Hakushaku to Yousei Vol 2 Chapter 3

P. 77

        Sitting on one of those rental boats, Lydia was thinking there are so many people in London who have too much free time. She watched a nicely dressed couple pass by on their boat as they were chatting and giggling with each other.

        On a row boat that had room for ten people, there was currently the three of them, with Raven as one of them, who had been waiting at the floating pier for them. Two oarsmen had also climbed on the boat and were rowing in slow strokes with the long paddles.

        “We can see fireworks?”

        “No.”

P. 78

        Raven opened a bottle of champagne. She was handed a thin, tall glass and watched as she was poured the bubbly golden drink, but just the reflection of the flickering fire felt like it was enough to intoxicate her.

        “Me, valiant?”

        He’s over-exaggerating. And the ‘my’ part is unnecessary. 

        It wasn’t like she got used to it, more like, it wasn’t something special but a daily routine for this person to make an elaborate performance and act like the center of the crowd where ever he went.

        “Where did you see fireworks?”

        To tell the truth, Lydia had strictly decided to herself that she was not going to ask anything in regards to his past.

        All she knew was that he was born into an aristocratic family, but was involved in a conspiracy, and made society believe that he and his family had all died, but in reality he alone survived and was sold to a wealthy man in America. He then escaped from there, and as he evaded his pursuers, he did anything in order to live…

        And so, she had been evading any topic or comments that would touch about his past even in their casual chit-chat.

        At his reply, she breathed a sigh of relief. It looked like she managed to not make him remember about his horrible experience in America.

        Because in the past, he still had his family and friends by his side, and there was no need to hide anything behind his blessed beautiful looks and could have grown up smiling innocently.

        Edgar looked at Lydia with a not entirely satisfied expression after she suddenly went silent.

        “Eh? …..Umm, I really am not that curious about your past.”

        Oh, no, I said it too coldly again.

        She regretted for saying something so superficial and that made her sigh.

        The stone that Edgar showed interest and was called the ‘fairy egg.’ At such an unexpected name, Lydia turned back to face from curiosity. 

        “How did he lose it?”

        And now the key word fogman has come out. It seems the real reason Edgar stuck his nose into this case was behind that.

P. 81

        He then went quiet and looked up to the sky. The fireworks still hadn’t started.

        “No. Most likely, the dark place he was in was some warehouse. He was carried out like a piece of luggage, and was put onto a ship and was sold.”

        “Is that person still in America?”

        “….Are you trying to find his ‘fairy egg’ for him?”

        He says he wants to save someone who is no longer alive. It was strange words that didn’t sound like the usual Edgar at all. 

        “A boy who has disappeared into the London fog…. I wonder if I’m able to find the boy, whose still said to be missing, and drag him out of the mist, would that erase the fact that he had died? Lydia, would you please help him?”

With the disappearance of Lady Doris and adding the fact about the fogman which was the works of man, there could be the possibility that the reason Lydia was involved in all of this could be coming from the same reason.

        “Well, if there is anything that I can do….”

        “Thank you.”

        Inside, she was panicking as not knowing what to do, but she remained still, perhaps because she felt like she was a mouse that happened to walk into the path of a lion.

        Eh? Wh-what am I thinking! Oh, my goodness, could I have gotten drunk from just one glass of champagne.

        “I was always thinking, you have the fragrance of chamomile. The same smell like those biscuits.”

        “Ah, fireworks!” she gasped.

        In one instant, Lydia’s eyes were spellbound by the fireworks she was seeing for the first time.

        The tingling feeling that had been consuming her just earlier was gone. Lydia remained looking up to the sky, mesmerized by the fireworks, and at that sight of her, Edgar burst out laughing. 

P. 84

        “Wh-What!? It really is beautiful. Ah, there’s goes another one.”

        It makes me lose confidence, said Edgar; he was apparently in a good mood as he was still chuckling.

        As he evaded the jesting pursuits of Edgar, the first one to bring his attention to the row boat that was quietly approaching them was Raven.

        “Oh, my, if it isn’t my lord. What a coincidence.”

        “Oh, good afternoon, Lady Rosalie Worpole. How are you?”

        Now that she thought about it, she remembered that the baron daughter had been living with a cousin, one-year older than her and an uncle. 

        “It is a pleasure to meet your acquaintance, Lord Ashenbert. This is the first time for me to personally greet you, but I have seen you several times at the club in Piccadilly.”

