Chapter 16 - There’s A Little Bit Of Bad Luck
***
While Leticia and the twin were out having a good time, Enoch received a letter. It was from the Achilles’ property manager cautiously advising the closure of the pink diamond mine he owns.
‘The pink diamond mine…’
It was a mine that Enoch’s father, the Duke of the Sun, paid too much for. It was one of the main things that led the Achilles family to ruin.
[The pink diamonds will now appear!]
When the Duke visited the mine with a young Enoch, he sang that pink diamonds would flood out one day.
In fact, buying a pink diamond mine wasn’t such a bad idea.
Beautiful and brilliant pink diamonds are the rarest of all jewels and have a special meaning of ‘eternal youth and beauty’ and ‘making wishes come true’ in the Helios Empire.
The problem was that no pink diamonds had been found since purchasing the mine.
No, that’s not completely true… some did come out.
They were full of impurities, and less valuable than stones lying on the ground.
In the end, it became a most troublesome existence now and it only took on debt.
‘It would be right to sort it out.’
Marquis Leroy had purchased a mine that produced a pink ore that could replace the pink diamonds.
‘Might as well sell it as soon as possible.’
It had been almost ten years since the mine had stopped producing diamonds.
With a brief sigh, Enoch wrote back to the property manager to sell off the pink diamond mine.
As soon as he started to put the letter in an envelope, he heard a carriage outside. He thought he heard wrong, but the sound got louder and louder.
‘Who is it?’
Enoch put the reply letter in the drawer and went outside.
When he opened the front door of the mansion, his eyes collided head-on with Levion, who was standing right in front of him.
“Not now.”
Enoch said with a chill to his voice.
He had been rude to Enoch on his last visit, and seemed to have no sense of propriety.
Levion did not back down and approached Enoch.
“I came here to speak to you, Lord Achilles.”
Enoch stopped himself from asking why he was here, because he could guess why Levion had come to see him.
“Follow me.”
Enoch spoke indifferently and led him to his office. On the way, Levion glanced at the mansion and raised an eyebrow. They didn’t encounter a single servant.
Levion had heard rumours about the Duke of Achilles in passing. It seemed to be true that their financial situation was not very good.
‘Why do you want to stay in such a place?’
He found it hard to understand Leticia, no matter how many times he thought about it.
What is she going to do in this empty mansion?
‘Will she be able to eat properly?’
Levion clenched his fists tightly, and kept quiet.
Soon after arriving at the office, Enoch dropped a cup of tea in front of Levion.
As if he had been waiting for this moment, Levion immediately launched into his reason for being here.
“I’ve come to ask a favor of Lord Achilles.”
Enoch’s eyes turned cold, but Levion didn’t hesitate to ask him.
“Persuade Leticia.”
“What persuasion are you talking about?”
“This is no place for Leticia.”
She might have been expelled, but Leticia had been raised in a noble family all her life. He couldn’t believe she’s living in a house without a single servant.
It must have been uncomfortable and unpleasant.
‘I can’t let her stay here anymore.’
On the day that Leticia said she would stay in this mansion, Levion spent time alone thinking about many things.
While there had been nowhere to go after being excommunicated by the Leroy family, she seemed to have met with Duke Achilles by chance and received help. He apparently said she could stay here, in return for his support she would help him.
Levion thought he understood her feelings, but he couldn’t wait to remove Leticia from a family that she had only known for a short time.
He had to take Leticia with him at any cost.
But Enoch had no sympathy for him, and only stared at Levion with a dry expression.
‘You’ve always led a perfect life.’
Strangely, it bothered him every time Levion talked about Leticia so familiarly.
Enoch put that thought behind him and looked at the current situation. He felt himself become angry, little by little.
‘If you care so much for each other, then why?’
Why was Letisha left alone on the street that night?
No, what was he doing before she was excommunicated from her home?
There was no way he wanted to tell Letisha to go to a man like this.
“I think you’re talking to the wrong person.”
“What do you mean?”
“You have to persuade Miss Leroy, not me.”
“Lord Achilles.”
“I’m not going to do anything, no matter what you say.”
‘I don’t want to.’
After he finished speaking, Enoch took a sip of tea. He frowned because the tea tasted bad today.
Levion spoke sharply to Enoch.
“Why are you forcing yourself to hold on to that girl?”
Enoch was so stunned by Levion’s words that he couldn’t even laugh.
In particular, his heart stung when he heard the word ‘Forced’.
“Do you think I took her in against my will?”
“Lord Achilles.”
“No one forced me and it was Miss Leroy’s decision to stay here.”
Of course, Enoch hoped Leticia would stay here, and that the wounds inflicted by her family would heal a little.
But he was more inclined to do what Leticia wanted than what he wanted.
That’s why he was so happy when Leticia ‘threatened’ him with staying a long time.
Levion couldn’t seem to accept that it was Leticia’s decision, so he spoke to Enoch as if he was to blame.
“She’s a kind-hearted girl who can’t abandon someone in need.”
His implied meaning; she was only staying here out of a sense of pity.
Enoch showed no sign of displeasure, and faced him with a calm expression.
“It’s not me who’s trying to force Miss Leroy, it’s you.”
