♚Chapter 6: Never Let Go
♚Chapter 6: Never Let Go
AFTER returning to Mateus Manor, the group gathered in the largest reception room without taking much time to rest up first.
The boy bishop was still unconscious, and they had brought him into one of the many guest rooms to sleep it off. Phoebe had offered to keep watch over him.
Krister was resting in another room. He was debilitated and his leg was in bad shape, so they’d called for a doctor to come at once.
With everyone else out of the picture, only Lord and Lady Alexis were left to question.
Rock, Ebel, Guido, and Michaela surrounded Danilo, Placido, and Lauretta, who were still in a stunned state.
“…I now understand that we’ve done something that can never be undone,” Placido weakly admitted.
He’d returned to human form and borrowed some clothes from Ebel. Lauretta had fixed his disheveled hair for him, but his withdrawn face looked like it’d aged years over the last few hours.
“Clearly, neither of us was in our right mind. I especially couldn’t keep it together when it came to my wife.”
Lauretta clung to Placido’s shoulder like it was her only lifeline in the world as he spoke about their experience.
“My wife lost one parent after the other in rapid succession, and just knowing her younger sister was out there somewhere seemed to offer her a fleeting comfort. But then she also lost her sister, which sank her into even greater depression. She knew she had a niece but completely lost track of her whereabouts after Valencia’s death, further destabilizing her.”
Rock had met Phoebe and opened up her tailor shop in the slums around that time. She wasn’t at fault for it, but knowing about her aunt’s suffering still pained her.
“I think the Brotherhood took advantage of that weakness.”
Guido arched an eyebrow at that. “You think? That’s an ambiguous way to put it.”
Placido’s expression darkened.
“You may think I’m making up excuses, but…neither I nor my wife can remember exactly how we were invited into the Brotherhood.”
“…No way.”
“I’m sorry to say it’s true. At least Danilo remembers enough to help us figure out a timeline.”
Going from Danilo’s account, Lord and Lady Alexis seemed to have joined the Werewolf Brotherhood three months ago.
The married couple often went to a church in the holy church district to see if that’d help alleviate Lauretta’s worsening depression. There, they were approached by a member of the cult who won them over with just the right words, and before they knew it, they started visiting the sanctuary in the ancient ruins.
According to Danilo, they seemed to have been targeted in hopes of them becoming big donators to the cause. It hadn’t been long since the Brotherhood set up shop in those particular ruins, and their efforts in the capital remained modest due to a lack of funds and members. In fact, Danilo could prove a significant amount of the Alexis family assets had gone to the cult.
However, the Brotherhood’s first sacrifice was decided when the noble couple’s anguish caught the bishop’s attention.
“I tried to stop His Lordship.”
Danilo seemed to remember that moment well. He trembled and paled at the memory.
“The more I heard about it, the stranger it sounded. I wondered if a blessing granted by werewolves was actually capable of saving people—if a power that required changing your very shape and being could actually bring about true happiness… But not a word of advice or warning I uttered ever reached His Lordship. He kept repeating ‘I must accept this blessing’ just because the bishop recommended it. It almost seemed like he’d become a different person.”
Even the breaths he took as he spoke quivered with the fear that memory brought back.
“I wasn’t present for the ritual. I was far too scared to join him. I saw His Lordship’s eyes had turned the shade of gold when he returned home, I witnessed the moment he transformed into a werewolf, and then when I saw His Lordship and Her Ladyship embrace like they had found the answer, I felt the need to continue supporting them…”
“I must apologize to you as well, Danilo. I’m sorry.”
When Placido gave his heartrending apology, Danilo began to weep aloud, perhaps realizing he didn’t have to hold it in any longer.
Watching them also pained Rock, Ebel, and Michaela too.
“I might’ve been able to stop you if we’d met sooner…” Rock muttered exactly how she felt, but Placido only shook his head.
“You mustn’t blame yourself. It was all our own doing.” Then he pressed his fingers against his temples as if in pain. “Besides…I doubt I could’ve resisted the call even if you were there to stop me. That voice endlessly echoed in my head, guiding me…”
“What voice?” Ebel leaned forward, keen to hear the rest. “Are you saying that statue called out to you as well, Lord Alexis?”
“Indeed. That was undeniably its voice,” Placido confirmed. “‘Offer up thy blood, receive my power,’ it incessantly whispered to me in an encouraging, melodious tone.”
Guido jumped off the sofa as if he’d been pinched. “Me too! I definitely heard that same voice!”
“Brother…”
Michaela’s beautiful face tensed and Guido’s expression filled with regret.
“I was also tempted into accepting that curse by that voice…” he lamented with clenched fists. “I should have never listened to its trickery!”
He tried to crouch on the floor, but was hindered by the clothes he’d also borrowed from Ebel. The suit was a little tight on the taller Guido, and he immediately stood back up with a scowl.
“Ebel! Don’t you have any looser clothing?! I can’t even let myself go through the motions of being stricken with grief and anger wearing these!”
“I’ll make sure to have clothing in your size on hand from now on,” Ebel said with a light chuckle. Then he gloomily pushed up his burnt sienna hair. “It appears we were all given the werewolf curse by the same being. But for what purpose? And how many more lives will it destroy before it’s satisfied…?”
That mystery still remained unsolved.
Who was turning humans into werewolves, for what purpose, and how many?
Rock initially believed the Brotherhood was the main culprit.
However, according to Michaela, who’d been waiting for them outside the ancient ruins, every cultist who’d fled after Ebel and Guido went rampaging said the same exact thing:
“I don’t know why I was there. I was this close to getting cursed.”
Not a single one among them had golden eyes.
“I asked for all their names and addresses just in case,” Michaela explained with a long face. “But…to be perfectly honest, I don’t think they can provide us with any useful information because as soon as they exited the ruins, they all had the look of someone who was just conned without realizing it.”
“Do you think they also didn’t join the Brotherhood of their own volition?” Rock asked.
“It seems that way,” she replied. “Most of them are commoners who live in the capital, and those who couldn’t donate money seemed to be doing physical labor for the Brotherhood inside the ruins.”
The living quarters Rock saw in the ruins were probably for those particular members. They were likely recruited and drawn into the Brotherhood the same way Lord and Lady Alexis were.
If all the cultists were brainwashed into joining, then that didn’t leave many leads to probe into the truth of the matter.
“What about that male tailor?” Guido asked Rock in a frustrated voice. “He may have been a captive, but he still lived there with them. He must know something.”
“I plan to ask him about it,” Rock replied, but she didn’t expect it to amount to much.
Krister looked terrified and exhausted when she saw him in that cramped workshop. She highly doubted he was in the right state of mind to remember everything he saw and heard in those ruins.
“That bishop’s our only other lead, eh?” Ebel looked up at the ceiling.
