Hakushaku to Yousei Vol 2 Chapter 2

P. 47

        However you look at it, he’s too suspicious.

        She had the feeling that her suspicion about Edgar might actually be true after she heard Nico's story.

        “Oh, no, did he kidnap her?”

        Even if he was a former criminal…., but as she thought that, she was still confused.

        “Of course to sell her off, since young, pretty girls would make good money.”

        “Money, huh, well, I don’t think it would be that.”

        At the present time, there should be no reason for him to cross such a dangerous bridge. 

        “But, well, he would frequently disguise himself to go to the harbor and the downtown areas. That smells like when a criminal is planning to do something. It also seems like he’s been going in-and-out of the expensive casinos and it seemed too suspicious for him to be just a simple gamble-lover. I’m sure he’s trying to focus people’s attention away from himself by having you search for the where-abouts of that baron daughter.”

        “Now, don’t go stealing away Father’s delights.”

        “Then, look at this. I found it in his room.”

        “[The children who disappeared into the London fog…. Could this be the work of a white-slave trade organization or some sort of secret underground operation?]”

        “[From the corners of London, there are endless number of disappearing children. It has come to the point where people are starting to believe the rumors that they were kidnapped by the imaginary “fogman” and in most of the cases, the location of the missing children are never found.]”

        “He had a collection of other clippings from similar articles. There’s no mistake that he’s planning on doing something bad. How you were nearly kidnapped could be somehow related to this .”

        “Hmm, well, I’m not sure, but I still think it’s dangerous to be around that man. Lydia, why don’t we hurry up and return to Scotland? Well, it may not be so easy to end your enployment from that earl.”

        Would someone, who went through the horrible experience of being sold and robed of their free will as a human being, do something like sell another human being?

        “Miss, your biscuits are going to get burnt.”

        “Thank goodness. It’s been a long time since I baked anything, I hope they taste like Mother’s.”

        Their town house wasn’t something that could compare to Edgar’s palace, but this house that Lydia’s father lives in, employs a maid and a cook. There wasn’t any need for Lydia to stand in the kitchen, but just like her mother did, she thought it was her duty to bake the biscuits. 

        Lydia threw one into the fire of the stove and one on the window sill. Nico was already helping himself to one. 

P. 51

        She heard a male voice talking with her father; it seems like Mr. Langley, her father’s student had come to visit.

        “Hello, Mr. Langley. You have perfect timing. I just baked some biscuits, please have some while you’re here.”

        “Was this house that dark?”

        “It’s not dark, more like unapproachable for ladies with ordinary sense. Why don’t you at least put away the sculls? Even for the sake of Miss Carlton.”

        “This is quite a relaxing space for me, but, Lydia, does this room actually disturb you?”

        “Hah, now she really is the daughter of a natural historian. If all ladies were as understanding as you, then there would still be a ray of hope for scholars who are resigning their fates as bachelors.”

        “Oh, so you're here to court Lydia, are you?”

        “Lydia is still a child.”

        It seems the attitude of that naturally-born ladies-man earl towards Lydia had given quite a wake-up call to Carlton. 

        But according to Nico, it had taken two years after her parent's marriage for her father to even realize that her mother’s cat was a magical speaking feline, so she could understand that Langley was also that sort of person.

        Like how they both seemed a little bit unreliable. Or like how even if they were incredible scholars, they were incompetent in everything else. 

        The best part about it being Sunday is I don’t have to see that criminal’s gentleman face, she thought reflectingly in her mind.

        “Sir, the Earl Ashenbert is here to see you. He says he has business with your daughter.”

        “Lydia, we can’t turn the earl away at the door. Show him in.”

        Carlton should have vaguely realized that Edgar wasn’t a true earl. However, as he was acknowledged by the College of Arms, he seemed to have no issue in calling him as earl. 

        And so, he silently gave his authorization for Lydia to be hired by the earl as he knew she wanted to be acknowledged as a fully-fledged fairy doctor.

P. 54

        And so by acknowledging that, Edgar was the employer of his daughter and a respectable earl to Carlton and so he must have thought that he needed to pay his respects.

        He was dressed in an attire like he was going to an evening party, with a black evening coat and a nicely fitted, wine-colored gilet. But the most outstanding feature about him, was his shining blond hair and his sparkling smile that was like an angel. 

        “Please excuse my intrusion, Profession Carlton.”

        “Oh, no, she’s doing wonderfully.”

        She waited to open her mouth after Carlton was finished introducing Langely to him.

