In the early afternoon, Carol received some sudden news from Louis, who had come to her house.
“You’re leaving?”
“Yeah. I was actually just going to leave a letter, but since I can talk to you in the morning now, I came.”
“…When are you leaving?”
“Today.”
“Already? You said you’d stay a bit longer.”
Though their relationship hadn’t fully recovered, making things a bit awkward, she felt wistful that he was leaving so abruptly.
“I didn’t want to leave right after Founding Day either, but that’s how it turned out.”
The newly transformed Carol perched on Louis’ shoulder. With her brothers at the academy, Carol was the only one to see him off.
“If that’s the case, it can’t be helped. Kevin and Dylan will really miss you.”
Just the previous day, Kevin and Dylan reminisced about how much fun the three of them had playing games late into the night.
Recalling the two resolving to play more before Louis left, Carol couldn’t hide her regret.
“What about you?”
The probing question snapped Carol out of her recollections of the previous day.
“Huh?”
“Won’t you miss me too?”
“Of course I’ll miss you.”
“Is that so? Then that’s settled.”
Louis smiled in satisfaction. His refreshingly wistful smile made her feel flustered.
“What’s settled?”
“I thought you’d undoubtedly come to hate me now.”
“I’m not so upset with a departing friend as to be viciously rude.”
Louis carefully extended his hand towards his shoulder. Carol naturally hopped onto Louis’ hand. He gazed at her.
A small, precious bird.
Not the scent of the cologne he had gifted, but the fragrance of cologne from someone else.
Though disheartened, Louis did not show it. It was still too soon for Carol.
If he approached too quickly, the one before him would only withdraw. For now, he had to be satisfied being just friends.
Ultimately, Carol was destined to be by his side. Louis believed this without doubt. Even if she wavered, he would be her final destination.
Louis resolved himself this way.
“Miss Chesworth is leaving today too.”
“Huh?”
“She was the biggest reason I was told to leave the Duke’s Mansion.”
“…I see.”
Louis’ last shred of pride was not telling Carol that he had returned Margaret’s treasure.
He had acted, but in the end, it was the Duke who resolved everything.
“Were you very angry with me?”
She was weak to this expression. Carol lightly kicked Louis’ forehead with her tiny feet.
“I was never angry with you.”
It was just a difference of opinion. She wanted to see him off wholeheartedly as he ventured far.
Louis cupped Carol in his hands, gazing up at her.
“And truthfully, there’s something else I wronged you about.”
She intuitively realized he meant the flower incident. Carol feigned ignorance.
“What is it?”
“Did I do something to warrant a slap from you?”
As Carol playfully poked his palm, Louis flinched his fingers.
“You received a flower gift, but I returned it.”
“You returned it…?”
“Yes.”
Come to think of it, the delivery person had mentioned the recipient did not accept the gift, so they did not investigate where the flowers ended up after being told it was fine.
“Who sent it?”
Just to be sure. Louis did not seem intent on hiding it, immediately answering.
“The Duke.”
“When?”
“When Kevin and Dylan fell ill.”
“…Why are you telling me this now?”
It had been nearly 2 weeks. Even if she asked for the flowers back, they would have wilted by then. Her disappointed tone unintentionally came out cold.
“I thought you’d be angrier finding out later when I’m gone.”
“Why…why did you take them?”
Carol could not comprehend it at all. Intercepting someone else’s belongings midway.
If Louis had always been that kind of person, sure. But he wasn’t originally like that.
“I did it because I was worried about you.”
“Worried about what?”
“That you’d misinterpret things over a bouquet of flowers.”
She didn’t understand why Louis always overreacted when it involved the Duke.
“So you just disposed of someone else’s gift without a word?”
“In the end, you’d be the one hurt.”
Had she given off enough signals around others for them to notice her feelings?
She had already developed feelings, and received some hurt, but this was not the Duke’s fault.
Carol deliberately hardened her expression further. It was fortunate she wasn’t human. If human, it would have been harder to completely disguise her feelings.
“Why would I be hurt?”
“I’ve seen girls who misinterpret the Duke’s simple kindnesses.”
“I didn’t misinterpret anything.”
Carol stated firmly.
Even as she wore the cologne he gifted, and flinched whenever the Duke was mentioned.
Louis did not point that out.
