Chapter 13: 13

Chapter 13

Translator: Yonnee

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‘Things are going so fast…’

Lucas stared back at Grace with eyes that were more nervous than hers.

Right now, Grace’s boldness was making him nervous.

With a rather stiff expression, Lucas waited for the sweet words to come out of her lips.

Ba-thump, ba-thump.

A pleasant vibration was gradually speeding up in his veins.

“Your Excellency, to be perfectly honest, I…”

Her lips had been tightly closed until now, like a rosebud that’s yet to blossom, but they finally opened like gracefully blooming petals.

“……!”

Rattle—

With what great timing of it all, the carriage halted to a stop.

Her hesitant lips closed tightly once more as the curtains of the small window were opened.

Julie quickly came down from beside the coachman, then knocked on the carriage door.

“Milady, we’ve arrived at the residence.”

‘Ah, her house.’

Grace nodded slightly as she saw the familiar fence through the small window.

“Shall I fetch His Excellency’s coat? Or, would you be picking it up personally, Milady?” Julie asked tactfully.

At this, Grace agonized.

She was intending to just get the newly washed coat from the manor and finally return it. However, it would hardly be polite to do so when the duke had invited her to his residence.

In any case, there’s something she’d been meaning to talk about with him anyway, so she would have to go to his place in the end…

Grace tried to gauge the time.

It’s perhaps nearing four o’clock already.

If she were to let him go like this, he’d only say that he’d send another carriage for her.

And that would just be too rude.

Still though, Grace was reluctant to ride the same carriage as him again, for a trip that would take about another hour.

The atmosphere between them was fine just a moment ago, but this didn’t mean that her apprehensions about him had been completely turned over.

Wondering what she should do, Grace glanced sideways at Lucas Blacke. However, he just shrugged and spoke comfortably.

“I can wait here, so please go with the option you prefer.”

So what he’s saying is… they’re going to ride the same carriage again, right?

After schooling her features, which were about to reveal just how flustered she was, Grace gathered her nerves and spoke.

“Your Excellency, please, you have to do that. You’ve already escorted me all the way here. I might take a bit of time to prepare, so I’ll be using one of our household’s carriages instead. Why don’t you go first and rest in the meantime, Your Excellency?”

At the sidelines, Julie hurriedly whispered with a troubled face.

“Milady, I apologize for interrupting, but I believe that all of our carriages are in use today.”

“What?”

“Milord and the Young Master have both gone out today, and I heard that the extra carriages were sent for repairs yesterday.”

This is…

A disaster.

If that’s the case, then didn’t she have no other choice but to go to Lucas Blacke’s residence in the same carriage as him?

‘I couldn’t even buy a present for him earlier, so how…’

In the first place, she was going to his place with the hidden intention of giving him that present.

That’s why she wanted to prepare a present that would suit him somehow.

Biting her lower lips, Grace looked up at Lucas again.

“Then…”

She hesitated.

What should she do?

Her heart was pounding, and she couldn’t think properly. Her mouth refused to move even more.

Would it be possible for her mind to be read?

Lucas Blacke, who was still looking at her, smiled quietly and spoke up first.

“Grace.”

Because of this or that reason, I’ve become quite fatigued. So, wouldn’t it be better if we postpone our appointment to next time?

Grace looked up at him with an expectant gaze.

Her fairly thick, sensual lips went up in an arc, however, the answering clean smile shot down her expectations at once.

“I am truly fine with it, so don’t feel so burdened. Right, it also wouldn’t be a bad idea to take your time, so we can talk about what you couldn’t bring up earlier.”

“What I couldn’t bring up earlier? …Ah!”

She had to think back for a moment, but she soon waved her hands.

“It’s nothing. T-That’s actually something I shouldn’t bring up right now. I was being too hasty.”

She even shook her head and stopped him there.

Earlier, she almost impulsively said, ‘Why don’t we reconsider the marriage talks between us?’

Prior to this, she had already thought of a lot of good reasons to back this up.

From an ordinary reason like…

‘I’m too weak. I don’t believe I can be a good enough lady of the house for your family.’

To a long-winded rationalization such as…

‘House Blacke’s territory is too far south, and I can’t go that far. I’m worried about the children at the orphanage I’m supposed to be responsible for…’

And even the emotionally driven explanation of…

‘Truthfully, I have decided not to get married unless it’s for love!’

Of course, she also thought that the best way to go about this was with honesty.