        “Ahh, which means, I heard while I was there, that there is a famous ladies’ man in the ton, I can see that must have meant you, Lord Graham.”

        “Excuse me, my lord, but who would you have with you?”

        “This is Miss Lydia Carlton.”

        “I am the fairy doctor Carlton.”

        “Oh, my, so you’re the rumored fairy specialist? You seem to be around the same age as me, but it must be tough to have to work.”

P. 86

        “Not really work, more like she is my advisor, and my trusted partner,” said Edgar.

        And now she was being looked upon as a servant.

        When she was defended like that, Lydia felt her heart unexpectedly beated a little faster.

        It looks like she wasn’t the average reserved lady.

        Oh, my, goodness, Edgar, why did you have to ask something so daring. Lydia couldn’t help but be worried, but unexpectedly, Rosalie replied like it was nothing at all.

        “Oh, my, that’s unfornate to hear. It must be quite lonely.”

P. 87

P. 88

        Or, was the truth being hidden from her as well.

        This girl must have feelings for Edgar.

        “Rosalie, that’s impolite,” interrupted her uncle.

        However, there was no way Edgar was going to refuse an invitation from a lady.

        “I consider myself still youth, you know.”

        With a sour smile, her uncle looked over towards Edgar.

        “Yes, of course, it is a pleasure to be able to accompany a beautiful lady.”

        The ever more defiant looks Rosalie was sending Lydia was making her feel disgusted and she didn’t think she would be able to continue enjoying the fireworks that were still being shot up.

        “Eh, why?”

        He shook his head a little like he was disappointed, but that was all.

        So you’re not going to stop me.

        The pretty doll-like girl had her boat rested next to the floating pier and gladly changed boats to sit next to Edgar.

        Well, it has nothing to do with me, she mumbled, and so Lydia left the lakeside. 

        She remembered those words of Edgar when she happened to see the Margaret flowers sitting in the vase by the windowsill of her room.

        The way Edgar treated as a lady…. Was somehow something she couldn’t honestly be happy about.

        If she didn’t keep her distance, she felt she might be dragged in and deeply wrapped up and messed around with.

        On the table she had lit, Lydia closed the book that she couldn’t concentrate on, and pulled out another book and opened its cover.

        The reason she brought back only this flower was just because it was one of her favorite kinds. There was no deep meaning behind it.

P. 91

        Anyways, she must not be misled by what Edgar says. She already knew from the start, Lydia honestly regretted every time she came across the thought that he might just be kind-hearted only to herself.

        It was annoying to have a bad mood because of that, so she took a deep breath to calm herself down.

        She slapped the book shut. When she turned around, she saw Nico standing in the doorway. He entered the room and trotted over to her direction.

        “No-nothing.”

        “Baron family, you mean the house of Lady Doris who disappeared?”

        “……Rozalie?”

P. 92

        She had already sensed that she had feelings towards Edgar when she met her atop the lake. 

        But the thing she couldn’t dismiss the most was the part about ‘like Doris.’

        “But, Nico, why is the bogey beast doing as she says?”

        “Who’s its master?”

        Even if one is able to see fairies, it was dangerous to be in contact with them if you didn’t know how to handle them. And because of that, in the past, there were many people who were deceived by fairies and went through a bitter experience, which made them ask for the help of fairy doctors.

        People in the past knew that even if you saw them, you pretended not, and if you heard them, you pretended not, and by doing that, people were able to evade danger, but now-a-days there aren’t that many people who could teach that to others.

        That would be dangerous for her.

        If she wanted to ask her about Lady Doris, she first needed to cut the ties between Rosalie and the bogey beast.

        Judging from her attitude today, she thought that was impossible.

        As she was mulling that over, on the other hand, Lydia was bothered about the ‘fairy egg’ Edgar brought up and the fogman. The glass ball of the fortune-telling game had nothing to do with the water sealed agate stone. And yet, Edgar thought they were linked.

P. 94

        Why? 

        “……Hm?”

        But what she vaguely thought was that Edgar was still hiding something from her. 

        The two girls who lost their parents at the same time, had been living with each other ever since. 

        Previously at the baron house, it was well known that Rosalie and Graham were doing as they pleased without regard to the rightful master Doris.

        However, Doris had the higher title. She was after all, the current head of the baron family. That’s why her strong-willed cousin wanted to stand out more than Doris. 

