Hakushaku to Yousei Vol 5 Chapter 3

P. 87

    Kelpie was at the very depths of the lake, and thought the shades of countless particles of light appeared like they were floating in the water.

    (Hey, is it that way?)

    (Ohh, which way?)

    The shrubs rustled and shook. 

    The tiny evil-hearted fairies were brown and had a squashed face. There were a kind who wore old rags or were completed naked, and there couldn’t be anything good to happen when they gathered together.

    Even if they had similar characteristics, Kelpie wouldn’t feel disgusted by hobgoblins or brownies, but he was irritated by goblins for just even existing. 

    (Hurry up and find it. We’ll be scolded by Master.)

    Just when he thought that, there was the loud splash of something dropping into water. 

    (There it is.)

    He didn’t want any filthy goblins to enter his lake. So, Kelpie created a rising wave around him and pushed the drowning child up back onto the bank. 

    But, now, I don’t want any meat with the finger marks of a goblin. 

    A small wrapped-up bundle fell out of the clothes of the young crying boy. It unraveled and something shinny rolled out of it and fell and sank down into the lake. 

    “Isn’t this a diamond?”

    The man, who also looked like he was still young enough to be called a boy, had a unnaturally bitter, cruel smile on his face. 

    “Boy, tell me who told you to do this?”

    “Wh…..what are you talking about….”

    After the young man said that, he threw something over towards the young boy. 

    “He’s the friend of Duke Barkston. Which means, is it the duke who was the one sneaking under my nose and trying to hide the diamond?”

    Like he couldn’t believe it, the man let out a sigh.

    Then, he ordered the goblins to search the boy. 

    “Where did you hide the diamond? Or, did you already hand it to someone? If you don’t want to die, tell me what you know.”

    The boy couched in pain and murmured something under his breath.

    The blond-haired young man shrugged his shoulders a little and turned around. 

P. 91

    The one who stepped up to the young man and answered was a creature covered in black fur.

    There weren’t that many fairies who took the form of a dog. Even if they could be seen as the same dog fae, they each had different characteristics, with many of them being evil-natured and in most cases, feared by humans. 

    “There’s a possibility that the duke is hiding somewhere in this vicinity. I guess I can have the goblins search for him.”

    “Well, let’s see. It would be entertaining to mess around with the Earl a bit more.”

    “This errand boy, he has the similar appearance, age and height as you. Hey, Jimmy, how about I burn off his face and use his corpse as you and send it back to them?”

    “If you bring too much attention to yourself, then you might be noticed by that little chit. If it were now, they would still be able to believe you are this boy in their group.”

    “No worries. Well, I admit I thought I was done-for when I suddenly met her, but she was just an easily distracted girl who didn't even notice such a detail once I vexed her.”

P. 92

    “Understood, Sir. Please let me use that errand boy.”

    And then, the man shifted his eyes over to the lake. He walked over to the water bank, probably because he thought there could be a chance the diamond he is after could have dropped somewhere near that spot. 

    How annoying, felt Kelpie and rose up to hover above the surface in his form of a horse. 

    “Kelpie, a water horse….,” whispered the young startled man. The goblins all shrieked out loud and made off in a run in the opposite direction.

    “Where I am, is my choice. Hurry up and scram.”

    “Did that kid drop a stone here just earlier?”

    “It’s a stone that is meaningless for a kelpie. If you’re able to find it for me, then I’ll prepare delicious-looking women for you every night.”

    “Shut up. Don’t ever come near my territory again.”

    It was true; a diamond had no appeal to a kelpie and it was the same as a pebble at the bottom of the lake to him. However, for most humans, this was something they had a particular taste for.

    It was the same size as that black diamond. If it were this, then Lydia might like it. 

    When he realized that, Kelpie suddenly began to feel this diamond had more value than one of the pebbles at the bottom of the lake. 

    The place that Lydia sneaked into was the butler’s office of Tomkins. 

    If he was going in and out of a harem, then there should be some kind of clue of the address of that business.

    “Is something the matter, Miss Carlton?”

    “Mr. Tomkins will be returning in the afternoon, do you have business that needs hurry?”

    Even though she was in a panic, Lydia managed to come up with something related to work as her excuse. 

P. 95

    “I think, it could have been three days ago.”

    “Here you go.”

    “…..Thank you, uh, it’s amazing you were able to find it in that mess.”

    “O-oh, so it is. Well, I could understand it if it was him who found it, but it’s surprising that you knew its location.”

    “What, you’re going to be a butler?”

    When she thought about it, Raven was only taught how to kill anyone who was close enough in his reach in the beginning. Lydia only knew the Raven who understood the proper behavior and conducts as Edgar’s valet, but that part must have been what he learned after he met Edgar.

