Chapter 039. The Events of Last Night
It felt as though the fog that had been shrouding her vision was slowly lifting.
Feeling a languid energy spread through her entire body, Deborah finally awoke from her sleep.
“……”
Her eyes, still heavy with sleep, began to widen gradually as an unfamiliar scene came into her view.
A ceiling and wallpaper she had never seen before, and even the bed she was lying in.
The moment she realized she hadn’t woken up in the third-floor attic, Deborah abruptly sat up.
“Ugh!”
A low groan escaped Deborah’s lips, startled by the throbbing in her head and the muscle pain coursing through her body.
“What in the world…’
As her mind grappled with the confusion, the horrifying moment from yesterday suddenly flooded back.
An event that, after a night had passed, felt even more like a nightmare.
As the perilous moment and the cold, cruel face of that man alternated in her mind, her heart sank darkly once again.
It was then.
*Click—*
Deborah’s reverie was swiftly scattered into the air by a sudden sound.
Turning her gaze toward the source, she saw Lady Charlotte entering through the door.
The lady, upon noticing Deborah sitting on the bed, momentarily widened her eyes in surprise.
Though her expression quickly returned to its usual composure.
“You’re awake.”
Seeing Lady Charlotte approach, Deborah belatedly scrambled off the bed in a fluster.
“Um, where am I…?”
At her question about where this place was, Lady Charlotte maintained a brief silence before pointing to a side table a few steps away.
“Why don’t you sit over there first?”
“……”
Following the lady, who had already started walking, Deborah soon made her way to the table.
“This is my room.”
‘My room?’
So, this is… Lady Charlotte’s bedroom?
Hearing this only deepened her confusion.
Why on earth had she woken up in Lady Charlotte’s room of all places?
She was certain that yesterday, exhausted from crying, she had fallen asleep as if collapsing…
“But… why am I here?”
Lady Charlotte’s expression turned serious as she looked at Deborah, who asked the question with bewilderment.
In truth, it was Lady Charlotte who wanted to ask what was going on.
In the early dawn before sunrise, Lady Charlotte had gazed at the unconscious Deborah for a while before leaving the bedroom.
With countless tasks requiring her attention in this grand mansion, she had stepped out, delegating most of them to the head maid, save for a few critical matters, and hurriedly returned.
Thankfully, Deborah had woken up just in time, but Lady Charlotte had no idea where to begin explaining this.
Looking at the other person, who kept blinking, Lady Charlotte recalled the events from just a few hours ago that morning.
That moment she had replayed dozens of times in her mind before returning to the bedroom.
*Knock, knock.*
Startled awake by a sound cutting through the stillness of dawn, Lady Charlotte wondered what it could be.
Had she misheard? But no, upon reflection, it was unmistakably the sound of someone knocking on the door.
After a moment’s hesitation, Lady Charlotte draped a shawl from the side table over her shoulders and walked toward the door.
*Click.*
She nearly dropped the lamp in her hand at the sight beyond the opened door.
“D-Duke… What is this…?”
So shocked and flustered was she that her words stumbled out.
No, anyone would have been shocked.
It was astonishing enough that Duke Cheister was standing at her door in the dead of night, holding someone in his arms, but what shocked Lady Charlotte even more was the person cradled in his embrace.
“May I come in for a moment?”
“Oh, yes, yes. Please, come in.”
Snapping out of her daze at his low voice, Lady Charlotte stepped aside.
Though the room wasn’t small, it felt oddly cramped as the tall figure strode in.
“Lay her down here.”
Quick-witted, Lady Charlotte hurriedly approached her bed and pulled back the sheets.
As the duke carefully laid the person he was carrying onto the bed, Lady Charlotte stood by, watching without even breathing.
The moment she saw him gently cover the figure with a blanket, careful not to wake them, Lady Charlotte felt something was terribly wrong.
No, this wasn’t the first time she’d felt this way.
‘No, it can’t be. Surely not. There’s no way Duke Cheister would…’
She had tried to dismiss the thought, but it was increasingly taking shape.
With an uneasy gaze, Lady Charlotte silently observed the duke’s actions.
Finally, confirming that the person was sound asleep, the duke straightened up and turned his gaze.
“Sorry for disturbing you so late.”
“…It’s fine. But what is all this about…?”
At her cautious question, Raymond fell silent for a moment, as if lost in thought.
Lady Charlotte waited quietly for his next words, and soon enough, he spoke again.
“Do you remember what happened recently?”
“Recently…?”
“When I told you to discipline the staff.”
“Oh…”
Lady Charlotte let out a short groan before nodding.
Though he hadn’t named anyone, he had clearly referred to a servant sneaking around for a midnight rendezvous, issuing a chilling warning to restore discipline among the female staff.
“Yes, I remember, Duke.”
“As sharp as you are, you might have already guessed who it was.”
“……”
The duke’s gaze settled back on the face of the person sleeping soundly beside him.
The blue eyes flickering in the lamplight felt somehow different from usual.
As she felt her mouth go dry, a low voice reached her ears.
“This is the second time I’ve seen this girl wandering the second-floor hallway in the middle of the night.”
“……”
“I suspect she might have sleepwalking.”
“Sleepwalking…?”
At the short word from the duke’s mouth, Lady Charlotte’s eyes widened in shock.
Sleepwalking was something no one working for the Cheister family could be unaware of.
A sleep disorder where a person walks or performs actions unconsciously while asleep.
The reason everyone knew about it was because Lady Cecilia, as a child, had suffered from such symptoms, causing worry for everyone for a time.
And now, Deborah was suffering from sleepwalking?
And it was none other than Duke Cheister who had witnessed it.
As if all the pieces of the puzzle were falling into place, Lady Charlotte nodded quietly.
“When she wakes up, question her thoroughly. And—”
“……”
The duke’s gaze drifted back to the bed, as if drawn by inertia.
“Keep a close eye on her for a while.”
“…Yes, Duke.”
The words came out like a sigh.
Even amidst the confusion of this unprecedented behavior, Lady Charlotte could only respond as such.
The atmosphere lingering in the room left her no choice.
After gazing at the sleeping figure for a while longer, the duke finally opened the door and left.
Even after he was gone, Lady Charlotte stood motionless in place for some time.
The person occupying the bed was a problem, but more than that, her troubled mind made sleep seem impossible.
In the end, Lady Charlotte settled on the sofa and stayed awake until morning light broke.
That was what had happened this morning.
Having heard the full story, Deborah held her breath, her expression one of disbelief.
Her clear eyes began to waver aimlessly, as if she had heard something unimaginable.
Yes, it was only natural to be shocked. A faint sigh escaped Lady Charlotte’s lips.
“Did you… know you had symptoms of sleepwalking?”
At the sudden question, Deborah’s shoulders flinched sharply.
As if reflecting her anxiety, her hands on her lap began to fidget restlessly.
Her lips, hesitating several times, finally parted after a long pause.
“When I was very young, just briefly… But it went away as I grew up. I haven’t had it even once recently…”
“……”
Her expression was one of intense fear, as if worried that hiding her sleepwalking might lead to a misunderstanding and immediate dismissal.
Lady Charlotte looked at her face quietly, lost in thought for a moment.
‘What should I do about this…?’
It felt like being handed an exam paper with no clear answers, and she gazed at the face before her with a complicated heart for a long while.
Perhaps interpreting the obvious silence in her own way, Deborah murmured in a faint, dying voice,
“It’s true…”
Her expression looked as though tears might fall at any moment.
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By Anna 💓
