Chapter 4
4
After those long days had passed,
Leila left the mansion as the western sky began to gradually take on rosy hues. A refreshing breeze greeted her as she stepped out through the back entrance leading to the rose garden.
Clutching the gold coin tightly in her right hand, Leila walked briskly. But her momentum didn’t last long. There, beneath the pergola bursting with blooming climbing roses, was Claudine. She had been chatting happily with her cousins, but when her eyes met Leila’s, she offered that same ambiguous smile from before.
“Take care, Leila.”
Claudine greeted her first. The young men’s gazes turned toward Leila one by one. Fortunately, Duke Herhardt was nowhere in sight.
Leila bowed her head in response. It must not have been bad manners, as Claudine said nothing more.
Leila quickened her steps, and once she was out of their sight, she broke into a run. She desperately wanted to escape this unfamiliar, strange world and hurry back to Uncle Bill’s cottage. But the greatest misfortune struck at the very last moment.
At the boundary between the garden and the forest path, Leila tripped and tumbled down. The gold coin rolled mockingly across the paving stones before coming to a stop against the toe of a man’s shoe a few steps ahead. Leila stared at the spinning coin with furrowed brows. The man lightly pressed the tip of his shoe down on it, silencing the commotion.
Leila’s gaze traveled up from the polished shoe and long legs to the face of the man looking down at her. It was Duke Herhardt.
Startled, Leila reflexively scrambled to her feet. Her pristine white dress was now stained with blood from her scraped knee and dirt. He merely watched her with his usual calm gaze. One corner of his red lips seemed slightly tilted.
Leila bit her lip hard and brushed off the dust. In the meantime, Duke Herhardt leisurely took a step back. The coin beneath his foot gleamed, reflecting the sunset light.
Though she wanted nothing more than to abandon it and leave, Leila still approached to pick up the gold coin. As she bent down before the duke to retrieve the glittering coin, Lady Brandt’s parting words suddenly came to mind. Those words that had deeply clawed at her heart, saying she was no better than a dog.
Clutching the coin tightly, Leila offered Duke Herhardt a polite bow. But she didn’t lift her head even for a moment. She bowed as deeply as she could and held her breath. Her whole body had definitely hurt when she fell, but now she felt no pain. It was strange.
Leaving Duke Herhardt behind, Leila started running again. Her knee ached, so she couldn’t run as fast as before, but she kept moving her legs without stopping. Something welled up to her throat, sloshing as if it might overflow.
Only after passing through the forest path and seeing the light spilling from the cottage did Leila realize what it was.
It was sorrow.
“Here, for you, Uncle.”
Leila held out the gold coin with a rather resolute expression. Bill’s bushy eyebrows twitched slowly.
“What’s this?”
“A gold coin.”
“You think I don’t know what it is?”
“Miss Claudine gave it to me.”
“Claudine? Oh, that young noble lady.”
Bill nodded as if he finally understood.
Ever since she’d been summoned to the mansion and returned, Leila had been downcast for a full two days. She hadn’t chattered idly or roamed the forest and garden. Absurdly, it was in those two days that Bill realized how accustomed he’d grown to his daily life with this little girl.
When the child was quiet, the world was quiet. And Bill didn’t like that quiet world.
“But why are you giving that money to me?”
Bill leaned slightly toward the table. Leila sat upright, looking straight at him.
“It seems like a lot of money.”
“It is a lot.”
“So, even if it makes you upset, you shouldn’t throw away a lot of money, right? I thought about it a lot, and it felt wrong. But if I give it to you like this, I can repay a tiny bit of what I owe you, so here, for you, Uncle.”
“Damn fools.”
Bill muttered impulsively. Leila flinched, but he paid it no mind.
From the moment he’d seen the child arrive in a wretched state, he’d expected she’d been hurt somehow. Noble folk were all the same, after all. He’d pretended not to notice to avoid making her cry by prying, but now it was hard to suppress the surging emotion.
“Leila.”
When he called her name, Leila’s face, which had been trying so hard to act mature, softened back into a child’s.
“That’s money you earned, so you keep it.”
“Money I earned?”
“Yeah. Money you earned by doing work. Entertaining a bored noble. It’s a pretty absurd job, but you did it well. So you can take that reward with your head held high. That’s right.”
