Chapter 9: The Coarse Heart

Siegfried Roam said the reason for going out as he wiped off his bloody gun. One hand smoothly gripped the revolver’s body and the other, clutching a piece of cloth, rubbed against the muzzle. Dried blood stained the white cloth in a brownish colour. Blue eyes reflected on the shiny iron body of the revolver.

“I think she’s scared of me.”

Andrew Harrison’s shoulders, standing behind his back, trembled as if he had expected this conversation.

Harrison clasped his arm around the leather file and opened his mouth.

“Are you talking about… the madam?”

His gaze was fixed on the wide back of Siegfried. The answer didn’t come back. In the stillness, chills instinctively went down Harrison’s neck.

Nevertheless, Harrison did not amplify quickly or add anything unnecessary to his words. The expensive carpet beneath his feet revealed an overwhelming presence under his upright head. It covered Alberto’s blood.

Harrison recalled the bloodstains that had been horribly dried up on the wooden floor. His breath was choked up when he pressed the wood with his black shoes, checking if the floor would corrode and creak while watching it. He felt like it wasn’t wood that was being stepped on, but rather his own head.

“Don’t ordinary women like jewellery?”

Siegfried’s voice was indifferent and easy-going. Harrison was even more scared because he couldn’t see Siegfried’s face. When an answer did not return, the hand that was wiping the revolver stopped.

“I know that madam likes it quite a bit.”

“Really?”

At his languid voice, Harrison evaluated his response as a positive one, and said what he had thoroughly investigated and known.

“The Coarse Heart”

“…….”

“It is a red diamond which caused quite a stir in the social world when it was discovered. A triangular brilliant cut at 4.58 carats, crafted by the Max McKillister Diamond Company, with the colour classification being Diabolic Red. It was named so because of the dark red appearance of the jewel which resembled the heart of a freshly harvested animal.”

“And?”

“… This diamond was purchased by the madam, after spending a tenth of Rochester’s income.”

It was a clear example of how crazy Milena Rochester was about jewellery.

“It is often said to be the rarest diamond.”

“I guess she wasn’t just a spoiled brat.”

Harrison carefully examined Siegfried’s face at the relentless evaluation. Surprisingly, he was smiling. As if Milena was lovely and cute.

He had never seen such a youthful smile on Siegfried’s sculptural smooth face. It was refreshing to know that he was the kind of person who could smile like that.

So Harrison said cautiously.

“It’s not in her hands right now.”

“Why?”

“She put it up for auction. Not long after the lady became Roam.”

The remark made him smile.

“The lady easily tires of beautiful things.”

“…Your Excellency.”

Harrison asked cautiously.

“May I ask you a question?”

“Certainly.”

He gave his permission. Harrison didn’t miss the chance because he seemed to be in a better mood than usual.

“Do…you like her?”

He didn’t ask just to find out if they had any kind of relationship. According to the plan, it was Diana Kasser who should have been the new hostess of Roam. A lot of things had gone awry.

As Siegfried’s chief aide, he should have known if there was a reason for it.

“She’s a genius.”

He seemed to refer to her talent in healing. And Harrison fully admitted this.

Rochester blood was Rochester blood, but Milena’s talent was overwhelming. The shrewd man noticed that she had just learned the healing arts, but she was clumsy yet outstanding at the same time.

Even he, the head of the Royal Academy, couldn’t understand how that was possible. Nevertheless, it was evident that Milena was quite proficient when it came to the art of healing..

“And…”

Siegfried’s indifferent lips opened.

“She’s pretty.”

To the point where she drives me crazy. (Siegfried)

Compared to the raw choice of words, the accent flowing through the lips was extremely luxurious.

The cleaned pistol went into the inside pocket of his well-groomed jacket and soon disappeared.

“A lady who doesn’t know anything…….”

Siegfried’s lips bent mischievously after fixing his cravat.

“How should I keep her in Roam?”

***

I thought about Jane for a long time even when I got into the carriage. She wouldn’t want to be left alone in the mansion. It didn’t bother me to think that she was excited all morning about choosing a ribbon and going out.

The unique afternoon sunlight flew through the window, and the whole world was basked in the golden colour of the sunlight.

‘The shopping mall must be over there.’

When I woke up and looked outside, we had already passed the familiar downtown area. Where are we going? The further we went, the darker the street got. More and more people were walking with their hoods on and hiding their identities.

I turned my head and looked at the man coolly submerged in the shade.

“Siegfried.”

He sat with his back against the seat in a straight posture, with his arms crossed, and his eyes closed. What terrifying things would happen when I woke him up? Scared to call him again, I managed to turn my creaking head back. Recalling his unrealistically handsome face that I just saw.

