Lu slowly turned around at the sound of Raiva's subdued voice.
"Yes…?"
Raiva's sigh was more audible than her request for Ackster to wait.
"I might have been a little…harsh just now."
Lu raised an eyebrow in surprise. He had not expected that.
"No, no. Your reaction is understandable. It's just that we have different ways of looking at things."
But Lu wouldn't be a man if he made a woman as beautiful as Raiva apologize to him.
"That's exactly it, though. I imagined what it would be like if it was my daughter in Mirrie's place."
"No, thank you."
Raiva glared at Lu.
"That's not what I meant."
Lu could feel an invisible pressure constrict around his body, so he nodded urgently while cold sweat beaded on his back.
"If some playboy got her to skip out on work or training, I wouldn't be able to help myself from feeling both angry and thankful if that playboy broke her heart and introduced her to the real world. Well, maybe not quite thankful, but you get it."
Lu nodded.
"I do. That's why I did what I did."
Raiva gave Lu a glance that he couldn't tell what it meant before she nodded toward the city gates.
"Come."
"With pleasure."
Raiva rolled her eyes and led the way through the city, which was surprisingly active. But what was more surprising was the fact that the residents didn't shy away from Raiva in fear wherever she walked.
Lu could tell that they respected her. Some held a tinge of fear in their eyes. But people stepped out of the way to give Raiva room, not to escape from her. Her presence was almost enough for Lu, walking behind her, to go unnoticed. Since he wasn't quite comfortable parading through the city, he stayed silent and masked his presence.
Before long, they were inside Raiva's mansion at the center of the city. It was a very nice building, but it wasn't as luxurious as Count Yennets, despite Raiva being a duchess.
Lu scanned the mostly bare walls as they walked toward her office.
'Looks like I'll have to do something about this.'
Raiva took a seat behind her desk and gestured for Lu to sit in an armchair opposite her.
"So? What were you here to talk about?"
"Two things. I want to help your reputation."
"My reputation?"
Lu nodded.
"It doesn't seem fair that a beautiful, graceful, and kind woman has such horrible rumors floating around."
"What kind of rumors are you talking about?"
Raiva's lips curved upward in a slight smile, but her eyes remained as cold as ever as she looked at and around Lu, prompting him to look around the room.
"Oh, you know, stuff about how you strangle kittens, drink the blood of innocents, and eat infants for all…"
Lu trailed off. He had a hard time grasping the end of the point he had been trying to make as he looked around the room.
Raiva's office wasn't as undecorated as the hallways. But Lu couldn't, in good faith, claim it was decorated, either. It was more like it was haunted.
There were two stuffed cats perched on one wall like they were climbing it.
On Raiva's desk was a half-empty glass of a dark red liquid that seemed a little too dark and miscolored to be wine.
And there was an empty crib in a corner of the room.
By themselves, any of the decorations might not be too strange, except for the stuffed kittens. Who would do such a thing?
But together with a few of Raiva's rumors, the items in her office didn't speak about her in a positive manner.
"Yes…?"
Since Lu lost his train of thought while speaking and didn't seem like he was about to regain it, Raiva encouraged him to continue as she rested her chin on her interlinked fingers.
Lu stopped looking around the room and locked eyes with Raiva.
"Alright. But even if the rumors are true, you don't deserve it. I want to do something about it. With your permission, of course."
Raiva raised an eyebrow.
"You aren't put off?"
"Why would I be?"
"The rumors you thought were false turned out to be true. I'm not the woman you think I am. What if I kill you in your sleep or chop your limbs off and throw you to the dogs?"
"Are you going to do that?"
Raiva shrugged.
"Maybe. If you upset me, maybe."
"Then, it's fine as long as I don't upset you."
Lu nodded as if he had solved that matter without question.
"How's that going for you?"
Lu tilted his head for a moment.
"Oh, you mean that thing with Mirrie? It's fine as long as you don't listen to the Prince's bull."
"Funny. He said I shouldn't listen to what you have to say."
"Yet, you invited me in. I think that says enough about whether you took his advice or not."
Raiva sighed lightly enough that Lu could barely hear it. She stopped resting her chin against her hands and waved to dismiss Lu's idea.
"In any case, there's no need to improve my reputation, whether the rumors are true or false. I appreciate the sentiment, but you know the history of the Prince's grandfather, right?"
"Not in enough detail to understand why you wouldn't want a better rep. But, if you don't want to, I won't do anything."
Lu wasn't entirely surprised at Raiva's desire. After all, her reputation and the rumors around her wouldn't have gotten this bad without interference from her side or at least tacit encouragement. She probably had a reason for becoming the big bad and evil lady in a corner of the kingdom.
"Good."
Raiva nodded, appreciative of how quickly Lu had dropped the matter.
"You said you had two things to talk about. What's the other?"
"Ah, right!"
Lu nodded and retrieved his necklace with the two interlinked circles with a dash through.
"I know I asked you about this at Yennet's place. But it didn't feel like you took a proper look at it. I'm just asking to make sure if you've seen something like this before."
Raiva narrowed her eyes and grabbed the necklace to take a closer look at it.
After a few moments of scrutiny, her eyes widened. She handed it back to Lu.
"You're lucky that I didn't even look at it back then, Lu. If I had, I would have killed you on the spot."