Chapter 49: Please Don’t Die, Duke Lecherie! Next Time: “Lecherie Dies”
“Idiot!?”
“Why are you…?”
Idiot Hautness approached, shaking the blood off the cutlass in his hand.
“What a foolish question, Lily Puridi. If anything were to happen to you, Miss Lecty would be heartbroken.”
As he spoke, Idiot slipped past us, brandishing his cutlass against the two monsters blocking our path.
“I, Idiot Hautness, will take care of this! In the name of the «Chevalier» Skill, I will protect your backs. You can go without worry!”
“…Don’t die, Idiot!”
“Hmph. Who do you think I am? Idiot Hoo—”
“I appreciate it, Idiot!”
Leaving the delay to Idiot, we turned back toward the stairs, aiming for a detour.
Fortunately, we encountered no further monster attacks and soon reached the door of the room where Duke Lecherie had fled, climbing back up to the second floor via a different staircase.
If my memory served me right, this was the study room from yesterday.
“Duke Lecherie!”
I set Lily down and charged into the room. Duke Lecherie was on his knees in front of what appeared to be a small safe, desperately stuffing gold coins into a bag. I couldn’t even imagine what percentage of that wealth was obtained from kidnapping and selling citizens.
“That’s enough, Duke Lecherie. You can’t escape anymore. Surrender quietly.”
“Lily Puridi…! Everything is a mess because of you!! You wretched harlot!!”
“…!”
Faced with his shouting and hateful glare, Lily flinched. Stepping forward to protect her, I confronted Duke Lecherie.
“What are you?! Have you come to capture me as well? Did that harlot over there seduce you, you young fool?!”
“Duke Lecherie. You will pay for your crimes.”
“Pay for my crimes? Fool! As a duke, I have no crimes to atone for! Lucas and Slay are fools. Even if you capture me, the only evidence you have are those two scraps of paper. With this gold, I can easily silence you!”
With that, Duke Lecherie threw gold coins at us. He must have used the Physical Enhancement Skill. The coins flew at a considerable speed, but they wouldn’t hurt even if they hit. I swatted away all the coins that were about to strike Lily.
“Go ahead, pick up as many as you want! Want more? Then capture that harlot behind you! Acting so high and mighty despite being a virgin! I’ll turn her into a woman right now! Hurry up and catch her—”
“Shut up, you bastard…!”
Clenching my fist tightly, I punched Duke Lecherie square in the face. I had no experience hitting someone, but with the assistance of the «Ninja» Skill’s martial arts, my full-powered straight punch shattered his nasal bone and front teeth.
“Guuh, aaaaaaaah!?”
As blood poured from both his nose and mouth, I kicked Duke Lecherie with all my might. He crashed through the glass door leading to the balcony and lay face down, motionless.
I had hit and kicked him for real, but he wasn’t dead… right? …Yeah, I could still hear the sound of his heartbeat, enhanced by the «Ninja» Skill. It seemed he was merely unconscious.
“Is it over…?”
“Yeah, it’s over.”
I replied to Lily, who was staring blankly at the fallen Duke Lecherie.
As for the monsters that attacked the ball, they were likely being exterminated by Roan and Alissa by now, assuming no reinforcements arrived. Idiot should also be able to handle his situation. He wasn’t up against anyone he couldn’t defeat.
“That’s good…—”
“Lily!”
I hurriedly caught Lily as she swayed unsteadily. She murmured, “I’m sorry,” and leaned against my chest.
“It seems that once I relaxed, I lost all my strength. I’ll get up soon.”
“No, it’s fine. If you don’t mind, Lily.”
I wrapped my arms around her back, holding her close. If I didn’t support her, it felt like she would collapse at any moment. Even if she needed to rest, it would be better to lay her down somewhere.
“…You idiot. Why are you so kind?”
“Lily?”
“Because you’re kind, you care for me so much! I have to be strong! I need to be a perfect lady like my mother!”
Lily clutched the hem of my tailcoat tightly and pressed her face against it. The sound of her sobbing was surely not just my imagination…
—I’ll do my best to be someone you can cry in front of without worry.
Ten years ago, I probably said something like that when we parted. I could consider this situation a step toward achieving that goal. I had become someone Lily could trust enough to let her guard down. That was undoubtedly something to be proud of.
But when faced with Lily’s tears, I found myself at a loss for what to do.
Um…
For now, I should try to express the feelings I wanted to convey to Lily. To the girl who had continued to act strong despite the hardships. To the girl who had desperately resisted being swallowed by the unfairness of it all.
A heartfelt acknowledgment.
“Good job. You did well, Lily.”
“Ugh, kuh… aaah…!”
As Lily finally broke down and cried, I gently embraced her. If possible, I wanted to support her like this until she naturally calmed down.
But it seemed there was no time for that.
“You little bastards…!”
From beyond the shattered glass window, Duke Lecherie, bloodied, staggered to his feet on the balcony. In his hand, he clutched a small vial containing a familiar pale pink liquid.
Damn it, I was too slow to notice…!
It was just moments later that Duke Lecherie uncorked the vial and drank its contents.