Chapter 21
Cheshire looked up at Kierne with slightly flustered eyes.
Ah, he uttered softly, then rummaged through his pocket.
“Chesha, my adorable little Chesha. Want some candy?”
After leisurely searching, he pulled out something small.
“You like this, don’t you?”
It was a cookie that seemed like an impulse buy from some bakery.
The cookie, wrapped in pretty packaging, had a crumbled corner.
Kierne placed the cookie in Cheshire’s hand, wearing an expression of immense satisfaction.
Thanks to that, Cheshire could be certain.
‘He’s drunk.’
Come to think of it, the smell of alcohol had been lingering since they left Count Rudin’s residence.
‘But in front of Count Rudin, he didn’t seem intoxicated at all.’
He had only appeared a bit more languid than usual, yet Kierne had acted with perfect clarity.
Taunting and manipulating Count Rudin’s mind, even leading him to tie the noose around his own neck.
It was a method so cruel that even Cheshire, who had witnessed all manner of ruthless horrors in the underworld, couldn’t help but admire it.
By handling it as a suicide without a drop of blood spilled, there was no chance of Kierne being suspected as the culprit.
‘I was only planning to feed him to a man-eating flower at best.’
Thanks to him, it had been dealt with cleanly.
In any case, she hadn’t suspected he was drunk during the process.
Perhaps he had been on high alert, only relaxing once he reached the safety of home.
‘He doesn’t seem weak to alcohol, though.’
What had he been doing before coming to kill Count Rudin?
It must be related to why he’d been sneaking out every night lately.
While pondering various speculations, Cheshire fiddled with the crinkling cookie wrapper.
The wrapper had looked tiny in Kierne’s hand, but in Cheshire’s, it seemed a bit large.
She gave him a belated response.
“I like cookies.”
“Right? Daddy brought it because it reminded him of Chesha.”
Kierne giggled, looking thoroughly pleased.
His words to Count Rudin came to mind.
“There’s a young daughter waiting for me at home too.”
She hadn’t expected him to refer to her as his daughter even when she wasn’t present, let alone care for her like this.
He’d even brought cookies while drunk.
The man who had been a terrifying executioner to Count Rudin was nothing but soft and gentle in front of Cheshire.
His demeanor stirred that strange feeling in her once again.
It was similar to what she’d felt after comforting Belzeon in the study.
A ticklish sensation deep in her chest.
“I’m glad Chesha likes it.”
Kierne let out a sigh laced with the scent of alcohol, his smile loose and easy.
“Ah, I’m so tired…”
Complaining that he’d had too much to do today, he acted like a family head who had worked until dawn.
‘Well… he did do some work.’
Killing someone was certainly exhausting.
Honestly, she hadn’t expected him to come personally to kill Count Rudin.
She’d thought he was so absorbed in reviving his dead wife that he paid little attention to the affairs of the Basilian count’s household.
‘Maybe he’s secretly looking out for them while pretending not to.’
Seeing how he’d rushed over the moment the children were insulted and swiftly ended Count Rudin’s life made it seem plausible.
‘Anyway, he worked hard.’
Cheshire patted his forearm gently and said.
“Go to sleep soon.”
“Mmm, yeah, sleep time.”
Yawning, Kierne set Cheshire down on the bed.
Then he slowly changed into his nightclothes.
In the meantime, Cheshire carefully placed the gifted cookie beside her pillow.
It would be nice to share it with the twins during teatime after breakfast tomorrow.
Soon, Kierne climbed into bed.
Stretching out his body on the bed, he scooped Cheshire up and placed her right on his chest.
Cheshire lay atop him like a small loaf of bread.
The way she stuck flat against him must have looked amusing, as Kierne’s lips curved up in a subtle smile.
Though he’d claimed to be tired, he showed no immediate intention of sleeping, playfully tousling Cheshire’s hair with his fingers.
Then he gently brushed her eyelashes.
When she scrunched her eyes at the ticklish sensation, he smiled faintly.
“How dare he insult the Basilians. I let him off too easily.”
It was an abrupt remark, but Cheshire easily understood it referred to Count Rudin.
After chuckling, Kierne suddenly let out a long breath.
“Daddy’s acting a bit strange today… Sorry. I should have drunk in moderation. The buzz hit me once I got home.”
Cheshire gazed at him.
