The Werewolf Count and the Trickster Tailor, Volume 2

by Yuruka Morisaki

  Rock wholeheartedly approved of living with her father after the mysterious disappearance of a fellow tailor happening right after he’d accepted a suspicious order from an unknown customer.

  They were currently in the process of moving a few of her things into his place at a time. It was impossible to bring all her stuff when Phoebe lived in a one-bedroom apartment. So their official move was postponed to a later date when things settled down enough to look for a bigger place. Rock would be stuck paying Lady Trilian rent until then, but desperate situations called for desperate measures.

  Both father and daughter decided to put their personal safety above everything else for the time being.

  Setting aside the circumstances that led to the move, living together was actually a lot of fun and peaceful.

  It went without saying Phoebe was an excellent cook. He’d always bring Rock food whenever she got overly busy with work, but now that they were living together, she was treated to his cooking every day. There was no greater bliss than no longer having to go to bed hungry after a tiring day at work.

  “Couldn’t you have become a master chef, Father?” Rock asked, patting her full belly after dinner.

  A scowl spread across Phoebe’s makeup-less face.

  “Yuck! I don’t want to cook for some stranger.”

  “Really? Why not?”

  “I only enjoy cooking when it’s for myself and family,” Phoebe replied sheepishly.

  Rock thought it was a waste of his talent but also understood the sentiment.

  “Did you often cook for Mother too?”

  “Yeah, you could say that. Whoever was free at the moment cooked when we were living together.”

  Phoebe always became a little embarrassed and shy when talking about the past.

  The time Rock’s father spent with her mother was undeniably a happy memory for him, regardless of how their relationship started and ended. Rock loved knowing that and seeing her father’s bashful side.

  “Which one of you was the better cook?” she asked next.

  Naturally, she’d eaten home cooking from both her parents. She knew the answer but wanted to know what her father would say.

  Phoebe glared at her to hide his awkwardness, just as she expected.

  “Not telling.”

  “Wow, that’s not fair! I can’t believe you won’t tell your own daughter!”

  “It’s no use trying to make fun of your parents, Roxy.”

  His big hand ruffled her wine-colored hair. She giggled from the ticklishness, drawing a lopsided grin out of Phoebe.

  “C’mon, get to reading that letter already.”

  He jerked his chin toward a single envelope sitting on top of the dining table.

  The letter had been delivered to Floria Clothes Shop during the afternoon, and the sender was Ebel. It remained unopened with the red wax seal intact. She’d had too many customers during the afternoon to read it.

  Urged on by her father, Rock picked up the letter and sat with it on the sofa. Phoebe peered over the backrest just as she pulled the stationery out of the envelope.

  “Did he finish it off with, ‘Love always’?”

  “Gah! Father! Don’t look!” Rock cried.

  Phoebe howled with laughter after getting a rise out of his daughter.

  “I won’t. I’ll be in my room. Call if you need anything,” he said, his nightgown fluttering as he turned to go to his bedroom.

  Was he trying to get back at me for teasing him about Mother earlier? Laughing dryly, Rock returned her attention to the letter.

  Ebel’s elegant handwriting filled the page.

  He wrote her to discuss two things. The first asked her about what day and time would be best for her to visit his father’s grave.

  The second was about Krister Gionet. He wrote:

  “I came across some disturbing information while looking into Krister. I want to discuss it with you in person, so please visit my residence with Phoebe.”

  “It seems like he found out something about Krister,” Rock called out to Phoebe, who’d retreated into the other room. Her father sat beside her on the sofa once she’d folded up the letter and put it back in the envelope.

  “What did he find out?”

  “He didn’t say. Maybe it’s something he couldn’t tell us by letter.”

  He didn’t even hint at whether it was good or bad news. But after all they’d gone through to find out more, Rock wanted to know the truth, whatever it may be.

  “I tried looking into it too, but got nothing.”

