42.
“Yes, it’s pleasant to hear my name called by a beautiful person.”
Count Lumine picked up the cards he had put down and asked Yu Jin a question.
“Have you played cards before?”
“No, it’s my first time.”
“That’s great. I’m quite good at cards. So I’ll teach you.”
Then he stuck close to Yu Jin, pretending to teach cards while feeling his body. It felt like a slug crawling on his body, but Yu Jin desperately suppressed his nausea. Perhaps because there were many eyes watching, he wasn’t touching him blatantly, so it was bearable. Though his eyes kept going to the vase on the table.
‘I want to hit him with that vase.’
Yu Jin thought this while listening to Count Lumine’s explanation with a relaxed expression.
“Do you understand now?”
Yu Jin nodded silently and joined the card game from the next round. Like the second floor, the third floor was also a space where the use of magic or other special abilities was impossible, so victory depended solely on luck and skill. And today, Yu Jin’s luck was inexplicably good.
“Is this good?”
Every hand he revealed had a terrifying combination. It didn’t take long for the chips piled in front of others to move to Yu Jin.
“How is this possible?”
A middle-aged man across from him groaned painfully, twisting his beard with his hand. The woman next to him had been glaring for a while.
“Are you really playing cards for the first time?”
Count Lumine asked Yu Jin.
“It is my first time.”
“Then is it beginner’s luck?”
“Haha, isn’t he winning too much for that?”
The middle-aged man interjected. The woman who had been grumbling all along soon stood up. She seemed to be thinking of moving to another table. After this happened a few times, the space in front of Yu Jin emptied. The only ones remaining were Yu Jin and Count Lumine clinging to his side.
“Shall we take a break too?”
Count Lumine clung to Yu Jin, speaking languidly. Yu Jin hesitated before nodding. Although it was a chance encounter, he didn’t want to miss this opportunity.
“Then, shall we go over there?”
The place he pointed to was a separate space covered by curtains. It was a rest area for customers who visited the third floor of the gambling house, where he had heard some people also engaged in lewd acts. Yu Jin lightly tapped the table with his finger before standing up.
“Let’s go.”
As soon as he said this, Keith’s expression contorted, but Yu Jin pretended not to see.
“Yu Jin.”
Keith, who had stuck close, whispered in his ear.
“What are you thinking?”
Yu Jin didn’t answer Keith’s question. The curtained space was larger than he thought. It was big enough for Keith to enter together, but Count Lumine blocked him at the entrance.
“It’s alright. I’ll attend to him.”
“That’s not possible.”
Keith didn’t want to back down. Knowing that Yu Jin had been suffering while pretending to be a scoundrel and interacting with people, he had no intention of leaving them alone. But Yu Jin waved his hand. What was he thinking? Keith wanted to ignore everything and take Yu Jin out of this place immediately.
“It’s okay.”
But Yu Jin’s will seemed too firm, so he couldn’t. Causing a scene here wouldn’t help Yu Jin. Keith gritted his teeth and stood in front of the curtain. He planned to rush in immediately if anything happened.
As soon as Yu Jin entered past the curtain, he surveyed the table. He was satisfied to see a vase placed neatly on it.
‘As expected, there’s one here too.’
Being the third floor where wealthy people came up, unlike the second floor, there were many decorations. The vase was one of those decorations.
‘If he tries anything, I’ll throw the vase.’
From what he had researched before coming to the gambling house, if an item was damaged on the third floor, security guards and managers would rush over. While some fighting was allowed on the second floor, it would be a big problem if it happened here. Because most were nobles or wealthy individuals.
Next, Yu Jin openly looked over Count Lumine’s body. Since he already had that kind of reputation, acting like this shouldn’t be a problem. Yu Jin’s guess wasn’t wrong. Far from being displeased, Count Lumine smiled at him.
‘He doesn’t know what I’m thinking.’
If necessary, instead of breaking the vase, he thought he might be able to pick it up and hit Count Lumine over the head with it. Count Lumine had a thin body compared to his handsome face. Better than Yu Jin, but too skinny compared to Jinhyeon and Keith. With a body like that and not being a magician, maybe he could win. Thinking this, Yu Jin sat down quietly in the chair. But what he had been thinking didn’t happen.
