In the end, Lakis didn't kill Anne-Marie's younger sister, Hestia. He returned the kidnapped Hestia back to Anne-Marie, pretending to have rescued her. He changed his mind at the end, but it wasn't that bad of a choice.
Because as a result, Anne-Marie considered him her benefactor, not knowing he had pushed her little sister to the jaws of death.
It was truly pitiful.
「Right, Genos Sheldon. Weren't you called the Guardian of the East before?」
Lakis drawled, his eyes looking down at Genos. Hearing his words, the body at his feet briefly flinched. Lakis bent his knees, squatting down. Then he grabbed Genos' hair, wet with blood and rain, and lifted it.
Lakis looked at the man, whose eyes were still glaring at him, and a twisted smile crept on his beautiful face.
「So what did you guard in the end?」
「…!」
「You lost your woman to me, you're here, beaten like a dog and eventually, you're going to die here, quietly, without anyone knowing.」
The low voice cutting through the pouring rain, was smooth and languid like it was singing.
「This is why I hate you eastern bastards, I really do. You've never desired anything like crazy, probably because you were born with both your hands full, and even then, all you can do is make noise; all talk and no action. 」
Bam! Bam…!
「Khh…!」
The next moment, Lakis violently slammed the head in his grip onto the rain-covered ground several times. Blood spattered, dirtying Lakis' hands and the front of his shoes again.
Somewhere along the line, the noble man who professed himself as Anne-Marie's knight was in terrible shape, with frightening amounts of blood flowing from his being.
Despite that, Genos' distorted gaze shone with an even fiercer light than before.
「So just die.」
Lakis laughed chillingly, seeing the sight before him.
「Miserably, and alone. You can't protect anything anyways.」
~ [Chain of Flowers] Chapter 19: Death of the Flower's Knight. ~
* * *
(Change in pov)
A clear, sunny morning. I woke up from sleep at my usual time. But I couldn't help but frown.
How odd…I feel like I just had a very unpleasant dream. My dream from last night had a slight menacing feel to it. I couldn't remember the contents of the dream after opening my eyes, but I was left with a weirdly repulsive feeling.
And somehow, I felt like my fave character had also been in my dream…
But I soon brushed it aside since it was most likely just a silly dream. I opened the door to my room and stepped out into the living room.
It was a sunny morning, but the house was dark thanks to the curtains that covered the windows. Like I did every morning, I went to the kitchen first to drink some water.
Clatter. Fwoosh…
I grabbed my cup of water and as I walked through the living room, I extend thread from my other hand, planning to open the curtains with it.
But that very moment, I locked eyes with a certain someone in the living room.
Freeze.
"…"
"…"
I unconsciously came to a halt. In that moment, all my words were blocked in my throat.
Wow…that surprised me a little. I forgot. There's someone else staying in my house right now, right?
No, wait. If you're awake, at least show signs that you are. Geez, I actually forgot about his existence because he was as silent as a dead rat.
Sssk…
The thread that was extended from my fingertips quietly wormed its way back in.
…Could he have seen it?
Nah. The house is dark, plus it was only a little thread so it's more likely that he didn't see it.
"I see you're up, Mr. Lakis."
I casually gave my morning greeting. My attitude was certainly no different from usual; very calm and composed.
"How do you feel?"
I drew closer to him. Lakis was still dressed in a casual shirtsleeve and lying half-way on the couch. He had probably felt stuffy during the night because the buttons of his sleeves and collar were undone, exposing his upper arm and neck. The extremely faint light leaking through the curtains outlined his body, showing he was still in prime shape as usual.
Perhaps because he was king of the dark world, the dark background seemed to suit him awfully well. Lakis' blue eyes shone vividly in the dark, silently staring at me for who knows how long.
Judging by the slight narrowing of his eyes and the languid feeling in them, he seemed to have just woken up. Maybe I woke him up when I left my room and started wandering all over the place.
