OHNIR – Chapter 24
Chapter 24: The Necklace
Of course, Gloria would never allow something that Starangui might have tampered with to remain on Kelusta. So, regardless of whether the gown was truly unwearable, it was destined to be utterly destroyed sooner or later.
In the end, Kelusta successfully acquired two brand-new gowns for free and even had the honor of tasting Wend’s superb cooking.
There was tender veal steak and firm grilled sea bass, accompanied by a refreshing vegetable platter and salad... Wend had even taken it upon himself to open two bottles of white ice wine from Gloria’s cabinet to pair with the meal. A long, heady aroma filled the entire dining room, the sweet scent of the wine seemingly overpowering even the fragrance of the main course.
Gloria shot her brother a glare, yet she poured the wine for herself and Kelusta without the slightest hesitation.
The pale gold, transparent liquid filled the glass. As she finished pouring, a final drop fell from the bottle’s lip, making a tiny splash. Kelusta leaned closer to the rim and sniffed gently. Her eyes, the same color as the ice wine, instantly lit up. “Is it sweet?” she asked excitedly.
Gloria took a sip, raised her glass to Kelusta, and smiled. “You’ll know once you try it.”
The simple folk of Seaside Town loved to make wine. Every child there, as soon as they learned to walk, would steal sips from the adults’ cups, and a girl like Kelusta was no exception. But due to the warmer climate of the coastal region, she had never tasted this kind of sweet, honey-like wine made from frozen grapes. As the rich yet refreshing, expensive liquid rendered her entire mouth sweet before leaving a faint warmth in her throat, Kelusta wore an expression of pure bliss. “It’s so fragrant,” she marveled.
Seeing Kelusta so happy put Gloria in a good mood as well, and she couldn’t help but have a couple more glasses herself.
Just as her snow-white cheeks flushed red and she reached to pour another glass, the pale gold bottle was lifted away by a long, slender hand with well-defined knuckles. The silver-haired girl paused, her sapphire-blue eyes tinged with faint displeasure as she looked at Wend. But he showed no intention of returning the bottle, merely saying in a low voice, “You’re getting drunk.”
The Duke’s eldest daughter was excellent in every way, except for her low tolerance for alcohol.
Wend was notoriously averse to banquets, but he could never avoid social gatherings that involved drinking—after all, drinking on his sister’s behalf was one of the fundamental duties of a proper younger brother.
A proper younger brother (×)
A proper Tool Man (√)
Upon hearing Wend’s warning, Gloria exercised her excellent self-control and retracted her hand. No longer fixated on drinking, she turned her head to watch Kelusta cutting her sea bass. The corners of her lips curled up, her smile carrying a tipsy, languid quality she rarely showed.
“Is it delicious?”
Kelusta looked up at the sound of her voice, catching sight of that smile, and froze.
The warm light gilded the girl’s silver hair, and her deep blue pupils seemed to shift to a dark, murky green under the glow. Upon her flawless, exquisite face, that smile now held a peculiar, bewitching charm that Kelusta had never witnessed before—one that was utterly captivating.
After a long moment, only when Gloria’s smile faded slightly and she repeated her question did Kelusta finally bite her tongue hard. She coughed, then said loudly in a deliberate attempt to cover her reaction, “It’s very delicious! Mr. Wend is truly amazing.”
The moment the words were out, Kelusta ducked her head and quickly swallowed the piece of fish she had just cut, preventing anyone from seeing her crimson cheeks.
Although it was a diversion, it had to be said that earning praise for seafood from a native of Seaside Town proved Wend was indeed quite skilled in the kitchen.
Yet he seemed completely unmoved by Kelusta’s praise, offering only a lukewarm word of thanks. Gloria, on the other hand, looked quite displeased. Her fleeting smile vanished, and she turned with a sullen face to shoot Wend a dark glare.
Wend: “...”
Why had he come all this way at night just to suffer?