  Rock had scrutinized every corner of Krister’s sales ledger. However, not only was there nothing to bring the customer’s identity to light, but it also didn’t give away any reason Krister might’ve disappeared.

  There was only one thing that stood out as suspicious.

  She found traces of a mistake being blotted out on the entry referring to the order of thirty robes. Several letters had been painted over just before it said “Blue Cloth Robes.”

  If the passage was written with a pen, it could’ve just been an ink stain, but Krister used the charcoal pencil to write in his ledger too.

  He’d probably written something by mistake right before “Blue Cloth Robes.”

  “If only I knew what he’d written…” Rock groaned.

  Unfortunately, there was no way to read the painted-over letters.

  Rock had no choice but to put her hope in the information Ebel had obtained now that her own search had hit a wall.

  “But boy, we sure seem to have a lot of business in the aristocrat district lately,” Phoebe said with a dry laugh. “I never thought I’d roam those parts for anything other than business.”

  It certainly seemed strange that Phoebe had fallen in love with an aristocrat’s daughter when he put it that way. Rock had heard the story of how her mercenary father and low-ranking noble mother had met and struggled to be together.

  “I told His Excellency about Mother’s family,” Rock confessed.

  Phoebe seemed to expect her to. His expression softened as he asked, “He knew of the Alexises, right?”

  “Yeah. Are they famous?”

  “More like infamous…” Phoebe trailed off before continuing with a sigh, “That family is no stranger to scandal.”

  That didn’t sound good.

  Rock pulled her knees up onto the sofa and wrapped her arms around them.

  “…They have a lot of enemies then?”

  “Yeah. Just as many inside as out.”

  Phoebe folded his hands under his chin, his expression hardening.

  “I first met Vale on a bodyguard job. The Alexises were traders—they had money. So much money, everyone wanted a piece of them. Business rivals often hired bandits to steal their cargo. And one time, I traced back some blackmail and death threats to a relative. Working for them left a bad aftertaste.”

  Wealthy traders—that fact explained why her mother had a stick of fragrant wood incense on her. It saddened Rock to think how different her mother’s past was from her humble last few years of life.

  “That’s why they hired mercenaries as bodyguards. The pay was good at least.” Phoebe was trying to be matter-of-fact about it. But his bashfulness showed through every time he raked his hair back with his fingers. “I ended up never getting hired again, though. Some bodyguard I was—I made their daughter run away from home.”

  “Not much you could do about that,” Rock said with a big grin.

  Phoebe sulkily looked at his daughter’s devious expression before closing his eyes.

  “But I also think Vale had a hard time being in that house. She was always competing with her older sister to see who’d inherit everything.”

  Did the memories come flooding back during his brief pause? His next words sounded so sad.

  “Their family had so many enemies, their heir had to be the best of the best. I can kind of understand why their parents felt that way, but it resulted in their competing daughters constantly being at e
ach other’s throats. Vale hated going against her sister and felt so cornered, she decided to choose a totally different path in life. Every once in a while, I heard her quietly comment how she wished they could go back to when they used to get along as children… I just couldn’t leave her like that.”

  Rock was stunned by the gritty details of her mother’s past.

  Ebel had also told her about how her aunt was forced to take on a husband after her mother left and their parents died and was now looking to adopt an heir.

  “His Excellency also mentioned Mother’s older sister,” Rock hesitantly told him. Her mother’s older sister would be her biological aunt. It just didn’t feel real when she always thought she had no relatives. “He said I should keep my identity a secret because they’re feuding over who should be the heir.”

  “He’s right. You shouldn’t get involved,” Phoebe stressed, completely agreeing with Ebel’s advice. He combed his fingers through Rock’s hair as he spoke in a soothing voice, “To tell you the truth, they kept sending spies to the village where you and Vale lived.”

  “What spies?”

  “They were hired by the Alexises. They were secretly snooping around you girls.”

  “No way!”

