075. Pineapple
“HIS Grace is looking for you.”
“……”
On the way back from meeting Helena.
The one who greeted Deborah was Robin, waiting at the entrance to the entrance hall.
It was the exact same situation as not long ago.
Seeing the other person’s rigidly set expression, avoiding eye contact, Deborah’s face darkened as well.
It wasn’t really anyone’s fault, but after that series of events, their relationship had become this awkward.
Moreover, though she didn’t know how much he was aware of, he must have a vague idea why the duke was summoning Deborah separately like this, which made it even more uncomfortable.
Would they have to become this uneasy with each other every time they met?
While she was lost in such thoughts, Robin spoke again.
“Go to the study on the second floor. He’ll be waiting there.”
Well then, I’ll be off. After briskly delivering those curt words, Robin turned his back and walked away from the entrance hall.
Deborah stared at his retreating figure for a long while before letting out a deep sigh.
Click—
At the sound of the door opening, Raymond, who had been leaning back on the sofa, turned his head in that direction.
Only after confirming the face of the person entering did he set down the book he was holding onto the table in front of him.
“Sit.”
With a jerk of his chin toward the opposite side of the sofa, Deborah obediently moved there as instructed.
One hour in the afternoon.
It was only natural to keep the promise, but she hadn’t expected to be called even on her day off.
It’s not like he’s a debt collector.
“I heard you went out somewhere.”
And he was meticulous enough to ask even though he already knew.
Deborah let out a long sigh as she replied.
“I had someone to meet, so I stepped out for a bit……”
She had been answering naturally, but suddenly, without realizing it, she felt a surge of irritation.
In truth, spending time with him like this every day was quite burdensome from Deborah’s perspective.
At first, her only thought was to reverse his unreasonable directive, figuring that spending about an hour wouldn’t be so bad—she had thought of it that simply.
But actually having to move back and forth to the places he summoned her, avoiding people’s eyes, turned out to cause unexpectedly severe stress.
With so many people around, there were plenty of watchful eyes and wagging tongues.
If anyone caught on that Deborah, a lowly maid, was spending private time with him, the duke, the rumor would spread through the entire mansion in no time—it was as predictable as seeing fire.
He must know this as well as she did, yet she couldn’t fathom why he was acting so recklessly without any precautions.
Moreover, the earlier incident with Robin had left her nerves even more on edge.
She couldn’t blame it all on the duke, but since he bore at least a shred of responsibility, she couldn’t help the anger bubbling up inside her.
“From now on…… do I have to report every little thing like this to you?”
She tried to say it as politely as possible, but she couldn’t completely hide the deep discomfort underlying her words.
And Raymond, watching her right in front of him, couldn’t possibly miss it.
One might think such an insolent attitude would grate on him—
The problem was that his gaze, meeting hers directly, didn’t feel all that bad—quite the opposite, in fact.
No, it even felt somewhat pleasing.
It sounded crazy, but it was true.
“If I say yes.”
“……”
“Will you do that for me?”
As if teasing her gently, that infuriating tone made Deborah furrow her brows deeply.
Seeing her immediately turn her head away, Raymond let out a short laugh and rose from his seat.
He strode over, picked up a small domed plate from the desk, and returned to the sofa.
Perhaps because their meetings these past few days had followed the same routine.
Deborah’s gaze unwittingly drifted to the domed plate on the table.
Glancing at her as she did so, Raymond slowly lifted the silver cover.
Deborah’s expression as she gazed at the bright yellow thing inside was somehow enigmatic.
Curiosity about what it could be, wariness or wonder toward something unfamiliar.
Her blinking eyes slowly shifted to the man who could provide the answer.
But as always, he never gave answers easily all at once.
Leaning slightly forward, Raymond picked up the fork placed beside the plate and speared the mysterious yellow thing.
Then, he extended it toward Deborah.
“Here.”
“……”
Urged to take the fork, Deborah hesitated for a moment before finally reaching out.
She took it because he told her to, but that was where it ended.
Deborah examined the thing impaled mercilessly on the end of the fork with a deeply furrowed expression, scrutinizing it over and over.
If she leaned in any closer, she might as well bury her nose in it and sniff it.
“Try it.”
For a moment, she almost asked what it was but stopped herself.
She knew what the answer would be anyway.
Don’t ask—just try it yourself.
Usually in these cases, up until now, she would hesitate a bit but eventually bring it to her mouth.
But this time, for some reason, she had absolutely no inclination to do so.
No matter how she looked at it, it was something she’d never seen before.
No, is this even food?
It’s so unnaturally bright yellow.
Just as all her attention was focused on the small piece before her, a chuckle suddenly rang out.
“Why, afraid I gave you something inedible?”
“……”
What was so funny about it? He was laughing out loud like never before.
Deborah stared blankly at him before looking down again at the fork in her hand.
……Something inedible? No, that wasn’t it.
Everything he’d given her so far had been astonishingly delicious.
So much so that she felt guilty eating it all by herself.
Finally making up her mind, Deborah brought the fork to her mouth.
“……”
As she carefully chewed the piece in her mouth, her brows furrowed for a moment, then suddenly her eyes widened.
‘What…… is this?’
The thing she’d seen for the first time tasted utterly novel as well.
It seemed sour at first, but as she chewed, it burst with juice, spreading a sweet flavor throughout.
By the time she’d chewed a few times and it slid down her throat, she felt a pang of regret—it was a taste beyond words.
Deborah blinked as she looked at Raymond.
The man who sat with his arms crossed, leisurely observing her.
“What…… is this?”
Seeing her dazed expression as she asked, the corners of his mouth curved smoothly upward.
“Pineapple.”
“Pi……”
What? What is that? The answer from the man’s lips only deepened her confusion.
“It’s a fruit that grows in hot countries.”
“This…… is a fruit?”
Deborah stared intently at the remaining pieces on the plate, as if in wonder.
The texture was like a honeycomb soaked in honey, and the appearance like yellow cheese—and this was a fruit.
No wonder she’d never heard of or seen it before, it was indeed a fruit from another country……
Amid her repeated glances in fascination, a sudden question popped into her mind.
This time, she couldn’t hold back, and the words spilled out immediately.
“Then…… isn’t this expensive?”
Even as she asked, she thought it sounded foolish.
It was a pointless question.
If it was a fruit from a hot country, it must have been imported through trade, and thus its price would naturally be exorbitantly high.
Beyond anything she could imagine.
But the response that came back completely defied her expectations.
“No.”
“……”
No? Even though she was naive about the ways of the world, she knew that much.
Feeling like her mind had gone blank, unsure how to react to the man’s nonchalant lie.
As she sat there dumbly for a while, suddenly the fork slipped from her hand.
By the time she realized it, it had already been taken and returned to her grasp.
The difference was that now a bright yellow piece was speared on the end.
“Don’t worry about unnecessary things, just enjoy it.”
“……”
“Isn’t that what we agreed on for this one hour?”
Whatever I want.
It sounded unreasonable, but it was true enough.
He had indeed asked for one hour in the afternoon each day.
Deborah nodded and brought the fork to her lips.
As the sweet-and-sour bursts popped in her mouth, her eyes blinked involuntarily.
A while later, after swallowing what she’d been chewing, this time she speared a piece from the plate herself.
Again, chewing and swallowing the yellow thing from the hot country—what was it called, pine something……
In the end, until she had devoured the very last piece, the man watched her with his usual expression of deep satisfaction.
Like a mother bird happily watching food go into her chick’s mouth.
☆▪︎▪︎▪︎☆▪︎▪︎▪︎☆
By Anna 💓
Aghhh they’re so cuteeee😍😍
