Baekhyun hadn’t dared to think he would have to stoop to such a level. No, he thought his engagement to Luhan would likely work itself out in the end. He had expected Luhan’s Father to be against it initially but knew that in the end the man would support his son. If Luhan wanted it as much as Baekhyun did then the engagement and the wedding would occur.

That was before D’Adderleigh came into the picture. Before Baekhyun watched the man who was supposed to be his fiancée leave D’Adderleigh’s house wearing the same clothing he had on the night before. A complication Baekhyun had never considered having to face.

“If one wants to…ensure a marriage will take place, what do you recommend?” Baekhyun asked the question gently.

The middle aged woman gave Baekhyun a sly look, “I suppose my reputation does proceed me.”

Baekhyun nodded. Of course it did. There was no other reason why he would be sitting in her salon otherwise. “My Lady, your ability to secure the future of those as helpless as myself is incredibly admirable.”

“Since you asked so nicely, I will help you.” She lied. She would have helped him even if he didn’t ask so nicely, the target of his desired marriage too fascinating to turn down.

***

“Edward Jameson, gambled predominantly at low end establishments but is known for also acting as a strong arm for other, more well-known gambling halls.” Junmyeon laid the folder down on the table, proud of what he had been able to uncover regarding the recently murdered gambler.

“Herringwoods?” Minseok asked, still planning on attending the “exclusive” game he had been invited to in a few days’ time.

“Yes. So your card game may be exactly what we need.” Junmyeon tapped the folder “He was married as well.”

“I have sent one of my men to meet with his widow but I would not be too hopeful about it to be honest. As the wife of someone who indulged in less than savory activities she will likely not want to speak to anyone who comes around digging for more information.” Jongdae warned.

Jongdae, Junmyeon, and Minseok had gathered at Jongdae’s house to discuss the latest on the thefts.

“Do we know who crafted the necklace found by the body?” Minseok was curious. It was a very unique necklace, he had never seen a design like it before.

“Not yet. Which leads me to ask – what are your plans for the day?” Jongdae directed his words towards Minseok, wiggling his eyebrows cutely.

Minseok sighed. “You need me to visit jewelers?”

“Hm. That’s right. Sorry, Junmyeon and I have to attend what promises to be a horrible bore of a party this afternoon.”

Minseok hadn’t received an invitation, naturally, so he was the only one with the time to do some more digging regarding the origins of the necklace. “Point me in the right direction and I will ask around.”

“That a boy!” Jongdae grinned at his friend, “I drew up a list. Though you may want to be careful how you ask, I am sure the person who crafted the fake piece won’t want to admit to it.”

“Don’t worry, I will be discreet. Now go enjoy your party, you important people you.” Minseok teased, earning smiles from his two best friends.

***

Luhan was pretty sure that the definition of madness was the same as being obsessed with Kim Minseok. Or close to it.  

“My Lord, your Mother is here.”

Luhan ignored his butler. He ignored his butler again when he repeated the words. Perhaps it was his own good fortune that his butler had long ago cared little for Luhan’s direct orders when he was acting like this.

The butler opened the parlor door, stepping aside as Luhan’s Mother entered the room, shutting the door quietly behind him.

“Luhan?” The Duchess eyed her son in alarm. He looked like he hadn’t bothered shaving or dressing himself for the day, he appeared haggard as though he hadn’t even slept. When Luhan didn’t answer she approached him and shook his shoulders “Luhan?”

“Mother?” Luhan muttered, looking up at her with tears in his eyes.

“What happened?” The Duchess could never recall seeing her son like this. Not even when he was a teenager and his Father had sold his prize pony after he had ran away from school. “Did someone hurt you?”

“Do you know anything about the D’Adderleigh scandal?” Luhan asked, his voice hoarse, “Is it true?”

“What?!” The Duchess was about to turn around and ask the butler to call a Doctor when Luhan started to cry. The Duchess stopped, deciding to sit next to her son instead and comfort him.

“Why do you want to know about the D’Adderleigh scandal?” The Duchess asked. She was patting her son’s shoulders awkwardly. Their relationship had always been a rather formal one, completely normal for people of their class.

When Luhan was a child he was cared for by nannies, visiting his parents for an hour a day. Then he went off to school, returning during holidays when his care fell again to nannies. The Duchess hadn’t honestly spent much time with her son in the last twenty some years if compared to the days and years he spent with his hired caregivers. Comforting her son was a rather strange experience for the Duchess.

