Odalisque - Chapter 125

“Dimus!”

Dimus stopped in mid-thought, his gaze still fixed on the sky. Approaching with her attendants, panting, was Luzia.

Caught up in his own thoughts for too long, Dimus had wasted time. He clicked his tongue in annoyance. His guards tried to stop Luzia, but Dimus waved them off to indicate it was alright. Luzia, too, shook off her own attendants and approached him with confident strides.

Luzia’s face was half-covered by a black veil attached to her hat, but it did nothing to hide her angry expression.

“I understand whom you’re relying on for support, but do you really think that person will keep helping you?”

“Huh?”

“Between you, who hold nothing but an empty title, and us, the Malte family, who do you think would be of more use to that person? You will pay for dragging me here.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’m merely trying to protect the honor of the woman I love.”

“The woman you love? How preposterous! Do you think I don’t see through your excuse of targeting Malte under the pretense of that woman? Are you in cahoots with Stephan to make a fool out of me?”

Dimus, looking at Luzia with bored eyes as she ranted, let out a low sigh.

“If you miss that idiot so much, how about leaving someone else’s woman alone and clinging to him instead?”

“You…!”

Luzia clenched her fist, unable to contain her fury. It seemed she was unaware of the fact that the two of them were standing outside the courthouse, where reporters who had waited since early morning were now clinging to the walls, watching them.

Of course, it was unlikely the reporters could hear their conversation.

But even if they couldn’t hear, that didn’t mean they couldn’t guess what was going on. At the very least, everyone could tell Luzia was furious.

Dimus narrowed his eyes. He tilted his head slightly, turning away so that his face was hidden from the reporters as he spoke with a smirk, “Foul-smelling mud should be washed off as soon as possible, don’t you think?”

“What did you say?”

“I promised to brush off the mud when it got on me. But since it’s so filthy, I might as well deal with it properly once and for all.”

Fire flashed in Luzia’s eyes through the black veil. A grinding sound could be heard from her clenched teeth before she swung her hand with all her strength.

Smack!

Dimus could have dodged, but he willingly offered his cheek. At the same time, a camera flash went off from somewhere nearby.

That was what seemed to snap Luzia out of her rage. She suddenly became aware of all the eyes watching her and bit her lip.

“Marquis!”

Dimus gestured dismissively at the startled Charles, then fixed his cold gaze on Luzia.

“Adolf, file charges for assault, separate from the ongoing case.”

Luzia blinked rapidly, clearly taken aback by Dimus’ words.

“A-assault? This is absurd! You, of all people, who committed murder in front of me, dare say this?”

“My, my, Lady Malte. Do you have a witness, or perhaps any evidence?”

Luzia’s face turned beet red.

Naturally, she had none. When Dimus had shot a man in front of her, she’d been too stunned to collect any proof. She suspected the aides who had disappeared afterward had also been killed by Dimus, but without bodies, it was impossible to prove anything.

“If there’s nothing more to say, I’ll take my leave.”

Ignoring Luzia, whose mouth opened and closed wordlessly, Dimus turned away with composure. A red scratch, likely from Luzia’s long nails, remained on his cheek. Instead of looking unsightly, the mark added a poignant aura to the otherwise icy man.

No one dared speak to him, and just like when he had arrived, Dimus moved leisurely toward his carriage, as if ready to leave.

However, just as everyone expected him to ignore them all, Dimus suddenly stopped in his tracks. His gaze was fixed beyond the crowd.

The people standing where his eyes landed began murmuring and stepped aside. In the empty space that formed, one person stood alone.

Looking awkward at the sudden attention, it was Liv. She seemed slightly taken aback that Dimus had found her so quickly.

The calm stride he had shown earlier disappeared as Dimus swiftly approached her and pulled her along. Liv tried to say something, but Dimus spoke first in a low voice.

“We’ll talk in the carriage.”

There were too many ears around them. Some people even had cameras. Dimus pulled down the brim of Liv’s hat and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

Someone who recognized Liv attempted to raise their camera, but Dimus’ guards immediately blocked them.

In the meantime, Dimus hurriedly led Liv into the carriage and shut the door behind them.

“Where is Sir Roman?”

“He was beside me.”

Was he? From the moment Dimus saw Liv, everyone else had naturally vanished from his awareness, so he couldn’t remember.

In any case, if Roman had been beside her, it meant that Liv had come here of her own accord.

“Why are you here?”

Though he’d longed to see her, Dimus didn’t like the inevitable exposure of “Liv Rodaise” in the capital. The gossip surrounding Malte, Eleonore, and his own name was already more than enough.

“I heard the trial was taking longer than expected…”

“I meant, why did you come to the capital?”

Dimus’ sharp voice made Liv’s expression darken slightly.

“Am I an inconvenience to you, Marquis?”

Dimus hesitated at her question. After a moment of silence, he spoke slowly, “Your name could be in the papers by tomorrow morning.”

“…Judging by the crowd earlier, I suppose that’s likely.”

Liv nodded, a complicated expression crossing her face. It seemed she hadn’t fully realized the extent of public attention and had come here without much thought.

Should he have just ignored her?

But how could he ignore what he saw? She stood out as exceptionally beautiful—if he left her among the crowd, she’d surely attract the attention of all sorts of men. It was better to draw attention now and get her into the carriage quickly.

Easily justifying his actions, Dimus asked again, “That’s why I’m asking you. Didn’t you dislike things like this?”

“You dislike it too, don’t you, Marquis?”

It was true. The only reason he was putting up with this unwanted attention was all because of Liv.

Dimus stared intently at Liv. Since leaving Adelinde, he’d felt like he was crawling on the ground, but now, an unfamiliar sense of hope was starting to grow within him.

She had willingly left his side, so why had she come here herself?

Dimus was about to press her for an answer, but before he could, Liv, who had her hands folded in her lap and her gaze lowered, suddenly took something from her coat and handed it to him.

It was his bottle of sleeping pills.

The smile that had been forming on Dimus’ lips immediately faded.

Holding the pill bottle, Dimus debated briefly whether to toss it out the window. Ultimately, he gripped the bottle tightly, suppressing the impulse.

Surely, this wasn’t the reason she’d come all this way—there had to be something more.

“You didn’t come all this way just to give me this, did you?”

It seemed she had something else to say, but Liv hesitated, biting her lip and looking around nervously. Finally, she took a deep breath.

“You said this trial is to protect my honor.”

Liv gripped the hem of her skirt tightly, her voice calm as she continued, “I thought it wouldn’t be right for me, as the person involved, to stay distant and wait as if it were someone else’s business.”

This time, Dimus felt genuine disappointment.

Considering Liv’s personality, her explanation made sense. She seemed to feel a sense of responsibility and guilt over the trouble he was going through for her.

The tension that had been building in his shoulders eased, and he loosened his grip on the pill bottle. Forcing his expression into neutrality, Dimus tossed the bottle onto the empty seat and looked away from Liv.

At that moment, he heard a surprised voice, followed by a warm touch on his cheek. Turning his head, he saw Liv, wide-eyed, leaning close to him.

Meeting his gaze, Liv quickly tried to pull away, but Dimus caught her hand, keeping her palm pressed against his cheek.

“Touch it. You used to like touching my scars, didn’t you?”

“I-I…!”

Liv blushed, clearly flustered.