Chapter 14: 13

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Vivian’s POV

Edmund was swamped with work as soon as the auction began. He returned every night with an exhausted face.

He said that most of the paintings that were successfully bidded for went straight to the art museum, but some of the paintings that he bought at his own expense would be sent straight to the mansion after the auction has ended.

The number of times I could wander around watching the amazing scene of Edmund signing in a flowing script to receive the items had come to an end unknowingly. 

Every night, Edmund would say that there wouldn’t be an auction with as many excellent works as this round, while draining his glass.

“And tomorrow will be the last day.”

According to Edmund, there would only be four or five works on the last day. Additionally, unlike the previous six days of the auction which started early in the morning, the last day would start from late afternoon till evening.

Edmund explained that as soon as the auction had ended, its major customers and other prominent people in society would be invited to kick off a charity party, which was one of the parties that drew the most attention.

It also meant that all kinds of attention will be drawn to me, who will appear at the party under Edmund Deer’s escort.

For some reason, Edmund seemed quite unwilling for me to go to the auction with him, and would often whine, asking if he could just not go for the auction. 

“Why is he still not here?”

I closed the book I was reading carelessly and checked the time.

Seven o’clock.

If I had known that he’d be late, I should have had dinner first. I killed time by twirling the family ring around my index finger for no reason at all. 

However, not long after, that thought also subsided by the sound that could be heard through the thick door. I opened the book again and pretended to be reading it, and the door opened after the sound of a knock was heard.

While I flipped a page of the book without reading it seriously, Edmund stood in front of me. 

“I’m late right? I’m sorry.”

“You’re right, you’re late.”

I closed the book with a snap and raised my head.

Edmund was there, breathing heavily with a strangely red face. He was dressed in a flawless suit and his hair was also slicked back, put his hair back, and he looked more flashy than usual.

However, unlike his perfect looking appearance, the tenderness on his face made me stand up with a faint smile. 

“Why were you so late? I was hungry.”

“Did you wait for me?”

“……”

A joyful tinge appeared on his slightly gaunt face 

Although it’s true that I had waited for quite some time, I didn’t want to be asked whether I liked him that much. At my lack of answer, Edmund closed his lips tightly, before noticing what I was thinking about and smiling broadly.

“…You’re overly aware that you’re handsome.”

“Am I handsome?”

“You don’t know that?”

“No, but it’s important that I’m handsome to you.”

Instead of answering his brazen words, I forced a smile and passed him to leave the study.

Edmund naturally linked arms with me tightly, and nuzzled close while whining as he followed me. 

“But didn’t you say that I wasn’t to your preference?”

He kept whining like that about an appearance that went beyond preferences. 

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The meal was prepared quickly.

With the short width of the large and long table in between, we sat facing each other. 

It’s a table that I sit at every day, but I always find it new again every time I see it.

One of the things that hasn’t changed after 200 years has passed was this table that was elegant beyond comparison.

The dining room that I remembered was heavy to the point of suffocation. Now it has completely changed to become bright and cheerful, but this large and dreary table still remains the same. 

My sister and I originally sat and ate facing each other with the long length of the table in between. As it’s too far away, sounds can’t be heard clearly, so I wasn’t sure if it can be described as ‘face to face’.

“Is there a problem?”

“It’s nothing.”

Likely because I stopped while using a knife, Edmund called out to me.

It really wasn’t a big deal. I smiled slightly and shook my head. 

WIth another movement of my knife, the meat is cut smoothly and red juice falls from between the two slices. I bit the piece of meat to prevent the sides of my mouth from being oily.

The meat’s flavour filled my mouth. The savoury fragrance of premium butter and the juice that was spreading below it. I chewed the meat and swallowed, before arranging the tableware and raising my head to meet the gaze that had been focused on me while I was unaware. 

“Why?”

When I asked while pulling the white cloth on my knees to wipe the corner of my lips, Edmund turned his gaze to my plate again instead of answering.

Edmund Deer. He’s very quick-witted.

I must say, Edmund would notice right away whenever I paused due to memories that were related to my sister.

Even now, it was definitely a reaction he made after realising it. The reaction that he made when he wanted to ask about it, but he was worried that I would feel bothered. 

I clicked my tongue and opened my mouth.

“I told you before that this table exists in my memory.”

“Right.”

“My father ate his meals separately for practically all of the time. So I often had dinner alone with my sister, but we didn’t sit this close, like you and I.”

Edmund got a faint whiff of the accompanying wine, shook his glass slowly and tilted his head. 

“With the long length of the table between, I sat face to face with my sister.”

“… Is that considering sitting face to face?”

“I know, right?”

“Can you hear anything? Is it because you’re mages, so it’s different?”

How can that be?

“There isn’t any conversation.”

“Ah.”

With a glass in his hand, he stopped moving. From his reaction, I could tell that he couldn’t come up with a response to that. 

I lifted my glass, too. When the rim of the glass rested on my lips slightly, a dry scent reached my nose.

“So why were you late today?”

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“I was originally going to talk about it.”

Perhaps I came to my senses after drinking wine, but I could feel the sparkle over my face much better than before.

