Chapter 18
“What are you talking about? Why are you avoiding the question about what the mouse looked like… Could it be?’’
Suddenly, enlightenment struck.
“I’ve been fooled!”
It all made sense in an instant. I had quickly responded to the mention of a mouse, but there was no mouse to be seen.
Kylid, instead of answering about the appearance of the mouse, had been speaking nonsense.
There never was a mouse in the first place!
“Ha, I can’t believe I fell for such a rookie lie…”
As a former distinguished member of the Hamster Enthusiasts Club, it was unbearable.
I glared at Kylid, who continued to stare back at me. “What are you looking at?” I said, then turned my gaze to the wine and grabbed a bottle.
I purposely made a loud noise as I climbed the stairs, then stopped abruptly.
I had thought about just disappearing, but my conscience wouldn’t allow it.
Standing halfway up the stairs, I turned to look at Kylid.
“Huh, it feels good to be able to look down on you.”
Kylid kept staring at me, even as I raised my eyebrows in a worried expression.
“Kylid, we may not be close, but since we live in the same mansion, can I offer you some advice?”
I squeezed out a concerned expression.
“What do you think about quitting drinking? Drinking too much can make you lose your hair.”
It’s baseless nonsense, just something I made up.
“Starting from the top of your head.”
That too.
But only I knew that my words were baseless nonsense.
I exchanged silent glances with Kylid, then chuckled slightly and continued up the stairs.
“Go ahead and worry all you want.”
If he claimed to be the owner of the wine cellar, he must have enjoyed wine frequently, right?
As I prayed for Kylid to find a way to preserve his hair tonight, I slipped out of the wine cellar.
I waited for the sun to set before selecting (?) a wine and heading to Lord Croft’s study.
Lord Croft was alone in his study, working, and didn’t bother to chase me away when I brought wine with me.
“I have something important to tell you. It’s important… Would you like to listen?”
“Will you be moving seats?”
“As you wish, sir.”
In the end, Lord Croft and I opened the wine in one corner of the study.
Pop.
The red wine was poured into two transparent glasses placed side by side on a small table for guests.
The wine bottle was soon placed next to the filled glasses. Lord Croft silently lifted his glass first.
I shook my head as I watched him bring the glass to his lips.
First, I succeeded in creating a somewhat relaxed atmosphere with alcohol.
Now, all that remained was the core of the core, which was to ‘persuade him’…
“Should I admit that I was wrong? Or should I just kneel down for now?”
Kneel. It’s the knees. I imagined it, and it seems like starting with a “thud” would be more pitiful than saying “I’m sorry.”
Appearing pitiful is really important. To the extent that without forgiving the sin, you can’t get ahead. So, yeah, it should look like that.
Alright. I entrust myself to the knees…
Thud!
…Huh? I haven’t even knelt down yet. And I didn’t intend to kneel meekly at the level of just a “thud.”
I belatedly came to my senses. The sound that followed the “thud” was “rolling.”
I stared at the empty glass that had stopped rolling on the carpet.
Why is this… here…
I slowly raised my head. There was a peacock lounging on the sofa.
No. Let me correct that.
A peacock sprawled out on the sofa entered my sight.
I momentarily turned away from what I saw. Of course, it was only for a moment. My mind diligently analyzed the information obtained through my eyes and came up with one truth.
“A drunk peacock…! Did it just have a glass of wine and keel over? Seriously?”
Let’s calm down. It might not be what it seems.
“Father.”
Perhaps the peacock is savoring the wine in its own unique way.
“Father?”
Relaxing its body, conserving words, closing its eyes and quietly organizing the taste of wine…
“Your Grace.”
Organizing…
“Sir.”
I messed up. I admit it.
Without a doubt, Viscount Croft is in a drunken state.
I sat on the sofa, leaning back, and stared at the motionless Viscount for a while before covering my face with both hands.
“This can’t be. Surely not like this…”
Was it my mistake for not checking the Viscount’s capacity beforehand?
But isn’t there a universal expectation?
I dare say, who would think that the capacity of Viscount Croft, a powerful figure who even kings can’t easily mess with, is only one glass of wine!
“Don’t powerful people usually like and drink well? I saw it in movies… They always drank spirits…”
But why does this Viscount have a wine capacity?
No, not even one glass. The capacity is such that it gets tipsy but maintains sobriety enough to reach out for a drink.
Then Viscount Croft’s real ‘capacity’ is just one sip…
“A sip of wine? Even a passing hamster would drink that much.”
Imagining a showdown between the hamster I raised as a child and Viscount Croft’s capacity, I quickly dismissed the thought and stood up.
What can I do?
I can’t kneel and confess to the wall, so I have to postpone the plan a little more.
Until when do I have to postpone it? I actually prefer doing things quickly rather than postponing them.
“However, the situation! The world! The heavens are…”
“….Ly.”
At the faint voice brushing my ears, my eyes widened. I quickly approached the sofa where the duke was sitting.
“Father? Are you alright?”
“Eli…”
“Yes, it’s me, Eli. Are you okay? Can you understand me?”
“…Hada.”
“Yes?”
The voice trickling out from the still-closed eyes of the duke was faint, too faint.
Is this an evaluation? No, even the difficult listening evaluations from previous sessions didn’t make the voices so faint to increase the difficulty.
I focused on the sound, even holding my breath, and leaned closer to the duke.
“…Sorry.”
Sorry? Suddenly?
…Is he apologizing because he’s so drunk he can’t control himself? Is there still enough reason left in him to objectively recognize his state?
If he just opens his eyes, he’s surprisingly sober. If that’s the case…
“Kkeum kkeum, Father. You don’t have to apologize. Actually, I have something to tell you…”
“But you should be safe…”
“…?”
“Eli…”
I stopped moving. After freezing for a while, I slowly looked down at the duke.
I heard a faint breath. After staring at the face with firm traces of time for a while, I pursed my lips.
“…Is it a lie?”
I put all my weight on my knees, but the expected ‘thud’ sound didn’t come. Well, now that I think about it, a thud doesn’t seem quite right.
If it were a skull, maybe, but joints can’t withstand a thud. After all, joints aren’t bones, they’re cartilage. No thud. Yes, thunk.
Actually, thunks hurt quite a bit too.
Anyway, kneeling on the thin rug, I endured the pain and raised my hand to my face. The Paris show unfolded before me.
“I confess. Actually, I’m not Elisa. My real name is Bella. I met Elisa at an orphanage, and blinded by greed, I stole Elisa’s necklace back then. I’m sorry for not telling the truth and deceiving everyone. I sincerely regret and repent now. I really messed up.”
“You’re finally confessing.”
I stopped rubbing my palms together.
What did I just hear? I looked up at the man standing in front of me, the Duke of Croft.
“Father?”
“Who said I’m your father?”
The young face of the Duke of Croft was as cold as if ice were about to fall.
I glanced around, then looked back at Ethan standing next to the Duke.
“Ethan, my lord.”
