“It seems my father met my mother when he was hired by the Alexis family,” Rock added, since it was a touchy subject for Phoebe.
“I see. So that’s where your love story began, eh?”
“What a beautiful start!”
“That’s not important right now,” Phoebe snipped, uncomfortable with the way Ebel neatly surmised their romance and how Johanna’s eyes sparkled with curiosity.
This wasn’t the time to talk about the charming way they met anyway.
“Why don’t we see what move she makes first?” Ebel suggested in a somber voice just as footsteps could be heard quickly approaching the reception room.
“Pardon the intrusion,” Butler Ludovicus said, bowing before entering the room. “Your Excellency, Lady Alexis wishes to meet with you,” he imparted with a hard expression.
“What business brings her here?” Ebel asked.
“She wouldn’t tell me,” Ludovicus responded solemnly. “She said she’s aware it is rude of her, but she wants to speak with you directly, Your Excellency.”
“Do you think you can send her away?”
“She seems unlikely to move until she has an audience with you.”
From the sound of it, Ludovicus had already tried to send her away. The kindness in his eyes when he looked down at Rock and Phoebe hiding under the bay window told them he had a good grasp on their situation. Someone who knew nothing of their circumstances would have raised an eyebrow or two at their behavior.
“…Show her to the east wing reception room,” Ebel instructed him after a moment of thought.
“As you command.”
“Johanna, prepare tea for our guest,” Ebel told her after seeing Ludovicus bow.
“Yes, sir!”
Once the maid and butler left the room, Ebel turned toward Rock and Phoebe.
“Let’s figure out our strategy while they buy us time.” He smiled soothingly at Rock, who was all nerves. “Rest assured. I will respect your wishes above all else. I intend to handle this matter the way you want.”
Rock didn’t doubt that for a moment. But she was terrified by this unknown aunt who’d hunted her down.
After confirming Lady Alexis had been shown into the opposite wing and no one was lingering outside, Rock, Phoebe, and Ebel retook their seats around the table. Then they put their heads together to figure out a plan of attack.
“Lady Alexis is definitely here for Roxy,” Ebel asserted, pointing to the carriage to back up his claim. “I just caught a glimpse of that man we saw at the church inside her carriage.”
“Then it’s because he saw me there…?”
Now that was a stroke of ill-fortune. The man who’d stormed out of the sanctuary seemed to be connected to the Alexis family. Their objective was clear then.
“But I didn’t give my name. Neither did you, Ebel,” Rock whispered that point.
“He could probably tell by your face or the color of your hair,” Phoebe interjected.
“Is that really enough to go by?”
Rock twirled her wine-colored hair around her finger—the same as her mother’s. It’d grown out lately, and she was just starting to think she needed to cut it before it clashed with her male guise.
“Whatever the case may be, I plan to face Lady Alexis,” Ebel said, his golden eyes studying Rock’s face. “Tell me what you want first, Roxy.”
Rock’s mind was made up long ago.
“The Alexis family is one of the things my mother willingly gave up. I have nothing to do with them, and I’ve no intention of ever getting involved,” she firmly declared. Then she added, “Before Mother passed away, she told me about my father. She told me he’d surely help me. That I should go to the imperial capital and rely on him. But she didn’t tell me a single thing about her own family. I believe that sums up how she felt and what she’d want me to do.”
Phoebe quietly closed his eyes as he listened to Rock. He had a solemn expression, as if in prayer.
“…All right.” Ebel nodded and rested his chin on his folded hands. “In that case, there are two paths for us to choose from. Either we completely conceal your existence, or we reveal you to them while expressing your desire to not get involved.”
“Can you conceal my existence even after they’ve found me?”
Rock’s question was met with a casual wink.
“I excel at keeping things hidden. I can feign ignorance or stick to my story about your being my mother’s relative. Either way, it won’t be difficult to insist you aren’t Roxy Floria.”
