Chapter 17: 17

Chapter 17 – Pure Kindness

Emilia stared at the unagitated man, speechless. Just looking at his eyes, she thought he was talking about the weather or something.

“Why did you think I would need comforting? It doesn’t affect me.”

An exaggerated coldness flowed from Emilia, who asked back.

“I am grateful that you were worried, but it doesn’t really affect me. For someone who wants to comfort me, you look too indifferent.”

She wondered for a moment if that was too much.

“Maybe.”

He had a straight face.

“For someone who said it doesn’t affect you, you don’t look very happy.”

Emilia couldn’t shut her mouth.

“Keep showing it to her from now on. How much you hate me; how much you want to break-off the marriage. Mrs. Meyer is more persistent than I thought.”

The moment she heard that, Emilia was shocked for the wrong reason.

Did Mrs. Meyer notice? The fact that she is still so anxious when she sees her son?

No, that can’t be. Except for the day of the engagement, there was nothing that could reveal her true heart.

“If that’s the case, don’t worry. She must have felt it very clearly last time. If she ever comes to see me again, I’ll ask Mister Beppy. To swing the axe.”

A small laugh followed.

“Do you know what’s really funny? Right now, the Young Master is talking as if he had nothing to do with her, but both of you are the same. No, actually, Mrs. Meyer is better. At least she is consistent. She doesn’t play with people like this!”

She raised her voice at the end without realizing it, and everyone around her became quiet as a mouse.

Only the sound of Beppy gnawing on the meat resonated for a long time. Laura stepped in quickly.

“This is the apple pie I made myself.”

The skinny arm handed a slice of pie to Hadius. After having a bite, he looked at Laura and said, “It’s great.”, smiling gently. The child smiled shyly, and her appearance reminded her of the innocent 14-year-old Emilia.

Suddenly she got nervous.

“… I’ll step out for just a moment.”

She had no choice but to run outside, as if she were running away.

Emilia sat on the waterfront of the hill overlooking the vineyard. At the end of the winding green waves, there was the beautiful, fairy tale-like Sitmer villa. As she was looking at it in a daze, she felt something behind her.

She didn’t even need to check, it was Hadius.

“Do you like it?”

Emilia smiled, dispirited, and spoke.

“You speak as if you were going to give it to me.”

Hadius turned his head and faced her, looking terribly expressionless.

“I will take back what I said a few days ago. About you being a rude aristocratic man that torments people for fun. The Young Master is just a strange person. A person who changes his words like this and that and doesn’t even know what he’s talking about.”
“I am sure about one thing. I have been worried all the time. I wanted to comfort you. I really mean it.”

Unlike him, who was calm and composed in any situation, Emilia hated that she splashed around like boiling soup.

“No, it’s not ‘comfort’, but ‘congratulate’. All we have to do now is sign the agreement. Then we will finally be free.”

She thought he would laugh. Or be sarcastic.
However, only his mysterious eyes were looking down, intensely. Emilia turned around to avoid his strange eyes. Her pulse was getting too fast.

“… Let’s stop now and go back. Laura prepared hard for us; we can’t ruin the mood…”
“No. I’m going now. I have something else to do.”

She saw a carriage approaching from far away. Hadius took a watch out of his jacket pocket and checked the time. The two stood side by side and fell into an awkward silence. As the carriage got closer, it began to gradually slow down.

“I will be in Trunia for the time being. If anything happens, tell Beppy. He will solve it through my aide.”
“Yes, have a good trip. I’m sure I won’t contact you even if the sky breaks in two…”

Emilia stopped being sarcastic and blinked.

Wait, what did that man just say?

Trunia? Isn’t that place in the middle of a civil war? It’s the place where all kinds of creepy stories come from.

She read a news article saying that if you are an aristocrat, pregnant woman, or a child, your limbs are amputated and displayed on the side of the road with skewers. Not to mention the rebels.

He doesn’t mean to take part in the war, right?

“I will come back as soon as the negotiations are over. A week if it’s fast, a month if it isn’t.”

Ah, at least he’s not going to fight with a gun…

On the other hand, Emilia, who was relieved, felt ridiculous about herself. Suddenly, the conversation she overheard at the dinner party came to her mind.

‘Hadius will visit Trunia sooner or later. He’s going to stand with the King of Trunia and finance the repression of the rebel forces.’

‘From that, he will inherit Meyer Steel. He will get the mines from the Trunia side, and set up a co-partnership with Reinen Mining…’

The merger with Reinen, and the reunion with Bianca.
Everything was going according to what he said.

Is it heartbreaking? No, it is rather a relief.

Emilia held her hands together.

She doesn’t have to waste her emotions needlessly until the breakup. That man will do whatever he wants. All she has to do is take the bridal lessons, attend the ball, and do her best as a fiancée in front of His Majesty.

“Then, please have a safe trip.”
“Take care.”

Hadius raised his hand and headed to the carriage, without looking back. The emotions that were in an uproar have calmed down again.

***

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On the way home, after saying goodbye to Laura, Emilia sat right next to Beppy. It was to learn how to drive a carriage.

When she started, she had to put a lot of strength in her whole body; but it wasn’t long before she could grab the reins with one hand and eat the apples that Laura packed for her with the other. The sweet and sour juice burst into her mouth and made her feel refreshed.

How simple is she?

