Chapter 18
18
Emerald
“Uncle, this is…… too much.”
Leila peered into the box with wide eyes and spoke in a trembling voice. Bill, equally stunned, couldn’t find the right words to argue back.
“How much did this even cost?”
Leila now looked at Bill reproachfully.
“Well…… uh…… I only spent what was necessary! You’re fussing over nothing.”
Bill finally pulled himself together and replied.
The dress Madam Mona had prepared for Leila arrived at the cottage right on the day of the party. He’d assumed it would come by mail, but a young man who looked like he worked at the dress shop delivered it in person.
With an employee that well-dressed, Bill figured Madam Mona must have put in some real effort. But when he opened the box, it was even more than that. Even to Bill, who knew nothing about women’s clothes or jewelry, the white dress adorned with gold embroidery looked incredibly luxurious and beautiful. The shoes, gloves, and necklace were the same.
Just how much had he given Madam Mona?
Bill started counting on his fingers.
Had that woman even taken money for the necklace?
As Bill puzzled over it and recalculated, Leila firmly closed the box lid.
“Why? Don’t you like it?”
“Of course not.”
“Then why?”
“We’re returning it. I can’t let you spend this much money on a party where I’ll just show my face for a few hours.”
Unlike Madam Mona’s confident assurance that she’d love it, Leila’s face was filled with worry.
“Leila, if you don’t wear this to the party, I’ll never see you again.”
Bill’s expression turned icy in an instant.
“You always say you don’t want to be indebted. I get that, Leila, but things between people aren’t divided by such clear lines.”
Bill slowly rose from his seat.
“It just looks fancy—all of it’s fake and cheap knockoffs anyway. You know I’d give you the best of everything in the world if I could, but I’m not in a position to.”
“Uncle……”
“If you don’t take it, I’ll just use it all for kindling. And I won’t see you again, Leila.”
Bill’s face flushed red as he stormed out the front door. Pacing in front of the flower beds and lighting up a cigarette one after another, a belated regret washed over him for saying such harsh words to the girl. No matter what, he shouldn’t have said he’d never see her again.
As he debated whether to go back inside, Kyle appeared striding confidently from down the road, dressed in a tuxedo. Bill had thought of him as just a kid playing at being grown-up, but seeing him so sharply dressed made him seem like a young man now.
“Uncle, where’s Leila?”
Kyle asked with a beaming grin, full of excitement.
“Hell if I know.”
“What? Leila’s not home? The party’s about to start!”
“It’s not like that……”
Bill hesitated, unsure how to explain the situation, when the front door creaked open. The two men turned their heads casually and gasped in unison, their faces mirroring the same shock.
There stood an unfamiliar Leila.
“Kyle, do I look weird?”
Leila asked with a furrowed brow.
“This dress feels so awkward on me……”
“You’re beautiful.”
Kyle, finally managing to find his voice, cut her off firmly.
“You’re beautiful, Leila. I mean it.”
Once more, Kyle said it with conviction. The boyish, thrilled smile faded from his face, replaced by a faint blush. He’d known in advance that Uncle Bill had prepared a gift for Leila, but he never imagined it would be something like this.
He’d been seriously worried about the uncle’s taste, given his picks like that rustic straw hat, but this was really……
“Get a grip, Kyle Etman.”
Bill Leamer clicked his tongue and gave the flustered Kyle a hard pat on the back.
“You’re standing in for me today.”
Bill looked at Kyle with a gravely serious gaze.
“Take responsibility for her and protect her. You can do that, right?”
“Of course, Uncle.”
Kyle matched his seriousness and answered with resolve.
“I’ll definitely protect her!”
Bill burst into hearty laughter as he watched Kyle pledge with a flushed face. In the meantime, Leila approached Kyle’s side with careful steps.
Kyle took several deep breaths to calm his racing heart and extended his hand with a surprisingly mature air.
“What’s this?”
Leila asked, puzzled, but Kyle didn’t back down.
“It’s a party today. We’re partners.”
“Yeah.”
“So.”
Kyle summoned every ounce of courage he had and guided Leila’s hand onto his arm.
“That’s how partners do it at parties.”
He was so nervous he nearly stammered.
Leila paused in thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement and lightly linked her arm with his.
“Let’s go, Kyle.”
In that moment, as Leila smiled brightly like sunlight, Kyle thought to himself: I’ll never forget this moment for the rest of my life.
Leila Llewellyn arrived with the doctor’s son.
As Mathias, who had been greeting guests, happened to glance over, Leila was entering alone on Kyle Etman’s escort.
It was Leila Llewellyn’s bearing that proved Hessen was a butler perfect in every way. Adorned with the things he had provided, she was beautiful. In truth, it wasn’t much adornment—just clumsily wearing the gifts—yet she undoubtedly was.
Mathias’s gaze traveled slowly up from her shoes and the hem of her dress, pausing at the necklace on her slender white neck. It was a beautiful necklace blending pearls and emeralds.
Everything else had been prepared by Hessen, but Mathias had chosen that necklace. It hadn’t been intentional. He had visited a hotel for a meeting, and on the way there, he’d spotted it in a shop window. The clear green of the delicately crafted emerald had left quite an impression. On the ride back to the territory that day, Mathias had instructed Hessen to purchase it.
