Episode 13
“Why?”
I looked at him intently.
“Why are you suddenly acting like this?”
He was so determined to know. Am I that really suspicious in his eyes?
“It’s for your health.”
“Stop talking nonsense.”
“I’m being serious.”
“Serious?”
His eyebrows drew together.
“Seriously? Between me and you?”
He sounded like he had heard something crazy.
Even I thought it sounded a little silly.
To say “serious” to someone who knows exactly why I’m in this house.
But I’ve heard that when things are this bad, people should stop caring what other people think.
“Let me ask you then. Why don’t you believe other people? Why do you have so many doubts?”
“I know you came here because you made a deal with my mother. It’s not even that obscured.”
I learned to not react to things even if they made my ears itch.
So I didn’t have to do anything but listen to what he said.
I’m curious about what he knows. Does he know the whole long contract, including the parts that the judge signed and notarized?
“You’re saying you know everything? What do you know?”
Have you read the contract with the terms that are all bad news to me?
I was also getting more stubborn.
“Do you think you really know everything?”
“You married a man who could die at any time and gave birth to a child like a piece of livestock to get money.”
“…”
I didn’t know what to say for a moment. Even though there was nothing wrong with what he said, it made me even more shocked.
He didn’t stop talking, even as he looked at my shocked face.
“That’s why I can’t stand it when you try to be nice all of a sudden. No matter what you do, you can’t have my child.”
It was the perfect offense for such a lovely place.
It was just right to hear on a clear day with fresh air and the sound of birds in this beautiful setting.
And it still wasn’t over. He kept talking in a soft voice.
“I don’t care if you choose to be a seed-bearer because money has made you blind.”
Something in my head seemed to snap. I suddenly got it.
Oh, did this cause it?
The reason why Selene killed her husband.
Why did she poison him, when he’s so frail that he could die at any moment.
I used to think that there was no way that could be true, that it was a plot and a fake charge, but now I knew more than enough about Selene to change my mind.
How could she bear to hear those words for so long?
It seemed odd that she hadn’t killed him sooner.
“…You really know how to say things.”
I spoke up because I was getting more and more angry as I heard his words.
“…”
He looked at me with wide eyes, as if he was shocked by my answer.
“More than your body, it is your heart that has illness. You’re a sick man here.”
I said, putting my middle finger to my head and poking it.
His eyes moved along with my finger and also shook.
“When someone talks, people should at least listen! I told you it was good for you. Did I even ask you to have a child? I also don’t want to have a kid with someone as rude as you!”
Oops.
I quickly tried to cover my mouth after I said something I didn’t mean to, but it didn’t work.
His dark blue eyes stayed on my lips and didn’t move.
…Was he taken aback?
I moved slowly away. The situation didn’t look good.
“Stay right there.”
The scary sound of his voice made me stop my clumsy attempt to get away.
Then I just brushed my hand against the pavilion’s pillar for no reason.
“What I’m trying to say is… don’t do that. Getting better is good for you in the long run, isn’t it? Don’t try to sully my pure goals…”
“Pure?”
When he pointed that out, I realized I’d said another stupid word, and I bit my lip a little.
Oh, please, just sort of listen.
“Yes, you really did mean well. I’ve done many bad things by making such a good person suffer…”
He said it in a mocking way and then quickly blinked his eyes.
Then he used his hand to rub the corner of his eyes.
“Why? Are you still hurting?”
I was surprised by how he acted, so I checked on him.
‘Is he having a seizure?’
Did I go too far with him?
‘What if he falls down?’
I went up to him, getting more and more scared as I went.
“Are you finding it hard to breathe? Do you feel hot? Do you feel weak?”
My mind was filled with terrible thoughts.
What if he gives out? Was it a bad idea to suggest a walk?
Why do I always make the first mistakes? Why!
I was thinking about a lot of different things when Amoide quietly spoke.
“…You are too loud.”
I looked at his red-rimmed eyes.
I could see a small seed stuck to his eyebrows, which were very long and thick.
It looked like it hurt his eye.
“Don’t move for a second.”
