Chapter 13
As the banquet was coming to an end, Bella left the hall and went to the duke’s bedroom. She had returned to serve him now that he was back at the estate.
She arranged the bedding and prepared water for washing, hoping he could rest comfortably after such a tight schedule. While cleaning the messy room he had left behind in a hurry earlier, she found herself thinking about the two people she had seen at the banquet.
Even to someone like her, who knew nothing about noble society, they had looked like a perfect pair as they danced with their arms around each other’s waists.
Any rumors questioning their relationship would surely end tonight.
“…Why did I react like that?”
Bella had ignored the sharp gaze she had felt ever since the duke arrived. But just once, she had lifted her head. At the moment when people around them gasped in admiration, she had unconsciously stepped back.
Just like before, the duke had been looking at her.
‘It must have been a coincidence. There’s no way he was looking at me.’
Tonight of all nights, with Miss Amelia looking more beautiful than anyone else, there was no way a plain, unnoticed maid like her would draw his attention.
While thinking back on the banquet, Bella hit a cushion several times with her fist, then carefully smoothed it out again.
‘Focus. Focus.’
Perhaps because her body had grown comfortable while serving the duke, her mind kept wandering to useless thoughts. She shook her head firmly and forced herself to concentrate on her work.
Logan returned close to midnight. Perhaps he had drunk too much in the lively atmosphere. His usually steady steps were slightly unbalanced.
“Ha…”
He sat crookedly on the sofa and loosened his tie. The duke who had looked perfectly composed just moments ago now showed a disheveled side in front of Bella without hiding it.
Seeing the unfamiliar side of him, Bella hesitated before approaching and offered him a glass of water. Had things at the hotel not gone well? Or was he simply exhausted from traveling back and forth between Bellington and the count’s estate in just one day?
She had many questions, but she asked none.
A servant might be closest to a noble’s life, yet would never be equal to them. Even the smallest curiosity or opinion was forbidden unless the master spoke first. That was the basic rule for servants.
Even worrying that he might fall asleep on the sofa and wake up sore felt like unwanted interference.
“Are you not going to ask how things went at the hotel?”
Just as Bella stepped back after watching him with concern, he called her.
Had he read her thoughts? Carefully, she asked,
“…How did things go at the hotel?”
“The worst.”
Logan answered without even a second of hesitation.
“The building is ruined. We have to compensate the other guests. The smell of smoke will linger for months, so we’ll have to close the surrounding area. The damage is severe. And when the article appears on the front page tomorrow morning, those who want to tear me down will come running.”
A disaster big enough to shake Fraser Enterprises. Bella kept her mouth shut at his dry, pessimistic words.
“They’ll spread gossip. ‘A man enjoying a banquet while someone died in his hotel.’ Something like that. But if I had canceled everything and focused only on the accident, it would look as if Fraser Enterprises were on the verge of collapse. So I had to show my face at the banquet tonight.”
His voice carried clear exhaustion. The Duke of Fraser, called the most perfect man in the empire, now looked dangerously fragile.
Bella looked at him with worry. Even so, he had returned to the estate for the sake of his fiancée. She did not know what words of comfort she could offer.
Would her comfort even matter?
Still, she could not simply nod and pretend she did not care. So she chose her words carefully.
“If there is anything I can help with, please tell me anytime.”
“Why? Will you comfort me?”
Logan’s eyes moved to her.
“If Your Grace needs it…”
Before she finished speaking, Logan stood up. The distance between them closed instantly. They were so close that their breaths almost touched. Bella shut her eyes tightly.
Silence fell, so quiet she could not even hear his breathing.
Logan looked at the tense woman before him. Her hands were tightly clasped together, trembling, as if she feared what he might do.
“What do you think I would ask of you?”
He let out a small laugh. What was he even doing, playing with a maid who could barely meet his eyes? With her acting as though he were some sort of lecher, he could not even joke.
“You shouldn’t say things like that carelessly in front of a man.”
Looking at her tightly pressed lips, Logan leaned back again.
“Especially not when you’re alone with him in his bedroom.”
His voice was low and almost threatening.
“It’s late. Go back and rest.”
He glanced at the clock on the table. It was well past midnight.
“Th-then I will take my leave.”
Only then did Bella regain her senses. Without even lifting her head, she hurried out.
When the door closed quietly, Logan dropped the mask-like smile he had been wearing all evening. The expression left on his face held no trace of warmth, only raw, unfiltered emotion.
“I saw someone who looks like that child. She looks so much like her mother, Maria. For a moment I thought the girl had grown into an adult.”
“The maid at the count’s estate?”
“Was a maid… Wait. You already knew?”
“How could I not?”
“Still, it isn’t her, right? Lady Everett said she grew up in an orphanage and has worked as a maid for the count’s family since childhood.”
He recalled his conversation with his cousin, Rebecca Risely, during the banquet.
He knew without her saying it who she meant. When he first saw Bella, he had mistaken her for that girl too.
“I’m being ridiculous. I know the dead don’t come back. Yet whenever I see someone who looks similar, I still check.”
Rebecca had muttered quietly. For a moment she had mistaken the maid for the girl who once lived at the Fraser estate. But after seeing her eyes, she realized they were completely different people.
Rebecca, who had once been close to the girl as Logan had, stopped smiling when she saw Logan staring silently at the banquet hall below.
“If you’re thinking of taking her to the capital, stop.”
Her usually gentle voice was sharp.
Logan turned his head, his crooked gaze meeting hers.
“I’m not saying this for you. I’m saying it for that maid.”
Taking a steady breath under his cold stare, Rebecca continued.
Logan’s obsession with the girl had been unusual even before the fire. After she died in the fire, it had grown worse. When no body was found despite the search, Logan lost his speech for years from shock.
“You know what would happen if Aunt found out.”
After becoming a widow, the duchess had used every possible means to treat her son.
For Logan, who would have fits at the sight of anyone resembling the girl, she replaced all the estate’s servants with people who had blond hair and light-colored eyes. She even brought in a psychological hypnotist every week, which was uncommon at the time.
Even after Logan regained his speech and the doctor declared he had overcome his trauma, the unspoken rule remained.
As if trying to erase the girl from his life completely.
“Let her go now. The more you chase the dead, the more you’ll only hurt yourself.”
At Rebecca’s advice, Logan pressed his lips together.
He knew. The girl had died long ago. Miracles that bring back the dead would not happen to him.
But because no body had been found in the ruins, because she had disappeared without a trace, Logan still held doubts about her death. And Bella was the lingering hope he could not let go of.
If you are alive—
“I’ve lost my mind.”
Covering his eyes with both hands, Logan let out a hollow laugh. Even now, he was sitting here thinking about a maid’s face.
He sighed deeply.
Was he wishing the dead girl were that maid simply because she looked like her? Or was it because he felt something more?
Even he could not define the emotion growing inside him. But slowly, it was taking shape.
