Chapter 18
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 18
Her face was pale, so delicate it seemed the hazy sunlight alone might be too much for her to bear. Her features were blurred, like a pencil sketch smudged by an eraser, lacking any sharp definition.
The only distinct feature on a face that might otherwise vanish from memory was a pair of glistening brown eyes. But even they were fixed on the floor in fright, showing no sign of looking up.
As expected.
Stripped of the old coat she practically lived in, she had nowhere to hide. She had no idea where she was.
“Instead of cowering, why don’t you look at me?”
He had made a point to speak gently, yet the head that had hesitantly begun to rise stopped, her chin still tilted down. He was about to order her to lift it higher, but instead, he bent down on impulse.
“...!”
Their eyes met before she could react. Her round, luminous eyes widened in shock. For a fleeting moment, he saw his own reflection in irises so clear they looked wet to the touch, and then she ducked her head again.
A laugh escaped him.
She’s this terrified when I haven’t even done anything yet?
His first impression was ‘pale and small.’ His second was ‘easy.’
The woman’s gaze, which seemed to fear everything, lingered for a moment on his insignia.
“Do you recognize this?”
But she quickly shook her head.
“No…”
Oscar glanced at his watch, then whispered gently to her.
“Shall we talk for a moment?”
If she had felt she was on the edge of a cliff this whole time, now she felt as if she had just been pushed off. She had to maintain perfect balance, or she would fall.
Seo-ah clenched her jaw and nodded.
“Yes.”
He turned and retraced his steps, and the men lined up like statues bowed their heads once more. As she took a step, feeling as if her feet weren’t touching the ground, he glanced back at her.
Was this what it felt like to walk the edge of a cliff that could crumble at any moment?
As she followed the man, cutting through the heavy gazes pouring in from both sides, a torrent of emotions rained down on her.
The most distinct among them was, by far, fear. She had a feeling that the man before her was the wolf she had been waiting for, but without confirmation, she was terrified.
He led her to a room that looked like a parlor.
“Sit wherever you’re comfortable.”
She sat in the spot closest to the door. It was closed behind her. The man, who had walked over to the window, asked, “What would you like? We have coffee, tea, and some light sodas.”
Of coffee, tea, and soda, the only one she vaguely knew was tea, and even then, she wasn’t sure if it was the same kind she was familiar with.
“Um… anything is fine.”
She felt the man, who had personally picked up a glass from the beverage cart, turn to look at her.
“Then have a soda. It’s the most refreshing.”
When she cautiously lifted her eyes, she saw him putting ice into a transparent glass. He filled two tall, slender glasses with ice, then poured a lime-green beverage into each, to the exact same level.
He approached her as casually as if offering a drink to a friend and held out one of the glasses. Seo-ah reflexively stood up and received it with both hands. That same laugh, like a soft breeze, drifted over her head.
“Sit.”
As she carefully sat down, he took the seat across from her. Inside the delicate, transparent glass, the cold drink sparkled in the light. Seo-ah fixed her eyes on the rim of the glass, her head bowed, before lifting it again.
“…Thank you for saving me.”
“You remember?”
“I remember you being at the door…”
“Ah, just that far?”
“……”
“Does your tongue hurt?”
Come to think of it, the left side of her tongue did ache. What happened while I was unconscious…?
“What’s your name?”
The thought was unceremoniously cut off.
Seo-ah hesitated for a moment before speaking.
“I am called Seo-ah.”
“Seo-ah?”
“Yes.”
“Seo-ah.”
He pronounced her name again, as if savoring it. She had been told it wasn’t a difficult name for Norfolkians to pronounce, but he seemed particularly good at it. Even his intonation was perfect.
When she stole a glance, she saw the man drinking his soda, leaning back at an angle.
Just as his tilted head straightened, Seo-ah carefully spoke.
“May I… ask your name?”
The answer came so easily it made her caution seem foolish.
“Oscar.”
“……”
“Oscar von Reinhardt.”
It was a fine-sounding name, one that suited the man before her.
But it was the name that followed that instantly seized Seo-ah’s attention.
Reinhardt.
The moment she heard that elegant yet powerful name, a long breath escaped from deep within her. A tingling sensation, like the first bite of food after days of starvation melting instantly into her veins, spread from her heart throughout her entire body.
Thank goodness.
Her master’s words—that a wolf would come for her—had been true. She just never imagined it would be this soon.
