Chapter 9.1

Could she get any more delusional than that?

She was originally unskilled at getting a lot of attention or entertaining someone with her talk. Far from being a storyteller, it was obvious that she couldn’t stand the attention on stage.

Liv decided to shake off her useless thoughts and focus on her conversation with Millian.

“Don’t tell me you believe that, Millian?”

“Of course not! Look at his face. Why would he do such a thing? It must be all made up by those who envy him.”

When it came to taxidermy, Millian, who was full of faith when she said that she heard the Marquis spit out a line from a novel, scoffed flatly. Liv followed her to make a faint smile.

Taxidermy…

Given how little was known about Demus Dietrion’s past, there had been a lot of speculation about him. So much that even Liv, who didn’t pay attention to other people’s rumors, had heard of it.

Taxidermy was one of them, a bizarre rumor that was formed based on the Marquis’ mansion remote location from the city and the fact that only a few guests had been invited to his mansion.

Of course, there were plenty of upper class people who were actually having hobbies they would rather not be seen with. As Liv also went to boarding school and worked as a home tutor, there were things she saw and heard over her shoulder.

Such a hobby had nothing to do with social status or wealth. Thus, it wouldn’t be strange if the Marquis had some secret taste or dirty privacy.

Perhaps the reason he said he would observe the process of painting nude was one of his secret hobbies…

“Oh, my, Teacher! It’s Adrienne!”

Millian, who was busy gossiping about the Marquis, looked away with a sparkle on her eyes. Adrienne, a close friend of Millian’s, was waving toward them from a distance. Millian jumped to her feet, excited to see Adrienne, who appeared as if she had come to play with some friends.

Liv, who was staring at Millian running toward her friends, tidied up the seat where she sat. As a guardian, she had to watch over Millian at close range. And it would be great if she caught the eye of one of those friends and got an additional job.

She didn’t feel miserable or depressed about her situation where she had to try to look good to young children. Liv’s life was too dismal for her to feel such emotions.

Liv moved busily. The man who filled her head for a moment was quickly forgotten.

***

The Marquis sent a carriage to Brad’s studio.

It was a black carriage with no particular pattern. There was nothing very unusual on the surface, but only when she got on the carriage that Liv noticed that there were no windows in the carriage.

To be exact, it seemed like there was a window from the outside, but in fact, she couldn’t see the outside from the inside. The carriage carrying Brad and Liv was locked from the outside, and ran for quite a long time toward an unknown destination.

This breathtakingly secretive treatment made Liv nervous, but Brad didn’t seem to mind a bit.

He was busy praising the Marquis’ generosity for personally sending a carriage for him throughout the journey. He expressed his admiration, mentioning one by one about how soft the chair was, how the carriage ran without rattling, and how expensive the interior decoration was. He even laughed out loud, saying that the interior was luxurious and quite a feast for the eyes, so it was fine not to see the outside.

I’m glad I rode this with Brad.

Liv was rather relieved. The so simple-minded Brad was better than nothing.

If she had been in a carriage like this alone, she would have been engrossed with all kinds of negative imaginations. And by the time she got off, her legs might have turned into jelly. All that while recalling the bizarre rumors of the Marquis she had shared with Millian not long ago.

“We’re here, Liv!”

Liv, who was sitting uncomfortably with her butt hanging over the edge of a padded carriage chair, snapped her head up at those words. Indeed, as Brad said, she could feel the carriage’s movement slowing down.

Finally, the carriage came to a complete stop, and there was the sound of a lock being unlocked from the outside. Beyond the quietly open door, a footman in a full dress uniform lowered the foothold for them.

“Welcome. Follow me, please.”

The servant, who appeared to be the guide, greeted them politely. Brad’s face lit up with excitement at the hospitality he had never received before. Liv, who was staring at the back of the servant walking ahead with anxious eyes, glanced up.

The somehow vague staircase, and the antique mansion on top of it looked dreamy like an illustration in a picture book.

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