The boy was lying on a bed in the guest room on the floor directly above them.
He still hadn’t woken up after being brought inside Mateus Manor.
Rock was afraid her punch had given him a fatal head injury, but her father and the rest laughed at her. She hadn’t hit him hard enough for that.
“I know I’m starting to sound like a broken record, but he doesn’t look like anything other than a small child to me.” Guido even doubted the fact the boy was the cult’s bishop. “Did he really lead the Brotherhood?”
“Yes, no doubt about it,” Lauretta assured him. She dug through her memories under the watchful and caring eyes of her husband. “He was definitely a young boy. He was short and skinny, with an innocent voice… But he always sounded confident when he spoke of the Brotherhood’s precepts, almost like he knew everything.”
That matched up with Rock’s impression of him as well.
Although he spoke like a child, he didn’t falter or trip over his words spoken as the cult’s bishop. Not only did he not hesitate, but he didn’t even pause to think about what he was saying. He acted as if there was some adult whispering exactly what to say to him.
“If that’s true, then he’s our biggest lead—”
There was a knock at the door just as Ebel took an interest in what Lauretta had said about the boy. Johanna poked her head into the room.
“Your Excellency, I have a message for you from Master Phoebe. The boy is awake.”
Everyone in the room immediately stood up.
Just Ebel and Rock headed to check on the bishop.
The Alexises still hadn’t recovered mentally yet, and no one knew what would happen when they saw the bishop again. Guido stayed behind, saying, “I’m not confident I won’t tear the brat’s face off.” And Michaela naturally stayed to keep her brother company.
Phoebe was waiting for them outside the room when they arrived.
“…You came?” He greeted them with a nebulous expression that was part wry smile and part frustrated scowl.
“Something happen?” Rock asked in a hushed voice. Her father jabbed his finger toward the door with a heavy sigh.
“See for yourself.”
The three of them entered the room together.
A lantern was lit inside, filling the space with a warm, orange light. The boy bishop was sitting up in bed, but he cowered when he saw them come in.
“Eek!”
He let out a scream of sheer terror.
How can he be so scared after all the suffering he’s put other people through? Rock was fuming on the inside, but Ebel addressed him kindly like the perfect gentleman he was.
“You’ve come to, Bishop? How do you feel?”
Instead of answering, the boy yanked the blanket up and over his head. They could see him shaking like a leaf in the wind underneath.
“Hey! Don’t hide,” Rock snapped, but Phoebe held out his hand to stop her from saying more.
Then he reached out and rubbed the boy’s blanket-covered back.
“Please explain to them what you just told me.”
Prompted by Phoebe, the boy fearfully poked his head out from under the covers.
Tears glistened in his red-brown eyes as he glanced around at the faces of the three people surrounding him.
It was hard to imagine he was the same Bishop. Rock was finally starting to have doubts as she compared this child to the young yet confident cult leader.
“U-Umm…” the boy uttered in a familiar voice. “I honestly…don’t, er, remember much about my time…in the r-ruins…”
“You don’t?!” Rock cried out, causing the boy to shrink back.
“U-Umm, I remember a l-little. I heard a voice the whole t-time and thought I would be safe if I did what it said… I a-also sorta remember being called ‘Bishop.’”
Did that mean even the bishop was being controlled by something too?
If that was true, then no one knew the truth about the mastermind behind everything.
“Can you tell us what you remember? Any small detail is fine,” Ebel requested, worry clearly showing on his face now that they may’ve lost any leads they had left.
The boy avoided meeting his eyes and said nothing, seeming just as confused.
“What’s your name? How long were you in the ruins for? Do you have a family?”
He seemed incapable of even answering the simplest of questions.
“You really don’t remember anything?” Disappointment took the wind right out of Rock’s sails. “What about when I punched your damn mask…?”
“‘Damn’…?” The boy blinked. Then he suddenly gasped. “Damn…” He repeated that word like using it used to be a familiar habit before he looked up at her with a start. “That’s right! I’m Kurt!”
“Kurt is your name?” Ebel asked, and Kurt nodded several times.
“Uh-huh. I wonder why I forgot even my own name…”
He placed his small hand on his freckled cheek and stared off into space for a long moment. Then he finally began talking a bit at a time.
“I just remembered. I picked up that damn mask while I was working in the fields.”
Kurt started to talk about himself like the dam holding back his memories had begun to overflow. According to him, he was from one of the farming villages scattered outside the imperial capital. He’d lost his parents at an early age and was taken in by the mayor. He earned his keep by working in the fields, but then one day, something strange was unearthed from the fields—the white bishop mask.
Assuming it was an antique from a bygone era, the mayor proudly displayed it in his home like it was a family treasure.
“But I couldn’t stop myself from constantly going to it…” All the color drained from Kurt’s young face. His little hands were whiter than the sheets they clasped. “I think I tried it on out of curiosity. It was like I just had to one day…”
He hung his head, then gave it a hard shake, as if to shake off his fear.
“I don’t remember much after that. The next thing I knew, I was surrounded by lots of people, and there was always this invisible voice giving me instructions. It told me everyone will live in peace and tranquility if we do as it says.”
The mask had likely taken over his mind by that point. Or rather, the curse within the mask had.
“It appears you were being controlled by that mask,” Ebel stated.
Kurt scrunched up his face, not understanding.
“Controlled? How? I don’t really get it…”
“To be honest, we don’t really understand how it works either. But given your actions up until the mask broke and your vague memories, that’s the only explanation,” Ebel flatly presented him with the truth.
And yet, Kurt still struggled to wrap his head around it. Bewildered, he looked at each face of the three adults in the room.
“Did I…do something bad?” he asked.
Rock looked away, unable to answer.
Even Ebel seemed momentarily at a loss for words.
Phoebe, the only one who seemed unfazed by the question, glanced at Rock, sighed, and answered the boy.
“Nah. We just took you out of a bad situation.”
Rock was extremely relieved by his answer.
“Your safety is guaranteed with us. It’s already late, so you can spend the night at ease here. I would like to speak with you a little more tomorrow and then I will send you home,” Ebel assured him in a soft voice, but what he said caused the boy’s face to fall.
“You…will…? All right.”
His dark expression seemed like it was due to something more than exhaustion. But the three adults exited the room without touching on it.
♚♚♚
“…DO you believe him?” Phoebe asked Ebel in a hushed voice when they stepped into the hallway.
Ebel looked thoughtful as he answered, “I don’t think there’s any room for doubt right now.”
“It could all be an act. There’s a chance he’s a quick thinker.”
“Of course, I plan to keep an eye on him for a while.” Ebel met Phoebe’s counsel with a small smile. “But I’ve a greater hope that he will become a valuable source of information.”
“I couldn’t agree with you more.”
