Chapter 8
Jacob came home late at night. Reports of Lucerne’s arrival greatly displeased him. If an outstanding illegitimate child was a high-ranking general with even more power, he would still make people shudder even though he was a smear and ugly deficit.
He got interested when his men told him what happened today between Carola and Lucerne.
“If she’s a maid……Was it… … . That place where the collateral got splashed? There are only a few people there… … . It’s not a time to cheat.”
Jacob pondered, lost in thought. Carola sat next to Jacob with a somewhat nervous face.
“So was she that pretty? Who was it?”
Carola gritted her teeth.
“Carola doesn’t know. Does Carola have to know the name of a maid? At first glance, she seemed to be around adulthood. So she’s going to die soon, right?”
“That’s right.“
Jacob’s mouth became sloppy.
“I have to taste it once before selling it.”
“Oye, what —at this time—?”
Carola’s face harderned.
“It’s the woman Lucerne coveted. I’m curious what he will do if I ate her up right now and showed him the body tomorrow. That girl, what did she look like? “
She said, “She is an ordinary blonde. Her skin was very white… … . “
Jacob pondered for a moment.
“Ah, that doll-looking woman. It’s Elisha. Yes! That’s the name.”
“Y-you… … . “
Carola’s face became outraged. Jacob ran to the maids’ quarters in a gleeful hurry.
Carola made no progress in seducing Lucerne and instead created an opportunity for Jacob to cheat. She became angry and began to smash her table and stomp the floor like a child.
“Carola should crackdown on the maids! There must be witnesses among the servants. Why isn’t anyone helping Carola?”
***
‘Take it off?’
Anyways, it was a body that had been beaten and ridiculed by Jacob countless times. Elisha didn’t think her own body was precious. But… … she was scared of Lucerne, her whole body was trembling, and her thighs were growing rigid.
Elisha clenched her teeth and took off her pajamas. Her shabby underwear appeared.
“Raise your arms. “
Lucerne whispered. At first glance, he sounded like he was talking to his lover.
“Ekk!”
Elisha raised her arms. Lucerne grabbed Elisha’s wrists at the same time and pressed her against the bed.
“Shadow, search her.”
A shadow appeared behind Lucerne’s back. It was Lucerne’s ability to control demons, which she only heard from rumors. Elisha closed her eyes tightly.
“Huh… … ,”
Then, his beast slowly scaled Elisha’s forehead to her toes. Even her secret vulva hidden by her cloth. Eventually, the shadow stopped investigating her.
“There are no hidden weapons.”
“Sometimes, there are weapons in the body.”
“My hand… … Please release me.”
Lucerne slowly released her hand; her wrist felt like it was burning. When Lucerne glanced at her, she pulled up a sheet and covered her body,
“Say what you want to say.”
Lucerne whispered. Elisha felt a nervous tension that Lucerne would violate her at any moment, but Lucerne didn’t touch her.
“Firstly. Tell me how you got in here.”
At Lucerne’s words, Elisha inhaled.
***
“A secret passageway?”
Lucerne clearly thought Elisha’s words were ludicrous.
“Yes, I can show you……,”
Elisha showed him a map. Lucerne slapped his fingers together. There was a black shadow that appeared.
“Go see.”
He ordered with a whisper. It flew into the closet. Elisha opened her eyes wide.
“You can just check the space.”
Lucerne soon nodded his head.
“There really is space behind the wall. You accidentally found it?”
“Yes, I did…… by accident…”
“What does that have to do with knowing my mother’s will?”
Elisha swallowed her saliva. From the time she thought she had made a regression, Elisha had practiced and recalled the words she had prepared.
“I came here when I was 14. And as soon as I discovered the secret passageway, I knew I found a way to live… … . I lived as a ghost in this house for six years. I wandered around the mansion and stole secrets.”
Elisha knew how to make a lie believable by telling the truth and mixing up lies.
She has been around for six years since she was 14 years old and excluded other facts.
Indeed it was true; Elisha, in her previous life, wandered the secret passage and lived as a ghost in the mansion. Most of the days, it was in vain, but one day she could glimpse several things.
‘Jacob and Carola used me as messengers and made all sorts of tough things happen. But it kept me from accessing critical information or secrets.’
There was someone who handled such secret things separately.
Elisha wanted to find a way to live, so she searched for secrets. She died out of the blue and absurdly, so she couldn’t use it.
“You said you came up with that thought at fourteen?”
“I grew up in a monastery. There was an Archbishop. He is… … . I mean, Archbishop Rosaria is a former military officer at the temple. I grew up learning from him like a disciple.”
Lucerne looked like he was thinking of something.
“I know Archbishop Rosaria, too.”
“Yes, ask him about me. He will probably remember me.”
It was true. Thanks to the strategies and knowledge that Elisha saw and learned from Archbishop Rosaria, she could survive in her previous life.
