Obsessed with Regressors

Shortly thereafter, an article by Gordon Kesslow appeared in the Current newspaper. He was said to have attacked Viscount Aston and tried to frame Lady Biscon. Thanks to this, the people of Current have been telling interesting stories about that story for a while. Keith Law said that his grandfather’s older brother was an aristocrat, a commoner, needless to say, and it was Lady Biscon that he was trying to frame. The only daughter of the Count of Biscon, and a young lady engaged to the Viscount of Rencid. People were mildly shocked that he had accidentally bumped into Viscount Aston’s ball to frame Lady Biscon.

“This is why I can’t call anyone.”

“Could it be that the Viscount Aston invited him?”

“The invitee may have brought it.”

“It looks like his companion didn’t check.”

People’s expressions darkened in the midst of conversations about regret. It’s because everyone was worried about how to check who the invitee is bringing.

“They said it was Lord Aston’s invitation.”

At the same time, the club was also talking about Gordon Keslow. Well-dressed men were sitting on the sofa, smoking cigarettes and chatting about what kind of person Kethro was.

“Lord Aston? Then…”

“He invited the one who attacked his father.”

Silence fell in the club for a moment. The possibility arose that it was not a simple robbery, but an immoral case in which his son attacked his father. Everyone began to suspect that Cathrow had been instigated by Lord Aston.

“Count Biscon!”

Just then, Oliver Biscon appeared inside the club. He had been enjoying rowing, so his attire was a little disheveled. But no one pointed that out.

“I heard about it. You and your sister have suffered.”

“I must have been very surprised.”

People quickly started pretending to know Oliver. Thanks to this, Oliver noticed that people were talking about the attack on Eugenie Biscon that had happened a while ago.

“Oh yeah.”

Oliver grinned and sat down in an empty seat as the people’s attention piqued. He liked people’s attention.

“It could have been a big deal. It was fortunate that Count Burns was passing by.”

It also appeared in newspapers that Count Burns saved her after seeing Cathrow raiding Lady Biscon. Without Count Burns, she would have been in big trouble. People whispered like that, and soon remembered that Count Burns had saved Lady Biscon the other day.

“Your sister might as well stay inside.”

Someone said it like a joke. What was he talking about? As Oliver looked bewildered, another spoke.

“As soon as she go out, something happens. Wouldn’t it be better not to go alone?”

Was that so? Oliver thought they were saying something strange, but he also thought they were right. On the day he returned with Count Burns, he scolded Eugenie for why he and his mother went around alone. Of course, it’s not Eugenie who got scolded lightly. She claimed to have asked Count Burns to follow her, and asked if she hadn’t often traveled alone before. It was just bad luck this time, it wasn’t her fault. But people thought  it was Eugenie’s fault, wasn’t it? Oliver thought that Eugenie’s assertion that it was not her fault was also correct. Then, behind the crowd, someone spoke in a contemptuous tone.

“Then it would be better for the people here not to go alone. I don’t think anyone is stronger than me.”

“Count Burns.”

Oliver spots Elliot and gets up from her seat. The people who turned around saw Count Burns standing there and parted from side to side. Unlike Oliver, who was slightly disheveled, Elliot was perfectly dressed. Elliot twitched his lips at the sight of Oliver’s wet hair and the cravat he had tucked into his pocket. If he had dressed like Elliott, he would have been pointed out by the manager before he entered the club. But no one points that out to Oliver. This was because he was the heir to the Count of Biscon. Such was the case with the historic aristocratic family. Even if it went against the etiquette, no one would say anything. Senior nobles in retirement sometimes went down to their estates and hang around dressed as peasants. Because that’s one of the ways they enjoy authority.

“Count Biscon.”

Elliot greeted Oliver politely. He hated Oliver for this. The fact that he knew all too well that he had a vested interest in avoiding moral criticism that was difficult for others to avoid. He despised him for other reasons, but he hated him for this reason. And he admired Eugenie for exactly the same reason. Just like Oliver, she knew she had no problem with being slightly out of manners, but she tried to be equally polite to everyone.

“If you’re not stronger than him, don’t go alone, they’re talking about scary things.”

Oliver said that with a smile and guided Elliot to the seat next to him. He thought of going over as a joke, but Elliot didn’t laugh.

He looked around slowly at the crowd and said.

“Isn’t it a very criminal idea to try to lock up the victim rather than catch the criminal?”