Rock watched Phoebe flash a similar cunning smile with an odd sense that things had changed between them. Her father seemed more relaxed around Ebel, and Ebel also seemed to respect his opinion.
Looking at them interact like this reminded her that Phoebe had stayed at Mateus Manor the entire time she was gone. As imprudent as it was, she was mighty curious to know how things had gone with them living together.
Shortly after sunset, they insisted Lord and Lady Alexis return to their own home. Part of that decision came from Ebel’s determination that they were unlikely to obtain any more useful information from them.
However, the Alexises seemed like they still weren’t done apologizing for everything. Placido, who looked particularly worn down, kneeled at Phoebe’s feet and bowed his head.
“I know I’ve committed an unpardonable crime by snatching away your precious daughter…!”
“Yeah, you definitely did.”
Phoebe seemed to struggle with how to react. Placido had taken his hand and held onto it with an iron grip, so Phoebe couldn’t shake him off even if he wanted to.
At his wits’ end, he looked to Rock for help.
“Uncle, please hear me out.” Rock stepped between them. “I believe it was due to the werewolf curse that you kidnapped me. We understand you weren’t fully in control when it happened.”
Rock would also struggle to answer if she was asked whether she could forgive them or not.
She was scared to death when they kidnapped her. Her father and Iniel were both involved in a horrible accident because of it. Every day wore away at her psyche as she longed to go home but couldn’t until it nearly pushed her to the brink of stupidly accepting the werewolf curse.
But she also understood that the kidnapping wasn’t entirely Placido and Lauretta’s fault.
It was a hard line to draw. Human desires are bottomless, and the werewolf curse amplifies them tenfold with reckless abandon. While their crimes could never be erased, both what drove them to it and their memories of it had vanished.
How should they condemn them for something so complicated and supernatural?
Rock didn’t know the answer to that, so she made what she did know clear.
“I will never become your child. I have a father.”
Phoebe quietly nodded along, and Placido and Lauretta stared at Rock in silence.
“But it is the undeniable truth that I am your niece,” she stated, then continued with reservation, “So, if you ever need me to—if my presence will make you just a little happier—then I will be happy to visit as your niece next time.”
After making that declaration and finally smiling ever so slightly, Rock turned toward Phoebe.
“I hope you’ll allow my father to accompany me then.”
“I have to go too?!” Phoebe cried out hysterically mid-nod. He probably didn’t expect to get dragged into the conversation like that.
Catching Ebel cracking up out of the corner of her eye, Rock also placated her father with a laugh.
“You’ve got more recent stories about Mother, Father. I’m sure Auntie would love to hear about the good times.”
“I mean…yeah, I guess…” Phoebe mumbled, sounding unusually unconfident. His blue eyes darted away from his daughter and in-laws.
Lauretta, her cheeks stained with dried tears, quietly walked up to him.
“Fredericks Berwick.”
Phoebe jumped when he was called by his full name. He wasn’t so rude as to keep his eyes averted, but his whole face tensed.
Lauretta continued to address him regardless of the uncomfortable look he gave her.
“I’d always believed that you stole my sister from me. That my foolish sister betrayed me and my family because of your wicked seduction… I even convinced myself that you were at fault for her early death. I thought myself in the right for taking my niece—for taking Roxy back, by justifying everything that way.
“But Valencia…she left because she wanted to… Not because you seduced or tricked her. She left home and chose you because that’s what she truly wanted. I knew that…and yet, I was the true fool for seeing things through clouded eyes…!”
She stopped there and buried her face in her hands. Placido wordlessly rubbed her back.
Phoebe seemed even more lost for words, but after giving Rock another look, he settled with: “I’ve got plenty of stories about her.”
And then he offered her an awkward yet true smile.
“I hope you will let me visit with my daughter to talk about it someday.”
“…Please do. I would be honored if you would tell me about my little sister.”
Lauretta nodded, her face wet with tears.
She really does look like Mother, Rock thought, her heart aching as she watched her aunt and father interact.
♚♚♚
AS the sun went down, everyone gradually left Mateus Manor.
Guido and Michaela left for home shortly after the Alexises and Danilo. There was nothing gloomy about their departure as the siblings boarded their carriage with a smile.
“Let me know if you find anything else out.”
“I’ll come right over with my brother when you send the word,” Michaela said after Guido, then followed up her comment with a devilish grin. “Of course, we would be happy if you send word of good tidings as well—such as your engagement announcement.”
“PARDON?!” Rock squeaked.
“You will be the first to know.”
Ebel’s response was the definition of calm, directly contrasting Rock’s panic. A smile blossomed on Michaela’s lips when she heard, and Guido warmly took in his sister’s joy.
Around nightfall, the last visitor of the day appeared at Mateus Manor.
The doctor, a man held in high esteem for his skills within the imperial capital, grimaced after examining Krister and his busted leg.
“It looks like the leg was left unattended for quite a long time after the injury occurred. He’ll need to use a cane for the rest of his life.”
Rock was shocked by the news, but Krister looked like he’d already accepted that fact before being examined.
“I struck gold just by surviving my ordeal,” he said frankly with a wry grin.
It was such an oddly admirable thing to hear from the greedy man who used to put profit above all else.
“Did you ever think we would hear such a philosophical line from Krister, Roxy?” Phoebe remarked, shrugging with exasperation.
At any rate, it was also a fact that they’d safely rescued him. And since they had, there was one person Rock wanted to let know right away.
“I want to tell Nisha as soon as possible.”
Nisha was likely still waiting to this day for Krister to return to her in the slums. There was no way she’d give up after continually investing so much time and money in finding him. Rock was positive it’d make her day and year if she heard the good news.
“That’s a brilliant idea, Roxy.” Ebel clapped his hands together and happily suggested, “I’ll send a messenger out to invite her here first thing tomorrow morning. Krister still needs more medical treatment, so it’s best if she comes to him.”
“You want to bring her here?” Phoebe looked around the fancy guest room Ebel was letting Krister rest in, worry edging into his features. “I sure hope she doesn’t lose interest in you after getting invited to a nob’s house.”
“Nisha ain’t that kinda girl. She’s a much better human than me,” Krister argued, taking Phoebe’s joke seriously.
Rock found his reaction funny, so she decided to tease him a little more.
“You’ve gotta wonder why such a fine lady fell for somebody like you.”
“Hey, you’re one to talk, Rock, you’re—” Krister stopped mid-argument as he realized an important fact. His eyes cruised Rock’s figure. “Hold on, why’re ya still wearing that?” he asked, confused.
Rock was still wearing the blue and gold embroidered dress Lady Alexis had prepared for her. Although she was covered in dust from everything that had happened at the ruins, no one would mistake Rock for a man right now.
