Those Who Live Without the Law

Chapter 45

Kellogg’s Mansion

* * *

To explain the current situation to Spring Parsley, Kairus normally had to use a telegram or a telephone.

However, telephones were useless on a moving train, and a telegram made it difficult to convey a large amount of information at once.

In situations like this, one inevitably ended up relying not on advanced civilization but on traditional means.

“A letter, of all things.”

The running train briefly stopped. Once all the passengers who needed to get off had disembarked, the coal and water tanks were refilled.

While the train was being resupplied, all sorts of peddlers sold everything from simple snacks to sandwiches that could substitute for a meal, and soups with noodles.

“That’s the one.”

Kairus spotted one of the peddlers wandering about and discreetly tossed a letter into the basket slung across his chest.

As soon as he received the letter, the peddler immediately stopped selling and got off the train. That was proof enough that Kairus had handed the letter to the right person.

Now that peddler would deliver the letter’s contents to Spring Parsley.

After finishing the delivery, Kairus bought a sandwich with ham and butter between a baguette and sugar-glazed peanuts, then returned to his seat.

“You really aren’t going to eat anything?”

Sitting opposite Kairus with her arms crossed, Irena gave a small nod and spoke with a slightly anxious expression.

“Are you really saying there’s no way to do it right now?”

“Come on. That’s the third time you’ve asked.”

It seemed that Irena was desperate to learn how to use the battle gear as soon as possible. However, it wasn’t something simple enough to do on a moving train.

“Sorry.”

Irena quickly apologized again. That made it the third apology.

Kairus could understand how she felt.

For Irena, it was no different from being paralyzed from the waist down and hearing that Kairus could help her walk again.

Anyone who could wait patiently without getting restless wouldn’t be human. In fact, Irena sometimes dozed off on the train, only to jolt awake with a startled cry, cold sweat running down her face as she looked frantically around her.

Then, when she spotted Kairus’s face, she would relax and fall back asleep, only to repeat the same pattern again.

Now that she finally had a chance to free herself from her shackles, her fear of losing that chance grew even greater.

“This process is already mentally exhausting. If you keep getting this worked up from the start, you’re going to fail.”

Irena silently nodded.

It was a gaze and an expression as if she had never expected anything at all from the beginning.

Anyone who had ever received that kind of look, even once, would probably understand Irena’s behavior right now.

“...”

Kairus watched Irena for a moment, then unwrapped his sandwich and spoke.

“When you have to wait, just wait.”

That was the only thing Kairus could say for now.

Hearing those words, Irena let out a small sigh, sat back in her seat, and pulled out a deck of cards to start shuffling.

“Let’s play a round.”

Kairus nodded, then spent the rest of the time playing cards with Irena.

“When we get off at the station, we’ll immediately take the car the mansion sent.”

“Oh, am I coming too?”

Sliding down a card, Kairus asked, and Irena nodded.

“Of course you are. While you’re helping me, we’ll arrange a separate room for you to stay in.”

Kairus quickly recalled the blueprints of Kellogg’s mansion he had memorized in his head.

“I personally prefer a room facing west.”

“Really? In Kellogg’s mansion, only the main building has west-facing rooms.”

The main building was originally a space permitted only to members of the Kellogg family.

“But it should be fine. If you prefer a western view, I’ll have a room prepared in the main building.”

“Are you sure? I feel like I’d be imposing.”

At Kairus’s words, Irena waved her hand a few times without hesitation.

“That much consideration is something I can insist on making happen.”

Irena believed that since Kairus was helping her without expecting anything in return, it was only proper to show him this degree of respect and hospitality if possible.

Of course, Kairus’s intentions were rather impure. While Irena thought of him as her benefactor, he was already planning to rob her house, and she was about to lead the thief straight into her master bedroom.

Since it wasn’t Irena’s fault, when she eventually learned the truth of the matter, she would feel incredibly wronged.

“Looks like we’re arriving now.”

The moving train gradually began to slow down. That meant they were reaching the next station, the place where Kairus and Irena had to disembark.

Neither of them waited for the other they gathered their belongings and got off the train.

“Young Lady! We were so worried when the train you were supposed to be on was delayed for so long!”

The train had been attacked by bandits, so arriving on time would have been stranger.

The moment they stepped off, the people waiting in front of the train rushed toward Irena. At the same time, their suspicious gazes turned on Kairus.

“And who might this gentleman be?”

Just being a man disembarking with a woman was enough for their suspicion to fly like arrows and pierce him. Kairus returned their stares with an awkward smile.

They weren’t questioning Kairus directly. Irena looked slightly flustered at their question.

“What are you talking about? It’s Dominic Randolph. You should have at least learned what he looked like.”

From Irena’s perspective, it was strange that the household attendants didn’t know about someone when there were even rumors of an engagement circulating.

For a moment, the people looked flustered, but they quickly collected their thoughts.

“At any rate, it seems he’s someone Lady Irena knows.”

They promptly changed their expressions and stepped up to greet Kairus.

“It’s an honor to meet you, Dominic Randolph.”

Watching them greet him, Irena immediately spoke up.

“Since Randolph was invited to the party anyway, he’ll be coming with me to the mansion. Contact my father in advance and have a guest room prepared in the main building.”

“…In the main building?”

Until just now, they had assumed he was simply an acquaintance of Irena’s and had greeted him without protest, but now they couldn’t help but look uneasy at her instructions.

