Translator: Nox

Chapter 12

She stared at him, speechless. Of course, she had plenty to say. There were so many things she wanted to press him on, things she was curious about, and a mountain of grievances she wanted to air.

The problem was that she had no idea which one to let burst first. The sky was unnaturally clear, the garden—filled with the scent of fresh grass—was as serene as if it were detached from the rest of the world, and the man standing before her was, unfortunately, dazzlingly handsome.

“No. Not a single thing.”

Vanessa widened her eyes and forced the corners of her mouth upward. She turned away from him with a sharp pivot and marched toward the rose bushes, her steps brisk. At least, she tried to make them look that way. Vanessa wrinkled her nose and gripped her watering can tightly. Don’t cry. And don’t you dare look at him for no reason.

Her effort to avoid further misery crumbled in less than half an hour. It was all because of River Ross, who was focused entirely on the poplar trees, acting as if she didn’t even exist.

“…….”

She hated how she became so utterly pathetic whenever she stood before him. She hated her situation, waiting only for the day she would be sold off; this castle, filled with plausible fakes; this garden, left in a mess just like her heart; and this relationship, where she was the only one conscious of the other.

Vanessa swallowed a deep sigh. She felt ridiculous and wretched.

---

“Dahlia!”

It was a dramatic shout. Theodore paused in the middle of planting a sapling and narrowed his eyes toward the source of the noise. A puppy was scampering across the garden, barking noisily. A rare, bright smile spread across Vanessa’s face as she scooped up the white ball of fluff.

Dahlia. The name she called out so sweetly rang a bell. It was the runt of a dying dog that the maids had taken in on a whim a few days ago. After being caught a few times sneaking into the kitchen to get food for it, it seemed she had now openly decided to become the puppy’s owner. The tiny dog was loyally licking Vanessa’s face and hands.

“That tickles… Why are you here? What about Mary?”

To his surprise, Lady Vanessa was now attempting to hold a conversation with the puppy. Theodore watched her silly profile as he slowly emptied his lukewarm canteen.

She was quite persistent and diligent. That was the conclusion he had reached after watching Vanessa all day. At first, she couldn’t focus at all and kept making mistakes, but at some point, she began taking the lead, rummaging through the rose bushes. She clipped leaves stained with black spots, applied treatment, dug into the earth, and meticulously spread dried pine needles under each bush….

She seemed unaware that she was covered in dust from head to toe. At this rate, she was a better worker than the lazy cat in the backyard.

“Look at this tummy. Dahlia, what on earth did you eat to get so full?”

Her touch was tender as she gently patted the puppy’s plump belly. The May sunlight, pouring through the lush branches, cast a glow over the woman’s golden hair. Every time the leaves rustled in the breeze, shadows bloomed and faded repeatedly across Vanessa’s forehead, the bridge of her nose, her lips, and the small curve of her ear.

Theodore slowly wiped away the smile he had been wearing like a piece of etiquette. The dull ache of desire that rose whenever he looked at her had started to become bothersome. It felt like the lukewarm water he held in his mouth, unable to either spit out or swallow.

If he wanted the woman, he could simply take her now. They had made a deal, and the choice was fair to both of them. There was no room for lingering consequences, and even if a problem arose, it wasn’t as if he lacked the power to resolve it.

Then why. Why was he still hesitating?

No matter how many times he asked himself, the reason was never clear. It was something he had accepted far too impulsively in the first place. He deliberately pulled his gaze away from Vanessa, as if pushing aside a nuisance of a thought. It was at that moment that the woman’s voice, which had been chattering consistently, suddenly changed.

“Ri—River….”

When he removed the hand he’d used to cover his eyes in fatigue, he saw Vanessa’s face, which had turned deathly pale in an instant. It was as if her laughing and holding the puppy just a moment ago had all been a lie.

She couldn’t even raise her voice properly; she looked like someone who had swallowed a live frog. What had she done this time? Theodore let out a sigh and pushed himself up from the tree he had been leaning against.

“What.”

“On, on my, my back….”

“Speak slowly. Breathe.”

Vanessa nodded, appearing to try her best to follow his instructions. But it seemed a useless effort. Her trembling showed no signs of subsiding.