        “Lydia, don’t be so impolite all of a sudden. My lord, please have a seat. Would you care for some tea? We only have the biscuits that Lydia had baked.”

P. 55

P. 56

        There’s nothing interesting about it. He’s talks about it like it’s some unfamiliar food from a foreign country.

        Edgar smiled to her as she was glowering at him and chose to purposefully sit down right next to her. Even to go as far as to grabbing Nico, who was sitting in that spot, by the fur on his neck and moving him. 

        “I see, it has a curious taste,” remarked Edgar once he took a bite of a biscuit.

        “It’s just like you, once I have a taste, I crave for more.”

        “By the way, Professor, I happened to read your newest article the other day."

        “Oh, so you have an interest in natural history.”

        Once he’d open his mouth, it was easy for him to grab Carlton’s attention. He acted like a humble young student asking for answers from his teacher, but also managed to give back smart replies and ask questions that were right on the mark to liven the conversation. 

        It may have been natural for someone like him who knew how to get on in the harsh, real world successfully, as he really did seem to have read the article, and he had hit the right buttons to gain the favor of her father, who even she thought was obsessed with his own field research. 

        “By the way, Professor, I happened to come across some old documents on this subject, it said that there is a stone called the “fairy’s egg” or something like that.”

        Talking about fairy’s egg, there was one involved in the case of the disappeared baron daughter. A case that Edgar was suspiciously involved in.

        “Father, is that fairy egg real?”

        “An agate, like that?”

        Carlton stood up and took that large gemstone out of the cabinet and placed it on the table. 

P. 58

        “When you look at it like this, it looks like there is an agate trapped in a rocky egg. Only after you crack the shell are you able to see what’s inside.”

        “But, the agate that’s called the fairy egg isn’t a stone like this, is it?”

        “An agate with water in it?”

        “When you look at an agate gemstone, you can see how there is a open cave in the center of the stone, right? There are rare cases when water is trapped inside this. But if you cut it in two like this, you can’t checked if there is water. Because it evaporates in the instant you crack it.”

        “When you shake it, you can hear the water in it. If you find a stone like that, you carve off the exterior slowly. When you get near the center of the stone, you can transparently see the center of it. There will be the ancient water swaying back and forth that had been hidden asleep within the deep earth for hundreds and thousands of years.”

        “Most likely, the 'fairy egg' name came from the peppermint coloration that covers it like the veins of a leaf and the water was compared to a mysterious, imaginary creature.”

        Langley, who was the only one not familiar with this side of the family, made a puzzled look from Lydia’s bizarre comment. 

        “There indeed are records that they were used for that purpose. I’m not sure about other agate stones that have water in them, but if I were to only say about ‘fairy eggs,’ then there anecdote stories about sealing harmful evil spirits in them.”

        “There may be. I have read there was a record one existed in an abbey in Canterbury somewhere around the 16th century. There is no record of any after that.”

        “But, Edgar, doesn’t the fairy egg fortune-telling game, that’s popular among the young ladies, use a glass ball instead of an agate?”

        “Yes, well, all of this up till now was just for my interest.”

        “About that fairy egg, I found the place that is selling them. Wouldn’t you like to go and see?” 

        “I came here so I could invite you. I hear it’s a Sunday-only event at the Cremorne Gardens.”

        “Professor Carlton, would you give me permission to take Miss Carlton? This is in regards to her work as my hired fairy doctor.”

        “I hear that the public moral behavior at those types of pleasure gardens has been getting out of order.”

P. 61

        “Once our business is done, I promise to escort her back home safely. And I will be by her side at all times, so there is nothing to worry.”

        But if she were to investigate the case about the fairy egg, then she would need to get her hands on an actual one and find out how they are being sold. 

        “I’ll go. Would you wait for just a little? I’ll go get ready.”

        “Umm, Miss Carlton, I had forgotten about this. If you don't mind, I wanted to present you with this.”

        “Since I’m always visiting without any gifts. Oh, and yes, thank you for the biscuits today.”

        She was honestly delighted by his present, so Lydia smiled gladly.  

        After grabbing her hat and shawl, Lydia climbed onto Edgar’s carriage that been waiting.

        The carriage pulled to a start on the road and Lydia felt the prickling eyes of Edgar gazing intently at her as he sat next to her. It was absolutely uncomfortable.

        “Now that I think about it, I never knew you could smile like that.”

        “When you were presented with the flowers from Mr. Langley, you looked happy from the bottom of your heart. When I give you flowers, you never showed any signs of delight.”