It was reassuring when he worded it like it wouldn’t be much trouble at all. Rock’s relief was shadowed by Phoebe’s frown.
“But that won’t solve the core issue.”
“No, it won’t. I can get rid of the lady for a while, but as long as she wants you, she will likely show up out of the blue again and again. She might come directly to you next time.”
Ebel shared Phoebe’s concerns, but Rock didn’t.
“Would a fancy lady really come all the way out to the slums for me…?”
The werewolf count sitting across from her was an eccentric nobleman who enjoyed roaming the slums. Guido and Michaela’s reaction when they’d visited Rock’s shop proved just how unusual Ebel’s proclivities were.
But on the flip side, their visit also showed that even someone of Guido’s standing was willing to come to slums with his precious little sister if the circumstances were right.
Rock didn’t know what drove Lady Alexis, but it was enough to bring her unannounced to Count Mateus’s manor. It was impossible to say she wouldn’t hunt Rock down in the slums next.
Rock’s shoulders slumped after she thought it over.
“…I guess I can’t say she won’t, can I?”
“You can’t. She seems to have a reason to take action and to be obsessed with you,” Ebel said gently. Then he offered up a third plan. “With that in mind, I suggest we purposely reveal you to her.”
Rock gagged over that abrupt tactic.
“In other words, I should speak with her directly.”
“If the situation calls for it, yes. We need to see what actions she takes first, but if she asks about you, I will say you’re here.”
Ebel was going to reveal that Rock was there on the premises to the lady who’d come searching for her. And when he did that, the lady’s likely next action would be—
“Lady Alexis will most likely ask to see you,” Ebel continued in clerical tones. “I will then proceed to introduce you, while also being sure to drive home your desire not to be involved with the Alexis family and how that was also what your mother wanted. I will tell her that since you are an independent adult with your own profession and livelihood secured, you have every right to choose where you want to be and what you want to do.”
Then a mischievous grin lit up the count’s face as he added, “I don’t mind declaring your intentions to marry me too, if you like.”
“What? Um, that’s a little…” Rock sheepishly trailed off. She hoped they wouldn’t have to play that card.
She didn’t want to use her relationship with Ebel as an excuse. Even if he wasn’t a part of her life, she still wouldn’t want anything to do with her mother’s family.
“I want to use as few lies as possible to get through this,” she told him truthfully. “I get the feeling the ground will fall out from under us if they catch us lying.”
“…That’s true. We’re talking about Lauretta here,” Phoebe grimly interjected. “Twenty years ago, she was a shrewd, clever woman. When Vale said she was tired of competing with her sister, Lauretta bore down on her until she’d poked holes in all her weaknesses and had Vale emotionally crushed… She’s probably become ten times the demon in the decades since.”
Phoebe seemed to have a horrible impression of her. His expression was as grim as the story he’d recounted.
“But you aren’t alone. You’ve got His Excellency and me,” he reassured, patting Rock on the head. It tickled i
n more ways than one.
“We’re in His Excellency’s presence, Father. Don’t treat me like a child.”
While she’d complained out loud, she was internally relieved.
Not alone—that was an unimaginable blessing.
Ebel watched father and daughter interact with an envious smile.
♚♚♚
WITH their strategy settled, Ebel headed straight for the room where Lady Alexis was waiting. Ludovicus showed Rock and Phoebe to the adjoining room.
It looked like a normal reception room at first glance. There were sofas, an oval marble table, a fireplace, and a china cabinet, much like the room they had just been in.
However, a display shelf with a door facing the adjoining room caught Rock and Phoebe’s attention. It was a gorgeous piece with detailed carvings, but it was so different from the rest of the furniture, its splendor stood out abruptly.
“This is an observation window,” Ludovicus explained with a dashing smile as he opened the shelf door.
The inside was empty except for the light spilling in from the other side of the wall. If Rock looked closely at the hole, she could catch a glimpse of what was going on in the other room.
“I’ve never seen a trick shelf like this before. It’s so neat.”
