Kneel Before The Villain

What brought you here?”

A gatekeeper asked. I said quietly, holding out my identification.

“I have a new request.”

“ I’m sorry, but we don’t accept any new requests today.”

The gatekeeper said with a troubled look on his face. At that moment, my eyes met Noah’s, who was just passing through the garden. He was overjoyed to see me and came closer.

“Lady, why are you here today?”

“I have a new request.”

“Oh, I see. Let’s go in first…….”

“I heard you’re not open today. “

Wondering, Noah stared at the gatekeepers for a moment. Noah was polite and kind enough to be a burden.

But from his demeanor towards others, he didn’t seem so gentle. It seemed that Noah’s status was quite high within the organization, and the gatekeepers who were looking at him seemed to be at a loss.

“That’s right. But we can’t treat our important guests who came all the way here like this. “

Noah ushered me into a fancy tea room in the main building.

The only furniture in the large room, decorated with luxuries, was a bookcase and a display cabinet on one side, and a table in the middle.

However, thanks to the ornaments placed here and there, it didn’t feel desolate at all. Eventually, a man who looked like a servant brought us some tea and snacks. The servant placed a cup in front of me and Noah respectively.

Then he took a teapot and poured hot tea with steam rising into the cups. Seeing him, I remembered the last time I visited the place. After taking a sip of the tea, I immediately mentioned my main purpose of coming here.

“I want to meet the owner.”

I saw the look of trouble on Noah’s face. After a moment of hesitation, he nodded.

“Okay. Can you wait here for a moment?”

“Yes.”

Nodding, Noah greeted me politely and left the room, closing the door behind him. I was kind of puzzled as I looked at the seat where he sat.

I could be wrong, but Noah’s face looked so sad just now.

****

Noah knocked on the door of the room with a stiff face. Then he heard an indifferent voice from inside.

“Come in.”

Noah pulled the doorknob carefully, looking more nervous than usual. The atmosphere in the room was quiet and still, which gave him a strange chill.

It was as if the voice he had heard earlier had been a false image, and there were no signs of movements.

Just then, he heard the sound of a book being turned a short distance away. Noah turned his head to the sound. There was Elvin.

He was sitting on the couch, reading a book with his long legs stretched out. He was the very picture of a nobleman. Even if Elvin wore light clothes and acted like a ruffian, he couldn’t hide the fact that he was the son of a noble family from a good background.

But now, Elvin’s white, beautiful cheek was bruised and his red lips were ripped.

At first glance, it was definitely a wound that had been caused by someone hitting him.

At dawn today, Elvin came in with a wound that would make you raise an eyebrow just by looking at his face.

Noah wanted to pursue what was going on, but he didn’t have the courage to do so. In fact, he didn’t even have to ask, just a little thought would have given him the answer. Because there was only one person in the world who would dare to hit Elvin. The Grand Duke of Croix.

It was obvious even without seeing what had happened between the father and son.

The Grand Duke, dissatisfied with Elvin’s usual behavior, probably couldn’t contain his anger and raised his hand.

However, Noah was still able to understand some of the Grand Duke’s feelings. If he had a son who was as indifferent as his superior, he would be angry more than once or twice.

‘Still, it’s outrageous to make someone’s face like that! His handsome face!’

Elvin had no idea what Noah was thinking in his mind.

Noah cursed the Grand Duke in his mind and cursed Alvin once, who still didn’t seem to have touched the precious medicine bottle he had brought to him.

Earlier today, when Noah saw his face, he suggested to Elvin to go see a doctor to get treatment, but Elvin refused at once. Elvin was not interested in taking care of his wounds, not to mention that he had no thoughts of hiding or concealing them.

He acted as if nothing had happened to him.

However, today his mood seemed to be particularly sharp, Noah carefully opened his mouth as Elvin looked at him.

“The Princess has come to see the Master.”

Elvin’s fingers, which had been flipping through the pages, stopped moving for a moment.

“Who came?”

Elvin looked up and raised his eyebrows as he stared at Noah.

“Princess Lillian is here to see you.”

Noah’s face was a little elated when Elvin showed interest.

It was not normal for Elvin to show an interest in anything.

Noah prayed that Elvin would meet the Princess and she could comfort his wounded heart.

Elvin seemed pensive and was silent for a while.

Soon after, he replied with a casual look on his face.

“Say I’m not available and send her back.”

“Huh?”

Noah was both surprised and shocked.

He was confident, but now if he came back and told the Princess that answer, how embarrassed would it be. But on the other hand, he could understand Elvin’s feelings. Surely, how could he show his face like that?

As arrogant as he was, it would be a blow to his pride. Elvin turned towards the book in his hands again. His appearance was fine, but what was inside must be different. Noah inwardly felt sorry for him.

“I’ll tell her.”

Noah closed the door and quietly left the room. The sound of his footsteps became distant and soon inaudible. Elvin put his hand on his chest out of habit. As he did so, he soon realized that there was nothing there and lowered his hand again.

***

“The Master is not available right now.”

