Chapter 109
Brookhaven was one of the many villas owned by the House of Duke Grayson. It was a small villa that Dowager Duchess Rosalyn had brought with her along with her dowry when she married the duke of the time. Ironically, however, Dowager Duchess Rosalyn had never once set foot here, either before or after her marriage.
To begin with, its use was rather ambiguous. As a summer villa for escaping the heat, there was Dunsford Cottage, where one could stay far cooler, and if one simply wanted a place to rest, there were countless other estates with finer scenery.
At some point, the current duke and his family had begun visiting this abandoned villa often. The reason sounded like nothing special. It was the least known to people, and due to its geographical structure, it was far from any villages, making it a quiet place to stay.
“Cedric.”
From the moment Cedric entered Brookhaven, he was captivated by the place. To others, it might have seemed remarkably plain for something owned by a great noble family, but that was precisely what struck Cedric’s heart. The building, which looked old at a glance, bore here and there the traces of affectionate care.
Beneath a crude still-life painting were piles of books stacked with a semblance of order, and beside them, grooves carved into the wall at irregular intervals. Cedric had no difficulty finding the traces of the young master who had once used this room. It reminded him of his home.
It reminded him of his original home, where he had lived before everything collapsed.
“Cedric!”
Cedric belatedly came to his senses and raised his head. Robert’s face, contorted fiercely, was right before his nose.
Only after meeting his eyes did Robert openly click his tongue and release the grip he had on Cedric’s collar. Cedric, looking somewhat dazed, tugged his wrinkled collar back into place.
“Please, don’t make it so obvious. Don’t show how excited and thrilled you are.”
Robert spat the words out as though chewing them. Cedric did not answer.
Robert himself, meanwhile, had been scrutinizing Brookhaven in a way different from Cedric. Not much to it, for something owned by a great noble, he muttered inwardly, as if trying hard not to reveal any envy. Even so, he was examining each item as though calculating its worth, thinking that even that ordinary-looking painting must be expensive.
With a clack, a door opened on the other side, and Cedric and Robert turned their heads toward it as if on cue. Jeffrey Grayson, dressed in well-tailored riding clothes, was entering. Without so much as glancing at the two who had been waiting for him, Jeffrey took a cigarette from his breast pocket and began to smoke.
“Did the conversation go well?”
Unable to hold back, Robert asked Jeffrey. Jeffrey did not even look at Robert, merely sweeping an indifferent gaze over the room’s decorations.
“The dowager duchess…”
“Don’t speak to me until I speak to you.”
Robert’s words stopped at once. Jeffrey snorted as though to say, Do I really have to tell you that for you to understand? and finished smoking his cigarette. Before long, Jeffrey Grayson stubbed out the cigarette, though he had not smoked even half of it.
“More importantly, Osmond. I hear you’re from the Academy as well. What did you study?”
“I studied economics.”
“…Oh, I see. It suits you. I have a great interest in that field myself.”
While Jeffrey and Cedric exchanged words, Robert’s face flushed red as though it might burst at any moment. Cedric, sitting beside him, nearly wanted to tell him not to make it so obvious. Jeffrey, standing not far from them, must have plainly seen Robert’s humiliation as well. Yet Jeffrey merely hummed and did not even glance in Robert’s direction.
“Osmond, do you enjoy hunting?”
“No. In fact, I’ve never even held a gun.”
“You really have led a dull life. I have a relative on my mother’s side just like you. Hm. Well…”
Just as Jeffrey was about to say something more, there came a knock, and the gentle voice of a servant called for him.
“Mother is calling for me. I’ll be back.”
Jeffrey put the cigarette he had been about to take out back into his breast pocket and stepped out the door.
Once the door closed, Robert, staring only at the floor, muttered something in a gloomy voice. Cedric did not respond; in fact, he pretended not to have heard.
“What about Father?”
Jeffrey asked as soon as he saw his mother. The duchess did not answer her son, but turned her back and walked down the corridor. Jeffrey Grayson hurried after her with an anxious expression and was about to ask again.
“His Grace has brought a guest. Jeffrey. To bring people whose identities have not been guaranteed here without permission.”
“…They’re people I brought, aren’t they? I brought them because I vouch for them.”
The duchess did not react to her son’s foolish reply and continued walking.
“Do not even think of loitering near the place where we have received our guest. This is not one of my usual warnings. It is an order.”
“…Did Father tell you to do that?”
Her steps halted for a moment. The duchess looked back at her son with a chilling gaze and said,
“No. It is an order I am giving you, Jeffrey.”
“…”
“Do not shame me any further. I am tired of making excuses for you to your father. You know this, do you not? His Grace no longer has any expectations of you. So even if you cannot meet his expectations any longer, you must at least not disappoint him. That is what I, as your mother, ask of you…”
“Then you shouldn’t have raised me this way in the first place.”
Silence fell. The duchess stared at her son without a word.
For an instant, she saw the young Jeffrey who had cried with a tear-streaked face, whining that Father was frightening, superimposed over the Jeffrey before her now.
She laughed as if dumbfounded. A sneer filled with revulsion spread across her face.
Whether she did or not, Jeffrey stated his business with an arrogant air.
