Chapter 46
46
The Moment Their Eyes Met
The children, who had been chattering and laughing so noisily that it hurt their ears, became astonishingly quiet the moment they entered the annexe. They only looked around with eyes sparkling with curiosity, not daring to chatter or play as they had before.
Leila entered the annexe last, soothing the frightened Monica. The servants welcoming the duke’s young guests treated them with the same courtesy they would afford noble visitors.
“This way, please.”
The servant guided the children from the guest hall to the drawing room, where they had been waiting. The duke sat with his back to the window facing the river, awaiting them. Stepping into a place filled only with memories of fear, humiliation, and bewilderment, Leila unconsciously held her breath.
“To allow us to visit Arbis and extend such kindness on top of that—truly, we are grateful, Your Grace.”
Teacher Grever greeted him in an excited voice. Leila felt a wave of relief at her colleague’s proactive attitude. If Teacher Grever took on the role of conversing with the duke, Leila Llewellyn could remain quietly in the background, like a piece of furniture, and slip away unnoticed.
“I am the one who is grateful that you accepted my sudden invitation.”
The duke rose slowly. Because of the backlight, his face was obscured, making his presence feel all the more imposing.
“Teacher, it hurts.”
Leila, who had been staring absently at his silhouette, snapped back to attention at Monica’s whisper from beside her.
“My hand hurts.”
When their eyes met, Monica whimpered again. Realizing she had been gripping the child’s hand tightly, Leila’s eyes widened.
“I’m sorry. I’m really sorry, Monica.”
As the flustered Leila massaged the child’s hand, the door leading to the balcony facing the river opened.
Leila turned her head instinctively toward the breeze carrying the scent of river water. Her eyes fell on the tea table set on the sunlit balcony. The pure white tablecloth swayed leisurely in the wind.
“Please, this way.”
The duke’s gaze, which had flicked toward Leila, stopped on Teacher Grever’s face. Blushing, Teacher Grever accepted his escort by lightly placing her hand on his offered arm.
The children, experiencing this kind of tea time for the first time in their lives, followed excitedly behind the duke with flushed faces. Leila, holding Monica’s hand gently, brought up the rear once more as they headed to the balcony.
“We really feel like princesses, Teacher!”
Monica, her eyes wide as she looked around the balcony, exclaimed innocently. Leila nodded in agreement. The tea table on the balcony was so lavish and splendid that it was hard to believe it had been prepared in haste.
Leila’s gaze, drawn to the centerpiece of red fruit flowers and white anemones, passed over the teacups and tableware that seemed overly elegant for serving village school children, and came to rest beyond the balcony’s railing—on the dazzlingly bright surface of the Schulter River.
A ray of sunlight struck Leila’s slender glasses frame and shattered into fine fragments. Mathias’s gaze followed that light.
Blue river water. White sunlight. Red forest.
In the vivid, beautiful autumn of Arbis, where every color was sharp and lovely, their eyes met.
Monica kept gasping in surprise after surprise. The place was so beautiful, the duke so splendid, the cake so delicious—her exclamations never ceased.
“Wow.”
This time, a mouthful of ice cream drew forth Monica’s admiration. Staring at the bowl of ice cream in disbelief, she urgently reached toward her teacher beside her.
“It tastes like clouds, Teacher.”
Monica whispered gravely to Leila, who had whipped her head around in surprise. Leila blinked several times before understanding what the child meant. Smiling brightly, she picked up a napkin and wiped the ice cream from the corner of Monica’s mouth.
Monica, who had started attending school for the first time this year, was small for her age, timid, and shy, so she struggled to get along with the other children. She cried every day about wanting to go home, and for the first few weeks, Leila had felt like bursting into tears herself.
But now, she had become the one child in the class who followed Leila most devotedly. After learning that Monica’s mother had passed away from illness last spring, Leila had come to understand the child’s heart a little more deeply.
“Teacher, you try some too.”
“No, Monica. Teacher is fine.”
Leila wavered for a moment but chose a mature refusal. There was no rule saying adults couldn’t eat ice cream, but the ice cream on this table had been prepared for the children. She didn’t want the duke to see her eating it.
Leila took a sip of her moderately cooled tea and turned her attention back to the conversation flowing around the table. As she had hoped, Teacher Grever was leading the discussion with her enthusiastic demeanor.
Leila glanced surreptitiously at the duke seated at the head of the table, feeling relieved. He listened to Teacher Grever with polite attentiveness. His brief replies and smiles were impeccably courteous. Strangely, through this perfect etiquette, the duke asserted his superiority in the relationship. It was an arrogance of exquisite refinement.
“Teacher, Teacher. It’s so good. You try some. Okay?”
While Leila observed the duke as intently as a scholar studying a subject, Monica hopped up with her ice cream bowl and approached.
Startled by the sudden presence, Leila flinched back at the tug on her sleeve. The startled Monica dropped the bowl, which tumbled onto Leila’s skirt. The commotion drew everyone’s eyes at the table to Leila.
“S-Sorry, Teacher!”
Seeing the bowl and spilled ice cream on the wooden floor and the mess on Leila’s skirt, Monica paled and began to sob.
“Teacher is okay.”
Leila smiled reassuringly to soothe the child and hurriedly dabbed at the ice cream with a napkin she snatched up. In the meantime, the maids swiftly cleaned the floor.
