131.
Count Lumine, who had been standing upright, stretched his mouth into a long smile. His lips trembled as they reached their limit, but he didn’t stop smiling.
“Th-thank you for inviting me.”
His large hands grasped his trembling face.
“You actually liked me, didn’t you? That’s why you called me, right? I know. I know everything. So be happy. I like you too.”
Honestly, Yu Jin wanted to tell him what nonsense he was spouting. Yu Jin had never felt any attraction towards Count Lumine. Count Lumine probably wasn’t much different. He might have been captivated by Yu Jin’s appearance, but he didn’t truly like Yu Jin. After all, Yu Jin had taken the back alley organization that Count Lumine had been determined to swallow.
He wondered how Leviathan had affected him to turn a somewhat rational person into this state.
Only Count Lumine’s laughter echoed in the quiet lounge. Given the situation, it seemed that even the shadows wouldn’t remain still any longer. Soon, the shadows would descend and subdue Count Lumine. As Yu Jin was thinking this, a sudden roar came from the window. It sounded similar to thunder falling from the sky on a rainy day.
The window shattered, and a white light burst through, attacking Yu Jin. The shadows quickly shielded Yu Jin, so there was no damage, but for a moment, his heart sank. However, before he could catch his breath, a second attack struck. This time, multiple streams of light raced through the lounge.
The shadows pushed Yu Jin, and in that state, he quickly rolled behind a nearby sofa to hide.
‘Should I leave the lounge first?’
As he bit his lip in contemplation, he spotted Count Lumine standing blankly in front of the lounge door, barely untouched by the magic. Could he push past him and run out? It might have been impossible normally, but Count Lumine was currently in a daze. It might be possible.
Yu Jin punched his trembling thigh and took a deep breath. Just as he raised his head to assess where to run, Count Lumine, who had been standing by the door until just a moment ago, was right in front of him.
Yu Jin swallowed the scream that was about to escape. But perhaps it would have been better to scream. Count Lumine covered Yu Jin’s mouth with his hand and dragged him out. Given the commotion, others would soon come running. So he just needed to endure for a little while. With that mindset, he struggled desperately.
Hearing the sudden roar, Keith looked around the mansion. As soon as he confirmed the disturbance, he ran straight there. He was prepared to be attacked by Rector, but Rector didn’t do anything. He just raised both hands and smiled.
“Go. I’ve stalled for as long as needed.”
Rather than cursing at Rector, Keith chose to move faster. He hurriedly ran towards the lounge where Yu Jin had been, and saw people gathered there.
“What’s going on?”
“I don’t know either. What on earth happened at Lucid?”
Curious onlookers peeked in, but were soon pushed back.
“Please return to the hall immediately.”
Lucid’s knights were turning away the incoming guests. Some guests complained about how the mansion was managed for such an incident to occur, but the knights remained consistent.
“We will contact you separately later.”
Lucid maintained the stance that they couldn’t explain what had happened right now. Among them was Geren, the knight who had been in charge of Yu Jin, and he was the first to spot Keith.
“Mr. Keith!”
Keith was able to naturally approach Geren through the opened path.
“What on earth happened?”
When Keith asked in a lowered voice, Geren answered.
“You’ll see when you go inside.”
And he pointed to the lounge with its tattered door.
‘I shouldn’t have left my post.’
He had thought Leviathan would do something, but he didn’t expect it to be this big. What could be the reason for this? Various assumptions flashed through his mind.
As he entered, he saw the lounge in an even worse state than outside. Yu Jin was sitting on one of the relatively intact sofas, with a doctor standing in front of him, examining him. Keith hurriedly approached and saw Yu Jin weakly wave his hand.
“Are you hurt?”
When Keith asked worriedly, Yu Jin shook his head.
“I’m not hurt. Just a bit shocked.”
When Keith looked at the doctor, he added an explanation.
“The head of the family is correct. He’s just shocked. However, his muscles were strained in the process. He’ll need to combine medication and treatment for the time being.”
“That means you are hurt.”
As Keith’s expression hardened, Yu Jin rolled his eyes and grabbed Keith’s hand.
“Are you angry?”
“No, why would I be angry? I’m just upset.”
“I’m sorry. I should have been more careful.”
Yu Jin looked at Keith like a puppy gauging his mood, then rubbed his cheek against Keith’s hand. It was then that Keith realized Yu Jin was acting slightly different from usual. Yu Jin often acted affectionate in front of others to pretend he was brainwashed, but this felt exactly the same. Only then did Keith think to look around.
‘I was too shocked at the thought that Yu Jin might be hurt.’
That’s why his vision had narrowed. To the point where he hadn’t noticed the stranger in the room. In one corner of the messy room stood a young man with red hair and golden eyes. He had been looking out the window, but turned his head as if noticing Keith’s gaze. He had a gentle impression at first glance, but Keith couldn’t let his guard down.
“Hello. I’m Greyardin, the second son of the Rockston Count family.”
“Hello. I’m Keith, serving Yu Jin.”
Keith remained tense even as he greeted him.
“Keith, Mr. Greyardin saved me.”
After hearing Yu Jin’s words, Keith found him even more suspicious. Was there such a son in the Rockston Count family? If he was involved in this incident, there was a high chance he was from Leviathan, but his face was unfamiliar. Yet he didn’t seem to be in disguise. Keith had memorized the faces of most titled individuals. Still, Greyardin’s face was new to him.
‘Did they push someone without a title into this kind of situation?’
Leviathan wouldn’t do that. Competition within Leviathan was fierce, and there would be many who wanted to be involved in swallowing Lucid.
“Thank you for saving him.”
Keith feigned calmness while trying to guess Greyardin’s identity.
“It’s nothing. I only did what I had to do.”
“Is there anything you want?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Surely we should repay you for saving the head of the family, shouldn’t we?”
“It’s really fine.”
“No. Even so, we can’t let this pass.”
“Is that so?”
Greyardin nodded with an innocent expression.
“Then I’ll accept a reward. But can I receive what I want?”
“Of course.”
“In that case.”
His golden eyes turned to Yu Jin, who was still clinging to Keith.
“I’d like to meet with the head of the family privately. I’d like to enjoy tea time together about three times, if possible?”
As Greyardin said this, he tapped near his heart four times with his middle finger. It was a signal used by Leviathan members to identify each other. Sending this signal now meant to make Yu Jin accept this proposal.
Keith’s jaw tightened. Sometimes, people don’t want to back down even when they know better. He suppressed the urge to shout nonsense with superhuman patience. Then he answered Greyardin, who was looking at him languidly.
“I’ll ask the head of the family.”
“I’m fine with it if you are, brother.”
Yu Jin quickly answered and then focused on Keith’s hand again.
“He has given permission.”
“Thank you.”
The doctor who finished examining Yu Jin then looked at Greyardin.
“My goodness, you’ve been injured like this and stayed quiet?”
The doctor was startled seeing Greyardin’s side soaked in blood.
“It’s fine. I’m tougher than I look.”
“Even so. If I had known, I would have called more doctors. It seems we’ll need to move to another location for treatment. We can’t examine the wound in detail here.”
“Then I’ll leave it to you.”
Hearing their conversation, Yu Jin asked in surprise.
“Are you hurt?”
“A little.”
“But your clothes are soaked in blood?”
“It’s just a bit too much bleeding.”
Greyardin kept smiling and comforted Yu Jin. Then he lay down on a stretcher brought by a knight and headed to the treatment room within the mansion.
“Shall we go out now too?”
“Where to?”
“We should go to the hall. There are still guests remaining.”
As much as Keith wanted to let Yu Jin rest immediately, there were still things to be done.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