Count Lumine was more gentlemanly than expected. While he had been constantly touching Yu Jin’s body outside, he was well-behaved once they came inside. With delicious alcohol, food, and light conversation, the tension gradually eased.
“Among operas, I like ‘The Fairy of Lutiel’ the best. Especially when singer Arina takes the fairy role, it’s the best.”
“I’ve never seen an opera.”
He had gone to see a few times, but he was too drunk to remember the content. At Yu Jin’s words, Count Lumine smiled and said,
“Then would you like to go see one with me next time?”
“…I’ll think about it.”
“Please do come with me. I want to go with you.”
At those words, Yu Jin leaned his upper body, which was resting on the table, a bit more forward.
“Why?”
Well, the answer would be obvious. That he’s fallen for you, or that he’s interested. Something a playboy would say.
“The back alleys.”
The word Count Lumine uttered sent chills down Yu Jin’s spine. He covered his expression, which was about to stiffen instantly, by lifting his glass. He took a sip of wine, but couldn’t properly taste it. Still, it at least bought him time to calm his mind.
Yu Jin tilted his head as he put down the glass. To the silent question, Count Lumine’s eyes rounded as he continued speaking.
“You’ve been interested in the back alleys recently, haven’t you? So am I. I’m glad to meet someone with the same interests.”
“Not particularly.”
Yu Jin gave an ambiguous answer and slowly lowered his eyes. Then he slowly caressed the glass with his finger.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I don’t know anything. Really, I don’t know. Yu Jin repeated this to himself several times while maintaining a bored expression outwardly. He hadn’t done anything that could have been discovered, so where did the count get such information? No matter how hard he racked his brain, he couldn’t guess where. From reading the novel, he knew that Count Lumine was showing interest in the back alleys, but he didn’t know exactly how he was involved.
Because it was such an early part of the story and Jinhyeon had quickly taken over the back alleys, the story about Count Lumine wasn’t long. It wasn’t easy to navigate this world with just the novel content he knew. Swallowing the sigh that was about to escape, Yu Jin struggled to maintain his expression.
Seeing Yu Jin like this, Count Lumine shrugged.
“It’s a situation that could be misunderstood, but I have no ill intentions. So don’t be tense.”
It was a gentlemanly statement, but it was difficult to follow it as is. Yu Jin frowned as he looked at him. He needed to get out of this situation first. After that, he thought he should investigate again and then make contact.
“This is boring.”
“So you’re going to leave?”
Yu Jin stood up and pulled back the curtain to show with actions rather than words. Immediately, Keith, who had been waiting in front, clung to him. Fortunately, Count Lumine didn’t try to stop Yu Jin from leaving and sent him off more cleanly than expected.
It probably meant that he had something up his sleeve too.
As Yu Jin was about to leave the gambling house, the manager immediately rushed out.
“Are you leaving already?”
“It’s not fun.”
When he spat out the same words in a sullen voice, the manager said as if regretful,
“Oh my, how can that be! We’ll prepare something more interesting for next time. So please do come again.”
Though his words were long, no sincerity could be felt in them. Well, how much money had Yu Jin taken from here today? Yu Jin waved his hand roughly and got into the carriage with Keith’s help. As the horses started running, the gambling house and the manager’s figure gradually grew smaller.
“Haa.”
Yu Jin let out a deep sigh and stretched out his body. He had been standing the whole time on the second floor, and then dealt with nobles on the third floor, so it was understandable to be tired.
“Brother, I think we need to investigate Count Lumine more.”
“Did something happen?”
“Didn’t you hear?”
He thought someone like Keith would be able to hear the sounds from inside. When he asked in puzzlement, Keith answered.
“It seemed like there was magic on the curtain. I could hear faint sounds, but it was difficult to make out the content.”
So that’s why the count took me inside. Yu Jin ran his hand through his hair. The investigation of the gambling house had been insufficient. Although he had thought about using the vase if necessary, it seems he had been too careless. He needed to reflect.
“What did you talk about?”
“About the back alleys. It seems he suspects that we’re the ones moving now.”
“…We haven’t done anything to be suspected.”
“We used a lot of people this time. Information must have leaked from somewhere.”
“I’ll look into it.”
Keith’s expression hardened coldly.
