Chapter 50
Hearing Richard’s permission, I froze for a moment.
Still, I didn’t want to question him further and risk making him reconsider his decision.
“Thank you.”
I quickly expressed my gratitude to him.
Just as I was about to turn away, he suddenly spoke to me.
“Are you thinking of giving that little girl the Rosier flower?”
“I don’t know yet. The flower hasn’t even bloomed.”
He gave me a puzzled look, but I couldn’t give him a definite answer either.
If I were to give the Rosier to Dave’s sister, I would first need to make it bloom.
Right now, I hadn’t even managed to make the flower bloom.
A Rosier that hasn’t bloomed would be useless to Dave’s sister.
After all, the flower has to bloom to cure Darnnella’s Disease.
But even so, I couldn’t stop thinking about the girl. It weighed heavily on my mind.
“And besides, I’m not sure if it’s right for me to use the Rosier flower you went to the trouble of obtaining for me on her.”
Richard had gone out of his way to procure the Rosier for my sake.
If he didn’t want me to, I couldn’t give the flower pot to Dave’s sister.
Still, my desire to take in Dave and his sister came from my lingering guilt.
If I brought them to Count Theodore’s estate, they wouldn’t have to endure such harsh conditions anymore.
Perhaps that would make my own heart a bit lighter.
“You only need one flower to treat the illness, don’t you? Do as you wish with the other one. I gave it to you, so it’s yours to decide. Who knows, maybe their sibling bond will make the Rosier flower bloom.”
To my surprise, Richard didn’t seem to mind if I used one of the Rosier flower pots for Dave’s sister.
I glanced at him, startled.
He sat like a statue, entirely unchanged, flipping through paperwork.
It seemed he didn’t care at all about the concerns I had been keeping to myself, perhaps because he found it bothersome that I was being so cautious around him.
“Thank you for being so considerate. I’ll think about it some more.”
After saying this, I lay down on the bed.
The soft, plush bed enveloped me in comfort.
I wondered for a moment if it was alright for me to lie down while Richard was still working, but it was late in the evening, and I didn’t have anything else to do.
I simply wanted to rest.
Ever since the trial had begun, it felt like I hadn’t had a single day of peace.
The trial kept my mind unsettled, and the busyness of the days left me physically exhausted.
“Well, I’m sorry to leave you working, but I’m going to sleep first.”
I stole a glance at Richard, still immersed in his work, and then turned my body away, slipping under the covers and closing my eyes.
No reply came from Richard.
But by now, I understood that his silence was often an unspoken agreement.
—
The sound of the blanket brushing against clothes echoed softly, and soon, the room grew quiet as Diarna fell asleep.
Richard continued reviewing documents long after her voice faded.
They were papers he needed to address by the end of the day but hadn’t managed to finish due to the trial and the situation with Dave.
He narrowed his eyes as he focused on the documents. After a long while, he finally managed to finish organizing everything.
By then, the sky outside had turned completely dark.
He dimmed the glowstone light enough so it wouldn’t disturb Diarna’s sleep.
Then, he took a sip of the now-cold tea beside him. It was peppermint tea, known to clear the mind.
The cool, refreshing sensation lingered on his lips as he drank.
Finally allowing himself to acknowledge his fatigue, he leaned back against the chair, resting his back against the support.
Preparing for the trial, handling various incidents, and dealing with paperwork had left him feeling like 24 hours in a day weren’t enough.
It wasn’t just the workload—it was also the heightened vigilance he felt around Diarna’s ever-evolving circumstances that had left him unusually tense.
Yet the person at the center of it all, Diarna, was sound asleep.
Her soft, even breathing filled the room.
Richard, with his arms crossed and leaning against the chair, suddenly raised his right hand and looked at it.
It was the hand that had held hers during their ride back from the physician.
The memory of her touch still lingered vividly.
Small, delicate, soft, and cool to the touch.
It was entirely unlike his own rough, calloused hands.
Her slender fingers and smooth skin felt fragile, as though they could break easily if he weren’t careful.
