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Chapter 79
By now every servant at the Starr mansion had learned that Killian intended to divorce Emily.
Everyone was in an uproar, but Emily surprisingly remained calm and composed.
“So the mistress has finally heard about it.” Alvin squeezed his eyes shut.
He cursed Messina, who had started all this. Alvin had wanted to handle the problem himself before it reached the mistress’s ears, but that crazy boss had made things worse.
“Alvin—I’m ashamed.” Roxy, who’d been the one to bring that troublemaker into the house, dropped to her knees.
“Get up. The water’s already spilled.” Alvin asked Chili.
“How is the mistress doing right now?”
“She hasn’t said anything about it. She’s behaving as she always does.”
“That’s the scarier thing.”
At that moment, Ivan — standing outside — came running in.
“Alv—Alvin!”
“Good grief, you gave me a fright! What’s all the fuss now?” Alvin snapped.
“The carriage the boss rode in is coming in.”
“So it’s come to this.”
They hadn’t even managed to calm the situation, and Killian was already returning to the mansion.
“Alvin, we have no way to handle this further.” Chili said in a level voice.
“From now on, it’s something you two need to handle.”
Chili’s principle was that poking in clumsily would only cause a bigger row. Resigned, Alvin put everything down and went out to meet Killian.
“Welcome back.” As soon as Killian stepped down from the carriage he met Alvin’s sullen face.
Lately Alvin had been cold to him ever since the divorce rumors started, so Killian didn’t think much of it.
“Anything unusual happen?”
(Anything unusual? Yes — a huge lot.)
The words crowded up to Alvin’s throat but he forced himself to stay composed.
“Killian.” Alvin called, stopping Killian from simply passing into the house.
“What is it?”
“The mistress knows everything.”
“…What?”
Almost everything Killian had been thinking — the attempted assassination, the news about Duke Sadi or the crown prince, the time he’d once stolen Johan’s handkerchief — raced through his mind.
“The divorce.” Alvin answered plainly.
“Oh.”
Finally the thoughts spinning through Killian’s head halted.
“So she found out in the end.” Killian swallowed.
“What did she say?”
“She didn’t really say anything.”
That was a reaction he hadn’t quite expected.
“Shouldn’t you meet the mistress?”
“…Yes, I should.”
It was inevitable, but his heart thudded with nervousness. Killian forced a calm expression and went up to the floor where Emily was.
Coincidentally, Emily had gone outside to greet him when she heard he had arrived.
“You’re back?” True to Alvin’s hint, Emily really did look as if nothing was wrong.
“Did you eat out again tonight?”
“You haven’t eaten yet, mistress?”
“I waited to eat with you.”
Even if he’d already eaten, the atmosphere made it impossible to refuse Emily’s offer. Killian felt his Adam’s apple bob.
“Then I’ll change and come down.”
“All right. I’ll go down first.”
Emily’s voice sounded unusually resolute.
Alvin had said Emily looked the same as always, but she looked anything but ordinary.
Alvin had fought in many battlefields, but never had he felt this tense. No — this calm Emily was scarier than the mobsters who’d once charged at him to kill him.
Killian entered the dining room with heavy steps. Emily looked at him dispassionately, then gestured to the chair across from her.
“Sit. I asked them to prepare a simple dinner. I don’t think you’ll eat much.”
“All right.” Killian trudged over and sat opposite her.
As soon as he sat, Mayo and Alvin served the food themselves, shooting him looks that seemed to silently reproach him.
“Enjoy your meal.” With that they left, and a suffocating silence settled over the room.
How long had they sat in silence? After a long, wordless meal, Emily finally spoke.
“Someone came by today and said something strange.”
Killian stopped cutting his meat at her words.
Who had told Emily about the divorce?
“Who came?”
Killian asked somewhat urgently.
“That’s not important. What they said is what matters.” Emily still gave off a cool atmosphere and took a sip of wine.
“They told me that you’re preparing to divorce me.”
She set her glass down and met Killian’s eyes.
