I did think she’s been acting strange for a while, but just what happened to her after I left the house?!
All Jeanette had heard was that Ariel hadn’t been attending high society events at all recently, but she seemed like a completely different person than before.
“Is that right?!” Leila screamed. “And if Jeanette won’t become the bride, then who do you think it will be?!”
“I...!”
As the argument escalated, Jeanette opened her mouth to timidly interject. “Hold on, you two... Things are getting a bit out of hand, so how about we go back home and think this through? It’s already gotten dark outside...”
“Huh?! What are you saying?! You’ll be going to the marquis’s mansion after this!” Leila screeched, angrily enough that her spittle went flying everywhere.
Jeanette looked troubled. “You say that, but since it’s two against one, you’re at a disadvantage here, mother...”
Leila’s face stiffened. “You... So what if you two are conspiring against me?! I can order the thugs outside to come in here and forcibly change your clothes!”
The woman seemed intent on going through with her threat. Jeanette reached for her crime prevention balls with a conflicted frown. “If my prediction is correct, this is about the time Lord Claus should be arriving...”
As if on cue, there was a clamor outside. Some disturbing bangs and whacks rang through the air, and then the door burst open.
“Jeanette!!!”
Together with a cloud of dust, a frantic Claus entered. His hair was disheveled and his bloodshot eyes swiftly scanned the room. The second he spotted Jeanette, his face lit up. A moment later, he was hugging her tightly. “Oh, I’m so glad you’re all right...! My heart almost stopped when I heard you had been abducted!”
“S-Sorry! I was hoping to get back home peacefully before you could get worried...” Jeanette said, unable to move from how tightly he was holding her.
“Milady!” Sara shouted, flying into the room as well.
In truth, Jeanette had gone out to meet Ariel knowing that Claus would come for her if anything happened. After all, back when she and Sara had first left the Roussel estate and begun searching for an inn, Claus had been shaken. He had told Jeanette, “You’re going to have an escort twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year.”
Of course, the embarrassed Jeanette had tried negotiating on the matter. In the end, they’d agreed that she’d have an escort if Claus had to leave her side even for a little bit, which seemed to have appeased him.
That was why when Jeanette had been abducted, she was sure someone had sent a homing pigeon to Claus, as the guards always carried a small bird around with them.
“Ah, your cheeks are dirty. To think you’d be brought to such a dingy place... Are you hurt anywhere? Are you in pain? You didn’t twist your foot, did you?” Claus was looking at Jeanette as if Leila and Ariel weren’t even there, worriedly checking her condition.
“N-No, I’m fine! I’m totally okay. Having you look at me like that is really embarrassing...!”
Unable to ignore even the smallest of wounds, Claus glared at her hand. “You have a scratch right there...” he murmured, and then turned to Leila and Ariel sharply. Unlike when he’d been looking at Jeanette, his eyes were now glinting coolly enough that his glower was almost lethal. “Madam Leila... No. Leila.”
The way he slowly called her name caused everyone to freeze. His eyes were even sharper than an eagle’s, and his breath was even icier than Jack Frost’s. Leila jolted. She had finally realized that she’d incurred Claus’s wrath.
Step by step, Claus slowly approached her. “I have restrained myself a number of times before now. If even the victim, Jeanette, forgave you, then I believed I had no right to be angry with you.” His voice was calm, yet there was a note of rage bleeding through which he couldn’t conceal.
The fury radiating from Claus burned the skin of those around him. Even Jeanette had become frightened, reflexively hugging Sara.
“But this time, you have truly crossed a line,” Claus declared, glaring at Leila harshly in a way Jeanette had never seen before. Even the king of the underworld couldn’t be as terrifying as Claus was right now.
Leila was quivering, her face pale. “Wh-What do you mean...? I just wanted to ask Jeanette for something...”
“Your excuses are futile,” Claus responded as coldly as though his words were a spear of ice. “Unfortunately for you, I already know everything. You owe a huge debt to Marquis Balladur, and you decided to sell Jeanette to pay him back. Am I wrong?”
