Chapter 7
Chapter – 07
Darkness cloaked the estate, yet a glow lingered from the count’s study.
Arno Dienche clung to rigid schedules for rest, bending only to urgent demands.
Reliability fueled his ventures, rooted in unyielding control.
The unexpected light stirred Alfredo’s unease.
“Any concerns weighing on you?”
Arno placed aside his ledgers, eyes lifting to meet the question.
“Endless tasks ahead.”
Endless? Alfredo reeled inwardly.
They had toiled through the prior evening, dissecting records and dispatching commands.
He himself had collapsed from exhaustion, sidelined from escorting the lady to practice.
Scant duties could remain.
“Such volume emerging from—”
Glass panes rattled faintly.
Carriage approaching.
Arno’s forehead creased just a fraction.
“They’re here at last.”
“Just confirming, sir… you anticipated their return?”
Gates groaned in the distance.
A drained plea echoed up from below.
“Worn out… some bites for us both, the lad included. Deliver to the upper rooms—we dive into lines soon.”
“Us?”
Arno’s chill pierced the space.
Air turned frigid; Alfredo trembled.
Brushing by, Arno wrenched open the portal.
“These hours tarnish Dienche prestige. Must wandering prove impossible for you, Lady?”
Conflict brewed—Alfredo sensed it keenly.
He waved off the hovering attendants.
Luiza offered a strained curve of lips as they dispersed.
That grin deepened Arno’s glower.
Her shift to gentle smiles over tempests dragged his spirits lower each time.
“Prestige indeed. A matter on that front slipped my mind amid chaos.”
“Explain.”
“Practice wraps for now. Dawn brings more.”
Her words turned to the shadow at her rear.
That one—her acquired servant, dismissed as “the lad” among help.
Self-proclaimed nineteen, body honed far beyond boyhood.
Arno might stomach intimate scandal easier.
Nothing of the sort unfolded.
Dawn before, he’d observed her in quiet study, book in lap.
Glance rose.
Sleek, piercing eyes—languorous at edges—locked outward.
Toward the lawns, where the bondsman labored.
Admiration softened it first, like savoring sculpture.
Then shadows crept in.
Apprehension.
Her own purchase sparked dread—unfathomable.
No clarity emerged.
The panel thudded shut behind Luiza’s advance.
“Sturdier slam than foreseen. Seclusion suits this exchange, suffocating though your company remains.”
Her phrasing had quirked anew.
Arno bristled.
“Out with it.”
“Directly, then.”
Rigid by the frame, she spoke unbidden to his gesture toward a chair.
“Victory on stage wipes my ledger clean.”
Doubt flickered through him.
Hospitality forgotten, he seized the infuser.
Stream joined her flow of words.
“Balance zeroed, betrothal shatters.”
Motion stalled.
Liquid barely kissed porcelain.
Eyes snapped to her.
“Come again?”
“Bank on the production’s triumph. Engagement crumbles inevitably, Count.”
Tress drifted free, stirring in unseen current.
She foresaw his skepticism.
Certainty on outcome?
The merchant mind scorned frail vows.
Extend rehearsal viewing.
Leo’s display promised rapid ascent.
Her orchestration, genius at helm—not innate spark.
Features molded for the ardent suitor.
Visual harmony doubled presence.
Debut sparks often dim on ill-fit roles.
Dialogue flowed vital, unforced.
Leo unveiled promise beneath her craft—Shin Geurim’s touch.
Presence alone ignited.
Allure spanned tastes.
Crowd-pleasing edge.
Defiant yet magnetic, drawing lingering stares.
Admirers thronged for encores.
Refinement first, to convince.
“Why seek this now?”
“Pardon?”
Unexpected probe unbalanced Luiza.
Arno stiffened, discomfort etching lines—not pride.
“Why pursue separation so abruptly?”
Abrupt to him.
Design etched from inception.
Scandals piled, auction spectacle forced public rift.
Her martyr spin ignited backlash, Dienche branded oath-breakers against ducal blood.
Vengeance drove his courtroom barbs.
Thrift incarnate carved hours for reprisal.
Lessen that venom required graceful exit, post-acclaim.
Untouched servant puzzled him—conscience stirring?
Absurd.
Origin flashed: her gloating profit claim to boyish Arno.
Upstart jabs.
Script lay convenient.
Authorship stunned; ardor evoked infatuation, servant-bound.
Clarity struck: sever amid stage passion, his discard of crude upstart yields pity wave.
Outrage blazed.
Veil tore, exposing noble disdain’s deep wounds.
Her ploy, tarnished royal’s thrust, unleashed it.
Mobs inflated her crimes for the blaze.
Treason leaks, faithless beds, elder desecration.
Truths tamer: folly barred intrigue, flesh recoiled contact, ancestor’s vessel cradled secret.
No tears allowed the doomed.
“Your motive to sever—”
“Carriage devoured parents at nine. Rite’s eve, elder mandated your bond.”
Fleeting novel note, slurred to Rudi on acquisitions.
“Defiance rose—I craved heart-led unions.”
Quiet gripped.
“Palm met cheek; wares to vend.”
Frown carved Arno’s face.
“Slander the grave—”
Hiss of mirth, digits twisted in strands.
He branded falsehood—
“Duty chained to fortune. Parents’ sole bequest: my barter worth. Spurn it, streets claim the stray.”
“Lady…”
“Pity spawned lavish indulgences.”
“No absolution—”
“Faith rests with you.”
Gaze lifted.
Features ravaged.
Emotion’s tide overwhelmed.
Child’s dreams auctioned for unasked glory.
Mirrored Shin Geurim.
Existence traded for imposed perfection.
Mother’s bargain.
Fresh-born clause: school gate severs—for celluloid ascent.
Shared stage night—final.
Through haze, respiration neared.
Wiping clear, astonishment defined him.
Expected, yet alien.
“Final revelation: probe script souls deeply? Intent dawns.”
“How so—”
Steps closed distance.
Instinct pulled him back; she halted intimate.
Script liberated from grasp.
“Rival absent. You compel release.”
Pivotal shift: Paris reborn.
Original pursuer hounded youth.
Her youth version soothed.
“My joy yours; deny kin outright.”
Meek counsel, balm profound.
“Your woe echoed mine—shackled to undesired indulgence. Paris earns Juliet’s peace. Thus, freedom for us, Count.”
Shock blanked him.
Novel expression, unchronicled.
As if cudgel stunned senses flat.
