CHAPTER 9
“Miss Aveline says she is not coming to dinner. What shall we do?”
The butler, who had gone to fetch Vivianne, returned with the expected answer. Edwin, with a pleasant smile, picked up his cutlery. His attitude was one of generosity as if to say, leave her be.
It wasn’t that he hadn’t anticipated this. However, his nervous glances out the window weren’t within the scope of expectation.
“Why? She’s been eating well ever since she started to recover,” Charlotte said, cutting into her roast beef, her tone tinged with doubt.
“By the way, I’ve found a suitable marriage prospect for you.”
Had Charlotte known this would ignite unnecessary sparks, she would have swallowed any concern she had for Vivianne. Edwin had finally steered the conversation toward a turning point. The uplifting mood she had been in quickly descended.
“B-but, Your Grace, I haven’t thought about marriage yet. There’s still so much to learn, and I’m not ready.”
“That doesn’t mean you can avoid it. I must honor my father’s will, and one part of that duty is marrying you off.”
“Becoming someone’s wife still feels like something far off for me. Can’t you give me a little more time? Until I’m ready…”
Charlotte pleaded desperately, but Edwin’s heart remained unmoved.
“I’ve invited him to Rodinia. He’ll be coming to the estate soon. So meet him and see for yourself. See if becoming someone’s wife really feels so distant.”
Charlotte didn’t reply. It was the best rebellion she could muster.
Unfortunately, Edwin’s attention was elsewhere, not on Charlotte, who was sulking.
The wine slipping down his throat was unusually sweet today, and a satisfied Edwin rang the bell to summon a servant. He asked what wine had been served today and asked for some to be brought to his bedroom. He also mentioned that the garden looked dull and suggested planting some yellow daffodils.
The sun was setting, and a bluish darkness slowly descended over the horizon. She waited and waited until the blue turned to black. The sky became completely dark, and the area outside her bedroom grew silent.
It was time to act. Conscious of others’ eyes, Vivianne made her way to Edwin’s bedroom. As she reached the door, she felt a strong urge to turn back. Her heart was uneasy, uncomfortable, and even afraid.
Vivianne had worried that Edwin might strangle her for not eating, but surprisingly, she had made it through the evening unscathed.
The joy of her rebellion had turned into courage, and it was with that courage that she knocked on Edwin’s door.
Expecting Edwin to be the one to open it, Vivianne’s shoulders slumped when she was greeted by Roarke instead.
“…I came to see His Grace.”
“Please wait a moment.”
With his rough, heavy voice, Roarke shut the door. As she paced nervously, biting her nails, Roarke reappeared and opened the way for her. Wary of him, Vivianne stepped inside while Roarke exited the room.
“It’s been a while, Miss Aveline.”
At the familiar greeting, Vivianne’s muscles stiffened as she kept her eyes on the floor. The phrase “it’s been a while” inevitably brought back memories of what had happened in the carriage.
Vivianne looked around. Her searching eyes darted around as if planning her escape route.
“I apologize for the intrusion, but I have something to say.”
“Go ahead, let’s hear it.”
Realizing there was no escape in this enclosed space, Vivianne quickly gave up and looked at Edwin.
He looked different from the Edwin she was used to seeing. Having just finished his bath, his black hair was still damp, and the front of his robe was carelessly open, exposing his skin. The only thing unchanged was his flawless, clear voice.
In one hand, he held a half-empty glass of wine. On the other hand, he held something else, which appeared to Vivianne to be a map.
“Go ahead, I’m curious.”
Edwin put the map down on the table and gently swirled the wine in his glass.
Stay strong, but don’t let worries weigh you down.
She repeated this over and over in her mind as she walked towards Edwin. Edwin’s eyes never left Vivianne’s as she approached.
With Edwin’s blatant stare, combined with his casual appearance, Vivianne didn’t know where to look, so she fixed her eyes on the table.
That’s when she saw what Edwin had been looking at. It was indeed a map, and she noticed the place name “Bellio.”
