Chapter 10
10
Is My Word a Request?
“Mr. Leamer?”
The duke asked, directing his words toward Leila as she bowed her head in greeting.
“Uncle stepped into town for a bit. Is there something you need?”
Leila wiped her lips over and over before she could finally manage a reply.
Duke Herhardt gave a short nod and promptly withdrew his gaze from her. When his eyes turned back to Kyle, a rather sociable smile played at the corners of his lips. Only then did Kyle let go of his instinctive wariness.
He passed on thanks and warm regards for the doctor who was taking such good care of Lady Norma’s health, then shifted his gaze once more to Leila.
“Fetching the roses could be left to Miss Llewellyn instead.”
He spoke slowly, the smile from moments before gone from his lips.
“Roses? You mean the ones in the garden?”
“Pick some suitable ones and bring them to the annexe.”
With a tilt of his head, those were Duke Herhardt’s parting words as he left. He hadn’t even waited for Leila’s response.
Leila let out a despairing sigh as she stared at the biscuit crumbs all over her blouse and skirt. She brushed them off frantically, but it wasn’t enough to shake off her humiliation.
“Stop it already. It’s all gone now.”
Kyle burst into laughter as he watched her keep rubbing at her lips.
“Why did you have to show up right at a time like this?”
“What’s the big deal? The duke doesn’t even eat snacks, I bet.”
“Even so…….”
Unconsciously, Leila rubbed at the corners of her mouth again.
“You stuff your face wide open in front of me without a care, so why fuss now?”
“You’re my friend.”
“The Duke of Herhardt’s just some guy. No need to worry more about him than your friend.”
“That’s true, but…… I don’t know. It just feels so uncomfortable.”
Wrinkles formed at the bridge of Leila’s nose.
“Why? Did something happen?”
“No, nothing like that…… It’s just so uncomfortable, suffocating even. Anyway, that’s how it is. So I don’t like it.”
“What about me? I’m comfortable, right? Nice?”
Kyle asked with a subtle hint of hopeful expectation. Leila laughed as if it was the most ridiculous thing she’d ever heard and put on her hat.
“Of course, Mr. Etman.”
Kyle’s smile brightened even more at the satisfying answer.
“As expected. I knew it. Oh, want help with the errand?”
“No. It’s nothing much. You should head home now.”
“Then I’ll wait here.”
“It’s fineee. If Mrs. Etman finds out you’re hanging around here again playing, she’ll be fu—furious. Don’t get me in trouble too—go home and study.”
Kyle’s eyebrows twitched at Leila’s pointed remark. He wanted to argue, but he couldn’t.
He stared intently in the direction the duke had disappeared.
This unease must be because he’d been overly sensitive lately.
Not wanting to scare Leila with needless words, Kyle clamped his lips shut. It wasn’t just any man—it was the Duke of Herhardt. A flawless noble on the verge of engagement.
“Leila!”
Even so, the lingering anxiety spilled out as her name. Leila, gathering her scissors and basket, turned with a smile and waved.
“See you tomorrow, Kyle!”
Don’t go.
Kyle swallowed the words he wanted to say and waved back as always.
Right. It’s the Duke of Herhardt.
He repeated the thought like a mantra as Leila receded down the path.
“Again.”
Mathias’s voice reached Leila’s back just as she was about to turn away. It took her a few blinks to realize the word was directed at her.
Leila turned around, holding her breath. Mathias sat across from the butler at the table by the window, reviewing the papers spread out before him just as before.
“Something not too flashy.”
His gaze fixed solely on the document in his hand, Mathias spoke slowly.
“Again.”
When his eyes finally met Leila’s, an oddly gentle smile graced Mathias’s face.
Leila clenched her fists tight to suppress the surge of irritation. So the roses were the problem after all. Those very roses he’d told her to pick “appropriately.”
While Leila glared at the roses, Mathias indifferently looked away. Hessen the butler resumed his explanation, and Mathias, listening attentively, added a few curt instructions. It was as if the unsatisfactory errand girl had been completely erased from existence.
For Uncle Bill.
Repeating that to herself like a spell, Leila quietly left the riverside annexe and headed back to the garden. To think that the man who tormented people like this in the middle of a summer afternoon at two o’clock could be a good person. She vented her dissatisfaction with that reputation through her forceful steps.
Even Leila, who paid little attention to estate matters, knew the riverside annexe was Duke Herhardt’s domain. He rarely entertained guests, and only a select few servants came and went.
She suspected Claudine was the reason for suddenly wanting flowers there. With their engagement imminent, perhaps Claudine would start visiting the annexe. That would explain choosing vibrant colors to suit Lady Brandt’s tastes—only for it to end up like this.
Emerging from the woods, the garden appeared, devoid of even a single shadow.