    Lydia felt that if he was pursuing to learn something new and be happy about that, then he just might be one step ahead of Edgar in becoming free from Prince. 

P. 96

    Raven’s expression didn’t change, as usual, but she thought she saw him smile just a crack. 

    Raven opened up the door, and he must have naturally held it open for her, but since she didn’t show any signs of leaving, he must have asked that question. 

    Oh, no, what should I do, she panicked.

    Still hesitant, she asked anyway.

    Now that she could recall, Raven had the complete firm belief that Lydia was Edgar’s fiancée. He must consider her as the next important person after his master. Which means, he wouldn’t be able to ignore me?

    “Isn’t there a business that Edgar goes to quite frequently?”

P. 97

     “It is the Madam Eve Palace on Charing Cross.”

    And so, one hour later, Lydiawas standing in front of Madam Eve Palace.

    Maybe because it was during the day, but there were no signs of people going in or out of the building.

    “Young lady, are you not going to enter from the front door?” asked the coblynau who she brought along with her.

    In no way, was she thinking about meeting the harem princess and do something to her. 

     But, I wonder if she’s very beautiful. 

P. 98

    “Places like this won’t give you a warm welcome if you suddenly appear at their front door,” said Nico acting like the senior fairy. 

    Maid clothing should look similar at any place. She wasn’t sure what exactly a harem or whatever it was, looked like, but it was sure to be a place that hired a load of workers, so she guessed that if she pretended to be a maid, then she could sneak in successfully.

    “More importantly, what’s the reason for you to have to come to a place like this?” asked Nico.

    “Why is that?”

    Anyway, if it was the coblynau, then he should be able to revert the diamond back to its harmless state. Since she had the perfect fairy for the job, Lydia felt she needed to do something about this situation as a Fairy Doctor. 

    Just then, a maid came out the back door, and Lydia watched her go around the corner towards the street and then rushed to the open back door and slipped into the building. 

    “Young lady, I feel the energy of a jewel. It’s this way.”

    He was a fairy skilled in finding where minerals were buried.

    It was a hall with a magnificent, bright chandelier hanging from the ceiling and statues lined up against the wall, with high ceilings and long curving staircases that connected to the floor above.

    It wasn’t just lavish but very man-made and the decorations confused visitors’ senses.

    Nico, who was invisible ever since they entered the building, suddenly appeared out of nowhere to voice his opinion.

    “Wait, Nico, where are you going?” asked Lydia.

P. 100

    “Oh, geesh….., you always go off on your own at times like this.”

    Lydia let Nico go, and followed the Coblynau deeper into the back of the building. 

    “Is it here?”

    The inside of the room was brightly decorated with gold and silver. 

    However, Lydia noticed the shadow of someone behind a thin curtain on the other side of the room and panicked and nearly ran out.

    She was able to tell that it was a woman beyond the thin curtain and sat leaning up against the arm of a sofa and it seemed like she was gazing at the golden bird that was set inside the birdcage hanging near her. 

    That feature of the woman what the first thing Lydia became puzzled about. Lydia heard the rumored woman was a pagan princess, so she imagined that she would have black or dark colored hair. Lydia wasn’t able to see the details of her face.

P. 101

    Just then, the Coblynau went walking straight over to the curtain.

    To top it off, the fae climbed up the woman’s shoulder and let out a loud voice. 

    Lydia saw that the fae was trying to pull off the woman’s necklace and rushed over as quickly as she could. 

    “There isn’t anything rude about it. You should give a whack on the head to a mistress like this who would push aside the future wife of the family and act like she is some noblewoman….”

    “I-I’m terribly sorry…. There was a prank-loving fairy that just…. Uh, I’m not someone suspicious…”

    “What, a doll…..?”

    “The woman in his harem was a doll? ……..What does this mean?”

    “If a mistress gets this kind of treatment, like this dress and this room, then my lady would lose your standing. We need to have the Lord Earl put an end to this.”

    If the owner of the cursed diamond was a doll, then like he said, its power would have no effect on her. But the reason why the power of the curse still lingered on Edgar was because the owner of the doll was Edgar.

    What if this was his image of the perfect woman?

    Even the sparkle released by the undaunted large diamond seemed defeated against her wonderful grace and elegance. When Lydia first saw the diamond, she wondered if there could be someone who this jewel would match, but there wasn’t anything strange with this pairing, like the stone was hers in the first place. 

    I knew it. The reason Edgar kept meddling with me was because it was just one of his whims.

    Because, even if he embraced this doll, she wouldn’t try to run away like Lydia would. 

    “You know of it?”

    Which means, this diamond could belong to the Royal Family.

    “I’ll need to call and gather a large number of my friends. Even during my grandfather’s time, I heard my whole clan had to go work on it in the Royal Castle.”

    “Could you let your friends know about this?”

P. 104

    “What, this moonstone can do that?”

