Chapter 7
Chapter 7
Translation: godsn
At first, she thought it was a trick of the eyes.
Leila often experienced such things. Her poor eyesight sometimes made fallen fruits on the forest path look like squirrels, and drifting branches in the water occasionally startled her, mistaking them for people.
But this was too human-like to be an illusion. A man, no less. A large, completely naked man. Once his wet black hair came into view, she could no longer cling to the rationalization that it was just her imagination.
There, floating atop the water's current, was unmistakably Duke Matthias von Herhardt.
Horrified, Leila dropped the newspaper she had been holding in one hand. If she hadn't reflexively grabbed onto the tree, she would have tumbled to the ground right after the newspaper.
Her mind screamed at her. Close your eyes right now. No, climb down from the tree and leave this forest immediately. Or at least let out a startled scream. But all Leila could do was stare dumbfounded at the man who wasn't wearing so much as a thread. The Duke of Herhardt seemed no different. As if he had no intention whatsoever of covering his naked body, he simply floated motionless in the water, his gaze fixed on Leila.
Then just go with the current and float away, for heaven's sake!
Just as that desperate wish formed in her mind, the Duke suddenly turned and began swimming toward the riverbank where Leila was.
"No, don't!"
Leila's scream echoed through the clear sky.
"I don't want you to! Don't come here! You mustn't come!"
Terrified, she scrambled down the tree in a panic.
Manners toward the Duke were the least of her concerns. She couldn't even spare a thought for her basket or hat. Leila simply ran. She ran without knowing how her legs were moving.
"Leila!"
About halfway down the path leading to the cabin, Leila collided with Kyle. The bewildered boy caught her just as she was about to tumble headfirst into the grass.
"Where were you? I was on my way to look for you since you weren't at home."
"Kyle, Kyle, what do I do?"
Gasping for breath with a metallic tang in her throat, Leila muttered like someone half out of her mind.
"Why? What happened? Did you run into a wild animal?"
When Leila shook her head violently, Kyle peered even more curiously down the path. There was nothing. Just the same peaceful forest as always.
"Then what? Why are you so frightened?"
"...What do I do?"
Leila's face crumpled, and she plopped down right where she stood. She lifted her apron to cover her face and rocked back and forth several times.
Why did the memory keep surfacing when she wanted nothing more than to forget it?
Leila now clutched at her own hair.
"What do I do? What should I do, Kyle?"
"How can I answer when I don't know what's wrong?"
Frowning, Kyle crouched down in front of Leila. When she finally raised her head after a long while, her face was as red as a ripe raspberry.
Her lips twitched as if to say something, but then her face crumpled again, and she buried it back in her apron.
"Hey, what did you even see? A ghost or something?"
Kyle began to chuckle.
No.
Leila wanted to say it, but the words wouldn't leave her lips.
Something even more terrifying.
The words she only mouthed silently came out as a hot, shuddering breath.
The sight before him was so absurd that Matthias let out a dry laugh. A droplet of water clinging to the ends of his wet hair plopped onto the bridge of his nose and trickled down.
After swimming back to the annex's dock, Matthias dressed and returned to the spot. Leila had already abandoned all her belongings and fled in a panic.
Matthias once again carefully examined the traces Leila had left behind. The large basket and hat abandoned beneath the tree. The newspaper fallen on the ground. The damp handkerchief.
She must have picked an astonishing amount of wild strawberries—he almost wondered if she'd intended to make the Arvis strawberries go extinct. Another dry laugh escaped him at the thought. It was remarkable that her small frame had managed to carry that heavy basket around.
Come to think of it, wasn't this the same tree where he'd nearly shot her, mistaking her for a bird that day?
Matthias tilted his head back to gaze up at the towering tree. The image of that small face peering down at him from the branches surfaced in his mind, drawing another quiet chuckle from his lips.
Who would have thought she'd been climbing trees all this time.
He briefly considered giving chase, then changed his mind and turned his steps back toward the mansion.
That afternoon, Matthias was scheduled to meet with the board members at Arvis. Though he hadn't been directly involved in company operations before, after his military service, these responsibilities would fall to him. He needed to understand the overall structure and operations in preparation.
The Herhardt family had expanded their domain from land assets into trade and resources, building their empire. The current vast fortune had been established by Matthias's grandfather, whose bold investment in oil fields across the new continent had paid off handsomely.
All the honor and power accumulated through generations now rested in Matthias's hands.
He knew well that preserving this legacy and passing it intact to the next Herhardt was his greatest duty. He was confident he would execute this perfectly—better than anyone. This was an unquestionable truth he had never once doubted.
Returning to the mansion, Matthias went straight to his bedroom. He changed his clothes and neatly combed his disheveled hair.
Once fully prepared, he leaned back in the chair by the west-facing window of his bedroom. There was still about an hour left before the scheduled meeting.
