<Chapter 109>
#12. Black Cloud (7)
“I’m going to set a trap.”
Though Calix answered kindly, he didn’t provide specific details about “the person who caused this” or the “trap.” This was because if Melty found out, he might not be able to hide his expression, and the other party might notice. Despite showing dissatisfaction on his face, Melty readily agreed to Calix’s words.
After that, Calix didn’t particularly protest about his current situation. The Botenta family had launched an investigation regarding Iel’s disappearance, but there had been no progress. As a result, the mansion was constantly noisy, but Melty spent the whole day with Calix in their room.
Although Durasen was strict about outside visitors, he hadn’t prohibited Melty or Calix from going out. Perhaps because there was no physical evidence, Calix and Melty’s movements were relatively free. Despite knowing this, Calix had no intention of going outside. Consequently, Melty also spent the entire day rolling around in the room with him. It was several days later when he recalled the “trap” Calix had mentioned.
“You can sleep more.”
With a chuckling laugh, Calix kissed Melty’s forehead. Although he made a groaning sound, Melty couldn’t escape the drowsiness heavily pressing down on his eyelids. His ears, perked up at the noisy sounds coming from the corridor, twitched repeatedly.
Calix laughed deeply as he played with Melty’s ears that were responding to the sound. After spending their first night together, the relationship between the two needed no explanation. They say those who learn late are all the more fearsome, and their relationship was no exception.
Melty, who had tasted a new world for the first time, had been seducing Calix while pretending not to. He only eagerly winked with movements that were terribly clumsy, but Calix, who was similarly immersed in newly learned thievery, was in a state where he could be taken in at any moment just by Melty moving a finger.
“Mmm… noisy…”
Melty burrowed into Calix’s arms with a pouting face. Calix pulled up the blanket to wrap around Melty’s body and quietly patted his back.
“What day is it today?”
Melty asked, barely clearing away the drowsiness clinging to his eyelids. Calix, who had lost track of time while admiring Melty’s face, moved his finger to brush his eyes.
“I told you before. I set a trap.”
“…A trap?”
“Yes. I think it’s about time to catch them.”
At Calix’s answer, Melty opened his mouth wide and let out a yawn. Chuckling while looking into his cloudy brown eyes still full of drowsiness, Calix whispered softly:
“You worked hard yesterday, so rest a bit more.”
The touch covering his eyes was so warm that Melty helplessly slipped back into the world of sleep.
***
Calix forced himself to keep his head facing forward when he nearly turned back. Leaving Melty deeply immersed in sleep wasn’t an easy task. If possible, he wanted to stay by his side until he opened his eyes and his brown pupils became clear and bright as usual.
Even though they had already spent many days like that, it didn’t diminish the sense of insufficiency. Blaming those who arrived later than expected, Calix lightly clicked his tongue.
“Where is Melty-ssi?”
Lila, who had spotted Calix first, approached him and looked for Melty. Watching her move her head back and forth searching for him, Calix hardened his expression.
“He’s sleeping in the room.”
“Still?”
Looking at Lila who tilted her head in puzzlement, Calix crossed his arms. He had plenty to say about her. Calix briefly considered whether he should say something like, ‘Don’t teach our baby strange things,’ but he shook his head slightly to clear his mind.
“I have no intention of letting you meet him, so wake up from that dream.”
“Why are you blocking a friendship like this?”
Calix snorted lightly at Lila’s protest, which was full of discontent. He had absolutely no intention of listening to whatever she had to say.
“It’s not good for his emotional well-being.”
“What’s wrong with me?”
Lila, who had been instantly treated as unsavory, trembled with her fists tightly clenched. Glancing at her, who clearly appeared wronged, Calix briefly opened his mouth:
“If you don’t know, forget it.”
Her lower lip trembled at his expression, which clearly showed he found it bothersome to explain. Calix completely ignored Lila’s complaints about how he could treat her this way when she had come to help.
Originally, it was natural for someone from the McNeil family to come since there had been an exchange of deals. It was unexpected that Lila had come from among all the family members, but objectively speaking, he didn’t owe her anything.
“…What are you bringing behind you?”
Angel asked with a sour expression, hugging thick binders to his arm. Calix, with a slight smile on his lips, finished his explanation by nodding toward the inside. Angel, who had been glancing at Lila with sidelong glances, shook his head and followed Calix into the conference room.