『 Bellio is one of the ports in Preston. So, he was looking at a map of Preston? But why would he be looking at that?』
As Vivianne became aware of his persistent gaze, she placed a freshly cleaned ascot tie on the table.
“First, I’ll return this. Thank you for letting me use it.”
“It’s an honor. And you’re even grateful on top of that.”
Vivianne’s face flushed as Edwin tilted his glass with a teasing smile. It was the tie that covered the bruise on her neck from being strangled, a bruise caused by the Duke of Baytness, and it was his tie that hid the mark. So it wasn’t something to be particularly grateful for.
“I have a question.”
Vivianne calmed herself down. When her voice trembled slightly, she paused for a moment before speaking again, more slowly.
“When you lent my mother the money, did she know your true identity?”
It was a question that had consumed her thoughts for two weeks and three days.
Did Mother borrow 700,000 mori knowing who the Duke of Baytness really was?
Vivianne didn’t want to imagine her mother happily borrowing the money, unaware that she had fallen into his trap.
“Hmm, did she? Did your mother know?”
His deep, bored tone pierced Vivianne’s heart. Despite the frustration swelling within her, she lacked the courage to hate or resent the man in front of her. She realized that her question had only served to reopen her own wounds.
“I’ve been wondering… how you’ve been.”
Vivianne’s head dropped, her confidence fading.
She wanted to know how Edwin had lived after losing all his family and coming to Neway. Of course, it couldn’t have been easy, but despite the pain, she wondered if there had ever been moments of happiness for him.
Vivianne wanted to know about Edwin’s past.
“It was just one meeting after another.”
But the indifferent tone in his voice was not the answer she had expected.
“The Royal Family was rushing to turn my company into a national enterprise. Meanwhile, a ship carrying our goods was wrecked, causing great losses. Even in the midst of all that, good news came. Erelem arrived with money and offered to buy the weapons our company had recently developed. You see, rumors of war started circulating.”
Edwin’s response was unwavering and emotionless as he took a sip of red wine, his eyes never leaving her. The faint smile on his lips contained no sincerity. Vivianne, who secretly let out a heavy sigh, calmed her trembling heart and began to speak.
“… I’m not sure if I should say this.”
She ran the tip of her tongue over her dry, cracked lips, feeling their rough texture.
“It may not be much comfort, but 14 years ago, after everything that happened, our family’s reputation hit rock bottom, and the people turned their backs on us. As we walked the path to ruin, Mayr wanted to take me as his mistress. In the end, my family fled from him. Even after arriving in Neway, my father’s situation didn’t improve, and that’s how we ended up here, buried in debt.”
She hadn’t meant to say: after destroying your family and ruining your life, we also suffered hardships, so let go of your anger.
“I think I’m being punished. I understand Your Grace’s… hatred and resentment towards me.”
Edwin’s hand, holding the wine, drooped lazily over the armrest, lightly tilting the glass. The wine inside rippled like waves. Edwin’s demeanor drowned Vivianne’s voice in the waves of wine as the thoughts that had been running through her head countless times took shape into words.
“So?”
“Pardon?”
“Did you really come here in the middle of the night just to say that? The conversation I had with Roarke would’ve been at least three times more meaningful than listening to you right now.”
The glass that had been swaying in Edwin’s hand touched his lips. As he tilted it, red wine flowed into his mouth.
“N-no, that’s not what I really wanted to say.”
Her gaze, which had been wavering and confused, became somewhat clearer. Edwin adjusted his slouching posture slightly, only to slump again.
As the front of his robe fell open a bit more, revealing his firm chest, Vivianne quickly turned her head away.
She hunched her shoulders firmly, afraid her eyes might wander there again.
“It was when I was really young, but I remember it clearly. That day, there was a heavy spring rain, and I distinctly recall bringing my shawl because it was so cold in early spring.”
“For someone who remembers so much, my face doesn’t seem to have stuck in your memory, Miss Aveline.”
“Well, you’ve grown much taller, and your face has changed a little, too… But I remember everything else clearly.”
Edwin slowly looked over at Vivianne, who had turned away from him. Wearing Charlotte’s dress, which was a size too small for her, made her look quite unfamiliar.
