Episode 47
Suddenly, our eyes met head-on.
As I faced the eyes darker than the night, my heart pounded, and my emotions stirred.
Moonlight seemed to pour down entirely on him.
As if created to illuminate only one person, he shone with a subtle light.
‘A beautiful person’
He was so perfect that it could be confidently stated that there was no one as beautiful.
Gradually, my mind became dazed, and I felt captivated by the figure before my eyes.
“…In.”
It was only after hearing his voice that I snapped back to reality, but some time had passed.
“…My lady?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Maybe I zoned out because I’m tired.”
To quickly recover the situation, I blurted out anything.
“Are you very tired?”
“Huh? Yes. I went out today, so I feel a bit tired.”
I deliberately let out a small yawn.
“Then, let’s get to bed quickly.”
“Yes, let’s do that.”
After a while, we lay side by side in bed.
Lloydin took my hand first, and in gratitude, I smiled at him.
And soon, I closed my eyes to go to sleep.
However, due to the aftermath of my heart pounding like crazy earlier, it still felt weakly vibrating.
On top of that, contrary to what I had said about being tired, I wasn’t tired at all.
Taking advantage of the darkness, I slowly opened my eyes.
To calm my mind, I started recalling everything I had done today, one by one.
“Oh, right.”
In the process, I realized that I had forgotten to talk about Colin.
Thinking about Colin instead of Lloydin, my heart gradually found its place.
With a calm heart, I finally began to think rationally.
“…Your Grace, are you sleeping?”
I spoke to Lloydin in a low voice.
If he was asleep, I planned to talk about it tomorrow, and if he was awake, I intended to talk about it now.
“I’m not sleeping.”
Lloydin, like me, was still not asleep.
“That’s a relief. Actually, there’s something I still wanted to say. It’s not urgent, but I wanted to tell you today.”
“What is it?”
“It’s about Colin.”
“…”
When Colin’s name came out of my mouth, the person who had been responding immediately suddenly fell silent, and I felt tension in the hand he was holding.
Certainly, Colin didn’t sit well with him.
Thinking so, I was about to start talking about Colin in earnest, but Lloydin’s voice cut in first.
“Do you get along well with that physician?”
“Pardon?”
“…You seemed quite close.”
Suddenly, Lloydin’s voice seemed a bit quieter, but as he showed interest in Colin, my attention shifted entirely to that direction.
Thinking I had a good opportunity, I began to elaborate on Colin.
“Oh, I was somewhat closer to him than other physicians. Because I was the one who brought Colin to the Blighton estate.”
“Did my lady say so?”
“Yes. When he was young, I found him collapsed on the street while I was out. It was a harsh winter night with a fierce snowstorm, and Colin was lying on a snow-covered road. Seeing him like that, I just couldn’t pass by.”
Lloydin seemed intrigued by my words.
Continuing, I said, “I insisted on bringing Colin to the mansion. As I mentioned before, he’s a bright child who realized medicine while working as an apprentice at the physician’s side. Thanks to him, he became the estate’s physician at a young age.”
Now, the story I was about to tell was the most important.
After organizing my thoughts once more in my head, I spoke up.
“Because I brought Colin here, I bear some responsibility for him. But the reason Colin is more special to me is because of the kindness he showed. He worked harder than anyone to treat my illness. He studied and researched day and night. I’m truly grateful and proud of him. So, Your Grace, Colin…”
“Your Grace?”
As I was about to speak, I cautiously called out to him.
I felt a stronger grip in the hand I was holding than before.
“Special…”
“Pardon?”
It was just a murmured whisper, but because of the silence around us, Lloydin’s words were clearly audible to me.
“The physician is special to my lady.”
“I suppose so. That’s why I believe Colin will be able to show his dedication to you, Your Grace, even here.”
I quickly expressed the last thing I wanted to say.
“So, please trust me and give Colin a chance. I’m sure he’ll live up to Your Grace’s expectations.”
A moment of silence settled in the room.
Lloydin seemed neither positive nor negative, lost in thought.
It was frustrating not being able to read his expression in the darkness as he lay there.
“Your Grace?”
Finally reaching the limit of my patience, I broke the silence.
“Colin…”
“Your lady’s words are well understood.”
As I was about to speak again, Lloydin finally interrupted me.
“Does that mean you’re willing to accept Colin?”
His ambiguous response made it difficult to discern whether it was positive or negative.
This should have been made clear from the beginning.
I asked him, as if urging him for a more definite answer.
“…Yes, I will.”
Finally, the permission came from him.
Colin was now the physician of the Blighton family.
“Thank you. Colin will do really well, I promise. You won’t regret accepting him as your physician.”
Since deciding to marry Lloydin and joining the Blighton family, I felt a sense of fulfillment, as if I had kept my promise to myself to do something for the Blighton family and Lloydin.
“I hope I won’t regret it.”
“Yes, you won’t regret it.”
I emphasized the same words with confidence.
I felt a stronger grip in the hand I was holding, but I quickly dismissed it as a misunderstanding.
Already too intoxicated with my own achievements, I fell asleep feeling proud.
* * *
The next morning, another pleasant thing happened.
When I went down to the dining room for breakfast, Ian was already sitting there.
“Ian?”
I blinked, looking at Ian with wide eyes.
“Did you come down to have breakfast with us?”
“…Do you not want me to?”
“No! Of course, I’d love that.”
There was still a hint of hesitation in my heart, not completely open yet.
But Ian seemed determined to hold my outstretched hand, and I was glad to see such a child.
“It’s nice to see you two getting along.”
“We’re not quite there yet.”
“Is that so?”
Both Ian and I answered Lloydin’s question simultaneously.
“Ian is right. We’re not quite there yet, but we’ll become closer in the future. Right, Ian?”
At Ian’s somewhat reluctant response, I smiled at the child and added, “…”
Ian didn’t respond to my words, but the hostile look he initially gave me was gone.
Seeing such a significant change, I felt hopeful that even greater changes could be brought about in the future.
“Let’s eat.”
“Yes. Ian, enjoy your meal. Your Grace, please enjoy yours too.”
“…You too.”
Ian’s very small response to my words seemed so adorable that I almost laughed.
But I held back my laughter because I thought it might seem like I was mocking the child.
Neither Lloydin nor Ian knew how to handle someone approaching them so warmly, not as family but as strangers.
Therefore, it would be unfamiliar and uncomfortable for them to deal with such a situation.
Still, I felt proud and happy to see Ian no longer rejecting me and trying to follow along.
The meal progressed mostly through conversations between Lloydin and me, with Ian occasionally chiming in with short responses.
Even that was enough to make the time meaningful.
Peaceful days passed little by little.
As I grew accustomed to the tasks of being the mistress of the estate, I also adapted well to life here.
My relationship with Ian was also getting closer little by little.
Sometimes, when Ian wandered around the mansion, I didn’t miss the opportunity to stick by his side and try to converse with him.
The initial discomfort he showed gradually disappeared, and now he responded readily to me.
