Claude lowered his body and approached the attic silently like a cat.
The closer he got, the clearer he could hear that Arbeit and Christina were arguing about something.
Christina seemed to be angry and her voice was a little loud, while Arbeit's tone was weak and pleading.
What are they arguing about?
"… You said three months, but it's been half a year and I'm still living in this broken attic!
Where's the suite?
Every time you say you'll get me a suite, but every time you get out of bed, you forget about it … I'm telling you, Arbeit, if you don't get me a suite this month, don't even think about getting into my bed anymore. I'll tell your father that you tricked me into sleeping with you with a suite. See who's the one who'll be embarrassed then! "
"My dear Christina, you're the one I love the most. I've never thought about lying to you. Didn't I say long ago that I'll let you move in once the rental period is up? But now that the rental period isn't up yet, I can't just kick them out, can I? Come on, stop fooling around. I promise I'll get you a suite as soon as possible. Really, I swear I'm not lying to you …"
"Swear? What are you swearing for? Didn't Mr. Laklin's family on the third floor say they're moving to the prefectural city to cancel their rental? In less than three days, a new tenant moved in!
Did you fight for me?
I was happily waiting to move into that suite, but when the new Mrs. Aleka brought me cookies, I found out that they've already moved into that empty suite. How do you explain that?! "
"Sigh, my dear Christina, it's really not my fault.
I've already told my mother not to rent out the suite if there's a cancellation. I have a friend who's going to rent it.
But Mr. Laklin didn't cancel his rental. Instead, he rented the room to his cousin, Mrs. Aleka. I can't do anything about it.
And after Mrs. Aleka moved in, she renewed the rental agreement with my mother and even increased the rent. That's why I can't do anything about it … "
"You always have all kinds of excuses to avoid me. I must have been blind to have fallen for a pretty boy like you who only looks good but is useless!
You can't even get a suite, and it's your own house!
It would be summer in another two months. This shabby attic was as hot as a steamer. The bathroom only had a toilet bowl, and there wasn't even enough space for a bathtub. To wash one's face, one had to go to the public cleaning basin on the third floor!
Other people get water from there to mop the floor, but I get water from there to wash my face and bathe. I've had enough of these days!
Let me tell you, Abigail, I'll give you two more months. If you still want me to live in this shabby attic, I'll make our relationship public. At most, I'll leave this shabby town. There are plenty of places to go in such a big kingdom. Anyway, I won't be the one losing face … "
"I promise!
I promise you, my dear Christina, I'll get you a suite in two months. Even if there's no vacant house here, I'll find one for you somewhere else in town … "
"You make it sound so nice, but is there any room in town that's better than yours that's vacant?
A place with running water and a clean bathroom would've been rented out long ago. You're willing to make all kinds of promises just to climb into my bed, but now you're pulling up your pants and denying it … I'm warning you, if you can't get a place, don't blame me for exposing our relationship! "
"Of course, of course. I'll definitely get you a good place.
Believe me, dear Christina, I already have an idea. Just wait for a while, and I'll give you a surprise. "
"Really?
What about the rent? "
"I'll pay for it. You don't have to worry about anything. Just carry your luggage and wait to move into a good place."
"Come, don't be mad. Look, Christina, this is the lucky bracelet I got from the Moon God's Temple. The priest said that this bracelet is blessed by the Moon God, and it will bring you good luck if you wear it. I spent a lot of money to get it …"
"Alright, don't try to fool me with these worthless things. I'm not some seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl who'll believe your nonsense.
Lucky bracelet? It's my bad luck to know you. I'm not going to pay to sleep with you. When are you going to give me some real jewelry? "
"Don't say that, dear. Even though I didn't buy you any jewelry, I bought you two dresses and a jacket last month. That's pretty much all my salary."
Now, he finally knew where Arbeit's monthly salary went.
"What's the point of wearing dresses and dresses if I don't have any jewelry?
I didn't even get a single piece of jewelry at the ball held by the merchant guild. It was so embarrassing. Do you know how it feels to have your neck bare? "
Then, Arbeit swore that he would bring back some jewelry for Christina the next time he went to the prefectural capital with Sir Fux.
After that, it became unsuitable for children. The sound of clothes being torn and gnawing could be heard from the attic, followed by the sounds of a man and a woman making love.
As he tiptoed back to his attic, Claude wondered how Arbeit managed to hook up with Miss Christina. It seemed like it had been going on for a long time, at least half a year.
If he hadn't overheard their argument when he went up to the rooftop to bask in the moonlight, the secret might have continued to be kept a secret.
Before he transmigrated, Claude seemed to have seen Miss Christina a few times. Even though he didn't speak to her, she left a deep impression on him. She was tall, fair, tall, and had fair skin. She also had golden hair and red lips. She was definitely a sexy woman who attracted a lot of attention when she walked down the street.
Also, there was a reason why his mother gossiped that Miss Christina wasn't a proper woman. Firstly, there were rumors that she had some kind of relationship with the owner of the merchant she worked for. The owner had once caused a huge ruckus at the main branch in the prefectural capital and the owner had no choice but to let her work at the branch in Whitestag.
