Chapter 6
Considering he had told her to come out to the park for the sake of her manuscript, William had dressed up as though he were a man going on a date with his lover.
After they sat side by side on a bench and exchanged a few words, he immediately led her to a restaurant with a pleasant atmosphere. It was a modest place, but it seemed to be popular with couples; the men and women seated across from each other kept stealing glances at Rowina and William.
“This is the typical dating course for lovers.”
Once they had finished most of the meal, William held out a contract stamped with the publishing house’s seal. Rowina, momentarily dumbfounded, accepted the contract.
“I thought you didn’t like my novel.”
“I did say I liked the atmosphere and the prose. And since you came out like this today, following my advice, I believe there is plenty of room for improvement.”
William smiled brightly and took out something he had hidden behind his back. It was ten roses. Rowina, startled yet again, only widened her eyes, and he thrust the hand holding the flowers farther toward her as if urging her to take them.
“These are flowers to congratulate you on the signing of the contract.”
“Do people usually… go this far?”
As it was, in other people’s eyes, the sight of two men sitting cozily together in a restaurant like this was strange enough; receiving flowers on top of that made it a perfect scene for misunderstanding.
“It’s your first contract, isn’t it? I give roses to every author signing their first contract. It’s a kind of ritual.”
“……”
“My hand is starting to feel embarrassed. Haha.”
When he put it that way, she had no choice but to accept them for the time being.
That was the end of their meeting.
She received the contract, stamped it with the seal she had brought just in case, and handed it back. They agreed that all future correspondence would go through Melissa.
Now that the contract had been concluded, what remained was the manuscript. She had nearly completed a full draft already, but in order to revise the parts that had been pointed out and bring it to a finish, Rowina devoted herself to writing.
Whether unfortunately or fortunately, Killian did not come until a week had passed since she had begun working on the manuscript.
“He must have a lot of work. Lady Gertrude said he isn’t in the capital right now.”
“I see.”
“Yes. It’s strange. Usually, whenever he’s away for this long, he always gives you a word in advance, or else sends a separate message through a servant.”
“He must be very busy.”
At Melissa’s words, Rowina smiled bitterly and placed the final period on her manuscript. When he was there, she had to watch herself even when she breathed, but with him gone, she could not sleep properly. Because of that, she often woke before dawn.
Rowina had woken from a shallow sleep and was going down to the kitchen because she was thirsty. Just as she was about to open the door, a familiar name flowed into her ears from inside.
“About Lord Killian.”
“Hm?”
“They say he attended yesterday’s banquet with the second daughter of Count Vanessa.”
Another woman. Without realizing it, strength entered the hand she had on the doorknob. While Rowina froze, the conversation continued.
“That’s right. I heard it was a very splendid and beautiful banquet.”
“Since he’s no longer young, do you think he’s starting to consider marriage?”
“Maybe. The position of duchess has been vacant for a long time. Until now, Marchioness Essex, as his elder relative, has been managing the country house in his stead, but she’s quite old now.”
“Then what will happen to Miss Philone?”
“Well… I suppose he’ll give her a suitable sum and send her away. No matter how much they try to keep it quiet, no one would openly give their daughter to a man who has a mistress. Especially if they’re nobles, since they have their dignity to consider.”
It felt as though a dagger had pierced her heart. With a strangled gasp, Rowina covered her mouth with both hands.
“But would Her Majesty accept the daughter of a mere count as her nephew’s wife? And, you know, that thing.”
The maid lowered her voice secretively and continued.
“I hear that the fiancée who died three years ago… they say he hasn’t been able to forget her, so he’s remained unmarried all this time.”
“I heard that rumor too. A fiancée arranged before birth, was it? I don’t know the details, but I heard she was an incredible beauty……”
“A man who can’t let go of his first love! How romantic……”
Each word became a sharp blade, thinly slicing at her heart. Rowina staggered backward. At that moment, one of the maids sensed a presence and turned around.
“Is someone there?”
Rowina drew in a breath and hurriedly looked around. But there was nowhere to hide. Just as her mind went as blank and white as a sheet of paper, the door on the other side of the kitchen opened. At the same time, a cold, hard voice barked at the resting maids.
“What are you doing here instead of working?”
“L-Lady Gertrude!”
The startled maids sprang to their feet.
“We’re sorry. We were only talking for a moment.”
The frightened maids bowed their heads again and again. Gertrude clicked her tongue and discovered the door open on the opposite side.