When I got close to him, he jerked and moved away again.
Come on, I won’t hurt you.
I put my hands on his shoulders to keep him from moving.
When I put my hands on him, his body felt a little stiff and hard.
“Don’t move.”
I said, and I moved my face toward his.
His long eyelashes moved just a little bit.
What kind of man has eyebrows that long?
When it rained, there would be dew on them, and when it froze, there would probably be a small layer of snow.
I put my lips close to his eyes as I looked at his eyelashes.
Hooh.
I began to blow softly with care.
The seed on the end of his eyelash wiggled a few times before dropping into the air.
The seed floated in place for a while before the wind picked it up and sent it high into the air.
“Done.”
Before I looked back at him, I just stood there and watched the seed fly away.
I was shocked after that.
“…”
I was surprised because I thought his eyes were closed, but they were just quietly looking at me.
“Huh…?”
I tried to get away when I got scared, but I lost my balance.
Just before I fell, he put his long arm around my waist.
“…”
In the middle of falling, my body stopped, and the man’s strong, solid arm wrapped around me like a leash.
‘Huh…?’
I looked at him again as I leaned on his arm.
He had deep, clear blue eyes. It wasn’t often that I looked right into his eyes like that.
Oh, now that you mention it.
He would often glare at me when he looked at me.
Or, he would just ignore me as if I didn’t exist.
He had never looked at me like this before.
Like an animal caught in a trap, I lost the will to move.
He jerked.
“Don’t waste your time like this again.”
He pulled me up quickly and took his hand off my waist.
Amoide walked slowly away from the tent.
He walked away without turning around, and I couldn’t take my eyes off of him until he was out of sight.
How do I explain the strange feeling that came over me all of a sudden?
Thump, thump.
My heart beat fast. I put my hand on my chest to try to slow down my heart.
I patted my breast several times because I didn’t know why my heart was beating so fast all of a sudden.
Anyway, it was so beautiful that it made my heart stop.
I used a hand fan to cool my face when I felt hot all of a sudden.
“Is summer coming up already?”
Roses were just starting to bloom. They wouldn’t be in full bloom for a little while longer, so summer was still a long way off. Still, it was warm.
“My Lady.”
I looked around when I heard a small voice calling to me.
“Over here, over here.”
I almost yelled out in shock when I saw a face between the trees.
“What are you doing over there!”
“I was here first.”
Rona looked down, like she had been hurt.
“You got here before me?”
Rona gave a strong nod.
“Yes. I didn’t mean at all to listen in. I quickly hid when I saw the master and the lady together so I wouldn’t disturb the two of you.”
Rona told me why she was here, even though I hadn’t asked her.
“Oh, I get it.”
I did my best to answer in a normal way. I never asked her why she was alone in this secret pavilion to begin with.
I also didn’t point out that her face was red or that her clothes were a little messy.
All of this must have a point. Yes, that has to be it. “Anyway, it was such a romantic scene.”
Rona’s eyes were brightly shining.
“Ro… wait, what?”
We both? What did we do to get the loving label?
“I’m here and saw everything.”
“… What did you see?”
“That kiss.”
Rona put her fingers on her lips together in a shy way.
I got a fishy taste in my mouth when I looked at her, as if I had just eaten raw fish.
“I thought the only time you two were passionate was in bed. It looks like you like going to secret places!”
“… Yeah.”
I had to lie to Rona in order to fool the other maids.
Only the two(Amoide and me) of us knew that we didn’t have a physical connection.
So, Rona didn’t need to be told about this ‘misunderstanding.’
No, it was even better.
If this chatty girl told the other girls what happened, it would show that I was getting close to Amoide.
“I’m so glad to see that the master and the lady are getting along better.”
“… Does it look like that?”
“Yes, the master caught you as you were about to fall… It was so beautiful to see him cry.”
“Was it…?”
“Really?”
I looked at my hand, which was wrapped, and asked.
“Of course. Earlier, the maids were talking about that story among themselves.”
The truth about that day didn’t need to be told. I chose not to say anything.
