Chapter 115

Chapter 115

Dante felt as if his head would explode. He couldn’t fathom where he would even begin to clean up this mess. The Vertium compound was divided into two very distinct regions.

The area located near the compound’s rear garden was home to clan members who were blood relatives of the Vertium head family. In other words, they were real, flesh and blood humans who had once lived within the Gold manor.

However, since Noel had become more absorbed with his dolls than his own extended family, they were eventually forced into that floral corner of the compound to live out their miserable existences.

“How dare you?!”

“I can’t believe you were trying to poison one of us. Even Noel would never allow that!”

“That’s right! Such an outrage will not be tolerated this time!”

Episodes like this were the very reason their hatred toward the dolls ran so deep. But what made the situation even more upsetting was that it was Nix—Noel’s favorite doll—attacking one of them.

“Oh, yeah? So what will happen if you won’t tolerate this?”

“We’ll lodge a formal demand that Noel destroy you and have you broken down into tiny, little pieces.”

The angry mob warped into a near frenzy due to Nix’s insolence.

“That’s right. Something like you should have been destroyed ages ago.”

“Of all Noel’s dolls, you are the most ill-mannered, impertinent little sh*t to walk the halls of the Gold manor!”

“That’s right! You’d do best to remember that when all is said and done, you are still just a doll, you snooty bastard.”

It was as if the dam had been broken and all their pent-up frustration was bubbling up to the surface. It was evidenced by all the nasty expletives they had been keeping bottled up suddenly rocketing out of their mouths one after another.

However, Nix remained as calm as ever despite being the sole recipient of the verbal abuse. In fact, he began laughing at them.

“You’re right. I’m a doll, and you all are the almighty humans.” As he spoke the laugh degraded into a snicker. “But it’s rather bizarre, isn’t it? I mean, how is it that not one of you is in a better position than a poor, wily doll like me?”

“W-What did you just say?!”

“That you’re all stupid humans. No matter how much you pretend to be superior and lord your humanity over us, the fact is that you’re all just the gods’ failed attempt at perfection. Whereas I am Noel’s masterpiece.” Nix’s eyes gleamed with malice causing the crowd of humans surrounding him to flinch in unison at the implication of his words. Then he changed his expression to a cruel smile. “Sorry to have to be the one to tell you, but Noel cares much more about me than he ever would for your entire useless bunch combined. That’s why I doubt he’d fret all that much to hear that I ensured there was one less of you on this planet.”

“Nix, that’s enough.” Dante finally stepped in after sensing that the puppet had done enough damage. He cast a cold glare at the blond youth as if to warn him to stop stirring up the clan members.

“Oh, fine. I’ll let it go this time.” The doll shrugged, then flashed an innocent smile at the approaching steward. “I’ll leave you to clean up things here then, Dante.”

And with an encouraging pat on the older man’s shoulder, he skipped off into the distance while the huddled mass glared at his fleeting back.

Dante slowly groaned as the effect of watching the heated exchange for just a few minutes had left him feeling aged by at least 10 years.

* * *

“I sense some sort of disturbance.” From under the shade of flower petals, scarlet eyes glanced sideways.

“Hm? You do? I didn’t notice anything.” Noel sounded somewhat amused as he spoke. The two were walking through the Gold manor’s main garden because he had insisted on showing her the beauty of the Vertium grounds before she left. He had in truth failed to notice any discernible change in the air, so instead met Roxana’s gaze with yet another childlike smile. She, however, stopped walking.

“You know, I noticed there’s a path leading toward the rear garden.” Her seemingly casual comment caused him to fumble.

“Oh... That’s—”

“Isn’t there a separate building down that way?”

“Yes, but it’s for other people so I hardly ever go there.”

“Is that so? I only asked since that garden appeared quite lovely as well.”

His answers had sounded believable enough, but he appeared noticeably uncomfortable when she expressed her curiosity. It was almost as if he was afraid she might ask to go there next.

