Chapter 77. Ill-Favored
“Sit there.”
The one who greeted Deborah as she stepped onto the second-floor outdoor terrace was the Duke, sitting in the bright sunlight.
When the man turned his head at the sound of her approach and immediately curved his lips into a smile, Deborah watched him for a moment as if hypnotized.
She always felt it, but the man’s face was excessively dangerous.
Furthermore, the man standing in such clear sunlight was an even more perilous being.
“…”
Deborah struggled to calm her uncontrollably pounding heart and slowly walked toward the seat opposite the one he had indicated.
As soon as she sat down, her gaze naturally drifted toward the dome placed on the table.
‘What is it today?’
She knew it was shameless, but that’s how people were.
After tasting such new and fantastical foods every day, she couldn’t help but automatically anticipate the next one, even unintentionally.
It had reached the point where she had the absurd worry that if this moment suddenly ended one day, all she would be left with was an unnecessarily high standard for food.
Just as she was lost in such silly thoughts, the Duke’s hand finally reached for the top of the dome.
Her complicated thoughts instantly vanished, and her expectant gaze flew like an arrow towards it.
“…”
She waited for whatever was about to be revealed as the cover was lifted, but the strange thing was that the scene before her remained the same even after a long wait.
Finally, Deborah, unable to wait any longer, lifted her gaze, and at the same time, a loud burst of laughter filled her ears.
She was startled by the sudden laughter, but more than that—
She had seen him smile aloud before, but this was the first time she had seen him laugh so explosively, leaving her stunned.
Perhaps because his usual image was so cold and distant, seeing him laugh widely with his eyes crinkled like this felt very unfamiliar and strange.
He had this side too… A strange, subtle tingling sensation spread through her heart.
The laughter that had poured out for a long time gradually began to subside.
“Ah, sorry. The way you were waiting so still was just like that fellow.”
That fellow? Deborah tilted her head slightly, wondering who he was talking about.
“You know, that ill-favored fellow.”
At his words, spoken while raising one eyebrow, Deborah briefly rolled her eyes.
Ill-favored… that fellow, you mean…
Deborah frowned and thought hard for a while, and then her eyes suddenly brightened.
“Is it Spotty?”
At her question, this time Raymond’s eyebrows furrowed.
“Spotty?”
“Ah… his name is Spotty. I gave it to him…”
Since it was a name she had just made up on her own, her voice trailed off awkwardly.
At her words, Raymond merely responded with an Ah, really? and moved on without any further reaction.
Deborah, too, intended to let it pass just like that.
If it hadn’t been for a thought that suddenly pierced her mind.
That thought immediately spilled out through her mouth.
“Do I… look like Spotty? ”
Although she tried to ask the question with the calmest expression possible, she couldn’t quite hide the slight trembling at the corners of her lips.
Of course, she didn’t dislike Spotty
There was no way she could dislike the fellow who never ran away whenever she saw him and would lie down on his back in front of her to act cute.
Even if that display of affection was a very insincere, Here, take this and go away kind of gesture.
In any case, Spotty was someone Deborah was happy to see and worried about when he wasn’t around—he was that kind of existence to her.
But apart from that, the important thing at this moment was that his face was very ill-favored.
She admitted that she was a bit lacking compared to the glamorous aristocratic ladies, but to be compared to that ill-favored fellow?
This was nothing short of a very serious insult.
“I didn’t say you look like him…”
Perhaps realizing his slip-up upon seeing her lips tremble slightly, Raymond immediately offered an explanation.
“That droopy gaze, as if transcendent of the world, and then the way your eyes suddenly pop open when faced with food, well, that’s a bit simi—”
However, his explanation turned out to be worse than no explanation at all.
This was evident from Deborah’s eyebrows furrowing even before he finished speaking.
Oh, honestly. Raymond’s expression became instantly troubled.
Of course, the problem was that this was hidden by the emotionless face he had cultivated over many years. Still, it was undeniable that he was genuinely flustered as never before.
Thinking that the best course of action in such a situation was to distract her with a dazzling lure, Raymond quickly lifted his hand, which was holding the dome cover.
No, he tried to lift it.
If it hadn’t been for a voice coming from the terrace entrance.
“Brother? Are you here?”
A slightly high-pitched voice, with a nervous tone.
The moment Deborah realized who the unexpected intruder was, her face instantly turned pale.
Raymond let out a low Tsk— at the sight of the woman frozen stiff, holding her breath.
He quickly turned around and strode rapidly toward the entrance from which the sound came.
Raymond, who spotted Cecilia just barely approaching the entrance, blocked her way.
“Ah, so you were here.”
“What brings you here?”
Cecilia’s shoulder flinched at his cool, sharp tone.
“…I have something I needed to tell you…”
“I assume you heard the order that prohibits entry to the second floor.”
At his implied question—Surely, you didn’t ignore my directive and act on your own?—Cecilia’s lips pressed together tightly.
No, she was clearly in the wrong about that, but…
More than that, the reason Cecilia was so shocked right now was Raymond’s attitude toward her.
His gaze was extremely cold and distant, as if he were dealing with a stranger.
Although he was fundamentally a man of such a nature, he had always deferred to her, his sister.
Even when she was occasionally rude, he would only scold her sternly; he had never treated her coldly like this before…
Cecilia was utterly confused, wondering if the person standing before her was truly the Raymond von Chester she knew.
“I… I wanted to ask—”
“Go downstairs, for now.”
“…”
“Cecilia.”
The heavy voice descended once more upon the unresponsive Cecilia.
It was an unspoken warning that he would forgive her once, but not twice.
Even someone as self-willed as Cecilia knew not to push further in a moment like this.
Cecilia finally bowed her head before him.
“…Yes, I understand, Brother.”
Her trembling voice was so shaky it wouldn’t have been strange for her to burst into tears immediately.
As Cecilia turned her back and finally disappeared from view, Raymond roughly ran his hand across his face.
Although he was accommodating her because his partner absolutely loathed confrontation, meeting in secret like this did not suit his nature.
He was concerned about Cecilia, who had left trembling, but he was more worried about the woman who must be deathly pale right now.
Raymond turned around and quickly walked back toward the place he had been a moment ago.
“…?”
However, the person who should have been in that spot was nowhere to be seen.
Surely, since there was only one entrance, she couldn’t have left the area, so where could she possibly be…?
Puzzled, Raymond began to look around, searching for the woman.
After scanning the immediate area, the woman was not visible.
That left the railing nestled against the stone column of the terrace.
Surely… she wouldn’t be in such a dangerous place, he thought, and his steps quickened.
Raymond took large strides and soon reached the stone column.
The moment he turned his body—
“…”
“…”
The instant he saw the woman huddled against one side of the dangerous railing, a fire surged up within him.
Seeing the deathly pale, teary-eyed woman trembling as she looked his way, that fire grew uncontrollably.
But, fearing that the woman already crouched in a dangerous spot might get startled and misstep, he suppressed his anger as much as possible and extended his hand.
“Come here.”
“…”
“Quickly.”
He gently urged the woman, who was frozen and unmoving.
Finally, she extended her hand.
Raymond immediately grasped her hand without hesitation, and swiftly lifted her body into his arms as she stood up.
The suffocating scent of her body, suddenly held close, rushed past his nose.
The anger that had surged high enough to blur his vision instantly vanished as if it were a lie.
And all that remained was a burning desire for the woman.
Raymond’s hands cupped the pale face of the woman.
His head immediately lowered, and their lips quickly intertwined.
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