Chapter 57

57. Dishonesty was inevitable.

It was long after Callion had left the parlor that Shayla Lephisto emerged from the parlor. She stumbled out into the hallway, barely able to control the tears that were welling up in her eyes.

“Are you going back now?”

The chamberlain asked politely. Shayla answered without meeting her eyes.

“……Yes.”

“His Grace asked me to ensure you return safely.”

At the implication that even the farewell wasn’t worth the courtesy of an escort, she raised her head, forgetting her disheveled appearance.

For someone who had impeccable manners under all circumstances, leaving her alone in the parlor was not exactly the way to behave.

Shayla stumbled out of the mansion with a grunt. She wished she hadn’t come for him.

No matter what Lucid said, she believed Callion still had his heart for her, and she wanted confirmation of that, foolishly.

The steps to the carriage were heavy. Droplets of water pooled at her feet with each miserable step.

She shook off her blurred vision and made her way to where the carriage was parked, where a familiar man stood.

“I’ll take you home.”

Julian Uclaire said it with a stern expression. Lowering her gaze, Shayla shook her head.

“I can go alone.”

“You were alone when you came, and I can’t let you go alone when you leave, so please climb into the carriage.”

“Fine, then.”

Shayla didn’t argue and climbed into the carriage. When she was alone, the tears she had been holding back burst out.

“Hmph…….”

She covered her mouth, unable to control the sobs that escaped. She dug into her dress pocket to wipe her face, but there was no handkerchief in sight.

“Use this.”

A hand holding a handkerchief suddenly appeared in the carriage. Julian Uclaire, with a compassionate gaze, handed it to her trembling hands.

“Wipe your tears.”

“……Thank you, Julian.”

Shayla buried her face in the handkerchief. The pale gray handkerchief quickly turned dark gray.

Julian Uclaire looked at Shayla with pity in his eyes. He would have wiped away her tears himself if he could, but he was a man who knew his place.

She was the lord’s woman, and she will become the lord’s woman. He didn’t know what she and Callion had talked about that made her cry so hard, but it was bound to happen eventually.

“……I’m an idiot, right?”

Shayla Lephisto spoke, her voice deep in thought.

“We haven’t met for a long time, and I look so pathetic…”

“No, you’re not.”

“If you want to laugh at me, go ahead. Just don’t tell my brother.”

Shayla gave a self-deprecating smile. Julian clenched and unclenched his fists.

“Don’t be too sad. Everything will fall into place eventually.”

“…….”

“Just endure a little longer.”

“If I hold on, will His Grace come back to me?”

“Without a doubt.”

Julian replied with conviction. She knew it wouldn’t be as easy as he said, but she wanted to believe him.

“Thank you, Julian.”

Shayla smiled, and her tears finally dried.

“I’ll wash the handkerchief and give it back to you.”

“You don’t have to give it back.”

The man replied bluntly and closed the carriage door.

Shayla tucked the wet handkerchief carefully into the pocket of her dress. The carriage began to roll slowly.

⚜ ⚜ ⚜ ⚜ ⚜

“She’s gone.”

Adelaide said, her eyes following Shayla Lephisto’s carriage as it drove away from the mansion.

“Let’s go in.”

The carriage, waiting at the entrance to the townhouse, finally moved.

Not wanting to run into Shayla in this mood, she waited for her to leave, which took longer than she thought it would.

She smiled bitterly, thinking that if she had stayed this long, they would have had quite a bit to talk about.

“Are you coming now?”

Callion rushed out to meet her at the entrance to the townhouse. His overly enthusiastic welcome felt awkward.

Shayla must have said something he didn’t like.

He must be bothered by what she said. It wasn’t hard to accommodate him if it made him feel better.

Adelaide smiled lightly.

“I took a little longer. The Duchess of Howard insisted on keeping me.”

“Did the conversation go well?”

“Yes. She was kinder than I expected.”

Adelaide untied her shawl and draped it over a chair as she spoke.

“She’s quite concerned about you. She asked me to convey her apologies for not supporting you before.”

“That’s good to hear.”

“She promised to help you achieve what you want.”

Her hands fumbled with the pins in her hair. The unfinished pin dangled from the end of her hair.

Callion, watching the scene with his arms crossed, approached her as she wrestled with the pin.