“That’s not all either…” Krister’s gaze drifted to Ebel and Phoebe, who were standing on both sides of her. “Why are His Excellency, Phoebe, and even Lord and Lady Alexis calling you Roxy?”
Anyone who heard that name would think it belonged to a woman. Even if it sounded a little similar to the tailor living in the slums called Rock, no one would ever connect the two.
“Maybe Father rubbed off on me,” Rock said with a laugh, deliberately not telling him the truth.
“My kid took after me in the weirdest ways,” Phoebe added with a chuckle, which seemed to make Krister even less convinced.
“That part of you is definitely similar, but… Whatever. You’re a weird family.”
“But you won’t find a closer family anywhere in the capital,” Ebel added, sounding a little envious.
♚♚♚
NIGHT wore on after they had all those separate conversations, and Rock and Phoebe decided to stay over at Mateus Manor. Everyone was exhausted from the long, chaotic day, and after what happened the last time they left, neither of them wanted to ride a carriage back to the slums in the middle of the night. Besides, Ebel had invited them to join him for dinner, so they happily took him up on his offer.
Rock also had some things she really wanted to ask about while she had the opportunity. Specifically, she wanted to know how things went between Ebel and her father while she wasn’t around.
“Did my father behave while he was with you, Your Excellency?” Rock asked as soon as the three of them sat around the dinner table.
Ebel chuckled and Phoebe snorted.
“Hey, I behave wherever I go,” he retorted.
“I didn’t mean it like you have no manners. I’m pretty sure you were worried sick the whole time I was missing.” Rock shrugged. “I’m just curious if you were being antsy wanting to rescue me before it was time.”
“Well, I definitely wasn’t calm,” Phoebe said vaguely, glancing in Ebel’s direction.
Meanwhile, Ebel was slowly savoring his bite of food, pretending like this topic didn’t also include him. It was easy to guess something had happened, given the way they were both acting.
“Don’t tell me you fought?”
Both men froze at her question before Phoebe answered.
“Us fight? Never! His Excellency and I are full-grown adults. We were perfectly calm throughout it all.”
“Is that true, Your Excellency?” Rock asked Ebel to confirm what sounded awfully like a lie to her.
“Of course. Your father speaks the truth,” Ebel responded with a genuine smile, further adding to Rock’s suspicions that something had happened.
But they said nothing more after that, as if they were colluding to hide the truth from her. Meanwhile, Johanna looked like she was itching to talk the whole time she served them dinner. Clearly, she was dying to tell Rock all about it.
After dinner, Rock offered to help Johanna clean up.
“Oh no, you needn’t trouble yourself, Master Rock…”
Johanna only refused Rock’s assistance once, however. She was quick to pull Rock into the kitchen and gave her dishes to wash.
Only the coachman Iniel was in the kitchen with the girls. He was still recovering from the injuries he’d sustained during Placido’s attack and had started to take on light jobs around the house that wouldn’t negatively affect his recovery.
“I’m so glad to see you are safe and well, Master Rock,” he said, looking truly relieved. “I’d never be able to face His Excellency again if anything happened to you.”
“Nothing would ever happen to her!” Johanna objected at once. “Master Rock has two heroes on her side, after all!”
“Heroes?” Rock asked with a smile, even though she’d guessed who Johanna was talking about.
“Yes, heroes! No enemy will be left standing if His Excellency and Master Phoebe join hands to take them down!” she proudly declared as if she were talking about herself.
Rock actually thought so too.
The heroes in question had already returned to their rooms for the night. They’d both told Rock they wanted to talk after dinner, but Rock turned them down and headed to the kitchen to hear Johanna’s account first.
After all, there were things only the maid would tell her.
Water was pumped from the well and placed in a washbasin where Johanna washed the dishes. Iniel was responsible for rinsing the dishes, and Rock was responsible for drying them with a towel.
“Johanna, how was my father while I wasn’t here?” Rock asked while they worked.
“He was, well…in a frenzied, irritated panic,” Johanna replied over the sound of bubbles popping in the washbasin as she scrubbed the dishes with a sponge.
“That he was,” Iniel nodded in affirmation. “That night, I was injured, and Master Phoebe carried me all the way back here. After he spurred one of the horses back to the manor with me, he explained the situation to His Excellency in a tizzy. His Excellency jumped into action and raced to the scene of the attack…”
Iniel sadly cast down his gaze.
“…But there, he only found the wrecked carriage and the other horse that was obediently waiting to be brought home. He couldn’t track you by smell because the other werewolf had escaped by jumping from point to point.”
Placido did an excellent job of hiding his trail. Thanks to that, Rock’s whereabouts were a mystery, leaving her truly helpless and alone until the Linus siblings visited Alexis Manor.
“His Excellency and Master Phoebe knew that the kidnapping was the Alexis family’s doing, but—”
“They couldn’t recklessly charge in!” Johanna enthusiastically finished Iniel’s sentence. “And that’s when they violently went at it!”
“V-Violently?!”
Rock was horrified by what that word implied.
Were Ebel and Phoebe really at such odds with each other? What kind of bloody confrontation did they have?
Rock’s horror was minimized by Johanna’s big, excited nod.
“Quite! His Excellency insisted they prepare and wait for the opportune moment, since it was hard to get a feel for the other side. Meanwhile, Phoebe exhorted that they should rush in and save you, since your safety mattered above all else. They were in direct conflict, leading to many fierce quarrels. His Excellency used his very own body to obstruct Phoebe from storming out of the house more than once!”
Rock felt the blood drain from her face—quite the opposite of Johanna, whose cheeks were flushed over the excitement of it all.
She understood that Ebel and Phoebe both had their own ways of caring and worrying about her. But one wrong move likely would’ve led to an irreparable crack in their relationship.
Rock’s hands grew clammy as she thought about her absence being another trigger for disaster within Mateus Manor.
“So, uh, did Father and His Excellency make up?” Rock asked, not sure if that was the right way to phrase it.
On one side of her, Iniel looked like he was trying to suppress his laughter, while Johanna grew unusually serious on the other side.
“Of course they did! They are full-grown adults after all.”
“I see…but weren’t they quarreling a lot?”
“They were!” Johanna chirped without a moment’s delay, her hands no longer scrubbing the dishes. Her eyes sparkled with excitement, despite Rock shuddering from the thought of it.
“Why are you so happy?”
Johanna’s enthusiasm was only further stoked by Iniel’s dry question.
“Because! I was a witness for their dramatic reconciliation!!!” Water splashed everywhere when she thrust her fists into the air. “Master Phoebe struggled to shake His Excellency off when he gallantly grabbed him, putting his own body at risk. Enraged, Master Phoebe raised his fists, but His Excellency chose not to dodge, instead accepting the blow to his wrists!”
“I-It turned into a brawl…?”