‘You’re so very terrifying to me. Ever since I saw you three years ago, my phobia has not gone away, and I can’t even sleep well at night. I’m so utterly frightened by you! With a man as scary as you, how can I call you ‘Honey’ or ‘Darling’ or anything like that?’

…But of course, she couldn’t possibly say that.

“Oh, I see.”

However, when Lucas responded this way, his eyes looked somewhat disappointed.

Feigning ignorance towards his glum expression—which was honestly probably just 100% her imagination—Grace quickly added.

“Yes, I will t-tell you. Sooner or later.”

Sooner or later, she said.

Lucas asked urgently.

“How soon would that be?”

“Pardon?”

“I’m asked when exactly you’ll be telling me about it. It’s just, I might need some time to mentally prepare myself.”

Mentally prepare? What did that even mean…

By any chance, did he know what she was about to say?

Flabbergasted, Grace’s eyes went wide.

But with a similar look of surprise, Lucas belatedly waved his hands.

“Never mind. I implore you to forget what I said just now. I was also too hasty.”

“Yes? Ah, of course…”

Lucas stared at Grace for a long time, conflicted gaze and all, before he eventually turned his head away.

With his forehead now practically stuck to the carriage window, his murmuring voice soon flowed out his lips.

Get yourself together. What he muttered was perhaps somewhere along those lines.

‘What’s with him?’

An awkward bout of silence stretched before them inside the carriage.

Grace hesitated for a moment, then she asked Julie to fetch the coat.

In any case, it’s clear now that it would be difficult for her to refuse today’s invitation. So at this point, she figured that she should just graciously accept it.

Julie rushed to bring Lucas’ coat back—it’s in a pretty box, too—and she placed it safely in the carriage’s luggage compartment.

As soon as Julie sat next to Jaime again, the carriage started forward right away.

 

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The carriage quickly headed towards Sunny Hill, where Lucas Blacke’s mansion was situated.

Clip clop! Clip clop!

Horseshoes against the pavement rang out in the air cheerfully.

However, Jaime’s expression—as he was the one steering the horses’ reins—was not so cheerful.

Jaime glanced sideways.

‘Is she angry?’

The woman sitting beside him, Grace’s maid, looked so grim.

It’s not that she was frowning, but she looked much too serious.

Why were her eyes doing that? They were wide open, but at the same time, she was squinting them in a way that it looked like she’s glaring at something in the air.

‘Her eyes just might fall out of their sockets if this goes on.’

Jaime pursed his lips, then sighed.

Chatting was his life, pranks were his joy.

But he had an inkling that his antics wouldn’t fly well with the woman sitting next to him.

They’d see each other often in the future, and he’s wishing that they could get closer, but what a shame.

He wondered, how many more minutes passed by like that?

He was about to let go of any expectations that they could have a nice chat on the way to their destination—but, unexpectedly, she spoke to him first.

“Your name is Jaime, right?”

“…Yes? Yes! I am Jaime Demigras.”

Frozen as he was, the absent-minded Jaime replied with a start.

Julie smiled gently at Jaime, then she said,

“You seem to be a quiet person. It’s a bit boring on the way, so shall we chat?”

A chat? All of a sudden?

He’s fine with it, of course…

Still though, Jaime was puzzled as he nodded his head.

“Um, has it been a long time since you’ve been serving His Excellency?”

As though there never was a ferocious expression on her face just now, Julie asked him with an ever so friendly smile.

‘What the. Why is she being like this, and so suddenly, too?’

Jaime was completely dumbfounded. It’s like he’s talking to a completely different person right now.

To the point that it was scary how he started to just stare blankly at her now, Jaime’s brain practically broke. Seeing her smile and talk to him like this, Jaime thought that she was the loveliest person he had ever met.

In particular, it was the quiet voice in which she spoke, as well the moderate tone that’s like a melody to his ears.

‘So there’s a person who has such a pretty voice. I didn’t know.’

As Jaime was beguiled by her voice, Julie tilted her head to the side, wondering why he’s being like that.

“Mister Jaime?”

And so, belatedly coming back to his senses, Jaime quickly replied.

“Ah… Ah, yes! Actually, my mother was Lord Lucas’ nanny. But before even my mother, she told me that our family has been working for House Blacke since the generation of my great-grandmother.”

“Wow, so that means you’ve been loyal to the household for that many generations? That’s amazing. It’s no exaggeration to say that you grew up with His Excellency.”

“Well, actually, it’s safe to say that I’ve cleaned up after His Excellency since we were young.”

At his proclamation, Julie’s eyes went even wider, and she replied to Jaime with a voice so full of shock.