Noah, who had left the waiting room, returned shortly after. Looking at his dark complexion, things didn’t seem to work out.

“Is that right? Then it can’t be helped.”

“I’m sorry, but can you come next time? If it’s urgent, please tell me instead. I’ll deliver it to the Master on your behalf when he comes back.”

Noah said with an apologetic look on his face.

Where was Noah’s confident expression that I saw earlier, and why is he so depressed now? The suspicion was raised whether his Master was really out of his seat.

But when I saw Noah’s dejected face, she didn’t want to complain.

It was a waste of time to walk all the way here, but it couldn’t be helped.

In fact, it was only my fault for coming without informing him beforehand. I took the box out of my pocket and handed it to Noah.

“What is this?”

Noah lifted the box with a curious look on his face.

“I picked it up at the last Imperial Palace banquet, but I haven’t returned it yet because I don’t know who owns it, so please find the owner. This is a request fee.”

Eventually, Noah’s eyes widened a little as he checked inside the box.

“There’s one more thing. I have a favor to ask you…… “

***

“The Princess left.”

Noah said.

His voice was haunting.

“You don’t have to come and report every little thing like that.”

Elvin replied with a tasteless expression. His voice was indifferent and his gaze still cold. Unlike the words, however, Elvin gently turned his head and looked out the window.

He could see a group of people exiting the building in the distance. By far the most prominent among them was Princess Lillian. Her pale light blonde hair shone silver in the sunlight . Elvin stared at her without saying a word.

“And then…Princess Lillian brought this.”

Noah pulled out the box he had in his pocket and handed it to Elvin with a gloved hand. Elvin’s eyes widened slightly as he opened the box.

“She doesn’t know who the owner is, so she’s had it all this time. She asked to find the owner and gave me a lot of commission fees.”

The object in the box was a pendant. Elvin always wore this pendant around his neck. He never let it leave his body, except when he had to take a bath.

However, about a month ago, during an imperial banquet, he lost the pendant. I was late and called people to search for it, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t find it.

He thought that one of the palace people might have picked it up, but he didn’t realize that the Princess had it. Elvin was not a very extravagant person or a person who cared for things. There was another reason why such a person especially cherished the pendant.

The pendant had originally been given to Princess Catarina by the Empress when the Princess married into the Grand Duke of Croix as a bridal gift. And Princess Catarina had given this precious object she had inherited from her mother to her son before she died.

Princess Catarina was the first wife of Grand Duke Croix and Elvin’s mother. So the pendant was a memento of his late mother. Knowing this, Noah looked at Elvin’s face. Now that the object he thought he had lost was safely returned to him, perhaps his emotional wounds would be healed a little.

What’s more, since the person who returned the precious object to him was the Princess, her kindness and thoughtfulness might make him feel even better about her.

“The Princess had this?”

Elvin’s voice was somewhat vague, and Noah couldn’t guess what he was thinking right now. Noah was a little disappointed, but he answered without showing it on his face.

“That’s right. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a kind and generous young lady who would even pay to find the owner of something that someone has lost. “

Despite Noah’s excessive praise, Elvin gave him a casual look, as if he was unaffected. Instead of responding to Noah’s words, Elvin took the pendant and observed it carefully. It was a sterling silver chain, and none of the stones, even the one inlaid in the middle, were scratched or marred.

It looked as if the person who had it had taken very good care of it. And when he picked up the pendant, he noticed something else sparkling under it.

It was a men’s brooch, delicately crafted with a neat and elegant design. A red ruby engraved in the middle caught his eye. At that moment, a hint of mystery flashed through Elvin’s eyes.

“Did the Princess say anything else?”

Elvin asked.

Noah couldn’t hide his disappointment as he showed no sign of being moved. He had thought that the day of spring would finally arrive in the dark building… Noah sighed deeply in his heart and answered.

“There was one.”

“What is it?”

Elvin asked, narrowing his eyes.

“She asked to start a rumor about the truth of what happened. She said that Lady Dana tried to attack Lady Evans by conducting a self-composed play, but the Crown Prince knew it and used power to cover it up.”

Elvin’s mouth agape slightly. The Princess’ actions were increasingly out of his expectations. Noah continued.

“The maids who were brought in as suspects continue to insist on their innocence, but the investigators refuse to listen, so only Lady Dana’s maid was taken by Princess Lillian.”

The imperial family restrained the nobility the most, but what the imperial family feared the most was the public mind. By using the people’s mind, the Crown Prince would not be able to overlook this time as well.

At first glance, the Princess’s request this time was aimed at Lady Dana. However, if something like this happened, the one who would lose the most was the Crown Prince.

Elvin thought that there was no way Roxana wouldn’t know about that fact. Should he say that she was bold because she was trying to manipulate the Crown Prince by using the public’s mind?

Or should he say that she was vicious because she was trying to cause excessive damage with a petty grudge? On top of that, she was trying to do this by using someone else’s hands.

Apparently, she knew Elvin and the Crown Prince were not on good terms, so she was trying to bring Elvin into the play.

‘In what sense should I take this?’ (Elvin)