“Well, since it isn’t under my care, it isn’t nearly as pretty or well-maintained as this one. There really isn’t much to see there. Now come, Luna. Let’s go take a look at that!”

By now it was obvious that he was deliberately trying to shift her focus away from the rear garden. Her red eyes formed slits as she quietly observed the Gold clan leader.

“Come on, come on!”

Nevertheless, she followed along as he instructed as she didn’t want to make too big a fuss over a place she only mentioned in passing. He, of course, looked relieved that she allowed him to lead her to another section of the garden that was in full bloom.

“Here! See, Luna?”

Noel, who had been tiptoeing around Roxana so as not to offend her, suddenly came right up to her to reach out toward her ear. He then placed the scarlet bloom he had been holding in a lock of her golden hair, then smiled with delight as the flower decorated her like a jewel.

“So lovely.” He then slid the hand that was still hovering over her ear down the length of her hair. “Of course, even these flowers appear wilted next to your beauty.”

He spoke softly as the slight upward curve of his lips and his deep gaze began to form a wholly new expression compared to his innocent smile from moments before. For a moment, she was almost taken aback by how abruptly the carrot top could appear so mature and manly. Had she been less conscious of how contrived the entire situation was, she may have even appeared visibly surprised.

“Oh, how sweet. I can tell this is a gift from the heart.”

“Well, I do think flowers perfectly suit someone as beautiful as you.”

“It really is quite pretty.”

“Master, seeing you two walk side by side like this is truly a lovely sight.” The attendants had been quietly following the pair and now began to gush over the pair as if they were following a script.

Clap, clap, clap!

Just as they had at the banquet, the obedient puppets began a thunderous round of applause. Noel beamed with pride as the exaggerated ovation rumbled on. It was at this moment that Roxana could see just how infantile and crass he truly was.

“Come along, Luna. I had them set up a table near the manor for us.”

As her agreed-upon day of departure was that much closer, he seemed to be growing more and more anxious. She imagined that was why he was pulling out any and every trick he must have assumed might win her favor. Evidently, that included enlisting an army of dolls to wait on her hand and foot.

“If you’d please, Miss. Right this way. We’ve prepared a seat for you under the shade.”

“The sun is a bit harsh today, so we can fan you if you’d like.”

“Also, today we’ve prepared a seasonal fruit that only grows in the Gold territory. Please try it.”

“Would you care for a cool drink? We’ve prepared iced lemon tea with honey and flourished with a petal from our land’s most fragrant flower. Or if you would prefer something warmer to drink, we can have that brought out right away.”

“We also have a band ready to play any song you might like to hear.”

“Miss, would you care for a gentle shoulder massage to relieve any tension you might have built up during your stroll?”

With such beautiful dolls all around and offering to wait on her hand and foot, Roxana Agrece could have been mistaken for the Vertium queen. Perhaps it was due to her natural lack of awkwardness and predisposition to carry herself with dignity that her façade seemed to go unnoticed. In truth, she simply wished to see just how far Noel would take things.

He simply smiled in satisfaction since he had convinced himself that she was enjoying all the attention. “You’ll never have to lift a finger here, Luna. Whatever you want, you need just say the word and it’s yours.”

However, Roxana merely tilted her head to the side as if uncertain if his offer was a good thing. She found the entire scenario to be like something out of a story where the foolish son of a millionaire would throw money around without a care in the world. Of course, she knew that she was only seeing the surface level of the Gold Master and thus needed to remain on guard.

“By the way, whatever happened to the attendants who helped me prepare for the banquet the other day?”

“Oh... them? After hearing what they did to you, I had them replaced.” Despite addressing it himself, his answer didn’t contain a trace of concern for her injury.

“You did? But it wasn’t anything serious.” She spoke casually, but it was no doubt a response he hadn’t expected.

“Um... If they were to your liking, I can have them sent to you again.”