Chapter 17

Chapter 17

“Huh? Smart?”

“She made a scene in order to leave me a message. I’m certain of it,” Isidor said.

“My lord. How did you come to that conclusion so suddenly?”

And isn’t it a little arrogant to assume so? Miguel pressed his lips firmly together before the words could escape his lips. “Lady Deborah always has an attendant bring desserts from Maison to her home. If she came in person, she had something she wished to say to me. She’s telling me I’m working too slowly for her liking.”

“Are you sure she wasn’t simply upset by her quarrel with the other ladies?” Miguel asked dubiously.

“After meeting her in person, I now know she isn’t the type to let her emotions get away from her. In fact, she’s quite intelligent and cynical.”

“She’s very impulsive, from what I can gather based on her reputation and previous behavior. Why else would everyone have the same opinion of her? People don’t change so easily, either.”

“We’ll find out soon enough who’s right about her. I’m also determined to figure out what she’s done to Cookie.” Isidor’s emerald eyes gleamed as he ran a calming hand down his pet’s back, even as Cookie continued to growl with an agitated look on his face.

* * *

That House Seymour had bought the pink diamond and not Montes was a hot topic of gossip for quite some time among the members of high society. It was simply that shocking of a development. Most of the nobles, who knew Duke Seymour considered Lady Deborah a disgrace to the family and disapproved of her deeply, were shocked.

If he’d spent such an astronomical sum buying the gem for her, it meant he still had plenty of love left for his only daughter. Most people were not happy to hear this, since the haughty Lady Deborah was only likely to grow even smugger in the wake of this.

In addition, since everyone had secretly wanted Pilav Montes to buy the diamond instead, they couldn’t hide their disappointment with him—in fact, they often made fun of him for it.

“How could he have failed to guess what the final bid would be? He was too confident. It made him careless.”

“Even the heir of the House of Montes is nothing but a lizard before a dragon—Duke Seymour’s wealth and intelligence won out.”

Pilav was fully aware of the comments being made about him, of course. Losing his temper would only make him look bad, so he was pretending not to have heard them. But now that Mia’s birthday was rapidly approaching, the rage he’d bottled up inside finally erupted.

“Do you know what people are saying about me now because you failed to get me that damned pink jewel? You little parasite!” Veins protruding from his neck, Pilav kicked the man in the face, uncaring that the skin beneath his boot was singed black. The man was foaming at the mouth and passed out after the first blow, having suffered burns to his entire body, but Pilav didn’t stop kicking him.

The entire empire knew that he wanted that jewel, and yet he’d failed to obtain it. The more he thought about it, the more humiliated he felt. To make matters worse, the woman who’d bested him was also the woman he despised most in the world—Deborah Seymour.

“You useless piece of sh*t!” Finished with very nearly beating the servant to death, he left the dungeon with an elemental spirit floating by his side, sporadically spitting out red flames. An attendant who’d been waiting at the entrance dropped to the floor as soon as he emerged, quickly wiping the blood from Pilav’s boots.

Fixing his appearance as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened, he glanced at his pocket watch and asked the man, “Has Lady Mia arrived at the mansion?”

“Not yet, my lord,” the servant bowed his head apologetically.

“Why is that?”

“She says she has many patients to care for today.”

“Ha! It’s her birthday, and she’s still busy with that nonsense?”

Thinking this was very much like Mia Binoche, Pilav pursed his lips. She wasted her divine power on the lowly as if she were the reincarnation of the saintess herself. The citizens she healed apparently went around singing her praises, calling her a ray of light sent by the goddess.

I do like that she isn’t the worldly sort. With the level of pure divine power she possessed, she really didn’t need to bother with the material. He found it very attractive that money or power seemed to mean very little to her, so much so that he was willing to forgive her for being late.

* * *

“Lord Pilav. Thank you for inviting me.”

The banquet prepared by the mansion’s cook was starting to go cold by the time Mia appeared at the mansion, bowing politely. It was obvious she’d been hard at work. Her pink hair was untidy, and her face looked weary and fatigued.

“No, I should be the one thanking you for coming. You really should have rested, since it’s your birthday. You will wear yourself out if you keep pushing so relentlessly.”

Pilav’s affectionate words caused Mia’s eyes to go round. “Oh, so that’s why...”

“Why do you look so surprised?”

“Actually, I didn’t even remember today was my birthday,” Mia said, embarrassed, biting her lip and fidgeting with her hands. “I’ve never made much of a fuss about it.”