Deciding it was too much time to waste, he was about to rise when a bird sang.
Matthias turned his gaze toward the sound. Inside the cage on the table, the canary was trilling. He'd almost thought it didn't know how to sing, it had been so quiet—but now it was singing beautifully enough to prove him wrong.
Slowly, Matthias approached and opened the cage door. The canary stopped its song and flapped its clipped wings as it hopped out of the cage.
Changing his mind about leaving the room, Matthias leaned against the windowsill and watched the bird. The tiny creature was surprisingly diligent—flying a little, falling, then flying again in endless circles around the room without rest.
Eventually tiring itself out, the canary settled quietly onto the armrest of the chair. Matthias picked it up to return it to its cage. Unlike before, when it would shriek piercingly and struggle, the canary now submitted quietly to his hands.
Intrigued by this change, Matthias placed the bird on his finger. Contrary to expectations, the canary stayed perfectly still instead of fleeing. Boldly, it stared straight at him.
"It feels like I've discovered a whole new world."
Leila murmured the words like someone in shock. The silver-haired optometrist burst into cheerful laughter.
"Your eyesight was quite poor, so that's understandable. You must have suffered quite a bit."
"Not really. Other than reading being slightly uncomfortable, it was fine."
Responding brightly, Leila carefully put on the glasses she'd been holding up. The blurred world became magically clear. Leila was moved all over again by this simple miracle.
The countless wild strawberries the forest had provided eventually became jam at Leila's fingertips. When she'd finally saved enough money for glasses, she'd ridden her bicycle straight into town. Having noted its location beforehand, she found the optometrist's shop immediately.
After exchanging a few more words with the optician, Leila stepped out of the shop. The overly vivid scenery felt slightly unfamiliar and wondrous.
With each light step she took, Leila carried gratitude and love for the wild berries of the Arvis forest that had opened up this new world for her. She even spared a moment of self-praise for her own efforts—stirring jam by the fire until her arms nearly gave out in the sweltering heat.
But why, on such a fine day, did that wretched memory have to resurface?
The day she had unwittingly seen the Duke's bare body flashed through her mind, and Leila abruptly furrowed her brow.
How mortifying and frightening it had been. It wasn't until nearly dusk that she had finally mustered the courage to retrieve the basket she had left behind.
The forest had been silent, the river glimmering peacefully.
Only then, relieved, had Leila gathered her basket and hat and left the riverside. That was all there was to it—yet her cheeks kept burning. So distracted was she that she hadn't even noticed how heavy the basket in her hand was. For a while after that day, she had been too embarrassed to even face Uncle Bill and Kyle.
Even if it was his own territory, who in their right mind would swim naked in broad daylight?
As if trying to shake off the unpleasant memory, Leila vigorously shook her head.
I shouldn't go near the river until the Duke leaves.
Just as she reaffirmed this resolution and took a step forward, a familiar voice reached her ears.
"......Leila?"
That high, clear voice could only belong to Claudine von Brandt.
Ah. So it's come to this.
Leila steadied her breath before slowly turning around. She had even prepared a properly courteous smile. But the figure that entered her vision was, unexpectedly, the very person who had been plaguing her thoughts moments ago—Duke Herhardt.
He stood in this overly vivid, slightly unfamiliar world.
Startled, Leila quickly shifted her gaze to Claudine, who stood beside him. Since Duke Herhardt had been away, Claudine hadn't visited Arvis either, so it had been quite some time. In the interim, Claudine had transformed into the very picture of a refined noblewoman.
Leila bowed politely, and the two of them nodded gracefully in acknowledgment.
"Since when have you worn glasses? I almost didn't recognize you."
It would have been fine if Claudine had left it at that, but she spoke again.
Leila faced her with the practiced smile still in place, making a concerted effort not to let her eyes stray toward Duke Herhardt.
"Have you been well?"
Claudine's narrowed eyes slowly swept over Leila.
"Yes, my lady."
"We were just on our way for tea."
Claudine, her smile radiant, gestured with her eyes toward the hotel across the street.
Yes, my lady. Or perhaps, I see, my lady.
While Leila agonized over the appropriate response, Claudine spoke again, as if bestowing a favor.
"Come with us, Leila."
"Pardon?"
"Since we've met after so long, it would be nice to share a cup of tea together. Would that be all right, Duke Herhardt?"
Claudine directed the question not at Leila, but at Matthias. And Matthias signaled his agreement with nothing more than a faint smile at the corner of his lips. It seemed Leila Lewellin's feelings mattered little to him. Not that this was anything new.
The two resumed their steps, and the waiting servants quietly followed behind.
Leila swallowed a sigh and turned her bicycle around. The creaking of the worn-out wheels mingled with the steady rhythm of their footsteps.