Chapter 114
Rowena, staggering from the shock, sank down where she stood. Killian narrowed his brow and looked toward the source of the sound, his face dark.
“Miss Hannah Atwell?”
Hannah Atwell. It was a familiar name. As Rowena searched her memory, a face came to mind. It was the name of the mute maid who worked at the mansion.
“I’m rather thirsty. Get me some water.”
Did he truly not recognize her? It was dark, but not so dark that he should fail to recognize the face of someone close to him.
As Rowena stood there, at a loss, Killian swept back his disheveled black hair and spoke in a dry voice. Belatedly coming to her senses, Rowena spotted the pitcher. When she pointed to it, Killian seemed to make out its vague outline and nodded.
Swallowing dryly, Rowena slowly rose. She poured water from the pitcher into a cup, and the moment she handed it to him, their fingertips brushed. For a second, she nearly dropped the cup, but while Killian drank the water, Rowena backed away. Then she slipped out of the cabin as though fleeing.
Damian, who had been waiting beside the horse, greeted Rowena with startled eyes.
“Mom?”
“Let’s go back right now.”
“Huh?”
Rowena set the bewildered Damian on the saddle first, then immediately mounted the horse herself.
* * *
As soon as they returned to the mansion, Rowena headed for Cedric’s room. Cedric had been asleep, and the moment he opened his eyes at the sound of someone’s presence, Rowena strode up to his bed and demanded,
“Why is that man here?”
“……
Rowena?”
“Don’t even think of denying it. I heard you talking to Lauren clearly. And I just saw him at the cabin with my own eyes.”
“With your own eyes?”
At her next words, Cedric’s drowsiness vanished completely, and he parted his lips with a grave expression.
“Wait for me in the drawing room. I’m not in my right mind just now.”
During the thirty minutes she waited in the drawing room, Rowena tried to calm her heart, which felt as though it might burst. Her thoughts were tangled into chaos, making it impossible to understand what was going on. She sat waiting, her face white as paper, her hands clasped together, when the door opened.
“Rowena.”
Cedric, changed out of his nightclothes and into his ordinary attire, entered the drawing room. He sat across from her, studied her face, then narrowed his brow.
“You don’t look well. Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. More importantly, there’s something far more urgent.”
Brushing aside his concern, Rowena questioned him with a rigid face.
“Explain to me why he’s here.”
“What if I said I didn’t know?”
“That makes no sense. That forest is part of Lauren’s estate.”
Her resolute expression did not yield an inch. The taut tension lasted only a moment before Cedric let out a small sigh and confessed.
“It was a small request.”
“A request?”
“Before leaving, he said he wanted to see Damian and you, even from a distance.”
Leaving. More than Cedric’s admission, that word lodged in Rowena’s ears. She clutched the hem of her dress.
“This is upsetting. Doing such a thing without even consulting me.”
“I have no excuse for that. I’m sorry.”
“When did he come down?”
“Yesterday at dawn.”
Damian had seen Killian last night, so that meant it had happened that very day. Rowena quelled the shock and parted her lips with a calmer expression.
“He didn’t recognize me.”
“……”
“Does his leaving have something to do with that?”
It was a sharp question. Cedric lowered his head and answered honestly.
“I don’t know the details either. Mr. Zenok said his eyesight worsened as an aftereffect of the accident.”
“How badly?”
“That much, I……”
“I should go.”
“Rowena!”
Rowena, who had shot to her feet and was heading for the door, stopped at the sudden question.
“What are you going to do if you go?”
“Tell him to leave. Why now, after all this time?”
“He said he was leaving anyway. Early the next morning.”
Early in the morning. Rowena turned her head and looked out the window. A red glow showed beyond the horizon. Dawn would break soon, so it would be in a few hours.
“So just leave him be. He saw Damian once, so he’ll be satisfied.”
Instead of answering, Rowena turned the doorknob and left the drawing room. On her way to Damian’s room, she ran into the butler. She was about to greet him lightly when the butler looked at her in surprise.
“Lady Rowena?”
“Yes?”
“Were you not with Master Damian?”
“What do you mean?”
“I thought you had given permission, so I let him ride the pony.”
“What?”
“He said Lady Rowena was waiting in the forest, so I told him to go with the coachman……”
It felt as though someone had poured cold water over her head. Rowena whirled around and ran quickly toward the front entrance.
* * *
She hurried to the stable with the butler, but the coachman was asleep. When they shook him awake, the coachman rubbed his bleary eyes and counted the horses and ponies. After counting several times, his face went deathly pale as he seemed to come fully awake.
“My God. One pony is missing.”
“I’ll borrow a horse.”
“Lady Rowena?”
