Chapter 57

The seaside open-air café was quiet.

In the late afternoon, Lionel sat with Isaac at an outdoor table overlooking the sea. Having decided to avoid alcohol, he had chosen this spot, and found he liked it quite a bit.

For one thing, there were few people, making private conversations easier.

“…So, I plan to expand the business in that direction. I’ve already figured out how to package the paint. Now, all that’s left is to find the right materials to go inside.”

Isaac, listening intently to Lionel’s business plans, folded his arms and stroked his chin. Being quick-witted, he grasped the core idea from Lionel’s explanation alone.

“So, you want to bring goods from across the sea, right? If you only use materials from inside the Empire, you’ll be overtaken quickly.”

“Exactly. In just a few years, competition will spring up. I can’t monopolize all the tin or pigments in the world.”

Lionel took a deep drag from the cigarette Isaac had given him and continued.

“But if I set things up well from the start, I’ll be able to keep it going for a long time. It’s not like I want to live off this forever. As long as I make a profit before this winter, it’s enough.”

“Ha, really. A million gold, huh. Or is it seventy-five thousand now?”

Having heard about Lionel’s debt, Isaac clicked his tongue and tapped his cigarette into the ashtray. Both of them needed money urgently—Isaac with a child on the way, and Lionel needing to pay off seventy-five thousand gold before next spring.

“I suppose I’ll have to study up on these pigments. Where should I start?”

Isaac’s question was as good as an acceptance of Lionel’s proposal. Lionel smiled, satisfied with his friend’s decisive answer.

“I’ll introduce you to someone who can help. The best pigment artisan in the west.”

“Good, you’re well prepared. But Lionel,”

Isaac glanced toward the sea visible from the café.

“Does Miss Sollier need to know all this? Especially about the debt.”

Lionel stared at Clarette, who was strolling along the beach in the distance. When Lionel began discussing business with Isaac, she had tactfully left them alone.

Keeping his gaze fixed on Clarette, Lionel muttered,

“She shouldn’t know. If she finds out, Clarette will leave me.”

“That’s possible, seventy-five thousand gold is no joke. Wait, don’t tell me—”

Isaac frowned, realizing something important.

“Is that why you’re keeping your distance from Miss Sollier?”

“Did I keep my distance?”

“Of course. I wondered why you were acting like such a gentleman, but it turns out you’re hesitating because of your debt.”

Lionel couldn’t claim he hadn’t thought about it. After a moment of silence, he spoke the thought that had been circling in his mind for so long.

“No matter how things look, there’s one thing I’m sure of. I have no intention of letting that woman go.”

“Then…”

“But in the end, I might have to. If I can’t pay off my debt and lose my title and fortune, I’ll leave the ducal residence and return to the battlefield. I’ll be Captain Lionel again.”

Lionel looked at the cigarette burning at his fingertips and spoke quietly,

“For a man like that, Clarette is too good.”

Seeing Lionel’s humorless face, Isaac suddenly remembered yesterday. After teasing Lionel about bringing a beauty, Lionel had quietly said,

<This time, I really mean it.>

His voice had been so urgent, so sincere. Isaac smiled faintly and glanced at Clarette.

While the two men finished their important conversation, she was gazing up at the reddening sky.

* * *

The last sunlight of the day shone down on the sandy beach. Clarette bent down to pick up a seashell, but suddenly jumped back in surprise.

“Ah!”

A crab’s claw popped out from under the shell she’d touched. Meeting the crab’s eyes, Clarette withdrew her hand, embarrassed. As she stood up and brushed sand off her hand—

“Clarette, are you alright? Did you get hurt?”

“Oh, Duke. Did your talk go well? What about Mr. Hunt?”

“It went well, and Isaac went back to the ship. More importantly, your hand?”

The Duke quickly came over and gently took her hand, checking its condition. Clarette, embarrassed, explained,

“I’m not hurt, I was just startled. I touched a crab. It was a tiny one…”

“Still, be careful. Your hands are precious.”

Relieved, the Duke held her hand firmly. Clarette looked up at him, shy about the warmth of his large hand.

“Duke, you’re always so kind without even thinking.”

“Is that a compliment?”

He smiled jokingly, but Clarette answered seriously.

“Of course, it’s a compliment. Kindness is second nature to you. Did you learn that at the military academy, like table manners?”

“What? There are no kind people at the academy. That place is just a jungle, a jungle.”

Shuddering at the thought, the Duke shook his head and Clarette laughed softly. She was suddenly curious about his academy days—and about his childhood in general.

“Duke, you said you lived alone in the capital from a young age, right? So, did you stay in that townhouse until you entered the academy?”

“Yes, it just happened that way. Wasn’t planned from the start.”

“Really? Was there another plan?”

“I wasn’t planning on becoming a soldier.”

Surprised, Clarette looked at him, and the Duke added awkwardly,

“Originally, I was supposed to enter a boarding school around age fifteen, but my admission was canceled. I got labeled a problem child.”

“What? Why?”

“Um…”

Seeing Clarette’s intense interest, Lionel had no choice but to confess honestly.

“Just before entering, I beat up Richard pretty badly.”

“What? Earl Crowley?”

Lionel fell silent for a moment, gazing at the sunset over the sea.

Is this really the time to talk about the past?

In the end, he began to share the old story little by little.

“I first met Richard at my grandmother’s funeral. I’d visited the ducal residence every few years before, but that was the first time we met.”

Lionel had been fourteen, Richard fifteen. Richard Crowley, beloved by the Valentin family, met the ‘real second son’ of the Valentin family for the first time that day.

“Did you get along with Earl Crowley?”

“‘Get along’ isn’t the word.”

Richard trailed after Victor de Valentin throughout the funeral. Both had the same dark hair as the previous Duke, so those who didn’t know better thought they were brothers.

“Richard acted like he was the real Valentin, and I just stayed off in a corner. I didn’t hate him, I just thought he was pathetic. Maybe that showed on my face, because Richard called me aside and picked a fight.”

<Are you really the Duke’s son? You don’t look like him at all.>

<He called me because I’m his son. What, would I be someone else’s son? Like you.>

“…So you fought from the start?”

“We couldn’t help it. We were both young and both angry for our own reasons. So things got heated.”

<Lionel, that woman was indecent. The woman who gave birth to you.>

<How would you know? Oh, did my mother sleep with you too?>

<…You vulgar brat. Don’t say such filthy things!>

<If you know it’s filthy, then go play somewhere clean. Stop bothering me.>

Richard got angrier as Lionel refused to back down. He also hated that the younger Lionel was nearly his height.

“So, Richard finally lost his temper and said something unforgivable. That was the only way he could try to put me down.”

“What did he say?”

This time, Lionel didn’t answer right away, remaining silent. He remembered Richard’s words clearly even now.

<Be grateful that woman took her own life, Lionel. Because she disappeared, you got to become a Valentin.>