Chapter 94. What the hell is that supposed to mean……
At the words asking if he was going to beat her, he was momentarily at a loss for words.
Of course, he knew that there were people who used such methods as part of corporal punishment, but it was a method Raymond had never once considered.
Moreover, to the very person in front of him, of all people—beating her.
Only then did he begin to come to his senses.
No matter how close they had become, the woman’s status was that of a lower maid, different from his own.
She was not a slave, but her circumstances were hardly better than one.
So, he should have clearly known how the threat he made would sound to her, yet he had lost his reason to the point of completely forgetting that.
The reason was none other than Jade Wilkins.
About an hour earlier, on his way back from an outing, he had happened to catch sight of that bastard.
The son of a lowly whore, the illegitimate child that his father, Landler von Cheister, had cherished so dearly.
The son his father had loved so much that he dared to give him the name of a hero, even though he was a lowly bastard who couldn’t even bear the Cheister name.
He had been extremely displeased to see that unpleasant existence he had forgotten about for a while resurface, but the real problem came after that.
At first, he thought he must have seen wrong.
It couldn’t be anyone else but that woman, Deborah Coleman—there was no way he could have mistaken her—yet the sight was so unbelievable that for a moment he thought he had.
Wasn’t it impossible for her, the one who was living comfortably thanks to half the blood flowing in that body, to be sitting face-to-face and smiling with that kind of bastard?
That smile she had shown while in his arms… to a bastard like that……
As rage surged within him and the veins on his nape bulged, a sudden question arose in his mind.
Exactly when did those two start knowing each other?
And second, were all those numerous coincidences where the woman had caught his eye truly just coincidences?
At the moment when such suspicions were growing larger and larger in his head, when he finally snapped out of it, he had already gotten off the carriage and approached the two of them.
After delivering a few words of warning to the bastard he didn’t even want to face, he grabbed the thoroughly startled woman by the arm and dragged her straight into the carriage.
As if obeying his order to keep her mouth shut, the woman didn’t say a single word inside the returning carriage.
That was only natural, yet compared to the smiling face he had just seen right in front of him, an inexplicable unpleasant feeling slowly began to creep up from the pit of his stomach.
Ignoring all the curious gazes in the entrance hall, he deliberately pulled her arm even harder to make things difficult for her and headed to the study on the second floor as if to show everyone.
After closing the study door and entering, he finally spat out the questions that had been swirling in his mind in front of her.
At his very first question—how they knew each other—the woman hesitated for a moment before answering that she had come to know him by chance through an introduction from her benefactor.
It would have been nice if it had ended there.
The problem was that, perhaps because suspicion toward the woman was already rampant, her words didn’t sound believable at face value.
That’s probably why he immediately blurted out such words without hesitation.
That they had already known each other even before coming here.
Yet even while saying that, a part of his heart might have hoped that she would say no, that it was all a ridiculous misunderstanding.
That she had only met him by chance, that he was nothing to her.
But the answer that came back completely bypassed such wishes and grated on his nerves as much as possible.
At her words that if he didn’t tell her the reason, she wouldn’t answer either, a blue flame instantly flared up in his chest.
Anger rose at her insolent attitude of daring to ignore his words, and that anger soon turned into threatening words that poured straight out of his mouth.
But—
—Why? Are you… going to beat me then?
Looking into the trembling eyes of the woman saying those words, only then did his frenzied mind begin to slowly cool down.
He was insane.
In this moment when curses directed at himself naturally spilled out inside his mouth, Raymond realized that conversation with the woman was no longer possible.
Raymond turned his head, roughly rubbed his face, and let out a long sigh.
And after a moment, the words that signaled the end of this suffocating moment flowed from his mouth.
“Just get out.”
* * *
As she left the study and headed to the attic room, the passing gazes stabbed painfully into her face.
Deborah walked quickly with her head lowered, and fortunately, the attic room she arrived at was completely empty.
Deborah lay down on the bed just like that and pulled the blanket over her head.
Even though she knew she was still wearing her outdoor clothes, her mind was such a complete mess that she didn’t want to do anything.
‘I should have just told him…… What the hell is that supposed to mean…….’
