Chapter 49
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 49
“It looks like it’s going to pour,” Mary murmured anxiously, looking out the car window.
Vanessa, who had been embroidering with remarkable focus despite the car’s jolting, finally looked up. Heavy, rain-laden clouds had already blanketed the once-clear sky.
“This isn’t a good sign. I heard the hunt starts this afternoon.”
“If we arrive on time, I suppose it does.”
“Then perhaps it would be better if we were late. An unmarried young lady shouldn't be in the forest on a rainy day. That’s when the nasty wisps come out.”
Vanessa smiled at Mary’s stubborn insistence and adjusted her embroidery hoop. Having grown up on a mountain farm before working in Gloucester, Mary tended to believe blindly in all sorts of superstitions.
“Even if we go, I’ll just be accompanying the gentlemen who are hunting.”
“That’s exactly why it’s more dangerous.” Mary’s eyes narrowed as if she were looking at someone hopelessly naive. “Even if I’m with you the entire time, I can’t guarantee your safety.”
“But they are all respectable, married gentlemen.”
Mary sighed as if Vanessa hadn’t heard a word she’d said.
“Of all the times for Young Master Blair to be away…”
The moment she heard the name she was trying so hard to forget, Vanessa’s expression stiffened before she could stop it. Since that day, Blair had felt like a sharp blade she didn’t know how to hold—a blade that, with one false move, could sever their friendship for good.
“Don’t worry too much.”
Though she answered casually, Vanessa wasn’t sure if her expression looked as composed as her voice sounded. What happened that day was a secret she had to take to her grave.
That was the conclusion she had reached after agonizing over it until dawn. When she saw Blair again, she would act as if nothing had happened. She would keep this secret even from Rosalyn. No matter how she looked at it, that was the only way to protect their friendship.
Of course, Blair might have no intention of ever seeing her again. He might have confessed his feelings with that very purpose in mind. In the past, she would have known what he was thinking with a single glance, but now, she didn’t even know where he was or what he was doing.
No matter how inseparable we were, we aren’t family.
Friendship was incredibly precious, but it was also a fragile sentiment that could be ended by one person at any moment. Hiding her heavy heart, Vanessa forced the corners of her mouth into a smile.
“Whatever happens, nothing like what you’re worrying about will occur. Count Roden will be there with me.”
Mary opened her mouth to reply to Vanessa’s naive words, then snapped it shut. Why couldn’t the young lady see that Count Roden was the biggest problem of all? He was the root of this entire situation.
Inviting a lady who had just come of age to a hunting party comprised mostly of middle-aged, married men… To a maid like her, the intentions of those vulgar men were embarrassingly transparent.
“Just promise me you won’t go anywhere alone. You’ll call for me. Not that those beasts would care one bit if I was by your side.”
“Mary.”
Despite Vanessa’s gentle scolding, Mary let out a cold snort. Lady Vanessa, who had just turned twenty, was growing more beautiful by the day. She had always been excessively pretty for her station, but at some point, it had changed. Now, looking into her eyes could send a shiver down one’s spine. It was a dangerous beauty, like that of a monster that lured people in.
Her fair, smooth skin; her sharp yet delicate features; her light gray eyes, filled with a strangely sensual moisture; her plump lips; and the slender, swaying curves of her body. She was like a fresh lily blooming with morning dew.
If she was this lovely to another woman, she must look incredibly enticing to men.
The more Mary thought about it, the more she missed the young master. He was always lounging on the drawing-room chairs like a draped sheet when he wasn't needed, but now that he was, he was nowhere to be found.
I won’t be able to stop it forever, but at least let it not happen right in front of my eyes.
Just as Mary let out a troubled sigh, the car hit something. Thump. It jolted violently, throwing them up and down. Resting her head against the window, the maid slammed her forehead hard against the glass.
“...!”
Mary barely swallowed the curse that rose to her lips and clutched her head.
“Mary! Oh my goodness, are you alright?”
“I’m fine… It’s nothing.”
“You hit your head so hard… Let me see.”
