072. This Isn’t Bad Either
Deborah quickly straightened her body.
She tried to calm her racing heart while darting her lowered gaze here and there—
“Sit.”
“….”
Raymond strode past her, approached the table, and took a seat first.
After hesitating in place for a moment, Deborah soon walked slowly toward him.
The round white table had four chairs around it.
He had settled into one of the chairs positioned north, south, east, and west, so all she had to do was choose one of the remaining three.
She immediately ruled out the one directly across from him and decided in that brief moment to sit in one of the diagonal spots instead.
“Not there, over here.”
What interrupted Deborah as she was about to take a step was Raymond’s voice coming from across the table.
Thinking she might not have heard, he looked straight at her, who was standing blankly, and slowly nodded toward the seat in front of him again.
“Go sit.”
His tone was quite soft, but the arrogance in his commanding words couldn’t be hidden.
Well, for someone of his status, it was as natural as breathing.
Deborah let out a faint sigh and went to sit in the opposite seat he indicated.
As soon as she sat down, the first thing that caught her eye was a large silver dome placed in the center of the table.
And next to it, a transparent crystal glass filled with a white beverage.
She was wondering what all this was when—swish—a large hand entered her view and lifted the dome’s lid.
Inside were ornate desserts.
A yellow mini custard cake, madeleines dusted with powdered sugar, and chocolate placed on a pretty plate.
They were the kind of high-end desserts she’d seen at the tea party hosted by Lady Cheister not long ago.
Watching Deborah’s eyes widen in surprise, Raymond let out a short laugh and opened the lid of the crystal glass, pushing it toward her.
“Try it.”
Deborah stared at the creamy beverage in front of her for a while, then looked up at the man’s face sitting directly across.
“What… is this?”
It was something she’d never seen before. It looked vaguely like milk, but the color was more opaque and it seemed a bit thicker.
Raymond responded to her hesitant question not with words, but with a glance.
As if to say, just try it first.
“….”
Figuring he wouldn’t give her anything strange, Deborah swallowed once and picked up the glass.
Not long after cautiously taking a sip, her eyes began to widen dramatically.
Among the things she knew, it had a color most similar to milk, so she must have unconsciously expected that taste.
But it was completely different—a novel flavor she’d never tasted before.
The drink, which filled her mouth with sweetness at first swallow, gradually grew sharper toward the end, with a slight tingling spiciness.
What to say… yes. It was like drinking alcohol… that kind of… alcohol?!
Deborah furrowed her brows slightly and looked back at the man in front of her.
Her expression said she’d drunk it as instructed, so now give her an answer.
“It’s milk punch.”
“Milk… punch?”
Isn’t that alcohol? He must have read her puzzled look, as Raymond continued.
“It has rum in it, but not enough to get you drunk from one glass. I told them to add just a tiny amount.”
“….”
“What, does it seem like a lie?”
She thought she was just looking without any particular thought, but perhaps her gaze had unwittingly carried some irreverent suspicion.
Ahem, Deborah cleared her throat and immediately shook her head.
“…No.”
It was something she’d know without explanation, just by drinking it herself.
The mostly sweet beverage only revealed a hint of alcohol after swallowing it down her throat.
“How’s the taste? I thought you’d prefer this over tea, so I had it prepared.”
“…It’s good.”
“Good to hear.”
But strangely, there was only one glass.
Wondering if he’d only prepared it for her, she glanced at his spot, but indeed, there was nothing.
“Eat slowly, along with what’s here.”
“….”
At the sound of his voice again, Deborah’s gaze turned back to the desserts on the silver tray.
The ‘milk punch’ she’d just drunk—no, actually, everything on this table was like that.
Expensive foods that commoners could never dream of in their lifetime.
Especially the desserts on the silver tray.
For a very brief moment, when she worked as a parlor maid, she’d been curious—as any person would—while seeing those colorful, beautiful desserts prepared for the noble ladies.
‘What on earth does that taste like?’
But later, upon hearing the price of just one small dessert, she’d been utterly shocked.
And she’d simply thought, ‘I guess I’ll never know the taste of that dessert in my lifetime,’ and let it go.
It had just been a fleeting bitterness; it hadn’t made her particularly sad.
Resignation and giving up were things Deborah had repeated like breathing since the moment she was born, so accepting it naturally was just how it was.
Yet this was already the second time.
That food so ill-suited to her station was laid out before her eyes.
The first was the picnic food sent like a gift,
And the second was the food right in front of her now.
Though the situations were different, they were all foods prepared by the duke.
“….”
She’d pondered and pondered all night about what on earth he intended to do with her for an hour every day.
She’d imagined all sorts of things, but among those countless scenes, this kind of sight wasn’t there.
So this moment felt extremely unfamiliar and strange.
And it made her mind even more complicated.
If the man had demanded her body, it would have been miserable, but not this confusing. Because he was showing completely unimaginable behavior, her chest felt tight and her throat clogged up.
So words she normally could never say just spilled out—without passing through her consciousness.
“Why are you doing this?”
“…What?”
“Why are you doing this to me… Honestly, I don’t understand.”
“What is it that’s so hard to understand now?”
“….”
His mocking smile made anger surge up in her.
Her mind was a complete tangled mess right now, yet the man responsible was lounging as if it were all a joke, and that didn’t sit well with her.
Her lips pressed tightly shut in silence, brimming with that uncomfortable irritation.
“Don’t overthink it.”
“….”
“I just prepared it because I wanted to feed you something that might lift your spirits.”
This time, a fairly serious answer came, but she couldn’t think of anything to retort.
So she just kept her mouth shut, but perhaps he misunderstood it as her still being in a bad mood.
Raymond suddenly pressed his fingers slowly and firmly against the bridge of his nose.
“Around this time, you might crave something sweet, or so I thought.”
Seeing his slightly flustered appearance, Deborah finally realized the meaning behind the man’s actions.
Suddenly, her throat tightened, and the tip of her chest tingled.
An awkward silence settled over the table for a moment, and only after a while did Deborah slowly raise her hand to pick up one madeleine.
As she bit into the small shell-shaped madeleine and swallowed it, Raymond, sitting across from her, watched the scene without blinking once.
Slowly, for the long time it took Deborah to finish that one entirely.
‘…So this is what it tastes like.’
After finishing the butter-rich madeleine, Deborah unconsciously marveled.
It felt like discovering such food existed in the world for the first time.
The foods in the picnic basket she’d tasted not long ago were truly wonderful too, but the madeleine she just ate had a different flavor altogether.
While enveloped in that strange shock, her gaze suddenly shifted to the front.
“….”
“….”
Unconsciously, heat flushed to her cheeks at the blue eyes staring fixedly at her.
After a brief hesitation, Deborah moved her lips as if resolved.
“…This is good too.”
A blush spread over her pale face.
The words slipped out shyly.
Watching that, Raymond had to wrestle with clashing emotions.
One: the urge to go to her side right then and kiss those lips.
Two: the desire to let her continue enjoying the prepared desserts as is.
After a long internal conflict, he chose the latter.
“Yes, good that it suits your taste too.”
With a slight nod, Raymond smiled at the corners of his mouth.
If he’d known she’d like it this much, he would have prepared more.
He felt almost sorry for having it prepared just as a mere accompaniment to spend time together.
—Well, this isn’t bad either.
It was what he’d said upon seeing the woman enter this terrace garden for the first time.
Back then, it had been a light remark, but now he truly felt that way.
Really, this wasn’t bad at all.
As he watched her gaze already turning to the next dessert, Raymond’s smile deepened even further.
☆▪︎▪︎▪︎☆▪︎▪︎▪︎☆
By Anna 💓