“No! His Excellency emphatically yet patiently tried to persuade Master Phoebe with his words!” Johanna grew even more animated as she reached what seemed to be her favorite part of the story. “I understand why. His Excellency lost his father while he was young. I believe he sometimes sees his father in Master Phoebe… He felt the same way as Master Phoebe but tried to persuade him not to be rash. He trusts him.”
“His Excellency did that…”
Rock also understood that about him.
Ebel occasionally said things that made him sound envious of her relationship with her father. It was easy to understand why he wanted what they had, considering what he’d lost.
Phoebe also should’ve known that.
“His Excellency’s feelings definitely reached Master Phoebe!” Tears formed in Johanna’s eyes. “And then, at long last, Master Phoebe said he’d entrust everything concerning this case to His Excellency… He promised to bitterly wait for the right opportunity to save Master Rock! They shared a passionate look and a firm handshake. I saw it with my own eyes!”
“I see…”
Rock was relieved.
She couldn’t say she was happy about the overall situation, but she felt she should still be glad that the relationship between them had been repaired.
Or maybe it was better to say that their relationship had improved and grown stronger rather than just repaired.
Rock was impressed all over again by Ebel’s calmness and her father’s magnanimity.
“It’s probably imprudent for me to say this, but…” Rock started as she wiped down each dish she was handed. “I’m okay with everything that’s happened if it resulted in His Excellency and my father coming to trust each other.”
Rock had met her aunt and uncle, and they were able to form a relationship through all the pain and hurt they caused each other.
There were definite losses. There were a mountain of unsolvable mysteries and yet-to-be-settled circumstances.
But they’d definitely gained some things along the way.
“I believe we might actually be making some real progress,” Rock quietly finished.
“We have,” Johanna agreed. “This time, it might have just been a small win, but a win is still a win! We absolutely didn’t lose!”
“You’re right, Johanna.”
Although some things were lost, Rock was able to return to the people she loved and gained much more in the process.
Maybe someday, they would be able to bring back an even greater happiness.
“But I still can’t believe Father raised a hand against His Excellency…”
Rock snickered despite herself.
Her father often accepted any fight someone brought to him, but he was rarely the instigator. It was just like her father to choose a nobleman as the one person he personally picked a fight with.
“I don’t mean to correct you, Master Rock, but that is the way in which all gentlemen forge friendship!” Johanna said in a singsong voice.
“Really?” Rock asked, curious.
“Master Rock, please ignore her,” Iniel appealed with a sigh. “You’re going to get her started rambling about her fantasies again.”
Apparently, Johanna didn’t hear him. She completely stopped washing the dishes and stared into the distance like she was daydreaming.
“If I may join you in being imprudent, seeing them fight was honestly the best thing ever… The trust that forms from clashing, a slowly changing dynamic—those are some of my absolute favorite story beats!”
“Story beats?”
“Please ignore her! I implore you!”
Johanna entered her own little world despite Rock’s dubious look and Iniel’s pleas. But then she seemed to abruptly snap out of it and whirled toward Rock in a panic.
“Oh, please don’t misunderstand! I fully support your romance with His Excellency, Master Rock!”
“What? Wh-Where did that come from?”
“I’ll admit I did temporarily fantasize about how great of a pairing they’d make, but it’s too immoral! It’s an undeniable fact that His Excellency is madly in love with you, and Master Phoebe treasures his beloved daughter above all else. I’ll just have to enjoy shipping them in my own fantasy world, so please rest assured that you can stay by His Excellency’s side without your father getting between you! Please let him stay with you!”
Rock couldn’t understand half of what Johanna was trying to say. But she saw Iniel holding his head like he just wanted it to end, so she played along with it for the time being.
“Yeah…I’m fine with that.”
“Thank you!” Johanna cheered, bowing with heartfelt gratitude that was lost on Rock.
♚♚♚
ROCK ended up staying in the kitchen much longer than intended. Most of the time was spent talking, but after somehow finishing the dishes, she returned to her guest room after midnight.
She peeked into the next room to confirm her father was asleep before crawling into bed alone. She was more exhausted than she thought as she fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the fluffy down pillow.
When she woke up the next morning, Ebel was sleeping beside her.
He was in the same bed, under the same sheets, his burnt sienna eyelashes fluttering as he lay there peacefully asleep.
“Wh-Wh-Whaaaaa?!”
Sure, Johanna had pleaded with her the prior night to let Ebel “stay by her side.” But she didn’t expect that’d entail waking up with him in the same bed. She was positive she’d crawled into bed alone, so why was he there? Her sleep-dazed mind snapped awake at once.
“Ebel… Ebel!”
She frantically shook him until he squinted up at her like she was the brightest light in the world. A soft, lazy smile spread across his face when he registered she was really there next to him.
“Good morning, Roxy.”
“Good morning— Hey! This isn’t the time for greetings! Why are you in my bed?!”
Contrary to Rock’s panic, he was as laidback as could be. His eyes fluttered shut as if he might fall back to sleep again, and he answered her by moving only his lips and nothing else.
“I just couldn’t fall asleep last night, so I visited your room. You were already sound asleep, so I laid down just to enjoy the sight of your sleeping face…when I accidentally fell asleep myself.”
He boldly said something that made Rock tremble with anger.
It didn’t matter how much she loved Ebel; she still wasn’t happy to have him or anyone coming into her room while she was completely zonked out and too tired to wake up. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him; she was just embarrassed. She had no idea what she looked like asleep.
And not only did he watch her, but he even spent the night in bed with her! She had every right to be flustered.
“B-But you didn’t have to get under the sheets with—”
Rock’s objection was silenced by Ebel reaching out and pulling her to his chest. He sleepily whispered into her ear under the warm blanket wrapped around both of them.
“I wanted to personally confirm you were safe and still here with me. We were separated for a painfully long time.”
Rock couldn’t complain when he hugged her like that.
It was a fact they’d been apart for a long time, and she’d terribly missed his warmth. Even though they hadn’t hugged like this much, she felt a mysterious sense of security in his arms as her heart raced. She wanted to stay with him like this forever.
“I’m sorry for worrying you,” she whispered into his muscular chest.
“I was worried. But it’s all good now,” he responded right above her head.
“But—”
“I’m content now, Roxy. Everything is all right as long as I have you.”
Rock lifted her face from his chest. Ebel was smiling down at her with just one eye cracked open. His face slowly drew closer and passionately captured her lips before his head fell back on the pillow, and he drifted off to sleep.
“…Ebel,” she whispered with lips still warmed from his kiss.
She reined in her racing heartbeat and shut her eyes. She wasn’t going to leave Ebel’s embrace anytime soon. She wanted to stay a little longer so he could get a good night’s rest.
They remained quietly in bed together until the faint morning light grew much brighter.