As if sensing his gaze, Leila suddenly turned her head. Her eyes, reminiscent of a summer forest, locked precisely on Mathias’s face. Without her glasses, Leila narrowed her eyes before recognizing him.
Unlike the unflappable Mathias, Leila startled and averted her gaze. Clutching the arm of the boy beside her tightly, she hid behind him as if fleeing.
“It’s been a while, Duke Herhardt.”
Mathias turned away at the greeting from a familiar face approaching with a smile.
With an appropriately polite smile, he welcomed the guest and exchanged brief pleasantries. Even with all his senses drawn elsewhere, Mathias performed the task flawlessly.
When he looked back again, Leila and the boy were moving off to the far side of the hall. Kyle Etman led her proudly. The girl, wrapped entirely in his things, as if she were his own.
“This is Leila. She’s my friend.”
Claudine led Leila to another group of ladies.
“Hello. I’m Leila Llewellyn.”
And once again, Leila fulfilled her role with a polite greeting. Her demeanor was like that of a doll devoid of will or emotion.
Claudine smiled even more radiantly and introduced Leila Llewellyn with utmost sincerity. How pitiable she was, yet how kind, clever, and diligent—step by step.
“Leila is preparing to become a teacher. Isn’t that wonderful?”
At Claudine’s proud praise, the ladies chimed in agreement, showering her with admiration. Of course, it was admiration directed at Lady Brandt for treating a pitiful orphan raised by a servant as a friend. Everyone knew two such people couldn’t truly be friends, so it didn’t tarnish Claudine’s dignity.
“By the way, Claudine, I heard you’re getting engaged soon.”
One lady gracefully shifted the topic, as if the orphan teacher story had run its course. From there, everyone’s attention turned to Lady Claudine Brandt’s engagement.
Claudine adopted a shy and modest demeanor. The engagement hadn’t been officially announced yet, so acting like Arbis’s future mistress already would seem frivolous.
“Look, Duke Herhardt is coming this way!”
One lady opposite Claudine exclaimed a bit dramatically.
All eyes turned in the direction she pointed. Even Leila, who had worn only a formal smile while being dragged around by Claudine, looked over with wide eyes.
Mathias passed by Leila and naturally took his place beside Claudine. And Claudine linked her arm with his as if it were the most natural thing. Leila’s face, glimpsed briefly, had grown noticeably paler than before.
“These are my friends, Duke Herhardt.”
At Claudine’s introduction, Mathias greeted them with elegant poise. As his gaze moved from one to the next, it stopped on Leila’s face at the end of the group.
“This is Leila.”
Claudine gripped Mathias’s arm a little more firmly.
“You probably can’t recognize her, right? She looks so different from usual—I almost didn’t recognize her myself.”
Leila flushed and grew flustered at the remark disguised as a joke. The girl, who had always been like a still pond no matter the insult, only because Mathias was there.
“Pardon the interruption.”
A warm voice cut through the sudden silence. It was the boy who had been circling nearby with a displeased expression ever since Claudine took Leila away—Kyle Etman.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, but may I take my partner now?”
Kyle boldly took Leila’s hand. She seemed a bit startled but didn’t refuse his touch. Rather, her expression was one of relief and joy, like a lost child finding her parents.
“My friends are dying to meet Leila too.”
His manner was gentle, but Kyle’s eyes on Claudine were cold and steely.
“Then I suppose we’ll have to yield. We can’t monopolize Leila.”
Claudine nodded willingly and glanced at Mathias. He watched Leila and Kyle with impassive eyes.
“Thank you, Lady Brandt. And Your Grace.”
Kyle bowed with exaggerated politeness.
“Let’s go, Leila.”
Only when facing Leila did Kyle finally reveal his bright smile. Just from that tender, fresh smile, it was clear: this boy loved Leila.
Standing beside the tall Kyle, nearly as tall as Mathias, Leila looked even smaller and more delicate. The boy treated such a Leila like a precious treasure.
And Leila?
Claudine narrowed her eyes and scrutinized her closely. The girl was smiling at Kyle too. Leila Llewellyn always wore a smile even in front of her, but Claudine had never seen one so relaxed and bright. She could easily pass for a girl in love.
The doctor’s son, not Duke Herhardt?
As Claudine felt a vague bewilderment, Leila and Kyle turned away.
Then had the one who turned Leila Llewellyn into a princess been that boy too?
“Ah, Leila!”
Lost in her questions, Claudine impulsively called out. The chandelier’s light cascaded down onto the departing Leila.
“You look beautiful today. Especially that necklace.”
“Huh? Oh…… yes. Thank you, miss.”
Leila fumbled flustered at her nape.
The necklace draped long over her chest suited her perfectly. The gems decorating the edges of the emerald—matching the color of her eyes—like flower petals looked unmistakably like diamonds. The soft milky pearls were the same. They were too exquisitely beautiful to dismiss as fakes.
Could Kyle Etman, wealthy though he was as the son of a mere doctor, really have placed that necklace around Leila’s neck?
“Don’t you think so, Duke Herhardt?”
Claudine smiled sweetly as she faced Mathias.
“So it appears.”
Mathias answered without a hint of hesitation. His face was utterly calm.
