“What kind of liver do you have to have to be so impudent…”
“I think mine is quite normal. I have a moderate tolerance for alcohol.”
“You seem to have not one life, but six.”
“Only one. That’s why I suffer.”
"Or you just like pain."
“I hate pain more than anything in the world.”
“Then why are you doing all this?”
“The body reacted on its own...”
[Like when you instinctively grab a child running into the road in front of a car without even thinking.]
Adalyn, who was trying to justify herself, leaned her elbows on the table and looked at Lloyd.
“I've thought it over. Shane was with me."
“They say the attacker was a big guy, two meters tall.”
"Well, yes. Suddenly he lost his temper and attacked. Lloyd, listen...I think there was a magician among them. Otherwise, why would you attack on a crowded street without a plan or warning?”
“So you immediately realized that he was not himself?”
“I told you, Shane was there.”
“Did you trust him?”
To say “yes” is to admit stupidity. Adaline hesitated for a second, unable to find words. Lloyd looked at her with undisguised contempt.
“Okay then.” - she muttered. “He wouldn’t just let me die.”
“You seem to have forgotten why you were in this position in the first place.”
“Too many people were looking at us.”
“Yeah. He’s so reasonable.”
"..."
“A man who bribes newspapers, sets traps, kidnaps, holds captive and forces marriage at the risk of family lives?”
“That's it. If he just wanted to kill me, he wouldn’t bother with such sophisticated methods.”
Lloyd looked up at Adaline. Surprise at her composure flashed in his gaze. She smiled weakly.
“If his goal is to break me and take revenge, then he will have to keep me alive. It’s a paradox, but next to Shane I’m relatively safe.”
“So, you still thought...”
“Who did you think I was?”
“Thought you fell for his charm. Without a trace."
She remained silent. [Lloyd seemed to be angry about her being away for so long. He rarely showed emotion, but you could tell from his tense lips and eyes that he was unhappy.]
[When Shane is around, he stubbornly avoids meeting him.]
Because of this, it was almost impossible for them to talk calmly. All communication came down to short notes left in the office.
Something like: “You need to move more,” “Drink more water.” Like advice from a veterinarian, not a friend.
[If Shane hadn't made a fuss about calling the doctor as soon as he got home and left immediately after making sure she was okay, Lloyd wouldn't have come over. I would leave a note: “Are you completely crazy?” and would leave.
[Shane didn't say a word the whole way home. His silence and outburst of anger at her injury betrayed his anxiety. But there was no warmth between them so that he, like Lloyd, could afford to console her.]
[And why did I pat him on the head...] - Adaline thought with annoyance and turned the conversation:
“When can we meet Lucian?”
"He said he was afraid of your husband."
“Only Shane? Doesn’t it scare me that I might be angry because he ratted me out?”
"He didn't mention that."
Adaline vividly imagined Lucian's grin. [He would say: “If a friend has no offense, why not sell him for more?”]
[And I would be right...partly. The thought that she agreed with him was irritating.]
“So you can’t count on Lucian again.”
“It looks like he still wants to live.”
"We'll have to convince..."
Whether it's convincing or escaping, everything will take time. Adalyn decided to put the escape plan aside and take care of urgent matters.
"Lloyd, make a list of all the nobles who were on site today and start checking."
"Only nobles?"
"Only them."
[The only clue left from the original course of events of the novel is that the magician was from the nobility of the Empire.]
[Lloyd would be angry if he found out that this was all the result of an attack. But in her eyes, it was a chance to narrow down the suspects. Luck, albeit a strange one.]
Adaline did not believe that immediately after her return to Delmez, Saint Genevieve almost died, and this was just a coincidence.
[Ah, does randomness even exist in this world?]
[It’s as if the world has been lying low, waiting for the missing “villain” to return, and has now started its gears again.]
An alarming feeling did not leave her.