    Just then, Lydia heard the sound of talking voices approaching.

    Lydia panicked and tried to hide, but her apron got caught on one of the sculptures and her hands landed on a large mirror hanging on the wall.

    At the same time she fell down into a small hidden room behind the turning mirror, the door in the large room swung open.

    It looked like this was a hidden, secret room. She could only guess that it was made for people who wanted to eavesdrop on what was discussed in the large room. 

    “The duke has disappeared?” yelled Edgar.

    “So, he failed…”

P. 105

    It seemed like they were talking about the other diamond that used to be with the Royal Family with that black diamond. 

    “Then, the Daydream has fallen into Ulysses’ hands.”

    Edgar closed his eyes, and went into deep thought.

    What on earth was Edgar plotting now?

    “So, you are saying that the duke will eventually show himself here.”

    Edgar looked over beyond the calico-printed colon curtain.

    Raven bowed and left the room, and Edgar sat himself down on an ebony black chair and rested his chin in his hand and seemed to be thinking about something. 

P. 106

    Now didn’t seem like that was the case.

    “Be quiet, he’ll find us.”

    She wasn’t allowed any time to react, as he immediately opened the mirror door. She tried to dash into the back of the small room, but he swiftly grabbed her arm. 

    Since she was dressed like a maid, and was in a place like this, he was sure to think that she was jealous of the harem princess. Lydia tried to escape as she hid her face. 

    Usually, Edgar would just be goofing around, but right now, he had just caught a woman who could possibly be his enemy’s spy.

    Lydia had never felt her body as fragile and weak than at this moment. 

    She let out a scream from the immense pain.

    He must have recognized her voice and swiftly let go in surprise and Lydia slumped down to sit on the floor.

    Tears came out of her eyes from pain and misery.

    “I’m not all right. It’s horrible of you to inflict such violence on women!”

    To begin with, she was already confused from things turning out not what she imagined, like this building and doll that was supposed to be a harem, and the Royal Family’s diamond. 

    Right now, Edgar was kind to Lydia and treated her like his fiancée, but she remembered how he originally approached her in order to manipulate and take advantage of her.

    But, in reality, she didn’t know the truth about Edgar at all. 

    He offered his hand to help her, but Lydia stood up on her own.

    “No, you’re wrong, Lydia.”

    The pain in her arm was starting to go away, and yet for some reason, she couldn’t stop crying. Lydia tried to hide that by wiping her eyes.

    Huh?

    He had a beautiful doll living in a marvelous room, and treated her like his lover….

    To top it off, this scoundrel used violence on me. 

    Is that why I feel hurt?

    “Lydia, calm down and let’s talk.”

    She turned her back to him and dashed off. 

    She should have stayed with him or handed Edgar the ring so that it would protect him from the curse of the diamond, but she had completely lost her calm, so she couldn’t care about that at all.

    “Do the men in London play with dolls? In a room back there, there was a grown-up adult who was trying to seduce a doll, and another one who was preparing tea and pastries even though the thing can’t possibly eat it. Although, I went ahead and ate it all while being invisible.”

    “Which means, is the Earl here playing around with dolls as well? How disgusting.”

    The doll’s name was Jean? But, it seemed like Edgar had the doll prepared in order to lure out a man who the two of them were calling duke.

    Was the doll just an imitation of an actual living person?

    Or maybe, Edgar’s real lover, who looked exactly like that doll, was hidden somewhere else….?

    That low excuse of a man should just get into deep trouble from the curse of the diamond. 

P. 111

P. 112

    “My Lord, when your affair is found out, you shouldn’t go and do something rash like coming up with an excuse.”

    “……Uhh, you were,”

    “Oh, yes.”

    “The best thing to do is just keep apologizing.”

    “I have indeed. I just cannot understand why on earth human men would go and have an affair when they know what kind of storm they have to go through when their wives find out.”

    “I have to ask you one thing; did Lydia come here because she was worried about the cursed diamond? Or to find out the truth behind my rumored affair?”

P. 113

    “She came because of the cursed diamond. But, it is impossible for a lady not to be worried about the unfaithfulness of her fiancé. Well, I hear there are those kind of cold engagements within society.”

    The positive feelings Lydia felt towards Edgar was under the categories of pity and kind meddling, and the root was her soft-hearted personality, so he wondered if her feelings had changed or grown into something different. 

    And it looked like Edgar ended up making Lydia cry and hurting her. 

    Because he could still feel the twisting sound of the bone in Lydia’s slender arm near braking and it made him loathe himself.

P. 114

    The Duchess, Lady Masefield had noticed the thick bandage wrapped around Lydia’s left ring finger and made a worried frown.

    Since the ring couldn’t come off, hiding it was her last resort. By doing this, she would be able to carry on without causing anyone to become suspicious. 

