Circumstances of a Fallen Lord - Chapter 131

Chapter 131

While Luisen was in the midst of debating and planning with his vassals, Carlton observed from the corner. His expression looked incredibly displeased so, cautiously, his deputy asked carefully, “Did you fight with the Duke?”

“No.” Carlton said with a straight face. 

There was an issue–the deputy was convinced. “Perhaps I’m just feeling things, but I believe the Duke is avoiding you, captain.”

Since earlier, Luisen hadn’t looked towards Carlton.

“……” Carlton didn’t answer because he didn’t want to admit it.

It wasn’t like Carlton hadn’t recognized that the young lord had been avoiding him since yesterday. Luisen was pretending otherwise, but it was obvious.

Carlton decided to wait for now. He was cautious not to let on that he had noticed–if he pushed Luisen too hard the situation might worsen. Not knowing the reason behind the young lord’s avoidance made Carlton approach the matter with utmost care.

But, after talking to the Pope, Luisen pushed Carlton away even more.

‘He… definitely rejected me.’

Carlton could still feel the tingling slap of Luisen’s hand–a wound on his heart. The young lord acted as if he were swatting a fly.

He felt incredibly dirty and frustrated; he wanted to turn everything upside down, but he was holding back–acting now wouldn’t look good. He couldn’t even guess at what caused this change in behavior. All in all, the situation was incredibly frustrating.

The only reason he could bear this change was because the young lord was constantly conscious of his presence. The sight of the young lord pretending not to look at Carlton while giving the man sorry glances occasionally was the only thing that appeased the mercenary.

“What should I do in this case?” Carlton had no idea what he could do. If it were someone else, he would grab them by the collar, bash their head a bit before giving them a good talking to. However, he couldn’t bear to touch that lovely head. If he were to do something wrong, perhaps the young lord would truly come to hate him. Carlton needed to proceed with caution.

“Captain, at times like this, you definitely need to have a conversation.”

“A conversation?”

“Yes. Ask him why he’s avoiding you. You must listen and respond actively. That’s the best thing you can do.”

Having a conversation? That was certainly not Carlton’s style.

The deputy added, a bit frustrated, “You like the Duke, correct? You’ve made plans for the future together…. But, come to think of it…”

“What is it?”

“Does the Duke feel the same way as you?” The deputy had heard about Luisen’s flashy and flamboyant love life from Ennis. In those stories, Luisen was one of those typical bad boys, so he was worried about his captain. “Establishing clear boundaries and labels or making clear your mutual promises might be a good idea. If my Captain is the only one feeling uneasy, then what’s the point?”

“……”

‘Conversation…that word annoys me. But, he’s not wrong.’ Carlton wasn’t completely sure. He did think Luisen thought of him as a special existence, but he had no idea if the young lord thought the same way he did. Luisen was flighty and more casual in various ways, after all.

So, even though he knew the relationship with Luisen was ambiguous, he let it be. He was afraid that if he tried to define the relationship, Luisen might not want to continue as lovers. Foolish as it may seem, Carlton was experiencing this sort of love and affection for the first time and, because of that, he was being cautious. Besides, there was the imminent issue of demon worshippers, and they were his primary focus.

‘Was that why?’

Carlton had several chances to go further, but he stopped at kissing and touching each other’s bodies. He sensed they hadn’t crossed a decisive line, and now he understood why that was the case.

‘A conversation, huh…’

Wasting time in limbo definitely did not suit Carlton’s temperament.

This solution–an honest conversation–was a bit difficult and unfamiliar to Carlton, but it was worth trying if he could solve his dilemma.

But, though he was determined, this solution was hard to implement.

Luisen avoided the mercenary with all his might by using his vassals as his shield. Because the vassals were uncomfortable with Carlton’s presence, they succeeded in actively blocking Carlton.

At this point, Carlton was slowly growing angry. He wanted to know the reason behind this sudden evasiveness.

***

Night had crept up on Luisen. 

Wearing pajamas, he fell on top of the bed. He had been busy all day and had not noticed the time passing. He, as the central figure, had to prepare for the banquet and battle and was physically exhausted. There was enough work that even two Luisens wouldn’t be enough.

‘Therefore, I was able to easily avoid Carlton, but…’

Carlton continued to try and find the young lord, seeking a chance to speak privately. At first Luisen avoided the man because he was reminded of the one-armed pilgrim but, as time went on, Carlton’s expression got scarier. And, Luisen endeavored to avoid the blowout. Still, he was relieved that Carlton continued to chase him–it was reassuring to know that the other refused to be pushed away.

‘Was I this much of a pathetic being?’ Luisen writhed as he wallowed in his own patheticness. Then, his body lost all strength and tension.

‘Haah, I can’t keep doing this.’

Luisen sighed and closed his eyes… Perhaps he should continue thinking about it tomorrow, instead. Did he really need to do anything specific? Maybe things will work out if he just let things lie? He didn’t want to lapse back into his conflict avoidance habit, which he had barely overcome to solve the duchy’s problems.

