NM | Chapter 04

Chapter 4

The woman who had run from the duke only stopped once she reached a place where no one was around. Her heart was pounding wildly, and her breath came up to her throat.

“What on earth…”

She had barely managed to escape the sudden situation, but none of it made sense.

The back garden was located on the outer edge of the estate, a place used for dirty work like laundry and trash disposal. It was the last place she ever expected to encounter the duke. Running into him there was shocking enough, but to be grabbed as well—

Her chest tightened painfully as fear set in. She was terrified someone might have seen them together. The head maid had warned her countless times never to run into the duke, and that fear lingered.

‘For some reason, he looked very angry at me.’

Had he noticed her secretly watching from the lobby? Or did he, too, find her appearance unpleasant to look at?

She remembered the warning not to upset a noble by showing her unsightly face. She had heard that some nobles disliked seeing maids doing menial work in the houses they visited as guests.

“You… were you alive?”

Despite everything, that question, spoken as if he knew who she was, made her feel a flicker of hope.

She knew it was impossible. She had grown up in an orphanage with no family searching for her. There was no way someone as noble as a duke would have known her.

She pulled her long hair forward to hide her face. No one was watching her hiding in the storage area, but she wanted to crawl into a mouse hole and disappear.

‘From now on, I shouldn’t let my guard down just because a place is quiet.’

Hugging her shoulders, she curled in on herself. Hidden beneath her clothes was a burn scar that covered her entire right shoulder. Melted skin twisted and tangled with new flesh growing over it, an ugly burn. The scar had been there since before she entered the orphanage. So much time had passed that touching it no longer hurt, but at night, it still burned as if on fire.

Even though the sun had not yet set, she rubbed her throbbing shoulder, her expression dark.

Since meeting the duke, an ominous feeling would not leave her. It was not just because of the head maid’s warning.

She let out a long sigh. If she had known this would happen, she should have begged on her knees to go with the dowager. But the dowager was already gone, and until she returned, she was stuck at the count’s estate.

The duke would only stay for a week. If she was careful during that time, everything would be fine.

She had been assigned to the laundry room, so as long as she was careful around the back garden, she should not run into him again.

Shaking off the uneasy feeling, she left the storage room. Just as she was about to continue the work she had been assigned before the head maid could scold her again, something she had completely forgotten came to mind.

“Ah, right. The bedding!”

***

“Why did you even come all this way just to work? You’re on vacation, so go out and enjoy yourself! You’re making me work nonstop too.”

Vincent complained to Logan, who was still staring at documents even after returning late in the evening. Vincent had left the estate early in the morning and only returned at sunset. Despite it being a rare break, Vincent, the Fraser Company’s chief lawyer, had spent his time running around following his employer, Logan.

“I came to work.”

“What? Seriously?”

“You were the one who told me to look at the land in Rosedale first.”

Despite Vincent’s scolding, Logan did not lift his eyes from the report. The Fraser Company, which had grown based on the hotel business, was now looking for land for its seventh hotel. Logan traveled across the continent for work without rest, even on his days off.

The one-week vacation scheduled around the count’s daughter’s birthday was not meant for Logan to rest. It was a decision made for Vincent, who had missed his sister’s birthday party every year because of working with Logan.

“I told you to rest comfortably on days without outside appointments. I said I wouldn’t interfere with your personal time.”

“How am I supposed to rest when my employer is clearly working?”

“You can just not worry about what I’m doing.”

“You’re an inflexible work addict!”

“I won’t deny that.”

“Well, at least you have some conscience, boss.”

Seeing Logan refuse to put the report down no matter what he said, Vincent flopped onto the sofa. They had been friends for over half their lives, yet Logan was someone whose inner thoughts were impossible to read.

‘What does Amelia even like about a guy like that?’

No matter how many times he told her not to like him, she insisted, so he supported her. But objectively speaking, Logan was not good husband material.

Looks, intelligence, manners, money. He had everything on the surface, but inside he was nothing more than an empty shell, like a pretty but tasteless fruit.

There was no way a man who still could not forget someone who died over ten years ago could truly love another person. Vincent did not know that woman’s face or name, but he knew better than anyone how important she had been to Logan.

‘It might be better to break off the engagement before the wedding… No, that won’t do. Mother told me to persuade him to finally set a wedding date this time.’

Vincent recalled the letter his mother had sent before they visited the count’s estate. He had strongly opposed the engagement.

The families had already made their promise and exchanged rings. Backing out was no longer possible. All they could do was hope Logan would change after marriage. Vincent did not place much faith in that possibility.

He thought of Amelia, waking up at dawn every day to dress herself just to wait for Logan. She was not a particularly impressive sister, but she was still his only family. Seeing her struggle day and night, he felt he should help at least a little.

“At least spend some time having tea during the day. She’s sitting there waiting for you so long that a pumpkin might start looking like a watermelon. You should at least pretend to see her.”

“A pumpkin?”

“Amelia. She’s been making a huge fuss for over a month just to see you.”

“….”

For the first time, Logan turned his head. He had been looking at a face identical to his fiancée’s, only with a different hairstyle. He finally set the report down.

“And you know it too. Amelia has a scar on her body because of that day.”

Vincent did not know exactly how large the scar was, but he knew that having a scar on a noblewoman’s body was a serious matter. At first, Logan had been reluctant to accept even the engagement as compensation, but that fact had changed his mind.

After arriving in Rosedale, Logan often only appeared at mealtimes, using busyness as an excuse. He rejected all of Amelia’s visits. Despite being her fiancé, he spent his time inspecting land instead of going on dates. The people of the estate, who had initially been excited, began to question his intentions.

Was he here for Amelia, or simply for work?

Without responding, Logan suddenly closed the folder. Vincent followed him with his eyes as he stood up from the sofa.

“Where are you going?”

“To smoke.”

“I’ll come too.”

At the unexpected reply, Logan stopped at the door.

“…You?”

A surprised look crossed Logan’s face. Because their grandfather had died of a lung disease, Vincent usually avoided even being near cigarette smoke.

“Don’t say anything.”

“I wasn’t planning to.”

“I only do it once in a while.”

“Do whatever you want.”

Logan shrugged and started walking again.