Chapter 096. I said I was sorry too……
Knock knock—
Just as Raymond was about to sign the document, a faint crease appeared between his brows at the sound that reached him at that precise moment.
Lately, while his attention had been unnecessarily diverted elsewhere, the pile of documents awaiting approval had grown like a snowball.
There were matters that could no longer be postponed, and he had planned to shut himself in the study all day today to deal with everything that had piled up.
That was why he had instructed that no one should disturb him during the afternoon.
“Come in.”
Tch. Raymond clicked his tongue lowly, and his hand began moving again.
Click.
The moment he finished signing with his elegant handwriting, the door opened.
Yet Raymond’s gaze remained nailed to the documents.
It was because he believed the only people who would enter after disregarding his words were either Robin or Greg.
If it were those two, they would naturally approach and report as they always did.
However, even after a considerable amount of time passed, the strange absence of any words began to grate on his nerves.
Wondering why on earth they were taking so long, he irritably turned his head—
“…….”
“…….”
The moment he saw the person standing there—someone he had never even imagined would be there—his words caught in his throat without him realizing it.
What the hell is this—
That was why he flinched in that instant.
She had abruptly stopped in her tracks, trembling and avoiding his gaze the moment their eyes met, so he wondered what on earth had brought her all the way here.
And of her own accord, no less.
Though he didn’t want to admit it, Raymond stared silently for a long while at the woman who had recently become the main source of his inner turmoil.
“You couldn’t have failed to hear my instruction not to disturb me”
Seeing the woman, who had come on her own but was hesitant as if she had been dragged in against her will, the emotions he had momentarily forgotten surged up all at once.
That was why he spoke in an even more businesslike tone.
As if nothing remained between them now except the relationship of employer and employee.
As expected, the woman’s small face immediately turned pale.
Well, he had said it on purpose to provoke that reaction, so it was nothing new, but strangely enough, even then her expression remained oddly poignant.
As if she had something she wanted to say.
Of course, that must be why she had come here, disregarding his order not to disturb him.
A woman who was always so mindful of others eyes, going so far as to do something she would never normally do.
Perhaps his coldly delivered warning had its effect, because after hesitating a little longer, the woman’s lips finally began to part slowly.
“I wanted to offer my… thanks…”
At the tiny, stammering voice that emerged, Raymond’s eyebrows twitched for a moment.
“Thanks?”
At his question asking what on earth that meant, the woman’s pupils shook greatly once.
But no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t recall anything for which she would need to thank him.
Moreover, in their current state of cold war, what reason could there possibly be for thanks.
If it were resentment, that would be another story.
At his question demanding an answer, the woman, having quickly regained her composure, slowly began to speak.
“The clothes…… The ones you bought for me last time…… I received them today.”
Ah, those clothes.
Only then did he understand why the woman had come here.
The very root cause of this damn conflict.
The idiotic thing he had done simply because he wanted to see her smiling brightly.
In truth, he had gone ahead and placed the order and paid afterward just to spite her, but because of the sharp exchange that followed, he had completely forgotten about it.
If she hadn’t mentioned it just now, he probably wouldn’t have remembered at all.
The fact that she had come all this way just to say thanks for something like that twisted his already foul mood even further.
“Why, back then you turned pale and insisted so eloquently that you didn’t want them—”
“…….”
“Didn’t you say something about whether you’d wear them prettily while cleaning or wear them at night?”
“…….”
“You should have done your thanks as you suggested—by wearing them yourself at night and coming to me then. Instead of barging in uninvited like this.”
Then my mood would have been much better than it is now—filthy words kept pouring out of his mouth without pause.
Why did you have to come looking for me now of all times.
At the very moment when he was barely holding back the unresolved dark emotions and desires by a thread, why did she have to come stumbling in so obliviously and provoke him.
Raymond tilted his neck to the opposite side as the stiffness spread painfully through it from his wildly fluctuating emotions.
This was exactly why he hadn’t gone to find her.
Even though the urge to drag her right in front of him surged fiercely at every moment, he had suppressed it, waiting for the waves of emotion to calm somewhat.
Because he feared those feelings might lead to an unwanted situation and leave irreversible scars on her body and mind.