“You haven’t said anything, so it must be true.”
After a moment of silence, Killian nodded.
“Yes, that’s true.”
“You should have told me yourself instead of letting me hear it from someone else.”
Emily’s barbed remark left Killian with nothing to say.
Seeing his fluster made Emily uneasy too. Messina had explained why Killian had made that decision, so Emily understood his circumstances.
He’d decided for his—what he thought was—protection.
But she was angry he hadn’t talked it through with her first.
Training with Cezanne, interacting amicably with other Starr members — she did that because she wanted to live with Killian. She was prepared to face upcoming dangers alongside him, yet he had unilaterally decided such an important thing without consulting her.
“I don’t know why you married me,” Emily said, each word flying into Killian’s chest like a dagger.
“Don’t try to take all the risks on yourself. That just makes everything worse.”
Finally Emily took a letter from the table.
“They’re holding a carrot festival in the Sinopé domain.”
Killian looked at her in surprise.
“I’ll go down to the domain. Send the divorce papers here as soon as they’re processed.”
“Oh.”
Even though he’d been the one to start the divorce, Killian slumped as if he’d been divorced, his shoulders drooping gloomily.
“Finish your meal. I’ll go upstairs first.” Emily gathered the letter from the table and walked out of the dining room without hesitation.
Left alone, Killian sat there for a long while, blankly.
Even if he knew what he was going to do, would Emily stay by his side? Killian shook his head.
He couldn’t ask that of her.
“I was trying to help, but I guess the mood’s off.” Messina rolled a pen awkwardly.
Killian had found out it was Messina who’d brought up the divorce to Emily, but he no longer had the energy to be angry. There was nothing to blame Messina for, really.
“Let’s drop that.” Killian quickly changed the subject and began discussing how to strike the Giuliano organization.
“Shall we start with District 16?” Andemion offered first.
In Portua, the capital, the Giuliano family controlled Districts 6, 7, 15 and 16.
Districts 6 and 7 were near the city center and the Giulianos paid close attention to them; 15 and 16 were on the outskirts.
Messina planned to expose the Giuliano boss’s identity by simultaneously attacking the businesses they ran.
“Conveniently, there’s a slave market in District 16 coming up.” Even though slavery had been abolished, the Giuliano family — who’d built much of their current wealth through such means — still trafficked slaves in the black market.
Usually those sold into slavery were adults who’d taken the Giulianos’ usurious loans and couldn’t repay, or their children.
“Andemion, find the exact schedule and scale.” Killian ordered.
Messina cut in before he finished.
“We’ll make a scene that day. As you know, breaking things is our specialty.”
“Won’t your organization be exposed first?”
“It’s fine. We’ve been itching to deal with them.” Messina said with an embarrassed expression toward Killian.
“You said the mistress went to the domain to get a safe divorce?” Messina added, feeling guilty that his meddling had started this whole mess.
“Do the divorce safely and keep active. Don’t make yourselves Giuliano targets and put the mistress in danger.” Killian replied.
Messina looked unexpectedly thoughtful at Killian’s caution.
“She’s my son’s friend’s aunt; I worry about that sort of thing.” Messina said. He still believed Johan and Lucas were friends — a misconception Killian didn’t bother correcting.
“Maria liked the mistress quite a bit. That’s a shame.” Andemion said sadly.
Introverted Maria didn’t have many friends to begin with, and after marrying Andemion she had grown more distant even from those few. Her friends feared Maria because she was married to a mafia.
Andemion felt sorry to see Maria so lonely, so he’d wanted to arrange another meeting between her and Emily, who had much in common. But now that chance was lost.
Messina gave Andemion’s shoulder an encouraging pat.
“Anyway, let’s make this mission a success. There’s a mountain of work ahead.”
“All right. Thanks for taking care of it first.” Killian’s words made Messina cough awkwardly.
“You can consider me forgiven for trying to have you assassinated.” Messina said half-jokingly.
“If you succeed, I’ll forgive you.” Killian was not one to make exceptions where the job was concerned.
