The Trash Lady Who Stole the Duke's First Night
Chapter 29
“Dinner delivery is here.”
Taken aback by Grita’s greeting, Elio glanced between the rattan basket and her, waving her hands in fluster.
“A meal…? But I’m quite all right. Have you not eaten yet, Dame Grita?”
“Ah, I have already eaten. It was the Commander’s wish that I see to your dinner, my lady. The Commander is busy with guests, so I came in his stead. I hope you enjoy it.”
Grita’s voice was warm, yet somehow strangely sounded like an order.
“…Sir Carlos told you to bring this to me?”
Grita smiled gently in affirmation.
For a moment, Elio was at a loss for words. Unable to hide her wavering gaze, she moistened her lips.
“This is the food the Commander always prepares for new residents moving into the estate, so I do not know if it will suit your taste. Still, everyone else enjoyed it, so it should be fine.”
The rattan basket, heaped with food, was held out before her.
Elio’s trembling lips hesitated. What had the note said again? Had she completely misunderstood, assuming they would have dinner just the two of them? Her eyes stung.
“Ah… I-I didn’t expect him to look after me like this.”
Lest her disappointment show, she forced the drooping corners of her mouth upward. She only wished she could look naturally pleased.
Why did he have to send Grita, of all people…
“He’s truly thoughtful. He really didn’t have to.”
At Elio’s words, Grita nodded with a smile.
“The Commander is surprisingly attentive. He even makes sure the stray cats and wild dogs are well-fed.”
Elio paused and looked up at Grita. Given the knight’s imposing height, she had to tilt her head back quite a bit further.
“Though there are those who grumble that there’s no need to go that far, that he should just treat them with moderation.”
Grita curved her lips softly and cast a glance down at the kitten by her feet.
“Feeling pity for the weak… is only natural, isn’t it?”
Mew. Meoow.
Elio slowly lowered her gaze as well, looking at the kitten rolling onto its back at her toes.
Rubbing affectionately against her and showing off its plump little belly, it truly looked as though it were being raised under someone’s care. Dazed by the harmless, endearing sight of the abandoned stray, Elio unconsciously reached her hand out.
“You needn’t feel burdened by the Commander’s kindness, my lady. It isn’t as though he’s courting you.”
Elio clenched her hand. Her eyelashes fluttered rapidly.
“The Commander genuinely pities you, my lady.”
Carried on the humid night breeze, that gentle voice left Elio with no idea how to respond.
Only the chirping of insects echoed from the grass soaked by the passing shower, filling the quiet stillness.
Yellow light swayed over the dark shadows of the street trees.
Grita slowly swept her eyes over the curves of Elio’s silhouette and her slender nape, barely a handful, bathed in the yellow glow.
“A child who grew up beaten, unable to defend herself… Anyone who didn’t feel pity for her would hardly deserve to be called a knight.”
A neat, polite smile spread across Grita’s lips under the moonlight.
❖ ❖ ❖
“…Beef… mushrooms, sweet pumpkin… Why are there so many peaches, too?”
As she laid out the contents of the basket on the bench one by one, there were over ten different dishes. It was quite a lavish spread for a meal given out of pity to an impoverished resident.
She tore off a piece of beef for the kitten clinging to her calf and picked at her fingernails.
“…Why did he give me so much? Does he think I’m a pig…?”
Counting the items one by one, she dropped her hands. Too tired to pack everything back into the basket, she pushed it to the side and turned away.
Though it was a feast given for free, she had no appetite whatsoever. Goosebumps rose in the chilly night air, so she wrapped her arms around herself and curled up on the garden bench.
…Confusing me like this. If Dame Grita was the one coming, he should have just told me she was coming.
Tap. She rested her forehead against the back of her hand.
Having eaten only two slices of plain bread and a glass of milk all day, her empty stomach churned with nausea. She pressed the backs of her hands against her burning eyes. Her eyelids wouldn’t stop trembling.
“The Commander is surprisingly attentive. He even makes sure the stray cats and wild dogs are well-fed.”
For reasons she couldn’t quite pinpoint, every word Grita had spoken felt heavy on her chest, leaving an unpleasant aftertaste.
Grita definitely likes him, and she must hate me. Biting her lip, she muttered to herself before burying her flushed face between her knees.
How did she even know Elio had grown up being beaten? The sheer mortification made her breath quicken.
……Did she see the bruises when she changed my clothes? Or did Carlos tell her? Did he go around talking about how pitiful that frail woman was?
She drew in a deep, ragged breath. The damp, heavy stillness of the night was so quiet that she missed the bustling tavern street where the lights never went out all night.
…Of all the places to give me a house, why somewhere so isolated? Blaming the man, Elio bit her quivering lip as tears threatened to spill.
Mew.
“…Little kitty, are you hungry?”
