Chapter 020. The Boy in Faded Memories
So, when she realized who that boy was, she couldn’t help but be shocked.
Who was the noblewoman who periodically visited the orphanage, and who was the boy who seemed to be her son?
Without knowing anything, that boy, who had remained just a page in her beautiful memories, was someone she had unexpectedly met again not long ago.
Though it was only in the form of a portrait hanging on the wall, Deborah recognized him at a glance.
The boy from back then was the same person as the figure in the portrait.
To think that he was Duke Raymond, the most influential noble in the Kingdom of Ruvake and the head of the prestigious Cheister family—only then did his almost arrogant demeanor make sense.
A strange mix of joy and an indescribable emotion spread through her chest.
Bitterness.
She had simply liked watching the boy, with no intention of doing anything about it, of course.
Yet, recalling her childish self from back then, her foolish actions felt absurd and regrettable.
An orphan born to an unwed mother whose father was unknown.
A woman who, until recently, had nearly ended up a vagrant with no place to rely on.
How could she not find it laughable that someone like her had dared to harbor feelings for the Duke of Ruvake?
Even if it was just a childish tale from her youth.
“Foolish…”
She whispered softly, as if murmuring to herself, lost in bitter memories.
*Rustle—*
At the sudden sound, Deborah’s body flinched.
Quickly turning around, her eyes finally confirmed the identity of the unfamiliar intruder.
And then, her breath stopped.
Duke Raymond.
The face that had just filled her thoughts was standing right before her.
Perhaps because she had been so immersed in those faded emotions, a strange thrill pounded fiercely in her heart behind her shock.
But that lasted only a moment.
As his startled gaze turned cold, Deborah’s face began to stiffen as well.
He, standing a few steps away, began to close the distance slowly, one step at a time.
His movements resembled a predator slowly cornering its prey, making Deborah’s heart race with growing unease.
Before she knew it, he was right in front of her, bending slightly to bring his gaze close to hers.
At a distance where their breaths could be heard, their eyes locked in an instant.
In that moment, as her heart tightened with tension, his cold voice rang out.
It was a tone so sharp that anyone could tell it was laced with disdain.
“At this point, I’m really confused.”
“……”
“These constant run-ins—are they really just coincidences?”
“……”
“Or is someone deliberately orchestrating them?”
Deborah swallowed dryly at the chilling atmosphere of his biting words.
“Someone.”
She could guess who he was referring to and what misunderstanding he held without needing to ask.
But Deborah, too, wanted to confront someone about this.
It wasn’t just him—these repeated coincidences, like something out of a lie, were just as bewildering to her.
How could they keep meeting like this, at such unexpected moments, every single time?
Suppressing her frustration and the urge to cry, Deborah let out a low sigh.
She didn’t notice the sudden tension in his jaw as her hot breath escaped through her parted lips.
A moment later, Deborah’s rosy lips began to move delicately.
“…I understand why you might misunderstand, but I’m just as baffled by this situation—”
Her words, spilling out in a mix of grievance and frustration, suddenly stopped.
“……”
“……”
Why hadn’t she realized sooner?
Their lips were so close they nearly touched—an excessively intimate distance.
Realizing this, Deborah halted her words and tightly bit her lip.
Every breath they took and released felt vividly intertwined.
As his gaze slowly roamed her face and finally settled on her lips, Deborah hurriedly stepped back.
Her confused, wandering eyes fell to the grass below.
For a while, an inexplicable silence hung between them, and surprisingly, it was Deborah who broke the stifling quiet.
“…Miss Cecilia called me to do her hair in the garden… I mean, I was waiting here because she asked me to.”
She could feel her voice trembling pitifully, but there was nothing she could do.
No matter how hard she tried to calm herself, just recalling how close their lips had been moments ago made her entire body tremble.
“So that’s why?”
“If I’d known you were here… I would never have come this way.”
Lost in her memories, her reckless footsteps must have led her to a place she shouldn’t have been.
His suspicion was understandable.
Even she found these repeated coincidences absurd—how much more so for him?
They said maids who harbored foolish feelings and threw themselves at him within the manor appeared without fail, every so often.
Of course, she had no such intentions, but she couldn’t exactly bare her heart to him either.
So, asserting her innocence like this was the only option she had.
But for some reason, there was no response from him.
Even after her explanation, was he still suspicious?
If so, what more could she say to explain herself?
She couldn’t leave this spot without the Duke’s permission.
Her thoughts ran wild, jumbling her mind.
As she mulled over her thoughts, a response finally came from the one she’d been waiting for.
*Rustle—*
The sound of approaching footsteps.
He closed the distance she had stepped back, matching her retreat with a single stride.
At the same moment, his silent lips parted.
“Acting above your station.”
Even the low voice resonating in her ear didn’t make Deborah move an inch.
Her body froze with a cold fear, as if any movement might trigger something unwanted.
As if pleased by her reaction, his eerie voice suddenly shifted to a strange tone.
“Moving without my permission, like you just did.”
“……”
“Those are all things I despise.”
“……”
So, make sure to remember that from now on.
The strange tension from his cold warning spread through her body like wildfire.
Barely resisting the urge to turn and flee, Deborah finally nodded slowly.
It was then that her gaze, which had been fixed on the ground, lifted upward.
“I’ll… keep that in mind, Your Grace.”
“……”
Their golden eyes met directly.
Raymond’s eyebrow twitched momentarily as he gazed into her mysteriously shimmering golden orbs.
An expression of dissatisfaction.
Despite her obediently following his words, his face seemed to show something wasn’t to his liking.
Fortunately, the taut atmosphere began to gradually ease.
Widening the close distance between them, he turned away.
As Deborah let out a sigh of relief, his final warning reached her ears before he left the garden.
“Go somewhere else. This isn’t the garden Cecilia mentioned.”
Until his retreating figure finally disappeared, Deborah mulled over his words again and again.
Only then did a soft “Ah” escape her lips.
‘So foolish…’
How could she only realize now?
The garden Miss Cecilia had mentioned was the very place where the tea party had been held.
Biting her lip tightly, Deborah hurriedly left the rose garden.
As fast as her steps were, her fiercely pounding heart didn’t calm down for a long while afterward.
☆▪︎▪︎▪︎☆▪︎▪︎▪︎☆▪︎▪︎▪︎☆
By Anna 💓
