Chapter 51
After the room was changed by Lionel’s command, the attitude of the servants, who had been acting condescendingly, began to become somewhat cautious.
The servants passing through the hallways no longer cast sneering glances as they had before, and they lowered the ends of their greetings more politely.
Even if it was merely a superficial kind of politeness.
However, Mrs. Nora was the sole exception within that environment.
Mrs. Nora’s way of speaking was still soft, but her control became tighter day by day.
“Agnes, I told you that you must direct your gaze further downward.”
Tap, tap.
The sound of Mrs. Nora folding her fan and lightly tapping it against her palm filled the room.
Mrs. Nora always used this sound to inform Agnes of the “correct answer” one should take as an aristocrat.
Whenever Agnes performed an action that did not meet her satisfaction even slightly, the sound of the fan striking would unfailingly be heard.
“Since you cannot walk, Agnes, you must maintain an organized posture at least in your upper body. Straighten your waist a bit more, and pull your shoulder line back. That’s it. Lower your chin by a span.”
Agnes took a breath, moved her waist away from the backrest, and straightened her upper body.
However, there was a limit due to the structure of the wheelchair.
Eventually, Mrs. Nora placed her fingertip against her cheek and lightly shook her head.
It was an action steeped in disdain disguised as pity. Whenever she made such a gesture, nagging followed, as it always did.
“At this rate, I am worried whether you will be able to do well during the Eve Festival.”
“The Eve Festival?”
Now that she thought about it, the Eve Festival had been held every year until the war broke out. On the last night of the month that signaled the beginning of winter.
Mrs. Nora relayed the news with an excited face that the festival, which had disappeared for ten years while the war continued, would start again this year.
Although Agnes had never seen it, she roughly knew how the Eve Festival was conducted.
Because she was the one who had procured the festival materials to be supplied for that very event.
“That is why the boutique shops are crowded day after day with everyone preparing dresses and accessories. Therefore, you cannot be neglectful in your preparations either, Agnes.”
Mrs. Nora elegantly unfurled the fan she was holding.
Since it was the rule for married nobles to attend the Eve Festival as a couple, her posture already assumed Agnes’s attendance as a fixed fact.
“For the sake of a formal gown’s silhouette that will stand out more than anyone else’s, I plan to pay a bit more attention to your dietary management. Of course, to your posture as well. In addition, we must even correct your speaking habits.”
Mrs. Nora took a deep breath as if steeling her resolve.
A breath that felt like a trailer just before a bout of instruction disguised as affection began.
“There is so much work to do.”
Agnes shut her lips.
Her solar plexus already began to throb at the thought of what kind of oppression disguised as a lesson would take place.
Around the time Mrs. Nora’s nagging was reaching its peak, the outside became noisy. Lionel had returned home.
“Hmm.”
Mrs. Nora flickered her lips as if disappointed and then stepped back.
“Since you must also become accustomed to aristocratic parlance, let us try to learn that part during the next lesson.”
As soon as Mrs. Nora finished speaking, the handle turned almost simultaneously with the sound of a neat knock.
Lionel, still in his military uniform, stood at the threshold and looked down at his watch.
From that relaxed behavior, an aura emanated that he did not need anything like Agnes’s permission to enter this room.
“I shall see you in about thirty minutes today.”
It was a unilateral notification. As always.
However, that provided a breathing space for Agnes.
Mrs. Nora immediately retreated half a step and bowed her waist.
“Then I shall end today’s lesson here.”
Lionel, who watched Mrs. Nora exit the room, also returned to his own room shortly after.
Click.
As the door closed, Agnes rounded her back and let out a breath.
When she relaxed the posture she had been holding with great tension, her body instantly became weary.
Agnes enjoyed the time away from Mrs. Nora’s gaze and leaned her body comfortably against the backrest of the wheelchair.
However, her mind was not quite at peace.
The Eve Festival.
The thought of standing before people again on that day was unwelcome.
She still could not forget the countless gazes and the sounds of whispering that had poured down at the wedding hall.
Also, the glares that were fixed upon the stage of the congratulatory banquet that she had made a mess of.
It would likely be no different this time.
She already heard hallucinations of numerous criticisms flying toward her.
“Haa…….”
Agnes looked at the clock hanging on the wall.
The second hand was moving diligently, one tick, then another.
Agnes traced the doorway where Lionel had disappeared with her eyes.
It felt as if the shadow of the black military uniform, which gave off a navy blue luster under bright lighting, remained there lingering.
‘But this time, Lionel will be by my side.’
