DH- Ch 173

Chapter 173. A Relationship That Was Once Quite Passionate

“Still, you’re showing quite a bit now.”

It was a drowsy afternoon, with sleep creeping in.

After finishing all the morning’s work, she was taking a brief rest.

Just as she was swallowing a sip of tea, Deborah blinked at the sound that reached her ears.

“Your belly, I mean.”

At Maria’s gesture, smiling brightly and pointing downward, Deborah’s gaze slowly dropped down to that spot.

And soon, a short gasp escaped from her mouth.

“Even when your due date was near, your belly barely showed, so I wondered if maybe it was because you weren’t eating enough.”

“I’ve… never been one to gain weight easily.”

“True, there really are some people whose bellies barely show even up to their last month. If you didn’t say anything, you’d just think they’d gained a little weight. Compared to that, I’m unusually big, aren’t I. Maybe it’s because I eat too well.”

Watching Maria laugh heartily, Deborah smiled along with her too.

Though she said it that way, Deborah herself had been worried as well.

She wondered if perhaps the child in her belly wasn’t growing properly because what she ate wasn’t substantial enough.

Around that time, her once-flat belly had slowly begun to swell.

Of course, compared to Maria, who was at a similar stage, her belly was incomparably small, but still, by now, anyone could tell at a glance that she was carrying a child.

“By the way, your husband… is he still very busy?”

Deborah didn’t immediately catch the meaning of that carefully asked question.

Her eyes, opened wide in a circle, said as much—husband?

Seeing that reaction, Maria’s expression grew even more awkward.

“It’s just… the baby will be coming soon, and I thought the baby’s father ought to be by your side…”

Only then, a beat too late, did Deborah understand what she meant.

A man who had promised to visit often, yet had only been sending letters for months now.

She meant Jade, the man known as Deborah’s “husband.”

“Ah, yes…. He’s just an extremely busy person. But he did say he’d come… sometime soon.”

“……Is that so?”

Clearly displeased, Maria nonetheless nodded and said that she understood.

Deborah felt nothing but guilt toward Jade, who had unexpectedly become an indifferent husband in all this.

It was just as she was bringing the teacup back to her lips again.

“The baby’s father.”

As Maria’s words came back to her, a face naturally rose up to occupy her mind.

“…..”

Without realizing it, the hand holding the teacup tightened with force.

Ever since the incident at the lake, fortunately, there had been no further clashes with him until now.

In fact, theirs was a relationship that didn’t need to cause such worry to begin with.

All that had happened between them had simply been an absurd, unbelievable series of coincidences—originally, theirs was exactly the kind of relationship that warranted nothing more than this.

That didn’t mean she never saw him at all, though.

A few times, passing each other while going to and from the hunting grounds.

A few more times, seeing him out for a walk with his fiancée and his younger sister.

Since the path happened to pass right in front of the farm, she ended up seeing him more often than she’d expected.

Of course, she was the only one who noticed.

Every time he passed in front of it, he never once turned his eyes toward the farm.

Not even a single time, as if he were deliberately avoiding it.

That was for the better, really.

Her chest stung a little, but she didn’t want to engage in another tense battle of nerves with him.

That raw, blunt accusation that had torn through her heart—hearing it once, there by the lake, had been more than enough.

She didn’t want to hear words like that from his mouth ever again.

She was lost in such thoughts when—

“Oh, right,” Maria said, and opened her mouth again.

“Are you free this weekend, by any chance?”

“This weekend?”

At the question echoed back to her, Maria nodded.

“There’s a ball being held at Chambrin this weekend.”

At the word “Chambrin,” Deborah’s body gave a sudden, involuntary flinch.

It was such a faint reaction that Maria didn’t notice it at all.

“They say the Duke’s wedding will be held in the capital next spring, and before that, he’s introducing his fiancée in advance to the nobles here.”

At the sight of Maria clapping her hands excitedly, Deborah didn’t know how to react and could only manage an awkward smile.

“So that day, they said they need extra hands. There are times like that now and then—when you go, there’s a lot of delicious food, and the Duke’s household pays generously too, so everyone wants to go.”

“…..”

“What do you think, Deborah, interested?”

It was likely a suggestion Maria made with good intentions.

A ball was something people of the commoner class would never get to see in their whole lives.

So there would be a long line of people raising their hands to go, even for free.

Perhaps, if not for certain circumstances, Deborah too would have been among them…

But even if they offered far more pay than that, it was something she could never go to.

Without even needing to think twice, Deborah slowly shook her head.

“No, I’m… fine.”

As if she hadn’t expected such an answer, Maria’s brow furrowed slightly.

