Lucia CH 104 [part 2]

< — The founding party — > (3)

Translated by: Miss Ruby
Edited by: ShadowDog

Roy leaned against the wall adjacent to the break room . He had confirmed with the knights guarding the break room door that there were no other entrances to the room .

'It's taking a long time . '

Being unable to see the target he was guarding right away made him uncomfortable .

'Let's wait for just 30 minutes . Then I have to make sure the Madam is alright . '

A servant approached from a distance and just as he passed by in front of Roy, he made a gesture that signaled their familiarity with each other . Roy naturally shifted his position and moved slightly away from the break room .

“Hey . You . Come here . ” (Roy)

The servant, who had walked some distance away, heard the call and approached Roy with reluctant steps . And turning his back to the knights guarding the break room entrance, he stood and said in a quiet voice .

“There are characters that need to be watched cautiously . ” (Servant(?))

Roy increased his voice as if wanting the knights to hear .

“Go bring me something to drink . ” (Roy)

“Count Ramis and Countess Falcon . The message is to inform you that you should watch carefully if either of them approach the Madam . ” (Servant(?))

The break room door opened, and a handmaid came out . The handmaid shared a knowing glance with the knights, then walked in Roy's direction .

“I asked you to bring it, why do you have so much to say?” (Roy)

“You cannot drink alcohol here . ” (Servant(?))

It was the scene of a servant who was pressed to follow a difficult demand, and a knight who was forcing him to bring alcohol . Because it was an action reasonable enough for someone as notorious as Roy, Anita held no suspicion and simply passed them .

The moment the woman passed in front of him, Roy's head turned sharply in her direction .

'What the— this smell is…'

It was a familiar but unpleasant smell . Roy knew a woman with the exact same smell . But that woman's face was not like this . Roy persistently followed the woman with his eyes until she turned around the corner and disappeared .

“…Who? David and who?”

“The Countess of Falcon . ”

“Don't know who that is but anyway, it's a woman . ”

He straightened up and quickly approached the knights standing guard in front of the break room . Seeing Roy suddenly approaching them, the knights raised their guard .

There was no time to tussle . After making this judgement, Roy gathered power in his fists and unhesitatingly slammed them into the abdomen of the two knights .

“Kh!”

Not expecting him to attack without notice, the knights were unable to react at all and toppled over . Roy hit the back of their neck and knocked them out . He grabbed the unconscious knights by the scruff of their neck and using his chin, he gestured to the man who was dressed as a servant .

“Open the door . ”

The man's mouth opened a crack before he quickly opened the door . As Roy entered the room, the man checked to make sure that there was no one around to see them, then he followed inside and shut the door behind them .

Roy abandoned the two knights at the entrance, kicked opened the middle door and entered inside . Seeing the scene unfolding before his eyes, Roy's eyes widened menacingly . The Madam was lying on the couch with her eyes closed, and beside her, stood David in a hovering manner .

His actions moved faster than his thoughts . Roy sprang at David in the blink of an eye and grabbed him by the collar .

“What did you do to the Madam!”

“Kuk!”

With the pressure on his throat, David couldn't reply properly so Roy relaxed his grip slightly . David complexion had turned crimson as he frowned and struggled with both hands to remove Roy's grip on his throat .

“You heinous bastard! Let me go this instant!”

Rather than obeying, Roy shook him with the hand that was grabbing his neck and threatened fiercely .

“If the Madam is hurt in the slightest, you will die in my hands . ”

“The Duchess is saf…kuk . ”

“Is this your handiwork?”

“N…No…she passed out for a mome…th-this…let go of this…”

“This fucker! Why would the Madam pass out?!”

As Roy held him by the neck and shook him, David continued to keep his mouth shut . Roy was breathing roughly as he fumed and deciding to listen to the bastard's words, he relaxed the strength in his hand . But when David continued to look at him with his mouth tightly shut as if showing off, Roy released his neck in annoyance .

David arranged his crumpled collar with a very angry look on his face .

“Will you start talking about what the hell you're doing here?!” (Roy)

“You insolent—! Do you know who I am?!” (David)

“I don't care who you are . Explain . ”

“And who are you?”

David snorted .

“Me? I'm the Madam's guard, of course . And whoever harms the Madam will unconditionally die by my hands . ”

Seeing Roy's expression full of murderous intent, David flinched . Since it was this ignorant bastard, he wouldn't care about the aftermath, he would just commit the act . David had often heard of the man's notoriety in the high society .

