Chapter 2
“…!”
The moment their eyes met, her body turned cold, as if someone had poured icy water over her. The woman quickly pressed the back of her head against the wall. Thump. Thump. Her heart pounded so hard it felt like it was echoing inside her head.
‘No way.’
Steadying her trembling hands, she looked out again. The man was calmly talking with others, as if he had never looked her way at all.
‘That can’t be. From outside, you wouldn’t even be able to see this gap. There’s no way our eyes met.’
She let out a breath of relief and steadied herself. They say a guilty conscience makes you jump at nothing. Trying to do something beyond her place had made her frighten herself over something trivial. After checking the old watch on her wrist, she left her spot. Realizing she had stayed longer than planned, she hurried back.
If the head maid found out she had gone to the lobby to see him, there was no telling what she would say.
Her steps were hurried, but her face was brighter than before. It was not so much the joy of seeing the man from the rumors, but the thrill of the small secret rebellion she had managed while everyone’s attention was focused on the duke.
However, her lifted mood did not last long. When she returned to the small room, the head maid was waiting for her. The head maid had left earlier to prepare the guest’s meal.
“Where have you been?”
Because she had been startled by the thought of meeting his eyes, she had failed to notice when the head maid left.
“I was going to send you on an errand, but you weren’t in your room. I told you several times not to leave until the duke arrived.”
“I just went to the restroom for a moment…”
“You didn’t go to the lobby and then lie about it, did you? I’ve told you again and again, do not let yourself be seen by the duke. He’s someone who has lived his whole life seeing only precious and valuable things. Do you think it’s right to show him your unsightly appearance?”
The head maid swept her narrow eyes over the woman. The woman scratched her cheek and lowered her head.
She didn’t think she was that ugly, even if she wasn’t impressive, but she couldn’t bring herself to protest and bowed her head instead.
“I’m sorry.”
“I don’t need apologies spoken with your mouth. Go wash the bedding in the laundry room and hang it out in the back garden. The estate will be busy from now on, so you’ll be in charge of the laundry.”
“The bedding… by myself?”
She asked again at the order. Normally, washing bedding was work for three maids.
“The other maids are busy preparing for the banquet. This is for your own good. Isn’t it better for you to stay tucked away in a corner of the estate so you don’t run into the duke? I’d send you anywhere if I could, but there’s nowhere suitable. And of all times, the dowager has gone away to recover…”
The head maid rested her chin on her hand and let out a long sigh. A stone stuck in place, impossible to remove.
She had planned to send the girl away once she reached adulthood, but the count had objected. Now she was a burden they were forced to keep.
“Haa… What can I expect from a child who can’t even remember her own name? Stop dawdling and go do your work.”
The head maid shook her head as she looked down at the woman, who had her shoulders tightly hunched. At the resigned gesture, the woman’s shoulders curled inward even more.
It wasn’t that she was incapable. She simply had no memories from childhood, but she always did her best with the tasks she was given and did them well. Still, being treated as if she were defective felt unfair. Yet she could not say a single word in her defense.
As the head maid said, she should be grateful just for being taken in despite not remembering even her own name.
She bowed deeply to the head maid and headed straight to the back garden. Even though it was a warm spring day, her chapped hands were stained red, as if they had been exposed to cold wind.
***
“You must be tired. You could have kept the greetings brief. Everyone already knows who you are.”
As soon as the greetings ended, Amelia clung to Logan’s arm and complained.
After arriving at the station, he had said he was tired, so she had given up the city date she had planned and come straight to the estate. Yet the duke had spent half an hour greeting the servants.
“Reputation can crumble over the smallest things. When the other party already knows who I am, I have to be even more careful.”
“You really can’t stop thinking about work, can you? Did you come all this way just to work?”
Amelia pouted as if sulking. Everyone knew the Duke of Fraser was a workaholic. Even without the rumors, anyone who spent just one day with him would realize it. Every part of his life revolved around his businesses.
“Work is important, but while you’re staying at my estate, you can relax. They’re all my people. No one here would spread words that could harm your reputation.”
That was why Amelia had wanted him to come to Rosedale even more. Even if only for a few days, she hoped he could rest here, away from work.
But habits ingrained in the body did not seem easy to change.
The duke said that during the week he would stay in Rosedale, he had outside engagements every day except the day of Amelia’s birthday party.
‘It’ll get better once we’re married.’
Amelia decided not to rush. Their families had an agreement, so marriage was already settled. After that, small issues could be worked on slowly while living together. Supporting her husband’s business was also a proper duty of the lady of the house.
“While you were expanding your business in the capital, Rosedale has changed a lot too. You probably know better than I do, but it’s been developing year by year. I think it would be perfect for a large hotel. Father says that developers have been coming for years, asking to buy land.”
Of course, we turned them all down because the land already has an owner.
Amelia looked up at him with a playful smile. The Duke of Fraser climbed the stairs in silence, without any clear reaction that he was listening.
‘Well, it’s better for a man to be quiet than overly talkative.’
She was dissatisfied that he did not seem eager to talk even after such a long time apart, but she tried to focus on his good points.
Her father always said that a man should know how to hold his tongue.
Thinking only of the good, rather than dwelling on complaints, would be better for their relationship.
And the Duke of Fraser had plenty of good qualities to focus on.
Amelia’s eyes sparkled with expectation as she looked at Logan. This was her fiancé, visiting the count’s estate for the first time since their engagement.
The days when she couldn’t even say out loud that they had not held a proper engagement ceremony, and had to pretend they had held a small family event just because she had received a ring.
Even with the ring clearly there, the duke had never appeared with her in public, and rumors of a false engagement had spread. She had endured all of it for the sake of marrying him.
‘This visit must mean he’s thinking seriously about marrying me.’
Why else would a workaholic like Logan attend her birthday party, which he hosted every year in his own territory? The moment he replied that he would attend this year, she had rushed to the capital to meet him.
The fact that he, who always postponed things because he was busy, had decided on marriage must have been thanks to the former duchess’s full support.
‘So I need to try even harder too.’
“Ah, it’s here. We changed the guest room locations during the renovations two years ago. This one is closest to my bedroom.”
Instead of finishing the tour of the estate, she personally guided him to his room and stopped in front of the door.
“I’ll have your luggage brought up shortly.”
“Thank you.”
At Logan’s brief reply after her effort, Amelia closed her lips. Now that she had finished guiding him, she should have returned to her room, but she stayed where she was. Logan watched her fidgeting fingers for a moment.
“Um…”
Her intention was obvious, and he had no desire to indulge it.
Just as Amelia was about to speak carefully, Logan cut her off.
“Which way is the staircase that leads to the back garden?”
