Chapter 56
“Have you been well? It has truly been a long time.”
“……
Lady Rowina.”
Every gaze fixed on Tomi. The Regent nudged the back of his son, who stood flustered and at a loss. Tomi stepped forward awkwardly, faltering, and greeted her without meeting her eyes.
“I have been well. And you, Lady Rowina……”
His voice trailed away. Frightened by the piercing, azure eyes looking down at him, Tomi lowered his gaze. The way she had looked over five years ago had appeared sad and miserable even to young Tomi’s eyes. Rowina approached the hesitating Tomi and embraced him just like that. People gasped in surprise.
“You’ve been well, I see. I often missed you.”
Thanks to pure and honest Tomi, life on the island had never been boring. It was deeply moving to see the child who had barely reached her waist now grown tall enough to come to her chest. She also wondered if Damian too would shoot up and become such a young man before long.
“That should be enough of a reunion.”
Even if he was barely thirteen or fourteen, a man was still a man. Killian, not hiding his displeasure, pulled the two apart. Just as he smoothly wrapped his arm around Rowina’s waist and tried to lead her toward the bath chamber—
“Killian.”
In front of everyone, Rowina—who rarely called his name—linked her arm through his.
“I have a favor to ask. Will you grant it? Though it is a matter that requires the Regent’s consent as well.”
“What is it?”
“While I am here, I would like Tomi to run errands by my side. Joan and Melissa will be too busy preparing for the engagement ceremony to catch their breath.”
Killian raised an eyebrow at the unexpected request and looked down at Tomi. At a gaze colder than a biting northern blizzard, Tomi instinctively hid behind his mother’s skirt.
“Tomi is the Regent’s son. He cannot be used as some mere errand boy.”
“Is it not possible?”
At the tactful refusal, Rowina turned her head sharply and looked at the Regent with sparkling eyes.
“I would never ask him to do anything difficult or dangerous. It would be enough if he simply kept me company in small ways. Is it truly impossible?”
“Haha……”
The Regent, unable to move in the frozen atmosphere, glanced at the Duke standing beside her.
He had been about to say it was difficult. The words he had been about to let out—that he would assign a different bright and quick-witted child instead—were stopped when Tomi approached and tugged on his coat.
“I want to do it, Father.”
“……”
“We were wrong. We are sorry.”
At the whispered plea, his dulled conscience suddenly sharpened and poked at his chest. He clearly remembered the moment when the islanders’ gazes and attitudes changed after learning that Miss Philone was not a formal marriage partner, but merely a mistress.
“……
Then so be it. That my son may attend the future Duchess is rather an honor.”
The Regent swallowed dryly and finally raised the white flag. Rowina smiled brightly and turned her head again to the man standing beside her.
“He says it is permitted. Is it all right now? Killian?”
At the temperature that dropped in an instant, people hunched their shoulders. Most had expected him to flatly refuse or ignore her, but the next moment, that expectation shattered into pieces.
“……
Very well. If that is what you wish.”
Killian, who rarely conceded, nodded. Leaving behind the people frozen in shock, unable to move, he wrapped his arm around Rowina’s waist once more and walked away.
* * *
One by one, preparations for the engagement ceremony were made, and the islanders spent busy days for the first time in a long while. On a flat plain where there had been nothing, pillars were erected and a small chapel began to be constructed.
Having passed through the process of busily carrying lumber, hammering nails, and cutting, now only the interior remained.
Watching the laborers sweat from early morning until late evening every day, Rowina felt a bit sorry.
“We could have simply held the engagement ceremony at the existing chapel. Did we really need to build a new one?”
Hearing her mutter, sharp-eared Joan whispered to Melissa.
“Lady Rowina, honestly. I cannot tell if she is deeply thoughtful or thoughtless. To think she would consider holding the ceremony at the chapel where her husband held his wedding with his first wife.”
She had sought sympathy, but what came back was a cold reply.
“What do you know about Lady Rowina?”
“What?”
“Don’t you know you shouldn’t speak that way about the person you serve?”
Stung by the sharp rebuke, flustered Joan flushed.
“No, I wasn’t speaking ill…… It’s the truth, isn’t it? Do you understand?”
“Why should I understand? Who are you?”
Melissa, tossing the question back, fired another retort.
“Don’t try so hard to understand. Only she knows her own heart.”
Though she said this, she herself was in no position to say anything to Lady Rowina. No matter how unavoidable it had been because of family, betrayal was betrayal. If she learned the truth, even if Rowina slapped her and chased her out immediately, she would have no right to complain of injustice. That was why she felt more sorry, and that was why she resolved to devote even more loyalty.
“Fine, I was wrong. It’s my fault. Happy?”
Joan clicked her tongue at the seemingly impenetrable attitude and rolled her eyes. In the meantime, Tomi came running from afar.