  Rock was alarmed, but Phoebe calmly continued.

  “I occasionally spotted them when I visited. I choked a few of ’em until they confessed what they were doing there. They were planning on dragging Vale back home the second they got the chance. There were a couple of rough ones, so I courteously sent them on their way.”

  This was all news to Rock. She never imagined her father was taking precautions to protect her poor yet peaceful childhood.

  “You really protected Mother, didn’t you, Father?”

  “I protected you too, Roxy.”

  “You’re amazing. Thank you.”

  Phoebe started to break into a smile but quickly flattened his lips.

  “I did my best, but I don’t think for a moment that I was able to stop everything from getting back to them. I’m willing to bet they at least figured out Vale had a daughter.”

  It was like a lantern lit in Roxy’s mind when he said that.

  “Wait…is that why you had me start dressing as a man?”

  Her late realization seemed to be on the money. Phoebe nodded with a smile.

  “That was definitely a part of it.”

  “I never knew…”

  “Well, I planned on keeping the fact I was your father a secret too. I racked my brains trying to find a way to tell you.”

  But Phoebe’s worries were put to rest when Roxy Floria happily donned the guise of a man—something she’d always wanted to do.

  And after three years, Ebel was the only person to see through her disguise. Her delicate features probably perfectly fit the bill of a young man who didn’t eat great in the slums.

  Thanks to that, she was able to live a relatively peaceful life as a tailor in the slums.

  I hope things remain peaceful, Rock thought. That way, I can pay back Father for protecting me all this time.

  “It’s all thanks to you that I’ve stayed safe until now.”

  Phoebe silently pulled Rock’s head to him. He pressed his forehead against hers and peered into her eyes.

  “Don’t worry,” he said to reassure her. “I’ll protect you until the day you leave to get married.”

  His blue eyes were so scarily serious, Rock nearly laughed.

  “I don’t plan on leaving anytime soon.”

  “You mean it?”

  “I really mean it.”

  Ebel had asked her to “share a future together.”

  Rock wanted that too. But that didn’t have to start right this second. She wanted to be a good daughter to her father before becoming a wife. They’d finally started living together, after all.

  “Remember this always, Roxy,” Phoebe looked straight into his daughter’s eyes. “Your future is yours alone. You decide how you want to live.”

  “I will.”

  “But you can rely on me whenever you are lost. It’s a parent’s job to lend their child a hand when they need it.”

  “Thank you, Father.”

  Rock hadn’t lost her way yet. But no one knows what the future holds.

  Just as she never could have imagined she would someday fall in love with someone, Rock was beginning to realize life always has unexpected bumps and turns in store.

  Even so, she wasn’t alone. She had people who would extend their hands and help her back on her feet if she fell. So she strangely wasn’t scared.

  Several days later, Rock and Phoebe took the day off work and departed the slums. They boarded the carriage that came for them and headed for the aristocrat district, where Ebel waited.

  ♚♚♚

  MATEUS Manor beautifully towered over the gardens without a single scratch from that night a month and a half ago.

  Rock and Phoebe exited the carriage and stared up at the limestone mansion that glistened white as snow in the sunlight.

  “It’s almost as if that night never happened,” Rock murmured sentimentally.

  “But it wasn’t a lie or a dream,” Phoebe stressed, quietly shaking his head. “And it’s not over yet.”

  “Yeah, I know.”

  Rock and Phoebe weren’t even the ones who most wished that night had just been a bad dream.

  They hadn’t seen Guido or Michaela since. Rock only knew how they were doing from the occasional updates she received from Ebel. On the bright side, Ebel never sounded grim when he talked about them, and the siblings seemed to be getting along fine supporting each other.

  They would surely meet again someday.

  Rock couldn’t stop herself from hoping they would be at peace with their situation by then.

  As father and daughter were going down memory lane in front of the beautiful manor—

  “MAAASTER ROCK!”