Was it because they were cold?
Or was it because her hands were so unblemished, as if they had never known hardship?
The lingering sensation on his hand, which still hadn’t faded, filled him with curiosity.
No, it wasn’t as though Diarna had never faced hardship.
On the contrary, hadn’t she endured abuse, lost her title and fortune, and suffered under an abusive stepfather?
Richard let out a sudden sigh.
Her life had been fragile and delicate—just like her hands.
Unlike him, who had fought tooth and nail to protect what was his, Diarna had lost everything and lived in surrender.
Though their pasts bore some similarities, their choices couldn’t have been more different.
Yet, he found himself constantly drawn to her.
Was it because she was like another version of himself?
He had considered that possibility.
In his younger years, he had carried a burden of unhappiness similar to Diarna’s.
This shared misfortune fostered a sense of kinship, leading him to feel compassion for her.
It was as though Diarna represented an alternate version of himself, one who had made entirely different choices.
Sometimes, her misfortunes felt like his own.
A sense of solidarity.
He thought his ability to understand her unhappiness stemmed from having experienced similar suffering.
But as he observed Diarna more closely during the trial, it became clear to him that they were fundamentally different.
Their starting circumstances may have been similar, but that was where the resemblance ended.
“Hmm…”
The faint rustling of fabric broke the silence, accompanied by a low groan from Diarna’s direction.
Instinctively, Richard glanced toward the sound.
She was fast asleep, oblivious to the world.
Given everything she’d dealt with today, it was no surprise she was exhausted.
Diarna was already physically frail and easily tired. While her illness was partly to blame, the fact remained—she wore out quickly.
Richard watched her for a moment from his chair.
He knew it was impolite to stare at someone sleeping, but he couldn’t bring himself to look away.
Her soft, silken platinum hair spread gracefully across the pillow. Her closed eyelids hid her usually curious violet eyes, her straight nose sat perfectly in profile, and her lips were rosy and full.
The moonlight streaming through the window added an air of mystery to her appearance.
Richard silently observed her face for a while before closing his eyes.
The deeper the night grew, the deeper his thoughts wandered.
—
Unusually, I woke before Olivier came into the room.
It was still predawn outside. The faint light revealed my surroundings. Richard was nowhere to be seen in his bed; instead, he seemed to have fallen asleep at his desk.
Since there were still a couple of hours until morning, I got up and picked up the blanket from Richard’s bed.
Quietly, I approached him.
The situation reminded me of a similar moment before.
Last time, I had tried to adjust his blanket but ended up getting pulled onto the bed.
Thinking about it made me hesitate—was it even a good idea to cover him with the blanket?
If I woke him up again, it could lead to an even more awkward situation this time.
I stood there, deliberating, but eventually resolved to go through with it.
Though the days were getting colder from dusk till dawn, leaving him like this might cause him to catch a cold.
Since he had come all this way for me, letting him fall ill wasn’t something I could accept.
With that thought, I resumed walking toward him.
Richard was leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed. At first, I couldn’t tell if he was sleeping or just resting his eyes.
But his complete stillness suggested he was asleep—and at this hour, it made sense.
Thankfully, he didn’t stir as I approached. Breathing a sigh of relief, I carefully draped the blanket over him. It wasn’t thick, but it was better than nothing.
I tucked the blanket snugly under his chin, making sure it wouldn’t fall off, and turned to leave—only to find myself meeting a pair of vivid blue eyes.
I froze, my breath caught as I stared back at him.
When had he woken up? Or had he been awake the entire time?
His gaze swept over my face, taking in my forehead, eyes, nose, and finally my lips.
It was just his gaze, yet wherever it lingered, it left a strangely tingling sensation.
“Ah… You weren’t asleep?”
I held back a startled yelp and asked him cautiously.
His eyes lingered on my lips for a moment before he shifted his gaze back to mine and spoke.
“I was.”
“Did I wake you?”
I couldn’t hide my guilt as I asked, and Richard brushed the blanket I had placed on him aside, running a hand through his hair.
“Seems like it.”
