Chapter 4-Damn, got caught
Lucca POV
The door to the garden cabin swung open, revealing Rino standing at the entrance. I instinctively tightened my grip on the stone pestle by the sink, anticipating his approach.
As he neared, I sprang up like an alarmed animal, ready to hurl the object in my hand towards his forehead. However, Rino, skilled in martial arts and combat since his childhood, swiftly evaded my attack.
Retreating towards the door, he hurriedly fumbled to lock it again.
"Wait, wait..." His heart raced, evidently rattled by the scare. "I didn't come here for that kind of thing."
Inside the cabin, I remained silent, uncertain of his intentions.
"Do you want to get out?" Rino pressed on, still without receiving a response. "I can take you to the castle. It's freezing out here, and you'll freeze to death if you stay."
I couldn't trust his words, doubting his sincerity.
Rino glanced in the direction of the castle, confirming that the study window was closed, before continuing, "Raffle told me you were his former classmate. How's your Spanish? If you have a decent grasp of the language, I'll release you and hide you in the castle. I swear to God!"
Spanish? I had no idea what he had in mind.
Growing impatient, Rino urged, "As long as you can manage with Spanish, I'll let you out and hide you in the castle. I swear to God!"
He grew even more anxious as I remained silent.
"My father left you here to fend for yourself. If you don't accept my help, you might not even survive tonight! I'm not asking you to do anything excessive, just spend two hours each evening studying Spanish with me. In return, I'll bring you back to the castle for warmth and provide you with food. What do you say?"
I pondered for a moment and knocked on the wooden door, signaling my agreement.
-If Rino wanted to harm me, there would be no need for such a laughable lie. He must be telling the truth.-
He must be telling the truth.
"Come with me," Rino urged, unlocking the wooden door and pulling me out of the cabin, carefully locking it behind us.
We made our way through the rose greenhouse and into the castle, taking a route that was less likely to be noticed.
The estate had suffered budget cuts. As evening approached, everyone except for the butler and a few servants attending to the Lycan couple would be off duty. Rino showed no concern about being discovered.
He led me to his room.
The room's decor exuded opulence, boasting a walk-in shoe closet and three full cabinets dedicated to ties. However, compared to the entire castle, it seemed rather ordinary.
"My brother's room is across the hall," Rino introduced, pointing. "Our parents' bedroom is upstairs. Although lately, they've been sleeping in separate rooms. Father has been suffering from insomnia and doesn't want to disturb Mother."
I glanced around with curiosity, and the awe in my dark eyes greatly satisfied Rino's vanity.
He escorted me into the study and gestured towards the desk. "In approximately fifteen minutes, my Spanish teacher will arrive. You need to hide under the desk, and I'll discretely pass you the questions. Write the answers and return them to me, understood?"
I nodded in agreement.
Suddenly, Rino grew uncertain. "How proficient are you in Spanish?"
"Not inferior to your brother," I replied.
Rino sneered. His brother always excelled, being the top student among his peers. How could this dark-haired inferior possibly compare?
However, as he looked at me, his expression turned slightly puzzled.
Contempt filled my dark eyes.
"You must inform me of your previous accuracy in solving these questions. If I give you a perfect score outright, the teacher will become suspicious," I stated.
"Probably... around 25%," Rino unconsciously responded.
"Then 30% will suffice," I shrugged.
I concealed myself under the desk.
The Spanish teacher arrived punctually. He was an elderly man with severe nearsightedness, which explained Rino's audacity.
Each time the teacher posed a question, I wrote the answer on the whiteboard and displayed it to Rino.
The two hours passed swiftly.
Rino's performance brought immense satisfaction to the teacher, who felt that all his hard work had finally paid off.
"Your progress is truly astounding, young Lycan! I will certainly report this to the Lycan," the teacher exclaimed, further fueling Rino's self-satisfaction.
Once we bid farewell to the teacher, Rino prepared some food for me.
"Where will I be staying?" I inquired, nibbling on a biscuit.
Rino couldn't allow me to stay in his own room. He contemplated for a moment before replying, "It's already eleven o'clock, and Mother should be returning from the ballet. She always comes to bid my brother and me goodnight. You can't stay here. How about sleeping in the ground floor storage room? Usually, it's unoccupied."