Clatter–!

He could hear something very quiet. Luisen lay motionless, though, because he felt too utterly lethargic and lazy. However, the mattress soon shifted, and someone climbed atop the young lord.

“Carlton!” Luisen thought the weight felt similar, and it was Carlton! Luisen tried to raise his torso, but Carlton pressed on Luisen’s chest with his hands. Luisen could feel the heat of the mercenary’s palm through the thin pajama shirt. Carlton skillfully grabbed and bound the young lord’s wrists.

Luisen wriggled, resisting. However, the more he struggled, the more his clothes seemed to fall into disarray, teasingly revealing milky thighs. Carlton’s knee pressed firmly between Luisen’s legs. Though the mercenary was attempting to immobilize the young lord, the clash of their legs created a lewd sensation in that particular place.

Carlton gazed down the young lord’s body, and Luisen’s face heated up.

Unable to wriggle away, Luisen discreetly avoided eye contact. However, Carlton’s face was right in front of his nose. Considering that he had barged into another’s bedroom in the middle of the night, Carlton was able to maintain a surprisingly calm expression.

“Now that you can’t escape, let’s have a little chat.”

“About what?”

“What did you talk about with the Pope? Why are you avoiding me?”

“That’s…” Luisen couldn’t talk about the regression. And, even if he spoke about it, there was no guarantee that Carlton would believe him. Whatever he said, Luisen could only see a future where the mercenary would wring the truth from him. Carlton would definitely be the type to do that.

‘Let’s run away.’

The one-armed pilgrim would say that running away wouldn’t solve the problem, but what does a liar like him know?

Carlton was gripping both of Luisen’s hands, though; there was no recourse for the young lord. Luisen aimed to hit Carlton’s chin with his forehead. Carlton avoided the attack without much difficulty, but he let go of Luisen’s hand. In that gap, Luisen tried to run away.

“Are you using what I taught you against me?” Carlton was frustrated. He had come to have a peaceful conversation, but Luisen was trying to escape this time as well? Carlton snatched Luisen up by the waist, threw the young lord into the bed, and rolled him up in the blanket. In an instant, a Luisen-duvet-roll was formed.

Luisen wriggled like a caterpillar; his arms and legs were bundled up, so he wasn’t able to stand on his own.

“I can’t run away like this,” Luisen said.

“Just don’t run away, then,” Carlton replied feistily before raising Luisen to an upright position. 

Temper and heat soon rose to Luisen’s head as well. After all, Luisen was the one who was deceived…and by Carlton, the one-armed pilgrim! Why should he suffer through Carlton’s interrogation? “Do you think anyone wants to run away for the sake of running away?”

“So, explain it to me. Or, do you despise looking at me, now?”

“No, why would you even say something like that? Do you think I hate you?” Luisen said bluntly. 

Carlton felt incredibly relieved, “Then, why are you acting like this?”

‘I’m tearing up. Ah–I really want to cry. Seriously. I can’t even run away… who knows, now. I might as well just let it all happen.’ Luisen thought. “…I was deceived by the Saint.”

“What? Are you talking about the one-armed pilgrim?” Carlton was bewildered. Why was Luisen suddenly talking about that man?

“I believed he had truly helped me out of the goodness of his heart, but that wasn’t the case. He approached me knowing that I was Duke Anies. He wasn’t even a pilgrim.”

“Ah…” Carlton had guessed, just from Luisen’s stories, that the pilgrim wasn’t actually a pilgrim. It was, to be frank, a bit obvious…despite Luisen’s glorified retellings of the man. Carlton had sensed that he and the man from Luisen’s stories were similar–a kindred spirit.

So, he wasn’t all that surprised by the content of Luisen’s confession. Rather, he was astonished by Luisen’s naivete–the young lord seemed genuinely hurt by the fact that this one-armed pilgrim had lied. How could a person like this live in the rough reality of their world?

“But, what does that have to do with you avoiding me?” Carlton asked.

“…I apologize for that. It was too hard to look at you because he and you look so alike.” Luisen couldn’t say they were the same person, so he had no choice but to gloss over the details.

Carlton was flabbergasted. Luisen was avoiding him because of a con artist?

He was about to say something, but at that moment, he thought of his deputy’s words. Active listening. Respond positively. That’s what’s important. First, the mercenary drew the young lord into a huge–wrapped up in a blanket, Luisen felt soft and comfortable.

“I see. That’s why you’re upset,” Carlton murmured.

On one hand, it wasn’t too bad. He was a jealous man who didn’t particularly like Luisen’s devotion to the one-armed pilgrim. This was an opportunity to eliminate the one-armed pilgrim from Luisen’s heart and establish himself as priority number 1. 

“That man’s a complete sham. No wonder–his words seemed rough, and his behavior seemed ignorant. I thought it wasn’t normal for a pilgrim to curse or have such a temper.”

“Mmhmmm…”

Carlton cursed the one-armed pilgrim excitedly, unaware that he was casting aspersions onto himself. Luisen could only listen to the tirade with a conflicted expression.