People from each family were seated around the large round table. Calix also confidently took his place. Turning his head at the piercing, sharp gazes fixed on him, Calix directly met the eyes of the head of the Tuanivel family.
Calix, who had been designated as a suspect in the disappearance or murder of Iel Tuanivel, claimed his innocence. In the current state where no physical evidence had been found, he was virtually innocent, but due to the charges that had been placed on him for several days, there were still people who secretly branded him as the culprit.
‘They’re certainly first-rate at wasting energy on trivial matters.’
And Calix Kuse Padrian was a person accustomed to receiving such piercing gazes. At the most basic level, criticism should have been poured on the Botenta family for their negligent security at the mansion. This meeting, supposedly convened to examine Calix’s charges, was similar in scale to the exchange meeting held not long ago.
“Since everyone seems to have gathered, let’s proceed.”
Durasen opened his mouth in a calm tone. The head of the Tuanivel family, who had been suppressing the anger rising since Calix’s appearance, was the first to speak up.
“What is there to proceed with in this meeting! We should immediately…!”
“Indeed. Is this even a situation for a meeting?”
Calix, who casually cut off his words, spoke in a languid tone and then smiled with narrowed eyes. As much as the “drought situation” was mentioned as the main point of discussion during the exchange meeting, each family had returned to their mansions to assess the current situation. They would have also noticed how quickly the problem that started in a small territory was spreading.
The issue was that the Padrian family had prepared a solution to solve the problem, and the Botenta family was capable of handling the situation. Calix smiled, brushing his lips with his thumb.
It was obvious that this was a place set up to pressure him, who was neither the head of the family yet nor officially the “next head.” The amount to be supplied to each region was limited, so it was already expected that they would use this incident as an excuse to extract goods. Of course, not everyone was like that.
“A situation for a meeting, you say! After doing such a thing to my daughter, you dare say such things!”
“Do you have any physical evidence that I did it? No, if such a thing happened, wouldn’t you send an official letter rather than creating such a scene?”
“This bastard…!”
The head of the Tuanivel family trembled with his fist clenched tightly. A slight smile crossed Calix’s lips as he stared into his eyes full of anger. Shifting his gaze, Calix scanned the faces of those gathered.
“That’s somewhat true.”
Calix raised his eyebrows at the calmly flowing words. Anyone else might not have responded this way, but the person who had just uttered that sentence was Owen Kun Sarvie. His nerves automatically sharpened at the words of someone who would never defend him.
“But the Padrian family is in no position to bring up such talk. Surely you’re not thinking of acting with mere herbs as your threat?”
Despite knowing that Owen had deliberately used the expression “mere,” Calix wore an artificial smile on his lips. As he said, it wasn’t a phrase that should come from the mouth of someone who had gathered here “just for herbs.” Their intentions were obvious. The number of herbs was limited, and the scale that could be distributed to each region had been decided.
‘So you’re going to join forces here to corner me?’
Even a cursory glance showed that the place was filled with people who would extend their hands to the isolated him as if doing him a favor, proposing contracts that were favorable to themselves. It was probably a plan designed underestimating Calix, who was still just an acting head, but he had no intention of giving in or going along with it.
“Oh, my…!”
However they interpreted Calix’s smile, those gathered each presented their opinions. As people’s voices added up, the interior instantly became noisy. Kamin Patel, who had been maintaining a heavy silence, glanced at Calix from the corner of his eye.
At other times, Kamin Patel would have been on the side pressuring Calix, but this time he was keeping silent. He even gave Calix a look with the nuance of urging him to resolve it quickly. Recalling who was behind his change in attitude, Calix held a sweet smile.
‘I wonder if he’s woken up by now.’
Perhaps because of the torment throughout the night, recently Melty particularly couldn’t wake up from sleep. The sight of him rubbing his plump cheeks this way and that, his eyelids fluttering to wake up from sleep, was so cute he wanted to bite him.
“Will you make excuses for what you’ve done?”
“Indeed.”
Calix, who had lightly tapped the table with his clenched fist to focus everyone’s attention on himself, rested his interlocked hands under his chin. Calix’s gaze was directed toward one particular place. Ignoring all the other curious gazes, Calix smiled brightly at his opponent and whispered:
“I’ll give you the opportunity to explain why you did such a thing.”
