Chapter 29

Chapter 29

“I brought your meal.”

Startled by Grita’s greeting, Elio looked back and forth between the rattan basket and her before waving her hands.

“A meal…? I’m fine, though. Have you eaten, Sir Grita?”

“Ah, I have already eaten. The Commander instructed me to make sure you were fed, Lady Elio. He is busy with another guest, so I came in his place. I hope you enjoy it.”

Grita’s voice was warm, but somehow, it almost felt like a subtle command.

“…Did Sir Carlos ask you to take care of me?”

Grita smiled gently, confirming it.

Elio temporarily lost her words. Unable to hide her trembling eyes, she moistened her dry lips.

“These are the foods the Commander always provides for newly arrived residents. I am not sure if they will suit your taste, but everyone else enjoyed them, so they should be fine for you as well.”

A rattan basket filled to the brim was pushed toward her.

Elio’s trembling lips hesitated. What had been written on the note again? Was it all just her delusion to think they were going to have dinner alone together? Her eyes stung.

“Ah… I-I didn’t expect him to care for me like this.”

She forced the corners of her drooping mouth upward, trying not to show her disappointment. She wanted to look naturally happy.

Why did he have to send Grita of all people…?

“He’s surprisingly thoughtful. He really didn’t have to.”

At Elio’s words, Grita smiled and nodded.

“The Commander is surprisingly attentive. He even makes sure the stray cats and dogs are well fed.”

Elio paused and looked up at Grita. Because Grita was exceptionally tall, Elio had to tilt her head back quite a bit.

“Some people grumble, asking if there’s any need to go that far and telling him to treat them casually.”

Grita raised the corners of her lips softly and greeted the kitten at her feet with a quick eye contact.

“Isn’t it only natural… to feel pity for the weak?”

Meow. Meeeow.

Elio slowly lowered her gaze to look at the kitten flipping its belly over right at her toes.

Watching it affectionately rub its body and reveal its chubby, swollen belly made it truly look like an animal growing under someone’s care. Dazed by the harmless, lovely sight of the abandoned stray cat, Elio unconsciously reached out her hand.

“There is no need for you to feel burdened by the Commander’s kindness, Lady Elio. It isn’t an approach toward the opposite sex or anything like that.”

Elio clenched her hand into a fist. Her eyelashes fluttered rapidly.

“The Commander simply feels genuinely sorry for you.”

Carried by the damp night wind, the kind voice offered no obvious way for Elio to respond.

Only the chirping of insects echoed from the rain-soaked grass in the quiet stillness.

Yellow light swayed over the dark shadows of the streettrees.

In that yellow light, Grita slowly looked down at Elio’s curved silhouette and her slender, fragile neck.

“A child who couldn’t protect herself and grew up being beaten… If he didn’t feel sorry for her, he wouldn’t be fit to be called a knight.”

A neat, polite smile spread across Grita’s lips under the moonlight.

❖ ❖ ❖

“…Beef… mushrooms, sweet pumpkin… Why are there so many peaches?”

As she unpacked the food from the basket onto the bench one by one, there were more than ten different items. For a meal meant for a pitiful resident, it was quite lavish.

Elio tore off a piece of beef, gave it to the kitten clinging to her calf, and bit her nails.

“…Why did he give me so much? Does he think I’m a pig or something…?”

After counting the food items one by one, she dropped her hands. Finding it too tedious to put them back into the basket, she pushed them aside and turned away.

Even though it was a grand feast obtained for free, she didn’t have any appetite at all. Goosebumps rose in the chilly night air, so she wrapped her arms around herself and curled up on the garden bench.

…Making people confused. If Sir Grita was coming, he should have just told me Sir Grita was coming.

Thump. She rested her forehead against the back of her hand.

Her empty stomach—having had only two slices of bread and a cup of milk all day—surged with nausea. She pressed the backs of her hands against her heated eyes. Her eyelids kept trembling.

“The Commander is surprisingly attentive. He even makes sure the stray cats and dogs are well fed.”

For some reason she couldn’t quite pinpoint, everything Grita had said felt heavy and uncomfortable on her chest.

Grita definitely likes him, and she must dislike me. Bitterly biting her lip, Elio buried her burning face between her knees.

How did Grita even know she grew up being beaten? It hurt her pride so much that her breath kept coming in short gasps.

…Did she see the bruises when she helped me change clothes? Did Carlos tell her? Did he talk about how pitiful that weak woman was?

She took a deep, labored breath. The damp, heavy night was so quiet that she missed the noisy inn street where lights stayed on all night long.

…Even if he gave me a house, why did it have to be in such a remote place? Blaming the man, Elio bit her trembling lips, on the verge of tears.

Meeeow.

