Since I Don't Know Anything About It, Shall We Break Up, Your Majesty? - Chapter 52

She couldn’t understand.

She didn’t know what he looked like as a child.

Even if she had accidentally seen a photo of him as a child somewhere, why was that image so vivid?

And most strange of all was that name.

— Laedro Karlei Stings Winger Swimpton!

That was.

That was…… the current king’s name, wasn’t it?

Lumiere took a deep breath, grasping her trembling hand with the other.

‘It’s just a dream.’

It’s nothing.

It’s just a vain dream.

It’s nothing but a spring dream.

His appearance was so extraordinary, or perhaps the atmosphere he had was unusual, that’s why she had dreamed it.

‘Besides, he’s not even from this country.’

Karl Winger was a foreign gentleman who had come across the sea.

Since he was said to be a relative of the king, there would naturally be some resemblance.

She tried hard to convince herself, but the eerie feeling in a corner of her heart wouldn’t go away.

‘……Come to think of it, what does the current king look like?’

Since he had suffered an unfortunate accident at such a young age, there wasn’t much known about his ‘real face’.

Only unpleasant rumors circulated, like he had suffered terrible burns, scars covered his entire body, or that his skin festered daily, giving off a foul smell.

Lumiere slowly, but deeply, inhaled.

The room filled with the smell of paint, penetrated deep into her lungs.

The familiar scent calmed her.

The moderately warm and calm quietness of the room also helped.

Only after taking several deep breaths could she calm the chill rising from inside her skin.

“What a strange dream to have.”

To be so shaken by just a dream.

Thinking she should finish her painting, she picked up her brush again, but suddenly dropped it.

“……”

It was because her own painting, which she had been drawing unconsciously for days, suddenly caught her eye.

“……This is.”

She traced the rough surface of the still wet canvas with the hand that had dropped the brush.

Her chilled fingertips hovered over the unfinished painting.

A pitch-black night where thousands of stars twinkled like jewels.

A beautiful mansion shining brightly in the darkness.

Sharp spires rose on both wings, forming a perfect symmetry, and over a hundred windows were all lit up brightly.

The artificial lake and waterfall spread out in front of the mansion were reminiscent of the vast Lake Atilos.

A promenade so wide and beautiful that it was dizzying, impossible to estimate how many kilometers it stretched.

She could tell.

The children from her dream were in this mansion.

Lumiere knew the interior of this mansion so well that she could pinpoint exactly which of those numerous windows belonged to the room where those children were.

Throb!

Suddenly, an unbearable headache struck her.

“……Ugh.”

Lumiere groaned, holding her forehead as if her head was about to split in half from the migraine.

It was as if her subconscious was pushing her away, telling her not to think about anything.

— Now you’re not…… anymore.

— Everything…… is.

— ……survive.

What is this? Whose voice is it?

Get out of my head.

Disappear! Go away!

Lumiere curled up on the spot, clutching her head.

It felt as if someone was rummaging through her head with a red-hot poker.

Rapid breaths rose up her throat.

Her rough movements caused the painting tools to fall to the floor with a harsh sound.

The paint that splattered from the impact made a mess on the floor.

“……Miss?”

An unexpected person caught her swaying vision, as if she were drunk.

Lumiere, who had been crouching and panting, barely lifted her head to look at the person standing in front of her.

“……Lau… rel?”

Why is Laurel here?

This was Lumiere’s private space.

Even Cindy or Tamia wouldn’t enter here carelessly.

Lumiere cleaned and tidied this place with her own hands.

It was a private place where every drawer was filled by her own hands.

Even if one of the servants had to come in unavoidably, they would never enter so suddenly without permission like this.

Is that why?

Lumiere felt something eerie.

Thanks to that, the piercing headache subsided a little, as if cold water had been poured over her.

The two faced each other, exuding a strange tension.

Lumiere, who had been crouching, slowly got up and opened her mouth.

“What’s the matter, Laurel?”

Laurel’s complexion was pale, and her clothes were unusually wrinkled and messy.

