Without further suggestions, Lobelia left the lounge with Elyan. Behind the opera house was a neatly laid out promenade, to which Elyan led Lobelia. With brilliant lights every corner, the garden was almost as bright as day. As she followed Elyan, Lobelia noticed that the hem of her dress was stained green.

The skirt she wore when she was a maid only reached above her ankles, which prevented the ends from getting dirtied. She had never thought she’d have to worry if her clothes would be ruined.

Dresses must not be not easy to wash because of the material, but how come ladies take walks so often? Doesn’t it matter to them if their dress was ruined?

“Miss Lobelia?” Elyan’s voice snapped Lobelia from their thoughts and back to reality. “You don’t mean to lure me with such meaningful words, do you?”

Lobelia looked at him with bewildered eyes and shook her head. “What do you mean?” she inquired. “I have only one concern with you, Sir Elyan.”

“Is that correct? Okay, then.”

Elyan realized it was simply his overthinking, so he stopped doubting Lobelia. “I wonder how much Miss Lobelia knows about the cursed blue,” he said, coming to a halt as he approached a small clearing in the center of the walkway.

Lobelia opened her mouth, feeling the lights breaking brightly overhead.

“I know everything,” she said.

“What do you mean by everything?” asked Elyan.

“You saw a jewel in the province of Consiera that was up for auction. A blue diamond shaped like a droplet, rumored to bring catastrophe to its possessor,” answered Lobelia. “Sir Elyan must have thought that such a curse was a rumor born of people’s delusions and bought the diamond. It was too beautiful a gem to miss.”

Elyan stiffened. He looked at Lobelia with a frightened expression; a smile could not hide his true emotions.

“How did you know I bought it…”

“Once you had the jewel in your possession,” Lobelia interrupted Elyan, “Bad things must have constantly occurred around Elyan and the Regretina family. From minor damages in transported goods, to severe railway derailments and to the injuries of Regretina family members who were unlucky enough to board the same train.”

“At this point,” continued Lobelia, “you have to be suspicious. You wonder if the curse of that blue diamond is true.”

Too much had happened to be a mere coincidence. Elyan, who was rational and sensible, remained skeptical about the rumored curse, but the other members of the family were not. In particular, Theodor Regretina, the eldest son of the Regretina family, was pressuring Elyan to dispose of the blue diamond immediately.

“But you can’t dispose of that blue diamond. Not at this time, at least.” Lobelia’s emerald orbs glistened under the bright light, and Elyan stared at them with fascination. “Because it was an illegal auction, wasn’t it?”

“How do you even know that?”

Lobelia gave nothing but a cryptic smile.

Elyan genuinely wondered if the woman in front of him now was the Lobelia of Evelentia. She wasn’t this kind of girl, from what he recalled in his memory. He had assumed she was unbelievably determined. At one time, he had thought it was unusual for a commoner to maintain her dignity while being mistreated as a handmaiden. Though she was determined and steadfast, Lobelia wasn’t this mysterious.

A cluster of light shattering brilliantly against her silver locks, her crimson lips, her slender curves—Elyan felt as if the woman in front of him was not a human but a witch.

“You had planned to launder the route, turn it into a legally purchased gem, and put it in the department store, but you couldn’t because something sinister kept popping up,” Lobelia continued. “It’d be troubling if rumors spread that the Regretina family had purchased a cursed gem, illegally in that case.”

Regretina’s department store is a business that caters to a number of distinguished guests. It was crucial to maintain a spotless public image and have seamless product management. However, if word spread that an illegally obtained cursed jewel had been sold in such a place, it would inflict irreparable harm to their reputation.

“But you can’t throw away the diamond,” Lobelia siad, “That’s a whopping 67.5 carats. It’s too much of a loss.”

And there was no such thing as a losing deal for Elyan Regretina. So he sold it to Marlon in the Original.

“So, what are you suggesting?” Elyan asked, looking at Lobelia with eyes now completely sunken.

“That diamond, I’ll take care of it,” replied Lobelia. “Maybe I’ll be able to make fifteen times what you paid.”

Elyan’s eyes widened.

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