    “I-I’m completely fine. And I don’t have any plans to marry  anyway,” replied Lydia in a hurry. 

    Her father’s former teacher, who he respected, was the duke’s cousin and was apparently paying a visit to London from Cambridge, so they were holding a very small tea party, and Lydia had come straight from the Ashenbert house to here, but it looked like her father had arrived before her.

    Perhaps, because of that reason, Lydia was first guided to the drawing room of the duchess and saw how she looked to have been eagerly waiting for Lydia as she closed the book she was reading.

P. 115

    “So, you still don’t have any intention of marrying. Ha-ha, it is such a spoil for me to be the only one to know that Lord Ashenbert is having such a difficult time.”

    “No worries, I won’t say a word of this to anyone. But, would you let me ask just one question?”

    “I prefer someone who can seriously love and treasure just one person.”

    “Uh, even from Your Grace’s point of view, don’t you think what kind of joke is it that Edgar would go and propose to me?”

    Well, that’s true. 

    “If that’s what you want, then it isn’t difficult at all. Don’t you think he would give up if you loved someone else?”

P. 116

    “If I fell in love with someone, then I’m afraid he would just go cause trouble to that person. I’m sure he would try to drive off the man by pulling some strings behind my back or use pranks or harassments.”

    That’s because she don’t know his true nature. 

    But, because he had that fragile dangerousness in him, Lydia was aware that she wasn’t able to strictly rebuff him, and turned her eyes away.

    Or was there something wrong with his personality? Putting that aside, she couldn’t allow herself to grow romantic feelings for him. 

    Lydia paid her greetings to the Duke Masefield and the respected teacher of her father who sat next to him. 

    “It has been such a long time since I saw you last, Professor Browning,” greeted Lydia.

    When the plump duke made that correction, the round-faced professor laughed out loud. 

    “I agree,” said her father.

    “But Professor Carlton and Miss Carlton do share a resemblance,” added the duchess.

    “How should I say it, the air they carry about themselves,” said the duchess with a soft smile.

    “Oh, no, I’m very happy.”

    “By the way, everyone, what kind of topic were you talking about?” asked the duchess.

    “What a hard topic.”

    “What sort of jewel?”

P. 118

    Lydia was asked by the duchess what kind of gems she liked, and she spoke the name of the first thing that came to her mind.

    Wasn’t this the perfect chance to find out about the Royal Family’s diamond?

    “If you want to make sure if the diamond your lover sent you is real, then I could appraise it for you. Since that might be a difficult thing to ask of your father.”

    “Oh, no, that’s not it. I just wanted to find out about the diamond that’s said to belong to the Royal Family, the ‘Nightmare’ and the ‘Daydream’.”

    “Lydia, where did you hear about that?”

    “You must mean the legendary large pear-shaped diamonds. I think I’ve heard that the one who possessed the black diamond and the white diamond is said to become the greatest King or something like that…..” said the duke, breaking the silence.

    “It’s not exactly well-known how long ago the Royal Family owned them, but originally, they were separately owned by different feudal lords, and then they eventually ended up in the care of the royal family. When James the 6th from the Stuart family ascended the throne as James I, the King of England, I heard 

    “Then, Father, was it the King who made the legend that surrounded the diamonds at that time?”

    “But, the two diamonds aren’t with the Royal family right now, are they?”

    “I hear that it was lost during the chaos of the Revolution era.”

    “But, some years ago, wasn’t there news that one of the diamonds was discovered again and it became an article in the papers. They said it was found in the hiding courters of a gang of thieves who were arrested in Rome.”

    “What! Is that true?”

P. 120

    “Yes, just because of that one diamond, I heard that a certain duke of a noble family was suspected.”

    “Was suspected, as in?”

    “Which means, the one who has both of the diamonds claims to be the descendant of the exiled King, a war could erupt between the present Royal Family.”

    “It is just only a rumor,” reminded the duchess.

    Hearing ‘duke,’ Lydia suddenly had a bad feeling stir inside her.

    Oh, no, thought Lydia, gulping down.

    “But, it seemed like the diamond was stolen from the Duke during his voyage back, and he was forced to take responsibility.”

    “Yes, of course. Only, because it disappeared without leaving a trace, it was suspected to be the work of someone from the inside. In reality, the Duke was not held guilty and an irresponsible rumor was just created.…But not long after that, the duke family’s manor house burned down, and the duke and the rest of his family all died. Even if it was just an accident, it was heavily rumored amongst the peerage that it was a rebellion or a conspiracy, but in the end, it just finished with a painful ending.”

    Edgar was searching for the diamond that had disappeared at that time. Most likely, because of Prince. 

    In order to capture the culprit who sert his father into a trap and to recover the white diamond.
    If so, then what was the purpose of that beautiful doll?

Chapter end