Chapter 10

* * *

Though the road was rough, Adel returned to the mansion by a shortcut, threw off her clothes as if tossing them aside, and quickly changed into new ones. With the mansion still not fully prepared, she moved her body as nimbly as a bird.

“Have the silver candlesticks been placed in every room?”

“Yes.”

“I saw earlier that there are far fewer people than I expected. What a relief.”

Susan, too, had been thrown into a panic by the sudden turn of events, but her hands were as quick as her mistress’s.

“Was he not supposed to arrive tomorrow?”

“That is what I heard as well, but I suppose he moved faster because there were fewer people. Still, to think it is the Duke himself.”

“Indeed. I never thought I would see the Duke in person either.”

The Herbron estate was located a two- to three-day carriage ride from the capital. Because of that, the women of the estate could only learn about high-ranking people in the capital mostly through magazines. Among them, it was perhaps only natural that stories about Zakahari Ivan Sonnier, the most prominent figure in high society, were the most widely circulated.

But seeing him in person, the magazine articles had been no exaggeration at all. Occasionally the magazines printed drawings of his face, but they could not capture the real thing.

“Let us hurry.”

The two quickly changed and went straight to stand at the mansion’s front gate. Ben, too, appeared before Adel late, having been busy managing the chaos that had erupted.

“Where on earth has the Count gone?”

“He went to the library to find you, madam.”

“He went out to find me?”

At that moment, the front gate opened and a black horse carrying the Duke entered the garden. Merely by his riding in on horseback, it felt as though the mansion’s garden had become a strange place. Such was the aura that overwhelmed his surroundings. Adel filled her chest with air so as not to be intimidated by the sight.

Jacques, dismounting, could not hide his surprise at the sight of the Countess.

“What on earth…?”

“Is there… a problem?”

Her throat dry with tension, Adel swallowed.

“I am certain we departed that place at nearly the same time, and yet you are already finished preparing like this?”

Not understanding what the Duke meant, Adel only blinked.

“You are faster than any woman I know.”

“Ah…!”

“Your hair was much better the way it was before.”

“Pardon?”

Adel unnecessarily smoothed her hair, which had been pinned up without a single strand out of place. Then she happened to look up and see the man smiling mischievously, and she straightened her posture even more. So it was true that all the women of the capital’s high society suffered because of this man—even a single offhand remark seemed to carry hidden meaning.

“By the way, it seems Sir Devryan has vacated the mansion.”

“The Count will be here shortly.”

He glanced around for a moment, then extended his hand to Adel. Having stared blankly at the gesture, Adel finally realized he was offering the courtesy due to a countess. So she slowly extended her hand to him.

He smiled slightly, then lightly brought his own hand beneath hers. Then he bowed and lightly pressed his lips to the back of her hand.

But in that moment, Adel was seized by that strange sensation again. Because of a feeling she could neither grasp nor let go of, her head tilted to one side on its own. As the man withdrew his lips and tried to pull back, she unconsciously gripped his hand tightly.

Startled by her own action, Adel’s eyes went wide, and a smile of curiosity spread in Jacques’s eyes as he looked at her.

Just then, the iron gate opened again with an unusually loud sound, and Ethan’s horse was seen galloping from afar. Only then could Adel breathe a sigh of relief. It was the first time since her marriage that she had received such an important guest, so it was too much to handle alone.

The moment Ethan saw her, he dismounted without a word and rushed over. But as he came close, he said nothing and only stared intently at something, and Adel realized she was still gripping Jacques’s hand.

Startled, she hurriedly let go, but she could not stop her face—and even her neck—from flushing bright red.

“Count Devryan?”

Jacques called to Ethan then, but Ethan kept watching Adel’s expression. Adel took it as a signal from him and went straight to stand beside her husband.

Only then did Ethan turn his gaze to Jacques Sonnier.

Ethan recognized the crest of House Sonnier at a glance.

The Empire’s crest was as splendid as its long history. Among them, the emblem of House Sonnier was the figure of an eagle with a lion’s legs, decorating the left side of the imperial crest.

It meant that he was a member of the imperial house and symbolized one of the dukes who supported the nation from both sides.

“I apologize for leaving the seat empty, Duke Sonnier.”