Leila marched forward with resolve and once more carefully cut the roses. To meet the picky duke’s demands, she selected muted shades this time. Roses she herself quite liked, for the most part.
Basket full of flowers in hand, Leila trudged back through the stifling summer afternoon heat that choked the breath from her lungs.
If that’s how it was, why didn’t you just tell me the color you wanted from the start?
In place of the retort she couldn’t voice, Leila kicked at a pebble on the ground.
I don’t like you, Your Grace.
She poured the words she could never say to him into a kick at an innocent tree leaf.
By the time her dizziness was nearly gone, Leila arrived at the annexe.
The beautiful building stood by the pier, half-floating over the river. The first floor held a boat garage and a simple kitchen for preparing tea and snacks, while the second floor contained the duke’s reception room, bedroom, and dining room.
Holding the rose basket, Leila climbed the external stairs straight to the second floor. The butler and a middle-aged maid were just exiting the annexe.
After a quick bow to them, Leila hurried into the reception room. Mathias was still in the same spot. His head tilted back, eyes closed.
Should I wait?
While Leila hesitated, fortunately, he opened his eyes. Stray locks of softly tousled hair veiled his forehead.
“I’ve brought new roses, Your Grace.”
Leila lifted the flower-filled basket slightly to show him.
Mathias simply stared, saying nothing. Having shed his riding jacket and undone a few shirt buttons, he looked far more unguarded and languid than before.
“Should I…… go again?”
Leila’s cautious question came out trembling. If she had to trek back to the garden one more time, she felt like she could bludgeon the duke with the roses.
“If I say go, will you?”
His voice carried a hint of drowsiness as he asked.
“If I made another mistake, I would, but if I have to, please tell me the color you want this time.”
Yes, Your Grace.
That had been her intended reply, but Leila’s lips blurted out something entirely different.
Mathias watched the frozen Leila for a moment, then straightened up from where he’d been leaning deep into the sofa backrest.
“Sit.”
His gaze indicated the seat across the table.
“No, thank you. If you’re satisfied, Your Grace, I’ll just…….”
“If you’ve brought the flowers, isn’t arranging them in a vase your job too, Miss Llewellyn?”
“But Your Grace, I’m not good at flower arranging.”
“Then should I do it?”
Mathias’s eyes swept the room calmly before settling back on Leila. She easily grasped what that brief gesture implied. Now, in this annexe, it was just the two of them. Even if she wasn’t skilled, she had no choice but to do it.
Leila approached Mathias’s side with careful steps. The seat opposite felt too daunting, so she cautiously sat in the wooden chair by the window facing the river.
As Leila began trimming the roses, Mathias turned his attention to the pile of scattered documents on the table. The snip of scissors through fresh stems and the rustle of turning pages seeped into the silence.
Just as he finished signing the last document under review, Mathias suddenly thought of the bird in his bedroom. Far from the wild creature it had been called, the canary followed him devotedly. Now it even perched fearlessly on his finger to sing.
He’d stared, mesmerized, at how such a ridiculously tiny bird could trill so beautifully. When it fluttered up in a flap of wings, it returned to his hand and chirped softly, as if chattering some affectionate tale.
While he organized the papers, Leila quietly fetched water from the bathroom for the vase. She moved with a lightness that carried no weight.
It was soon proven that Leila hadn’t lied. Her flower arranging was little more than dumping the roses into the vase.
“Do you like it?”
Leila stood with the vase in hand, asking hesitantly.
“It’s awful.”
Mathias’s tone was dry, devoid of any reproach. Leila’s cheeks flushed faintly as her eyes blinked in flustered confusion.
“I’m sorry. I’ll fetch a skilled maid.”
“Sit.”
“Pardon?”
“Sit, Leila.”
As his voice lowered, the pressure in it intensified. The tip of his finger pointed precisely at the sofa opposite.
Having placed the poorly arranged rose vase on the console, Leila sat stiffly where Mathias indicated.
“Eat.”
His gaze directed her to a silver domed dish.
When Leila awkwardly lifted the lid, a silver tray appeared with a single serving of sandwiches and lemonade.
Mathias regarded the bewildered Leila steadily. If she liked something this simple, he planned to give her compensation fitting her level. The result was terrible, but she had gone to the trouble in place of the gardener, after all.
“Thank you, but I’m fine, Your Grace.”
With trembling hands, Leila set the dome back down. The face that had smiled like sunlight in front of the doctor’s son now looked nothing but distressed.
“If there’s nothing else you need, I’ll be going…….”
“Leila.”
Mathias’s voice had dropped to nearly a whisper.
As Leila blinked slowly, Mathias took a sip of the cold whiskey soda before him. Water droplets from the crystal glass trailed slowly down his long fingers.
“Is my word a request?”
Water touched, his lips curved into a smile, now even redder.
