I’m Done With Unrequited Love - Chapter 38
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 38
The problem was that Kiara and Rene kept dragging out their playtime, wanting to stay longer, until night fell. The moment the grandfather clock chimed eight o’clock in the evening, Kiara cried out.
There was no stopping the children.
I was already exhausted by Kiara and Rene’s boundless energy.
So I couldn’t prevent them from rushing to the dressing room and changing into their nightclothes.
And what was Ernan doing all this while?
‘He was enjoying the show.’
He approached just as I barely reached the guest room—the children’s chosen playground—at the entrance.
And then he said.
I wanted to hit him.
‘He should have stopped them himself before it came to this.’
Though Ernan Cleor carried his incurable illness like a heavy chain, his physical stamina was impeccable. He could have easily restrained and discouraged Kiara and Rene if he’d wanted to.
“Fidellia! Pillow fight!”
Kiara, who had approached me as I still stood near the doorway, thrust a pillow into my hands. Then she bounded away with a patter of feet to find Rene.
I looked at the pillow in my hands, then lifted my head to meet Ernan’s eyes.
…….
‘Ah.’
Our eyes locked.
I smiled quietly.
The moment he hesitated…….
‘Now.’
I threw the pillow.
* * *
A deep night when everyone had fallen asleep.
Ernan and I sat in the study of the Cleor Mansion, sifting through documents. We were compiling information brought by our respective sources.
‘There’s nothing of real substance here.’
It had been days since that afternoon when we visited the Dessert Shop and were trapped at the Cleor Mansion by the children.
Would you believe that Kiara and I hadn’t been able to return home during all those days?
Kiara insisted on staying longer with Rene, and I decided to remain here after calculating the efficiency of consulting with Ernan. It was practical.
And incidentally, it was Ernan who first suggested that I stay.
As he was flipping through the documents, he stopped his hand at one particular section.
“Count Flora went bankrupt at a gambling house just days before the coronation ceremony.”
“What?”
At the shocking news from Ernan’s lips, I hastily read the letters on the documents in his hand.
Paulo Flora. Solar Calendar, February 25th, 1643. Approximately 21:00. Visited an illegal gambling house. Bankrupt within an hour of entry. Estimated debt: 40,000 pounds.
‘Are you serious.’
An estimated debt of 40,000 pounds?
That was an enormous sum even for me, the heir of the Jonas Family, who had a hand in multiple production enterprises and pulled in vast wealth each year.
‘To accumulate such debt in a single night.’
I spoke without bothering to hide my astonishment.
“This would certainly constitute a legal disqualification.”
Legal disqualification.
After meeting Sarubia and Prince Habier that day, Ernan and I had made one more visit to Diego’s office.
And we’d heard some useful information.
Essentially, the qualification for custody came down to one thing: could you provide for the child?
Can you raise the child to be a ‘normal’ citizen of this nation?
That was why Ernan and I had been digging into Count Flora’s background.
And now we had results.
At this point, I understood why Count Flora had brought a lawsuit against Ernan.
‘It was always about money.’
He intended to extract alimony from Ernan to pay off his debts.
But the fact that he’d filed a suit at all—his logic was utterly incomprehensible to me.
Ernan was the empire’s foremost businessman. There was no way to count how many enterprises revolved around him.
So that amount of money was nothing—mere pocket change, really—the kind she would have handed over willingly if Kiara had simply demanded Custody Rights be transferred to Ernan Cleor without fuss.
‘If I were in her position, I’d have threatened a lawsuit rather than filed one, squeezing money out of them that way.’
Most nobles found being sued humiliating, so Ernan Cleor would have felt the same, or so Kiara had assumed when she moved forward with her plan.
But what if the Count and Countess Flora were simply stupider than she’d thought?
Seeing them file suit so carelessly made her wonder if that might actually be the case.
Or else.
‘Someone put them up to it.’
Convinced them that a lawsuit would be more advantageous. More favorable to their cause.
Either way, it worked in her favor.
‘So this is what it feels like when your prey walks straight into your waiting hands.’
So, what came next?
‘Securing evidence.’
She needed the gambling house records—the debt ledger the Count Flora had left behind.
“Where exactly is that location?”
“Silbi 7th Avenue.”
“The Underworld, on the outskirts of the Capital.”
Kiara fell silent, thinking.
‘To find the evidence, it seems I’ll have to go there myself.’
But what was the Underworld, exactly?
A den of crime, infested with illegal syndicates and lawbreakers.
Going there alone was out of the question.
‘Terrifying.’
She gave up the idea cleanly and made a proposal to Ernan.
“What if we went together tomorrow and tore the place apart?”
Ernan seemed to be mulling something over before he set down the papers he’d been holding on the table.
“You shouldn’t go.”
“Why not?”
“It’s dangerous.”
What a brusquely practical objection.
Kiara understood it, yet felt bewildered all the same.
“But you’ll be with me, won’t you?”
Right—she wasn’t planning to go alone.
With a Revolver tucked inside her dress and Ernan at her side, her safety would be perfectly assured. So what was there to worry about?
“Besides, I’m the one who’s concerned about you. Wouldn’t a distinguished Duke making a personal expedition be both inefficient and demeaning to your pride?”
“I learned after meeting you that those things are nothing but shiny shells.”
Kiara let out a soft laugh.
‘That’s because of me, though.’
Ernan had never been the type to concern himself with hierarchy and formality.
In any case.
“So we’ve decided we’re going together tomorrow, then?”
“No.”
“Yes, we have decided.”
“Says who?”
“I do.”
Before Ernan could raise another objection, Kiara rose from her seat.
She meant to flee while she had the chance.
“Good night to you, then.”
She caught Ernan pressing his hand to his forehead but pretended not to notice as she left the study.
* * *
Silbi 7th Avenue.
A den of lawbreakers on the outskirts of the Capital.
The place where some shadowy figure’s influence reached was already too vast to police—a forbidden zone beyond the reach of enforcement.
“They call it the Underworld, and true to its name, it really is pitch-black here. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a place that lives up to its reputation so perfectly.”
And yet here she was, in that very place, alongside Ernan.
The streets of Silbi 7th Avenue, bordered by slums, were filthy.
Moreover, every building was rendered in shades of gray.
Whether from disregard for construction code or as if squeezed by the fist of some giant, most structures had tilted roofs or wildly asymmetrical facades.
“It’s daytime, so all the doors are locked up.”
Here, morning only came after the sun had set.
“Slipping in quietly should be easy enough.”
“I agree.”
Ernan and I made our way toward the building that housed the gambling den in question.
And there it stood before us.
‘Oh……’
So this was what they meant by a small operation.
‘But it’s not small at all.’
“If this is small, then how enormous must the bigger places be?”
“You’re better off not knowing—it’ll keep you safer.”
“That’s a remarkably villainous thing to say.”
We entered a shop on the first floor of the four-story building where the gambling den was supposedly located.
The interior was furnished like a bar, and the door stood open.
Ernan approached a man who appeared to be the shop’s only employee.
“We’re here to see the owner.”
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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