Watching the scene, Mathias signaled with his eyes to the maid standing closest to Leila. Quick to grasp her master’s intent, the maid guided the flustered Leila—who was staring helplessly at her sticky hands and stained skirt—to the powder room.
With her teacher gone, Monica seemed on the verge of tears, but fortunately, she calmed down under Bill Lemmer’s comforting words. It was then that the attendant approached quietly.
“Your Grace, Lord Klein wishes to speak with you.”
The more Leila rubbed, the larger the ice cream stain seemed to grow.
Resigned, Leila simply washed her hands. Fortunately, the dark fabric didn’t make the stain look too unsightly.
Carefully turning off the gold-plated faucet at the sink, Leila examined her reflection in the mirror closely. Her cheeks were slightly flushed from her desperate efforts to remove the stain.
After tidying her stray hairs, Leila took a deep breath and left the powder room. But she soon froze in place. Leaning against the wall of the corridor leading to the drawing room was the duke. The moment Leila halted abruptly, Duke Herhardt noticed her as well.
No way.
Frowning, Leila glanced around. She thought it must be something else. Surely the duke wasn’t waiting there for Leila Llewellyn.
But as time passed, the duke remained in place, gazing at her calmly. At the corner of his lips hung a smile that was anything but gentlemanly—one that those who praised him as the perfect nobleman would never imagine. Whenever the duke smiled like that, something bad happened to Leila.
Swept by a foreboding premonition, Leila swallowed dryly and clasped her hands together. She wanted to wait silently for him to step aside, but lingering too long might invite unnecessary misunderstandings.
Keeping her guard up, Leila advanced one cautious step at a time. The duke, leaning against the wall and watching her leisurely, deliberately stepped into the middle of the corridor as she drew near.
Leila jumped back in alarm, and Mathias’s mocking smile deepened.
Having finished his brief call, Mathias headed not back to the balcony but in the opposite direction. He had no particular purpose. Leila hadn’t returned yet, so an impulse had struck him to wait for her. Something amusing might happen, after all. Just like now.
Leila approached with a grave expression, marching as if heading into battle. She had clearly intended to avoid him, but the annexe’s corridor wasn’t that wide.
As Leila came right up beside him, Mathias subtly extended his foot. Leila, who had been looking only at the floor, reflexively stepped back.
She dodged it!
Relief washed over Leila, but it quickly turned to embarrassment. Mathias hadn’t actually tripped her. He had only feigned it before casually adjusting his stance. In front of the duke, who stood tall and elegant, Leila alone had hopped about like a startled rabbit.
The duke chuckled lowly, then turned away as if nothing had happened. Leila stood rooted to the spot, dumbfounded, until he leisurely passed down the corridor and entered the drawing room.
If Leila Llewellyn were to speak of this absurd side of Duke Herhardt, no one would believe her—she’d be called a liar.
Shaking her head, Leila straightened her posture even more rigidly and headed to the drawing room. Stepping out onto the balcony, she saw Duke Herhardt looking utterly unperturbed—no, the picture of a flawlessly perfect gentleman. He was engaged in pleasant conversation with Teacher Grever, a gentle smile on his face.
“You arrived just in time, Miss Llewellyn!”
Teacher Grever lit up upon seeing Leila.
“Let’s go boating!”
“Boating?”
“His Grace is lending us boats for the children. Boating on that beautiful river—what a joy!”
“Uh… but I…”
As Leila made a troubled face, Bill stepped in.
“My apologies, Your Grace, but Leila is quite afraid of water. It would be difficult for her to board a boat.”
“Ah. I see.”
The duke looked at Leila as if he were truly regretful. Even though he had plainly witnessed her fall into the water right here, he acted as if learning of it for the first time.
“Then Miss Llewellyn, please rest here.”
Why was this duke suddenly showing such uncharacteristic consideration? As the bewildered Leila pondered and pondered, the children trooped out of the balcony under the servants’ guidance.
“Yes, Miss Llewellyn. I’ll go, so you stay here.”
“Yeah, Leila. I’ll look after the little ones.”
Chuckling heartily, Bill took Monica’s hand in Leila’s stead. Monica, who had whimpered in fear at the sight of him alone, now happily followed without a trace of hesitation.
“Thank you, Teacher Grever. And Uncle Bill too.”
It was embarrassing, but Leila gratefully accepted their kindness. Unlike the inscrutable duke, they were good people. And being apart from the duke was a great relief.
But why wasn’t that man getting up?
Leila eyed the duke curiously as he remained seated even after everyone else had left. Then it dawned on her. It would be far stranger for His Grace to go boating with the village school children.
Realizing she had made a grave mistake, Leila shot to her feet. At that moment, two boats emerged from the boat shed on the annexe’s first floor, connected to the river, carrying the divided children. The servants rowed, while Uncle Bill and Teacher Grever led the children on separate boats.
“Teacher! Teacher! Teacher!”
Spotting Leila gripping the railing, the children waved and laughed merrily.
“Teacher, we’ll be back!”
Even the timid Monica beamed with excitement.
Now unable even to chase after the children, Leila despaired when a voice as cool as the river breeze rang out.
“Sit.”
Leila whipped around in shock. The duke sat with his legs crossed, watching her.
“Leila.”
Humming the name like a melody, the duke smiled.
