Please Hold Me
POV: Aria
“I’ll be back after a quick trip to the restroom.”
With those words, I left Leo’s side, slipped into the public restroom, and closed the door behind me. Only then did I finally release the frantic pounding of my heart that I had been desperately holding back.
“Haaah…”
Leo had been staring at me, completely transfixed. Just knowing that made my heart race like it had lost its mind. His gaze was so intense it felt as though the entire world had fallen away, leaving him staring fixedly at a single point. Those seductive red eyes.
He had made some ridiculous excuse about a stain, but I knew even his smallest habits by heart. I understood the meaning behind that look in an instant. Women are sensitive to men’s gazes to begin with, and when it came from the only fiancé she had spent years with, there was no mistaking it.
Leo had definitely been drawn to me. I couldn’t be sure about other moments, but at least in that instant, he had fallen for me completely.
I was glad I had woken at dawn to carefully dress up. The letter with its mortifying contents had been a mistake, but thankfully it had passed without any major disaster. It seemed my maid Marie had taken matters into her own hands. After hearing about my engagement to Leo, she must have gotten carried away and done it herself.
Still…
“…What am I going to do?”
I was too happy. I knew I shouldn’t feel this way, yet the joy was overwhelming. A foolish, giddy smile bloomed on my lips without permission.
At least he didn’t completely hate me. That knowledge alone made me feel like I could fly.
He didn’t have to like me the way he used to. Just a little. If he would give me the smallest bit of attention, that would be enough. With that alone, I could endure any kind of difficult life.
I love you, Leo. No matter what you think of me, you’re the only one for me.
I’ll do whatever it takes to win your heart again within a year, so please watch over me.
I repeated the words in my mind over and over. After taking a deep breath to steady my fluttering heart, I stepped out of the restroom with my expression carefully wiped clean of emotion.
POV: Leo
I spread a mat over the quiet grassy area of the park and sat down to wait. Before long, Aria returned from the restroom. Her face remained as cold and frozen as a lake in the depths of winter. She clearly didn’t enjoy spending time with me on such a nice weekend.
Well, that makes two of us. I’m not exactly thrilled to be here with a woman like you either.
I let out a dry laugh in my mind and spoke to her curtly.
“I’ve laid out the mat.”
“I’m sorry. I should have been the one to do that.”
Her apologetic, insincere attitude made me want to retch. As if she actually meant any of it. Still, I hid my true feelings behind a faint smile and gestured for her to sit.
Aria settled across from me at a slight distance and pulled the brown picnic basket she had brought from the mansion toward herself. She opened the lid and began rummaging inside. What she took out was surprisingly ordinary: ham and lettuce sandwiches, a thermos that presumably held tea, napkins, teacups, and so on.
Unfortunately, my favorite—ham sandwiches—made an appearance, and I couldn’t help swallowing hard. How did this woman know I liked ham sandwiches? We had never talked about it when we spent time together in the past. I had only started liking them recently, within the last year, so there was no way she could have known.
Ah.
A thought crossed my mind. Sebastian must have told her. That would make sense. As the Stuart family butler, he would have had plenty of ways to contact the Grace household privately. I had heard he and a middle-aged maid named Marie who worked at the Grace mansion had been close friends since they were young.
That must have been how the information leaked.
“Here, take a cup.”
“Ah, yes…”
Convinced by my own reasoning, I absentmindedly accepted the teacup she offered. When I brought it close to my face, the fragrant scent of lemon tea wafted up. This was another drink I had come to enjoy recently.
Sebastian, just how much of my personal information did you sell?
I’d have to give him an earful when I got home. With that thought, I carefully lifted the cup to my lips. The taste was as excellent as the aroma. The slight tartness of the lemon was perfectly balanced by the sweetness of honey, creating a fantastic sweet-and-sour harmony that filled my mouth.
“…It’s delicious.”
The words slipped out before I could stop them. I regretted it the instant they left my mouth, but it was too late. Aria turned her head toward me, as if she had caught the quiet remark.
“Oh, really?”
“……”
When I froze, unable to answer, Aria asked again in a naturally friendly tone, then seemed to catch herself. She let out a small “Ah…” and quickly turned her head away.
An awkward silence settled between us for a moment. Aria shyly tucked her hair behind her ear, and I found myself scratching my cheek with my index finger.
Damn it. What the hell am I doing?
I had made a verbal slip. I’d have to be more careful next time. I bit down hard on my lower lip and slowly set the teacup back on the mat.
“Well, it’s not bad.”
I added the unnecessary comment, and I could feel Aria glancing at me from the corner of her eye. Her gaze felt somehow different from usual, which left me uneasy, but I deliberately ignored it.
“Would you like to try a sandwich too? I woke up early this morning and made them myself.”
“……”
She made them herself? A wave of intense anxiety hit me. Come to think of it, five years ago this woman had been a terrible cook. The memory of forcing down her awful dishes with a smile resurfaced, and a shudder ran through me.
Back then, my affection for her had let me swallow them with a smile. But things were different now. There was no affection left between us, so I had no intention of forcing myself to eat terrible food with a fake smile. And pretending to compliment something disgusting? I couldn’t do that even if the sky were falling.
How on earth had I managed it back then? The power of love really must exist. A miraculous force that makes the impossible possible. Love—the most fleeting emotion in the world.