        Rosalie stated to Edgar straightly that she was so glad her cousin is gone, when the two of them were alone together. 

        Either way, she was a girl who really didn’t have a tight lip.

        If he would only just hint a sign of interest, she was more than delighted to answer. There was no trouble at all in retrieving the every single bit of inside information of the baron family than he expected.

P. 96

        As he thought, Edgar tied his brows deeply together.

        He forced that thought out of his head. Even if a game, once he started it, he needed to win. That was all there was to it. 

        “Welcome home, my lord.”

        “Raven, how was Lydia? Was she jealous?”

        Raven tilted his head as if he was confused at the unexpected question.

        “Uh-hm, however, master Edgar, I was not given the order to make sure if she was jealous or not,” he replied seriously. 

P. 97

        “And I wouldn’t be able to judge such a thing.”

        His eyes, which at one glance appeared pure black, had a faint green tone to it when you see the light reflect in them. Apparantely, in his homeland, that meant he had the fierce and untamed sprit that rejoice bloody combat. 

        If there was no need for a heart in a weapon meant for battle, then he was the ideal fighter anyone would want.

        If one was treated as a weapon, then he was only left to act like one, but he was perfectly able to feel and think for himself. 

        Going up the hall stairs, and opening the door to his room, Edgar turned his focus to what he had asked from Raven.

P. 98

        “I safely escorted Miss Lydia to her home.”

        “No one appeared.”

        “Hmm. There should have been word that I was going to take Lydia with me to Cremorne Gardens, and I thought that the situation where Lydia went home by herself was a golden opportunity. Oh, well, it’s not like the culprit was going to do the work personally, so it could have meant the culprit didn’t have its men prepared in time.”

        “If it makes you feel uneasy, I could think it over?”

        The order from Edgar to protect Lydia as well as capture the ones who attack her wasn’t that difficult a bid to follow for Raven.

        There wasn’t such a time in the past for him to show such a worry for someone and it to be one besides Edgar and his sister.

P. 99

        But even if Edgar didn’t do anything, Lydia, who was in London and carried the name as the Earl’s fairy doctor which attracted the curiosity of others, and as long as there were people who thought that they could make money off of her ability, there was going to be the possibility that she would be captured. Truth be told, he had gotten the insight that there were suspicious movements that were sniffing around on who were entering and leaving the earl house, and just when he asked Raven to guard Lydia, the near kidnapping incident happened at the park.

        In any case, if there were any threatening schemes, then Edgar thought it was best to quickly lure them out and knock them out. To find the enemy and eradicate all dangers was also in the best interest of Lydia as well.

        “It’s to determine which member of Prince’s men he is. The culprit that’s using ships for smuggling, and preparing the stolen goods according to orders put in, and even putting his hand in human slave trade is definitely in London.”

        His name and origins and even the goal of forming the organization was unknown, but to Edgar and Raven who managed to escape from there, he was an intensely hated, loathsome man.

        The one who meets the same conditions at that time has already been researched. However right now, there was nothing to determine if that person was just a simple criminal or someone faithful to Prince.

        “He’s sure to; he knows that Prince is willing to pay a handsome fee for people who have a unique ability beyond that of a normal human. I know that one of them with special ability who was imprisoned at Prince’s headquarters was also put on the same ship as I was, and in these past several years in London, there were a number of psychics who have disappeared. If the smuggler is one of Prince’s men, and he found out that Lydia is a fairy doctor then he’s sure to target her. He’ll surely make a move again.”

        And Edgar wanted to indicate to Prince that he was alive and was rising up in revolt. 

        There was a painful strength in his stained whisper.

        However Prince’s chase was ruthless and Edgar wasn’t able to protect them.

        Perhaps so. However it was Edgar who planed the escape and he was also the one to lead it. What else could he do for his allies who believed in him and followed but were mercilessly killed. 

        If he was able to throw away his past completely. 

        “Raven, in the end, you’re the only one left,” he whispered as he rested his cheek in the palm of his hand. 

        “I wasn’t able to bring any of them here when they helped me in our escape. Even when I promised them freedom.”

P. 102

        “Why apologize?”

        “You’ve said plenty, Raven.”

        This small eighteen year old young boy from the eastern globe of the world, he was the only reason that Edgar was here.

        “What? Lydia, would you say that one more time?”

        “No, after that.”

