Chapter 7 – You Don’t Know Men
“You… … What are you doing here… … .”
“I just woke up.”
Unlike Mellie, who seemed to be going crazy, Edric said calmly.
The slightly cracked and languid ending of his voice clearly showed that he had woken up from his sleep just as he said.
“Are you just getting in? Isn’t it dark? Should I turn on the light?”
“No! Don’t!”
Mellie screamed urgently. Edric withdrew his hand that had been reaching for the candle.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
Mellie asked as she hurriedly picked up her clothes in the darkness.
“I told you. I fell asleep while waiting for you.”
“Why did you wait for me?”
Mellie asked again as she barely managed to wrap her skirt around herself and put her arms through her blouse.
“I was wondering what happened at the blind date.”
“Ah… … .”
When she put it on, it felt like she had put it on inside out, so she had to take it off and put it back on.
In the meantime, her eyes might have brightened in the darkness, so she looked in his direction from time to time, wondering if Edric was looking at her naked body. Fortunately, there was no sign of that yet.
“It was just… … just so-so.”
“How was it?”
Finally, her clothes were properly put on, and it was time to button them.
She was so absorbed in buttoning them that she had no time to pay attention to Edric’s somewhat persistent tone.
“He didn’t seem like a bad person.”
He just doesn’t suit me. She didn’t have time to say that. She had to tuck the hem of her blouse that was sticking out onto her skirt.
“Good. So now all I have to do is set a wedding date?”
“Maybe… … .”
Mellie didn’t even know what she was saying.
“So you like it?”
“Huh? What do you mean by like… … .”
Finally, after her clothes were neatly arranged, she was able to focus on what he was saying, but another situation was making her mind dizzy.
“Are you happy about getting married?”
Because Edric, who had suddenly approached her, was looking down at her right in front of her.
Maybe because of the darkness, he looked particularly huge. Was that why? An unknown sense of pressure made Mellie tremble.
“Are you angry? Because I blindly met him?”
Mellie asked cautiously.
Now that she had said it, the nuance was strange.
It was as if we were dating, right?
“Ah… … What I mean is… … .”
“There’s no way I’d be angry.”
Edric cut off Mellie’s excuse and let out a low laugh.
“Why would I be angry if you meet a good person and get married? Right?”
“… … .”
“The only thing I’m worried about is.”
Edric reached out.
Mellie suddenly couldn’t breathe. Because the place where his hand had touched was the front of Mellie’s chest.
“I’m afraid you’ll get hurt. You don’t know men.”
His hand unbuttoned one of Mellie’s shirt buttons.
“You shouldn’t think that what you see is everything. Women believe that men are simpler than they are… … .”
Another shirt button was undone in his hand.
“No animal calculates its mate as meticulously as men. Affinity or love is just a trigger that makes them want to weigh the person on their scale.”
“… … .”
Edric’s voice, echoing softly in the darkness, matched with his actions, making Mellie’s senses even more sensitive. Her heart pounded so hard that she thought it would burst, and a chill spread through her lower abdomen.
But soon, Mellie felt ashamed of the sinister thoughts she had harbored for a moment, and she wanted to hide in a mouse hole.
Edric’s hand did not go down any further. He was merely trying to button up the wrong button.
She had not noticed that the shirt button was misaligned because she had been buttoning it absentmindedly in the
darkness.
“Yes, thank you for the advice. I will take note.”
Mellie hurriedly moved away so that her pounding heart would not be heard.
“Advice? I was just saying this because I was worried about my innocent friend.”
Edric’s voice was soft and gentle.
“Then, take a rest, Mellie.”
“Yeah… …”
Edric passed Mellie and lightly ruffled her hair.
It was a touch she had always received. So the feelings contained in that touch were the same as always. So naturally.
“Mellie.”
Edric, who had reached the door, suddenly turned around and called her.
“I hope Mr. Blair is a really good man, as you say.”
“… … .”
“Good night.”
He gave her a bright smile like spring sunshine and left the room.
Mellie’s legs gave out and she collapsed on the spot.
“That was dangerous.” She almost let her feelings slip away.
She felt she had to do something.
Mellie hugged her knees and rested her chin on them, deciding to think about something she had never thought about before.
