Chapter 26: 25

Chapter 25

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I eventually had no choice but to give a rude answer to the request for the tea party.

“I’ll join the hunt, I’ll meet you there.”

For those who intended to visit, this answer was so abrupt that no one would dare to contact the Count and join in.

It was almost like a rejection. Besides, I had to send a direct letter to a new acquaintance without any introductions that I wanted to go with my sister. I didn’t mind it too much, though it was bad manners in many ways as far as social etiquette went, and I’m sure neither Celine nor the Admiral expected me to stick around.

“You’re so shameless. Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?”

As we rode together in the car to the hunting grounds, Celine grumbled at me in a dazed voice.

“What is it? You were so discriminated against that you couldn’t even have a debutante?”

She asked, covering her mouth and barely holding back a laugh, her lips quivering, she breathed as if she had forgotten what to say and only looked out the car window. After a long silence, Celine finally opened her mouth.

‘’Why don’t you tell the Lieutenant Colonel? Isn’t it your goal to separate me from him?”

I didn’t answer. I just looked at her face indifferently. She was afraid. There was nothing more confusing and frightening than not knowing others’ intentions. I couldn’t think of any way to respond beforehand. I’ve learned a good lesson from Noah.

As soon as we arrived at the hunt, I could see men on horseback in riding clothes, hounds, beautiful women dressed to the nines. The clothes I wore were on the plain side. Celine, on the other hand, wore a stylish dress, a gorgeous hat with feathers, and warm furs wrapped around her.

“You’re here.”

“Yes, Lieutenant Colonel. Hello.”

Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Grenendall, dressed in riding clothes. After receiving my awkward greeting, he showed me a thin smile and introduced me while gesturing towards the Count who hosted the hunt.

“This is Miss Diana Claire, daughter of Admiral Claire. I apologize for my rudeness to the Count when I suddenly came with Miss Diana.”

“No, Lieutenant Colonel. I am glad. Please give my regards to His Excellency. Hello, Miss Diana Claire.”

“Thank you for the invitation, Count.”

The Count didn’t seem too bothered by this. While the Count and the Lieutenant Colonel were talking, I sneered at Celine, who stood there with a dumbfounded look on her face. As soon as Celine stared at me expressionlessly, she casually approached the Count and the Lieutenant Colonel and greeted them. The Lieutenant Colonel nodded lightly at Celine’s greeting and spoke to me.

“Aren’t you cold? It’s in the forest, so it might be cold.”

“Yes.”

He looked pityingly at my hands with the same sympathetic gaze. It was not cold, so I hoped he stopped worrying.

The people of the upper class, including the Count who had organized the hunt, asked me in social terms if I was okay. I kept a pretentious smile and acted as polite as possible. I had the purpose of building connections, but secretly I hoped no one would talk to me.

“Hey!”

Even the easy-going hounds the people had brought with them came up to me, wagging their tails and pretending to be friendly. Cute little guys were always welcome. I greeted them happily, one by one. One of the dogs, a familiar one, stuck his belly out in front of me, twisted around, and gave me a charming look. It was so cute, flapping its droopy ears. Its master would be so disappointed if he saw it flipping over its belly just because It was good for anyone.

“Oh, it’s beautiful! You’re so nice. What’s your name?”

“It’s Jason.”

Jeffrey answered instead of the dog. He seemed to have brought a dog with him. Embarrassed by the exaggerated fuss and passionate petting I had done without even knowing it, I coughed softly.

“Oh, is it Lieutenant Colonel’s dog?”

“It’s my brother’s dog. He was on a business trip, and I brought it with me so he can rest for a bit. He seems to have named it similar to his name, Jace, because he cares about it very much.”

“Didn’t he come today?”

“He doesn’t like this kind of activity.”

I nodded as I gave the dog a belly scratch. Brothers…they had opposite tendencies. I wondered if they looked alike.

Jeffrey whistled, and Jason, who was sticking out his tongue and lying belly up, jumped up and sat down.

“It’s time to leave. The hunting ground is quite spacious and we must follow them properly so we don’t get lost.”

The men, including Jeffrey, mounted their horses first and led the way as guides, while the women followed their lovers and husbands, who had each mounted their horses and left for the hunt. The sound of barking dogs and jostling horse hooves gradually faded into the distance, and I was left alone.

‘I’m the only one who doesn’t have a horse?’

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I didn’t want to go with them, so I decided to sit alone on a chair under the tent that had been set up as a waiting room and drink tea. Celine, who had brought her own special beloved horse, a sleek white horse, looked at me and smiled gently.

“Father has prepared the horse for me. Aren’t you coming because you can’t ride? Riding is one of your basic education, and to have a sister who can’t even ride a horse is a disgrace.”