“So … … . . I found a way to get in and out of Jacob’s office. Jacob’s office is also accessible through a secret passageway. Jacob is careless. There’s a lot of material on his desk that I’ve seen….. Reports from his subordinates, the field data,… … . I’ve collected all the secrets I could.”
“Do you expect me to believe that?”
Lucerne seemed to have wasted his time. Elisha clenched her fist. Desire makes people brave. Elisha now had to sell her fiction.
“I know your desire.”
“What desire?
“The wish of an illegitimate person like you is obvious. You will want a seat. If not… … .”
“… … … ..”
“You’re thinking of destroying the family. Anything you can’t have will be ruined… …”
“You want to die.”
Lucerne blocked Elisha’s mouth. As he did, he crushed Elisha’s lower jaw.
Elisha didn’t avoid his eyes. Lucerne looked into her eyes for a long time, frowning as if holding something in, and lowered his hand. Elisha moved her lips again.
“I can help you become the Duke.”
“I will say one more time.”
Lucerne said slowly,
“There is no way in the world where an illegitimate child can become the Patriarch.”
“… … … .”
“Let’s say there’s a way. Then what do you want?”
“… … … … Please lend me money.”
“What?”
Lucerne’s eyebrows drew together in a frown. This was another expression.
“The excuse used to hold me hostage here is debt. Please take that debt for me. And get me out of here.”
Although he wasn’t as crazy wealthy as a tycoon, Lucerne was also known to be rich.
“You could pay 30,000 gold coins this evening.”
The war, the wealth that the family had taken away from the Countdom, and until there was nothing but a manor.
“Why should I, for a source of uncertain information?”
Elisha moistened her dry lips.
“I’ll put myself on the line. You can think of me as your subordinate until you are convinced that my information is correct. I will do whatever you ask.”
“… … ..”
“I am good at everything.”
Elisha said, looking at Lucerne’s lips. She hoped the words of affirmation fell from those lips. Lucerne seemed to be contemplating. His eyes suddenly frowned at her as he stared at her.
She said, “Jacob will sell me for money. I am 20 years old this year, and transfer of land or property becomes effective a year after becoming an adult….. So, Jacob has already taken everything he’s going to take from me.”
“How much is the debt.”
“30,000 gold coins.”
“Why do you need that much?”
Indeed, that amount was enough for Lucerne to stick his tongue out once. On her shoulders sat down the worth of a small manor.
“… … … . Territory war compensation. My father is Lor, a nobleman from the old kingdom.
“It was the Count.”
Lucerne seemed to know.
“There is no thing as stealing for Jacob.”
“Strike the back of the Jacob. You like that.”
Lucerne looked at Elisha with her dark eyes.
“My cousins like to back-stab each other more than eating.”
“Yes. So- if you buy me with money, and I’ll show more value than that price… … . I can bother Jacob, so… … .”
The more she spoke, the more she self-praised. Elisha’s ears turned red.
“I know a lot of the secrets of this house, from miscellaneous things to important things. I’ve been gnashing my teeth for six years and collecting secrets… … . ,I thought that’s the only way to live.”
“Living like a ghost in a secret passageway?”
“That’s what it is.”
Elisha nodded her head. In fact, Elisha, in her previous life, was really a ghost or witch. Because she was a being, who was ignored and despised by everyone as if she had no value.
“And, if you think my information is useful and valuable, then please get rid of my debt.”
Elisha spoke, finally reaching her most crucial point. She showed the seal behind her neck—it was her yoke.
“As long as I have this emblem, I can’t escape from this family. I heard. This trace emblem is a magic that only the Cartier family uses.”
Lucerne checked her nape.
“You have all sorts of thoughts.”
Lucerne seemed to still be finding his tongue; he was still thinking.
“A little ghost in the secret passage, it’s pretty cute.”
“… … … .”
“That’s I’ve listened so far, unfortunately, but your words have no basis.”
“That… … ,”
“It’s very likely that I’ll get stabbed in the back in the head by Jacob. You’re attractive, but I’m not stupid enough to buy this kind of information.”
“……!”
“Don’t think it’s the first time I’ve been confronted by a scammer bringing my mother’s story to me. Dozens of scammers and spies a year approach me just because I have Cartier’s blood. Oh, the will and the pattern already have precedent, and the one who fluttered that will now has no tongue.”
Lucerne said in a completely nonchalant tone. Elisha didn’t show it outwardly, but a cold chill ran through her. He didn’t even seem interested in his biological mother at all.
‘This is it?’
After she gave Lucerne some of the information that would earn his interest, she tried to persuade him. But Lucerne was tougher than she thought. I had to do something.
It was then.
Ring, ring
At that time, Elisha was struck with a throbbing shock as if her brain was ringing. She reflexively gripped her neck.
‘Uh, how?’
The girls in the same room all slept like logs. Did someone get up and report that Elisha wasn’t there?
The pattern on the back of Elisha’s neck was evidence that she was a slave to the Cartier family. That tattoo is burning.
Jacob was looking for her. And he was in a crazy hurry.
***