In the dim bedroom, where only the subtle moonlight faintly illuminated each other.
Amid the indistinct darkness of dawn, where everything blurred, a pair of vividly clear red eyes stood out alone.
The blood-red pupils, a hallmark of the Basilian family.
Those crimson eyes, which instilled intimidation in onlookers, often made it impossible to meet their gaze directly.
They suited best when gleaming with arrogant malice.
However, Cheshire had seen a boy with the exact same eyes in tears.
The boy had steadfastly endured every hardship thrown his way.
That boy, always so coldly detached in all matters, had crumbled at a single fragment of comfort offered by an oblivious baby.
The red eyes of the boy who had clutched the lily of the valley and wept silently…
If they seemed similar to the eyes now before Cheshire, would that be too much of an illusion?
Strangely enough, the thought suddenly struck her that he, too, looked like he wanted to cry.
After holding Cheshire’s gaze for a long while, Kierne finally spoke.
“Chesha.”
His thin lips moved languidly.
“Chesha Basilian.”
It was a calling that seemed to reaffirm it to her—and to himself.
With a faint chuckle, he pressed his lips to Cheshire’s forehead.
The way he lingered there, pressing gently before pulling away, felt incongruously reverent.
Kierne let out a self-mocking laugh.
“What am I to do? Every time I see Chesha, it keeps reminding me. It hurts, and yet it feels good…”
He paused for a moment.
It was an attempt to gather his rising emotions, but it yielded little success.
Loosened by the alcohol, his lips spilled a desolate murmur.
“I miss her…”
At the glimpse of his deep inner feelings, Cheshire unwittingly held her breath.
She remained frozen, forgetting even to breathe.
Kierne slowly closed his eyes.
His eyelids, once shut, did not reopen.
He had fallen asleep.
The moment she saw him deeply slumbering, Cheshire exhaled the breath she had been holding in a long sigh.
‘That startled me.’
The distrustful man still hadn’t given Cheshire his complete trust.
And yet, in this very moment.
He must have been in such torment that he couldn’t bear it without leaning on her and revealing his innermost thoughts.
There was no need to guess who it was he said he missed.
It was the deceased countess.
In the Basilian count’s household, not a single trace of the late countess remained.
There were no portraits or mementos, of course, and the servants never uttered a word about her.
She was treated as if she were a forbidden topic.
The three brothers rarely spoke of their mother, and Kierne was no different.
But with Cheshire, at least.
He would mention the countess every now and then.
‘Like that time under the flowering tree in the palace grounds.’
Cheshire huffed and pursed her lips.
‘What could possibly be so similar about us?’
Still, it didn’t make her feel bad or anything like that.
When he called her Chesha Basilian, it somehow felt a little…
‘Like I’ve really become part of the family.’
Cheshire shook her head inwardly at the thought she had conjured.
Lately, spending so much time with the Basilians had made her keep forgetting that this was just a temporary gig.
Cheshire pinched her own cheek with her fingers.
She tugged it out long and let go, and the unnecessary thoughts vanished completely.
After confirming that Kierne was fully asleep, Cheshire carefully lifted herself up.
Then she quietly slipped down from the bed.
She was certain he wouldn’t wake tonight.
Cheshire subtly summoned her power.
Flowers and butterflies enveloped her body, transporting her to Kierne’s study.
It was a place she came and went from often, so she knew exactly where everything was.
‘I’ve already searched the desk.’
In the Serpent’s Castle, and in the townhouse as well.
She had already checked all the likely spots.
With a serious expression, Cheshire stared at the bookshelves.
She had suspected for a while that Kierne spent an unusually long time in the study, but she hadn’t had the chance to investigate.
It was something that would take quite a bit of time.
She brought her hands together and then spread them apart to the sides.
Hundreds of butterflies materialized in an instant, fluttering throughout the office.
The butterflies clustered three or four to each book on the shelves.
And they began simultaneously flipping through the pages of hundreds of books with a rapid rustle, examining them.
After waiting, one butterfly brought a book to Cheshire.
Inside the leather-bound volume were several sheets of paper tucked away.
Tossing the book to the floor, Cheshire grasped the papers and read them.
“…!”
Her eyes widened in shock.
The contents written on the papers were.
‘About me?!’
It was a report on the demoness Lichesia.
