Chapter 26 Two Strange Guests
“May I come inside for a moment?”
It was her, Delphine’s voice.
Pride froze in place like an animal shot with a tranquiliser gun.
“Yes!”
The woman answered quickly and loudly, not even stopping to think.
Instinctively, she knew that was where her life lay.
As Pride glared at her, his gaze burning with rage, the door to the parlor slowly opened.
His saint stepped into the parlor.
The sight of her wavy red hair stirred a burning thirst in him once more.
He wants to destroy her.
But he wants to cherish her.
He hates her for dragging his life and soul through the mud, and yet he loves her enough to want to protect her.
He can’t believe these are the only feelings he has left.
‘You can change your identity, but you can’t change your lowly roots.’
He loathed himself for being so twisted and sinister.
He was nothing like that woman in the cabaret.
Pride clenched his hand around the woman’s throat.
***
Perhaps this guest is someone who remembers the Ioan of old.
With that thought, Delphine made her way to the parlor.
Perhaps she could get some kind of clue from her.
As she opened the door and entered, the woman standing so close to Ioan turned her head.
Deep green eyes.
Brownish-red hair.
Betty had been right.
Delphine’s mouth twisted into a grimace as an unpleasant feeling welled up inside her.
“Ah. Ioan, I mean, the Marquis’s wife… I see. Pleased to meet you!”
The woman lifted her red-lacquered lips and smiled.
She really did call him Ioan.
Delphine quickly scanned the woman.
She was strangely dressed.
A shabby dress with lots of ribbons and lace, thickly applied white boon and red lipstick.
Delphine’s face stiffened.
She’d heard it from the married women around her.
Why men sometimes ventured out into District 3. She also heard that some men buy women there, where there are brothels.
‘I heard you’re supposed to be in charge of District 3.’
‘If that’s what you do, is that why you’re there day and night?’
Delphine glared at Ioan, her eyes growing even colder.
“You’re not going to introduce her… are you?”
“A visitor who was just about to leave.”
He replied gently, but firmly.
“There was no need for her to come out.”
At that, the woman gave him an impatient look and glanced out the window.
“That’s… I can’t wait to get there, but there’s a blizzard coming.”
“I’ll take you.”
Delphine raised an eyebrow in surprise at Ioan’s cool reply.
‘You’re going to take her there yourself?’
And what’s with that condescending attitude?
But for some reason, the words made the woman blush white.
“Oh, no, sir,” she said, “let me stay here only till the blizzard is over; that’s all right, Lady, there are plenty of rooms here.”
Ioan’s expression sank even further at the rudeness of his manner.
“Is that…”
Delphine hesitated, glancing back and forth between Ioan and the woman.
She wasn’t sure why the woman was so frightened, but it was clear they knew each other.
Let her stay, then.
Ioan seems intent on keeping his identity a secret until the end.
She could be a good hand.
After a brief thought, Delphine nodded, feigning benevolence.
“It would be murder to turn away a guest in this weather.”
The woman smiled broadly and nodded vigorously.
“You don’t like a man who just killed his wife, do you?”
If there’s one thing she can’t get past, it’s this strange feeling of unpleasantness she gets when she looks into her dark green eyes.
“Oh, come to think of it, I didn’t even introduce myself, I’m Callie!”
… It’s just the rudeness of this woman.
That’s what Delphine judged, and she barely managed a smile.
“I’m… Lady. Master.”
There was a knock at the door, and Betty’s voice rang out from outside the parlor.
At the command to come in, a puzzled-looking Betty stepped inside.
“Well, it’s… we’ve got another visitor.”
More guests in this weather.
Betty looked very puzzled by the situation.
“Again?… Who?”
Another redhead?
She must have picked up on the uneasiness in her short question.
Betty, being the shrewd woman she is, answered quickly.
“This time it’s a nobleman, and he asked me to tell the lady that he is Glynn Glasscok.”
At that, Ioan’s gaze, which had been glaring at the woman, flew to Delphine.
“A nobleman? Who is Glasscok? What kind of madman would come to someone else’s manor in this weather?”
Yeah, she wondered that herself.
Delphine glanced sarcastically at the red-rimmed woman.