Meanwhile, Oscar remained still, gazing at the woman named Seo-ah.
A woman who claimed to be from a small, unheard-of country called Danguk.
Her clothes were ridiculous and her fear was palpable, yet her bearing was poised. Her shoulders and back were straight, and her hands were held neatly—exactly the kind of posture his mother so often emphasized. He almost wanted to show the woman to his mother, wondering how a body so slender he doubted all her organs could even fit inside could remain so perfectly upright.
Furthermore, her exposed skin looked so delicate it seemed it would bleed if rubbed even slightly. The same was true of her absurdly small fingertips; she was clearly not a laborer.
A woman who embodied so many contradictions.
Oscar leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. Then, as if stealing it, he captured her gaze, which had not once met his. Before her glistening brown eyes could flee again, he threw out a question like a surprise attack.
“You said thank you for saving you.”
“Yes.”
“Then I’d like to collect my payment.”
“……”
Her already pale face seemed to turn even whiter. The paler she got, the more tenderly Oscar acted.
“It’s nothing much. I have a few questions, and I’d like you to answer them honestly. Can you do that?”
She bit her trembling lip and nodded.
“You came from a faraway place called Danguk. With the key to a Pelfe Bank vault.”
“……”
A silence, each of them concealing their own motives, hung between them. Like a wolf stalking its prey, Oscar waited quietly for the right moment before casually asking, “How did you get it, and how did you get here?”
That question was important to both of them.
For Seo-ah, it was even more so.
Go straight to the Royal Pelfe Bank. Get the Certificate of Key Acquisition Rights. Confirm that the one who comes for you is a Reinhardt.
If she had followed the instructions correctly up to this point, this question was sure to follow.
“How did you acquire the key, and why did you come all this way?”
She couldn’t answer that she had become bait to find the biological father whose face and name she didn’t even know.
She couldn’t answer that she had come to borrow his power for revenge and to bring her grandfather over.
Then, what must I do for you to take me in completely? How can I make you think I’m useful? How can I make you see me as a pawn you can use and discard without a second thought?
“Money…”
“Money?” Oscar asked with a smile. She nodded.
“I need… a lot of money.”
For now, she had to appear simple. Unthreatening.
“Ah, you need money?” he asked again, just as gently.
Seo-ah clasped her hands tightly in her lap as she answered, “Yes.”
In her peripheral vision, she saw a pair of beautiful, blue eyes curve into long crescents.
Perhaps because he had been thrown into the world of business at a young age, Oscar had a habit of observing people in minute detail. That scope included their voice, their gaze, their hand gestures, the way they walked, and even the manner in which they opened a door.
Oscar sat leisurely across from Seo-ah, already on his second drink. In contrast, Seo-ah had only taken a few sips from the glass she had yet to put down. It was probably because she was uncomfortable with him staring at her.
Regardless, Oscar continued to watch her. Since she hid her gaze, he didn’t have to worry about eye contact, which was convenient.
It was partly his habit, but she was also, in her own way, interesting to watch.
First, her posture was interesting.
She sat so perfectly still and upright that he felt he could bet his entire fortune that the toes of her feet, hidden beneath the table, were perfectly aligned. Moreover, the way her fingertips examined the contract was exactly the kind of dance-like movement his mother raved about. It was as if her hands alone experienced a different air resistance, moving with a slow, deliberate weight. And judging by her flushed face, she must have been terribly hot, yet she didn’t fan herself even once.
And never mind the clothes, which looked at least twenty years old.
She had the air of someone raised in privilege, but how could he explain her inability to meet anyone’s eyes? It seemed more like a habit than a result of fear, and it was too extreme to be a mere cultural difference. On top of that, she not only spoke fluent Norfolk Common but could also read and write it.
Could she be the illegitimate child of a nobleman, raised walking on eggshells?
“How is the contract?”
“Ah…”
“If there are any clauses you don’t like, tell me.”
He was prepared to change almost any clause if necessary.
Except for the one stating that she would give him a certain document from inside the vault, and the condition that she would entrust her safety to him until the vault was opened.
In other words, those weren’t conditions. They were non-negotiable.
No matter how she struggled, he had no intention of letting her go. So, while he was being kind and polite, it would be best for her to be compliant. For his sake, and for her own.
Just as his cold gaze, a stark contrast to his gentle face, fell upon the contract in Seo-ah’s hands, she opened her mouth to speak.