        Once that left her mouth, she became worried if what she said was unkind. Because her first meeting with Edgar was such a dubious situation, it made her constantly act stern towards him. But to judge that he didn’t put his heart into his actions could have been prejudice of her.  

        She knew from experience that when he showed himself weak and depressed like that it was one of his tricks, but in the end, Lydia felt like she was the one who was doing the wrong thing.

P. 63

        “Mr. Langley just lives close-by, so he comes to pay us a visit.”

        “The boarding house two doors down.”

        "Yes," replied the young man who was sitting opposite of Edgar.

        She panicked because Raven confessed to her before that he wouldn't spare a thought in killing anyone who would stand in Edgar's way.

        “No, you’re not, and to give an order so easily like that….”

        “I was just kidding, Raven.”

        “For now, anyway.”

        “Quit saying your jealous, you’re just playing around by tossing me around and enjoying watching me how I react. And besides, Mr. Langley is just paying his respects to the daughter of his teacher. He treats me like a normal girl because he doesn’t know that much about me.”

P. 64

        “I’m perfectly aware of how I am. I was called an oddball all my life.”

        He sure was quick to come up with something.

        “Then why don’t you stop tying to deceive me? I know that on the day Lady Doris disappeared you had invited her to ride in your carriage.”

        But he wasn't shaken at all, instead hushed his voice to a whisper as if he had been talking sweet, melting words to her.

        “Are you a clairvoyante?”

P. 65

        It was Nico who was the one to told her about t, but she let that detail slip.

        “Even if I were to hire tight-lipped servants, I wouldn’t be able to fool around if I married you.”

        There was a faint huff that leaked out from the opposite seat from them.

        “I would never.”

        Perhaps, he laughed expressionless.

        “Yes, unfortunately. Apparently, it had fallen asleep for a while.”

        How was she suppose to trust a man who was a big liar from the beginning.

        “You can’t blame me for being curious. After I drop her off in front of her house and she disappears like that….. It's natural that I would be the suspect. So that’s why I need to find out the truth.”

        “Is there anything else that you are hiding from me?”

        “Are you trying to trick me again?”

        He was someone who could deceive you as he lied with his serious demeanor and eyes, and yet she wondered why there was a stronger feeling in her that wanted to believe him than doubt him. 

        Once they got off the carriage and passed through the grand iron gate, they entered the vast open area that held the different exhibits and performance booths. London’s number one sanctuary for entertainment was a place that was filled with people in a number of hundreds that Lydia had never witnessed before. Which ever direction she turned to, there was people, people, people. She wondered where all these people had come from. 

        All of this was new to her, and her focus was nearly taken away, but Lydia reminded herself that she wasn’t here to play and focused herself. 

        “What? What about the fairy egg?”

        He pulled her on, regardless.

        “How harsh. Alright, then. But, once we’re through with our business, spare me some of your time. Because it’s your day-off, I wanted you to spend time with me without any sense of duty.”

        Geesh, I really can’t understand what Edgar’s thinking.

P. 68

        “Why? I imagined that you’d be able to enjoy yourself.”

        “I really don’t dislike your sour look. Although, I much prefer your smile.”

        “Now, Lydia, you’re considering things much too negatively, like how I’m teasing you, or that you’re the only one who knows my secret. Is it unnatural if I thought of you positively and wanted to spend time with you? If I didn’t invite you out, there’d be no chance of getting to know each other, all of that was my current honest feelings. It hasn’t been that long since the first time we met, and it’s just that I’m not at the stage to say that you’re the only one for me, so I wanted to get to know you better, and I wanted you to get to know me, so that’s why I invited you here.”

        Ohh, it’s because I’m tricked so easily like this that he enjoys playing around with me. 

        “Alright. If it’s just a little, then I don’t mind looking at some of the attractions.”

        Just when she thought he was serious, he’d quickly switch back to poking fun at her. Lydia smiled wryly.

P. 69

        She was mad at herself for being happy when complimented, even if it was a lie or flattery.

        The idea that Edgar would be attracted to her was impossible and that fundamental conviction of hers could not be rooted out, no matter what he said.

        Her idea of an ideal suitor was someone, who at first, didn’t seem to have any outstanding qualities, but actually was kind and considerate towards other people's feelings. Even if he was a little clumsy or untidy and you had to take care of him every day or even if his hair was tousled from sleep, she wanted him to be someone who understood and accepted the part of her that could see fairies, someone who would always be by her side, calmly and gently. 

