Placido shot his wife a warning look when the vitriol entered her voice. He was probably worried the topic and bitterness there would upset Rock.
Lauretta nodded, seeming to understand she was entering rocky territory.
“But I am positive that sweet girl…just didn’t want to fight anymore. That’s what I believe now.”
Rock sensed this woman, who looked like a more worn-out version of her mother, had felt the same way as Vale deep down. It must’ve been the height of misery being forced by their parents to viciously compete for approval.
“Besides, Valencia left me so many things. Dresses, memories, and you.” Lauretta raised her head. She smiled as she looked at Rock, a sort of desperation in her eyes. “Don’t you want to see the dresses Valencia left me? You can wear them as much as you want.”
Rock was too dismayed to respond.
Every detail that Lauretta shared about her mother made her time in this house feel so real, it frightened Rock.
To Rock, her mother was a poor woman who ran a tailor shop in a rural mountain village. But there was another side to her mother that only existed here. She was saddened to get a glimpse of her mother’s childhood, which seemed less than happy.
Lauretta probably felt the same way about the stories only Rock knew about Vale.
Sensing it was making Rock upset, Lauretta ceased to speak of her younger sister for the time being.
“This is your home now. Spend your time here in whatever manner pleases you.”
That wasn’t just a kindly put, empty offer—they actually allowed Rock to freely roam the mansion after that. They didn’t prevent her from entering any of the rooms.
Only leaving the house was frowned upon.
“It’s not that we don’t trust you, but could you please refrain from any outings until my wife is in a better place mentally?” Placido gently refused Rock when she asked to see the garden. “Lauretta will break down for real if she loses you.”
Is that really something a kidnapper should ask his kidnapped daughter? Rock wryly thought. But she wasn’t going to disobey his orders. Not because he’d broken her or because she’d given up hope, but to achieve her objective.
“I will behave as you’ve requested until Auntie feels better,” Rock said with a fake, daughterly smile.
“Thank you,” Placido responded, looking genuinely relieved. “But I sure hope you will call her ‘Mother’ someday.”
She’d never give in to that request, but she intended to curry as much favor with her aunt and uncle as she could without compromising herself.
Rock was a businesswoman. She’d flatter a customer as much as she had to if she knew it’d land a sale.
What she’d obtain this time was not money but the information Ebel and Phoebe desperately sought. That information should have more value than money to them all.
♚♚♚
ROCK spent the next two days at Alexis Manor.
The emotional distance between her and her aunt and uncle didn’t shrink visibly, but she’d go with Danilo into the garden to pick flowers for her aunt and spend time drinking tea with her, which made her look like an obedient daughter on the outside. Lauretta was delighted by her niece’s attention, and this, in turn, reassured Placido.
Meanwhile, Rock was no closer to obtaining the information she sought.
Since she’d decided to save directly questioning the lord and lady for last, she started by prodding the servants, Danilo, and Alice first. Unfortunately, Danilo’s guilty conscience seemed to make him flee every time he saw her, and all the maids, especially Alice, gave her a wide berth. She couldn’t blame them for being suspicious of some country girl brought in from God knows where and who lacked basic etiquette lessons.
Searching every nook and cranny of the mansion didn’t turn up anything of note either. Her impatience grew when she couldn’t find the werewolf statue or any items that could be connected to the Werewolf Brotherhood.
Rock constantly looked out the windows for those two days.
Maybe someone has come for me? She’d looked hoping to see the people she loved the most there to rescue her.
Sadly, her desired visitors never came, and only merchants frequented Alexis Manor during that time.
Rock frantically tried to keep her hopes up and her thoughts positive.
There was no way Ebel and Phoebe would abandon her. If anything, they were both the type to sacrifice whatever they had to in order to rescue her. So there must’ve been a good reason why they didn’t show up right away.
In fact, there was an interesting article written up in the newspaper that’d been thrown into the wastebasket the day after Rock was kidnapped.
The article was about an accident that caused a carriage to topple on the main street running through the aristocrat district. It clearly indicated the carriage belonged to Count Mateus and reported that the coachman sustained minor injuries while the single passenger was unharmed. The accident report said it was caused by the bridle disconnecting from the horse’s bit—obviously, that wasn’t what’d really happened.
Ebel and Phoebe couldn’t publicly announce the carriage was attacked by a werewolf either. Placido was likely counting on that when he attacked. Still, Rock hadn’t given up hope.
I’m not alone.
She never stopped believing that.
♚♚♚
CHANGE came the third morning Rock woke up in Alexis Manor.
She was yawning in the coral pink bedroom she still hadn’t gotten used to when there was a dainty knock at the door.
“Roxy? Are you awake?” Lauretta asked through the door.
Rock quickly combed out her bedhead and slipped a robe over her nightgown before answering.
“Come in, Auntie.”
Lauretta was accompanied by Alice, who was holding two brand new dresses, which Lauretta made her hold up high so Rock could see their splendor.
“We have guests today. Choose the dress you like best and get ready to go downstairs.”
Her options were an elegant, dark-green velvet dress or a glossy strawberry pink sateen dress. Judging by the exquisite quality of the fabrics, their guest was likely of higher rank.