♚♚♚
THAT morning, a single carriage left Mateus Manor with a message. It was, of course, headed to retrieve Nisha and returned successfully from its mission just before noon.
Rock went out to the front garden to welcome their guest.
Nisha anxiously poked her head out of the carriage and placed one unsure foot on the ground after the other, as if she’d never stepped out of one before. But all her apprehension shifted into a relieved smile when she saw Rock waiting for her.
“Rock… Is it true? You found Krister?”
“Yeah, he’s inside,” Rock told her, then hesitantly explained, “But…you should know…he’s hurt.”
“He’s hurt?!”
“Yeah. His leg was broken when he got kidnapped.”
Nisha’s whole face tensed. Rock held out her hand to her.
“I’ll show you to his room. Come with me.”
“…Okay.”
Nisha’s hand was shaking.
Rock tightly held it, and they sprinted to the guest room where Krister was waiting.
Krister was lying in bed when they entered the room.
He was still debilitated in addition to his bum leg, so the doctor said he should start by resting and regaining his strength before anything else.
He wasn’t supposed to have visitors for long today because it might overexcite and exhaust him. Rock explained the situation to Nisha as they raced through the hallway, and she agreed to stay calm.
But she forgot all about that as soon as she saw Krister.
“Krister!” Nisha cried out as she ran and threw herself on him on top of the bed.
Krister tried to catch her, but he could only raise his arms so high. Still, he was able to pat her on the head as she clung to his waist, weeping.
“Sorry for leaving you alone so long, Nisha.”
“I don’t care about that! I-I thought I’d never get to see you again…!” She sobbed like a small child. “I knew you wouldn’t abandon me! So, I was certain something bad had happened to you…!”
“Thanks. Rock told me you put up posters.”
This was Rock’s first time ever seeing such a gentle smile on Krister’s greedy face.
Everyone must have at least one person they can be their true self with and show unfettered affection to, she thought.
“We should give them some alone time,” Ebel whispered to Rock as they stood in the room watching the heartwarming reunion.
“…Yeah, we should.”
Rock was all for that plan and quietly exited into the hallway with Ebel.
They could still hear Nisha crying on the other side of the door for a long while after that.
Rock and Ebel leaned against the hallway wall and remained silent for a few minutes. They were glad to see the lovers reunited, but the circumstances prevented them from truly being happy.
“What will happen to Krister now?” Rock asked in a quiet voice, finally breaking the silence.
Ebel looked at his folded hands and sighed.
“I’ll let him stay here for a while until he gets used to using a cane.”
“Won’t that be a burden on you?” Rock asked frankly, getting a chuckle out of Ebel.
“It’s not that much trouble to look after him. I’ve got plenty of rooms to lend one out, and I can get him the best doctor if he stays in the aristocrat district.”
Was it the noble thing to do not to bring up how much of a financial burden that would be? Rock was impressed by him once again.
“Besides, I want a little more information,” Ebel continued, his brow creasing. “Krister’s probably still confused by it all, but I’m hoping he’ll remember something after he’s had a chance to calm down. I’m betting on it.”
“Yeah, I hope he remembers something too.”
Krister and Kurt—they had two living witnesses under Ebel’s roof.
Rock wasn’t physically harmed, but it was a traumatic experience nevertheless. She wanted something to show for the pain she’d put herself through.
“This sect of the Werewolf Brotherhood seemed relatively new,” Ebel began as he slowly started dissecting the situation. “I’m not sure how they got started, but it might be hard to learn the origins of the curse from them if they were only mimicking the original Brotherhood. But we should be able to come closer to the truth if we can figure out who’s been controlling them.”
The power of the werewolves unnecessarily exacerbates human desire, compelling them to act on their violent impulses.
If nothing else, they learned through this last ordeal that there was something—or someone—who tried to manipulate people that hadn’t been cursed as well. They might be able to learn the truth of the curse if they could find the mastermind behind it.
Ebel and Rock wanted the same thing: to make it so no one else had to suffer and grieve because of the werewolf curse. And to do that, they needed to solve the mystery surrounding it.
But before that—
“Father and I are planning to go back home soon,” Rock softly told Ebel. “The shop has been closed this whole time, and I’d rather not deal with thieves thinking my stuff is free for the taking.”
Too much time had passed since she left her little shop in the slums. So much so that she was starting to miss that squalid shantytown.
There was no greater happiness than being able to choose when and where you return home.
“…I see. I’ll miss you.” An even greater sadness showed on his face than his words let on.
“Please don’t look like this is goodbye forever.” Rock laughed, and Ebel shrugged like a pouting child.
“It feels the same. I can’t believe I have to let go of you again after overcoming a long, arduous wait to finally reunite with you…”
“You can see me anytime you want. I’ll always be waiting for you in my shop,” Rock said to soothe and comfort him.
Now that she was free, she could wait for him in her shop. She could even impatiently wait for his visit and welcome him with a bright smile at the door when the chime rang. Or she could go to him if she wanted. The choice was hers.
So there was no need to mourn saying goodbye here.
“That reminds me, I haven’t finished the court uniform you ordered.”
“Oh, right! I forgot about that.”
“I’ll finish it before your next visit. So please be sure to stop by soon,” she instructed, emphasizing the soon part.
“I’ll be there very soon,” Ebel immediately responded. “I want to see you.”
He stroked her cheek with the back of his hand, as if he wanted to burn every contour of her face into his memory. Rock shyly laughed as his touch tickled her.
“To tell you the truth, I’m struggling a bit to leave you.”
“Just a bit? It’s a great big struggle for me to be apart from you.”
“No…it’s a big struggle for me too…”
“I want to be with you every day if possible. Like we were this morning.”
Ebel just had to go and mention what happened that morning, forcing her to glare at him to conceal the blush she felt creeping up on her cheeks.
“You startled me. I can’t believe you’d do that without asking—”
“Can I do it if I ask?” Ebel quickly interjected, his smile not leaving his lips. His golden eyes were dangerously serious as they captured Rock in their unwavering gaze.
“I-I didn’t mean it like that!”
“Very well. I’ll be sure to ask you the night before next time.”
“Ebel! Are you even listening to me?!”
Flustered by how calmly he turned her comment into something convenient for him, Rock grabbed his hands.
Before anything else could happen, the door next to them opened.
“What’s going on out here?” Nisha eyed them curiously as she stepped out of the guest room.
Rock promptly let go of Ebel and looked away. “N-Nothing… Are you done talking to Krister?”
“Yeah. I don’t want to get in the way of his recovery by staying too long.”
Nisha’s eyes were red and puffy, but her expression was sunny. It was easy to see that a weight had left her.
“We plan to take our time talking after he feels a little better.” Nisha smiled and bowed to Rock and Ebel. “Thank you so very much, Rock. You too, Mr. Count.”