After dinner, Wend politely bid the two ladies farewell and, under Gloria’s hostile gaze, wisely retreated into his room.
The living room suddenly felt much emptier. Kelusta, still lost in the memory of Gloria’s smile, mechanically spooned ice cream into her mouth.
She’s so beautiful.
Kelusta thought involuntarily: If Gloria had green eyes... that would suit her very well, too.
“...Green eyes?”
A slightly puzzled voice from beside her made Kelusta realize with a jolt that she had spoken her thoughts aloud. She stammered, turning her head in a fluster to explain, “J-Just now, because of the light, your eyes looked like they’d turned dark green, Senior—that’s why I...”
But before she could finish, Gloria softly interrupted her.
“Green eyes are beautiful, too,” she said, leaning back in the soft armchair. Her eyes were half-closed as she murmured as if in a sweet dream, “My mother had a pair, like the finest demantoid garnets... Father said that when she smiled, her eyes filled with a light you couldn’t look away from.”
Her voice was full of nostalgia, its soft tone brushing against Kelusta’s heart like a feather. The brown-haired girl could hear her own heart pounding in her chest. As if moved by some unseen force, she stood up and reached out. Her pale fingertips grazed past Gloria’s faintly trembling eyelashes, carefully touching her eyelid.
“The Duchess must have been very beautiful,” Kelusta said. “Just like you.”
“...”
Gloria kept her eyes lowered, her cherry-pink lips moving slightly. She reached up and pulled Kelusta’s hand down by the wrist, not responding to the compliment. Instead, she said stubbornly, “I cook better than Wend—you just haven’t tasted my food yet. You’re not allowed to praise him.”
One of her hands encircled the brown-haired girl’s wrist, while the other slipped between Kelusta’s fingers, lacing them together until their palms pressed flat. Only then, looking somewhat satisfied, did she declare, “You can only praise me.”
“...”
Kelusta found this amusing.
It was obvious Gloria was drunk; of course Kelusta could tell. The ice wine from the ducal daughter’s collection was certainly fragrant and sweet, but it packed a punch. Even Kelusta, a native of Seaside, felt a little dizzy, so Gloria, with her notoriously low tolerance, was even more intoxicated.
But this noble girl, no longer maintaining her usual elegant and self-possessed posture while drunk... was actually quite cute.
Perhaps it was the alcohol, but Kelusta felt much bolder than usual. She leaned in close to Gloria, their noses touching affectionately. Their breaths, mingled with the scent of ice wine, intertwined. They were mere inches from a kiss—this intimate proximity, coupled with her own uncontrollable tipsiness, made Kelusta’s heart pound even harder.
The brown-haired girl swallowed nervously and asked in a low voice, “Why can I only praise you?”
She felt her lips about to brush against Gloria’s as she spoke, so she paused, slightly embarrassed. Yet, she deliberately adopted a tone that was both innocent and mischievous to test her again. “But Mr. Wend’s cooking really is wonderful.”
—That’s right, she was just asking for trouble.
And her comeuppance was swift.
Before Kelusta had even finished speaking, those deep blue eyes, mere inches away, snapped open. Gloria released her wrist, seized the back of Kelusta’s neck, and pulled her forcefully into her arms.
Caught completely off guard, Kelusta found herself buried against Gloria’s body. Her lips brushed across the other girl’s cheek, finally landing a kiss on a smooth, platinum-blonde strand of hair just above Gloria’s collarbone.
“...!”
Her golden eyes widened slightly. The long fingers at the nape of her neck gently kneaded the sensitive skin, and Kelusta grew so tense she almost stopped breathing. Yet, her body couldn’t help but soften at the touch.
Gloria held her, her intoxicated eyes shimmering with a watery sheen. She shot a lukewarm, yet distinctly sour, glance at the closed door of the guest room.