Lord Claus already got the information! Jeanette thought. When the tulip market crashed, she had confided in Claus about her fears concerning Leila. He had simply listened in silence, but it seemed that he’d secretly decided to thoroughly investigate the matter.
“Sorry, but I’ve already contacted the marquis,” Claus continued. “I told him that Jeanette has nothing to do with this, and that if he tries to do anything to her, he won’t get away with it.”
He’s already spoken to Marquis Balladur?! H-He really works fast! As expected of Lord Claus...! It looked like Claus had been a step ahead of Jeanette and had already taken care of the matter. While she was busy being impressed with his skills, Claus went on.
“To be honest, I’d like to make it so that you’ll never be able to walk under the sun again...” His frightening words made all the women tremble.
Jeanette and Sara hugged each other tighter. Waaah!!! N-Never walk under the sun again?! Jeanette squealed inwardly. Just what is he going to do?!
Ariel’s face had gone completely vacant in fear, and she was shivering all over.
“You see, I don’t want to become a criminal just yet. But let me tell you one thing.” Stepping forward, Claus spoke with a fire blazing in his violet eyes.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Don’t you ever come near Jeanette again. And you can look forward to receiving a little present from me.”
“Eeek!” Leila shrieked and collapsed on the spot. She had lost her nerve.
Claus glanced at Ariel, and after a moment he looked away as though nothing had happened. He turned to Jeanette instead, with his usual kind smile. “Sorry for scaring you. Now, let’s go back. I’m really glad nothing happened to you.”
“Milady, are you okay?! Please hold on to my hand!” Sara urged.
With the two of them guarding her, Jeanette vacated the dilapidated house. But she lingered by the door, glancing over her shoulder at Leila, who was still slumped on the ground in a stupor. Ariel was next to the woman, her head hanging low in dejected silence.
Lord Claus saved me, but what about Ariel? And what are those two going to do now? At this rate, Ariel may have no choice but to sell her body... Jeanette’s face flushed when the term came to mind. She remembered how upset she had once been that the other noblemen had mocked Claus by claiming he was selling himself.
Unable to hold back, Jeanette found herself calling out. “A-Ariel! You don’t need to sacrifice yourself! Come on, let’s think of a solution together!”
Ariel directed her surprised gaze at Jeanette. A moment later, she suddenly smiled. It was an ephemeral smile of both loneliness and joy blended together. “Thank you, Jeanette... But it’s okay. The time has come for me to take responsibility for what I’ve done.” The girl looked startlingly beautiful as she said this, yet also painfully sad.
Is Ariel...truly prepared to sell her body? Jeanette thought with panic. “No! Mother should be the one to pay back her own debt! There’s no need for you to sacrifice yourself! I’ll lend you both the money, so—!”
Yet Ariel only shook her head.
Jeanette opened her mouth to continue, but Claus gently grabbed her shoulder to stop her. “Let’s just go back for now, Jeanette. Then we can look for a way to resolve this together.”
Jeanette glanced at Ariel once more. Leila was still dumbstruck, so she was unable to converse any further. And Ariel had already given up, so Jeanette felt that she wouldn’t be able to have a constructive talk with her stepsister either.
“All right... Let’s go,” she agreed.
Outside, the guards assigned to tail Jeanette had tied up the thugs who’d kidnapped her and were taking them away. Throwing them a sidelong glance, Jeanette climbed aboard the carriage. Soon enough, it rattled off.
Sara was enraged, her countenance overflowing with disgruntlement. “Lady Ariel is one thing, but should you really have let Lady Leila off the hook so easily, Lord Claus?! That woman can just go to the brothel and get her money that way! That’s her just deserts!”
“Sara!” Jeanette exclaimed, shocked that Sara would say something so outrageous. She had forgotten that despite the maid’s appearance, she held a number of radical beliefs.
While Sara huffed and puffed through her nose, Claus slowly nodded. “I don’t plan to leave it there, of course. I just think there’s a more suitable person to be dishing out her punishment than I.”
“A more suitable person?” Jeanette echoed. Nobody came to mind, and both she and Sara tilted their heads in confusion.