“It seems Lauretta became terribly depressed when your mother, Valencia, left the house,” he solemnly told her. “It became even worse after she learned your mother ran off with a mere mercenary. But she still tracked her down and sent people to keep an eye on her so that she could offer a lending hand if she ever needed one. I remember her being very pleased when she heard the stories of you growing up.”
That all matched up with what Phoebe had told Rock about spies poking into her and her mother’s life while they lived in that rural mountain village.
“But we lost all track of your whereabouts after your mother passed away. Lauretta nearly lost her mind, she was so frantic. She tried every means possible to find you, but there wasn’t so much as a trace for years.”
She probably never imagined her niece was living in the capital slums disguised as a man. Phoebe’s plan to hide in plain sight worked like a charm.
“Then we heard the rumors about you attending Duke Linus’s daughter’s birthday party a few weeks ago.”
Rock was shaken at this. She definitely remembered standing out more than she should have at that party.
“Rumors had it that there was a beautiful, young lady with wine-colored hair at the party. Count Mateus was her chaperone for the evening, but her identity was a mystery, and she was said to look a lot like Lauretta in her heyday.”
Placido stopped speaking to see Rock’s reaction.
When she pressed her lips in a flat line, refusing to speak, he let out a light chuckle.
“We’ve been searching ever since—for you, Roxy.” Then he began to plead with her. “Won’t you please grant Lauretta’s greatest wish? Her deepest desire is to have her own child. If you do, I’ll do whatever I can to make your wishes come true too. I don’t even mind if you go see your father. Lauretta won’t be happy about it, but I believe it’s the right thing to do.”
Rock couldn’t help but marvel at the whole thing after hearing the chain of events that led to this moment. When she spoke with him like this, Placido Alexis came across as a kindly gentleman who loved his wife.
But this was the same man who’d attacked Ebel’s carriage last night and abducted her while leaving Phoebe and Iniel to die on the roadside.
And then there was what Danilo had told her about Placido willingly offering himself up to the werewolf curse for Lauretta’s sake.
Rock stared back at Placido’s gold eyes from across the table. It was the exact same golden shade Ebel and Guido had.
“Do my eyes bother you?” Placido pointed to his eyes, noticing the intensity of her gaze. “You likely know this already, but this isn’t their natural color. They became this way the day I obtained the werewolf curse.” He took a sip of water, breathed in, and then straightened in his chair. “Roxy, I’ve been meaning to ask you—you know another werewolf besides me, don’t you?”
Rock knew he was already on to her, but she still didn’t answer him.
Placido also seemed to guess the reason for her silence.
“From what I heard from Lauretta,” he looked straight into Rock’s eyes and gave away what he knew, “it appears the young Count Mateus has the same color eyes I do.”
I can’t answer. I shouldn’t answer. I must never let my words destroy Ebel’s reputation or life.
Placido smiled as he saw Rock bite her lip.
“You don’t want to tell me, eh? I wonder what he is to you,” he said, then lightly shook his head. “Rest assured, I’m neither trying to pry into his life nor spread bad rumors about him. I simply wanted to see whether he was a kindred soul or not.”
Kindred soul. Those two words nagged at Rock.
Was he implying all werewolves shared the same motives? That certainly didn’t seem the case to her.
“As far as I know, the werewolf curse can only be obtained from an ancient relic—the werewolf statue—which houses it,” Placido explained. “The Brotherhood gifted me one such statue from which I received the curse. I just want to know if there are others like me out there.”
“…The Brotherhood?”
Rock accidentally broke her silence.
She had a terrible feeling about where this was going. She’d heard about the Brotherhood from Phoebe, Ebel, and even Johanna.
“I’m speaking of the Werewolf Brotherhood, Roxy.” Placido spoke the cult’s full name, exactly as she’d heard it before. “Lauretta and I offered up our prayers there, all so that she could have peace of mind and that her wish would come true.”
No matter how hard Phoebe and Ebel searched, there were only a few measly records left about the Brotherhood. Johanna’s werewolf hunter family only had their torture devices to go by, and Rock had come to believe that the truth about them had been forever buried in the past.
However, the Werewolf Brotherhood still existed.
The person sitting across from her had sought out the werewolf’s power to grant his desires—and succeeded.
“But you already knew that, didn’t you?”
Placido was smiling.
It was a gentle smile without an ounce of malicious intent.
Even Rock, who’d come across every kind of human in the slums, saw a genuinely good person in that expression. His was the face of a man who wholeheartedly loved his wife every minute of every day.
“Werewolves aren’t monsters. This is a wonderful power that gives hope to the powerless. If you’re already acquainted with one, then you should know that too. Am I wrong, Roxy?”
Rock found herself wavering as he pressed her for an answer.
She had no intention of ever becoming their child. Fredericks Berwick was her only father, and Vale Floria was her sole mother.
But if she stayed, maybe she could figure out where those accursed statues were coming from when Phoebe and Ebel couldn’t.
The Werewolf Brotherhood… If I could only infiltrate it…
“Will you give me time to think about becoming your child?” Rock requested, masking her true intentions to uncover whatever information she could. “I still don’t know anything about either of you. I don’t even know how I should behave in your presence.”
“I’m delighted just to hear you’re willing to think about it.” Real happiness showed in both his words and his softening expression. He took another sip of water and placed a hand on his chest in relief. “I really am glad. I’d be too ashamed to see Lauretta if you continued to be stubborn.”
“I’d love to speak more with my aunt.”
That part was true. Granted, she had self-serving reasons for wanting to talk.
“Wonderful. I’ll set up a meeting between you later. Lauretta will be thrilled.”
Placido gave the okay, so Rock plastered an awkward smile on her face.
And then she finally reached for the food on the table. She drank the water, ate the bread, and sipped her soup. She had no appetite but had to choke down the food no matter what.
She couldn’t spy on an empty stomach, after all.
“Is it good? I sure hope it suits your tastes.”
Placido’s golden eyes brimmed with unadulterated affection as he watched Rock eat.