Her marriage to Lord Blair.
***
The meeting with Lord Blair, which she had thought would take place in two or three days, actually happened the day after she had returned from the opera.
He was old and thought time was precious, so he seemed to want to get it over with quickly.
Not long after breakfast, she heard that he had sent a carriage.
It was too early for a date, but Mellie understood that now was the only time he could spare.
“Don’t worry about this and take your time.”
Mellie got into the carriage, carrying the expectations of Mrs. Felton. Edric also smiled and said goodbye.
After about half an hour of carriage riding, she arrived at Lord Blair’s mansion.
His mansion was not comparable to the Duke of Felton’s, but it was very efficient for a businessman. He kept everything he needed and the people he needed close by so that he could use them and call them whenever he wanted.
Mellie looked around the house with him.
It wasn’t fancy, but it was neat and tidy. As expected, there was nothing cumbersome or unnecessary.
Mellie knew from the way he treated her that she was almost the mistress of this house.
“This place seems suitable for you,”
He said, while guiding her to a well-lit and moderately large room.
“It will be fine if you don’t fill it with useless things.”
There was some substance to his words, but now it was just his personality.
Still, since he was used to saving money, she didn’t have to worry about looking elsewhere, which was good.
Thinking of her father, who had no ability to live, lived a dissolute life and died, she thought that this was enough.
He was old, had noticeable gray hairs, and his cheeks had lost their elasticity and were sunken in, but she didn’t care.
Although she had spent more than half her life watching Edric, Mellie had never once become arrogant because of him.
She had known early on that one great masterpiece could not be the standard by which she could evaluate countless others.
Mellie also knew her place well, so she knew that this man was more than enough for her.
“Then I’ll get straight to the point.”
While he was showing her around the living room, Lord Blair suddenly proposed.
“How about marrying me?”
It was a proposal that was truly typical of him. Mellie almost laughed at the simple and efficient proposal, as if adding more elaborate words would be a waste of time.
But laughter was laughter.
“I want you to give me time to think about it,”
Mellie said cautiously.
“I understand.”
Mellie was a little surprised that Lord Blair didn’t press her as expected.
‘He was surprisingly considerate of others.’
However, after realizing how different the concept of time he thought of and Mellie’s concept of time were, she couldn’t help but be astonished.
“Please think about it while I go to the office for a moment.”
“… … ”
Mellie couldn’t close her mouth until he completely left the bedroom.
‘He’s really an amazing man.’
A little while ago, Mellie saw the mansion’s butler loitering in front of the bedroom door as if he had something to say.
It was surprising, even admirable, that he had kept his heart open to work even while planning the proposal, but at this moment, she was grateful for his attitude.
Otherwise, she would have had no choice but to answer right here and now.
‘How about marrying me?’
Mellie looked out the window at the neat garden and thought about her answer to Blair’s proposal.
In fact, even before Blair proposed, she had been thinking about marrying him since last night, by losing her sleep.
It was a marriage I considered in order to let go of my feelings for Edric, but it was a marriage with many good points in many ways.
It had to happen someday anyway, and I could make the former Duchess, who was so gracious, happy.
It was a great advantage that he could live without financial difficulties, and Lord Blair himself was a stingy and self-centered person, and he was a man without any faults.
Moreover, seeing that he chose her as his wife despite having nothing to show for her, she thought that this man really liked her. Aside from his cool and blunt attitude.
Edric said that all marriages are meticulously calculated, but at least that didn’t seem to apply to this man.
Mellie’s mind was largely inclined towards the positive answer.
Just then, Lord Blair appeared with the sound of hurried footsteps.
Mellie tried to state her decision with a determined face.
“I will accept the proposal as the Lord said… …”
“Oh, I thought about it.”
Lord Blair suddenly cut her off.
“Young-lady is still young, so I don’t think it’s right to ask for an answer so hastily.”
“… …”
“I recommend that you think about it calmly for a few days. Please go back today and I will send a carriage to you in a few days, so if you could give me an answer then, I would be very grateful.”
Lord Blair’s words were full of common sense that they felt strange.
‘What could it be? Why did the man who had been insisting on an answer right away suddenly changed his attitude?’
Mellie tilted her head in confusion.