“Let me help you with that.”

Her hair was tangled in the flower on the pin. Adelaide couldn’t stand the silence for a moment before she spoke up again, chattering away.

“The Duchess also contacted the Duke. He’s expected to arrive soon.”

“That’s good to hear, since he doesn’t like to stay in the capital.”

“He’ll be a great help to us, since the Imperial family has voting rights on the Council. Perhaps he’ll arrive in the capital in time for the welcoming ceremony?”

“Hmm.”

The pin that had gotten tangled in her hair fell out with Callion’s noncommittal reply. Adelaide smiled as she slipped the pin into a drawer.

“You should have asked Margaret to do it.”

Callion asked with a wry smile.

“And did you talk about anything else?”

“Yes, we didn’t talk about anything specific, but when Duke Howard comes to town, I was wondering if we could meet with him.”

Adelaide replied, her voice bright. Her unnatural cheerfulness made Callion pull her into a hug.

“And what was the price?”

“There’s no such thing as a …… price for helping a nephew.”

The words quavered thinly. Adelaide Cornwall was a terrible liar. Callion’s hand tightened around hers.

“Are you sure?”

“If you doubt it, ask the Duchess herself.”

Adelaide twisted away from his embrace and turned back to Callion.

“What did Lady Lephisto say?”

“She said she missed seeing me after so long.”

“And?”

“Other than conveying the Duke’s support, there was nothing else.”

A lie.

Adelaide looked at him, smiling wryly. Their gaze quickly broke.

Dishonesty was inevitable.

***

A man in an eye patch paced the clearing.

Armed guards patrolled the area around the overgrown courtyard in shifts. As soon as the guards disappeared, the man hiding behind the collapsing house slipped into the courtyard.

“Who’s there?”

Rustle. The guard, alarmed by the sound of stepping on grass, shouted. The man quickly dropped to the ground. After thoroughly inspecting the courtyard, the guard soon left.

The man lay on the ground for a long time after the guard was gone, watching the action, and then slowly pushed himself up.

“You’re giving me a hard time.”

The dirt-covered Sycamore muttered with a bitter smile.

『Please find out about Velido. 』

Adelaide Cornwall was a smart and annoying client. He’d been tracking Velido’s distribution channels himself, but it was obvious it had something to do with Elkius if she asked him to look into it.

“Phew, that’s a pain in the as$.”

Sycamore removed the eye patch he wore for disguise and shoved it into her pocket. His vision cleared, and he could see his surroundings properly.

‘It’s so vast here.’

He’d entered the slum that Elkius had pushed aside. The site was overgrown with weeds after the poor were evicted for being an eyesore.

“Why bother clearing out the slums if they’re going to leave it like this.” they protested, but Elkius didn’t even pretend to listen.

“I wouldn’t have gotten rid of the slums, risking their wrath, just to neglect them.

Sycamore crossed the clearing, keeping low so as not to be seen by the guards. The clearing was overgrown with weeds and a different, broad-leaved, nameless grass in full bloom.

He plucked a leaf and drew a long line with his fingernail, licking the ooze from it with his tongue and spitting it out with a yelp. The tiny amount made his head spin.

It was Velido.

‘No wonder there are so many soldiers.’

Sycamore smiled wryly as he remembered the soldiers lined up at the entrance to the slum.

They claimed they were there to keep out the displaced poor, but the real reason was to hide the fact that Velido was cultivated here.

‘I guess they didn’t get rid of the slums for nothing.’

Even before the emperor’s ban, Velidos were widespread in aristocratic salons. There were many addicts who smoked Velido not only during poor quality entertainment, but also during ordinary drinking sessions.

When the First Emperor officially banned its cultivation and distribution, its price skyrocketed. Those who were already addicted to Velido were desperate to buy it, even for a thousand gold coins.

But the emperor himself was growing it in the middle of the archipelago.

‘It’s a bad way to go.’

Using the slums to grow Velidos is a clever move. The only people who would be harmed by removing the slums are the poor, and it’s easy to quell their rebellion.

What would happen if the world knew that the Emperor had pushed the slums out of the way to grow Velido?

“It will be interesting to see.”

Sycamore plucked the Valido leaves from the ground and stuffed them into a bag.