Because of his unnecessarily pleasant voice, Carmen momentarily wondered if she’d heard correctly. But once she fully understood what he meant, her face started to turn pale.
Was the Marquis Carnelian always like this?
She was already struggling to handle the changed Lilith, but now her adopted daughter had brought someone even worse into the house.
And to make matters worse, he wasn’t someone she could treat lightly. Carmen, panicked, blurted out whatever came to mind.
“Th-that’s true, it would be a problem…”
“I imagine I startled you by visiting unannounced like this.”
Should she agree or disagree?
Whichever way she answered, it felt like he’d find fault with it. Carmen was on the verge of a headache, but even though she remained frozen, Francis continued talking effortlessly.
“I came to speak with you about something important. But it seems I was thoughtless. I believe we should arrange a proper time for me to visit instead.”
“…Now?”
Though surprised, she was relieved to hear it. Rather than having to deal with him in this chaotic state, it would be far better to have time to discuss things with her daughters first.
For the first time since his visit, Carmen spoke in a bright voice.
“Thank you for understanding. When would be a good time for you to return?”
“Let’s see… it’s currently 11 a.m., so around 2 p.m. would be appropriate.”
“What?”
What difference does it make whether it’s now or at 2?!
She’d expected him to say tomorrow at the earliest, and the unexpected answer made Carmen blurt out her disbelief. But Francis, unfazed, responded as if he hadn’t noticed her reaction.
“I hope we can speak in a cleaner, more pleasant environment then.”
As if to shield her from uncleanliness, Francis wrapped an arm around Lilith’s shoulders. At that moment, Carmen noticed a familiar ring on his pinky.
“Then I’ll see you shortly.”
“See you later, Mother.”
Without waiting for any response, the two made an elegant exit. And with them, Carmen’s soul seemed to leave her body.
The ring Lilith had supposedly handed to her lover in a fit of passion… It was really on Francis’s hand.
“Mom! Are you just going to sit there stunned?!”
“…”
“Even you, Sis?! Get it together!”
Melody, the simple-minded one, was the first to recover from the shock and shook them both. But she shook Carmen so hard that she collapsed onto the nearby sofa.
“Lilith’s lover is the Marquis Carnelian…”
“This must be… a dream.”
Aria murmured blankly. But none of them could deny that this was, indeed, reality.
“What do we do now?”
Melody looked helplessly to her older sister, the supposedly smarter one. Even she knew they couldn’t just sit around stunned. This was a crisis.
“Aria, don’t you know him? You said you recognized him.”
“Well, I do know of him, but…”
Francis was famous—she only knew him one-sidedly. Aria, looking troubled, recalled why he was well-known at the Academy.
He was notorious for clashing with Calyx. Even though both were students, Calyx was the crown prince, and everyone treated him with caution. But Francis treated him like an equal and often butted heads with him.
Seeing the two exchange sharp words was a common sight at the Academy.
You had to have guts of steel to act that way.
Soon, he became known as someone not to be messed with—a lunatic.
Then came the rumors about women. Despite being intimidating, his handsome face made him popular among female students.
But Francis never gave them so much as a glance, like he was a monk or something.
There were even rumors he was gay, and some people tied it back to his fights with Calyx—claiming he liked Calyx and that’s why he tormented him.
But Aria now knew all those rumors were lies.
Francis wasn’t gay. He liked women—specifically, her sister Lilith!
“Ugh, this is frustrating! We’re alone—why can’t you just talk? Just tell us!”
“I thought I knew him… but seeing him today, he was like a complete stranger.”
“What kind of nonsense is that?!”
Their bickering was interrupted by Carmen’s sigh. Melody was supposed to be the dumb one, but Aria was turning into her the longer they argued. Now calmer, Carmen turned to Aria with more pointed questions.
“You’re in the same year as the Marquis?”
“No, he’s two years below me. So he should be the same age as Lilith.”
“Then did they meet at the Academy?”
“I don’t think so. If they had met there, that would’ve been four years ago. It doesn’t make sense for them to act like this now.”
“Aria’s right. That explanation doesn’t add up.”
While they’d been in a daze, 30 minutes had already passed. As lunchtime neared, Melody started to complain.
“Mom, I’m hungry.”
“Now’s not the time to be eating!”
Instead of Carmen, Aria scolded her sister.
“I think what I know and the facts are pretty different, so let’s try to analyze Francis’s behavior today to decide what we should do.”
The most constructive thing anyone had said so far. Carmen nodded and eagerly spoke up.
“The Marquis had Lilith’s ring on his pinky finger.”
“Wait, Mom—you lost the ring?!”
Oops. She’d never told them she’d lost it. Carmen tried to bluff her way through.
“Is that important right now? What matters is that the Marquis has it.”
The shamelessness of her words made Aria sigh deeply. That ring was incredibly important—how could she not have said anything?
But now wasn’t the time to argue. She decided to change the topic.
“And he was completely unpredictable. Setting the next meeting time to just after lunch, insulting the state of the house…”
“Maybe he’s a clean freak? That’s why he reacted that way?”
“No, wait a minute…”
A sudden realization hit Aria.
“He was telling us to clean the house by the time he got back, wasn’t he?”
Unfortunately for Aria, she was absolutely correct. While they struggled to clean the filthy mansion, Lilith and Francis were enjoying lunch and dessert.
“This is so good.”
Lilith moaned in delight, a dab of whipped cream on her lips. The cake, with sweet blueberry compote on top of fluffy cream, lived up to its reputation as the shop’s signature.
“Take your time, we still have plenty of time. Want another slice?”
“What time is it?”
“Hmm… about 1 p.m.”
Could she even eat more? But Francis offered to split one, and that sealed it.
They shared another slice, and Lilith happily stared at her half.
Turns out her concern was baseless. After all, dessert and lunch go into different stomachs.
“I kind of want to take some home.”
“Was it that good?”
Lilith nodded enthusiastically. After a perfect lunch and now a perfect dessert, she was genuinely impressed.
People say picky people are the best at finding good restaurants, and Francis definitely fit the bill.
After they finished the cake, Francis suddenly tapped his own lips.
“What are you doing?”
“You’ve still got cream on yours.”
“Really?”
She hadn’t thought much of it until she saw his tongue glide over his lips. Her cheeks flushed. Francis awkwardly cleared his throat and stood up.
“Leaving already?”
“…You want more?”
“No, but if we’re supposed to be back at 2, shouldn’t we leave a bit later?”
“I think it’d be more fun to show up early.”
Honestly, she agreed. But Lilith tugged his sleeve and made him sit back down.
Keeping your promises makes you a good person.
“Well, if that’s what you want.”
He shrugged and agreed. In the past, he wouldn’t have understood the concept of waiting for others. Even doing nothing but staying in one place for someone else’s sake was something he’d never do.
Changing for the better was hard.
But remembering how things ended for him before… he’d never go back to that.
He could only hope Carmen and her daughters would understand that.
“By now, the mansion should be at least a little cleaner, right?”
“If they understood me, of course they’d have cleaned up.”
“Aria’s the smartest, so I’m sure she figured it out.”
How did Lilith do this alone?
The mansion they always complained was too small now felt enormous. They had no idea how a frail girl like her had managed to maintain the place by herself.
Was she even human? The three of them couldn’t finish it together.
They used to joke about how they could snap Lilith’s legs like twigs, but if they’d ever actually tried, their own legs would’ve broken first.
Only someone made of steel could’ve done what she did.
In the end, they couldn’t finish cleaning by 2 p.m. Nor had they figured out how to deal with Francis.