Among the numerous conversations she had with Hadius, many were forgotten, and only the words, ‘I was worried and wanted to comfort you.’, remained in her heart. It sprouted in an instant and firmly took root in Emilia’s chest.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that the 14-year-old child who liked the Young Master was revived. It was just something that had been burning was evidently suppressed. A stupid fool, who easily forgot the bad things and ill feelings, was nibbling away at her memories.

Whatever, do whatever you want.

Emilia took another bite of the apple. Beppy suddenly spoke.

“It’s nice to hear. That.”

Only then Emilia realized that she had been humming.

“It’s a song called ‘Der Lindenbaum’. My favorite.”

In the following moment, a clear and beautiful voice was mixed in from somewhere. Beppy whistled along. In the quiet country road, the faint melody of [Der Lindenbaum] resonated high in the sky. One humming, the other whistling.

When the ensemble was finished, Emilia was able to smile widely. Beppy smiled too.

***

On the third day after Hadius left for Trunia, the day she went to the Cavendish mansion came without fail.

What was different from usual is that Emilia had been excited since morning.

“Mister, this is the address of the Liberty Boarding School. I already explained it to Mitch in a letter, so you can wait in front of the school gate. Mitch, his height is similar to mine, his hair color is brown like Laura’s, his face…”
“He has a lot of freckles. Mitch has a lot of freckles.”

Beppy mumbled and pointed at her stepmother. Kallia smiled and nodded.

“That’s right, Beppy. Because he takes after me, Mitch has a lot of freckles. Thank you. Thanks to you, my son will come home comfortably.”

Today is the day Mitch returns home after three months. Beppy was supposed to pick up Mitch right after dropping off Emilia at the Cavendish mansion.

“I sent a letter to Mitch and explained it in advance, so you can easily meet him, Mister. Please take good care of our rascal. Be sure to come here with Mitch later!”

After seeing Beppy off, Emilia headed to the front door of the mansion as usual. Her steps, which were always slow and heavy, were light for the first time in a while.
However, the cheerful walk, as if she were humming to herself, suddenly stopped under the arched shrub right in front of the door.

Someone was there.
Nathan Malvin, with his neatly combed dark brown hair.

“Hi.”

At first, she thought there was someone behind her. However, like a midsummer shade, his deep turquoise eyes were definitely fixed on Emilia.

“… Hello, Young Master Malvin.”

Emilia bowed belatedly. She tried to pass by Nathan, but she kept getting side by side with him. If Emilia walked slowly, Nathan also slowed down; if she walked faster, Nathan also got faster.

“Excuse me…”

The moment she looked at him, frowning, the door opened. As usual, the servant greeted them.

“Hello, Young Master Malvin.”

He smiled and greeted Nathan, and then silently extended his hand towards Emilia. It meant he was asking for the visiting card.
The moment Emilia handed him the card she had been holding, something surprising happened.

“Wait.”

Isn’t Nathan suddenly reaching out and putting something on top of Emilia’s card?

“… Young Master?”

To her surprise, the small piece of paper he handed over was stamped with the seal of the Malvin family.

“What are you doing? You’re not taking it.”
“Pardon?”

Looking at the servant, who had his eyes wide open, she remembered the incident with Mr. Haspel a few days ago. Everything is the same as then.

“Young Master, why are you suddenly doing this…”
“I’ll wait here, so go get your Master’s permission. Like you do to Miss Bern. Rules should be fair.”

The servant’s face turned pale. Standing like a ghost, holding the Malvin family’s card, he seemed like he was going to run out of breath at any moment.

“I-I apologize. Young Master!”

The servant quickly lowered his head and immediately turned to Emilia.

“… Come in. Miss Bern.”

Thus, Emilia had the honor of entering the mansion without waiting for the first time in five years.
Of course, it wasn’t pleasant at all. It was just embarrassing and uncomfortable.

As soon as the door closed, Emilia turned to Nathan.

“Do you perhaps want me to say thank you?”

The man, who was about to pass by, turned around again.

“It may sound rude, but I’m not very pleased with the Young Master’s actions just now.”
“Why?”
“Because it will cause trouble.”
“You, you’re really scared, aren’t you?”

A light feathery laughter echoed through the hall. Countless replies rose to her throat. With her mouth closed, Emilia picked out what she should not say and what she could say.
As if he read Emilia’s innermost thoughts, the man’s dark lips showed an amused smile.

“Don’t worry. If anything happens, I will take responsibility… I just hate seeing uncomfortable scenes like that.”
“…”
“I’m not trying to defend them, but the servants aren’t very happy with this situation either. Because they don’t really hate you. After all, the nature of ostracizing or tormenting is hierarchy.”

There was no pity or sympathy in the eyes of Nathan, who spoke like that. It aroused a strange comfort and emotion in Emilia’s heart.

“If three or more people come together, everybody follows. Choosing a side, trampling, and tormenting the weakest while feeling a sense of kinship. Once the hierarchy becomes unwavering and the discrimination becomes a habit, it never stops. So, you have to force someone not to do it. There’s no other way.”

The cold-spoken man turned again. Blankly chasing after the man’s back, who was moving away, she remembered something from a few weeks ago.

‘With your eyes wide open like that, they will think you’re easy.’

She thought it was a trick or a trap, but was he serious?

A warm sensation flowed along her back. She was also overwhelmed, so Emilia had no choice but to stand in that spot for a moment.

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