I took the key and entered the slanted room beneath the stairs.
There was no bed here; instead, the floor was covered with recently replaced carpets and various items that were temporarily unused but possibly useful in the future.
I lay down on the carpet and dozed off for a while, but suddenly, I heard some activity outside.
The voices couldn't penetrate the well-insulated door.
It was an argument.
At the dining table.
Luna, the epitome of beauty and grace, was infuriated, her face turning pale and her chest rising and falling rapidly. Her husband sat across from her, his fingers interlocked, wearing a cold and stern expression.
"I believed that 'marriage' implied fidelity to one another, Linda," Vincent gestured towards the floor.
On the floor lay a delicate ballet dancer with a swan-like neck and the classic features of an Eastern European beauty.
Vincent withdrew his finger with disdain. "There was no need for you to bring such a woman into our home."
Upon hearing this, I was utterly shocked.
Luna had an affinity for women and had brought her mistress home!
It was undoubtedly a bombshell of news!
"Am I in danger now?" I pondered anxiously. "No... Luna probably only has an interest in noble young ladies. There's no way she would be interested in someone like me."
"It's just adding a little excitement," Linda, with her extremely light and lustrous blonde hair elegantly styled in a high bun, spoke up. There wasn't a hint of aging on her face; some would even believe she was an eighteen-year-old girl.
She gazed at Vincent, undeterred by his anger.
"Don't you feel like something is missing between us?"
Vincent chuckled and rose from his seat, surveying the castle before walking over to his wife. "Darling, what I lack, no one in the entire empire possesses."
Linda was referring to the exhilarating and uninhibited passion they were lacking.
But she couldn't express it openly.
Because Vincent would accuse her of being promiscuous and immoral.
In the silence, she composed herself and crafted a smile. "Alright, today was my fault. It's already late, let's go to bed."
"You go ahead," Vincent planted a light kiss on her forehead. "I have some matters to attend to."
Linda left without uttering a word.
For the past few days, they had been sleeping in separate rooms.
Linda understood that it was due to the outbreak of pack warfare and Vincent's busy schedule. She also understood his frequent bouts of insomnia.
But she still felt restless.
As she stood alone in the empty room, Linda suddenly realized that their marriage was far from "perfect"; it was riddled with flaws. There was no such thing as a perpetually calm and stable love in this world, unless it remained stagnant from beginning to end.
Grasping the intricately carved railing of the ornate staircase, Linda turned back and nodded at the ballet dancer on the floor, indicating that she should proceed according to the plan.
Vincent left the dining room and returned to his study.
The ballet dancer followed him inside.
Inside the storage room, I heard the fading sounds from outside and felt relieved as I settled back into the warmth and safety of the carpeted floor.
"Grumble—"
My stomach growled.
Rino had only given me a few biscuits.
They hardly satisfied my hunger, and after eating them, I felt especially thirsty.
I got up and opened a small crack in the storage room door. In the distance, the servants, exhausted and sleepy, were steadily pushing the trolleys with plates from the dining hall.
I spotted a jug of milk.
It was placed next to the main seat, and it seemed like only a cup or so had been poured from it.
I seized the opportunity as the two maids left with the trolleys, and I swiftly picked up the jug, drinking more than half of its contents. I also grabbed a few dry bread slices to use as makeshift coasters.
"Thunk!"
Just as I was about to make my escape, a loud crashing sound echoed from the study, followed by Vincent's enraged shout, "Drag this woman out of the study!"
The two maids hurriedly rushed back.
I had no choice but to hide under the dining table, lifting the tablecloth slightly to observe the scene.
The maids carried out a ballet dancer who was unconscious and covered in blood, possibly with a broken nose.
"Another explosive piece of news..." I murmured quietly. "The Lycan strikes his luna's lover."
The maids carried the ballet dancer away, and they didn't return for quite some time. There was no sound coming from the study either.
With caution, I lifted the tablecloth, intending to make my way back to the storage room.
But as soon as I lifted the tablecloth, I saw a pair of gray men's slippers. They looked soft and wouldn't make a sound when stepping on the carpet.
Before I could even raise my head, warm milk splashed all over me.
Vincent was startled too, clearly taken aback by my presence.