“Has no one ever celebrated your birthday with you?” he asked, rather bluntly.

She didn’t look offended, however. “Well, this year you remembered it, Lord Pilav. I’m happy. I wasn’t expecting this at all.”

“You word things so prettily,” Pilav smiled with satisfaction, liking her response.

At that moment, Mia’s stomach suddenly growled loudly. He laughed when he saw her cheeks and ears turn red.

“Why don’t we eat? You must be hungry.” Pilav gestured, and the table was suddenly full of hot food. He gazed at her lovingly as she ate small spoonfuls of soup daintily. “You’ve been given permission to attend the Academy.”

Though she would be starting rather late and she came from a disgraced house, a recommendation from the House of Montes had been enough to earn her admission.

“Thank you so much. It’s been my lifelong wish to study there.” Mia thanked him repeatedly.

“You didn’t think that was all I prepared for your birthday, did you?” Pilav asked arrogantly.

He handed her a diamond necklace. Because Duke Seymour had snatched away the one he’d been hoping to buy for her, he’d been forced to scrabble for another necklace, this one from the most famous jeweler in the capital.

Mia looked troubled as soon as she saw the enormous diamond. “It’s already more than enough for me that you wrote that recommendation letter. This is too much. I simply can’t accept it.”

“Please do, if only because of all the trouble I went to just to acquire it. You told me no one’s ever celebrated your birthdays with you.”

“But this...”

“You saved my life, so allow me to repay you. Please, Lady Mia.”

“I’ve already received too much from you. It’s really all right.”

This back-and-forth lasted for some time, and Pilav was forced to relent in the end just so Mia could eat. She really is an unstoppable force. Pilav felt touched by her pure heart, but couldn’t quite hide his disappointment, either. Damn it, I really should have gotten my hands on that pink diamond. It suits Lady Mia far more than Deborah Seymour.

The jewel was the same color as Mia’s hair, and it would have been perfect to pass off as a commonplace gift since she wasn’t very knowledgeable about the trends in the capital and likely had never heard of the infamous pink diamond.

Then he would have been able to anticipate seeing her surprise when she learned exactly how expensive it was. Deborah Seymour had ruined all his plans. She’s despicable in every way. He lost his appetite just thinking about the way Deborah was going to strut about any high society gatherings in the future, wearing the damn thing proudly around her neck.

* * *

After her meeting with Pilav, Mia returned to the run-down mansion located on the outskirts of the Iones District that served as her home. She sat on the edge of her bed and gazed out the window.

I’m tired. Every time the wind blew, the window frames shook noisily in their frames because they were ill-fitted. The garden outside was a dismal mess, resembling a graveyard covered in weeds. It was a testament to the wretched ruin the House of Binoche had fallen into. She heard a servant enter the room, but Mia did not turn away from the window.

“What are you looking at?” the middle-aged woman asked. The woman had introduced herself as Madam Ophelia when they had first met and asked that Mia just call her Ophelia.

“I was looking at that.” Mia pointed at the single flower blooming on one of the old, gnarled branches, apparently oblivious to the cold weather.

“Oh dear, it’ll no doubt freeze to death tonight,” the woman muttered without any real feeling. She handed Mia a large jewelry case. “A servant from the House of Montes just delivered your birthday present.”

When Mia opened it, the woman took the ornate necklace, a huge diamond set in its center, and clasped it around Mia’s slender neck.

“How do I look?” Mia asked without any enthusiasm.

The older woman tutted. The dress Mia wore was shabby and out of style—it was so ill-suited to the intricately fashioned jewel that it made the woman flush with shame. It reminded her of the flower blooming on its thin branch just outside the window.

“If you’re to wear something like this, you’ll need a proper dress to go along with it. I guess the rumors were right about Pilav Montes’ lack of finesse.” The woman continued coldly, “If you wear that thing with one of your shabby dresses, the nobles will only mock you. Perhaps things would have been different if it were that pink diamond instead...” It would have suited Mia’s pink hair nicely, even if she didn’t have the fancy clothes to match. “And you’d have attracted a lot of attention amongst those high society folks as well. What a pity.”

With those cold words, the woman left the room. Mia softly rubbed her curly pink hair between her fingers, reaching for the acceptance letter she’d received from the Academy, and left at the head of her bed.

“Congratulations on your acceptance.”

A faint twinkle appeared in her eyes for a moment, then vanished.