“I’m supposed to meet these guests?” Rock cautiously inquired.
“Yes,” Lauretta said, nodding. “But don’t worry, dear. One of our guests is a young lady near your age.”
“But—”
“It will be all right. She’s a very well-behaved and kind young lady,” Lauretta said in soothing tones, as if trying to encourage her teenage daughter to make new friends. “You need friends too. I’m sure it will take you a while to get used to life here, so you need someone you can relax around.”
Her expression was so caring, it threw Rock for a loop.
Besides, Rock was a commoner girl who’d spent her life living in a poor village and the slums. Relaxing was the last thing she’d be able to do in the presence of snobbish nobility. She was well aware that Ebel was the exception that proved the rule.
“Who might this guest be?” Rock asked, already dreading the day ahead.
“Someone who you are already acquainted with,” Lauretta said with a mischievous smile.
“Really?”
“Yes. It’s Duke Linus’s daughter, Lady Michaela Linus.”
At that moment, Rock experienced every kind of emotion:
Surprise over seeing an acquaintance in her situation.
Fear of Lauretta, who knew Michaela was her friend.
Hope that Ebel might have sent her here.
And also suspicion that Lauretta was letting them meet like this.
As Rock struggled to conceal the bilge of emotions, Lauretta giggled behind her hand.
“I see, so you do know her. We had learned of your whereabouts from her, you see.”
From what Rock had heard, the Alexises learned of her existence from Michaela’s birthday party. So it made sense they’d ask the Linus family about her.
“I heard you
were with Count Mateus when you met Lady Michaela,” Lauretta continued in a surprisingly innocent voice. “Lady Michaela is His Excellency’s former fiancée. She said they barely see each other anymore now that they’re no longer engaged, so she had no way to find you, but when I told her we found you ourselves, she said she’d love to see you again!”
That’s a lie.
Michaela and Guido still spent a lot of time with Ebel, and Michaela knew exactly who and where Rock was after her party.
The duke’s daughter was willing to pull the wool over the Alexises’ eyes just to make contact with Rock.
“I would love to see her again myself,” Rock responded mildly, keeping the emotions that threatened to cause her to tremble in check.
Then she chose the dark-green dress and waited for Michaela Linus to arrive.
It wasn’t long before a familiar carriage rolled up outside the window. The carriage slowed to a stop as it entered Alexis Manor’s courtyard, and the door opened from the inside.
The familiar faces almost made Rock nostalgic as she watched. A tall man with black hair was the first to step down—Guido Linus. He extended his hand inside the carriage, and a white-gloved hand reached out and took it.
Exiting the carriage with the help of her older brother, Michaela stared up at Alexis Manor as if searching for something. Following his sister’s lead, Guido’s gold eyes also scanned the windows.
Rock was about to wave to them when—
“Young Miss, your guests have arrived.”
Danilo had come to get her, so she couldn’t wave them down.
But she hadn’t given up hope.
She impatiently waited for the coming reunion.
♚♚♚
ROCK went to the foyer to welcome her guests with Lord and Lady Alexis.
The Linus siblings entered through the door Danilo held open. They immediately noticed Rock. Guido flattened his lips in a straight line and Michaela’s eyes widened.
But their shock lasted for less than a second before they both shifted their gazes to the lord and lady of the house.
“Thank you very much for inviting us into your lovely home.”
Guido swept his tall body into a dashing bow and greeted them with what appeared to be a genial expression on the surface.
Lauretta and Placido both bowed back.
“We are honored by your visit, Lord Linus,” Placido said, placing his hand on Rock’s back like a father would. “Thanks to you, we were able to welcome our daughter back into the fold. Her name is Roxy.”
“Oh, you’re the lady from my party…!” Michaela cried out with pretend surprise.
“Lord Alexis has been searching for you for a long time,” Guido said in a velvety soft voice Rock never imagined him capable of. “While I regret not being of assistance in your discovery, I am terribly happy to see you safe.”
And then he smiled at her with his stern face.
Although Rock knew he was acting, she couldn’t help feeling uncomfortable being on the receiving end of Guido’s smile. That being said, one wrong move here could ruin everything. She silently smiled back at him and hoped the others would just assume she didn’t know how to act around a future duke.
“It isn’t much, but we’ve prepared tea and snacks for you,” Lauretta said in tones befitting the lady of the house. “Please enjoy them while I tell you about my daughter.”
“Gladly.” Guido was about to follow them down the hall when Michaela tugged on his sleeve.
“Brother, must I join you for tea too?” she asked in a soft yet deliberately loud enough voice for all to hear.
Guido frowned on cue.
“Of course you do. You were invited as a guest too, weren’t you?”
“But I get ever so bored listening to stuffy adult talk.” Michaela pouted. “Besides, I have a gift for Lady Roxy. It’s not appropriate to bring this little one to tea, is it?”
She held up the bird cage she had been carrying. A white dove quietly sat on its perch inside.
“Oh, might this be a dove?”
Lauretta crouched in front of Michaela and peered at the bird inside the cage.
“Yes, my brother breeds them,” Michaela answered with angelic innocence. “This gift is proof of my newfound friendship with Lady Roxy!”