Phoebe glared at Ludovicus while Rock was admiring the peephole.
“Does every room have one of these? Don’t tell me you’ve been peeping on us all this time—”
“Shh. They will hear if you are too loud.”
Ludovicus held a finger in front of his lips, coolly dismissing Phoebe’s valid question.
They could see three people in the other room through the display case. Ebel was seated to greet his guest, Johanna was quietly waiting on him, and then—
“Ah…”
A gasp slipped past Rock’s lips when she saw her. Seen up close, Lauretta Alexis truly did resemble her mother, Vale.
Her wine-colored hair was exactly like her mother’s, except for the streaks of gray mixed in. Her face was beautiful but showed signs of exhaustion. She was clearly older than Rock’s mother when she’d passed away. And her eyes were much sharper and foxlike than her mother’s as they cautiously yet gracefully scanned the room.
Rock didn’t know what happened between this lady and her mother. But she couldn’t conceal her shock when the woman looked so much like her to be a mere stranger.
“I sincerely apologize for my sudden visit, Your Excellency.”
Rock was shaken further when Lauretta spoke. Her aunt even sounded like her mother.
“I am delighted you made time for me despite my not having made a prior appointment,” Lauretta continued, unaware of Rock’s petrification in the adjoining room. Her tone was clipped and matter-of-fact—it didn’t sound the least bit delighted at all.
Sensing the same thing, Ebel calmly responded in kind, “Let’s stop with the stiff formalities, Lady Alexis.” He didn’t look tense or nervous from what Rock could see through the peephole. “What are you doing here? You must have a good reason to show up out of the blue against all decorum.”
He prompted her with a sarcastic edge, his gold eyes narrowing like a wolf watching to see what move its prey was going to take next.
Lauretta defiantly stuck her nose up in the air.
“Very well. In that case…” without a smile or a shred of emotion, she cut straight to the point, “I have come here today to ask you to hand over the wine-haired girl said to be in your care, Your Excellency.”
So that is it. Rock sucked in a breath.
She heard Phoebe click his tongue beside her.
Meanwhile, Ebel’s expression remained the same.
“What do you mean by that?” Ebel asked back, provoking her with his tone and unrelenting gaze.
Her response was cold and indifferent.
“I heard her name is Roxy. She is undoubtedly the daughter of my younger sister Valencia who’d absconded years ago. I had tracked her down to a small mountain village but lost her whereabouts completely after my sister passed away and have been searching for her ever since.”
Her face and voice perfectly mirrored Vale’s, but her bearing was entirely different. Rock was creeped out by how she kept all emotion out of her facial expressions and voice. And most of all, she shuddered to think that the woman had been hunting her down without her knowledge, as Phoebe feared.
“I don’t know why she has come into your care, but as long as she is my sister’s daughter, the Alexis family has every right to take custody of her,” Lauretta insisted without an ounce of emotion.
“You speak of her as if she is an object you own,” Ebel said with a contemptuous smile. “I will admit that Roxy is here since you have already figured that much out. However…” He purposely paused to give his words more power, his lips curling in a snarl. “What rights do you have to a child you didn’t even raise?”
“I am related to that child by blood.” Lauretta’s assertion was said in such a way it made Rock’s blood run cold for the lack of affection there. “That alone grants me every right and responsibility for her.”
“Do you believe that will hold up in the courts, dear lady?”
“This isn’t a matter for the courts. It’s a matter of ethics.” She didn’t even bat a lash at Ebel’s argument. “I am ashamed to say my sister’s loose morals led to her unfortunate and miserable death. I couldn’t even care for her on her deathbed, but I have since been searching for my niece to do for her what I could not for my sister. I will make her happy when my sister could not. I believe that is a very legitimate reason to take her in.”
Her dispassionate words made it impossible to get a read on how she really felt.
Nevertheless, her remark definitely offended both Rock and Phoebe.
“That damn woman…!”
Rock could hear Phoebe grinding his teeth.
