Chapter 19
Poisoning Plan (9)
However, Grayson gave an answer different from what Edith had hoped for.
“Very well.”
Belita’s expression visibly brightened.
“I’m glad, Duke. It will be a precious time for those who attend.”
“Yes. Then enjoy yourself, Lady Mason.”
“You as well, Duke.”
She barely managed to get away from Belita.
But Edith’s expression was far from good.
Once they were far enough away from Belita, Edith finally spoke.
“I didn’t want to go to the party, Duke.”
“Is there a reason?”
She couldn’t very well say, ‘Because it always ends with people thinking I’m a crazy woman,’ so she searched for a suitable excuse.
“…I don’t like being gawked at and torn apart.”
“There will be days when, as a duchess, you’ll have to host parties even if you don’t want to. You can’t avoid everything, Miss Edith.”
“Is that the duty of a duchess?”
“Yes.”
“But I’m not a duchess right now.”
“We’ve been on five dates over the course of more than a month. It’s about time we appeared in front of others. A Mason family party would be an appropriate place for an introduction.”
“You always have a plan, Duke. But before making those plans, wouldn’t it be nice if you asked for my opinion at least once?”
Grayson’s mouth hardened, and Edith’s heart dropped.
‘Did I overstep?’
She didn’t want to go to a party hosted by Belita, who so clearly dismissed her.
The moment Belita looked straight at Edith and said she hoped she would come with them, Edith could already see exactly what would happen at that party.
When her mother was alive, she dealt with them with a smile.
After her mother passed away, she faced them by expressing her emotions without restraint.
But that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt.
The witch of Mould. The witch’s daughter. A vulgar bloodline.
The whispered words turned into sharp awls, stabbing into Edith’s heart every single time.
To escape the pain of being crushed over and over again, she told herself,
‘It’s not me. I don’t need to listen to things like that. They’re just saying it out of jealousy.’
But wounds pierced deep within never healed easily.
Still, when her mother had been alive, she could cling to her embrace and at least say that she hated it, that it annoyed her.
But now Edith was alone.
She couldn’t reveal her fragile inner feelings, the ones that felt as though they might crumble, to anyone.
Because she never knew who might use them to attack her.
So even though she knew she had to accommodate Grayson’s mood until before the marriage, until she gained proper authority, she ended up pointing out his behavior anyway.
Edith lowered her gaze and bit down hard on her lower lip.
When Grayson’s slow-moving steps came to a halt, Edith stopped as well, but she couldn’t bring herself to look up at him.
His hand moved, approaching Edith’s face.
Edith wanted to avoid it, but she squeezed her eyes shut and endured it.
She thought he would slap her cheek like Wyatt or Mateo had, but instead, he lightly touched the lower lip she was clenching with the tip of his finger.
“Ah.”
Startled by the unexpected contact, Edith jerked her head up.
She had expected him to look angry or irritated, like Wyatt would after being contradicted.
But Grayson was looking down at Edith with the same emotionless eyes as always.
“If you make a suggestion, you should hear the answer, Miss Edith.”
As Edith blinked, he brushed her lower lip with his thumb.
The soft, strangely spreading warmth made her body tense.
“When you bite your lip and lower your head, it feels as though the conversation has ended, and I don’t know what to do.”
“…Are there times when you don’t know what to do as well, Duke?”
At Edith’s question, he tilted his head slightly to the side, then straightened it again before speaking.
“I suppose so. Right now, at least.”
At that moment, a gust of wind blew, sending Edith’s hat flying away.
Because of that, Edith couldn’t properly hear his low voice.
Grayson grabbed Edith’s arm as she tried to go after the hat, steadying her, then walked toward it himself.
Edith stood there blankly, watching him walk with the same unhurried, refined manner even in a moment like this.
When he stopped in front of the hat and bent down to pick it up, it looked like a scene from a play.
She held out her hand to take the hat when he returned, but instead, he placed it directly on Edith’s head as he spoke.
“I’ll follow Miss Edith’s opinion.”
“My opinion?”
