Chapter 53
“…….”
He had the face of a drenched puppy looking up with its ears drooping. As Killian silently averted his gaze and stroked Bobo’s head, Damian, having slyly put his mind to work, suddenly asked,
“Aha. It’s because you can’t do it, isn’t it?”
“……
What?”
As if he’d heard something unbelievable, Killian whipped his head around. Wearing the look of someone who had landed a huge catch, Damian said smugly,
“You’re embarrassed because you can’t do it, right? I’m right, aren’t I?”
“Kid. There’s nothing I can’t do.”
“Liar.”
“…….”
Killian’s eyes narrowed. Damian shrank back for a moment under an inexplicable pressure, but he did not give up and pressed on.
“Mom said so. There’s no such thing as a perfect person in the world. Everyone has at least one weakness, and everyone has something precious that must never be touched.”
While waiting for his answer, Damian assumed he would naturally deny even that. He was wondering how to retort when, unexpectedly, a surprisingly compliant answer came back.
“That may be true.”
“Huh?”
This time it was Damian who doubted his ears. The adult who seemed as if he would never bend his own opinion instead bent one knee and sat down, bringing himself to eye level.
“What else did your mother say?”
“Well……”
Though he had been the one pushing so hard, Damian quietly turned his gaze aside at the face that had come closer and rubbed his two index fingers together.
“I feel like I might remember if you played ball with me……”
A brief silence fell. Seeing Killian rise again, Damian slapped his own mouth. It seemed he had added something unnecessary. Worried that he might just leave again, he looked up with wide, pleading eyes, but Killian stretched the corner of his mouth. To Damian, who blinked in surprise, an unexpected announcement was delivered.
“Start.”
“Huh?”
No sooner had the bewildered Damian asked back than Killian kicked the ball lying on the ground toward the castle wall. Damian stared blankly at the ball as it flew in a high arc, then belatedly ran after Killian.
“Who starts all of a sudden like that! Mister, that’s cheating!”
* * *
The one who rejoiced most at the news of the two’s engagement, along with Melissa, was none other than the butler. As if it had been a lie that five years ago their relationship had been awkward because she was a mistress and he a butler, he now relied on Rowena for many things.
“Then we will finalize the invitation list for the engagement ceremony around here.”
“Yes. I think that would be best. Thank you for your hard work.”
“Not at all. It is my duty. And please speak more comfortably now. You will soon be the mistress of this house.”
Rowena smiled quietly at his unreserved attitude and shook her head.
“But I’m still not.”
“And yet you refuse even the key to the wine cellar.”
“Because you’re doing such a good job with it, Butler. When I ask for it later, you mustn’t hide it from me.”
“Oh my, hide it? How could you say such a thing?”
The mistress he would soon serve was a person with an excellent way of speaking that softened the atmosphere and avoided offending others. At her easy, good-natured joke, the butler burst into laughter and gathered the documents to his chest. As he was leaving the study, he abruptly stopped.
“Lady Rowena.”
Rowena, who had been narrowing down the list of ingredients and musicians to be used at the engagement ceremony, raised her head.
“Yes?”
The butler had turned back and was looking intently at her. It was not the gaze of observation or vigilance, but the gaze Jeremy had when looking at Rowena, his niece. At her expression asking if he had anything more to say, the butler smiled gently.
“Lady Rowena, you are truly a good person.”
“…….”
“I did not realize it five years ago, but you are broad-minded, delicate, and considerate. You are honest as well.”
“You flatter me. I’m not that kind of person.”
Blushing at the sudden praise, Rowena waved her hands in denial. It was not as if that were untrue; even now, she was lying. Was she not wearing a mask of obedience as she dealt with Killian and busily preparing for an engagement ceremony that would never take place?
“His Grace the Duke is……”
The butler, who had been silent for a moment as if thinking over something, opened his mouth heavily.
“To be honest, he is not a particularly good person.”
It was like a bolt from the blue. When words that were not quite slander yet not quite anything else came from the mouth of the butler, who served Killian with loyalty no less great than Zenok’s, the startled Rowena unknowingly crumpled the paper she was holding.
“He is cold and not very affectionate. When he cuts something off, he is sharper than anyone. And also……”
“…….”
“He lacks more emotion than most. I have served him since the day he was born, and even to my eyes, that is so. I imagine Lady Rowena would not think differently.”