Celine giggled and climbed on her horse, following the hunting party with the light clop of the hooves. The father, who made me sleep in the stable instead of giving me a horse. And you laughed at me for not knowing how to ride a horse?

I walked over to the only old horse that was tied up nearby. The horse’s mane was tangled with dull brown hair, as if it had never been properly cared for, and its hooves were on the verge of falling off. The horse, like a pathetically depressed, slurped up the dead grass with a slack, drooping mouth.

“Are you good?”

I swept it face while giving the horse a stick of sugar bar snack. The old horse finally lifted his head and raised and lowered his paws lightly.

“I’ll call you ‘Celine’ from now on.”

I climbed onto the horse I had named Celine. A good, experienced horse was much better than a young one. With just a little pull on the reins, he knew where he was going, and he socialized quite well. As I walked down the road, I sped up a bit, walking towards the disappearing hunting line. However, the horse was a little strange.

The horse, which had been lumbering around like it had a breakdown, suddenly cried out energetically, raised its front legs high in the air, and started running like crazy. My body jumped up and down, my vision dizzy and spinning from the shock of jumping up, but I calmly grabbed the reins. If I was a beginner, I might have fallen off the horse.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, old man, you can’t go this fast!”

I tried to calm him down by pulling on the reins, but he just seemed to have only the instinct to go straight and never slowed down. It was also running in the opposite direction from the hunting party. This was the hunting ground of the rich Count, so it was vast and the forest was dense, so we might get lost if we continue like this.

“Hey! Calm down, Celine!”

It was my fault for giving it the wrong name, I should have gone with Choco or Yippee. And with a scream, the horse just kept charging madly over the hill, without any sense of purpose.

***

The sun was setting and spreading over the hills. The men came back from hunting and proudly took out the foxes they’d hunted.

“I’ll make you a pelt out of the foxes I caught.”

“I’ll make a scarf.”

Some men and women were facing each other, laughing awkwardly. The hunt was like a competition between men, because the more they caught, the more pelts, hats, and scarves they could make for their women. Lieutenant Colonel Grenendall, tall and visible from a distance, looked around the area as if searching for something.

Celine, who had expected him to present her with the fox he had hunted, approached him and smiled, but the words that came out of his mouth were not what she expected.

“Where is Miss Diana?”

“What? Where would she be…………”

Celine opened her eyes round, turned her head and looked around. Diana was gone. And the old horse too. It was only then that Celine finally grasped the situation and covered her mouth in surprise.

“Oh no, my sister is not used to riding and seems to have lost her way away.”

Jeffrey just looked at Celine who was in tears. The look of bewilderment on Celine’s face as she passed him was obvious. The normally brusque but elegantly mannered Lieutenant Colonel had a sharp look in his eyes. It was a basic etiquette for gentlemen of good manners to take out their handkerchiefs at the sight of a lady’s tears, but he was staring at her with stinging blue eyes, not a handkerchief. The bleak look of a man trained by a long military career came through.

“What did you do while your sister disappeared?”

Celine was intimidated by each heavy and low note. She thought Diana couldn’t ride anyway, so she brought you a sick horse. Did she ride it anyway without knowing how to ride?

“I was with the group ………….. I did not know.”

Lieutenant Colonel Grenendall gathered the troops who had participated in the hunt, explained the situation, and got on his horse.

“It’s extremely cold and late at night, Miss Diana is in danger. Search quickly.”

The soldiers scattered astride their horses, and some of the men followed along with them.

***

Molly came to Noah’s room and placed the newspaper on the sofa table, a look of disappointment on her face. Noah, who was leaning leisurely on the sofa, stood up like a rebound and picked up the newspaper.

“Didn’t this self-publish also have any special posts? It’s been a while since the order was issued.”

Noah’s gaze was fixed on the prize-winning painting in the open competition on the front page of the newspaper, which depicted the Goddess of the Moon in ancient mythology, holding yellow tulips. It was drawn in charcoal, and only the flowers were painted yellow with pastels. A gap formed in his closed lips and he gently opened them. His dark blue eyes stared at the place where the title of the painting was written.

-Belford News, Best Painting.

“Molly. Do you know what my name means?” (Noah)

“I don’t.”

Molly shook her head in response to Noah’s question, not even pretending to think about it. He couldn’t take his eyes off the picture that Diana had drawn in the newspapers. She was Artemis, the moon goddess in the painting. Also known as Diana. Noah relaxed his eyes as he looked out the window at the moon that had risen so high in the night sky.

“Diana contacted me.”

His voice was raised yet quiet and somber. The name ‘Noah’ meant repose – comfort – peace. Diana was telling him her true feelings.

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