After trying in vain to force a calm smile, Vanessa seemed to realize it was no use and finally whispered through her pale face.

“A, a spider… I think a spider g—got inside… my clothes.”

“A spider?”

With eyes brimming with tears, Vanessa managed a small nod. A bit of blood was seeping from her lips, which she bit hard to suppress a scream.

Theodore swallowed a dry laugh and ran a hand over his face. He found it irritating the moment he saw it. Was there really a reason to endure it so desperately? Vanessa was acting like someone who absolutely had to. Or perhaps like someone who had spent her whole life enduring things that way, not knowing how to dare let out a scream or a cry.

“…….”

Theodore slowly exhaled the emotion that had risen to choke him. He knew now. Whose face he had been overlaying onto Lady Vanessa’s all this time. Why that gaze, silently craving his attention, had felt so hauntingly familiar.

“River, please….”

“Stay still.”

He grabbed the arms of the trembling, pleading Vanessa and pulled her toward him. His brief suspicion that this might be some new ruse proved baseless. Beneath the loose collar of her blouse, a dark red, bristly spider was lurking.

It was quite large, and even to him, it looked rather hideous. Without so much as a flinch, Theodore caught the spider and flicked it to the ground. Then, as naturally as possible, he pinched a single strand of Vanessa’s golden hair that was caught on her collar. The moment he let go, Vanessa snapped her tightly shut eyes open.

“Did, did you get it?”

“There was no spider. You just mistook your own hair for one.”

“…What?”

“Here.”

Theodore personally turned Vanessa’s palm upward and placed the strand of hair on it. Vanessa tilted her head, her lips pursed as she looked up at him. Her wide, rounded eyes were full of suspicion.

“Did you check properly? Was there really nothing?”

“I told you.”

“That can’t be. Look again, carefully.”

Vanessa pulled open the collar of her blouse with her own hands and ducked her head. She even gathered her wavy, loose hair to one side so that he could see clearly.

Theodore burst into a huff of disbelief at the absurd sight. What on earth did this woman take him for?

“Do you want me to put my hand in and check?”

“Would you?”

The answer came instantly to his half-sarcastic question. Theodore’s eyes widened for a moment before his lips twisted into a smirk. Now this is a rather fresh tactic. Or she’s just recklessly naive.

For a moment, he was actually speechless. Vanessa, who had unfastened a few buttons of her blouse herself, pressed him with pleading eyes.

“Hurry, River.”

He swallowed a fierce laugh. She was an incredible woman. She missed the mark every time, yet she was never quite the wrong answer. And so. He wondered just how long she could keep up this pretense of being so disgustingly innocent.

Theodore wrapped his arm around Vanessa’s waist and pulled her flush against his body. Simultaneously, his left hand unbuckled her skirt and pulled out the neatly tucked blouse. It was then that a crack appeared in the woman’s clear face.

“Ah….”

The blush that crept into her cheeks a beat late was loathsome. As if she hadn’t known what would happen despite requesting it herself.

Theodore’s hand, having slipped inside her clothes, slowly stroked her back. Heated by the summer sun, Vanessa’s body was pleasantly warm, soft, and supple. Her skin was tender and fair. Every time he touched her, faint handprints would linger before fading away.

He kept his gaze fixed on Vanessa’s face as his hand slid slowly along the curve of her spine. He tapped with his fingertips and rubbed gently to stimulate her, then massaged her firmly with his palm. Every time his calloused palm scraped harshly against her delicate skin, Vanessa’s breathing grew more ragged.

“Ngh….”

The fluttering eyelashes, the bitten lip, the nape of her neck turning bright red, the hair cascading over it, the hands gripping his arm tightly….

It would be a lie to say she wasn’t beautiful, reacting so sensitively to every minor movement.

“Vanessa.”

When he called her name in a low voice, her ear peeking through her golden hair twitched just like a cat’s. He chuckled and lightly bit the shell of her ear.

“I can’t really tell like this.”

He lightly lifted the startled, struggling Vanessa and sat her on the garden table. The fingertips gripping his forearm were trembling finely.

Heat gradually rose within him at the sight of the woman, disheveled and surrendering to his touch. It was hard even for him to believe. That he could be this aroused by a woman with messy hair, covered in dog drool and garden dust.