At least, unlike when she had gone up on the stage alone or walked the virgin road. At the Eve Festival, Lionel might stay by her side the entire time.
When she thought that way, it felt as if she gained a little courage to step out in front of people.
Lionel probably would not know.
Just how much the hem of his military uniform could be a comfort to someone.
From Agnes’s lips, a monologue tinged with undisguised waiting and fluttering excitement flowed out.
“I wish thirty minutes would pass quickly.”
Today was a day when the quiet air of Lionel’s office felt particularly more desperate.
Arriving in front of Lionel’s office, Agnes took a deep breath.
‘I don’t look strange, do I?’
Agnes, who cleared her throat even though it wasn’t even blocked, turned the doorknob.
As soon as she opened the office door, a wave of warmth rushed in.
‘It’s warm.’
Thanks to that, a pale pink flush appeared on Agnes’s pale cheeks.
Her legs had been throbbing more because the room was cold.
Yet, in the warm air, the phantom pain that could not be caught even with painkillers seemed to subside little by little.
“You came exactly thirty minutes later.”
“Yes. Since you always take a bath when you return, I thought it would be more comfortable for you, Duke, if I came at the right time.”
Lionel lifted his gaze without a word.
The silver lighting brushed through his black hair, which was not yet dry.
A subtle scent of aromatic oil, not too strong, floated in the air.
Agnes’s platinum eyelashes fluttered comfortably along with that scent.
It was peaceful. This air.
Then, suddenly, Agnes realized her state and took a soft breath.
‘Since when…… did being by Lionel’s side become this comfortable?’
Until only a short while ago, her heart would tighten with fear whenever she saw Lionel.
Had she become accustomed to it after sitting across from him every night for dinner and reading reports together?
Even the indifferent look in his deep blue irises did not feel as cold as before.
Now, when she saw Lionel, warm emotions preceded memories like the static of a radio or the smell of gunpowder.
“Don’t just stand there; why don’t you come over here?”
Lionel pointed to his side.
As Agnes approached, an unfamiliar desk entered her field of vision.
It was about a span lower than Lionel’s desk, and the corners were rounded off smoothly.
The dark brown wood grain shone glossily, and delicate patterns were engraved on the handles.
It was high-end furniture that anyone could see was newly brought in.
“Is this…… my desk?”
Clear anticipation brushed through Agnes’s voice.
As she slowly swept the wood grain with her fingertips, a fine texture was transmitted.
Having always used furniture that someone else had used and discarded, possessing a desk of her own had been Agnes’s small wish since childhood.
But to think that wish would be fulfilled like this.
Lionel answered while keeping his gaze fixed on Agnes.
“Would it be mine then?”
It was a somewhat unkind tone, but she was happy nonetheless.
‘With this desk, I won’t have to worry about getting a splinter in my palm.’
The old desks at the Bardo trading company office always had rough surfaces.
So, while organizing documents, it was more than once or twice that she felt uncomfortable due to wood fragments getting stuck in her fingertips.
But that would not happen here.
Following the room where the ceiling was not tattered, Lionel gives her something else she had only ever wished for. Like this.
While he himself had no particular intention. So easily.
“Do you like it?”
At Lionel’s question, Agnes’s eyes sparkled.
“Yes, I like it so much.”
Agnes answered without even taking a breath, and only then, realizing her voice was too excited, she covered her mouth.
What if receiving a desk that didn’t suit her station so readily made her look too greedy?
Her face flushed red, fearing she had been perceived as avaricious.
Especially since Lionel had probably only lent it to her to use for a while.
“I will use it cleanly. So that there are no problems when you dispose of it later.”
Therefore, to ensure there was no misunderstanding, Agnes spoke kindly.
However, those words instead made Lionel’s expression harden.
“Why would I dispose of this? Ah.”
Lionel twisted one corner of his mouth as if he understood.
“There is no way you, who are more aware of trends than anyone, would use one object for a long time.”
His eyes, narrowing slightly, suddenly took on a cold hue.
“I understand, so tell me when you are bored of it. I will dispose of this then and bring in a new desk for you.”
It seemed her words, which she had pointlessly dragged out, had instead invited another misunderstanding.
Agnes hastily pushed the wheels of her wheelchair and drew closer.
A pale pink fingernail set upon a white finger flicked, brushing over the back of Lionel’s hand.
At that small contact, the muscles on the back of Lionel’s hand twitched.
“It wasn’t like that; I only said it because I thought it was natural to use it cleanly since it is something you lent me.”
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