“Do you know what the last work of today was?”

Edmund smiled meaningfully and placed his glass down. I blinked.

“Michaebella’s .”

Michaebella’s .

I mulled over the two names in my mouth. Why did it feel familiar? My brows narrowed into a frown. 

“You don’t know? That’s possible. This painting was originally famous for bewitching people, but it became even more famous for being stolen hundreds of years ago.”

“Ah!”

“According to records, the artist was Michaebella Summers, and the place it was stolen from was the Summers Mansion, so it instantly became a topic of gossip.”

I heard that something like that had happened. Although it happened before I was born, it was a painting that became famous because of the tumultuous incident. Acrid, famous for bewitching people, was a painting painted by the first head of the Summers family.

During my time, it was only around a decade since the painting was stolen, so the Summers were still searching for it. 

But why did that painting appear at the auction?

Even if 200 years have passed, the painting should still be in a stolen state. 

Towards me, whose head was tilted, Edmund opened his mouth a little excitedly. Whether it was due to the alcohol or it was because he was in a good mood, his face was red. 

Since then, it became Edmund’s one-sided flood of words.

How important this painting was, and the status it had in the world after 200 years had passed without me. What kind of rumours that floated around, and what kind of dissertations appeared. Words about how just the fact that this work was created was impressive. 

“Eddie…”

“Hmm?”

“Is that why you won the bid for that painting?”

“Yes.”

While he was rattling off, the tableware was removed and dessert was served. I peeped at the small cake wonderfully decorated with sprinkles of chocolate powder. 

“It was really fierce. That’s actually the reason why I took a long time to return. No matter what, there’s no compromise, and I had to bring that painting back to The Deer somehow.”

“How much was your successful bid?”

“About tens of millions?”

As I already knew that the units attached behind his words definitely wouldn’t be normal, I kept my mouth shut. 

I knew that the unit that would be attached to the back of that horse would never be a routine unit, so I kept my mouth shut.

“It’s a really famous painting. But the fact that it didn’t appear during the finale, but on the second last day is the part that I’m paying attention to now.”

“It means that tomorrow’s finale will be even more spectacular, right?”

“That’s right.”

Perhaps it was because he was done with eating, Edmund rinsed his mouth with water and stood up. When I also tidied up and stood, he was already by my side with a hand outstretched towards me. 

“I’ll take you back.”

“It’s fine.”

“Even so.”

I walked beside him.

The sound of shoes hitting against the marble floor rang out, and the evening sun cast a long shadow in the hallway was indicative that summer was really approaching. A long hallway devoid of people, arch windows and the shadow it cast, as well as the few paintings hung along the hallway. 

I recalled what Edmund had said, that he borrowed the power of magic to prevent the paintings from getting damaged by sunlight.

I looked at his side profile that was staring blankly, perhaps turning silent due to the sudden feeling of drowsiness. 

What I had come to realise in the past few days was that Edmund talked less when he was tired, and even though he held a conversation well, he would fall into his own thoughts quickly. And it seemed that now was one of those times.

“Will you be alright tomorrow?”

“Sorry, I was thinking about something else for a second.”

“It’s okay.”

The gaze that was aimed outside the window was directed towards me instantly. Under the drowsy light of the evening, the faint smile that rose on his face was blurry due to his sparkling hair and the backlight. 

I stopped breathing for no reason.

“What’s wrong, Vivi?”

When I shook my head in response to his query of what’s wrong, he laughed. For some reason, the lower part of the pit of my stomach felt clogged, and ticklish. 

Was this how he felt about me?

Sometimes, I feel like I have become a very expensive piece of art. Whenever I felt this way, I would start to feel gloomy, but whenever I see him being wordless and calmly affectionate… 

“……”

I swallowed back the tingling emotions. Afterwards, I stepped forward again.

Edmund is kind.

He himself might not be aware of it, but he would occasionally show a gentle expression in contrast with his usual energetic expression, which would strangely cause me to waver.

He doesn’t know what I’m like. I didn’t really understand how he was always so energetic, so I’m afraid that I probably wouldn’t understand the relaxed expression he had today even more. 

Edmund stopped in front of my room and opened the door. The heavy door opened smoothly without making a sound.

He held the door and leaned on it relaxedly.

“You’ll be quite tired tomorrow, so go to bed early today.”

“I don’t want to entrust my escort to a corpse.”

“Of course, my lady. I will return with a human-like appearance tomorrow, so please turn a blind eye once. Hmm?”

When I spoke those twisted words of worry as I turned in front of the door, he immediately understood and smiled. Hearing the playful tone within his voice, I started to feel embarrassed and turned to try and close the door. However, Edmund was faster than my movements.

He held the door firmly and tilted his upper body towards me.

And…

“See you tomorrow, Vivi.”

His voice grazed past the lobe of my ear. No. Did it really just graze past?

My heart pounded to the point that the pulsating feeling of my neck was clear.

Why would someone keep whispering in another’s ear?

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After blowing into my ear while I was momentarily frozen, he burst into laughter and quickly closed the door with a wave of his hand. 

“Hey!”

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