Because he put the hat on her so suddenly, Edith was so startled that she forgot what she had said.
After settling the hat properly, he gently tucked the hair by her ear behind it and said,
“That you should ask for my opinion before making plans.”
“Ah…”
She hadn’t expected him to accept her opinion so easily.
Before Edith could even savor that moment of emotion, Grayson started walking again.
“But for this Mason family party, it would be better if we go together. I’ve already given my word.”
“Yes. I will.”
Just once, she could probably endure it somehow.
As they walked quietly, they soon reached the edge of the park.
As if to warn that an unmanaged forest lay ahead from that point on, a sign stood at the end of the path.
[Danger]
Still, since it was a forest within the city, it didn’t feel too dark or particularly threatening.
Tall trees stood in abundance, but plenty of sunlight filtered through the branches.
“Shall we head back now?”
Grayson said, standing before the warning sign.
“The squirrel family might be in the forest, though…”
At Edith’s words, Grayson hummed softly, glanced down at the basket she was holding, and asked,
“Does that contain a gift for the squirrel family?”
“Yes, well… something like that.”
“I see. Then let’s go until we meet the squirrel family.”
The path leading into the forest was different from the park’s paved walkways—a dirt path cut through thick brush.
It was a little uncomfortable to walk in dress shoes, but since they moved slowly, it didn’t feel particularly dangerous.
Paying attention to the stones scattered along the path and glancing around in search of wherever the gypsy might be, Edith failed to notice Grayson’s gaze, fixed on her as if observing her closely.
‘What is she looking for? It doesn’t seem like she’s searching for the squirrel family.’
Her shoes were getting dirtier as she walked along the earthen path—something Grayson normally detested—but his curiosity about what Edith was seeking outweighed his distaste.
Edith kept walking.
The forest gradually grew deeper, and the dirt path began to narrow.
Grass that had grown up past waist height encroached on the path.
Grayson swept the grass aside with his arm, clearing the way, but Edith didn’t even notice.
Suddenly, Edith left the path and pushed her way through the tall grass.
Grayson, following quickly behind her, discovered a small hut built beneath a large tree.
It was the kind of hut that one would easily overlook unless they looked closely, hidden as it was by the long grass.
As if the hut’s owner had tidied up, the grass around it was cut short.
Beside the hut stood a crude rack made of branches, with bundles of unfamiliar plants hanging from it.
So that’s what she was looking for—the gypsy?
Perhaps, to the eyes of a future duchess, a gypsy looked just as cute as a squirrel.
At this rate, wouldn’t the ducal garden end up filled with gypsies someday?
As he was entertaining such worries, Edith suddenly spun around to face Grayson, her expression one of surprise.
“There’s a hut in a place like this.”
He nearly burst out laughing at the blatant act.
Grayson tightened his lips and quietly observed Edith, who seemed to lack any real talent for acting.
When he continued to stare at her without responding, Edith averted her gaze and muttered,
“I didn’t know someone lived in a place like this.”
Finding her effort oddly admirable, Grayson decided to play along with this inexplicable performance.
“I see.”
“What kind of person do you think lives in a place like this?”
“Well. What do you think, Miss Edith—”
That was as far as he got when there was a rustling sound as something pushed through the grass.
Grayson spotted an old woman revealing herself from the brush behind the hut.
The old woman tried to flee, but Grayson was faster.
He ran forward and blocked her path.
With her disheveled ash-gray hair and grimy clothes that looked as though they hadn’t been washed in quite some time, his brow furrowed instinctively.
Worried that the old woman might touch him, Grayson unconsciously took a step back and said to Edith,
“It seems someone like this lives here.”
Edith, who had noticed the old woman a beat later than Grayson, hurried over and stood beside her.
Shockingly, she gently took hold of the old woman’s arm and said,
“Grandmother, you must have been startled.”
When Edith’s hand touched the old woman’s clothes—so dirty that one couldn’t even tell what was stained on them—Grayson felt a surge of revulsion.
Still, he barely managed to compose his expression and continued to watch Edith’s actions.