“I’m fine.”
Mary shot a glare at the driver, who continued on roughly, and somewhat coldly pushed away Vanessa’s hand as she tried to examine her forehead. The peculiar noise of the old engine had been grating on her nerves all day.
“Honestly… we should have just rented a car from the start. Who rides in a ten-year-old clunker like this? And the color is so tacky. There can’t be another car this color in the entire South…”
“Just bear with it a little longer. On the way back, we’ll probably be able to ride in the new car my uncle bought. He said he would meet us there.”
While soothing Mary, Vanessa scanned the view outside the window with anxious eyes. The streets were becoming increasingly crowded. The men all had black coal dust smeared on their cheeks and clothes.
“What on earth is going on?”
“Was there an accident?”
Alman, the driver, who had been tapping the steering wheel anxiously, suddenly chimed in.
“Doesn’t seem to be an accident. Looks like the vagrants from under the nearby bridge have come out in droves and taken over the square.”
“Vagrants?”
“It happens from time to time. Since the nearby coal factory closed down, the men who lost their jobs have been staging surprise protests against the mayor. Today must be one of those days.”
“Then what should we do?”
“We’ll have to take a detour.”
“Do you know the area well, Alman?”
“Well enough. We’ll head east of the city, toward Kingston. It should be quieter over there.”
Kingston. Vanessa’s expression stiffened for a moment before she sat up straight. Alman craned his neck out the window to check behind them, then skillfully turned the car around. In moments, he had zipped through a few narrow alleys and found a deserted side road.
Vanessa covered her lips with the back of her hand, swallowing the nausea that was rising in her throat. Perhaps from staring down at the small embroidery hoop, her already unsettled stomach began to churn.
“Are you carsick? You look pale.”
“A little. I feel like I might be sick…”
“Alman, pull over up ahead. The young lady feels ill.”
“I can’t, Mary. This is a high-crime area. We need to speed up, not stop.”
“…Then there’s nothing for it. Get some fresh air, miss. Try to keep your eyes on the horizon.”
Mary reached over and rolled down the window on Vanessa’s side. Muggy, humid summer air rushed in, carrying the fishy smell of the harbor and the acrid smoke from the factories. Vanessa leaned her cheek against the window frame and looked out.
Even at the edge of this desolate city, the season was passing its peak. The day after tomorrow would mark the first week of July. In the modest rose garden at Gloucester, summer flowers had bloomed in profusion, and in the mornings, butterflies and bees would flutter about with soft, buzzing sounds. It was also a sign that her contract with River Ross was already halfway through.
That was precisely why she had accepted the invitation from the House of Essex—an invitation she could have easily declined with a reasonable excuse.
Something has changed.
She couldn’t explain it precisely, but at some point, River Ross had changed. In a way that was both good and bad.
Of course, there had been similar moments before. Times when she would get swept up in the mood and plan for a future that didn’t exist, acting as if this summer would never end. River Ross would play along, as if it were all just a role-playing game. It was a sort of unwritten rule between them, a freedom they possessed only because none of it would ever come to pass.
River Ross always knew where to draw the line, and she, too, was always prepared to accept a life without him.
But the last few days have been different.
The tone of his voice when he spoke her name, the look in his eyes when he turned at her call, the way he spoke, listened, and moved—all of it had changed. Slowly but surely, like a summer sea gradually warmed by the sun.
Looking at him lately, Vanessa often found herself seized by a miserable illusion: that he might have truly fallen in love with her, and that they might still seek each other out even after this season ended.
Such illusions were no help at all. She needed time to restore a proper distance between them. For his sake, and for hers.
If River Ross wants to continue this relationship…
Vanessa pressed her lips together at the wicked whisper from within.
Even if that happens, I must be the one to refuse.
River Ross was a soldier with a guaranteed future, and her existence was a fatal blemish on that bright path. If he stayed with her, he would become a man who dared to covet a noblewoman, and she would become a whore who abandoned her honor to dally with a commoner.
If this was truly love, she wanted to cherish it—not let it become his weakness.