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"……Idris?"
"Ah, Lord Hildes is here too."
Idris came to stand beside me as if it were the most natural thing to do.
His gaze towards Mikael was colder than usual.
"The banquet is still in full swing, yet you two are alone like this... Someone might misunderstand."
Only then did the thought strike me.
Even if it wasn't my intention, someone could easily misunderstand.
"Rumors always hurt the woman more, so a gentleman should be careful first, don't you think?"
Idris wore a crooked smile, but his eyes weren't smiling at all.
He was rebuking Mikael.
Even if public opinion had turned in my favor now, it could turn against me again at any time.
Idris knew that and was worried about me.
Feeling responsible for the situation, I opened my mouth to defuse it before any unnecessary sparks flew.
But Mikael was a little faster.
"I apologize. I was too obtuse to consider that far."
Then he bowed to me.
His stiffened face was painfully etched in my mind.
I quickly stepped in to help Mikael avoid further trouble.
"It's alright. I didn't think of it either. Idris, thank you for your concern."
Idris still looked displeased, but he seemed a little less so than before as he reached out his hand to me.
"If you're done talking, let's go back."
The moment I unconsciously grabbed his hand, I remembered that I hadn't responded to Mikael's confession.
I belatedly turned my gaze, but he had already looked away from me.
As if he already knew my answer.
In the end, I obediently took Idris's hand and left the balcony.
But at that moment, Idris suddenly scooped me up into his arms.
I was startled and looked up at him.
"W-What are you doing? Put me down."
"I've been watching you limp around for a while now."
Only then did I notice the indoor slippers in his hand.
'So that's what he went to get.'
As he said, the back of my heels had been rubbed raw even before I went to see His Majesty the Emperor.
I had been secretly folding down the backs of my shoes, but he had noticed.
Relief washed over me, easing the tension in my body.
Meanwhile, Idris carried me into a nearby lounge and set me down on a sofa.
"Thank you."
I took off my shoes and reached for the indoor slippers he was holding.
But instead of handing me the slippers, Idris knelt down on one knee in front of me.
"Excuse me for a moment."
Soon after, his hand slipped under my dress and grasped my ankle.
Even though his touch was far from rough and extremely cautious, the heat that enveloped my ankle made me tremble involuntarily.
"W-Wait a moment! I'll do it from now on―"
Idris ignored me and tied a handkerchief around my chafed heel.
My foot looked unexpectedly small in his large hand.
'...It's ticklish.'
Feeling strangely awkward from the touch on my ankle, I couldn't look at him properly and only glanced around.
Actually, there was something I'd been wondering about.
'Could he have heard what Mikael and I were talking about earlier?'
It was strange that he was so quiet when he would normally have asked me what I had been talking about with His Majesty or even teased me.
'I guess I should be honest with Idris about what happened with Mikael.'
Of course, we're just contract lovers, but it would be troublesome for Idris if I got caught up in such a scandal during our contract period.
And somehow…….
'I also don't want Idris to misunderstand.'
After studying his expression for a moment, I carefully broached the subject.
"Actually, I was confessed to by Lord Hildes earlier."
Idris's hand, which had just been about to put on the slipper, paused, and he looked up at me.
When my eyes met his cold, sunken gold eyes, I unconsciously held my breath.
The intertwined gazes, the warmth of his hand holding my foot.
Everything felt too stimulating at that moment.
It was he who broke the strained silence.
"……And?"
"That's all. He just said he wanted to tell me that I'm that good of a person."
His gaze seemed softer than before after hearing my story.
"And what was your heart like?"
"Um……."
Recalling the situation earlier, the feelings of that moment, I smiled bitterly as I answered.
"This might sound strange……. But I think I was scared."
Of course, Mikael was a good person.
He had conviction in what he did, was kind to the weak, and was deeply considerate.
Perhaps the fact that he didn't expect an answer to his confession was also due in part to my relationship with Idris.
But we were in a contractual relationship, and once my divorce was finalized and this contract was terminated, there was no reason why I couldn't meet Mikael.
However…….
"Apart from my feelings for that person, the idea of having a deep relationship with someone again."
I thought I was fine now, that it was nothing, but.
The moment Mikael confessed, I realized.
That I wasn't okay.
Even if the betrayal and anger towards Peidan disappeared.
The scars would remain for a long time, whenever I wanted to trust someone…… no, maybe.
That it would frighten me forever.
"I don't think I'm ready to trust and love anyone yet."
"……."
"Anyway, that's how the story ended. So it means there won't be any issues that would affect our contract."
I said in as calm a tone as possible. Desperately trying not to let this be seen as my weakness.
Of course, Idris is a good person, but…….
I don't want to trust him.
"Thank you for the slippers. Then let's go back to the banquet hall……."
Just as I was about to wrap up the conversation and get up from my seat, Idris, who had been gazing at me, opened his mouth.
"……It's okay."
"……."
"The person who truly loves you will wait. Forever."
His eyes looked somehow sad as he said that, and I couldn't take my eyes off him for a long time.
Morning, close to noon.
Cloel Viscountess, Rozanna Cloel, was sitting at her dressing table as usual, putting her heart and soul into her toilette.
There was no particular reason to go out or anyone to visit, but maintaining beauty at all times was a noblewoman's virtue.
Rozanna sighed annoyedly as she was choosing her earrings.
"I've been using these earrings for months now……."
Usually, she bought new jewelry every half month, or at least once a month.
But a few months ago, after Cloel Viscount went to another continent to start a new business, she could no longer enjoy that pleasure.
'If only that girl Leticia would listen to me.'
Even though she was just her father, she was happy or sad about a single praise or scolding from the Viscount.
But she didn't even pretend to listen to her stepmother.
'I am legally her mother, yet the impudent girl.'
But she didn't want to go to that child, who resembled her husband's ex-wife, and flatter her to get on her good side.
And above all…….
'I don't know what position I should take.'
From Leticia and Peidan's discord to the scandal with Idris.
Things that Leticia would never normally be involved in were happening non-stop.
She had been hearing all the news from the capital, but she was unsure of what attitude to take in this situation.
So, she had been eagerly awaiting her husband's return.
But since the last contact, when he told her that he had landed a big deal and to look forward to it, there had been no news.
'Could he have fallen for another woman……?'
Now that he had made a lot of money, he might be tempted by a younger woman than her.
When the thought reached that point, her heart sank.
What would she live on without him?
Her only son had only piled up gambling debts in the casino.
It was at that moment, when such uneasy imaginings were growing rampant.
"M-Madam!"
Just as she was about to leave the room, a maid rushed in to deliver news.
"Master has returned!"
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