Passing the two women, he approached Rowina with a bright smile.
“Lady Rowina!”
“Tomi.”
“I delivered the note to the tutor as you instructed.”
“Thank you. Did he say anything else?”
“Yes. He simply said he understood.”
“I see.”
Smiling softly, Rowina held out a candy to Tomi. When he hesitated and tried to refuse, she pressed it into his small hand.
“You know this errand is a secret, right?”
“Of course! If anyone asks, I’ll vaguely brush it off.”
“Yes. That’s right. How clever.”
Rowina stroked Tomi’s head and approached Joan and Melissa.
On the way back to the villa, Joan chattered excitedly.
“How does it feel to be on the verge of engagement? You had the dress fitting yesterday, and all the invitations have been sent.”
It was an innocence possible only because she hadn’t experienced the events of five years ago firsthand. While Melissa and Tomi kept their mouths shut, Rowina answered with an indifferent expression.
“Well. A feeling that I can finally breathe a sigh of relief?”
“What, is that all?”
At the unremarkable answer, Joan pouted.
“It really is. You’ll understand when you’re in the same position later. How hectic it is.”
“How could my position be the same as Lady Rowina’s? Your partner is none other than His Grace the Duke of Devonshire. Nothing is lacking.”
Rowina’s steps suddenly halted. The moment Joan tensed, wondering if she had spoken out of turn, a shocking question flew out.
“Then on the day of the engagement ceremony, want to switch with me?”
“Pardon……?”
“You would attend wearing the dress in my stead. His Grace will be wearing a veil anyway, so he won’t be able to recognize you.”
Had anyone else said the same thing, it would naturally have been taken as a joke, but the speaker was none other than Rowina. Unable to tell if it was a joke or serious, the three exchanged glances, and then Rowina burst into a small laugh.
“It’s a joke. A joke. Why are you all so surprised?”
“Ha…… haha! Oh my, Lady Rowina! You knew how to make such jokes?”
“I’ve learned a bit of Countess Rachel’s wit.”
The frozen air loosened as if a blocked airway had cleared. Melissa, who had been listening to the exchange anxiously, slipped in with a sudden thought.
“Come to think of it, I believe you mentioned that the Countess is coming today, Lady Rowina.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I heard it this morning when I was distracted, so I must have forgotten to tell you. As far as I recall…… it was around noon.”
No sooner had she finished than the bell rang from the island’s lighthouse, announcing noon.
* * *
“Rowina!”
The moment she set foot in the small harbor, Countess Rachel, having found Rowina who had come to greet her, approached with a delighted face. After sharing a light embrace, the two boarded the carriage together.
“Thank you for coming before anyone else.”
“Of course I had to come. Given our relationship.”
Smiling with her eyes curved, the Countess tilted her head upon seeing a person seated beside the coachman’s seat.
“But who is that person who just got on in front? I’ve never seen him before. He doesn’t seem like a servant.”
“Ah.”
He was a man who had followed her around like a shadow, so unobtrusive that she hadn’t even known he was there. Rowina, unable to answer for a moment because she couldn’t remember who he was, soon opened her mouth.
“He is the portrait painter. He hasn’t finished the painting yet.”
“Goodness. The engagement ceremony is in a few days, and he still hasn’t? Isn’t he incompetent?”
“It’s just that the face is still unfinished. Everything else has already been drawn satisfactorily.”
“Oh my, he still hasn’t painted this beautiful face? If it were me, I would have painted over a hundred by now.”
Joan and Melissa giggled at the Countess’s banter. Rowina laughed sheepishly and shrugged her shoulders.
“He says he hasn’t seen the expression he wants. Right now he’s constantly observing me.”
“Well, they say the more artists burn with artistic passion, the harder it is to complete something. It’s exceptional since he is a painter commissioned by the House of Devonshire.”
Having smoothly wrapped up the artist with her words, the Countess turned her head toward the window. A scenery completely different from the grand city lined with splendid, tall buildings unfolded before her eyes.
She had come to this island five years ago as well. None other than for the wedding of the Duke of Devonshire.
It had been a grand and luxurious wedding, yet like a puppet show. The bride beautifully adorned, and the groom so outstanding that he would shine no matter who he stood before. They were a picture-perfect handsome couple, yet even viewed from the distant guest seats, the distance between the two facing each other was nothing short of two opposite ends.
Throughout the officiating, blessings, and marriage vows, the Duke of Devonshire repeated only the word “Yes” with an expressionless face. As if the place he stood was not his own wedding, but a tedious stage. It had been a formal and majestic ceremony, yet devoid of love or romance. Because it was such a memorable wedding, it remained etched in her memory like a scar.
She wondered what this wedding would look like. For some reason, she felt it would be completely different from the image in her memory.