Biting her white, chapped lips, Laurel took a deep breath and then lifted something she was holding in her hand.

“……!”

It was a gun.

The very gun that Lumiere had hidden in the console table in front of the lobby.

“……Miss, you shot Tommy with this gun, didn’t you?”

Lumiere, startled, stared at Laurel.

“What are you talking about?”

“Tommy. My son.”

Lumiere’s vision wavered.

Tommy.

Tommy……

Right. Come to think of it, Laurel had a child.

Laurel had gotten pregnant at a young age.

The man who was supposed to share her future reportedly ran away with the daughter of an orchard owner, known for her beauty in the village, when she was almost full term.

Thus, at the somewhat early age of seventeen, she gave birth to a child, and though it was hard, she raised him diligently until now, she said with a shy smile.

Within that awkward smile, there was a faint trace of pride.

Didn’t he just come of age this year?

Although he grew up malnourished, small in stature, and often sickly, he was preparing to leave home for his mother’s new start, she said.

But you’re saying I shot that Tommy with that gun?

That means the man who was trying to set fire to her house that night and fled when caught was Tommy.

Lumiere stared at Laurel with a pale complexion.

“The reason I fired the gun that night was……”

“I know. The arsonist. You did it to catch the arsonist.”

“……”

“But you know. Tommy didn’t know anything about it.”

“What on earth are you talking about? Explain so I can understand, Laurel.”

“……It was I who betrayed you, Miss.”

Lumiere looked at Laurel intently without interrupting the story.

Laurel smiled sadly, creasing her wrinkled eyes.

Moisture appeared in her eyes, but she also looked somewhat eerie for a moment.

“I’m sorry. I have nothing to say. I did wrong. I shouldn’t have, but I sold your information for a pittance. I wanted to save some money. Mom, you’re still young and pretty, he said…… I wanted to at least prepare a small house for Tommy, who was pushing me to start anew……”

“……”

“Miss, I’ll be arrested now, won’t I?”

Laurel spoke in resignation, then fiddled with the gun she was holding.

Why did that awkward handling of the small, cold gun barrel seem so eerie?

Lumiere watched Laurel without letting go of her tension.

She had nothing to say.

After all, she was the victim, and she had almost lost her only precious home to a fire, during which many people could have been hurt.

And to think that it was Laurel’s son who did it.

Regrettably, she didn’t feel sorry at all for shooting Laurel’s son.

It was paradoxical.

“……I thought they were just asking to break a window.”

Lumiere listened to Laurel’s words with narrowed eyes.

“We didn’t know they would tell us to set a fire. Really. But Miss……”

There was something strange about Laurel’s wet eyes.

A strange madness had risen in her glistening brown eyes.

“……But that doesn’t mean the child had to die, does it?”

“What……?”

A rock dropped in Lumiere’s chest.

“He died. No, they say he died. They say he’s dead? They took him away saying they would treat him, but they killed him…… And then they threw him in the Tempel River so that not even a corpse would remain. Those bastards.”

Only then could Lumiere understand the root of that madness reflected in Laurel’s eyes.

An eerie uneasiness gripped the back of her head.

She quickly surveyed her surroundings.

She couldn’t gauge when that shiny silver muzzle would spit fire and shoot at her.

“If I had known it would be like this, I wouldn’t have started in the first place. Foolish, right? Yes. I’ve been a foolish woman from the beginning. From the moment I met that man. But, but still….. not Tommy…… I never regretted giving birth to him.”

The tears that had been slowly filling her eyes finally rolled down Laurel’s cheeks.

Laurel raised the gun.

Surprised, Lumiere shouted her name.

“Laurel!”

“But what can I do? Everything’s already gone wrong….. Miss, that bastard is telling me to set fire to this house again. Even though Tommy won’t come back if I do, why should I? That crazy bastard. He’s blaming you for Tommy’s death, but even though I’m stupid, I know it’s not entirely your fault.”

Tears kept flowing from Laurel’s eyes.

At the same time.

Bang! Bang bang!

The sound of someone knocking on the studio door was heard.