IOMB 96

CHAPTER 96…………………….

“Of course I have to. Did you forget my motto?”

Kallia thought for a moment before answering.

“‘Time spent chasing romance is never wasted?’”

“No, that was my motto a year ago. It’s different now. ‘Never back down from a challenge!’”

Cordelia raised her glass high and downed her drink in one go. Watching her brimming with stubborn resolve, Liam clicked his tongue.

“When did you come up with that one again? You really know how to keep life interesting.”

“Shut up!”

Liam quickly averted his gaze from her blazing eyes. If he provoked the overly-enthusiastic Cordelia now, he’d definitely regret it.

“Don’t worry, don’t worry. I plan to settle it with a conversation first.”

“Wow, that’s so reassuring. Ow!”

Liam yelped when Cordelia stepped on his foot under the table, glaring at her in indignation. She twirled a strand of hair around her finger and said,

“I’ve got something to collect from Rick anyway. That should be enough.”

“Oh, now that sounds interesting.”

“Right?”

Cordelia nodded, pleased that Liam had quickly agreed as if he’d never complained a moment ago. Kallia and Jerania exchanged quiet looks, pretending not to notice how well those two got along.

“But for someone who’s supposedly solved her worries, you still look gloomy. Got something else on your mind?”

Liam, as always, was annoyingly perceptive. Cordelia made a reluctant face, but her lips began to move.

“I’ve been feeling kind of down lately.”

“Was that thing really such a shock to you?”

Cordelia shook her head. There was no way she’d still be hung up on that pathetic, annoying man. She didn’t even want to know why he’d done what he did — Tirein May would handle it.

There was something much more pressing.

“There’s this one guy, and whenever I see him, my stomach kind of twists.”

Liam — and even Jerania and Kallia — turned their eyes toward her. Cordelia took a gulp of her remaining drink. Liam spoke first.

“You hate him?”

“No, it’s not that. He’s actually a really good guy. I mean it — he’s got a ridiculously low opinion of himself, that’s the problem.”

Cordelia’s expression was unusually serious as she crossed her arms and thought hard.

“I feel bad because I think he got dragged into danger because of me. And when he says he’s fine, something inside me just— I don’t know, it stings. But it’s not like I can get mad at him either…”

Even she had a conscience, after all. He got hurt because of her, didn’t he?

“So I’ve been avoiding him. But that doesn’t mean I don’t think about him. I want to see him… but I feel like I’ll just get angry again if I do. What should I do?”

Cordelia’s shoulders slumped. Seeing her uncharacteristically deflated, the other three exchanged glances. Kallia spoke gently.

“Are you sure it’s anger?”

“Yes! I mean, sometimes I even feel nauseous looking at him! My chest gets tight, I want to treat him well but I just get so irritated… My mood swings like ten times a day.”

Normally so upbeat, Cordelia rarely stayed down for long.

“Here, have some pie. Why do you look so miserable?”

“Want some more tea, Cody?”

It had been years since Kallia and Jerania had seen their younger sister look this serious, so they treaded carefully. Liam, however, wasn’t the delicate type.

“What, that’s just because you like him.”

Liam tossed out the line casually while munching on a cookie, gesturing for her to say something if she wanted to argue. Cordelia gave him a long look — her friend, the duke’s only son, who’d somehow managed to marry for love instead of politics.

Well, maybe she should take advice where she could get it. He wasn’t exactly trustworthy, but he’d do.

“Like him?”

“Yeah — love. The one and only kind.”

“You say that like you know all about it.”

“Of course I do! You don’t know what I went through. When Mildred suddenly disappeared, I was so depressed I could barely eat. Gives me chills just thinking about it.”

Liam shuddered dramatically. Cordelia frowned.

“But isn’t love supposed to be all sparkly and pretty? Feeling angry doesn’t sound right.”

“…Well, maybe not.”

Jerania quietly added, and Kallia nodded.

“Maybe you should think about whether it’s really anger.”

“If it’s not anger, then what is it?”

“Maybe you’re just upset — that he got caught up in something dangerous.”

That one sentence seemed to put a name to the vague turmoil she’d felt. Cordelia blinked, as if something had just clicked. Jerania added softly,

“That’s what love’s like, sometimes. Took me a while to realize it too.”

Kallia chuckled at Jerania’s uncharacteristic shyness.

“Yeah. You start wondering how you let someone get to you that much.”

After hearing her sisters’ advice, Cordelia turned back to Liam.

“Hey, Liam. Can I ask you something?”

“What?”

“Why did you fall for her?”

Liam nearly spat out his milk. After coughing for a while, he finally managed to speak.

“I dunno… guess it was love at first sight.”