“I…just tell me.” Luhan croaked, the tears still flowing.

“I don’t know that much. Let me think.” The Duchess thought back to what had happened three years ago. “The man was engaged to Lord Sehun, though the engagement was broken if I recall.”

“Do you know why?” Luhan asked, hoping she did but guessing she did not.

“No. I never did hear why. His Father was friends with your Father, you know.” The Duchess recalled the late Viscount visiting their home many times. “He was always the sad sort, never the same after his wife died.”

“He committed suicide…”Luhan stated the facts, his Mother nodding.

“Yes, after his son’s scandal. Why are you so interested in this?” The Duchess was beyond curious.

“No reason.” Luhan clammed up, still feeling the anguish of not knowing.

“I will assume you are still attending the party this afternoon?” The Duchess went back to the formality she was used to, letting old habits and decorum guide her.

“Party? Will D’Adderleigh be there?” Luhan faintly recalled an invitation to something or other. His butler had told him but he had been ignoring the man at the time.

“I have no idea. Son, you really are acting very strange. Are you sure you don’t need a doctor?”

“No! I am fine.” Luhan suddenly wanted to go to the party. If Minseok was there, yes if Minseok was there then everything would be alright. He completely missed the fact that his Mother was staring at him as though he was insane – probably because he thought he had gone a bit mad himself.

***

Luhan had cleaned himself up remarkably well, considering the fact he looked extremely similar to a vagrant only hours before. No one would be able to tell he had just recently recovered – at least visually – from a D’Adderleigh induced nervous breakdown. He was rather proud at how put tether he looked from the outside. It was rather unfortunate he couldn’t feel so put together on the inside as well.

The party was rather early in the day as far as social events of the season were concerned, though the person throwing the party necessitated such an early hour. The Marquis Toobin was an aged old creature, a contemporary of Luhan’s grandparents. It was his birthday and as was the custom every year he threw an extremely formal get together. Luhan often wondered if he did so to torture those around him, living another year just so he could see everyone squirm at his annual afternoon party.

As soon as Luhan arrived at the event with his Mother and exchanged the painfully stiff greetings with the elderly Marquis, he went in search of D’Adderleigh. He needed to apologize, or just talk to him – no, he only needed to see him. That was it.

Minseok was nowhere to be found, Luhan discovered. He did notice Jongdae was there. Luhan didn’t think his actions through, which should have surprised no one. He approached Jongdae and after a brief greeting leaned in and whispered “Do you have time to speak to me, in private?”

“In private My Lord? Whatever will everyone think?’ Jongdae teased Luhan, who rolled his eyes. Jongdae knew what this was going to be about and, under his humor, was resolute that he would be as protective as Minseok as possible.

They stepped into a barely populated room, speaking in low tones.

“You are D’Adderleigh’s best friend…” Luhan started “I have angered him.”

“Yes, I think you have.” Jongdae agreed, Luhan flinched at the confirmation.

“I didn’t mean to anger him. I was only curious if the rumors were true.” Luhan thought his statement sounded fairly logical, Jongdae disagreed.

“You spent the night with someone believing that the vicious rumors might be true?” Jongdae raised an eyebrow then scoffed “Now I am almost certainly convinced you are not the type of person my dear friend should be associating with.”

“I was concerned, worried about what society gossips of.” Luhan blurted out, watching as Jongdae’s sour expression turned into a downright angry one.

“If you like my friend then why do you care? Does it matter? Does he seem like a heartless bastard?” Jongdae couldn’t believe he even had to point any of this out to Luhan “You honestly believe the poison that others direct his way?”

“I….am a failure!” Luhan cringed “I…like him so much and I made a mess of this. I want us to be together…I…don’t really think I believe them, I…”

“You are really an interesting character. You want him to trust you when you clearly can’t offer him your own trust? You sir, are treading on perilous ground” Jongdae was done with the conversation, done with the spoiled Earl who could not give Minseok even an ounce of his confidence “I have seen him hurt before and I will not stand by to see him hurt again.”

Luhan felt like returning to his vagrant state, crawling back home and refusing to bathe or answer his butler for the rest of his life. He was too busy feeling horrible about everything he had done to Minseok, said to Jongdae, and acted out in his mind to notice a man watch him from across the room. Sehun was staring at him, a curious expression on his face.