“Why, is there a problem?”

“I think we will need to ask the master.”

Hearing that, Irena briefly scrunched her face, then replied.

“Is that so? If he doesn’t approve, I’ll use my personal maid’s room and let Randolph have my chamber. Make sure you tell him that exactly.”

The servants’ faces turned pale. They couldn’t allow things to escalate to that point.

Irena’s words were, in effect, a threat aimed straight at her father.

“Misunderstandings are flying all over the place.”

The servants’ thoughts were simple enough. What sort of relationship did this Dominic Randolph have with Lady Irena that she would go so far as to offer him her own room and insist on preparing accommodations in the main building?

A man and a woman, and a woman who seemed to cherish the man immensely.

Given this series of facts, it was inevitable which way their assumptions would point.

“Could it be that the young lady…”

More complicated emotions tangled in the servants’ expressions. Of course, the reason Irena was so eager to show Kairus this much consideration was not what they suspected at all.

“I will inform the master without fail.”

The servants bowed in response to Irena’s command, then led Kairus and Irena to the waiting carriage.

The two of them boarded the car and headed for Kellogg’s mansion.

Meanwhile, Treasury Chief Simid Kellogg also received a report regarding Irena Kellogg’s request.

“The Randolph family? What kind of worthless stray mutt did she pick up this time?”

Irena was his only daughter. She wasn’t simply precious to him as a father; she was also an important card he could use to mend relations with other nobles.

“The young lady isn’t someone who acts without a rational reason. If she is behaving this way, surely she has her reasons.”

Robert, the Kellogg family’s butler, offered his thoughts in a polite voice.

“I’d like to think so.”

Trying to restrain a young person’s passionate impulses with mere reason was like trying to stop a forest fire with a wall of bundled twigs.

“You know as well as I do, Master. The more you try to stop them, the more fiercely it burns. Besides, considering your family’s standing, there’s nothing improper in Lady Irena’s conduct.”

At Robert’s words, Simid nodded in agreement and let out a long, heavy sigh.

Among the nobles of the Valorn Empire, marriage allowed for every imaginable possibility.

A wife could spend her whole life as little more than a caretaker for the children born to her husband’s concubines, or the husband might live out his days as a slave who earned money outside the home.

From the start, they had accepted that truly equal marriage was impossible, so they acknowledged countless different forms of union.

“Even so, offering him her own room in the main building…”

“She’s simply overvaluing her feelings, carried away by youthful impetuousness. If we watch patiently and offer quiet support, it will reach some conclusion, one way or another.”

The butler Robert’s judgment was quite accurate. And compared to the Kellogg family, the Randolph family was nothing at all.

That man called Dominic Randolph would probably end up as nothing more than a plaything Irena summoned whenever she was bored.

“Irena is being so firm about this, so there’s no helping it. Prepare a room in the main building. It should be adjacent to Irena’s personal quarters.”

“You are wise.”

The love between a man and a woman was like a bundle of kindling—flaring up in an instant and then leaving nothing behind.

It was better to let her burn through these feelings cleanly, without regrets.

“Make sure the servants are told not to wander near Irena’s and that Dominic fellow’s rooms at night.”

This was a father’s way of supporting his daughter’s private life.

While such conversations and decisions passed between the butler and Simid, Kairus and Irena arrived at Kellogg’s mansion.

The mansion was built on an artificial island set atop a vast lake.

“Young Lady, I’m relieved to see you healthy.”

“Robert.”

When the vehicle stopped in front of the main gate, the butler waiting there greeted them. Irena likewise returned the greeting with a pleased expression.

“And Dominic Randolph, sir. It is an honor to meet you. I am Robert, the butler of the Kellogg estate.”

“Very well. You have quite a task here.”

A butler serving a house as prominent as the Kelloggs’ was not someone even most nobles could address too casually. In most cases, polite semi-formal language was appropriate.

Of course, if there were any sort of dispute, that courtesy would vanish without a trace.

“What about the matter I requested?”

In response to Irena’s question, the butler smiled and answered.

“The master has agreed to everything.”

Irena said, “Good,” and turned toward Kairus, about to say something.

At that moment, Kairus quickly spoke first.

“Since it’s been a while since you were home, you should have some time with your father, rest, and recover from the trip. I’ll relax in my room for a bit, and we can talk later.”

At Kairus’s words, Irena stopped what she was about to say and nodded lightly.

Just from the butler’s gaze and the eyes of all the servants witnessing this Kairus could more or less guess how things were unfolding.

No one here would ever imagine that Kairus and Irena’s relationship was that of a teacher and pupil.

They were all convinced this was a romantic relationship. Kairus didn’t see any particular reason to correct their misunderstanding.

“It’s the usual procedure.”

The master agreeing to Irena’s request meant that, for as long as Kairus stayed in this mansion, everything that happened between him and Irena would be politely ignored.

“At night, the servants won’t come near the rooms either.”

It was an easy assumption. If they hadn’t intended to allow this, they never would have given permission in the first place.

For Kairus, who planned to rob this house, it was an incredibly helpful arrangement.

“If this misunderstanding ever clears up…”

Naturally, the instruction not to let anyone approach their rooms at night would also disappear.

But as long as there were no people lurking around the rooms after dark, it was an enormous advantage for any thief.

If he was discovered later, there would be nothing he could do about it. But for now, Kairus had no intention whatsoever of correcting the misunderstanding.