“Ah, well, I’ll go to my room then.”
Feeling the stare, the woman said shamelessly.
“It’s impossible to drive a carriage through this blizzard anyway, the horses won’t want to move.”
As she spoke, she glanced out the window, and in that brief moment, the snowstorm had grown worse.
Glynn Glasscok? Who was that?
Who on earth could have brought himself to the manor in this weather?
Genuinely curious about her guest’s identity, Delphine strode off.
When she reached the hall, she saw a soaked man standing in the doorway.
It wasn’t until she saw the man’s face as he wiped his wet hair and clothes with a towel that Delphine remembered where she had met Glynn Glasscok.
It was the man who had given her the unspoken warning at the social club.
“Ah, Lady Pride!”
The man who had spotted her smiled at her.
“… Who is that man?”
Ioan, who had been standing behind her, muttered sullenly.
Delphine didn’t bother to answer, but walked towards the man.
“Sir Glasscok.”
“Lady Pride.”
The man deftly bent down and kissed the back of her outstretched hand.
It was a fine gesture, but the man’s face paled through the blizzard.
“Well, well. Firstly…”
“And this one, Lady…?”
She was about to lead him to the guest room with the en suite bathroom when she heard a soft voice.
It was Ioan, standing beside him, as graceful and upright as ever.
Delphine introduced the man, who was shaking uncontrollably.
“This is Sir Glynn Glasscok, I’ve met him once before at a social gathering. Sir Glascok, this is…”
Delphine paused for a moment, then spoke, trying to look unaffected.
“… is Lord Ioannes Pride.”
“Alas, good evening, I have heard much from you.”
With a strange greeting and a glance, Glasscok extended his hand to Ioan.
His fingertips were visibly trembling.
It was no wonder he was soaked to the skin.
He must be suffering from some sort of fever.
The Empire didn’t have much in the way of medicine, and catching the flu in this winter could be fatal.
With that thought, he hurried to pull him inside, but Ioan, standing beside him, seemed unwilling to budge.
Looking down coldly at the man’s outstretched hand, Ioan raised his gaze again and spoke.
“… What brings you to the manor in this weather, without a message?”
“Oh, I apologize. I was traveling through District 1 in a hurry, and the weather took a sudden turn for the worse…”
Glasscok replied, shivering all over.
“My horse is frightened and won’t move… But I saw the Pride manor in sight, so I thought I’d excuse myself. Do you think we can stay here until the madness passes?”
Delphine glanced at Ioan.
“Ioannes Pride. Be careful.”
He wasn’t naive enough to believe that the man who’d spoken those words had just happened to be passing by the mansion.
Callie and Glasscok.
Was it a coincidence that they’d arrived just in time for the mania?
Whatever the case, it was a golden opportunity for Delphine to learn more about Ioan’s identity.
“Of course. I wouldn’t be unscrupulous enough to turn away someone in need.”
Delphine said, turning to Ioan, who was openly displaying his displeasure.
“Besides, I happen to have another guest.”
“You’ve got your own guests, I’m not going to turn mine away”
“…”
Ioan still eyed Glasscok with a frosty gaze, but he didn’t object.
“You’ll need to warm up first, but I’ll show you to the guest room.”
Delphine called for one of the servants and instructed him to escort him to the room.
Glasscok thanked him with a blue face and retreated to his room first.
Ioan, who had been observing the whole thing with a sour expression, slowly spoke up.
“… Glasscok? I’ve never heard that surname before, but are you sure of your identity, Lady?”
“I am certain.”
“Didn’t you say you met him once?”
Ioan’s tone could not have been gentler, but his eyes were as cool and calm as they were searching hers.
“I met him at a social gathering where I was not allowed to enter unless I was sure of his identity.”
“When?”
‘… the day you got seven stitches in your forehead for saving me.’
Delphine stared at her bangs-covered forehead.
But the existence of the social club was a secret, as was the fact that she had been there.
Delphine gave him an impish look and turned away.
“You say you’re not sure of …’s identity. What about Miss Callie? I don’t think I’ve heard her last name yet.”
Ioan, who had been about to ask a question, suddenly paused.
