Treasure

The bullet had hit the chain supporting the chandelier. And under the weight of the swaying chandelier, the rings of the chain supporting it had begun to expand and stretch.

(They need to get away from underneath it right now! But the marquis is bleeding too much, moving him around too much would……)

At the same time, Leonardo raised his voice and called out to Ricardo who was helping the prostitutes evacuate.

“Ricardo. There should be a brothel employee at the Ranieri villa that can use healing skills. Call them right now.”

“Got it! Aldini, I’ll leave this place to you!”

Graziano showed a grimace as he pressed down on the open wound on the marquis. With every beat of his heart, more blood seemed to bleed out and the lapis lazuli carpet was slowly getting stained in bloody red.

“Don’t, make that face son……..for those who live in the underworld, such kindness would only lead to an early grave, no?”

“Enough, just stop talking already please, you shitty dad…..!!”

“How could you so easily believe my words as well….?……I could be simply toying with your emotions in order to use or control you, you know? You should learn to be more cautious…”

“God, just shut up…….!!”

As Francesca finally started to get close to those two, she finally realized.

(I finally understand why Leonardo lied to me and tried to hide Marquis Savini’s true motives. If Graziano figured out that the marquis was doing everything out of love, and still failed to save him, neither Graziano nor myself would be able to handle the shock of losing him.)

It’s the same reason why the Marquis continued to play the role of the horrible villain. It was all for Graziano’s sake.

Still trying to desperately stop the his father’s bleeding wound, Graziano squeezed out words from his mouth.

“It’s not like I suddenly had a complete change of heart just because I understand that you did care for me or anything. But, what I do know is that you did indeed love my mother very much.”

“Hah……..on what basis, are you so confident of that?”

“It’s this brooch that I stole from you, when I took on your disguise.”

The lapis lazuli brooch on Graziano’s chest had been stained red from all the blood.

“Mom always told me that the one she had was a pair with the one dad had. She sold hers for my sake, but I knew that it was a very precious treasure for her. And now I see, that you still wear the same exact one, so it was obvious……….but, that’s not all.”

With a hoarse voice, Graziano continued.

“When I was a child, I had slightly damaged and chipped the lapis lazuli on this brooch………the one you always had on you wasn’t the one you had originally, it’s the one my mom sold…….”

(……..Did the Marquis track it down and buy it back……..!?)

Once the Calvinos had taken custody of Graziano, they too had tried to track that brooch down and searched everywhere for it.

Of course, because she wanted to return his mother’s precious memorabilia back to his hands. She had never even told Graziano that she had asked for this to be done because she didn’t want to disappoint him in the occasion that they failed to find it.

(The brooch had been sold in the slums, and even our family that belongs to the underworld were unable to find it. Considering the connections, it should have been far more difficult and dangerous for the Savini family to look for it though, and yet…)

But the fact was that the marquis had found it, and had carried it on him perpetually since then.

“……….ah, so it really was you who had chipped the stone eh?”

“……..”

“Just imagining that to be the case, it became even more precious to me, and I would often caress the stone………To see that brooch now on your chest feels, strange, yet somehow calming………”

Marquis Savini’s shivering hand slowly rose to touch Graziano’s cheek.

“Even when you’re angry, even when you look like you’re about to cry, you really do resemble her a lot.”

“………What are you..”

“That day, the fact that I instantly knew that you were my son was not because you resembled me…”

Blood now stained Graziano’s cheeks because of the blood covering the marquis’ hand.

“It was because your looks, your expressions, your gentleness, all of it instantly reminded me of her……..”

“Graziano!!”

Francesca finally reached and frantically stretched her hand towards Graziano’s back.

“You will always be, our treasure.”

The sound of chains creaking and breaking echoed, as the chandelier tilted. Because of that, the centre of gravity of the thing shifted and it began to sway even more greatly.

“……….I was, truly fortunate to have met both of you……….”

“———–!”

Francesca’s fingertips touched Graziano.

(Activating skill. Enhance, Graziano’s teleportation skill.)

Light flashed, and enveloped Graziano’s surroundings.

“Graziano! Hold him in place, and then teleport alongside your father quickly!!”

“!!!”

Following her words, Graziano quickly reacted.

It was almost reflexively, as his instinct to [obey Francesca at all costs] worked as always. With a flash of light, they both disappeared, and in that instant, the chains holding the chandelier above them snapped loudly.

“Young miss!!”

Having teleported into a corner of the hall, Graziano screamed. But Francesca felt no fear at all.

Because she knew for certain, that Leonardo would follow after her and arrive just in time to protect her.

“Leonardo, please!!”

“——-but of course.”

While running, Leonardo aimed his hand towards the chandelier, and activated his skill.

In that moment, a great wind raged and completely blew the chandelier away from above her.

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