A small, delicate woman who had come to the castle looking for her younger sister — pale face, but eyes that shone sharply.

“You know, sometimes you just can’t walk away from someone. Mildred was that person for me. I’m just glad I realized it early.”

“Why?”

“Because time’s too precious to waste. We barely have enough to love as it is.”

Cordelia let out a soft, impressed “Heh.” Liam scratched his nose, embarrassed.

“What’s with that look?”

“Just thinking, maybe you are reliable in some ways.”

“I am reliable! You’re just the only ones who say otherwise.”

The sisters laughed. They all knew Liam acted goofy around them, but outside, he carried himself with real effort.

“What about you, sis?”

“I…”

Jerania thought for a moment before smiling softly.

“I fell in love because I knew he’d respect me more than anyone.”

A tender smile bloomed as she thought of her husband.

“That’s why I fell for him.”

Her simple but heartfelt words calmed the storm in Cordelia’s chest. When Kallia noticed her sister’s gaze turning her way, she waved her hands frantically.

“Oh no, don’t ask me. You’ve already got your answer, Cody.”

“…So this is love? This feeling?”

Liam teased her.

“You’ve been in relationships before and still don’t get it?”

“This kind of feeling is new to me.”

When she thought of Noah bathed in sunset light, her chest ached again. Cordelia placed a hand over her pounding heart.

“Well, love can’t all be sunshine, right? If there’s happy love, there’s got to be love like this too.”

Then, with her usual confidence returning, she clapped her hands.

“Alright! Now that I’ve figured it out, I’ll wrap up this mess and go see him. He’s used to me being a nuisance by now anyway!”

The gloom from earlier had completely vanished from her face as she tucked her hair behind her ear with a playful smile.

Watching her, the other three exchanged quiet words.

“Should we stop her?”

“Why bother? Simplicity suits her.”

“True enough. Let her be.”

As the late autumn sunlight streamed down, they simply watched Cordelia, burning with renewed determination.

At first, he hadn’t understood what was happening.

When he realized someone had fallen below, a pale-faced young lady was staring up at him in shock.

Before he could decide how to respond, the woman glanced quickly around, then hurried toward them.

“Um, I… I mean…”

He waited for her to finish, but she couldn’t say a word. The one who spoke first was his friend standing beside him.

“Was the person who fell… Miss Cordelia?”

The lady gasped — an answer in itself. What on earth had she done? Even though she was someone he cared for deeply, his conscience stopped him from reaching out.

“Are you asking me to keep quiet about this?”

“W-what?”

“Wouldn’t that be for the best? What do you think, Roy?”

At first, he didn’t understand his friend’s sly tone.

“From the looks of it, no one else saw anything. If we don’t say a word, no one will ever know. We can just agree on our story.”

“What are you saying?”

Someone had fallen. Judging from the steep stairs, survival was unlikely. He should have gone down to check immediately, and yet…

“So you’ll talk, then?”

He hesitated. His friend smiled knowingly at his silence.

“Even though you know what’ll happen to Miss Emilia if you do?”

The remark hit too close to home. Meeting the trembling woman’s teary eyes, he found himself speechless. He couldn’t understand his friend’s lighthearted tone.

“She’s shaking like a leaf. As a knight, can you really just leave her like this?”

“She might be dead!”

He couldn’t hold back his voice. His friend raised his brows in mock surprise.

“Then all the more reason for the living to live. And it’s easy enough to explain — say she slipped on the stairs.”

Smiling as if it were nothing, his friend suddenly looked like a stranger. Though he wanted to frown, his body refused to move.

“Go back to the others, Miss Emilia. We never saw anything.”

“Lady Jasmine might come looking for her soon.”

“Even better. The first witness always gets suspected the most. So we’ll both stay silent.”

The hesitant woman finally turned away. He neither stopped her nor shook off his friend’s guiding hand. Forcing down the urge to look over the railing, he turned away from the birthplace of his guilt.

Yes — that’s how it had been.

Standing in the middle of the ballroom, he sighed. The letter he’d received recently still spun in his mind. He couldn’t understand why the sender wanted to meet.

Could she have found out?

No, impossible. No one would talk.

Emilia knew full well how dangerous it would be to say anything that tied her to Jacques Horel — now that the man had been arrested for serial murder.

So he should’ve felt safe. But for some reason, unease gnawed at him.

“There you are.”

He looked up, and the hem of a gown trimmed with elegant lace filled his vision. Slowly raising his gaze, he met the eyes of a woman smiling serenely.

Golden hair gleamed like sunlight, and blue eyes shone like gemstones — a beauty said to be blessed by the gods.

Amid the murmuring crowd, Cordelia Weitzen greeted him brightly.

“How do you do, Count Echelon?”