“I simply came to meet the Duchess . ” (David)

“Why would you?” (Roy)

David smiled mockingly .

“Well, because the Duchess invited me to meet her . ” (David)

This dude is crazy . Roy thought .

“This isn't a place that anyone can come in . I didn't hear you were in here . ” (Roy)

“But you…the way you're talking to me…” (David)

David ground his teeth at Roy's tone .

While David and Roy were having a standoff, the man who had followed Roy inside, felt the pulse of the Duchess who was lying down on the sofa . The man gave a sigh of relief and nodded to Roy when their eyes met .

“Duchess . ”

The man shook her lightly by the arm and woke her up .

Lucia pressed her temples, frowned and slowly opened her eyes . Her head was heavy as if someone had placed a bunch of stones on it . She felt a headache different from her usual headaches; her head was just blank .

“Madam!”

“Sir…Krotin?”

“Can you stand?”

Lucia couldn't think of anything at all . She just held the couch and mumbled that she had to get up as if she were performing a given task then she lifted her body . The man at the side helped by supporting her .

“Hurry and escort the Madam out of here . Make sure to keep out of sight . Something is strange . ” (Roy)

“Understood . Please hurry, Duchess . ”

Lucia wanted to know what in the world was going on . But she judged that now wasn't the right time for such a thing .

Sir . Krotin was a guard that her husband had placed at her side out of worry for her safety . There was trust in her husband's words when he said that Sir . Krotin was trustworthy as he was skilled . So Lucia decided to unconditionally believe in Sir . Krotin .

She felt a little dizzy but after a few steps, she was able to move with ease . As she followed the man who appeared to be a servant, Lucia was startled to see the knights collapsed at the entrance . Thanks to that, her vacant head seemed to awaken a bit .

The servant opened the door first and stepped out for a bit, then he came back inside .

“There is no one around . You may come out . ”

The hallway was usually vacant of people . As they walked along the hallway, the servant continued to be on full alert as he checked the surroundings .

“Wait . Someone is coming . It would be better to avoid them . ”

Since they weren't very far from the break room yet, it was better to not be seen by anyone right now .

Lucia turned into a dead-end corridor with a bunch of armor set up as ornaments, and hid next to a set of armor . The man in servant's attire walked forward, calm and composed .

A group of people appeared around the corner, consisting of about ten or so noblewomen and following them was Anita, who was dressed as a handmaid .

The servant passed by them naturally and acted as if he was turning the corner but carefully glanced at them . From the looks of it, the direction they were heading towards, was the princess' break room .

'Will Sir Krotin be fine?'

Although he was worried, there was nothing he could do right now . His most important task was to protect the Duchess .

The servant escorted the Duchess and walked towards the party venue .

Lucia was feeling quite better; the heavy feeling that had put her in a bad mood had improved . She straightened her waist naturally, like a noblewoman bring her servant along .

“Slow down . Otherwise it will seems like we're in a hurry . ”

“Yes, ma'am . ”

The servant slowed down his steps which he had unknowingly increased . And he slightly glanced at the Duchess .

'She's a really composed person . '

She didn't ask anything nor did she get flustered and run around in confusion . The Duchess was merely following Sir Krotin's instructions, but it was a great deal of coping ability for a noblewoman who had never experience anything rough and was used to giving orders rather than receiving them .

As they got out of the desolate hallway, people were buzzing around left and right . There were busy handmaids and manservants going somewhere with hurried steps, and also guests in formal wear that had come out in order to avoid the buzz of the party .

The servant called a passing handmaid, stopping her .

“Escort the Duchess to the party hall . And call the Imperial doctor . The Duchess says she had a headache . ”

“Yes . ”

The man naturally handed the Duchess to the handmaid and asked the handmaid to call the Imperial doctor to check if there was anything wrong with the Duchess .

Lucia briefly met eyes with the man . Then she left for the party hall with the handmaid . Her heart pounded as if it would burst, but she kept on taking quick breaths so that she wouldn't reveal it .

The servant watched from a little distance away as the Duchess walked together with the handmaid, then he slowly followed behind . He walked as if he was coincidentally moving in the same direction . As of now, he decided that he must not take his eyes off the Duchess .

Chapter end