  The wrought iron doors were flung open and Johanna, the maid, greeted them in a loud voice. Ludovicus, the butler, and Ebel were right behind her, but she was first to run toward Rock and throw her arms around her in a leaping hug.

  “W-Whoa!”

  Rock staggered under her weight, and Phoebe hastily supported her from behind. Oblivious to the fact she nearly knocked Rock over, tears filled Johanna’s eyes.

  “I’m so glad to see you’re well!”

  “Y-Yeah, thank you.” Though a wry smile formed on her lips, Rock was happy the other girl had worried about her. “I’m glad you’re doing well too. It looks like your injuries have all healed up.”

  There weren’t any scars on her adorable round face or on the parts of her hands and feet that showed from under her maid uniform.

  “They have! Thanks to you!” she exclaimed with a smile brighter than her brilliant blond hair. “I’m working hard every day for His Excellency!”

  “Johanna.” Ludovicus cleared his throat in warning. “It is not proper etiquette to speak to His Excellency’s guests before he can.”

  “Uh-oh! I forgot. Pardon me!” Johanna slowly backed away, like she’d only realized her mistake after it was pointed out.

  Phoebe stepped back from Rock, letting her straighten to greet Ebel as he approached her.

  Ebel was dressed in a gray frock coat with a turned-down collar and midnight black velvet trousers. It wasn’t as awe-inspiring as his formal wear, but it still had a subtle glamor to it.

  Ebel stared at Rock and Phoebe with great interest, just as she was captivated by his more casual attire.

  “It almost seems like you switched roles today.”

  Father and daughter exchanged looks and Rock broke out in a big smile.

  “That’s because you invited me as Roxy today,” Rock replied, wearing a dress for the first time since the party.

  That said, today, she wore an all-black dress without any embellishments, unlike the gorgeous gown meant for Michaela’s birthday. The plain-weave cotton dress was tailored into an old-fashioned design with a hi
gh neckline, sleeves long enough to cover the back of her hands, and a hem that hid her ankles.

  Of course, it wasn’t in style—this old black dress had originally been Phoebe’s. It was her last resort after painfully deliberating what to wear to Ebel’s manor.

  After all, the only dress Rock had in her possession was that dawn-colored ball gown she’d tailor-made per Guido’s request. She had several ready-made pieces in her shop, but they were all tailored in line with the trendiest cuts and embroideries, making them fine for an evening out but unsuitable for visiting a grave.

  Rock had resewn and added a belt to the borrowed dress to make it fit her slender figure. Thanks to those additions, the high-waist skirt draped beautifully around her, saving it from looking too plain.

  Meanwhile, Phoebe really had switched places with her as he wore male attire for this outing. Dressed in a pair of quilt trousers he had on hand, and the jacket Rock had quickly tailored for the occasion, Phoebe kept the look natural by leaving off his favorite makeup. He looked so gallant with his long, chestnut hair tied back, it was hard to imagine this person looked drop-dead gorgeous in a dress too.

  Ebel had said he welcomed Phoebe to come dressed any way he wanted, and Rock also said as much, but Phoebe left his dresses at home. Perhaps he wanted to visit Mateus Manor looking the part of Rock’s father. Rock wanted to respect her father’s wishes. How he wanted to dress or identify at any given time was his choice.

  Everyone should be able to wear the clothes they want. Rock strongly felt that way as a tailor.

  Of course, it went without saying neither of them was used to being dressed this way.

  “It makes me uncomfortable when you make such a big deal out of it,” Phoebe muttered as he rubbed his neck.

  “We rarely dress like this, after all,” Rock wholeheartedly agreed.

  “That’s a shame. You both look impeccable. Your usual attire is lovely too, but you shine brilliantly dressed like this as well.”

  Johanna nodded so hard in agreement with Ebel, her pigtails almost came loose. She seemed like she wanted to say something but kept her lips pressed shut under the butler’s watchful eye.