Ethan had many things he wanted to ask Adel, but in the midst of attending to the Duke, he had no proper chance to speak to her.

Soon the family’s banquet hall was opened, and a dinner for the Duke began.

Even when they took their seats, no one spoke. Once the main course began, Jacques had all the food brought out at once and soon tilted his glass. Now only the minimum number of servants remained in the banquet hall.

“Were you not supposed to arrive tomorrow, as originally planned?”

Ethan began the conversation, slicing meat that was undercooked compared to usual.

“Because of His Highness the Crown Prince’s order to hurry even a single hour sooner, I arrived a day early. And so I had a pleasant experience as well.”

At the tone, laden with implication, Ethan set down his knife. But just then, the announcement that Annaston Lowell had arrived prevented him from saying anything.

She paid her respects to Jacques and sat at the far end of the table.

“Come closer.”

At Jacques’s words, Anna came and sat beside Ethan. Before coming here, he had been given a rough explanation of what had happened at the Herbron estate. So this pretty woman trembling before his eyes was the one truly responsible for the large-scale waterway project.

When he first heard that, Jacques could not help but let out a disbelieving laugh. But a Medal of Merit was an honor bestowed upon a family. The head of the family intended to direct the merit to the one he wanted and maximize the benefit from it, so it was not a matter for him to interfere in. And yet it was a very strange feeling that this now grated on his nerves.

Jacques looked once at the woman before him, and once at the Countess seated far from him, continuing her meal with an unconcerned face.

“You have done a truly great service for the Empire. Your name is…?”

“I am Annaston Lowell.”

“I see. And… may I ask what made you first conceive of the waterway system?”

Annaston and Ethan seemed quite flustered, as though they had not expected the Duke to question her directly.

“It is late today, so it would be better to ask while inspecting the site yourself tomorrow.”

Ethan stepped forward to protect Anna.

“Of course, I intend to do so.”

At Ethan’s behavior, Jacques curled one corner of his mouth into a smile. At a glance, that maid was his woman. It was rather amusing to see him stepping up to protect his woman.

“Ah, today I happened to encounter your wife out on the estate.”

“You mean Adel?”

“Yes. It was a very impressive meeting.”

At Jacques’s words, Ethan quickly turned his gaze to Adel. When their eyes met, Adel smiled calmly as always. But she did not seem inclined to satisfy his curiosity.

“An impressive meeting…?”

Just then, Annaston tightly gripped Ethan’s hand, and he soon withdrew his gaze from his wife. Jacques’s eyes gleamed with interest at the amusing little play unfolding before him after a long while.

He could not help but doubt whether the perfect noblewoman seated at its center was truly the same woman who had been drenched in water and laughing brightly at midday.

* * *

After a day like a storm, Adel sat perched by the window of her bedchamber, gazing at the quiet rear garden.

Susan nagged her to move to the main house as soon as possible, but Adel liked it here. The building had been built where the mansion’s walls were lowest, so it caught the wind first.

Since coming to this mansion at twelve, Adel had never once entertained the thought of wanting to leave and live elsewhere. But these days, she sometimes thought it would be nice if there were even one place beyond this mansion where she could go.

When that happened, she would startle herself and snap out of the thought. In her childhood, this place had been another name for heaven.

Then someone knocked on her door.

“Who is…?”

“It’s me.”

Before she could even finish asking who it was, Ethan’s sharp answer came. As Adel approached to receive him, Ethan threw the door open and entered.

“What on earth happened today?”

“How did you get here?”

Never once had Ethan come to find her at such a late hour.

“Just answer the question. What happened today?”

“What do you mean?”

Adel looked genuinely confused, entirely unaware that such an expression could provoke Ethan. It was only natural, since until now it had been absolutely impossible for her to change his emotions.

“I heard you went to inspect the library, so I went there, but you were not there.”

“Ah….”

“Ah?”

“Actually, there was a problem at the waterway facility, so I went there.”

“Then why did you lie?”

Adel hesitated for a moment but did not drag it out.

“I thought you would not like it if I went there.”

At Adel’s calm answer, Ethan felt a surge of unknown emotion. He drew a deep breath and turned away for a moment.

“But what was so urgent that you came all the way there to find me?”

Ethan did not answer her question. He did not even have the leisure to invent an excuse to tell her.