She was so upset that because of something so trivial, she had stubbornly refused and made the relationship even worse.
Clearly, there seemed to be some deep-rooted bad blood between him and Jade that she didn’t know about.
Otherwise, she couldn’t understand the man’s behavior of cornering her like this at all.
During the carriage ride back, what had filled Deborah’s mind was whatever it was that existed between the two people who had glared at each other as if they wanted to kill the moment they saw each other.
But now it was different.
Rather than that… it was regret for her own foolish behavior.
‘I only got to know Jade a long time after coming to Elfengreen.’
If she had answered like that, even if he had gotten angrier for a while, he might have eventually explained it to her.
No, actually, it would have been fine even if he hadn’t explained it right away.
When the man felt like telling her about the two of them, she could have waited as long as it took for him to do so.
The fact that the first words they exchanged after several days of cold war, finally meeting eyes, had ended like that—it hurt her so much inside.
—What reason do I have to trust you.
The moment she recalled that cold gaze directed at her, hot tears unknowingly welled up and streamed down her eyes.
No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t figure out why it had turned out like this, which made her heart feel even more stifled.
Just a short while ago, the man’s eyes when he looked at her had been so gentle they could bring tears……
It felt like she had ruined everything with her needless stubbornness, and it felt like the man had already turned his heart completely away from someone like her, so the tears just kept flowing down her cheeks without stopping.
* * *
—Madam Charlotte is looking for you.
It was Monday, just a short while past noon.
She hadn’t felt like eating anything in particular, so while skipping lunch and working, someone came, delivered those words, and disappeared.
All the way to her private space, her steps felt heavy, as if shackled.
She had a vague idea why she was being called.
Since something like that had happened yesterday, she was probably being called to be cautioned.
Or perhaps…
Thinking of the worst-case scenario, a hollow laugh suddenly escaped her.
Who else besides her lived constantly worrying about being fired like this?
While having such silly thoughts, she soon arrived in front of the intended door.
Deborah took a deep breath and carefully knocked on the door.
Knock knock—
Not long after the wooden door rang, a voice telling her to come in came from inside.
“Ah, come and sit.”
Madam Charlotte, who had been sitting at the desk, put down the glasses she was wearing and walked toward the sofa.
Deborah also slowly followed her and walked to the sofa.
The first thing Madam Charlotte did after sitting down was to place something that had been beside the table onto it.
It was a large leather box.
Just as she wondered why she was suddenly placing such a thing in front of her, she opened her mouth.
“Open it. It came addressed to me first, so I had you come here.”
“…….”
When she didn’t move right away even after being told to open it, Charlotte nodded once, urging her to open it quickly.
Only then did Deborah reluctantly reach out her hand.
She untied the ribbon tied on the surface of the leather box made of high-quality silk, lifted the lid, and inside, a soft yellow fabric caught her eye.
Such a beautifully pretty color.
Deborah, who had lifted it as if enchanted, unknowingly let out an exclamation after a moment.
“This is…….”
Deborah, who had been unable to take her eyes off the pretty dress, finally turned her gaze after a long while and looked at Madam Charlotte.
An expression asking what on earth this was.
The answer came from her mouth.
“It’s your dress. They said it’s outdoor clothes.”
Hearing her words, a short “Ah” of exclamation escaped Deborah’s mouth.
“They said they sent the very first completed piece first. They’ll send the next one as soon as it’s finished, so even if it’s a bit inconvenient, it’d be good to come here like today and pick it up.”
“Ah, Madam, I…….”
She didn’t know what to say, and her mind went completely blank.
In front of her, who knew the relationship between the two of them, how would she look in her eyes, receiving clothes that he had bought for her—she was so ashamed that she couldn’t even lift her head.
Perhaps sensing that feeling, Madam Charlotte, who had been silent for a while, slowly opened her mouth.
“It’s not my place to say anything about what the Duke does—but yes, truthfully, I’m very worried watching the two of you.”
At the heavy words, Deborah’s heart sank with a thud.
☆▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎☆
Get ready cz the very next chapters it’s going to be terrible 🙂😭