“What did you say…”
“Force.”
Levion’s face gradually hardened as he realized that Enoch had intentionally put strength into the word ‘Force’.
“Lord Achilles.”
“There’s nothing I can do about it. Go home. I have nothing more to say.”
Enoch spoke sternly and removed Levion’s teacup.
“From now on, don’t come here rudely without contacting me first.”
“That’s…!”
“….”
He stared at Levion, who’d momentarily stopped talking. When their gazes met, Enoch’s eyes were as cold and dark as the winter sky.
“I… apologize for my rudeness, Lord Achilles.”
Levion held his tongue while internally he was gnashing his teeth.
Enoch, who had been quietly admiring the scene, nodded lightly and smiled obliquely.
***
Emil was always grateful to his eldest sister Leticia.
In times of financial difficulties, it was Leticia who took care of her younger siblings while taking care of their sick mother.
She never showed any signs of distress, and was always kind and respectful.
Yeah, it used to be like that.
As time passed, Diana and the younger siblings began to awaken. They felt embarrassed for Leticia, who had not yet awakened her abilities.
What’s so hard about awakening?
The incompetent Leticia was an embarrassment to the Leroy family.
As he got older he felt more frustrated than ashamed.
He’d watched the people around him awakening their abilities and raising the status of their family, but Leticia alone could not awaken. It seemed as if she had no personal will to try, or was incapable of redemption.? It was really shameful to see her trying to live an ordinary life as before even in such a situation.
Just as she was the eldest and had taken care of their mother long ago, he thought she would be the first to have an ability that would help her younger siblings. Instead she had even fallen behind Irene, the youngest sibling.
His heart sank when he saw her not only causing damage to their family with her ability to bring misfortune, but she also associated with the ill-fated Achilles family without remorse.
‘Have you been hanging out with a low class family and been brought down to their level? Or are you finally hanging out with a class that suits you?’
It was disgraceful that they were once connected as a family.
“I thought it was a lie when I heard you were staying at the Achilles mansion, but it seems it was true.”
Emil had a stunned look on his face when he saw Elle and Ian standing close to Leticia. He almost laughed in disbelief when he saw it.
Leticia faced Emil calmly.
“Yes, I’m staying with them.”
“Even though you know how much Father hates that family!”
As soon as Emil raised his voice, Elle’s eyes lit up in fury.
“How dare you!”
Ian tried to intervene, but he barely managed to keep his teeth.
Shortly afterwards, Leticia also blocked Elle’s path and told Emil.
“Never mind, Emil.”
“Sister.”
“We’re no longer…”
Leticia paused for a moment, then faced Emil squarely and continued.
“’We don’t have to worry about each other anymore.”
“….”
She was once told that blood is thicker than water.
She was well aware that blood bonds do not break easily.
With a single false rumor about her ability to bring misfortune, and her close relationship with an ill-fated family, she was excommunicated.? She felt that there was no other relationship as shallow and flimsy as the one between her and her family.
Unlike Leticia, who could not hide her mixed feelings as she spoke, Emil’s expression was derisive.
“Well, I shouldn’t have meddled.”
Emil said coldly as he walked past Leticia, and never looked back.
She quietly stared at his retreating back. Suddenly Leticia was held in a crushing hug, surprised she looked down and saw Elle holding onto her.
“Miss Elle.”
“We’re here for you, so please don’t feel hurt.”
“I’m not hurt.”
It was true.
There were too many wounds so far to call what just happened a wound, so it really didn’t hurt that much.
However…
“It’s a little pointless… that’s all.”
She was just a little sad, because she didn’t know that their relationship could be broken so easily.
***
That day was so strange.
It was the first time in a long time that the Leroy family had gathered together.
As the maid was pouring tea, the cup suddenly broke in half. The hot tea flowed down the table and fell onto the Marquess’.
“Oh, it’s hot!”
“Mother, are you all right?”
The spilled tea caused a light burn on the Marquess’ hand.
“What is going on this morning?”
“Where is the teacup from?”
“I bought it at Saint-Melignon. It’s a high-quality product.”
“You like luxury items!”
They all commented on the situation and it was eventually decided that all the Saint-Melignon teacups would be thrown away and a different set of teacups would be used from now on.
But the strangeness did not end there.
That night, Diana hurt herself when she tripped and fell to the ground.
“How did you fall? Were you injured?”
“I’m sure I was walking properly… My injury is not serious enough to bother you,”
A bewildered Diana replied to the worried Marquis Leroy.
There was nothing in front of her, but she managed to trip over a stone. She put her hand out to catch herself, and sprained her wrist.
Marquis Leroy urged Diana to be more careful next time before he left.
As soon as the Marquis left, Xavier asked with a worried look.
“Are you truly all right, Sister?”
“It throbs a little bit.”
“Be careful. You can’t get hurt again.”
“What?”
Diana looked at him in confusion, she didn’t understand what he was trying to say. Xavier just looked at her curiously.
“You said you were hurt by our older sister last time.”
“….”
Diana looked down at her injured wrist with a stiff look on her face.
As Xavier pointed out, it was the same wrist that she had pretended was injured by Leticia.