“You’re injured.”

“I apologize. My skills were lacking.”

“Which means you let him escape.”

Quido bowed his head without answering. It was a sign that his neck could be cut anytime. However, surprisingly, Beitram smiled and crossed his legs.

“It would be boring to catch him at once. At least we didn’t come away empty-handed, so it’s fine.”

He was certainly generous to him, but he had never been this relaxed before. Quido finally raised his head and, hiding his surprise, opened his mouth.

“You seem to be in a good mood. How was Bickman?”

“Interesting. Very.”

At the better-than-expected answer, Quido’s eyebrows twitched. Come to think of it, Beitram’s eyes had been faintly smiling all along, as if recalling something pleasant. He murmured quietly.

“If the Bickman family plays a more important role in this matter, the center will be not Kirhin but his sister. Kirhin is just a foolish idler, so whoever is behind them wouldn’t have thought to use Bickman as such an important piece, but the sister is different.”

It was an agreeable statement. Recalling Lucienne’s intelligently sparkling eyes, Quido asked.

“Is she indeed a spy planted by the other side?”

“I’m not sure if it’s a master-servant relationship. But it’s clear they’re very friendly.”

Beitram crossed his arms and cast his gaze out the window. The road was muddy, making the carriage shake quite a bit, but it wasn’t particularly unpleasant. With the day not yet bright, against the backdrop of the dim road, the chessboard came to mind.

The young lady of the rumors, whom he encountered for the first time, had caught his attention from the beginning. So small she wouldn’t even reach his shoulder, she was clearly afraid of him yet faced that fear directly.

No, beyond facing it, it was a gaze of curiosity.

Smiling spontaneously, Beitram wiggled his fingers. As far as he could remember, no one had ever looked at him like that before. Most couldn’t even meet his eyes, and the few who could would fret about whether their gaze might be considered disrespectful.

But that small girl was different. Her eyes were like those observing a wild beast she had never seen before, trying to see what its teeth and claws looked like.

So she could pull them out.

It felt too rational to be mere youthful impulsiveness. She wasn’t careless enough to reveal her true feelings completely. Very intelligent and cautious, and even bold. Otherwise, a beginner couldn’t have stuck with a chess game for over two hours.

‘Then, thinking my life is at stake, I’ll do my best.’

Lucienne’s clear voice echoed in his ears. The reason that voice left such a sweet aftertaste must be because of the fighting spirit felt in it.

Not everyone can have the heart to fight rather than shrink back against an opponent who could break their neck at any time. Yet Lucienne even charged into that fight intending to win.

He knew her claim of never having played chess before was a lie by the first game, and by the second, he knew she wasn’t very familiar with it. So he wanted to test her. He wanted to see what kind of person Lucienne Bickman was.

Her concentration, conscious of the perfume bottle’s owner, was completely different from before. Her words about staking her life didn’t feel empty. If she had ultimately failed to defeat him, perhaps she would have offered her own neck instead of Kirhin’s. That’s how desperate each move was.

In truth, he had no intention of doing anything to Kirhin. No matter what, suddenly barging in and harming a noble who had hosted him would be unacceptable without justification. It was an issue that could involve the royal family.

Besides, it was better to keep alive someone as transparent as Kirhin. Information could be gained through him. But Lucienne Bickman.

He had no intention of letting her win. Of course, he had been somewhat complacent, but it was still cleanly his loss.

It’s not difficult to look ahead a few moves and take a step. But the reason he lost was because Lucienne had blinded his eyes. She had somewhat figured out his tendencies from their previous games.

Calculating one’s own moves while simultaneously deceiving and luring the opponent is a different dimension altogether. Lucienne was much more intelligent than he had thought. Especially considering she was only eighteen.