Chapter 44: Chapter 44

Elysia was walking with Ryan.

It was to look around the unfamiliar mansion a little more, and to have a conversation with him alone.

“Lady Elysia, is everything all right?”

“Yes. I’m fine. If it’s nothing special, but I came into this house a little earlier.”

“I was worried. I thought you were sick because you were still in the bedroom.”

“Huh? Uh... I’m sorry.”

Elysia smiled awkwardly. She hurriedly opened her mouth to move on to another topic. “So, did you know anything?”

“...Yes. I’m pretty sure who it is.”

Elysia realized that Ryan meant the culprit who used the poison on her. She hoped that the name to come out of Ryan’s mouth was not Lumiere.

‘...Please. Not that.’

However.

“It’s the Marquisate of Blanche. We need to confirm whether it is precisely Lady Blanche’s work.”

Ryan was told by Lloyd that he should keep it a secret from the madam, but he couldn’t. Since Elysia asked for it, he couldn’t hide it from his master.

“...Yes.”

Elysia exhaled with a disappointed expression.

Didn’t she already expect it? So, what was she feeling right now? A sense of betrayal as a reader towards the female lead? Or... anxiety about an uncertain future?

With the thoughts flooded in her head, she stopped abruptly and buried her face in her palm.

“Lady Elysia? Where are you uncomfortable?”

“...Wait a moment.”

If it was really Lumiere’s work, there was only one direction she was pointing.

That Lumiere has a heart for Cassian.

She couldn’t understand. Anyway, how could she even use such a poison? If she really had a heart, she should have confessed, even if Elysia was still in a relationship with Cassian.

“Ryan, does Cassian know about this now?”

“Yes, he knows.”

Elysia frowned.

Why didn’t he tell her?

‘I don’t think it’s because he knows Lumiere’s heart.’

Elysia grabbed her chest, feeling her heart pounding. Obviously, he had said he had no feelings for Lumiere.

***

Elysia called Philip from her makeshift third-floor office.

“Madam, did you call me?”

“Philip. I’d like to invite someone to the mansion... Is that okay?”

After the wedding she wouldn’t have to ask these questions, but not right now. Philip was still in charge of managing the mansion and welcoming guests.

“Are you going to have a tea party?”

“No, that has to be after the wedding.”

Philip smiled kindly and opened his mouth. “Of course. If you want a tea party, there’s nothing wrong with that.”

“That’s good. We’re just going to talk in moderation, so there’s nothing to prepare.”

“Understood.”

Elysia then handed him the invitation that she had prepared.

She felt strange when she saw the navy envelope that Cassian had used.

After Philip left the office, Ryan, who was beside her, carefully asked. “Lady Elysia, is that an invitation to the Marquisate of Blanche?”

“That’s right.”

“...I don’t want Lady Elysia to meet the Lady.”

Ryan then understood why Cassian had not informed Elysia of this.

He thought right away that if he had hidden the facts from Elysia, she wouldn’t have tried to meet such a dangerous woman.

“Ryan, we have to meet at least once, anyway. There are things I really want to hear and things I want to tell.”

Elysia stroked Der and smiled wryly.

***

Elysia came out to meet him on the first floor at the words that Cassian was coming home.

With Philip’s sullen look behind her as they waited for Cassian, but it didn’t catch her eye.

How long has it been? As soon as the door opened, the scent of the familiar scent lingered on the tip of her nose.

Cassian moved his steps and stopped when he saw Elysia.

“You’re back?”

Elysia smiled softly and approached him.

He felt strange at her words. While unsurprisingly, she crossed her arms and grabbed his arm tightly.

“Cough. Sir, the bathwater is ready.”

Cassian nodded his head.

She didn’t care what Philip thought of her. Elysia hurriedly grabbed his arm and dragged him towards the second floor.

“What happened?”

“Nothing. I’ve been waiting to ask you about something.”

As soon as Elysia arrived in the bedroom, she sat Cassian on the bed. The reason it wasn’t the sofa was simply because the bed was closer.

She then opened her mouth in front of him as she crossed her arms.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“What?”

“The poison. You knew who it was.”

Cassian frowned.

He warned them to watch out for their mouth, but in a few days Elysia found out. Still, he seemed to know who she was referring to, so he let out a small sigh.