        She was no match for someone who spoke sweet, melting words in upper-class Queen's English, or had a thin figure that looked flawlessly perfect in a tailcoat and had a sophisticated attractiveness in each one of his gestures or movements, or was impossibly beautiful, with the grace of a noble gentleman, or melted woman's hearts when he smiled but wass spin-chillingly daunting when he coerced, a person like that was no match for someone like her, however you thought about it.

        She had heard that in recent times, even the wealthy middle class were able to freely enter the ton, and there were cases of peers with depleting funds who had to resort to selling off their estates and were living in a rented house, but when she would look at Edgar, she still thought that peers were a completely different race than commoners.

        To Edgar’s voice, Lydia looked over to the small pink-colored shed-like theater.

        “It’s just a magic trick.”

        “I don’t see any fairy.”

        Once the magician was done with his show, the selling of the “fairy egg” began on the stage.

        Edgar came back after he bought one and handed it to Lydia.

        “It doesn’t look like there's anything in it.”

        “At least, this glass ball doesn’t have anything that would attract any fairies. See how the color is turbid and how the glass isn’t beautiful and it’s a complete cavity inside? It would be different if there was something inside that fairies liked, but compared to this, you would have a better chance at calling fairies if you put clean well water into some sort of glass container.”

        “Yes….. But it's too early to decide that it isn’t the work of a fairy, I would need to investigate this a little further.”

        Just then, she heard the sound of shattering glass from inside the shed. The high-pitched screams of a woman came right after. It seemed like someone had broken one of the fairy eggs.

        It seemed like there were a number of people who were injured, which started a panick.

        “Uhh, I would like to warn the ladies in particular to be careful in handling the fairies. Please make sure not to handle it roughly or speak ill of others. There are times when they can be angered and burst the egg.”

P. 72

        “There might be gas that explodes in reaction to body temperature. I’d wager that the ones that exploded were just shills, but still, it’s dangerous to have pieces of glass fly out around a crowd,” said Edgar.

        Just then, she heard Nico’s yelling voice.

        It was the size of an infant, with a wrinkled face like an old man, and a body covered in ruffled fur and small horns on its head - a bogey beast.

        Its eyes met Lydia’s.

        Suddenly, in a poof, it vanished.

        “Edgar, throw that away!”

        She quickly swiped it away from his hand. A split second after she threw it in the opposite direction of the shed, the glass ball exploded.

        She scanned the area, but couldn’t see any sight of the fairy anywhere. 

        “Bogey…., I think I've heard of it, what kind of fairie was it again?”

        “And one of them was making the fairy eggs explode from inside the shed?”

        She wondered if it had just happened to cross by. Or was it related somehow with the fairy eggs?

        Edgar held up Lydia’s hand while she was deep in thought.

        It seemed she was cut by a shad of the glass ball that had exploded as soon as she threw it. Blood trickled out from her fingertips.

        “I’m fine. The cuts are small, they’ll heal if I lick them.”

        “What’s there to hide?”

        “I just thought I’d be able to heal your wounds.”

        “I’m fine!”

        Lydia began to quickly walk away from him, but he invited her to take a ride on one of the boats on the lake.

        She couldn’t think that Edgar would allow her to leave that easily. 

        “What were you doing?! You nearly were about to injure the earl!”

        She realized that a girl yelling at nothing and by herself was drawing unwanted attention, and so she quickly moved over to the tree shadows and lowered her voice.

        (But master, that human girl was able to see me. Yes, she not only was able to see me, but she figured out that I was the one that was shattering the glasses. I’m sure she’s a fairy doctor.)

        (….Yes, master.)

        As she said that last part over her shoulder, the girl wiped the helm of her skirt like she kicked it and walked off.

        The girl was a frequent visitor of the earl’s mansion and seemed to be on friendly terms with Edgar Ashenbert, and she looked around the same age as her.

        Since she was master of a fairy slave, she honestly believed that she was completely able to do anything with the power of fairy magic. 

P. 76

        Nico was listening to the grumbling whispers of the bogey beast from atop a tree.

        Just when you thought he held up his fist and railing against her, the bogey beast suddenly placed his hand under his chin and looked as if he was thinking up something.

        As he mumbled to himself, the bogey beast slowly faded away.

        “And the earl, if he was just joking around then I’d looked past all of it, but since I have no idea what he’s thinking I'll have to keep an eye on him too, what a bother.”

Chapter end