Her tone sounded much younger than the Michaela Rock knew. Lauretta didn’t seem to notice she was acting.
She looked over at Rock and said, “In that case, please show Lady Michaela to your room, Roxy. The rest of us adults will be conversing in the parlor.”
“…Yes, Auntie.”
Rock gave a quick but polite response to prevent her from catching on to her internal excitement. Then she hurried with Michaela to her bedroom.
The first thing Michaela did when Rock led her into the coral pink room was rest her hand on her chest with relief. As soon as she ascertained no one else was around, her expression shifted from cherubic to serious.
“I am so glad to see you safe, Roxy Floria,” she whispered in Rock’s ear.
She had used Rock’s true name—the one she took from her mother. As soon as she heard those two words, she relaxed, and tears spilled from her eyes.
“Ah…”
She thought she was being brave all this time, but maybe she was just enduring everything to get through the moment. Rock had been granted good food and a certain level of freedom within Alexis Manor, but spending time in her captor’s strange home definitely wore on her nerves. She’d also noticed how haggard her face was starting to look every time she saw herself in the mirror.
Rock was glad from the bottom of her heart to know Michaela had come to help her.
“You mustn’t cry. The others will catch on.”
Tears misted Michaela’s eyes too, even though she was trying to console Rock. She gently wiped away Rock’s tears with her palm. Then she pulled out a slate and pencil from her little bag.
She used the pencil to write on the slate first.
(Let’s write down the things we don’t want heard.)
Rock nodded when she read that.
Michaela smiled and enthusiastically raised her voice, “Oh, I’m ever so happy! I didn’t know what to do if you didn’t like my present!”
This was her way of telling Rock to continue the conversation in case anyone was spying on them. Catching on, Rock responded in kind, her face damp with tears.
“You needn’t worry about that. I am very happy!”
She accepted the slate pencil from Michaela and wrote down her true feelings.
(I’m doing well enough, as you can see. Lord and Lady Alexis are doting on me as if I were their own child. I’m fairly sure they won’t try to physically harm me.)
Michaela’s expression softened as she read that.
“I’m truly relieved to hear that… It’s what worried me the most.”
“Thank you for worrying about me, Lady Michaela,” Rock said aloud, earning a giggle from Michaela, who had loosened up now that she knew Rock wasn’t being physically abused.
“Say, may I call you Roxy?”
“Yes, please do.”
“Then you must call me Michaela as well.”
“What? I couldn’t…”
Rock was flustered by her request.
She was speaking to a powerful duke’s daughter, while she herself was a tailor from the slums who’d been kidnapped by a noble family.
But Michaela plucked the pencil from her hand and mercilessly wrote:
(You can’t when you call Ebel by his first name, without any title?)
The heat rushed to Rock’s cheeks when she saw his name.
Perhaps Michaela was teasing her. This wasn’t the time for joking, but Rock still found herself smiling.
“Please don’t tease me.”
“…You finally smiled, Roxy,” Michaela whispered, the relief apparent in her voice. She squeezed Rock’s hand when she returned the pencil and flashed her an adorable smile. “But I truly do want you to call me th
at. Aren’t we friends now?”
Her smile felt incredibly reliable and reassuring.
“We are, Michaela.”
That was why Rock spoke her name like she would an old friend’s.
After that, the girls giggled and chatted like friends would, all while passing the slate back and forth, writing and erasing their more serious conversation.
“This dove here is a present for you,” Michaela said in a cheery voice. “Give it a name.”
“It’s so hard to come up with a good name…” Rock groaned.
“You struggle coming up with names too? You sound just like my brother.”
“Lord Linus is the same way?”
“Oh, yes. If something is white, he’ll call it ‘Whitey,’ and if it’s black, he’ll call it ‘Blacky!’”
“Haha! I was just about to call the dove ‘Whitey’ too!”
(Is my father all right?)
Rock wrote on the slate and handed it to Michaela.
(He’s in good health. He didn’t get a single scrape from the accident. Brother and I were astonished to learn your shop assistant was your father, but Ebel seemed quite comfortable with it.)
(Then Father is with Ebel right now?)
(He is. Actually, both he and Ebel are extremely close by.)
Rock instinctively looked out the window. Unfortunately, all she could see from inside the room was the balcony rail and the midday sky.
But Father and Ebel came for me.
Just knowing that warmed her heart, and she had to fight back another round of tears.
(They’ll move into position if we give the signal. They came to save you.)
Michaela handed the slate over as she gave Rock a reassuring smile.
I knew it! They came to rescue me. And not just them. Even Michaela and Guido have come to my aid.
Rock closed her eyes at the overwhelming joy she felt—she knew this wasn’t the time for rejoicing.
(I’m delighted you all came to help, but it’s dangerous. Placido Alexis is a werewolf.)
Michaela’s beautiful brows knitted in a frown when she read Rock’s warning. She might have already guessed that when she met Placido.
(He has the same gold eyes as Ebel and Brother.)
(He also became a werewolf using one of those cursed statues.)
The Werewolf Count and the Trickster Tailor, Volume 2 Page 14