Leila furrowed her brow slightly, as if she didn’t quite understand. Watching the child lost in thought, Bill gulped down the beer in front of him.
“Is that so?”
Leila, tapping the gold coin, tilted her head.
“That’s right.”
Bill wiped the beer from his mustache with his sleeve and answered heartily.
Money I earned.
As she quietly repeated the words to herself, Leila’s expression brightened.
“Congratulations on entering the adult world, Leila.”
Bill plunked a large slice of meat onto the small plate in front of her.
“Adult? Me?”
“When you can earn your own keep, that’s what makes you an adult. You did it.”
“It was just once, just one gold coin.”
“There are plenty of people who live to a ripe old age and still can’t manage even once. That’s a successful start. Good beginnings mean you’ll make a pretty decent adult.”
Bill piled bread and roasted vegetables high on Leila’s plate too.
“Uncle, that’s too much.”
Leila’s eyes went wide at the sight of her plate.
“You’ve been pecking at your food like a bird for days, so eat up.”
“But…”
“You know? I like kids who eat like cows.”
Leila, who had been sucking in a breath, burst into clear laughter.
“Uncle, if I eat well, I’ll grow big too, right?”
“Probably. Why? Did someone tease you for being small?”
“Not that, but I guess I look too childish. It upsets me.”
Of course you do, you’re just a kid.
Bill swallowed the retort that nearly slipped out.
Leila now began slicing the meat with gusto. On closer look, she’d grown quite a bit in just a few months. The child no longer looked like a skinny stick; she was even somewhat pretty. With her naturally delicate, birdlike frame, she probably wouldn’t grow very large even as an adult, but there was no doubt she’d become a beauty.
As his thoughts reached that point, Bill felt newly troubled.
For a girl in poor circumstances, beauty was like poison. Wandering from place to place with nowhere to go often led to rough fates. So he needed to send her somewhere reliable, but could he trust an orphanage? That might be the perfect place to ruin a child’s life.
Damn world. Damn humans.
Bill cursed the ones who had dumped this child on him once more as he drained the rest of his beer. It was inexplicable how worries like these had settled into Bill Leamer’s life, which had once been content with flowers blooming beautifully and fruit ripening well.
“Uncle, if it’s money I earned, then it’s not shameful to spend it, right?”
Leila asked after chewing and swallowing her food thoroughly.
“Of course. Looks like you want something.”
“I’ve used up my notebook. I want to buy a new one.”
“Go ahead.”
“Could I maybe buy colored pencils too?”
“As many as you like.”
“Don’t you need anything, Uncle?”
“What, you gonna buy me something too?”
“Yes.”
“What if I ask for something ridiculously expensive?”
“Then I’ll save up a lot and buy it for you.”
Leila’s expression grew even more serious. When she got solemn like that, her eyes took on a deeper green hue, making her look incredibly bright and endearing.
Bill laughed loudly and refilled his glass. He placed a glass filled with apple juice in front of the child.
Leila held up her glass toward him. Bill cheerfully clinked his against it. Leila, beaming, downed her juice in one go.
What if she really grows up to be a drunkard?
Shaking his head at the ominous thought that flashed through his mind, Bill dismissed it.
It’s only temporary.
He convinced himself as he emptied his glass.
Such days continued, and over those long days, Bill thought.
Reasons he couldn’t raise Leila, suitable places to send her to, Leila—that lovable troublemaker who had suddenly appeared in his life one day.
In those thoughts, the child grew.
The new clothes he’d bought her became too short, and her skin bloomed fair and soft. The makeshift room in the shed had transformed into a lady’s chamber filled with gentle air. The image of the child hopping down the path was still fresh in his mind, yet now a fully grown young lady approached from beyond with steps as soft as walking on water.
Bill, sitting in the chair under the porch enjoying the breeze, stared at Leila with a dazed expression. A lady carrying a willow basket full of wild strawberries waved to him.
“Uncle! You’re home early today.”
Leila ran over lightly, as if dancing. Her lush golden hair, braided into one, swayed beneath the wide brim of her straw hat. Her flushed cheeks looked as fresh as the fine rose varieties he cultivated.
“You went to the forest again, huh.”
“Yeah. Amazing harvest, right?”