Elysia covered Cassian’s face and met his gaze.

“Aren’t you going to tell me?”

“I just didn’t want you to know. I’ll take care of that.”

“I should know, too. I almost had a cup of tea with Lady Blanche.”

In fact, Elysia was not even arguing, and she didn’t know why he reacted so sensitively, but the words came out sulkily.

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve invited Lady Blanche to the mansion.”

The purple eyes sank sharply. He didn’t want Elysia to face Lumiere.

“The reason is?”

“I won’t tell you. I’ll find out.”

Cassian moaned with a troubled face.

At that, Elysia was also examining his expression thoroughly. Her thoughts kept wandering to the other side. He shook his head, saying it was useless, but it was to no avail.

“Are you really not going to tell me?”

He gazed up at her, rubbing his hand in her face.

Elysia’s eyes had already softened at his actions.

“...Don’t do that.”

“What did I do? I’m sitting quietly and scolding you.”

“Do you know what kind of expression I’m weak to?”

Cassian smiled slyly that he was caught.

“I called her because of what you said before.”

“I am thinking of taking Der out.”

He turned to look at Der, who was asleep on the bed. Moments later, Elysia clasped his eyes again, tightening her hand as she grabbed his face.

“Is there something else I should know but don’t know?”

“There are so many, I don’t know what to say first.”

“Then, we should have a serious conversation all night long.”

“Seriously—”

Cassian spoke as he grabbed Elysia’s waist.

“Passionately?”

She frowned slightly.

“Don’t talk with your body.”

He bit her hand, which was holding his face.

“Well. Then, only the lips...?”

***

Elysia ordered the maid who had been knocking to come in with a haggard face.

It was because she had a passionate and serious conversation with only her lips the day before. Cassian did everything he could with his mouth. All night long.

She was startled by what she had learned, and she came to the point of astonishment. He said he would tell her everything, and now she was in this situation.

Elysia looked down on her own body and hated it.

‘I don’t even have the strength to lift a finger...’

It’s because she was considerate to him and didn’t drink his blood. However, due to the exhaustion, she was determined to think only for herself in the future. She casually put on the gown that had fallen on the floor at the sound of the door opening.

The maid who came in was Gray.

“Lady, the butler told me to bring it to you. He told me it was the reply to the invitation.”

Elysia opened her eyes and quickly took the envelope. It was stamped with the seal of the Marquisate of Blanche.

The reply was faster than expected.

“Thank you. I’ll call you later. I want to take a break.”

“Yes, I see. Oh, oh well. Madame Shields said she was coming to the mansion this afternoon for a wedding dress fitting!”

“Yes, I see.”

After hearing the answer, Elysia struggled to ignore Gray’s red face.

When she saw that Gray was leaving, she got her body up and went to the mirror. There were enough marks without having to take off her gown.

“It’s really too much...”

Cassian seemed dissatisfied that the marks he had carved on the first day disappeared quickly.

He said, raising the corners of his lips after the marks had almost faded on the second day.

[ “Quick recovery. I have no choice but to engrave it often.” ]

‘Yes, the result was just lips...’

No matter how it was, she couldn’t lose the marks in half a day. She didn’t want to imagine what the dressing room madam would think.

Elysia let out a resigned sigh.

Then, she took the invitation and headed back to bed. The pale green envelope had a faint scent of flowers as she slowly opened the envelope without even using a knife.

A letter that began with the sentence ‘Dear Lady Lowell’ could be regarded as a desperate love letter. When she received the invitation, she was told that she really couldn’t believe her eyes, that she had trouble sleeping, that she wanted to see her soon, and so on.

Elysia admired what she had written over two pages.

It was because of the gap between what Lumiere had done and the appearance in the letters.

“Really...”

She thought it was pretentious.

After she finished reading the next page, Elysia folded the letter and put it in the drawer. The main topic was written in two sentences at the end of the letter.

Saying it doesn’t matter if it’s today or not, please tell her any time that is convenient for her.

Elysia finally took out a new letter and envelope.

She said today was good, so she thought she’d meet Lumiere.

It’s better to get things done sooner rather than later. Anyway, she was going to do a dress fitting today, so it was just right.

Because of that, she went to write the reply without hesitation.

It was too short compared to the letter from Lumiere, though she didn’t feel like writing down the words she didn’t even care about.