It Seems Like The Infamous Trash Can is Right Here! - Chapter 83
‘…I’m worried.’
It felt like my brother’s personality had worsened since we’d been apart.
Had he been through that much hardship?
“Should we just leave this place as is?”
The room had clearly been decorated with care, but now the sofas, the bed—everything was in complete disarray.
“The owner of the estate will handle it.”
Well, Dantère had certainly caused enough trouble at Luanax’s estate. This much was probably nothing.
Lionel and I didn’t linger and left the room right away, but Vaikal was already gone.
As I looked down the empty hallway, my gaze landed on the tray sitting on the floor beside the door.
Something occurred to me, and I turned to Lionel.
“Now that I think about it—how did you know earlier? They even brought food.”
“Servants don’t walk like that. Vaikal may be skilled at concealment and infiltration, but he was still raised in a noble household. There are things he simply can’t mimic.”
I stared at Lionel in confusion.
So he had recognized the intruder just by the sound of their footsteps? Without even seeing them? And Vaikal was skilled in infiltration?
‘This is really like something out of a novel.’
Then again, this was a world where severed limbs could be reattached through miracles. A novel, indeed.
“…You could teach me a little, you know.”
Was this the kind of training my father had given Vaikal at Solen’s training grounds?
I wish I had learned it back then, because things might have turned out differently.
If I had been capable of holding my own, maybe I wouldn’t have had to be separated from my family in the first place.
“They likely didn’t want you to live that kind of life. If you were my sister, I would have felt the same.”
…Hmm.
For a moment, it seemed like Lionel had forgotten—he did have a younger sister. Vivian, whose beauty was enough to attract the devotion of three men.
But he was always so cold toward her. Maybe it was inevitable between half-siblings.
Considering how many reasons they had to resent each other, perhaps it was natural for them to be worse than strangers.
* * *
We didn’t see Dantère on our way out of the Ortatum estate. Nor did we see Vivian.
She was probably still having fun.
I didn’t worry about Vivian getting into trouble.
There were plenty of incidents in the novel where she carelessly drank champagne laced with aphrodisiacs or got caught by unsavory men, but weren’t those just devices to push her closer to the male leads?
Since I had already decided not to care, I wasn’t going to. And there was no one to criticize me for being petty or narrow-minded.
“It’s best not to eat or drink anything in places like this.”
Just before leaving the ballroom, my eyes flickered toward the servant carrying a tray of champagne. Lionel leaned down and murmured quietly.
“In Lubarque, magical elixirs that enhance emotions and heighten excitement aren’t illegal. Nearly everything served at gatherings like these is laced with them.”
I wondered… would divine power be able to neutralize the effects of such elixirs?
I was suddenly curious, but I left it at that.
Theoretically, it was unlikely. Magic and divine power were like oil and water—they didn’t mix.
If I tried to test it recklessly, I might end up in serious trouble.
Once we had safely exited the building and boarded the carriage, Lionel turned to me.
“Perhaps next time… let’s attend a safer banquet together.”
Lionel must have thought I was disappointed. I wasn’t at all.
I had only been glancing around the terrace and garden because the Ortatum Estate’s masquerade ball episode from the novel had come to mind.
“That’s not necessary. I don’t particularly like crowded places.”
“Is that so?”
For some reason, relief flickered across Lionel’s face.
“…We’re the same, then. I can’t stand noisy places either.”
“Really?”
That was good to know. Compatibility in things like this was important in relationships.