After a long while, Kelusta felt the death-defying grip on her neck finally release, the fingers moving instead to her hair. Gloria stroked the light brown strands absently, turning her face slightly until her lips were almost against Kelusta’s ear. Then, in a voice both alluring and dangerous, she said—
“There is no why,” Gloria said lightly. “The person you admire most, rely on most, and like most... should have been me from the start.”
Kelusta couldn’t remember when Gloria had let her go. By the time her muddled brain finally cleared, she was surprised to find herself already lying on a four-poster bed so soft she felt like she was sinking into it.
The deep blue canopy, the same color as the sheets, resembled a night sky, with silver glitter shimmering like clusters of stars. She had no idea what kind of magic created such an effect, but just looking at it, she knew it had to be... absurdly expensive.
The sound of soft, shallow breathing came from beside her. Kelusta turned her head and, by the faint light of the “stars,” saw Gloria’s peaceful sleeping face, just as she’d expected.
It was exactly as she had imagined.
“...”
She felt her face begin to burn again, though not as intensely as when Gloria had been holding her.
Perhaps she really was... Sigh.
The awe at their first meeting, the dependence that grew between them, the shyness and anticipation during their intimate moments... Even as she reviewed the world lines again and again, the ruins of Seaside Town and the bloody battlefields constantly reminded her that Gloria was supposed to be her enemy—
But her feelings could not be faked.
Kelusta’s mind felt groggy, and the longer time passed, the more the alcohol took hold. She found it difficult to think about how to handle what came next, how to change Gloria’s predetermined fate as the villainess... She only felt an uncomfortable churning in her heart, as if something were being violently stirred.
In her frustration, she flung her right hand upward. Her fingertips brushed past the canopy, extending beyond the bed, and hit something with a soft thud.
Kelusta froze, then glanced cautiously at Gloria. Seeing that she hadn’t been disturbed, she breathed a sigh of relief and quietly sat up, turning to look at what she had hit.
Beside the bed stood a dark wooden cabinet, difficult to make out in the gloom. Kelusta lifted the canopy, reached out, and fumbled for a moment before successfully retrieving a small, square box.
She held it up, squinting to examine it closely.
The box was wooden and looked almost excessively plain, like a common jewelry box one might find anywhere. Although the appearance of such an ordinary object in Gloria’s bedroom made it seem less than ordinary, Kelusta wasn’t in the habit of prying into others’ privacy. After a moment’s thought, she suppressed her stirring curiosity and prepared to put the box back.
However, just as the brown-haired girl reached out to do so, the silver light from the canopy’s stars shifted with her movement, perfectly illuminating a small mark in the bottom-right corner of the box.
Kelusta froze, her eyes fixed on the mark.
The mark was a simple, yet remarkably lifelike... pearl shell.
Her eyes widened.
—The design was exceptionally familiar.
During her countless days in Seaside Town, she had seen a shell with what could only be described as identical brushstrokes in the painting her father loved to stare at in a daze.
A young Kelusta had once stood on her tiptoes, pointed at the painting, and asked, “Daddy, what’s that?”
“That’s a shell your mother drew herself, Little Ruth,” her father had said, the sea breeze from the window ruffling his short brown hair to reveal eyes filled with both tenderness and sorrow. “Your name also means ‘shell’—because in all of Nobili, only your mother could draw a pearl shell so lifelike.”
“...”
Kelusta clutched the box tightly, staring at the shell mark in disbelief.
After a long moment, she took a deep breath. With trembling fingers, she grasped the lid of the box and, with a slight pull...
The wooden jewelry box opened.
In the dim light, Kelusta could clearly see that the box contained nothing but a small, velvet cushion.
And resting upon that cushion, refracting the faint light, were two necklaces.
One was the platinum-gold swan necklace she had worn that day, which she had entrusted to Gloria for safekeeping.
The other was identical in style, down to the distinct engravings of the swan’s feathers. Only its color was the exact opposite, making them look like a perfectly matched pair—
A black swan necklace.
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