Chapter 11
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 11
That, too.
Startled by her own thoughts, Vanessa quickly covered her mouth. It was a far too scandalous fantasy for broad daylight. Though she knew she shouldn't, her mind kept replaying the moment over and over again.
The press of their bodies, flush against each other. The hot, damp breath ghosting over her lips. The hand pressing gently against her throat, the thin fabric of her dress crumpling in his grasp. And the man's raw desire, hard and insistent against her lower abdomen.
It had throbbed. It was impossibly large.
The harder she tried to banish the thought, the more vivid the sensations became. Her fingers, which had been nervously worrying her lips, slowly drifted downward. Vanessa's fingertips trembled as she caressed her lower abdomen, which still burned with a lingering heat.
"You're leaving tomorrow, aren't you? Will I be able to see you here next summer, too?"
"No. I don't think we can play together anymore, Somerset. My parents are worried."
"You knew who I was."
It was a pure childhood memory of them running through the garden together, covered in dirt. She remembered the startling embarrassment she’d felt the day he discovered she had been hiding her social status.
"We saw each other all summer. How could I not know?"
The face of the boy who had answered her was strangely blurry. It was a memory from when she was only six or seven, so it was only natural that it was hazy. Perhaps the entire conversation was a fiction, painted over the past by her own delusions.
But one thing was certain: they were no longer that innocent boy and girl.
"Lady Vanessa."
River Ross appeared in her mind, overwriting the boy's lingering image. He was similar to how he was back then, yet completely unfamiliar. The voice that fell softly on her ears and his deep blue eyes were no longer comfortable or gentle.
He was a man who was stimulating in every way. The way he spoke, the smile in his eyes that held no real warmth, his soft voice, the very vibration of the air when he laughed, his firm body moving so fluidly under the warm sun…
Exhaling a shaky breath, Vanessa slid further down, pressing her back against the cold floor. Her wandering hand moved slowly, tracing a path from the ribbon on her chest down to her navel. With every slight shift of her legs, the hem of her long skirt rode up, bit by bit.
Vanessa rested her flushed cheek against the cool wood. She didn't know what she wanted, or what on earth she could do to quell this terrible heat… but one thing was clear: there had to be something more than this.
"What if you don't get tired of my body, even after summer is over?"
His voice echoed in her mind, and a strange sense of crisis washed over her. A feverish sigh escaped her lips, which she quickly pressed with the back of her hand.
River Ross had grown into a man who was far too magnificent in every way. And that was precisely the problem.
* * *
"...As you can see, this is a new branch that has overgrown; it missed the pruning season. From now on, the tree will use the nutrients it stored during winter and spring to grow its fruit."
Vanessa sighed, letting Mr. Ross's explanation go in one ear and out the other. Her gaze kept drifting to the very man who was the source of all her unease: River Ross. The root of all evil, the culmination of everything harmful to a lady.
"Overgrown branches like this just suck up nutrients, making it hard for the fruit to ripen properly. So, when you prune them, you cut this part, like this…"
The man she had expected to be wild and debauched had been as polite as a priest for days. It felt as if she were the only one growing anxious. There were no exchanged glances, no casual touches, no suspicious messages promising a secret rendezvous. Nothing that was supposed to happen between lovers.
Then again, they weren't proper lovers to begin with, so perhaps this was a natural outcome, despite their promise to be faithful to each other for the season. She had even prepared herself for a relationship where they merely lusted after each other's bodies, but she had never expected him to be this indifferent.
It would have been nice to get to know each other slowly, to build affection, but our time is too limited for that.
Though it was only late spring, with summer's heat barely beginning to stir, Vanessa felt the end of the season approaching with every passing moment. The helpless passage of time felt so, so, so incredibly wasteful.
"My lady."
At Mr. Ross's call, Vanessa snapped out of her daze. Before she knew it, a heap of ruthlessly severed peach branches had piled up at her feet. Her shears were already halfway through their next victim. Seeing the tree she had mangled in just a brief moment of inattention, Mr. Ross let out a deep sigh and gently took the shears from her hand.
"It's getting late. Why don't you go have some lunch and take a rest?"
It was a polite dismissal. Having already caused a mess, she couldn't be stubborn. Vanessa nodded gloomily.
"I'll just clean this up. Please, go have your lunch first."
Watching Vanessa crouch down to gather the branches, Mr. Ross sighed heavily. It was the first time the young lady, who was always so quiet and considerate, had caused such a mishap.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Ross. I saw the ledger."
She had confessed a few days ago, her face pale with shame and guilt.
"I know. You needed money for your back surgery, didn't you? I'm sorry I couldn't help you sooner."
"No, my lady. No matter how desperate I was, I shouldn't have done that…"
"It is also my responsibility as your employer for not looking into your circumstances. So, at least to me, you don't have to apologize."
She was such a gentle and sweet young lady. The reason she had become so strange could only be because of that man—the noble guest staying in the Rose Garden's abandoned warehouse this summer, a man of such high status that it was awkward to even greet him.
Seeing how Vanessa kept glancing at River out of the corner of her eye even now, Mr. Ross knew it wasn't just his imagination.
He let out another deep sigh and waved toward the other side of the garden.
"Hey!"
Two men carrying fertilizer bags turned around. Vanessa glared at Mr. Ross in horror, but he ignored her silent reprimand and, with a slightly awkward air, gestured to his nephew.
"Well, the young lady wishes to, ah, tend to the bushes in the Rose Garden. River… how about you help her out?"
Vanessa pulled her hat down low, trying to hide her beet-red face. Was she really that obvious?
At that moment, River Ross's eyes narrowed slightly. A low, thoughtful hum vibrated in his throat. It was quite a distance, but Vanessa was certain she heard it—a sound as soft as the flutter of a hummingbird's wings.
"I'll do that, then."
Answering readily, he turned and strode toward the Rose Garden. Flustered, Vanessa scrambled to her feet, hurriedly snatching up the hat that had tumbled into the dirt.
Suddenly, she was acutely self-conscious of everything—her disheveled hair, her dirt-stained hem, and the light sheen of sweat on her forehead.
"My lady," Mr. Ross said with a nod, urging her to follow.
Vanessa squeezed her hat so tightly she nearly crushed it, then marched down the path with a determined, almost combative stride. Her steps hesitated for a second before the rusted iron gate, then quickened as she crossed the threshold.
The Rose Garden was thick with weeds. The poplar trees and flower bushes were overgrown and neglected. Since the guests only frequented the central garden, it seemed no one had time to care for this secluded corner.
River Ross was already waiting for her in front of the warehouse. Vanessa took a deep breath and steeled herself. As she approached with firm, decisive steps, he abruptly thrust something into her hands. To be precise, a watering can and a pair of pruning shears.
"...What is this?"
"What you need to tend to the rose bushes. The gardener already mixed the solution for the diseased branches, so just use some of that. It's over there. As for the roses, focus on cutting the ones with black spots on their leaves."
Completely thrown, Vanessa stared blankly from the tools in her hands to the neglected garden, then to River's face. His expression was entirely serious. He wasn't joking; he truly intended for them to start pruning the rose bushes right now.
"Now, start from this side."
Absurdly, a commanding tone suited him remarkably well—even though he was the one hired as a laborer, not her. The leaves rustled in the wind, as turbulent as her own heart.
The wide-brimmed gardening hat he wore was tilted back, revealing a handsome face warmed by the summer sun and a relaxed, playfully sparkling smile.
"Why, Vanessa? Were you expecting something else?"