“You should refer to him as Your Excellency or Count Mateus, Nisha,” Rock corrected.
“I don’t mind,” Ebel laughed.
Nisha didn’t seem to care either way as she sidled up to Rock like she was never interrupted.
“I feel especially indebted to Rock.”
She laced her soft fingers with Rock’s calloused ones. She leaned in extra close when Rock looked down at their hands.
“Say…how about I pay you back by spending the night with you? We can keep it our little secret,” she whispered seductively, pulling Rock’s hand into her soft bosom. “This is the only way I can thank you for everything… Interested?”
“…Huh?”
Ebel angrily pulled their hands apart while Rock was still too stunned to process what was going on.
“We don’t need you to pay us back for anything. I think you’re done here. I’ll call for the carriage.”
His frigid smile definitely didn’t reach his eyes. By the time Rock realized that fact, Nisha was doubled over laughing.
“I’m just kidding! Rock’s got herself a count! And she’s a girl.”
“What?!”
Rock instantly understood what she was saying this time.
But this was probably the first time someone realized she was a woman so quick. Even Ebel was initially skeptical, which was why he’d tried to sound her out for so long.
Rock’s whole body tensed as she timidly asked, “…When did you figure it out?”
“The first time I held your hand.”
That happened the first day they met at Justia’s bakery. Nisha wasn’t as panicked the initial week or two after she’d lost contact with Krister. Still, she wanted information badly enough to put the moves on Rock, and their hands definitely came in contact then.
“I often touch hands for my job.”
Nisha’s fingertips traced Rock’s hand.
While Rock had calloused hands, her knuckles were inconspicuous, and her fingers were slender with small, filed nails. The back of her hands were soft and curved and not as sinewy as a man’s.
“See? They’re completely different. I could tell that Rock Floria was a woman the moment I touched you.”
“Ugh…”
Rock lost her peace of mind knowing that.
There wasn’t anything to fear having that truth revealed here. Ebel long since knew the truth, and they just had to prevent Nisha from spreading the information.
But what if someone else saw through her the same way?
“Why didn’t you say anything?” Rock asked.
“I didn’t really have a reason to,” Nisha replied cheerfully. “There’s nothing to gain from exposing a girl who’s chosen to live as a man.”
“I always thought I pulled it off so well…”
“Don’t worry. I’ll continue to protect your secret.” Nisha squeezed her hand then pushed it toward Ebel. “Also, I really was joking just now! I mean, I have more than a few female clients, but I hate to make Mr. Count here jealous.”
“…Thank you for thinking of me,” Ebel said moodily, lacing his fingers with Rock’s.
Holding his hand made Rock’s heart skip a beat, rendering her speechless after that.
Later on, when she was alone, Rock stared at her hand.
No one had ever pointed out the difference to her before, and she didn’t notice it herself either. But Nisha was right—her hand was different from Ebel’s and Phoebe’s. She was surprised she didn’t realize that until today.
“Is it becoming harder to pose as a twenty-year-old man…?” Rock muttered to herself, then smiled bitterly.
Perhaps it was becoming time to close the curtain on the weak “trickster tailor.”
Although it was still vague at this point, she was starting to get that feeling.
♚♚♚
IT’D been ten days since she left the slums.
After stopping by the store to make sure nothing was stolen, Rock headed straight to see Justia.
As she approached the bakery under the public bathhouse, the smell of delicious, freshly baked bread drifted out to meet her.
When she stopped to appreciate that nostalgic fragrance, the person in front of the store also paused with a start.
“ROCK!” Justia cried out, tossing her broom aside to rush out to meet Rock in the road.
Cargus poked his head outside, his eyes widening when he saw her.
“Hi, guys—”
Before Rock could finish her awkward greeting, Justia threw her arms around her.
“For heaven’s sake! You always make me worry! Where have you been?!”
“Whoa! Sorry! I’m sorry!”
“You think sorry fixes things? You foolish child! I was worried sick thinking they’d gotten to you too!”
Crying, Justia pounded her fists into Rock’s back.
As Rock struggled to find the right way to appease her, she saw Cargus’s wry yet relieved smile over his wife’s shoulder.
Apparently, she really had caused them both to worry about her.
“I went looking for Krister,” Rock explained, earning a teary scowl from the baker’s wife.
“You were putting yourself in danger again?”
“I-I wouldn’t call it dangerous. Phoebe was with me.”
Justia would surely be enraged and give her a real earful if she told her the whole story. She definitely couldn’t tell her.
Of course, she understood all the scolding came from Justia genuinely caring about her.
“Speaking of Phoebe, where is she? You came back together, right?”
“Yeah. She said she’ll come after she gets dressed.”
It had been ten days since Phoebe came back home too. He said he had a ton of things he wanted to tend to. They agreed to meet up at the hash house for potato bread after they both finished the things they wanted to see to first.
Rock was hard-pressed apologizing and explaining herself to Cargus and Justia until Phoebe showed up.
They’d sat her down in a corner of the bakery and drilled her with questions. What’d happened to Krister? Where was he, and what was he up to now? And how were Rock and Phoebe involved in the search for him?
She was stuck walking a thin line between telling them the gist of things and blurring the truth.
“Krister was kidnapped by a shady group and put through some pretty terrible stuff. Phoebe and I just so happened to come across their hideout…”
“How?”
“B-Because someone else was checking it out…”
Justia’s question had thrown her off, but she was able to come up with a quick save.
“Krister is injured,” she swiftly mentioned to distract the other woman from asking more questions she couldn’t answer. “He’ll survive, but he needs time to recover before he can come home, and he’ll be stuck using a cane for life.”
Justia and Cargus’s concern instantly switched to him.
“I see… It sounds like he went through a lot.”
“But even he said, ‘I struck gold just surviving my ordeal.’ Nisha was overjoyed when I told her how he took it.”
Krister should be returning to the slums soon too. Maybe they’d spot him walking through the shantytown using a cane while Nisha supported him on the other side.
“Well, now Nisha can finally collect on all the money she used for those posters.”
Contrary to her word choice, Justia was smiling, the dark shadows finally lifting from her worried face.
Phoebe, now changed into his favorite attire, walked into the hash house just then. His chestnut tresses cascaded down his back, his beautiful face was powdered and highlighted by makeup, and he wore a blue dress Rock had tailored for him.
He spotted Rock as soon as she waved, and his rouged lips broke into a sweet smile.
When he dressed like this, he really did look like a big-boned beauty.
“Phoebe, I just heard all about your big adventure with Rock,” Justia called out to him, sounding a little exasperated.
Phoebe playfully winked at her.
“You need a good adventure every once in a while to stave off boredom.”
“You can adventure all you want with your skills but try not to drag Rock into too much danger. This kid is so weak, you could snap him like a twig,” Justia warned, then returned to the kitchen with Cargus.