***

Minseok had crossed off more than one name on the list Jongdae had provided. He had fallen into a pattern. Enter the jewelry store and ask if such a necklace could be made. He was only interested in the answer to if they had made such a thing before, a follow up question. Which none of those he had visited admitted to – some of the jewelers flat out stating the piece would be difficult to assemble given the design.

Minseok moved towards the next jeweler on the list, a small shop in a middle class part of town. Entering the store he was immediately taken by the pieces displayed, which were ornately crafted for a jewelers that was nowhere on the list of jewelers frequented by high society.

Minseok approached the elderly jeweler, smiling warmly.

“Can I help you, My Lord?” The man asked, putting down his jeweler’s eye glass as Minseok approached the counter.

“I am hoping so. I have a design I need made and I was hoping you could make it.” Minseok pulled out the drawing of the necklace, placing it on the counter. He noticed how the jeweler looked at the design closely, his face not betraying any sort of recognition.

“I am sorry, I don’t think I can My Lord.” The jeweler pushed the paper back towards Minseok. As he did so Minseok noticed an extremely similar piece in the display counter, a musical note set in a small bracelet.

“That is unfortunate. I see that you can create something very similar in bracelet form.” Minseok tapped the counter. The jeweler immediately looked uneasy.

“I..”

“Have you made a necklace like this before?” Minseok wasn’t about to walk away without asking the man more questions. He had a feeling he had found his jeweler.

“No my lord. This bracelet was sold to me.”

“And it didn’t bother you that the jewels are fake?” Minseok challenged.

“Who…who are you?” The jeweler asked, visibly paling.

“An interested party. Can you tell me where this bracelet came from and I can forget we ever had this conversation?” Minseok was hoping he would break.

“Yes…I….please let me retrieve the bill of purchase.” The jeweler turned and walked into the back room, his posture stooped and his body shaking as he maneuvered through the small door.

Minseok waited, looking at the other carefully crafted necklaces, rings, and bracelets that were on display. A minute ticked by, then another. After five minutes of waiting Minseok walked behind the counter, intending to see where the jeweler had gotten off to.

He entered the backroom and gasp at the sight. The jeweler was hanging from the rafters, his lifeless body swinging.

***

“May I have a word with you, My Lord?” Sehun asked, approaching Luhan as he stared at the wall, lost after Jongdae had taken his leave.

Sehun looked nervous, Luhan felt a bit like throwing up. He thought better than to pepper Sehun with questions about Minseok, having already done enough damage with his loose tongue “Yes, may I help you?”

“I…” Sehun scratched the back of his neck, his anxiety clear given his posture, “Couldn’t help but overhear what you were speaking of with Jongdae.”

“Please don’t repeat what I said to anyone.” Luhan felt extremely uncomfortable.

“I won’t. You needn’t worry about that from me.” Sehun sighed “Viscount D’Adderleigh isn’t what they make him out to be. I don’t want to divulge details of what occurred in the past, for reasons that are none of your business. But he is not a bad person, please know this.”

Luhan looked into Sehun’s eyes, searching for a hint of deception.

“I would gather you probably already knew as much, however it seems as though you needed some reassurance.” Sehun made a slight frown, an expression Luhan had noticed appeared to be a habit of his. “Good day, My Lord.”

Sehun bowed, leaving Luhan to mull over his words. As Sehun entered the large salon he spotted Kim Heechul, who shot him a thumbs up. He had been extremely confused as to why Heechul wanted him to say anything to Luhan, but whatever the reason it appeared to give the man some comfort. The most important thing, however, was that Heechul have given a thousand pounds to do so, a nice sum of money for a simple conversation.

------------------------

a/n- Oh, Luhan, you….seriously though, the boy is confused. I hope I am not making him out to be a bad guy, he isn’t. He is a product of his environment with a mega mad crush on Minseok. I mean, who can blame him? I am sure Minseok drives people to madness all the time keke. But yeah for overprotective Jongdae! And Heechul…I just love this man.

Yes, I am working on the next chapter tonight as well. It looks like I am in the middle of a writing spree :)

Thank you to everyone who has subbed, upvoted, commented and/or silently read the story thus far! I really appreciate it. *hugs*