So he was desperately holding himself back like this, yet this foolish woman who knew nothing of it was, even at a moment like this, unbearably beautiful and suffocatingly fragrant.
Perhaps because it had been quite a long time since he had burrowed into her embrace like a man possessed almost every day, just the scent drifting from her body was enough to make his lower half throb madly.
Damn it. Raymond muttered a low curse and roughly dragged his hand down his face.
“……I understand, so get out.”
Deliberately avoiding her gaze, Raymond ordered her to leave.
Since she always obeyed such commands, he assumed this time too she would simply nod, bow her head, and withdraw.
The moment he realized that assumption was wrong was when he began to feel puzzled by the woman’s continued silence and incomprehensible behavior.
“I……”
A voice whose ends trembled slightly—at that sound, Raymond’s head slowly turned toward her as though drawn.
She stood with her head slightly lowered, biting hard on her lower lip.
She looked on the verge of bursting into tears at any moment, but she remained motionless for a while, as if trying to control the surging emotions.
Only after a long time did she finally seem to calm down, lifting her head to look at him.
Raymond watched without blinking as her moist golden eyes gently met his.
“I thought… yesterday… you would explain it to me.”
“…….”
“What happened between the two of you, and what kind of misunderstanding you had about me…… I was frustrated because I didn’t know, but still…… after you let out all your anger, I thought… you would tell me……”
Every word she forced out sounded excruciatingly difficult, as if grief kept welling up midway through speaking.
“And then…… I would say I’m sorry too…… That I’m really sorry for upsetting you back then…… like that……”
Suddenly, the woman dropped her head.
It was an attempt to hide her intense emotions, but her trembling chin and shaking shoulders openly revealed that sorrow.
“I’m sorry… for disturbing you.”
Saying she would take her leave now, she hurriedly turned her head and walked quickly toward the door with unsteady steps.
Without time to think, Raymond rose from his seat and fiercely chased after her.
BAM—!
Before the woman who had grasped the doorknob could open the door, it slammed shut again with a loud noise.
“…….”
“…….”
In that instant, a heavy silence descended between them.
Looking at her small, trembling shoulders that couldn’t even make a sound, Raymond suddenly couldn’t think of anything to say.
It felt as if his mind had gone completely blank.
The emotions that had been raging fiercely until just moments ago had vanished without a trace, as if they had never existed.
Without time to gather his thoughts, Raymond slowly grasped her trembling shoulders and turned her around.
Though her body stiffened for a moment, it soon obediently followed.
As he lifted her head, wiping away the tears falling from her chin with his hand, her thoroughly soaked cheeks filled his vision.
And her long chocolate-colored eyelashes trembling faintly.
“It was really… a long time after coming to Elfengreen… that I found out.”
“…….”
Unable to overcome the intense emotions, Raymond tightly gripped her trembling body.
“The day I went out with Hanna, I first saw it at Levenville Market…… I saw him… helping a lost child find their way……”
“……Yes.”
At his quiet nod, the face that had been trying so hard to remain calm immediately crumpled even more pitifully.
“And… then, some time later… at the bookstore where I went to see Teacher Helena, I saw him again ther…”
Even though the things she was haphazardly saying weren’t immediately clear just from listening, for some reason Raymond vaguely understood everything she was saying.
As he gently wiped the tear tracks slowly wetting both her cheeks with his thumbs, her sorrow only doubled and flowed even more.
“So…… that’s why…… I really only found out by chance recently……”
Therefore, even while crying with her face a mess, the woman continued to explain and justify that the misunderstanding he held was not true.
That sight couldn’t have been a pleasant one, but to Raymond’s eyes, she looked so pitiful and maddeningly beautiful that the hairs on his neck stood up.
So, and, it’s true… Raymond whispered softly, gently rubbing the woman’s lower lip as she repeated the phrases like a child who knew no other words.
“Yes…….”
And immediately overlapped his lips with hers.
Ah—a groan like a sigh burst small from within her mouth, and Deborah tightly grasped his shoulders.
The moment the suffocatingly missed scent dug into his nose, their kiss began turning even more passionate.
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So …. no apologies from Raymond 🙂