Secondly, Miss Christina didn't behave like someone from a well-educated family. Claude had already confirmed that fact. No noble lady would refer to herself as a mother every time she opened her mouth.
However, Claude was impressed by his cheapskate brother. He didn't know how he managed to pick up such a beauty. Even though she was a little too mature and sophisticated, she wasn't someone most men could easily hook up with. That was truly impressive.
Christina was almost twenty-seven years old, while Albert was only twenty. There was a gap of seven years between them.
Claude didn't know if he should say that Arbeit was a sister-con or that Miss Christina liked young boys. The relationship between the two was a complete mess.
Claude was a veteran in his past life and had plenty of experience.
From the conversation between the two of them, he noticed that while Miss Christina was angry and scolded him, Arbeit was able to deal with her with ease. With just a few words, he was able to change her mind and get what he wanted.
The problem was that Arbeit was only 20. Where did he learn to deal with women like that?
It was just like how he swore and cursed before, but none of them came to fruition. They were all just empty words.
As for spending money to buy clothes for Miss Christina, it was quite normal for an experienced person like him to do so. You'd have to spend money to pick up girls.
Forget it, it's none of my business. Who cares where Arbeit learned all those flowery words? Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. Perhaps his talent lies entirely in picking up girls.
Claude weighed the pros and cons in his mind. Finding out about Arbeit and Miss Christina's secret didn't seem to do him any good. At most, he could use it to threaten Arbeit when they quarreled and see if he would pounce on him for another beating.
Should he use the secret to blackmail Arbeit and get some money to pay off his debt of one thale and three riyases? Claude did think about it, but he quickly gave up on the idea.
Given Arbeit's stingy nature, he wasn't afraid of his parents finding out about it. All he cared about was the money in his hands.
So, there was no way he would agree to give Claude the money. On the contrary, if the matter were to blow up, Claude would lose face in front of his parents. It was his fault for blackmailing his elder brother.
Also, if the matter were to blow up, the only ones who would be embarrassed would be Morssen and his parents. Arbeit, on the other hand, would be fine. He might even be envied by others for being able to eat such a delicious peach at such a young age.
Forget it. I'll let this fellow off for the sake of my parents. They're the parents of this body, after all. Even if I'm a transmigrator, I should at least show some filial piety. There's no need to make my parents angry over this fellow.
Arbeit and Christina's relationship wasn't important to Claude.
What was important was to uncover the secret of the tome.
The study on the second floor was empty and the carriages in front of the house had all left. He could go down and get the ancient Hertz dictionary. He had to uncover at least the first two pages of the dictionary.
Claude tiptoed down the stairs with his bare feet. Even though he tried his best to be as light as possible, the wooden stairs still creaked from time to time.
Fortunately, Mr. Morssen had entertained his guests that evening, and had had a good deal of wine with them, and had spent a long time in his study discussing important matters with them. So, after seeing off his guests, he washed himself and went to bed, and slept rather soundly.
As for his mother, she had also fallen asleep after a long night of hard work.
Arbeit wasn't there on the second floor. He was sleeping with Christina in the attic next door.
So, Claude opened his bedroom door without hesitation and swapped the empty oil flask for Arbeit's full one. Then, he went to the study to get the dictionary before sneaking back into the attic like a thief.
He closed the door and lit the oil lamp. Then, he hung the blanket from his bed on the door frame to block the light from leaking through the crack in the door.
Even if his father woke up in the middle of the night to pee or go downstairs to get some water, he wouldn't notice the light in the attic.
Everything was ready. All that was left was the key.
But when he sat in front of the table and was about to decipher the dark blue ancient Hertz words on the magic recipe, he suddenly thought of a problem.
Just now, when he checked how many pages of this magic cookbook would change, he checked ten pages, and then on the eleventh page, his mental power was exhausted, and he lost control of his body. It should have taken about half an hour, which meant that his mental power could only last for that long.
If he focused his mental power on the recipe while deciphering the ancient Hertz words, he would have to spend more than half an hour on the first page. Not to mention, he looked normal and had been under the moonlight for such a long time, but he didn't know how much of his mental power he had recovered.
Even though there was magic in this world, it wasn't a game world. He was a living person, not an NPC or a character in a game who could see a red health or blue mana bar.
Having learned his lesson from exhausting his mental power once, he wouldn't be able to recover that quickly. Perhaps he wouldn't even need half an hour. He had to think of a way to solve that problem.
Claude paced around the attic anxiously. All of a sudden, he had an epiphany and slapped himself in the face. Why did he have to decipher the magic recipe? Couldn't he have copied the ancient Hertz text first before looking it up in the dictionary? There were only a few lines on the first page. It wouldn't take him more than ten minutes to finish. His mental power should be more than enough to do that.
Without hesitation, he focused on copying the ancient Hertz words on a piece of white paper. After he was done, he climbed out of the attic to bask in the moonlight for half an hour before returning to copy the next page.