“I was just worried as a friend. I admit I went too far.”
Louis obediently hid his true feelings, willingly playing the role Carol wanted.
The sincere apology made Carol’s lips twitch. It became harder to stay angry. But neither could she simply let it go when she still felt upset.
“I didn’t think you’d want those flowers so badly.”
“……”
“I’ll get you the same ones.”
Of course, it would not include a note like the one the Duke had written.
“That’s not why I was mad…”
She wanted to say it wasn’t the reason, but Louis cut her off.
“If you were your usual self, you wouldn’t be getting this worked up and angry at me.”
Carol was closest to Louis after her brothers.
Louis touched his forehead to Carol’s.
“So forgive me.”
The truth was, he was holding back a lot too.
Louis hoped Carol would not get angrier here. If she did, he felt he would truly be pushed to his limits of patience.
He wanted this forgiveness to prove to him that her interests did not lie with the Duke, that he was more precious to her than the Duke.
“Don’t do that again next time.”
Fortunately, Carol granted Louis’ wish.
Carol remained standing in that spot for a long while, even after the carriage Louis boarded became a speck and disappeared from view.
****
Meanwhile, the Duke’s Mansion was busy from early that morning too.
After finishing the luggage loading, Margaret sat on a chair in the largest garden in front of the mansion.
It was not the typically overcast northern weather. This day was exceptionally clear and bright.
‘Still cold as ever though.’
Margaret gazed up at the ducal castle again. Now that the day of departure arrived, she felt newly reflective.
When she first came, she certainly expected to meet the Duke face-to-face, solidifying their engagement before leaving.
The Duke had treated Margaret coldly, trying to detach his feelings from her.
Then he told her if she could discard those feelings, he would reward her.
The Duke was intelligent, but seemed a bit dull when it came to emotions.
No matter how glamorously raised, a noble daughter was her father’s possession, the household asset whose ownership simply transferred to her husband upon marriage. Even Margaret herself took that for granted.
But the Duke was different. He complimented her strong and cunning personality as decisive and methodical.
“How could I not develop deeper feelings for someone who sees me as a viable partner rather than mere commodity, no matter how coldly he acts?”
Though she had tried her utmost to keep her pride, Margaret ended up leaving with her feelings for the Duke not discarded, but further cultivated instead.
“Miss!”
From afar, Kate came running towards Margaret, puffing white breaths. Margaret finally tore her gaze from the sky to look at her.
“Is all the luggage loaded?”
“Yes.”
“Anything else to pack?”
Kate was caught off guard by the casual question. Her face soon darkened as she responded, “Just in case, I was told that the gift received for the Founding Day has already been sent to the Chesworth family.”
“I see.”
The Duke remained tight-lipped until the end. Margaret lightly nodded her head, as the sharp Duke’s manner was not surprising.
In fact, until she left, she had worried. Countless practical issues came to mind. However, she still mustered the will to do it, so she decided to stand on the chessboard the Duke had laid out.
“Father will throw a fit when he finds out a strange item came in,” Margaret lightly laughed as she boarded the carriage.
Her feelings for the Duke deepened, but her steps leaving were never heavy.
****
Just as Louis had said, when Carol came to work at the Duke’s Mansion in the evening, Margaret Chesworth had already left the Duke’s Mansion.
The Duke, as if he had grown moss on his body, immediately asked Carol to go to the garden as soon as she arrived.
Carol gladly accepted his request. Even if she went, it was just the small garden behind the servants’ resting area as always, but the Duke was delighted to be out in the fresh air for the first time in a while.
“The cane I had gotten used to feels a little unfamiliar again.”
“That’s because you came out before the cane felt completely natural in your hand,” Noah said, grabbing the hem of the Duke’s pants as he followed behind.
“What about the garden house?”
“Next time.”
Noah’s face briefly showed disappointment, but he soon ran ahead, seemingly content just to be outside together.
Watching Noah’s back, Carol muttered, “How did he manage to sneak in here at night?”
“Yeah, he went back and forth from the annex to here without catching a cold. He’s quite tough.”
“Indeed,” Carol said, echoing the Duke’s words. In fact, Carol’s mind was preoccupied.
The biggest reason was Margaret’s sudden departure.
I smell something fishy 🤨🧐😓😭