While I was thinking, Aria held out a neatly wrapped sandwich.
“Here you go.”
With the exact same line as before, she offered it to me, and once again I took it without thinking.
“……”
At least it looked fine on the outside. She couldn’t have put poison in it or anything. Still, even if it wasn’t poisoned, I should check whether any strange ingredients that didn’t belong in a sandwich had been added.
“…Do you not like sandwiches?”
“Ah, no. I was just about to eat it.”
I answered in a fluster when she looked at me with slightly anxious eyes. My soft heart was to blame. The moment I thought, I can’t tell her I won’t eat something she worked hard to make, I had blurted out that I would. I felt pathetic.
Aria kept stealing glances at me, as if checking whether I was actually eating. What a sly woman.
I swallowed quietly, peeled back the wrapping at the edge of the sandwich, and took a bite. After the soft texture of the bread came the crisp crunch of lettuce. Then the smooth ham and the salty savoriness of cheese.
Huh.
It was surprisingly good. No, it was just plain delicious. Nothing clashed with the sandwich, and the ingredients were perfectly balanced—not too much, not too little. It tasted richly of exactly what a sandwich should be.
“Did you really make this yourself, Lady Aria?”
After chewing and swallowing everything in my mouth, I looked at her with disbelief.
“Yes, I made it myself.”
“But how…”
“…Pardon?”
“…Never mind. It’s just… delicious.”
“Ah, thank you…”
In the end I swallowed the rest of what I had been about to say and finished the sandwich. The awkward atmosphere returned.
**
After that, nothing particularly eventful happened. We simply walked along the path around the lake. Naturally, not a single word passed between Aria and me. We kept a good two meters apart as we walked.
Fortunately the park was nearly empty, so I didn’t have to worry about other people’s eyes. I kept my hands in my pockets, my face expressionless, and gazed at the surface of the lake as I walked.
Every now and then I glanced sideways to make sure Aria was keeping up. She seemed to be following well enough so far. I wondered if her heels were hurting her feet. The shoes she was wearing today looked brand new.
…Wait a second.
Why was I worrying about her? Feeling skeptical of myself for even briefly worrying about that villainess, I clicked my tongue softly. It was a useless concern. I corrected my mindset with that thought. Worrying would only put me at a loss.
Still, deliberately not speaking when someone was walking right beside me turned out to consume far more mental energy than I expected. It would have been easier with a complete stranger. With someone I knew only halfway, or with whom things were awkward, the discomfort became almost unbearable.
“……”
When I suddenly came back to my senses, I realized Aria, who had been walking beside me, had disappeared from view. I turned my head in confusion and saw her several meters behind, leaning against a fence and sitting on the ground.
What was going on? Had she twisted her ankle? I briefly considered leaving her there, but I knew my father would scold me later if I did.
“Haa…”
With no other choice, I scratched the back of my head roughly and retraced my steps.
“My lady. What’s wrong?”
I erased my inner thoughts and asked in a deliberately concerned tone. Aria, who had been wearing a troubled expression just moments ago, immediately turned her head away, avoiding my eyes.
“It’s nothing.”
She was going to keep up her pride even in a situation like this. She really was a troublesome woman in every way.
“Let me see.”
“Ah…”
When I crouched in front of her, Aria quickly covered her heel with her hand as if to hide it. She really couldn’t be honest until the very end. I let out a small sigh and gently took hold of the wrist wrapped around her ankle. It was incredibly thin and delicate.
“I can’t tell what’s wrong unless you show me.”
“……”
Aria bit her lower lip, her face complicated, but eventually she gave a small nod of acceptance and slowly moved her hand away. The condition of the heel she had tried to hide was revealed. The back of her pale pink shoe was faintly stained with red blood. It seemed the new, unworn shoes had rubbed her heel raw.
If it was bleeding this much, it had to hurt terribly. I had gone through something similar when I first started wearing dress shoes and knew how painful it was.
Aria’s face flushed bright red, as though she had shown me something shameful, and she deliberately looked away. Of course she would feel humiliated. Revealing a weakness to a man she supposedly hated must have wounded her pride deeply.
“Can you walk?”
When I asked in a blunt tone, Aria kept her gaze averted and answered in a voice so soft it was barely audible.
“…It’s not that bad.”
“That’s a relief.”
There was absolutely no way I would end up carrying this woman on my back. That was something that must never happen. I had to make sure she could return on her own. Although her claim that she could walk seemed slightly unreliable, I decided to trust her for now and slowly turned to head back in the original direction.
“Ugh…!”
But my steps halted again after only a second. A pained groan had come from behind me. I let out a small, silent sigh, turned back, and approached her. Then I half-crouched, turned my back to her as she clutched her ankle, and knelt down.
“Get on.”
“Pardon…?”
Her voice was startled. But I was swallowing my own embarrassment to make this offer. Please, just make this easy. I didn’t want to do this either.
My hopes were dashed with ridiculous simplicity.
“I’m… wearing a skirt…”
“……”
So what? Irritation was starting to rise. I had gone out of my way to be considerate. I bit down hard on my lower lip to kill the feeling, then turned my head slightly to look at her.
“Then what would you like me to do?”
“……”
Aria seemed to hesitate for a moment. Then, averting her eyes in an unnatural way, she spoke in a voice full of shame.
“Um… please hold me…”
“……Yes?”