"I'll open the curtains a bit, if you don't mind."
I walked to the window, intending to use my own hands. It had become a habit to use the ruin's power for this kind of thing so while I thought it was a little annoying, I knew it couldn't be help.
Rattle.
Just as I said, I drew back the curtains slightly then I turned around. The soft sunlight graced Lakis' face, making him seem even more vivid than before.
Lakis lifted his hand to slightly block the dazzling sun and looked at me standing by the window. A dark shadow was cast over his eyes. Did he look like a patient? Yes, but the scene before me also felt like a commercial.
As expected, the saying 'fashion is completed by the face' isn't just nonsense. Just look at him, no matter how sloppily he was dressed, he was picture perfect from every angle. Furthermore, I only opened one curtain but the atmosphere around him had done a complete 180. It felt like a black swan had become a white swan, or like Hyde had become Jekyll. Under the morning sun, Lakis' innocent beauty was on proud display.
When I saw him earlier, with his eyes alone glowing in the dark, I was reminded of a wild animal hunting for prey, but the Lakis looking at me right now was just…
He was like a cute kitten that just woke up from sleep. Of course, I had no intention of ever saying that aloud; I didn't want to be beheaded by an outraged villain. His expression didn't show anything in particular, so I had no way of knowing if he had seen my web.
"I'm not quite sure if I woke you up but I have to get ready for work."
Lakis reached for the pen and paper at his side after hearing what I said. Then he wrote something down and showed it to me.
[It's alright, don't mind me.]
Judging from personality I saw in the novel, I thought he might throw the pen at my head but the reply I got was both polite and considerate.
My conversations with him happened in writing like this. He had inadvertently spoken a few words the first day he regained consciousness because the situation demanded it, but he obviously didn't think he should overwork his vocal cords.
For reference, Lakis was still taking up the living room sofa because there was no empty room in the house. There was one room being used as a storage, but it was filled with dolls so…
Well, I planned to empty it when I got the chance and Lakis wasn't looking. I did tell Lakis yesterday that I had no room to spare for him right now and he said he was fine with using the living room. Obviously, he was fully aware of the fact that he was an uninvited guest in this house. Honestly, I still had my suspicions about Lakis' persona.
"Did you sleep well? Nothing hurt or felt uncomfortable during the night?"
Lakis nodded this time.
"It might be a bit early, but I have to go out soon, so I'll just prepare a quick breakfast for now. If you aren't hungry at the moment, you can just eat it later."
Lakis was still a patient today, but it wasn't enough reason for me to miss work. Of course, if Lakis was a weak creature in need of my constant care then the story would change but that wasn't the case. He was villain with the life-force of a cockroach, contrasting his innocent appearance. A villain that was suspiciously very polite to me.
Well, I suppose this was way better than him arrogantly asking me to do this and that.
"Give me a minute please. And do tell me if you need anything."
After saying so, I headed to my room. I was still in my nightgown, so I had to change out of that first.
* * *
(Change in pov)
There was sharp glint in Lakis' eyes as his gaze followed Yuri back to her room.
"What was that just now?"
Lakis narrowed his eyes with suspicion. Honestly, he had sensed Yuri getting up and moving around, and he was already awake before she opened the door.
—I guess that woman is going to work today too. Are all eastern kids like this? Getting up so early in morning and going off to work like a worker ant.
Lakis was a light sleeper, especially since he was involved in the underworld where you didn't know when or where you'd be stabbed. But no matter how wounded he was, it was impossible for him to fall fast asleep in a territory that was not his own.
—Tsk, tsk. What a boring way to live; you only live once. When I see kids like that, I want to share the luxury and pleasures of Carnot with them.
Of course, when he first came to this house, he collapsed without even knowing who was looking after him beside him…
Well, that was an exception since he hadn't fallen asleep but fainted.
Anyways, that was why Lakis was watching Yuri's every move in the dark living room. At first, he was startled to see her come out of her room in her nightgown.