Hiiisss!
Elio gasped in terror, scuttling back against the bench. Clutching her chest, she took a sharp breath. She wouldn’t have been more startled if a lion had suddenly thrust its head into her face.
Hiss! Skrrch! Hiiisss!
“Why aren’t you eating?”
The man, who had materialized as if dropping straight out of the sky, grabbed the hissing kitten in one large hand, tucked it under his arm, and leaned down toward Elio.
Heavy beads of sweat dripped from his brow. His calm gaze, deep as a nocturnal sea, fixed upon her face.
Staring at the man who had appeared out of nowhere, Elio parted her lips in disbelief.
“Sir… Y-You’re…”
“Were you waiting for me?”
“No?”
“You put your hair up.”
His eyes, holding the depth of a dark night sky, gazed straight at her.
Elio blushed and hurriedly adjusted her loose hairpin. Her hair, rolled and pinned up high like a sophisticated noblewoman, and the neatly ironed dress that barely reached her knees—all of it felt awkward.
Most awkward of all, however, was the man before her, clad in a splendid dress uniform that fit his broad, imposing frame as though custom-tailored.
“W-Without even ringing the bell… is it proper to come into a lady’s house so late at night unannounced?”
Elio tugged down the hem of her skirt, quickly checking her reflection in a puddle in the courtyard.
Carlos casually stuffed the food and the kitten back into the rattan basket and straightened up. Watching him stride away on his own, Elio jumped up in a hurry.
I didn’t mean to turn him away.
“Sir…! Where are you going?”
Carlos rounded the garden, opened the front door of Elio’s house, and leaned against the wall.
“My house.”
Setting the basket down inside the door and placing a cigar between his lips, his calm voice made Elio nod blankly. Only then did she remember that this was, in fact, his house.
“Come in. You need to eat dinner.”
Elio’s jaw dropped at the brazen man who had already stepped inside through the open door.
“Are you planning on living off plain bread like a mouse?”
“……”
“Kitty says he’s hungry too. Dote on him.”
Blowing the cigar smoke away from the kitten, he grabbed the purring creature by the scruff of its neck like a hostage and lifted it out of the basket.
Letting out an exasperated sigh, Elio took a step forward as if she had no other choice.
“…You’re scaring him. Put him down. How can the Young Duke act so much like a hoodlum?”
Though it was the house she was staying in, she felt like a guest as she hesitated, stepping inside behind him. Were they really going to have dinner together? Was he going to finish the conversation from earlier today?
“I was doting on him.”
“…Dote on him properly, then.”
Elio snatched the kitten from his large grasp and cradled it in her arms. Following behind him and petting the kitten, she edged closer to where he was silently unpacking the food.
Mew.
“…Are you going to set the table? …Should I slice this fruit?”
“Leave it. Don’t touch. Go over there with him.”
With deft, efficient movements as though preparing a military ration, the man drew a kitchen knife and began slicing the precooked tomahawk steak. Elio lingered by his side, clutching a peach. Suddenly noticing her own skin, she set the peach down.
“…I’ll go change real quick. I’ll be right back.”
Checking his nonchalant expression, Elio quickly ran upstairs to the second floor.
Urgently rummaging through the wardrobe, she found a sleeveless dress. She deliberately changed into the sleeveless dress so her fair, pristine skin would show better, applied another layer of strawberry lotion, tidied her disheveled hair, and dashed back down.
Before she knew it, the savory aroma of warmed steak drifted through the kitchen, and the bag containing grapes and plain bread had been cleared away to a corner of the table.
“You’ve already set it all? I-I was going to help set the table.”
“Eat.”
Elio quietly sat across from him, caressed her smooth forearms devoid of a single bruise, and hid her trembling hands beneath the tablecloth.
“…Thank you. I’ll enjoy the meal.”
Perhaps because this meal followed such a fierce argument, the atmosphere was more awkward and uncomfortable than usual. Considering how slyly he had written “To the lovely lady” in his note, his current silence was rather disconcerting.
“…Are you angry?”
“No.”
Because his voice was calm and genuinely devoid of anger, Elio couldn’t press him any further.
The night air having cooled from the daytime heat, a silent dining table. The sharp clatter of cutlery against porcelain somehow made tension wash over her again and again.
Was it because they had fought so hard earlier? Was it because she felt embarrassed over that novel?
No, she was probably even more nervous because of his dapper appearance—his hair swept up with pomade, wearing a crisp, wide-collar shirt that looked as if it belonged in the finest tailor’s boutique.
“…Dressed like that, Sir Carlos, you look like a high-class thug running an expensive salon.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“……It’s an insult.”
Elio shot a petulant glare at the unbothered man. He undoubtedly knew full well how handsome he looked, like a god of war straight off the battlefield.
“…Why did you ask to have dinner with me?”