        “After that.”

        For some strange reason, Edgar made a displeased face. But she thought it wasn’t that difficult a task for him to cajole a young girl and persuade her. 

        “So you aren’t the least bit jealous.”

        Lydia had just arrived for work at the earl’s house, and was about to enter her office when she was caught by Edgar and made to come along and spend time in the salon with him.

        “Why would I have to be jealous? You’re free to approach anyone you like, and if that means I won’t have to be dragged around to different social settings then I would be grateful.”

        “Do you really think that?”

P. 104

        In no way am I jealous.

        “Ahh, if only you would spend have of your heart that you do on fairies and send those feelings towards me.”

Last night Lydia made a fresh resolve to herself that she was just going to let Edgar’s sweet words pass over her left and right, and so she glared at him with a heavy barrier in between them in mind.

        “There isn’t any more a skeptical person than you.”

        “You really are on your guard more than usual.”

        “My lord, you have a visitor.”

        “Edgar! Oh, I’ve missed you so much!”

        “Good morning, my lady. You’re even more beautiful today than before.”

        “Oh, Edgar, there’s going to be a solo recital by a pianist from Vienna at the Watts house. Wouldn’t you like to go? It’s only a small gathering of people who are very close with Lady Watts.”

        “Of course. If you would escort me, that is. And besides, everyone wants to get to know you.”

        “Oh, yes, Rosalie, I was told that you apparantely should keep a cross made of rowan with you. According to my fairy doctor, it's to ward off malevolent spirits.”

P. 106

        And just like she expected, Rosalie’s eyes sank into Lydia’s back.

        Having no choice, Lydia turned around to face her.

        “It’s my slave. It’s protecting me, so don’t speak like you would know.”

        What Lydia wanted to say wasn’t about an illness, but the reason behind her disappearance, but she keep with the story about it being an illness as Rosalie had said.

        “I didn’t say that….”

        Apparently Rosalie really did believe that Doris is recovering in the countryside. It appeared to Lydia’s eyes like she didn’t disbelieve the false announcement made by the baron house to keep up appearances.

        But the fairy that was hanging around Rosalie was a bogey beast. Even if she only intended it to be a small quarrel, if that fae put its hands into it, there was a chance it would cause more trouble.

        “You, you don’t like it how I’m so intimate with Edgar.”

        “Huh?”

        “I have no interest in a philanderer like him!”

        It didn’t seem like she was going to be able to have a serious talk about fairies.

        More like Lydia resented him for instigating this.

        But Lydia had no reason to fight with her.

        “Just because you don’t have the beauty or seductive charm that can match me, don’t try to get in my way by doing something like that. Besides, the color of your eyes makes you look like a witch. Or are fairy doctors not even human? Are you a fairy that’s taking the shape of a human?”

        There was no reason for her to fight for Edgar. But if she was ridiculed for her looks that she was concerned about as a young woman, then there was nothing to keep Lydia quiet.

        “You’re not that great of a work to boast yourself. You only making yourself look showy, and how many hours do you curl that frizzled hair of yours?”

        “Even if it was frizzled, better than that rust colored hair of yours.”

        The only one to call the mediocre hair color that Lydia herself couldn’t come to like like that was Edgar. It was amazing how just one word would make it seem like a charming color, but it was embarrassing for her to be clinging onto something like that. 

        “Then, Edgar, which do you like better, orange or caramel?” asked Rosalie and turned his attention to her question.

        What is that suppose to…..

        Unbelievable! He’s a frivol man whose just a quick worker with women.

        Pushing aside Rosalie, she crossed the room in wide steps and headed for the door. She hear the small ‘You’re so naïve’ comment from Rosalie and she intended to hit her back by slamming the door behind her. 

        She stood by the window and looked at the carriage that was parked by the front entrance ready for Edgar and Rosalie, but when he lifted his head up to her direction, she rushed to close the curtains.

        Turning around, she jumped to shut her mouth closed.

        “Wh-what is it? Couldn’t you knock?”

        Was I so angry that I couldn’t hear?

        “Miss Carlton, Lord Edgar isn’t that frivolous a man,” he suddenly said with a serious expression. 

        “He’s only frivolous in what he says. He wouldn’t dare force his way with a woman. Although that would be different if she was wishing for that.”

        “That’s why, Miss Carlton, would you please trust Lord Edgar just a little? Sinc

Chapter end