Apparently quite embarrassed by Carol’s laughter, Noah huffed.
“Sorry for laughing. But try having a sip first. I wouldn’t have brought you muddy water.”
At Carol’s insistence, Noah picked up the cup with a dubious expression.
Gulp.
After taking a small sip, Noah took a bigger gulp than before. After drinking a few more gulps in succession, Noah opened his eyes wide and looked at Carol.
“Is it tasty?”
“Yeah.”
Though not leaning against the sofa, his legs didn’t reach the floor, indicating the sofa was quite high. Noah swung his legs as he drank.
Carol studied Noah’s face intently as he drank. The face that had been so flushed red the previous night, seeming like it would swell up, now looked perfectly fine.
It was only after he had nearly drained the cup that Carol could speak.
“This is the second time I’m seeing you indoors.”
“…..”
Noah’s face noticeably stiffened at Carol’s casual remark.
“Why that reaction?”
“Was meeting in the garden too cold? I had the scarf you gave me, so I was okay…”
“I was fine too. The joy of talking with you outweighed a little cold.”
Noah looked skeptical at Carol’s words. It was only after she emphasized “Really” that he seemed reassured, breaking into a wide smile.
“Noah, you said you wanted to meet His Grace?”
“Yeah! But I thought he might not want to see me…”
Having thought he entered the Duke’s Mansion on the Duke’s orders, Noah had realized after the theft incident that he had become the Duke’s weakness.
He had secretly asked the meaning of “illegitimate child” when the servants were cleaning during the day.
“Who said such a thing?”
“From His Grace’s perspective, it’s no different from me secretly living at the Duke’s Mansion.”
At Noah’s gloomy words, Carol stood up and went before him.
Then she lowered her head to meet his eyes.
“Living in hiding? This is your home too.”
“It’s not my home.”
“It is.”
“I said it’s not!”
“I said it is!”
“It’s not!”
Carol placed her hands on her hips at their back-and-forth.
“Fine. Then at least from now on, it’s your home too since His Grace knows you’re living here.”
“…If I say that, His Grace will hate me.”
Used to seeing Noah’s bold side in front of her, this dejected side was unfamiliar.
‘But he has reason to be.’
Even if they decided to bury the incident, Noah’s mind would still be ill at ease.
His hand clutching the cup trembled. Carol set Noah’s cup down on the table.
“Actually, His Grace wants to meet you.”
“You’re lying.”
“Why would I tell an obvious lie that would get caught right away?”
Instead of insisting it was true, Carol explained she had no reason to lie. Seeming convinced by that answer, Noah no longer pressed the matter and clamped his mouth shut like a clam.
“His Grace had his own circumstances.”
“Circumstances?”
“Yes. The truth is His Grace has been a bit unwell.”
Noah’s expression instantly stiffened at Carol’s words.
“…He’s still unwell? What’s wrong with him?”
“That’s actually why His Grace didn’t know about you until now.”
“Is he very unwell?”
“He’s much better now. But I’m telling you this so you won’t be shocked seeing His Grace’s ill state. That’s why he hasn’t seen you.”
“You saying he’s better now means he was sick for a long time?”
“I’ll put it this way – to the point where horns could sprout from his forehead.”
Rather than wondering how disfigured his ill state could be, Noah looked serious, fixated on the fact of his illness.
“That bad?”
“He said it was like something was rapidly growing all over his body.”
As Carol kept giving gruesome examples, Noah’s face paled.
“He must have been in so much pain.”
“So you see, it’s not that he pretended not to know you all this time.”
Noah nodded with difficulty.
“Then if I say I want to…can I meet him?”
Noah seemed overwhelmed, parting his lips slightly before biting his lower lip. His ingrained habit of not looking too eager was heartbreaking.
“Yes. His Grace said if you want, he would like to spend Founding Day together.”
“Then…!”
“Hold on.”
Noah’s deliberation was brief. But Carol stopped him before he could answer immediately.
This meeting had not occurred in the novel. So she could not predict at all how it would unfold and had to be even more cautious.
It was a meeting that could hurt them both.
“The moment you answer ‘yes’, many things will change for you.”
At Carol’s warning, Noah’s shoulders stiffened.
“There must be some secret.”
Adults always had secrets.
Noah spoke with a deliberately mature expression. Seeing him act so childishly for his age caused Carol’s expression to soften.
“Haha, yes. Adults do have circumstances of their own.”
“I may be young, but I can still tell how people around me think of me.”
Most seemed to find him a nuisance. His father, mother and most servants thought so.
The only ones in this castle who treated him well were Mrs. Wells, Norman, Jenny from the annex, and Carol.
“And Carol, I want to know directly how His Grace thinks of me.”
“Understood. I’ll be sure to convey your words to His Grace.”
There was force behind her measured tones.
“Alright.”
It was only then that Carol nodded.
She was tense, but even more so, she was trembling.
“Then I’ll come get you tomorrow night.”
****
Margaret had formally written a letter requesting a meeting with the Duke.
She admitted her behavior had been excessive, but such treatment was still unjustified.
The Duke she knew had always been easygoing. He was a man relaxed enough to overlook Margaret’s excessive conduct.
Even in the capital when she occasionally showed her irritable side, he would simply let it go. So she believed he would brush off her attempt to open the curtains forcibly here, or accusing a servant of theft.
But Margaret’s expectations were sorely mistaken. The Duke truly did not meet with her after that.
It wasn’t that he outright violated decorum by not meeting her. If one tried to find fault, everything provided by the Duke’s Mansion exceeded standards.
“The day we had dinner, I thought he was being sharper due to another woman distracting him…”
Adding the existence of Noah that came to light from the investigation, Margaret inwardly became convinced that woman and child were the issue.
Yet even after the theft incident, the Duke did not intervene.
Margaret shook her head to dispel her increasingly complicated thoughts as she lay on the bed.
“Why ever is he avoiding seeing me?”
“Could it be he sustained a serious injury?”
Kate gently massaged Margaret’s shoulders as she answered.
“It would be nice to at least know that much.”
But what use were these conjectures?
She couldn’t even confirm anything.
The letter purported to request a meeting, but it was filled with apologies for her excessive behavior.
Knock knock.
“That knocking sound is hardly pleasant to me.”
Kate rushed to open the door. Through the open doorway entered an elderly lady with graying hair.
“It’s Mrs. Wells, Miss.”
Margaret sat up from her reclined position.
“Yes. Did you come with His Grace’s response?”
She had not held high expectations upon sending the letter. She thought she would merely receive another curt refusal to meet this time as well.
But the answer Margaret had been awaiting finally came from Mrs. Wells.
“No.”
“Then?”
“His Grace wishes to see you.”
Her clipped tone made it clear she did not welcome Margaret herself.
Ordinarily, Margaret would have chided her for the impertinence, but not this time.
Having quickly redressed in a proper gown and elegantly styled her hair, Margaret followed behind Mrs. Wells.
Her fingertips had grown so cold from tension. She walked down the long hallway.
The location was the same dining hall they had met in previously.
“Will others be joining us?”
“No, it will just be the two of you.”
The dining hall seemed too large for just the two of them. Instead of pointing that out, Margaret clenched her fists so tightly her knuckles turned white.
Creak.
The heavy door opened. Margaret swallowed dryly.
The Duke was seated in the same spot as before. Concealed behind the curtains, the Duke received Margaret.
“Please, come in.”
The Duke clearly intended to settle matters today.
Unlike his expectation that Margaret’s pride would be hurt by talk of breaking the engagement and she would leave, Margaret had no intention of leaving.
It was Margaret’s victory. Meeting her again was the Duke’s only recourse.