“…Kitty. Are you hungry?”

HISS! SKREECH!

Elio jumped in surprise and slid her hips far back into the bench. Grabbing her chest, she took a sharp breath. She felt as though she wouldn’t have been more startled even if a lion had suddenly shoved its head in front of her face.

Hiss! Hiss! Hiiiiiss!

“Why aren’t you eating?”

Appearing out of nowhere as if dropping from the sky, a man grabbed the hissing kitten with one hand, tucked it under his arm, and leaned down close to Elio.

Thick drops of sweat fell from his forehead. His eyes, calm as the night sea, stared straight into her face.

Elio opened her mouth in disbelief at the man who had suddenly appeared.

“Sir… S-Sir…”

“Were you waiting for me?”

“No?”

“You put your hair up?”

The man’s dark, night-like eyes looked directly at her.

Flushing red, Elio hurriedly adjusted her messy hairpins. Her hair was rolled up high like a mature noble lady, and her neatly ironed dress barely reached her knees; everything felt awkward.

Above all, what felt most awkward was the man dressed in a grand, sharp uniform that looked tailored perfectly to his large frame.

“W-Without ringing the bell… Is it okay for you to come to a lady’s house late at night like this?”

Pulling down her skirt, Elio quickly checked her face’s reflection in a puddle in the yard.

Carlos roughly shoved the food and the kitten back into the rattan basket and stood up. Watching the man walk away with long strides, Elio stood up in a panic.

She hadn’t meant to shut him out.

“Sir…! Where are you going?”

Carlos rounded the garden, opened the front door to Elio’s house, and leaned against the wall.

“My house.”

As the man calmly spoke while setting the basket inside and lighting a cigar, Elio nodded blankly. Only then did she remember that this house belonged to him.

“Come in. Let’s eat dinner.”

Elio gaped at the shameless man who had already opened the door and walked inside.

“Are you planning to live off bread like a mouse?”

“……”

“The cat says it’s hungry, too. Go show it some love.”

Blowing cigar smoke away from the cat, he grabbed the purring kitten by the scruff of its neck like a hostage and lifted it out of the basket.

Elio let out a ridiculous sigh and took a step forward as if she had no choice.

“…You’re scaring it. Put it down. Why are you acting like a thug when you’re a Young Duke?”

Even though it was the house where she was staying, she timidly followed him through the front door, feeling like a guest. Are we really having dinner together? Is he going to finish what we talked about earlier today?

“I was showing it love.”

“…Do it properly.”

Elio snatched the kitten from his huge hand and held it in her arms. Following behind his back, she petted the cat and hesitantly approached him as he quietly pulled out the food.

Meeeow.

“…Are you setting the table? …Should I slice the fruit?”

“Leave it. Don’t touch anything. Go stand over there with the cat.”

With efficient, military-like movements, the man pulled out a kitchen knife and began slicing the pre-cooked tomahawk steak. Holding a peach, Elio hovered around him. Catching sight of her skin, she suddenly put the peach down.

“…I’m going to go change my clothes real quick. I’ll be right back.”

Observing his indifferent expression, Elio quickly ran up to the second floor.

She hurriedly rummaged through the wardrobe and found a sleeveless dress. Choosing sleeveless on purpose so her fair skin would show better, she applied strawberry lotion once more, fixed her messy hair, and ran back downstairs.

In the kitchen, the warm smell of heated steak was already wafting through the air, and the bag containing grapes and bread had been cleared to a corner of the table.

“You set it all up already? I… I was going to set it.”

“Eat.”

Elio quietly sat across from him. She stroked her forearm—smooth and free of a single blue bruise—and hid her trembling hands beneath the tablecloth.

“…Thank you. I’ll enjoy the food.”

Perhaps because they were having a meal right after a big argument, it felt more awkward and uncomfortable than usual. It was flustering that he remained so quiet now, especially after sending a note teasingly calling her a ‘pretty lady.’

“…Are you mad?”

“No.”

Because his voice was truly calm with no trace of anger, Elio couldn’t ask any further.

The night air had cooled from the afternoon heat, leaving a quiet table. The sharp sound of cutlery clinking against the plates somehow made her increasingly nervous.

Was it because they had fought so much during the day? Or was it because she felt embarrassed because of that novel?

No, perhaps she felt more nervous because of the man’s neat, polished appearance—his hair combed back with pommade, wearing a wide-collared shirt that looked as if it belonged in the finest tailor’s shop.

“…Dressed like that, Sir, you look like a very expensive thug running a high-end parlor.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“…It was an insult.”

Elio glared at the confident man for no reason. It was obvious he knew exactly how handsome he was, looking like a god of war on the battlefield.

“…Why did you ask to have dinner with me?”