Vivianne usually wore a beige dress that had become so stained that it looked like rags, but wearing Charlotte’s colorful dress seemed to bring some life back to her face.
The problem was that being so thin, the snug dress fit perfectly once its length was adjusted.
“I remember the promise you made about regretting it. However, Your Grace, I’m sorry, but I… I don’t regret it.”
It was at this point that Edwin found himself paying attention to Vivianne’s voice, something he had previously ignored.
“I’ve never regretted letting you go that day, Your Grace—or rather, Sayer. And I never will.”
Vivianne Aveline continued to speak words she couldn’t take responsibility for. He wondered how long it would take her to realize that it was a bad habit of hers. Edwin guessed it wouldn’t be long before she corrected it.
“Do you really think that just because I didn’t kill you that day, you’d still be alive right now? If so, you’re seriously mistaken.”
“If that’s my fate… I’ll accept it.”
Edwin’s eyes narrowed as he let out a low, mocking snort.
He had told her to beg, to plead for her life. But her willingness to accept death instead of begging for mercy could be interpreted as a sign of disobedience or mockery.
“Why?”
“I asked myself, if I could turn back time, would I still save you, Sayer?”
Her gray eyes, once distant, now met his. He wondered where Vivianne had found the resolve to meet his gaze, something she had avoided.
“The answer is yes. Even if I knew everything, I would still have taken you to the harbor. So I’m sorry, but I can’t keep my promise to feel regret.”
A deep silence fell between them. Despite Edwin’s earlier threats about killing her, his blue eyes remained calm, with no hint of the murderous intent she had feared. Whatever storm awaited her beneath the surface, for now, she was grateful that the danger didn’t seem immediate.
Edwin placed the nearly empty glass on the table and stood up. As his shadow loomed larger, Vivianne instinctively stepped back. She thought retreating would stop him from coming closer, but contrary to her expectations, the distance between them shrank.
Vivianne continued to back away but soon found herself trapped. She gasped as the cold doorknob behind her jammed into her back.
“You said you don’t regret it. So why are you scared?”
Even with a faint smile on his face, Vivianne clenched her hands together nervously.
She feared he might choke her again, but her hands were frozen, unable to defend herself, and she closed her eyes tightly.
“Miss Aveline, this isn’t the time to say you don’t regret it.”
Vivianne’s body jolted when she felt his hand brush near her neck, sending a chill down her spine.
“This is when you should beg. Grab onto my leg and plead for your life. You used to do it so well. Just do that again.”
Vivianne slowly opened her eyes. Recognizing the scarf in his hand, she quickly covered the bruised area on her neck with her palm. He moved away, heading back to his seat. As the tension in the air lightened, she felt calmer. Her mind cleared, and she remembered what she had wanted to say.
“A-and one more thing.”
She mustered the courage to say the words she had practiced over and over for the past week and three days.
“I wish you would stop torturing me with food.”
“Torture you with food?”
“You keep forcing me to eat. I don’t need that much food, and I don’t have much of an appetite anyway. So if I starve to death, wouldn’t that be good for you? You want me dead, after all.”
To Edwin, Vivianne was like a refreshing rain in his otherwise mundane life—interesting and fun. The more he tormented and teased her, the more reluctant he became to kill her, thinking it would be a shame when the time came.
He had already made her cry several times, so he wondered if he could make her laugh.
Edwin showed an ambiguous smile that seemed to drift somewhere between seriousness and playfulness.
“You can’t starve. When I tell you to eat, it’s less about torturing you and more about fattening you up.”
“… Why are you trying to fatten me up?”
“To eat.”
Her eyes, as dark as storm clouds, suddenly froze.
“W-what do you mean… eat? Eat what…?”
“You still don’t get it?”
“…”
“Why do you think I haven’t killed you yet? Why do you think I care about the food that goes into your mouth? Do you really not know why I’m saying?”
Her plump lips parted and closed like a fish gasping for air. His piercing blue gaze slowly traced down her neck in an openly suggestive way.
“You’re too scrawny to eat as you are. You need more meat on your bones.”