Then his hand wrapped around my cheek. His blue eyes were looking through me. When I tried to turn my head, he silently turned my head and kissed my cheek. As I tried to push his chest in embarrassment, something hard touched my fingertips.

I remembered the block of iron about a span and a half that shot and killed Alberto. A chill went through the corner of my heart. Taking advantage of my negligence, he shoved his tongue in and engraved a foreign soft sensation in my mouth. The unexpected stimulus brought my legs together. He wrapped himself around my trembling waist and kissed me.

My hand was still on his chest, my body almost swallowed by him, but in my mind was the memory of me stroking his solid body with my fingers. The mere senseless mixing of our tongues made me dizzy. His well-stretched nose caressed me several times. I could only hear his breathing in the dark, and as his hand stroked my face upward, my body trembled in recollection.

As I was panting, he put me in his arms.

“Yes.”

He answered softly.

“Milena.”

There seemed to be an indescribable power in the voice that called out my name slowly. The kind that makes people submit to Roam.

I gradually parted my slightly closed lips until they were open. His eyes carefully looked into the gap.

“Don’t open it.”

He whispered, pressing his finger against my lips.

“Once again…”

I want to put it in.

His black hair rubbed against the back of my neck. My hand moved towards his broad back, sweeping down his firm body under my hand. The tightly pulled fabric could easily be felt with my fingertips.

“I was thinking about Jane.”

I spoke to him. At least he didn’t look bad.

“She’s been picking clothes all afternoon….”

“Jane?”

A voice came from near my neck.

“Yes.”

I answered him.

“I’m sure she wanted to come with me.”

“You must have liked my poor sister.”

A lot, he said in a playful voice.

“Who would hate Jane? She’s a lively and bright kid.”

“So.”

He made eye contact and came closer. The impression of seeing his face up close was simple.

Could such a person exist? Even if he was alive, breathing and moving right in front of my eyes, he was always unrealistic.

“Did you think she would be part of our outing?”

“Because I care about Jane.”

I moved back and said. I didn’t know before, but I wasn’t going to lose to him this time.

“Good.”

His hand stretched out and stroked my head slowly. His noble eyes curved gently.

When I tried to turn my head—

“Wasn’t it hard?”

…The unexpected words caught me. Due to the belated consolation after two years, my lips which had been trembling barely parted, and a mechanical voice poured out.

“Those who are sick come first.”

And the more important person comes—

First.

My tightly closed lips swallowed those words.

“Don’t overdo it.”

He tapped my round cheek with his finger. Like an owner who tapped the cheek of a cute hamster.

“If you want something, tell me you want it.”

He said,

“Like back then.”

“You don’t have enough jewels?”

Ah.

Thanks to him, I remembered it.

A memory that I have tried to forget.

I was holding my breath in fear of dying every day while thinking about the development of the original.

The carriage stopped when I was ready to gather my thoughts.

Two years had passed, but there were still things that I couldn’t get used to while living here. One was my husband’s unrealistic appearance that sometimes made me forget that he was a big deal, and the other—

It was my husband’s unrestrained and bare face that was sometimes revealed.

“What are you doing, Milena?”

Standing in front of a very colourful building of the underworld, my husband reached out to me.

Get off the carriage.

I looked down at the huddled man beneath my feet. The back of the man was engraved with footprints which I believed belonged to my husband.

“You have to come down.”

My husband’s eyes curved nicely.

“You don’t like the scaffolding?”

Wife, he calls softly.

His infinitely friendly eyes became cold when he looked at the man crouched on the stone floor.

For a moment, the curled man turned his head and met my eyes in the air. He bit his lower lip and shook his head at me with eager eyes.

With a face begging for his life.

“No.”

I bit my lower lip tightly.

I reached out to my husband and put my foot on his back. When I got down from the place using that person as the stairs, my husband gave me a satisfied look.

“Is it possible? (That I don’t like it)”

I’m afraid of Roam.

“I was thinking of something else.”

He looked satisfied.

Nevertheless, I had no idea what he was thinking.

…….It was frightening.

“Doesn’t your foot hurt?”

He asked amicably.

“The stone floor is hard.”

I used my clean shoes to rub the bumpy stone floor where the forehead of an unknown man had touched..

“It’s all right.”

“Your heels, they were peeled.”

Milena had a lot of scars on her heels because of her new shoes, which she had to insist on in order to not look ridiculous in society.

It was all made by me.

Siegfried came to me, kissed me on the cheek, and whispered,

“I wish to be the only one who hurts you.”

“…….”

“Because I like the marks you leave behind my back.”

I swallowed my breath. In my head, I tried to correct the order that I had arranged in the carriage earlier. My husband had no heart for me, and that was no consolation.