Every word was right. Rowena gazed at him quietly.
“There is one emotion in particular that he does not know. He has received plenty of envy, reverence, and fear, but the affection a parent gives a child, the affection one lover gives another—the affection human beings most commonly give to other human beings—he has never received.”
It was a story she was hearing for the first time. Toward Rowena, who had gone rigid as if she had become a wax doll, the butler calmly continued.
“When he was young, his father died in an accident, and not long afterward his mother said she was going away to recuperate and left for her family home in a distant foreign country. And she never returned.”
“……
I’ve heard that story before.”
Rowena murmured in a small voice. The butler must have somehow heard her answer, for he smiled faintly.
“He was so intelligent that even after being left alone, he grew up admirably and with dignity, but there were many who targeted the young heir. There were countless people who tried to win his favor and use him, and he survived repeated threats to his life and brushes with death. Perhaps, in that process, his temperament gradually became sensitive and sharp. That is why I cannot help but feel sorry for him…… and sorry for him again. Even if everyone envies him.”
His voice held deep sincerity in every word. Rowena listened to him in silence.
“So when he brought Lady Rowena here, I truthfully did not expect much. Because I did not expect anything, there was no occasion for me to face Lady Rowena, and no occasion like this to speak frankly from the heart.”
“Butler……”
“But.”
Putting strength into his voice, the butler’s face brightened.
“Now I see hope. When I watch the two of you from one step behind, I am certain that a wonderful change will take place. His Grace is gradually changing as well.”
Changing? Killian?
Rowena, who had been listening intently to the deep story of his past she was hearing for the first time, lowered her gaze instead of shaking her head. Interpreting that reaction in some way, the butler ended his words gently.
“When he looks at Lady Rowena, his gaze is so soft that even I, who have served him for so long, can hardly believe it. So I am truly grateful, again and again, to Lady Rowena, who has brought about that change in him. I wanted to tell you that.”
The butler smiled bashfully and bowed his head deeply. Then, without waiting for an answer, he quickly left the study.
Even after that, Rowena continued handling the work that remained for quite some time. The letters that had been so easy to read just moments ago danced in her head, tangling together among themselves. It was not that her resolve was wavering now, nor that her heart had grown muddled. But the story she had heard so suddenly made something inside her churn. Unable to concentrate at all, she was about to get up when someone knocked on the study door.
“Lady Rowena.”
It was Zenok. After receiving permission, Zenok opened the door and came in.
“Ah. Was today the day for taking measurements?”
“That as well, but……”
The place Zenok guided her to was a sunlit courtyard. Beneath a large elm tree, a rosewood chair and a tripod table had been prepared, with a lace cloth and fruits placed on top. As Rowena looked around in puzzlement at a scene that felt somehow familiar yet unfamiliar, the painter seated in front of an easel stood and greeted her.
“Welcome. Please sit over there.”
“What is this……”
Rowena, eyes wide, looked at Zenok. Zenok politely indicated the chair.
“Starting today, we will be working on Lady Rowena’s portrait. The Devonshire ducal family has a long tradition of hanging portraits of family members in the gallery.”
The word gallery brought back a memory. The portraits Benedict had shown her. The portrait of the fiancée from the womb who had resembled her.
“What is the matter? Are you feeling unwell?”
When Rowena’s face turned pale, Melissa and Joanne, who had been waiting in advance, approached.
“If it is too difficult for you, you could start tomorrow……”
“No. I’m all right.”
Rowena shook her head and sat in the chair. It was fine weather. The leaves fluttered in the softly blowing breeze, making a pleasant rushing sound. But her heart was in the middle of a storm-tossed sea.
“Are you truly all right? First, I was going to touch up your makeup.”
Melissa knelt in front of Rowena and set down a box of cosmetics beside her.
“I’m fine. Truly.”
“Then please stay still for a moment.”
Reassured by her gentle smile, Melissa applied a light-colored lipstick over her lips. Likewise, when she brushed blush onto Rowena’s cheeks to add some liveliness, her pallid face was quickly transformed into one full of vitality.
“Since this is not an official occasion, and you do not tend to wear heavy makeup, I only touched it up a little.”
While Melissa explained, Joanne brought a hand mirror to her. Rowena stared quietly at the woman reflected in the mirror. She resembled the girl in the portrait to a chilling degree. Rowena felt so unpleasant that her stomach turned.