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***
Youth truly was a blessing. After a week of rest, Regina’s energy had significantly recovered. Her once gaunt body and face, where veins had been visibly prominent, had regained some flesh to the point that the visiting doctor was astonished.
“My goodness! You look wonderful, Madam. Much healthier!”
With thin eyebrows, a pale face, voluminous wheat-colored hair, a delicate nose, and violet eyes, Regina wasn’t a conventional beauty. However, there was an inexplicable charm about her that captivated attention. Even her somewhat frail and nervous impression felt strangely appealing.
“I can now walk in the garden for thirty minutes without much difficulty.”
Lowering her lashes, Regina quietly asked, “So, do you think I could go out for a short outing?”
“How far are you thinking of going?”
“Somewhere like a dressmaker’s shop about twenty minutes away by carriage… I currently have no suitable attire for outings.”
The doctor, being a woman herself, understood what Regina meant, as losing so much weight had been a problem.
“As long as you don’t overdo it, it should be fine.”
“That’s a relief.”
“Still, going out alone might be a bit risky…”
After a moment of contemplation, the doctor clapped her hands as if struck by a good idea.
“Ah, I know! Why not ask your husband to accompany you?”
“With Gray… on an outing?”
Regina’s gaze wavered slightly. Oblivious to this, the doctor spoke cheerfully without malice.
“It’s much safer with your husband! The weather’s lovely these days—why not take the chance to enjoy a date?”
“My husband is a busy man…”
“What could be more important than his wife?”
“I’m worried I might be a bother.”
“He would probably appreciate it. He must have been so concerned about you being unwell for so long. Don’t you think so?”
The tone seemed to suggest, “Of course he would.” The implication left Regina feeling stifled.
However, she couldn’t possibly explain her relationship with her husband to someone like the doctor who knew nothing. Regina murmured without much expectation, “Well… I’ll try mentioning it to him.”
***
“No.”
Gray, with his neat eyebrows furrowed, refused.
“I have a meeting scheduled with a client for business.”
“Who is it?”
“A benefactor I owed when I obtained permission for the port construction. His agent is coming, and I need to treat them well.”
“If you already have an appointment, there’s nothing to be done. I spoke up too suddenly.”
It was expected, so Regina wasn’t particularly disappointed. On the contrary, she smiled, feeling as though the suffocating air around her had cleared a little.
“I’ll just go alone. The dressmaker’s shop isn’t far, anyway.”
“Has the doctor allowed you to go out?”
“Yes. They said my recovery is going well, and will be reducing my medication starting next week.”
“That’s wonderful news. I hope you fully recover soon.”
Resting his chin on his hand, Gray smiled gracefully, his eyes captivating.
“There’s still unfinished business between us, isn’t there?”
“Unfinished business?”
“Perhaps I was the only one feeling regretful.”
It took her a moment to understand his playful teasing. Her amethyst eyes, which appeared reddish in the sunlight, shimmered like a cluster of flowers. Gray watched with delight, like a young boy throwing a stone into a pond and watching the ripples.
“I’d like you to be more stable. Instead of going out, how about inviting a designer to the house?”
Even as he asked, Gray seemed confident that things would go his way. But Regina hesitated and shook her head.
“I want to go myself and look at fabrics and decorations. I’ve been cooped up in the house for too long.”
For her to insist like that, she must have been feeling quite stifled. While it wasn’t incomprehensible, her changed response triggered a subtle sense of caution in him.
His wife, who had grown frail from illness, felt like a bothersome hangnail. Gray was the kind of man who could only be satisfied if his nails were trimmed so short that the skin beneath was exposed.
But forcibly pulling off the hangnail would only make him bleed. Feigning kindness, Gray gently asked, “Don’t you have any friends to go with? Like Countess Biti.”
“Celestina’s about to give birth, so I don’t think I’ll see her for a while.”
The rest of her friends lived too far away. The Cavill estate, located in the southernmost part of Waylin, wasn’t easily accessible.
“That can’t be helped.”
After a brief thought, Gray smiled and made a suggestion.
“I’ll arrange for someone else to accompany you in my place.”
“Someone else? Who?”
Thus, her companion ended up being Finley Brixton. Finley, who had been drafting the next quarter’s consensus and financial stability enhancement plans, was unceremoniously dragged away and seated in the carriage. Regina, now using Cavill’s banker as her shopping escort, smiled awkwardly.
“Thank you for coming with me despite being busy, Mr. Finley.”
“Oh, my lady! Don’t mention it. I didn’t want to work, so I’m the one who’s grateful.”
Good-natured Finley grinned without a hint of displeasure. At that moment, she noticed a scar on his lower lip that was unfamiliar.
“How did you get that scar?”
“Pardon? Which one are you referring to?”
“On your lip… here, on the right.”
“Oh.”
It wasn’t until she pointed it out with her finger that Finley finally understood.
“This? I’m sorry. It’s an old scar, so people rarely ask about it anymore.”
He laughed, explaining that he had dozed off with a fountain pen in his mouth.
“How foolish, right?”
Regina felt sorry but also strangely unsettled. She had missed such trivial details—Finley’s new scar, Celestina’s pregnancy, and Nadiera’s divorce scandal.
Yet, when all these scraps of information were pieced together, they added up to a year. Even while she had been struggling in her lonely prison of solitude, the world had continued to change.
Perhaps Gray’s world had changed too. In that world, she might already be nothing more than a past page.
“My lady, could you look out the right window of the carriage?”
That wasn’t the only thing that had changed. Outside the right window stretched an endless sea and a bustling port.
It was Capton Port, the most significant part of the Cavill estate.
“What on earth has happened to Capton Port?”
Regina couldn’t believe her eyes at the sight, which was now five times larger and ten times more impressive than she remembered.
“The expansion work was recently completed.”
Finley, likely having played a significant role in the project, straightened his shoulders and looked proud.
“All the docks have been renovated, and the once-small trade market has been specialized and subdivided! Thanks to visitors flocking in to purchase exotic goods at low prices, it’s chaotic.”
“What an incredible transformation.”
“Do you see that magnificent coastal cliff over there? Soon, luxury hotels and villas will be built all along it. We’re also preparing a cruise business to attract tourists. Within five years, the Cavill estate will become the greatest metropolis in southern Waylin! It will be like a second capital.”
“I’m sorry I can’t fully express my amazement. You’ve achieved something truly remarkable.”
“What have I done? I merely followed the Count’s plan.”
Of course. Gray Cavill was a man whose abilities were as extraordinary as his appearance. Even Finley, who was being pushed to his limits under Gray’s leadership, couldn’t hide his respect.
“Can you believe this is the result of just two years of work? Haha.”
“How was that possible?”
“The Count devoted himself entirely to this project. Especially last year—he poured all his personal time into it, which sped up the progress considerably…”
Finley, chattering cheerfully, abruptly shut his mouth as if realizing he had said too much. Regina, maintaining an awkwardly fixed smile, pretended to look out the window.
The carriage entered the bustling wharf, and beyond it, vibrant streets and the hopeful faces of fishermen came into view. It was impossible to resent Gray for not visiting her during her illness.
Gray, her husband, was a man capable of achieving such incredible feats—if only she hadn’t pestered him and wasted his precious time.
I’ll never ask him to go shopping with me again.
***
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