Rowena mounted a horse bareback and drove it forward before the butler could stop her. Entering deep into the forest at high speed, she immediately turned the reins toward the cabin. The possibility she had feared proved correct. After confirming the pony tied to a tree in front of the cabin, Rowena urgently flung open the cabin door.
“Damian!”
She looked around, but no one was there. Thinking Killian might have already left, she searched every corner, only to find his luggage still there.
“Did they go somewhere together?”
Rowena muttered and was about to leave the cabin again.
“Ah!”
She collided with someone coming in. Startled, she lifted her head and saw Killian standing there. Before Killian, narrowing his eyes, could make out who the woman before him was, Rowena spoke first.
“Where is Damian?”
“……
Rowena?”
“Weren’t you with Damian? Were you trying to take him away without telling me?”
“Calm down.”
Startled by the sudden situation, Killian seized her shoulders.
“Tell me slowly what you mean.”
“Damian came here. Alone.”
Taking a deep breath, Rowena pointed to the pony tied to the tree. Killian, making out its pale shape, shook his head with a grave expression.
“I didn’t see him.”
Her heart dropped. She had been told there were no dangerous animals, but it was still deep in the forest. She worried about small accidents, like him eating a poisonous mushroom by mistake. Rowena’s legs gave out, and she braced herself against the wall. Just then, something licked the back of her hand. Startled, Rowena pulled her hand away and met a pair of eyes gazing up at her.
“Lulu……?”
Woof! The puppy barked once, then, seeming pleased by a familiar scent, rubbed its face against Rowena’s palm. As Rowena absently stroked Lulu, a thought flashed through her mind like lightning. When she lifted her head, she met a pair of blue eyes that seemed to have thought the same thing.
Once they let Lulu sniff the saddle, the puppy put its nose to the ground and headed somewhere. The two followed behind.
“This is……”
The place they arrived at was none other than the lake on the outskirts of the forest. Cedric had once mentioned it. There was a small lake, and fishermen often came and went. As if the scent had ended, Lulu stopped in one spot, panting, then sat down.
“Damian!”
She called his name until her throat nearly burst, but there was no one at the quiet lakeside. Then Lulu spotted something in the middle of the lake and began barking furiously. Rowena followed his gaze and froze where she stood.
“Damian……?”
A small hand was flailing on the surface of the water. It felt as though all the blood in her body turned cold.
“Damian!”
The moment she recognized who it was, her reason shut down. A hand flailing desperately above the calm ripples bobbed precariously. Rowena strode forward, pushing through the water as she reached toward where Damian was.
“Rowena!”
Only when the water had risen to her knees did Killian belatedly grasp the situation and grab her.
“Let go of me! Damian is out there in the middle.”
Struggling, Rowena shook off Killian’s hand.
“I know how to swim! So move!”
From rivers with fierce currents to the boundless sea, he had learned survival swimming in all sorts of places since childhood, and swimming was the form of exercise most deeply ingrained in his body. Moreover, dawn had broken enough for him to make out his surroundings to some extent. Rowena whipped her head toward Killian, who was trying to stop her, and met a face just as white as her own.
“I’ll go.”
“……”
His bloodless face was paler than any she had ever seen. Seeing the desperation there, Rowena unconsciously stumbled back.
The moment strength left Rowena’s body, Killian leapt straight into the lake. The puppy jumped in with him.
“Killian!”
Rowena sank to the dirt and watched Killian move farther away. Only belatedly did she remember that his eyesight had weakened. A chill ran through her entire body, and fear wrapped around her. She clasped her hands together and waited in anxious suspense for what felt like ages, until she saw Killian coming back, holding the child while relying on the puppy with one hand. Bringing the unconscious Damian to shore, Killian calmly laid the small body down.
“Shh…… Damian……”
His face was pale. He did not open his eyes, as though he had no consciousness. With her face wet with tears, Rowena brought her hand beneath Damian’s nose.
“He’s not breathing!”
Rowena screamed as if someone were strangling her and gathered the small body into her arms.
“No. No……!”
“Rowena. Lay him back down.”
“No. He’s my baby!”
“I know. He’s your baby. So lay him back down.”
His voice was calm, but he was holding something back with all his might.
“If we’re going to save Damian, you have to help me.”
Following his instructions, Rowena overlapped her hands and repeatedly pressed down on Damian’s left chest, then released. In time with her movements, Killian attempted artificial respiration beside her. After what felt like an eternity, just as her heart was burning black like a wick burned down to its end, Damian miraculously coughed up water.
“Cough……”
“Dami……”
Beside herself, Rowena was about to pull her son into her arms when Damian slowly opened his eyes and recognized Killian.
“Daddy……”
The large hands cupping his cheeks were trembling violently. Killian lowered his head and gathered Damian into his arms. Like a man who had finally found light in pitch-black darkness.