“Do not interfere in things that are none of your concern.”
His words were sharp as thorns, serving as an implicit warning not to cross any more boundaries.
“I will offer you one piece of advice.”
Ryan looked at her, his tone cautionary. “You would do best not to wander about so much, and to keep to your room.”
· · ·
“Otherwise, your urge to flee this cursed mansion will only grow sooner. You do understand that having me throw you out is entirely different from running away on your own, don’t you?”
Of course, Anasta understood that full well.
“Two weeks. Stay quiet as the dead until then. When the time comes, I will place a decent sum of coin in your hand as a reward for being my chess partner.”
Anasta smiled faintly to herself.
‘So at the very least, he considers me a decent match in chess.’
“Tomorrow morning, come to my room the moment I wake. We will play chess.”
“Yes, I will.”
The following day, however, Ryan found himself unable to wait for Anasta patiently.
His mind kept drifting back to playing chess with her.
He tried to ward off the boredom by gazing out the window, but his body practically ached with the urge to play right then.
It was an eagerness he had not experienced in a very long time.
‘I cannot stand this.’
‘I must play chess with Anasta this instant.’
“Hey—”
With that thought driving him, he threw open the door connecting their rooms without knocking, and at that very moment…
· · ·
· · ·
He saw Anasta.
Evidently having just finished bathing, she was covered in nothing more than a single towel.
Her eyes widened for the very first time, naked shock written plainly across her features.
Ryan froze on the spot. Paralyzed by disbelief, he could not even muster the sense to shut the door, remaining utterly rigid.
Her golden hair, radiant like sunlight, dripped with droplets of water like morning dew.
Ryan’s face flushed scarlet with embarrassment.
“I-I’m sooorry!”
He sputtered the apology and slammed the door shut with all his might to erase the sight before him.
Even so, the silhouette of Anasta lingered in his mind like a hazy afterimage.
“Damn it…”
Ryan exhaled a rough, ragged breath.
‘Why didn’t I knock…?’
It was unquestionably his mistake.
‘No.’
‘This never would have happened if she weren’t here in the first place. Everything has gone wrong ever since that woman set foot in this mansion.’
He clenched his fists tightly.
· · ·
Anasta stared blankly at the shut door. She had only just returned from her bath and was on the verge of changing into her clothes.
Normally, she would have stepped behind the folding screen and had the maid assist her with dressing, but today was different.
Not wanting anyone to interrupt her chess study, she had dismissed the maid, bathed alone, and returned to her room.
In doing so, she had completely forgotten that her room was connected to Ryan’s.
Perhaps the only saving grace was that she had been covered with a towel.
The mere thought of Ryan seeing her like that brought a flush to Anasta’s cheeks, usually so composed.
‘Calm down. What’s done is done.’
Anasta wiped away the remaining moisture, dressed, and then looked toward the door connecting to Ryan’s room.
“Miss.”
The maid called from the hallway outside; it seemed Ryan’s meal was ready.
She received the tray from the maid and took a deep breath before turning to his door.
‘I must act calm, just as I always do.’
‘He surely hasn’t thought too much of it either. He was likely flustered for a moment and then brushed it aside.’
Knock, knock.
“I have brought your meal. I am coming in.”
· · ·
She spoke, yet no response came from Ryan.
“Young Master?”
Setting her embarrassment aside, Anasta strained her ears toward the other side of the door.
The silence was heavy, quiet to a suspicious degree.
‘He couldn’t have done something reckless like last time, could he?’
Given that the windows had been locked from the outside after that incident, he would not be able to jump unless he shattered the glass.
“Young Master, may I enter?”
Anasta asked again patiently. When the silence persisted, she set the tray on a table and called out to the maid in the hall.
“The Young Master is not answering.”
“I will fetch Mr. Paul.”
Before long, Paul arrived.
He looked at Anasta, asking silently with his eyes whether the master was still unresponsive, and she nodded.
Paul knocked on Ryan’s main door, not the adjoining one.
“Young Master, it is Paul.”
“Enter.”
· · ·
The Young Master’s voice answered the moment Paul finished speaking.
Anasta, the maid, and Paul exchanged looks of bewildered surprise.
“Pardon my intrusion.”
When the butler opened the door, Ryan was sitting quietly upon the bed as though nothing were amiss.
Yet he seemed slightly flustered the instant he noticed Anasta entering alongside Paul.
“Has something happened?”
“…Nothing happened!”
Ryan raised his voice with unnecessary sharpness in response to Paul’s question.
Growing suspicious, Paul narrowed his eyes and surveyed the room.