Phoebe sat in the chair across from Rock and shrugged.
“It was quite the big adventure this time, huh?” He swept his thick, luxurious hair off his shoulders. “But we both got home safe and sound. His Excellency doesn’t have any dresses in my size on hand yet, so I’m thrilled to finally be back in my second skin.”
“You look beautiful,” Rock complimented him from the bottom of her heart.
Rock loved both Phoebe, who dressed and lived as a woman, and Fredericks Berwick, who did the opposite. She loved that her father didn’t have to give up either side of himself.
“Living in that mansion in pants for days on end almost made me forget how much I love this look, too,” Phoebe said jokingly.
Rock had already learned all about how he spent those ten days from Johanna. She giggled as she recalled her stories and Phoebe arched a suspicious eyebrow.
“What’s so funny?”
“I was just thinking how much I would’ve loved to see what things were like between you and His Excellency.”
“…Grr. That little rat. She’s such a blabbermouth.” Phoebe clicked his tongue, then cracked a wry smile. “You sound awfully optimistic for someone who got kidnapped.”
“Yeah, I guess I do…”
Rock was undeniably violently kidnapped and forced to live days on end with no peace of mind. The air of tension and volatility she experienced at Alexis Manor was still fresh in her mind too.
But she had a feeling that even those miserable days might become a different kind of memory with time.
Maybe she would feel differently about her aunt and uncle when she looked back on that time someday in the future. There was still much she couldn’t get over yet, but she hoped she could forgive them eventually. And hopefully, when that time came, she could speak with them without being scared. She really wanted to hear more about her mother.
“Anyway, let’s enjoy some of the potato bread that we haven’t had in days!” Rock exclaimed, the smell of the bakery making her nostalgic. She raised her hand and called out to the kitchen, “Justia! Can we get some bread?!”
“Sure thing!” Justia answered from the kitchen. Then she turned around as if she just remembered something important. “Oh yeah, Rock! Have you been by to see Lady Trilian yet?”
“What? No, I haven’t…”
“She seemed super ticked off that you hadn’t been around in days and started wondering if you were skipping rent. She went around grumbling that she’s going to jack up the rent, so you’d better go speak with her.”
Now that she thought about it, Rock had been staying with Phoebe ever since Krister first showed up in front of her apartment. It really had been a long time since she actually went back to her own place, so it made sense her landlady would worry.
“How ticked was she?” Rock asked, fearful of the answer.
“Do you think that woman’s capable of quiet anger?” Justia laughed. “It’s so bad, she was going around complaining that her tenant fled in the night. I’d prepare for the worst.”
“I was planning on moving out soon too…”
It seemed unlikely she’d be allowed to move out in peace with her landlady so upset.
Holding her head in her hand, Rock glanced at Phoebe.
“…Will you come with me to talk to her?”
Phoebe graced her with a benevolent smile.
“I can’t send you into that fox den alone. Shall we go get our heads chewed off together?”
Thus, Rock and Phoebe headed to the battlefield together after they finished eating.
Negotiations with Lady Trilian, who was already armed and ready, weren’t pretty, but Rock laid out a sound argument, Phoebe occasionally made matters worse, but eventually, they arrived at a deal both sides could agree to.
In the end, they won the right to move out comfortably in exchange for two months’ rent.
♚♚♚
AROUND the time father and daughter finally started their happy life together, Rock finished tailoring the court uniform Ebel had ordered.
She promptly sent him a letter, and he arrived at the shop the same day.
“It’s been a while since you last came as a customer,” Rock said, greeting him when he came through the door.
He approached the counter, looking relieved.
“I’m thrilled to see your days have gone back to being peaceful.”
“All thanks to you, Ebel,” she promptly responded. Phoebe started clearing his throat as he swept the floors. She laughed and amended her statement. “Father too… Also, Lord Linus and Michaela helped out as well. I haven’t forgotten what Johanna and the others did either.”
Rock’s current tranquility existed with the help of many people.
They were able to recover what they thought they’d lost forever.
The Linus siblings were also spending their days in harmony together.
Johanna’s cheerfulness was still probably making life at Mateus Manor that much more fun and full of both dry and happy laughter.
Krister was due to return to the slums soon too.
And most of all…
“I hope your days are just as peaceful,” Rock said.
Looking at her with fondness, Ebel reached across the counter and took her hand.
“Your presence is my peace of mind, Roxy.”
Rock fidgeted bashfully from the feeling of his big, warm hand holding hers.
“Ebel…”
“If possible, I hope to have you closer all the time.” Ebel gazed straight into Rock’s eyes, completely undisturbed by Phoebe watching them. “As we discussed before, it is my greatest wish to spend my future with you.”
Rock had long since made up her mind about that. But it was a lot harder for her to ignore Phoebe’s presence.
And there was something else that’d been on her mind all this time: the dream her father and mother had worked toward. And her own slender hand resting in Ebel’s.
So she answered him truthfully.
“That’s my wish too, Ebel,” she said and confided, “I’ve been thinking about the future a lot lately.”
“…Oh? What do you have in mind?”
She hesitated for a moment. But a second’s pause didn’t change her mind. This was her dream, after all.
“I want to open up a shop as Roxy, not Rock,” she said sheepishly.
Ebel quietly nodded, accepting her dreams fully.
Rock nodded back to him and continued, “I want to leave these slums with Father and open up a tailor shop in the imperial capital. That’s what I’ve been thinking about.”
She glanced to her left and saw Phoebe silently smiling at her too.
That’d been her father and mother’s dream. And now it was hers.
“That is a lovely objective,” Ebel said as enthusiastically as if it were his own dream. “I’m sure there are things I can assist you with in accomplishing your dreams. Please tell me when the time comes.”
“Thank you very much, Ebel.”
Truth be told, she might really need his help to make her dreams come true.
Rock was twenty—she knew the cold, hard truth about reality. She’d a general idea about the huge sum of money necessary to buy her way out of the slums and that some things couldn’t just be solved with money alone.
But she would think about how to solve each obstacle as she came to it.
She wanted to obtain citizenship with her own two small, calloused hands.
She wanted to become a version of herself that could be confident standing at Ebel’s side.
“I hope you will continue to be a regular customer of mine,” she told Ebel. “I will reward your trust by putting my whole heart into every piece I tailor for you.”
She squeezed his hand, and he put his other hand on top, encompassing it.
“Your determination has touched my heart. I’ll become the best customer you’ve ever had.”
“Never let go of that hand, you hear?” Phoebe coolly interjected, his eyes on their hands.
Which one was he saying that to? Either way, their aspirations and determination remained unchanged.
They would never let go until the day their dreams came true.
Of course, even after that, Roxy’s small hand wasn’t going to let go of Ebel’s either.