There’s no way Rock wouldn’t take offense at her mother being slandered too. Her mother was the complete opposite of a woman with loose morals—she loved but one man her entire life. Rock knew that painfully well as the person who cared for her before she died.
Ebel also seemed offended by Lauretta’s remark.
“Do not speak ill of her mother in my house,” he ordered with a deep scowl.
“Forgive me, Your Excellency.” She apologized on the spot, though even that was frigid and devoid of emotion. “However, I needed you to understand where we are coming from. She is a miserable and unfortunate child. It is not such a strange thing for a blood relative to want to make her happy.”
Apparently, Lauretta had arbitrarily decided that Rock was living a miserable and unfortunate life. Of course, that was far from the truth, and Ebel argued the point.
“The Roxy I know is not miserable or unhappy with her life.”
Rock closed her eyes to show she agreed. At the very least, she didn’t view where she was at now as miserable. If anything, she was happier than ever.
“She has me. And there are many more who care for her,” Ebel vouched, and Rock could see Johanna eagerly nodding in agreement beside him. “As far as I have seen, she is plenty happy right now. Surely because your younger sister did a splendid job raising her.”
“…Impossible.”
Lauretta’s eyebrow twitched. Her expression didn’t change much, but the comment definitely got a reaction out of her.
“Besides, she still has her father,” Ebel continued, and her shoulders visibly trembled.
“Did you just say she has a father? You can’t mean that man—”
“Do you know her father, Lady Alexis?”
Lauretta didn’t answer his query. She merely squeezed her hands together until they turned white on top of her lap. Catching a glimpse of her reaction, Ebel seemed to perceive it was time to move on to phase two of their plan.
“Why don’t I have her join us then? That way, you can hear how she feels directly from her,” he said emphatically. Then he called out to the hallway. “Ludovicus, please
bring her here.”
Of course, Ludovicus was in the adjoining room and not the hallway.
“Are you ready, Lady Roxy?”
Urged by his quiet voice, Rock nodded and followed the butler to the door. She looked back just once to see Phoebe giving her a thumbs-up in front of the observation window.
She knew her father was encouraging her to stick to her decision. Rock responded with a reassuring smile before leaving the room.
Rock entered the east wing’s reception room through the door Ludovicus opened for her. The first thing she saw was Ebel eagerly waiting for her. When their gaze met, he smiled at her gently with his eyes, showing his wordless support.
Johanna stood up straight beside him. Worry weighed on her usually cheerful face.
Encouraged by their presence, Rock held her head high and stepped toward Lauretta.
Seen up close, Lauretta Alexis looked even more like her mother than she did at a distance. Her wine-colored hair and gray eyes were identical to her mother’s. It was almost as if she was looking at a version of her mother that was ten years older and stripped of all warmth and joy.
Interestingly enough, Lauretta showed her first signs of true emotion when she saw Rock. Dismay, joy, and maybe a little fear flashed across her face.
“You truly do…look just like Valencia…!” she cried out in a hoarse voice.
It’d be a lie to say Rock wasn’t at all swayed by her aunt’s reaction or her mother’s name. But she was only swept up by emotion for a fleeting moment. She quickly recovered and boldly gave her name.
“Hello. My name is Roxy Floria.”
Of course, Lauretta should know the name she went by. She slightly furrowed her brows.
“Did Valencia tell you to use Floria as your surname?”
“Yes, Mother used it too.”
“Then you should call yourself Alexis from now on. You have every right to that name.”
By her tone, it was clear Rock’s aunt was ordering her to do it. But Rock had zero intention of obeying her.
“I refuse,” she declined without hesitation.
Lauretta openly scowled then. She seemed offended and completely taken off guard, as if she’d never entertained the thought Rock might refuse. Yet, for all that, she didn’t become emotional. She merely shook her head like a mother disappointed with her child’s foolishness.
The Werewolf Count and the Trickster Tailor, Volume 2 Page 10