50 - Chapter 50
‘Why?’
Ryan paused, wondering what he had done to deserve such resentment from Eloise.
“……”
More than one or two things came to mind. Hadn't they bickered over the color of the flowers to put on the tables while preparing for the Banquet?
Of course, they hadn't fought seriously. Even if they glared at each other, they usually found a solution quickly.
But Ryan found Eloise's furrowed brow and glare amusing, so he would tease her even more.
‘Today, it must have been about…….’
They seemed to have disagreed on what to plant in the place where the fallen tree had been removed.
After much bickering, they had eventually decided to leave the choice to Lord Stanford. But it seemed Eloise still held a bit of a grudge.
It wasn't just the name Ryan Thornton that was scribbled crookedly. Next to it was a childish drawing of his face.
A circle with sharp eyes, and a crookedly upturned mouth that even he found extremely annoying.
The moment he saw it, Ryan had to admit Eloise's drawing skills.
Even though it was a rough, simple drawing with just a circle and a few lines, he could immediately recognize himself.
Ryan twitched his lips and picked up the paper.
He remembered the drawing he had seen when he first came to Blissbury. The nude painting that had initially made him doubt his eyes.
Ryan recalled the face she had drawn back then, pretending to be Ryan Wilgrave.
The features were so delicately drawn that he could feel the affection in each line, but the face of Ryan Thornton was drawn like this childish scribble.
Yet, strangely, Ryan quite liked this drawing.
Ryan examined the paper. It wasn't just Ryan Wilgrave's name that was written beautifully.
There were also traces of practice writing the names of the Ogilvy family and the guests coming from Cambon here and there.
Among them was a long name that seemed difficult to pronounce, like Rospigliosi Benedetta Scrimgeour-Wedderburn, who was from the far north.
It seemed she was practicing writing the name cards to be placed at the Banquet.
In the capital, they would usually hire a calligrapher to create such things. But Eloise seemed to have decided to save the cost and time by writing them herself.
‘This is as good as a calligrapher from the capital.’
The skill with which she elegantly extended the tails of the letters and even added simple decorations was extraordinary.
To be able to write so well, yet deliberately make the name Ryan Thornton so messy, it must have been intentional.
He smiled at his own ugly name, so different from the others, and folded the paper, tucking it into his pocket.
Since it was just a practice sheet, there would be no problem if he took it.
Instead, he found a blank sheet of paper and picked up a pen. After moving his hand for a while, he placed the paper on the table and looked at Eloise.
She was still fast asleep.
He noticed a strand of light brown hair that had slipped down as she nodded off.
Ryan was momentarily seized by the urge to tidy it up and tuck it behind her ear. So he unconsciously reached out, only to stop himself just before his fingers touched her.
Even though they had become closer lately, his actions were crossing the line too much.
He knew it well, but Ryan couldn't bring himself to withdraw his hand.
After hesitating for a long time, he stepped back with a long sigh. His expression was full of regret for the action he hadn't taken.
He gazed at Eloise, who was sleeping covered in his coat, for a long time before going outside and closing the door.
So that no one passing by could see her sleeping face.
Rattle.
The window rattled and the curtains fluttered as the night wind briefly intensified.
Eloise woke up because of it.
In her blurry vision, she saw the flame of the lamp on the table flickering as if it were about to go out.
‘I need to light it…….’
She had to light the candle she had placed nearby before the fire went out completely.
She knew it in her head, but her body, not yet fully awake, wouldn't move.
Besides…….
‘It’s warm.’
She had clearly fallen asleep while working, but something warm was covering her body.
Come to think of it, she remembered bringing out a summer blanket to cover herself when it got cool at night. It seemed she had managed to cover herself with it in her sleep.
Eloise reached out and pulled the blanket up to her chin. Just as she was thinking of closing her eyes again, she strangely smelled a familiar scent from the blanket.
It was a scent she could smell when she went into the deep forest on a dewy day.
The heavy smell of wood, along with the deep, dark scent of moss. And the refreshing smell of water. Surprisingly, the scent of sunshine was also mixed in between the cool yet heavy scents.
It was a scent that somehow made her feel comfortable, so Eloise buried her face in it to find more of the scent.
Then the scent rose even more intensely.
Eloise knew the owner of this scent. It was a scent she could always smell from him when she got close…….
“……!”
The moment she remembered whose scent it was, her eyes, which had been closing again, snapped open.
This was definitely Ryan's scent. But why did it feel so close!
She opened her eyes and looked around. But all she could see was the flickering light of the lamp, which seemed about to go out, and Ryan was nowhere to be seen.
“Haa…….”
The moment she confirmed that he wasn't there, a short breath escaped her lips.
‘He’s not here.’
It wasn't a sigh of relief. It was a sigh of disappointment that he wasn't there. The moment she realized that, Eloise jumped up.
‘What am I thinking……!’
Why did she feel disappointed that he wasn't there? What was he to her?
As if the chill she had felt a moment ago was a lie, her face flushed. Eloise fanned her face with her hand and got up from the sofa to find a candle.
Thud.
Then something fell to the floor. She was still holding the summer blanket in her hand, so she wondered what had fallen and looked at the floor.
“Clothes?”
What had fallen at her feet was clothes.
She wondered if she had put her coat on her lap before falling asleep, but surely all her clothes were hanging in the bedroom.
Eloise bent down and picked it up. She saw a large piece of men's clothing that could never be hers.
She knew it as soon as she picked it up. This was Ryan's coat.
The moment she realized that, her neck, which had barely calmed down, turned red.
“Why…… is this here?”
This room was always where she reviewed documents or wrote letters.
It was not used by anyone else, so it only contained her belongings, so why was Ryan's coat here?
Eloise looked at the door. She had been in the habit of leaving the door open because there were many people coming and going during the day. That way, it would be easier for others to come in if they had something to ask.
The door, which she had clearly left open, was now firmly closed as if someone had closed it.
In the meantime, the lamp flickered even more. Eloise hurriedly found a candle and lit it, still holding his coat.
After lighting a few more candles, the room finally regained the brightness it had had before she fell asleep.
Eloise examined his coat in her hand. It was definitely Ryan's, even after looking at it again. She had definitely seen him wearing it earlier today.
‘Did he come and go?’
If someone else had come and gone, she would have felt uneasy and unpleasant from that moment on, but Eloise didn't feel that way about the fact that he had been there.
‘Ryan isn’t the type to do anything indecent.’
Even though they had bickered several times today alone, Eloise had faith in him.
He would rather knock loudly on the door and tease her for dozing off when she was supposed to be working, but he wouldn't do anything embarrassing to someone who was asleep.
He was playful, but he didn't cross the line. He was sometimes annoyingly efficient, but he never did anything wrong.
Eloise had never felt fear from him.
She sighed briefly and straightened the coat she was holding. As she did so, she subtly touched the corners of her mouth. Fortunately, she didn't seem to have made a mess of herself, so she wouldn't be teased for drooling in her sleep.
Eloise hung his coat on the chair and sat back down at the table.
Then she saw his handwriting on the white paper.
I enjoyed your honest thoughts about me. -Ryan, whom you hate-
