Chapter 52
A Narrative for Geris
“I’ve left the carriage on Bellon Street. Please just take me that far.”
Seeing Madam Roma, I had blurted out a request for help without thinking, but I couldn’t trouble her any further. This was something I had to deal with myself.
Roma handed over her hat. Reaching out to take it, Ansi suddenly realized she was still holding a gun in her hand.
She quickly engaged the safety and shoved it into her pocket. She didn’t know yet what to do with Geris’s gun, but for now, she needed to get it out of sight.
“What’s with the gun?”
“I’m going to throw it away.”
At her curt tone, Roma rolled her eyes and leaned back, pulling away from where she had been leaning forward.
“I see. So now that you don’t need me anymore, you’re telling me to get lost, huh?”
“That’s not it,” Ansi said quickly. She did have a sense of decency, after all. She didn’t want the person who had helped her in a dangerous moment to feel that way. Especially not Roma—one of the few people who knew about her days as Rain.
“That man, isn’t he? The one who was looking for you down south?”
“…Yes, that’s right.”
In the end, Ansi nodded.
“I knew it. Back then you said you didn’t know him, but I could tell something was off. So he’s just some guy who followed you around because he liked you?”
“No! He’s a debt collector.”
Ansi quickly refuted the absurd guess.
“I’ve already paid back the money. I don’t know why he’s acting like this…”
Her voice trailed off. Truly, she couldn’t understand why he’d come all the way to the capital searching for her. The bastard. What did he think he could get from her, showing up here like that?
“Well, the answer’s clear. That crazed look in his eyes—this is pure obsession. Some fool who fell in love with you and took it all the way to fixation.”
The image of Geris grabbing her by the hair flashed in her mind. And all the times he had come to threaten her for repayment.
Ansi shook her head.
“That’s impossible.”
“Maybe. You don’t have to understand. What matters is that there’s no reasoning with someone like that. Lie low for a while, and tell your husband to deal with him.”
Tell Damion about Geris?
At that thought, the feeling she’d once had on the southern shore came flooding back—
That humiliation of being laid bare under the glaring sun, utterly small, unable to even raise her head.
Ansi shook her head.
At least from Damion, she wanted to hide it.
She didn’t want him to know that she’d once had a debt, or that a debt collector had come all the way to the capital because of it. She didn’t want to know what he would think of her if he found out.
She couldn’t explain why she felt that way. She used to think it was because he was an Orphey—because it was the man she hated most in front of her.
But now… she wasn’t sure.
“I don’t want to worry my husband.”
“Well, isn’t that what being married is? A husband protects his wife, and a wife protects her husband.”
A relationship where you protect each other. No. She had married that man to destroy his family—and him.
But…
“Ansi, you two are husband and wife.”
Ansi couldn’t answer.
Strangely, her chest felt unsteady.
Leaning on the terrace railing, Cardian tapped his chin with a fingertip.
Looking down at Geris in the narrow alley, huffing in barely contained rage, Cardian chuckled.
This was the alley where his gambling den was located.
Just moments ago, he had stepped out for some fresh air and happened to see Ansi walking into the alley.
It was the kind of coincidence you could call fate.
Then, out of nowhere, a man appeared and snatched her hat. Cardian didn’t like the look of it, but he didn’t interfere—just watched in silence.
He had seen the entire scuffle between Ansi and Geris from start to finish. It was a fascinating story to watch unfold.
The ending was perfect, too—Ansi threatening the man who harassed her with a gun before leaving the alley. It was the kind of scene worth recording and revisiting.
However…
Cardian’s eyes, alight with interest, stayed on Geris.
It might be an ending for Ansi, but for that man, it clearly wasn’t over yet. In that case, he deserved a story of his own.
And Cardian decided to set the stage for it—with a little help and interference.
“Bring that man to me. Tell him you’ll show him where to find a woman named Rain.”
“Yes, sir.”
He pointed below the terrace and the servant moved immediately.