“Why not… you should come along if you can. They say there are truly thousands of things you’ve never seen before. And the work isn’t that hard either.”

Toward the one urging her again, Deborah gave an awkward smile.

“Well, I just want to rest… I think I’ve been a little tired lately, without really noticing it.”

Hearing her say that, Maria couldn’t press her any further.

“Can’t help it, then,” she said, sounding regretful, but in any case, the conversation seemed to end there.

If only it hadn’t been for that sudden incident that occurred right before the ball.

* * *

Knock, knock.

She had just been about to walk toward the bed.

It was still early, so she wasn’t planning to sleep, but she intended to lean back against the bed and rest while reading a book she’d borrowed from Maria a while back.

‘Who could it be at this hour……?’

At the heavy sound of the knock, Deborah tilted her head, then walked toward the door.

The face visible through the open gap in the door was an unexpected one.

Mr. Bailey.

It was the first time he, rather than Maria, had come to this cottage, so she found it puzzling.

“Ah, I’m sorry, Deborah. You were probably resting.”

“It’s all right. But what brings you here…”

The cottage was narrow—of course, it wouldn’t have made much difference even in broad daylight, but since it was already evening with the sun going down, the words inviting him inside didn’t come easily.

Fortunately, Mr. Bailey didn’t seem particularly offended either.

“Well, Maria suddenly said an hour ago that she’s been feeling a tightness in her lower belly.”

“What? But why, all of a sudden?”

“Ah, it’s nothing serious, just that it feels a bit heavy.”

At Deborah’s startled reaction, Mark waved both hands and said it wasn’t that bad.

Then he immediately began scratching at his head vigorously.

“……Is there something you wanted to say?”

It looked like there was something on his mind.

Once Deborah, noticing this, spoke up first, Mark seized the chance and began pouring out what was on his mind in a rush.

“It’s just, well, it’s nothing else—it’s that today, Maria was supposed to go help out with work at Chambrin, but right before, of all times, this had to happen…”

The moment the word “Chambrin” came up, a bad feeling settled over her.

“Maria’s still insisting she’ll go anyway, but I just can’t feel at ease about it… so I was wondering, if perhaps….”

Watching him glance around so anxiously, she felt she could already guess what came next without even hearing it.

And also that she wouldn’t be able to refuse.

* * *

“Haa-.”

Having come out for a brief rest, Deborah found a bench placed in a corner of the garden and settled herself down on it.

It was simply washing dishes as they came out, so it wasn’t particularly hard work, but after sitting in the same posture doing the work for three hours straight, it seemed it had been tiring after all.

—If Deborah could go in her place and do the work instead…

A few hours earlier, seeing Mr. Bailey’s face, at a loss over how sorry he felt, Deborah had ended up unable to do anything but nod.

It was a request from none other than Mr. and Mrs. Bailey.

And hearing that it was because Maria’s belly had tightened up, how could she possibly refuse?

Deborah understood well enough that if there had been any other option in terms of time, Mr. Bailey wouldn’t have come to ask her.

She could well imagine how desperate he must have been to come to her like that.

The one saving grace was that, unlike how tense she’d been on her way there, the number of people who’d come to help with the work was far larger than she’d expected.

In other words, mixed in among so many people, the chance of catching anyone’s eye was significantly reduced.

As proof of that, nothing at all had happened so far.

Already three hours had passed, and Deborah thought that if just a few more hours went by like this, she’d be able to return safely to the cottage.

Deborah patted her arms, stiff from washing dishes the whole time.

—Goodness, I’ve never in my life seen such a beautiful couple.

“…..”

Whether she’d seen the main hall where the ball was being held or not, a woman kept letting out exclamations as if intoxicated with rapture.

The people gathered there rushed eagerly toward the woman to ask her this and that, but Deborah turned away and threw herself even harder into washing the dishes.

She didn’t want to be hurt by such things any longer.

No—she mustn’t let herself be, not anymore.

The most precious thing to her now was her child.

So, telling herself to think only of the child, Deborah shook her head violently, as if driving away the vision of the man that had crept up on her before she knew it.

Since they were taking turns resting briefly, she thought it was about time to head back.

So just as she rose to her feet—

“…..”

At the sight of someone’s face standing right there, she froze in place without even realizing it.

Carried on the breeze along with the man’s scent came the faint trace of alcohol.

Now that she thought of it, his posture, normally held excessively straight, seemed somehow slightly loosened.

Deborah could vaguely guess that the man who had suddenly appeared was in a drunken state.

And also, that this meeting now was no coincidence…

Deborah bowed at the waist and offered a polite greeting.

And just as she was quickly moving to pass by his side—

Snap—

At the force gripping her arm, her body was pulled in close to him at once.