Was it out of sympathy for a woman who had fled a fallen kingdom, or because she reminded him of Helena, whom he had picked up from the slums?

Eugene found himself increasingly drawn to her.

Yet, he knew he mustn’t cross the line. He had been trying to visit the villa less frequently.

Maybe there was a bit of stubbornness too. A defiance to prove that he could think of her without covering it up with Natasha.

Still, his sticky, melting-wax-like feelings wouldn’t easily shake off.

Especially when Natasha looked up at him with teary eyes, trembling in fear, his resolve wavered even more.

“Your Grace, if you formally accept me, I won’t have to live in hiding anymore. I won’t need to keep running away. I won’t have to stay awake all night, fearing someone will come to take me away. Finally, a normal life could be mine.”

Her desperation seemed heightened this visit, perhaps sensing a subtle shift in his feelings.

“Please save me, Your Grace. Don’t leave me alone. Only you can pull me out of this abyss…”

Her sobs were heart-wrenchingly pitiful. Anyone would have felt compelled to embrace her.

And her tears, falling with every blink, were as clear as crystal beads.

Like the protective coloration of an animal, her demeanor instinctively triggered a protective urge.
Usually, Eugene would have comforted Natasha by embracing her and offering various jewels. Or he might have eagerly agreed to take her as his mistress.

“…….”

But the current Eugene couldn’t say anything. The lingering image of Helena kept drifting in front of him.

Then Natasha, trying to stop her tears, suddenly grabbed Eugene’s hands.

“I don’t mean to be presumptuous. I’ll strive to be someone useful to you. Back in my homeland, I helped my father with the administrative duties of our house. Though he has passed away now…….”

Emotions swelled in her, filling her large, deer-like eyes with tears once again.

“……Natasha.”

Finally, Eugene, almost reluctantly, handed her a handkerchief. As she dabbed her eyes with it, a faint smile appeared on her lips.

“You are truly very kind, Your Grace…….”

In that moment, facing her smile, Eugene felt as if someone was squeezing his throat, a tightness in his chest.

A faint dizziness rose, and he had to force his vocal cords to speak again.

“I am not as good a person as you think.”

“No, Your Grace, you truly are a good person.”

Her voice was soft yet firm, creating small ripples in Eugene’s heart.

It felt like an absolution for the reflections he had been mulling over all day.

Natasha continued to probe deeper into the gap she had created.

“Even if not, the fact that you are my savior remains unchanged. That’s why I want to be even more helpful to you.”

“……It won’t be an easy responsibility.”

“It doesn’t matter. Whatever the task, just leave it to me. I’ll do my best.”

“…….”

Eugene, rubbing his temple, fell into deep thought. He had indeed been wishing for someone to fill Helena’s void.

Would it lessen the thoughts that bothered him?

Could it help cut you out, even if only a little?

‘I must shove someone in there, forcefully if necessary.’

With a significant amount of administrative work piled up, and her claiming to have experience managing a household, Eugene thought it might free him from the minutiae if he informed Gordon and his aides.

He could have simply hired more staff, but the scent of Natasha at that moment wiped away such thoughts. She too needed to recognize her responsibilities.

Having made his decision, Eugene extended his hand to Natasha.

“Let’s leave here, Natasha. From today, you are my person.”

Natasha’s slender fingers eagerly rested upon his. She smiled brightly like a pear blossom blooming in the moonlight.

“Thank you, Your Grace.”

In the street where dusk was beginning to settle, Dion rubbed his arms, feeling a sudden chill.

‘Ugh… How did I end up here?’

In his search for his master, he had somehow wandered into a deep alley, sinister enough that a person could be dead all night without being found until morning.

He hurriedly moved to exit the alley. As he was about to turn into the shopping district at the end of his frantic walk…

“Whoa!”
As soon as Dion turned into the alley, he collided heavily with someone. Normally, he would have just brushed it off, but due to his extreme exhaustion, his temper flared. Now that he was near the main road, he had nothing to fear.

“Look where you’re going……!”

However, his rising anger quickly subsided when he recognized who he had bumped into. Dion instinctively stepped back, with an embarrassingly quick change in attitude.

“……I should be careful. I was just reminding myself to be more attentive, haha.”

The man in the black robe was notably tall and well-built. Dion got the impression that a wrong move could leave him crushed to a pulp. He hastily made his excuses and distanced himself from the man.

“Sorry for that, I’ll be off now.”

The man in the black robe nodded and swiftly disappeared. Left alone, Dion let out a deep breath.

“Phew, that was close… Huh?”

His hand, which was patting his chest, suddenly stopped. Something felt off. His chest felt too light.

The usual comforting heaviness was missing. Dion quickly took off his coat and shook it out. A half-empty cigar case, a communicator, crumpled papers, and miscellaneous trash fell out, but the most important item was missing.

‘My money pouch!’

And not just any pouch, but one filled with gold coins. He had deliberately kept the gold coins in a shabbier pouch, but somehow, that was precisely what was taken.

Dion slumped against the wall, sliding down in defeat. It seemed his fate was indeed to meet an early end.

Meanwhile, Ian, having happily completed his harvest, hurried back to the inn. He had been a bit worried since finding Dion took longer than expected.

And, unfortunately, his intuition proved correct.

As soon as Ian opened the door, his face turned pale.

‘No, this can’t be.’

Helena was gone.