“If you’re going to chatter, you should at least not let it be heard outside the door.”
The next instant, the door on the side where Rowina had been standing was flung open. But there was no one there.
“We’re sorry! We’re sorry!”
“If I catch you again, you’ll be dismissed that very day.”
After warning them coldly, Gertrude slammed the door shut. Rowina, standing behind the door, swept a hand over her chest.
Killian’s marriage.
The words felt unreal. Rowina kept trying to forget them.
It was not that she had expected him to remain unmarried forever, but hearing the words from someone else’s mouth was shocking. All the more so in a situation where she was being neglected like this. But what bothered her even more was what came next.
His dead fiancée, arranged before birth.…
It’s just a baseless rumor.
For the past three years, she had never seen any trace of an affectionate first love. Moreover, after becoming his mistress, she herself had accompanied him to most banquets.
Rowina recalled the tender moments she had gathered like crumbs.
The touch of his hand drying her wet hair with a towel himself, the look in his eyes as he fed her chocolate, the warmth of him taking off his coat for her when the first snow fell.
If he were mourning a dead woman, he could not have treated her that way. That was why she had believed he had at least some feeling for her.
I can’t go on like this after all.
Someday, when their relationship was one in which neither owed the other anything, she wanted to confess her feelings to him. She wanted to undo the button that had been fastened wrong and begin fastening them together from the start.
The first step toward that was publishing her book.
Because in order to stand beside him at the same eye level, she first had to repay all the debts she owed him.
* * *
“I’ll be back.”
“Yes! I’ll be cheering for you.”
Melissa smiled brightly and took Rowina’s hand.
“When your first work is published, you have to give me one copy.”
“Of course. I’ll give you two, even three.”
Her jesting lasted only a moment. When she stood before the publishing house building, her back stiffened on its own. Rowina took a deep breath and knocked on the door.
“Ah. You’re here.”
William greeted her with a faint smile.
“Have you thought about what you’ll do with the part I mentioned last time?”
“Yes. I thought about it carefully.”
It wounded her pride to revise a manuscript she had worked on for so long, but she needed money.
At the resolute look in her eyes, William lifted the corners of his mouth. He took the manuscript, skimmed through it, and gave his assessment.
“Very good. Once we finish checking for typos, we can publish it right away.”
“Really?”
Hope lit up Rowina’s eyes. Smiling back at her, William glanced out the window. There was a tail that had not been there last time.
It must be a tail attached to this woman. The woman named Gertrude had come to see him a week before the cross-dressed woman before his eyes had arrived.
—All you need to do is put on a little act.
—An act?
—Yes. It’s very simple.
What had surprised him was that, despite his having dismissed her as a country woman, this woman’s manuscript was better than he had expected. That was why he had, to some extent, offered sincere advice.
But that was that, and this was this. In this world, money was everything. Before the priority called money, writing was of no use at all.
The retainer he had already received was no small sum either. Swallowing a sinister laugh inwardly, William opened the curtains as if to show off. Then he dropped into his chair.
“Then shall we begin?”
* * *
“This is the place.”
It was a dark place even in the middle of the day. The moment Killian stepped inside, following the employee’s deferential guidance, acrid smoke assaulted him, and he frowned. Though it was broad daylight, the dim pleasure district was full of women in sheer clothing and men giggling as they soaked themselves in gambling and liquor.
“This way.”
The employee guiding him respectfully opened the door. In a room filled with stale air, a drunken man was flirting with women.
“I shall take my leave, then.”
The door closed behind him. Killian covered his nose with the hand holding his hat. The stench of alcohol was so foul it made his head ring. It was filthy. Under ordinary circumstances, he would not have spared such a place even a glance.
As he swept his gaze around with eyes that looked upon garbage too troublesome to dispose of, the man who had spotted him sprang to his feet.
“Well, well. What brings Your Highness here? To think you would grace a place like this.”
“Felix.”
He was a classmate who had studied with him during his private school days. As the illegitimate son of a count, he was free-spirited and debauched.
He was the exact opposite of Killian, who had been marked from birth for the position of duke and had walked a predetermined path.
Aside from school, there was no connection between them, but they were also people who shared many secrets.
“You still live like trash.”
“Why point out the obvious now?”
Felix shrugged and woke the two naked women sleeping there, sending them out. Only after he had aired out the room a little did Killian sit on the couch.
“What I told you to look into.”
As he went straight to the point without preamble, the air changed at once.