Cardian’s gaze returned to Geris, a mix of disgust and intrigue in his eyes.
Geris was still fuming—crude and ignorant, with not a shred of refinement.
For the story Cardian had in mind, he was the perfect protagonist.
Outside the darkening window came the sound of a car. Sitting on the sofa, Ansi tightened her grip on the book in her hands, ears straining to the sound.
Simon, who was tidying the bedding, spoke with a hint of delight.
“I think the master has returned, madam.”
“…Has he?”
“Yes, I’m sure I heard a car just now. Didn’t you?”
“I don’t know, I was reading.”
In truth, she had been reading the first page of the book for the twelfth time. She simply couldn’t focus. Even though evening had long fallen, her mind was still tangled in the events of the afternoon, the words slipping right past her eyes.
What if Geris came looking for her again? Should she keep the gun on her just in case? Should she tell Damion about it? Thoughts chased each other endlessly.
It was just as well Damion had work today and couldn’t join her for dinner—seeing his face would only have made her uncomfortable. That was why, even when she heard the sound of a car, she had pretended not to.
“Sigh.”
Ansi let out a breath without realizing it, pulling the table lamp closer. Maybe brighter light would fix this wretched inability to concentrate.
“Is it too dim? Shall I bring another lamp?”
“No, it’s fine. Just my problem.”
At the word problem, Simon’s brows tilted in that way Ansi now recognized. She knew the kinds of moments that brought out that look.
“Simon.”
“Yes, madam?”
Simon came closer.
“That day—you were the one who called Elise, weren’t you?”
“Ah…”
It was back when Ansi thought Damion was ashamed of her, when every gaze around her had felt like a knife. Elise had arrived just then and insisted on keeping her company—as if she’d known.
It wasn’t until after they’d returned from Sobelvio that Elise confessed it had been at Simon’s request.
“I’m sorry if I overstepped, madam. I just thought you might feel better if you saw a friend…”
“Thank you.”
“Oh, it’s nothing, madam. I was just doing my job.”
Simon waved her hands, flustered. She hadn’t done it for thanks—only because the madam had seemed so unsteady then.
Lately, her complexion had been much better. She even smiled more when she was with the master. The once pale cheeks she had upon arrival now held a rosy tint—a change often remarked upon by the household staff.
It was a relief. Simon smiled, embarrassed but pleased.
Ansi smiled back. Talking with Simon seemed to ease the fear she’d felt earlier that day.
“Well, I’ll leave you to it, madam.”
“Good night, Simon.”
Ansi dropped her gaze back to the book.
Still, the words refused to settle in her mind. Now alone, her head was filled entirely with Damion d’Orphey’s face.
Then—knock, knock—the sound of the door. Perhaps Simon had forgotten something.
“Come in.”
The door opened, but Simon’s voice didn’t follow. Ansi looked up.
“What book has you so focused?”
Damion’s smile was bright and easy. At his words, Ansi snapped the book shut without a second thought and shot to her feet—nearly stepping toward him before she caught herself.
Why had she done that? Hadn’t she just been thinking how lucky she was not to see him today? Was her heart, held hostage by Amor, the problem?
“It’s just… a book analyzing various plants.”
“Interesting. What kind of plants?”
She didn’t know. Not a single thing had stuck in her mind; she’d only been rereading the introduction.
“Have you eaten?”
She changed the subject. Damion, unaware of her deflection, smiled beautifully.
“Yes. I had a dinner meeting with a client.”
In truth, he’d been meeting with the elders, but he left out the details. In a way, the elders were his clients, so it wasn’t quite a lie.
“Must have been busy.”
“I have an early meeting tomorrow as well.”
“Where?”
“…By the lake in the Dede Forest.”
There was a faint hesitation in his reply. In that moment, Ansi saw again the image of the boy, wet from the water, she had known as a child.
The lake in Dede Forest—that was where she had met that boy long ago.
“Could it be…”
Ansi began. Their eyes met, and for a moment, a quiet tension wrapped around them both.
