EPISODE 15
There’s a commotion.
The entrance to the clothing store was on fire.
Fortunately, the fire was quickly extinguished.
The people inside the store escaped unharmed.
‘A real fire…….’
Ines stared at the sign on the floor.
The charred sign was almost unrecognizable.
When she’d arrived at the clothing store, she’d thought it would be fine if it didn’t catch fire.
As I was admiring the coincidence, I heard someone else say.
“So, why did the store suddenly catch fire?”
“A lightning bolt struck the store sign.”
Ines reflexively looked up at the sky.
There was not a cloud in the sunny sky.
It was a bolt of lightning in a dry sky.
“A few days ago it was a sudden shower, and now there’s lightning…….
I felt like I was experiencing the stars today.
It was as if he had experienced everything in one day that would have happened once in a lifetime to anyone else.
The ability to see misfortune was not universal.
Even if something looked unhappy to Ines, she couldn’t see it unless the other person thought it was unhappy.
“Above all, I can’t do anything about lightning.
He could see misfortune, but if it was something he couldn’t prevent, that was a problem.
“I mean, Kalad could be killed or injured in a natural disaster.
Then he said quietly.
“Perhaps I caused the fire.”
Ines turned her head and looked at Kalad.
He looked grim and somewhat weary.
“If you were unlucky, you might have gotten hurt.”
kalad’s gaze shifted to Ines.
“Do you still want to be my lover after this?”
He was sure he had caused this.
Of course, Ines thought he did, too.
But sometimes comfort was better than the truth.
It wasn’t like he’d started the fire himself.
Ines shrugged it off as no big deal.
“You’re bound to get a few lightning strikes in your lifetime.”
“You still think it was a coincidence?”
“Then why do you think it’s your fault?”
kalad’s eyes flickered briefly.
“Of course…….”
kalad left it at that and shut his mouth.
His sunken eyes stuttered over what had just happened.
I didn’t need to hear it.
Every time something like this happened, everyone would blame him.
“Maybe it’s me, I’ve been a bit unlucky lately.”
Ines told me a little about what happened before she met Kalad.
“I had a ship I invested a lot of money in sink, and it caught fire while I was cooking.”
Ines shrugged.
Kalad’s eyes were still ethereal, but his sensitivity had waned.
“Shall we move on?”
Ines put a hand on Kalad’s arm.
She planned to move, to see what misfortune would come her way.
Misfortune bubbled up at the touch.
Ines studied Kalad’s misery carefully.
“No wonder they call him the unhappiest man in the world.
There was so much unhappiness, unheard of and unseen.
And yet there was one misfortune that kept getting on her nerves.
[Apple pie…….]
[I can’t eat again today…….]
[Temporary closure?]
[Out of ingredients……?]
The future calad has been to the apple pie shop many times and has been unsuccessful.
How many times has he been there…….
And he still can’t get one.
Ines, genuinely feeling sorry for calad, spoke up.
“Lord calad.”
calad, who had been staring straight ahead, lowered his head and looked at Ines.
“Do you like apple pie?”
“Not that I ……dislike it.”
Ines smirked inwardly at Callard’s disingenuousness.
“There’s a great apple pie place on 12th Street, do you want to go try it?”
Ines watched kalad’s eyelashes flutter.
He rarely changed his expression, it was almost transparent.
Suddenly, Ines thought.
There was something cute about him, she thought.
***]
A few days had passed since their eventful first date.
Ines came down to the porch to see Halo off.
“Sister, be well.”
“I am. And you, Halo, don’t try too hard.”
“I will. I’ll be back as soon as I get a break.”
Halo replied, smiling broadly.
Ines stroked Halo’s curly hair out of habit.
Then Halo stared at the ring Ines wore.
“Does it bother you?”
Ines asked, and Halo shook her head.
“No. I just…… feel like I didn’t say hello properly.”
“To Lord Callard?”
Halo nodded meekly.
“I’ll introduce you next time. I didn’t have time this time.”
“Yes. I will.”
Halo smiled brightly.
Ines smiled back, thinking that Halo was cute.
They chatted for a while, and then it was time to leave.
Halo sulked for a moment.
After a moment, she regained her composure and announced.
“I must go. I’ll see you later!”
The carriage door slammed shut as Halo climbed in.
The carriage, now fatter than it had been on the way home, was filled with things that belonged to Ines.
From the toys she’d bought him as a child to his portrait.
It would have been tongue-in-cheek for anyone else, but Ines smiled.
“Isn’t he cute?”
“You’re cute…….”
Shamore replied soullessly.
Knowing Halo’s true nature, Shamor couldn’t argue back.
Ines thought Halo was a cherub, but to Shamor, he was a demon.
She would only act out in front of Ines.
When I first met her, I tormented her behind her back.
I shudder to think of it now.
The only reason he wants to see kalad is to torment him.
Shamore hoped he wouldn’t run away.
“Would you like some tea?”
“I’ll have it ready in a moment.”
Shame left first, and Ines walked leisurely to the patronage.
A cool breeze blew in.
The flowers in bloom rippled in the breeze.
Ines paused for a moment to admire the floral arrangements.
“My mother would have loved to see this.
A few years ago, the manor had been a mess.
The count’s finances were poor, and he couldn’t afford to decorate it.
Her mother, who was ill, sometimes walked the weedy grounds when she was feeling better.
For her mother’s sake, Ines decided to take matters into her own hands and spruce up the grounds.
But before the seeds she planted could sprout, her mother died.
That was the end of it, and as soon as she earned enough money, she changed everything, starting with the patronage.
She planted her mother’s favorite flowers and built a walking path.
Still, her heart was empty.
‘If only I had used this power sooner…….’
My mother could have been laughing beside me, not on the cold ground.
Maybe it was because she had regretted it once.
Ines wanted to succeed at all costs.
I wanted to use that power to protect my loved ones.
That was why she had given Halo all the support she could.
Ines walked into the patronage with an indelible feeling of regret.
She sat down at a tea table set to one side.
A hired hand gently approached and poured her tea.
Ines sipped the tea.
Scones and apple jam were served for dessert to accompany the tea.
As she spread the apple jam on the scones, Ines smiled wryly.
She couldn’t help but think of Kalad eating apple pie.
The way he’d carefully cut off the corner of the apple pie and eat it with an impassive face.
For once, she could see what he was thinking.
-Would you like to wrap it up for later?
Kalad, who had always rejected Ines’s offer, didn’t say no at that time.
And afterward, he was as happy as a cat with a fish.
“Simple.”
He drank his apple juice well when we went to get the ring.
She seemed to like apples.
Setting down her teacup, Ines tried to estimate the date.
It had been a week since she and kalad had started their contractual relationship.
Still, Kalad had drawn a line and kept his distance.
He was suspicious and wary of even the smallest acts of kindness from Ines.
He’s suspicious and wary of even the smallest kindnesses from Ines as if someone wouldn’t be kind to him for no reason.
Being around him reminded me of a wary cat.
A cat that stood on end, its fur standing on end and its jaws clenching.
Ines smirked.
“Fresh.
She’d only ever met men who were desperate to impress her, or jealous of her inferiority complex.
She’d never seen anyone like kalad before.
And because he looked like gold, not a man, she was able to tolerate whatever he did.
It was a good idea to propose a contractual relationship, Ines thought.
It cut the proposal in half.
Over apple pie that day, Ines recalad her last conversation with kalad.
-There’s going to be a hitman after this, I’ve told you before, you know that, right?
After a few more assurances, Ines whispered confidently.
-I won’t get a drop of blood on my hands.
And today is the day…….
was the day kalad would die.