“Oh my goodness! So you’ve been cleaning up after His Excellency, and that’s the only reason he has a reputation of being competent? Mister Jaime, you must be a truly competent aide!”

‘Is this… something to be so worked up about?’

Jaime wondered to himself, but he couldn’t let go of the bubbling pleasantness that he was feeling now.

He tried to stop his lips from twitching.

“No, well, not to that extent… Still, I guess, yes, that’s right. It’s true that I’m indispensable to His Excellency.”

“Gosh, good gracious.”

Once again, Julie reacted towards Jaime’s words rather exaggeratedly, both hands over her mouth and all.

And now, she was acting with all her might just to get what she needed to hear.

“You’re so amazing! As expected, from the very first time I saw you, Mister Jaime, I just knew that you had such charisma behind the look in your eyes. It was so much that I couldn’t talk to you right away.”

With praises upon praises of compliments at the expense of Julie’s soul—to her, it felt as if it’s being sucked out of her right now—Jaime’s chest swelled up with pride.

He almost got hit by a hind leg not too long ago, and no matter how well he worked, he rarely ever received any praise (honestly, it’s because of his mouth, which refused to stop talking when it needed to stop talking). All these memories flashed through Jaime’s mind.

Oh, what a lovely feeling it was to be recognized.

Right in front of Julie’s sparkling eyes, Jaime raised his chin up high.

‘I am amazing!’

Naturally enough, his back and his shoulders looked more robust now, too.

Jaime gazed upon Jaime with a benevolent look.

Under her belt was a seven-year career as a maid.

Considering how she grew up with the toughest position as the fourth of six keen and intense sisters, it was not difficult for Julie to firmly identify a person’s character.

“Thank you for viewing me in that way. Hah-hah-hah!”

Shrugging his shoulders and laughing in that way, Jaime looked exactly like a dolphin as he did so. Just like that, Jaime was right in the palm of Julie’s hand.

‘Cute guy.’

Julie continued to smile at Jaime, though inwardly praising his simplicity.

Once again, she lifted Jaime up high into the sky.

“Indeed, no matter how many rumors about how frightening His Excellency is, if he was too harsh, you would have broken away from him long before. I think the reason His Excellency has built such a great reputation for himself despite the truth is because of the insurmountable assistance he’s getting from his amazing aide. And that magnificent person is none other than you, Mister Jaime!”

“D-Do you think so? Haha! I feel bashful, but I do have to admit it. Hah-hah-hah! Hah-hah-hah!”

Jaime was over the moon.

So, he grabbed the horses’ reins tighter and fixed his expression to make him look even more admirable.

Even though he only fixed his grip on the reins, it felt as if his abilities were overflowing.

‘Kyah, I’m so cool.’

Not missing a beat, Julie went onto business.

“Mister Jaime, you seem to know His Excellency more than anyone else in the world. Would it be alright if I ask a question?”

“A question? What is it?”

“It’s nothing, really. I just, you know, I wanted to know whether His Excellency has feelings for Milady. Even just a little bit!”

“Ah.”

Jaime’s expression flickered for a moment.

With the way Jaime started shaking his head strangely, Julie became impatient.

What? No way. She’s sure that she saw His Excellency’s eyes chasing after Lady Grace…

“It’s…”

“Go on.”

Gulp.

As Jaime gulped, Julie waited silently for him to answer.

After such a pause, Jaime spoke with a serious face.

“This is between us, so pretend you didn’t hear it from me, Miss Julie. His Excellency just doesn’t care about Lady Grace.”

“Huh?”

‘W-What the heck are you talking about, you punk.’

Barely managing to press down on her instinctive urges—to act on her impatience, to grab him by the collar right then and there—Julie let out a soft giggle.

Fortunately, before Julie could throw hands, Jaime followed up with the opposite. Her patience bore fruit.

“The problem is that His Excellency doesn’t care about her a little, he cares about her very, very much. Really. Truly. Exceedingly.”

Kyaaah!

Julie immediately stopped herself from nearly clapping her hands and expressing just how much she liked hearing that.

“I see. That’s, um, that’s quite a relief.”

Hohohoho.

Watching Julie’s reaction, Jaime followed after her example and asked.

“Then, may I ask you a question this time?”

“Yes? Well, is there anything you’d like to know?”

“Her cheek, may I know what happened to it? I noticed that Lady Grace’s cheek is a bit swollen.”

Right then, Julie’s shoulders stiffened due to her shock.

 

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