“Please tell Father that I have something important to discuss. If he meets them and hears what they have to say, Father will be astonished as well.”
“Yes. From what I hear, it has something to do with Sasha, that child…”
“I cannot say it here. I must tell Father.”
The duchess, her eyes frozen cold, faced forward again and walked on.
“I will hear it first, Jeffrey. I will come to you later, so make sure your friends do not leave that room.”
“What? But…”
A sound rang out, as though someone had lightly slapped a cheek. Jeffrey saw his mother gripping her fan so tightly that it crumpled, and only then belatedly shut his mouth.
“Do not follow me any farther. This, too, is an order.”
Jeffrey knew that it was the final warning. So he stopped without another word, watching his mother’s back grow distant as he only bit his lip.
Once Jeffrey had fallen behind, a maid nearby silently drew up beside the duchess. Without even looking at her, the duchess handed over the umbrella she had been carrying as if throwing it.
“Make sure that child does not do anything foolish.”
“Understood, my lady.”
The duchess continued walking without stopping. At the end of the long, straight corridor were the duke and the duke’s guest.
An important guest. Truly an important guest.
That made her regret over Jeffrey all the greater. Her foolish, reckless, pitiable and beloved son, who had inherited from her nothing but that temper and arrogance. If she said that to the duke, he would laugh at her and point out that it was the opposite.
The butler standing guard before the door carefully knocked inside at the duchess’s gesture, announcing her arrival. The conversation within paused for a moment, and soon a ready answer came telling her to enter.
“Duchess.”
The person who had been sitting across from the duke in conversation rose from his seat the moment he saw her and gave a light bow.
“It has truly been a long time. As it happens, we were just in need of the duchess’s discerning eye.”
“Sit here, my lady.”
Following the guest’s pleasantry, the duke looked at her and spoke. The duchess remained standing, offered a proper greeting in return, then sat down beside the duke.
The man, who had grown a bushy beard since she last saw him, smiled at her politely.
“The pleasure is mine. It has been a long time, General Churston.”
Maintaining a smile that appeared suitably imperious yet dignified, she continued.
“When I heard you had come so suddenly, I wondered if there was something important. As you know… for the time being, we are both in a position where we must be careful.”
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Clatter—the carriage shook violently once again as it traveled over the rough road. It was enough to lift him clean off the seat despite having been sitting quietly. Isaac reflexively turned his head to look at Sasha beside him. Fortunately, she was still deeply asleep.
I should move soon, Isaac thought. Perhaps because of the foul weather, despite the well-maintained road, the ride was poor, and Sasha had nearly hit her head against the window several times even while dozing. Each time, Isaac had sprung up and held out his hand to keep her head from striking it, and after some hesitation, he had finally moved to sit beside her.
His arm stretched awkwardly toward the window, braced there without quite managing to wrap around her shoulders. Still asleep, Sasha’s head swayed this way and that in a precarious manner, then her forehead came to rest against his shoulder. At first, that had truly been all, but in her sleep, she burrowed into Isaac’s arms and buried her face more securely against the nape of his neck.
Isaac felt as though he were dying.
Keeping his gaze fixed on the scenery outside the window as it gradually changed, Isaac fidgeted with his fingers. They had already arrived in the capital, and it would not be long before they reached Dilton Manor.
She had to wake up before then. But finding the right timing was utterly impossible.
Each time her warm breath touched the nape of his neck, Isaac looked out the window and muttered something under his breath. At times it was one of the regulations he had relentlessly memorized as a cadet, and at times it became a line from a military song.
The carriage jolted violently once more. In the end, Isaac removed the hand that had been gripping the edge of the window precariously and wrapped it around her shoulders.
“…Mm…”
At the same moment, she woke.
Her warm breath, different from before, once again tickled the nape of his neck. With hazy eyes not yet fully awake, Sasha lifted her head and looked at him.
At close range, Isaac’s blue eyes met hers.
“…I think we’ll be arriving soon.”
When Isaac awkwardly pulled his hand away from her shoulder, she looked out the window with eyes that still seemed dazed.
“Have you been like this the whole time?”
“…The road became rough. It wasn’t the whole time, not for very long, so…”
Whether Isaac rambled on as if making excuses or not, Sasha, looking up at him with a face still not fully awake, let out a soft laugh.
“I wasn’t trying to scold you or anything.”
“…Ah, …yes.”
“I just feel grateful, and sorry.”
Still leaning against his shoulder, Sasha murmured the words. Isaac quietly stared at her face. A strand of hair that had fallen over her right cheek bothered him.
Before he could think anything, his hand moved on its own and brushed it away. The callused tips of his fingers naturally swept over her cheek.
“…”
“…”
Neither Isaac nor Sasha said anything about it.
They simply gazed at each other for a long while. Isaac’s fingertips twitched carefully near her cheek.
“…Captain.”
Just as she, aware of him, hesitated and was about to say something, Isaac drew away from her as though belatedly coming to his senses and unnaturally gestured out the window.
Dilton Manor, that old mansion, was drawing nearer in the distance, no bigger than a finger.
“We’ve arrived. I think we’ve arrived.”