The atmosphere became chilly at Count Burns’s reaction on the day. At the same time, people were creeped out. For Count Burns’ words were read with the intention that he would look after the hand of a weaker man if he went alone.

‘Oh, what’s wrong with this guy?’ Oliver forced a laugh.

“Can it be? Sit down. Even if it’s not, it’s true that I was talking about you.”

Oliver softened the mood. People settled around it, wondering what the hottest sons-in-law in the latest social scene were talking about. Count Biscon, heir to the venerable Count of Biscon, and Count Burns, an upstart aristocrat. Objectively, he was still the most promising son-in-law. This was because Oliver was the most handsome single man before Elliot came along. In addition, the Count of Biscon was a family with a long history. Oliver was the heir. He had the downside, of course, that he was poor, but he wasn’t so low as to lose face, and he was worth staring at if he was a girl from a wealthy family. There was nothing particularly flawed about his personality or rumors. He had a pleasant personality and got along well with men and women of all ages, and he had no bad habits such as gambling or alcohol. He had no bad rumors about women. In comparison, Elliot was an upstart aristocrat. He was a complete commoner with no nobility, even going up to his grandparents. There were only three ways he had emerged as the most popular son-in-law in the social world. A handsome appearance that makes people of all ages look back on him, and an enormous fortune that he brought from the dragon’s nest. And he must be because of the title of Count.

“Your personality is worse than I thought.”

“I heard you’re cheeky.”

Some distance away, people started talking about Elliot. However, it was because no household approached him yet, despite his good-looking appearance. A rich and historic family was ideal, but nobles pay more to a family with a long history rather than a lot of money. Especially if you’re a man.

“It’s a little different for Lady Biscon.”

At someone’s point, people’s attention turned to Count Burns and Lady Biscon. Nothing intrigues people like a love story. Especially if one of them is already engaged or married.

“Do they look intimate?”

The men who were talking to the question of someone who suddenly intervened said without knowing it.

“It is not.”

“There’s nothing like being intimate.”

Count Burns and Lady Biscon were never alone or did anything that would appear strange to others. Count Burns always seemed to be as kind as he could to others, and Lady Biscon did the same to everyone else. The problem was that Count Burns didn’t treat everyone else the way he did treat Lady Biscon. However, nobody count say that the relationship between the two was suspicious.

“Well, they say Count Burns asked the Biscons for help.”

“He asked Count Biscon for instruction, right?”

“For example, since Count Biscon is Count Burns’ teacher, he must be polite to his younger sister.”

The men’s conversation ended like that. They judged that although Count Burns treated Lady Biscon in a special way, it was only a special treatment for the family that helped him. And belatedly, they confirmed the person who asked if the two were close.

“Lord Hudson.”

It was Sir Marcel Hudson. It flashed in people’s minds that he was very close to Lord Rencid. He almost made a big mistake. While everyone let out a sigh of relief, Hudson looked disapprovingly at Count Burns and turned away.

“Do you smoke?”

Oliver, who turned people’s attention to a trivial matter, moved away, pretending to offer Elliot a cigarette. As the two went out into the gardens of the club, Elliot replied curtly.

“No.”

He didn’t. Because Lady Biscon hated the smell of cigarettes. And he knew Oliver didn’t either. Elliot raised one eyebrow and Oliver smiled.

“So don’t . My mother and Eugenie hated it.”

He smoked it out of curiosity when he was at the academy. And even after returning home during vacation, his mother scolded his for tampering with it. Oliver smiled as he recalled Eugenie’s reaction at that time. Eugenie, then fifteen, took all the candies she had in her room and spilled them all over Oliver’s bed. And she said, shouting before leaving, she would rather have all his teeth rot away.

“Hey, do you have any siblings?”

Elliot shook his head, vaguely aware of what Oliver was about to say.

Right. Oliver pondered for a moment on how to explain it. It was difficult to explain the existence of siblings to people who did not have siblings. If you go from there to being a brother or a sister, it becomes more difficult.

“Me and Eugenie are like dogs and cats. Have you ever had a dog or a cat?”

Elliot showed no reaction. Oliver sighed, thinking that he was denying his reaction.

“They are a little different. Still, I think we’re on good terms. I heard that dogs and cats get along well if they are raised together from the time they are young.”

It might be the right expression. Oliver grinned, liking his analogy. And he looked at Elliot and said.

“Count Burns, are you interested in Eugenie?”