Everything appeared completely ordinary. The windows were fastened, the doors were intact, and the young master bore no visible harm.
“My Lady, I shall be just outside. If you encounter any trouble with the Young Master, please let me know at once.”
The head butler gave strict instructions to Anasta just in case.
As soon as he finished speaking, he and the maid turned to take their leave.
“What is this? Why is everyone leaving?”
“So that we do not disturb you while you take your meal.”
“Still, there is no need for all of you to clear out at once like this.”
This, from the very person who had always been the first to throw them out and demand to be left alone.
The servants tilted their heads in bewilderment, as did Anasta, before bowing and withdrawing.
Anasta fetched the tray from her room and approached Ryan.
Ryan darted a glance at her, then fixed his gaze straight ahead.
Even so, the closer she drew, the redder his complexion turned.
The incident from earlier stubbornly refused to leave his mind.
‘Damn it, I’m not some hormonal adolescent!’
He had merely caught a glimpse of his bride-to-be’s body.
And yet, a vivid crimson crept all the way from his earlobes down to his neck like a ripe fruit.
In stark contrast, Anasta set the tray before him with her usual composure, neatly arranging the spoon and fork.
Clink, clink.
The calm, graceful movement of Anasta’s hands before his eyes unsettled him.
‘Her fingers are long.’
Now that he looked closely, her fingers were long and slender.
Her nails were neat and round, as though cared for day after day.
Yet the backs and palms of her hands told a different story.
Though she did not wash dishes here, her skin bore rough patches, not unlike the hands of a maid.
“Young Master? Is something the matter?”
At her question, Ryan cast his eyes downward. It was not merely that he had accidentally seen her undressed; his pride stung because Anasta was acting as if nothing had occurred, leaving him the only one thoroughly humiliated.
“Ah, I… didn’t knock earlier.”
Ryan spoke probing tone, keen to know whether she genuinely did not care or was simply pretending not to.
At his words, Anasta’s delicate, slender hands froze.
“…I also failed to step behind the screen to change.”
Her voice was calm and steady. It flowed smoothly without a trace of hesitation, instantly deflating Ryan with disappointment.
‘Right. This is a woman who downs potent medicine without batting an eye. What would she care about her fiancé seeing her like that…’
· · ·
· · ·
Ryan lifted his head, only for his eyes to meet Anasta’s, her face deeply flushed.
Those green eyes, ever so serene and composed, were now trembling with unmistakable helplessness.
All at once, heat surged up Ryan’s neck as though he had downed strong liquor.
Three seconds of locked gazes.
A mutual stare that summoned the vivid memory of moments before, and before either could utter a word, both looked away at the exact same time.
Anasta stepped back, while Ryan turned his eyes toward the window.
From that second onward, the heavy silence of winter descended over them.
The air outside was bitter cold, yet Ryan’s room seemed to blaze with heat.
Ryan regretted opening his mouth.
‘I should have just brushed it off instead of trying to pry!’
‘Curse it all!’
Desperate to break through the suffocating tension, he looked down at the food before him.
He, who had always eaten at an agonizingly sluggish pace, emptied the dish with startling speed.
“Take it away, quickly.”
He spoke as if ordering her to seize the tray and leave the room this instant.
Anasta drew near without a word.
“…I will bring your medicine.”
‘Damn it, I forgot about the medicine.’
This was sheer torture.
The moment Anasta stepped out, Ryan lightly patted his flushed cheeks, only to drop his hand as soon as he sensed her returning.
Bringing the medicine was all well and good, but the atmosphere between them remained unbearably awkward and stiff.
Unable to endure it any longer, Ryan gathered his nerve and spoke up.
“Do not worry yourself so much. I saw nothing.”
“You… saw nothing?”
“No, rather, I didn’t look!”
· · ·
“I mean… it’s not that I could have looked and chose not to, I truly didn’t see anything. Yes, it was only the briefest glance…”
The more he rambled, the more he felt things spiraling out of hand.
In fact, they already had.
“Just forget it. Let us act as if it never happened. That will be better for you as well. Now, hand me the medicine.”
“Here.”
Ryan swallowed the medicine in one gulp, then lay down on the bed and pulled the duvet up to his neck.
“…I am exhausted today, so we will not be playing chess. Go to the greenhouse and read a book, or play chess by yourself—do as you like.”
“May I go to the greenhouse?”
“Would you have refrained from going if I forbade it?”
She had received permission in an entirely unexpected manner.
Anasta no longer had to visit the greenhouse with a burdened heart.
“Let me know if you need me.”
END