Leila proudly held up the basket.
“I’m going again tomorrow. I’m going to make a ton of wild strawberry jam for Grandpa.”
“Planning to go into the jam business?”
“That doesn’t sound bad.”
Smiling brightly, Leila sat in the chair next to Bill’s. Now that he noticed, there were naturally two chairs. Not just chairs, of course. Before he knew it, everything in the cottage had become for two people. Even though Bill Leamer’s deliberations weren’t finished yet.
Rummaging through the basket on the ground, Leila pulled out a wild peach and offered it to Bill. He naturally split it in half and handed one piece back to her.
The two sat side by side, gazing at the forest as they shared the peach. The rustling of leaves in the wind tickled their ears. The chirping of distant birds sounded as clear as Leila’s voice.
“Summer’s here again before I knew it.”
Bill murmured unconsciously. Leila, wearing a quiet smile, took off her hat and stretched languidly. Seeing the old tool bag hanging below her knee, Bill let out a booming laugh. It was the one he’d given her in her first year here.
“You’re planning to use that relic until it falls apart completely.”
“It’s convenient, and still usable.”
Leila shook the bag and smiled back. Bill easily guessed the source of the rattling sounds. Tin pencil case. Pocketknife. Worn notebook. A few beautiful feathers and petals. In some ways, she was a surprisingly unchanged child.
It was an ordinary evening.
While Leila gathered and folded the dry laundry, Bill chopped firewood. While she skillfully prepared dinner, he fed the chickens and goats. By the time they sat facing each other at the table, the sun had set.
“Kyle’s coming tomorrow. We’re going to study together and have dinner. That’s okay, right?”
Leila asked as she set down the plates wafting delicious aromas.
“Why does that rich doctor’s son keep coming to my house to devour my food instead of staying with his wealthy father?”
“You say that, but you like Kyle.”
“Somewhat.”
Even as Bill snorted, Leila smiled unperturbed and placed a half-filled beer glass in front of him.
“What’s with this half-poured beer?”
“They say for your health, you need to cut back on drinking now.”
“Did that Etmon parasite say that?”
“Uncle!”
“Useless in every way, that guy.”
Grumbling, Bill didn’t put up a fuss.
After their cozy dinner, night deepened. Once cleanup was done, Leila took a leisurely bath and returned to her room. Though sleep tugged at her, she lit the lamp and sat at her desk. Exams were right around the corner. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say this summer’s happiness hinged on the results.
The cries of night birds carried on the night breeze. Amid them came the sound of her pencil scratching across the paper.
After concentrating for a long while, Leila set down her pencil, unable to overcome the eye strain and faint headache. Her eyes, never great to begin with, had worsened considerably. She’d always had to squint and focus to see details clearly since childhood, but lately it had gotten much worse.
Leila extinguished the lamp and lay down in bed. With just a bit more money saved, she could get glasses.
Twenty jars of wild strawberry jam. No, maybe thirty.
Either way, it wasn’t far off.
She knew she could just tell Uncle Bill, but that made it even harder to say. Despite receiving so much overflowing kindness, she hadn’t repaid anything yet.
When he’d declared he would send her to school, people had mostly scoffed. What was the point of educating an orphan girl? She’d just be a live-in helper until she came of age and then a maid in that family, end of story. But Bill’s resolve was firm. He said it like a habit: Leila, you’ll make a pretty decent adult.
As she closed her eyes, the headache eased somewhat. She tried to sleep, but her mind only cleared more. On nights like this, as usual, all sorts of thoughts drifted through her clear head.
The returning birds. Plans for this summer. The culprit in the fun mystery novel serialized in the daily paper. And Duke Herhardt.
At the thought of his name, Leila slowly opened her eyes. Beyond the familiar darkness, the view outside the window came into sight. Gently swaying branches, the night sky beyond, and the moon and stars.
Gazing at the hazy white glow, Leila unconsciously held her breath.
After graduating university, the duke, following family tradition, attended the Royal Military Academy and was commissioned as an army officer. He’d been posted to the front lines overseas for the past year, so he hadn’t visited the territory. It had been a peaceful time for the forest birds and for Leila.
But this summer, he would return.
The lord of Arbis, Duke Herhardt.
