My Secret Flower - Episode 27

Rainyd, who had been standing like a statue with his back to me, turns only his head to look at me. Why are his actions so eerily ghostlike? Even though he has the same blue eyes as Pavilion, the feeling is completely different.

He glares at me with an unreadable gaze, then approaches me like a cat, maintaining a distance. Then, he extends a hand.

I had seen him communicate with Ash by writing on Ash’s palm with his finger every time they talked. So, I nonchalantly offered my palm, and Rainyd wrote letters on it with his white, slender fingers.

As soon as I understand the content, the color slowly drains from my face, which had been maintaining its composure.

You really don’t know anything? About Ash.

For some reason, cold sweat trickles down my spine. It doesn’t seem like he’s asking with good intentions. I also suspect he might be trying to drive a wedge between us since he doesn’t like me very much.

I try my best not to show it and calm my trembling breath. First, I need to figure out Rainyd’s intentions.

“Why don’t you tell me why you’re asking that first?”

Rainyd, still glaring at me with narrowed eyes, starts writing on my palm again.

That man is deceiving you. Do you really not know? Or are you pretending not to know even though you do?

Ash is deceiving me.

He’s the one who assured me that he would never lie to me. I know that he’s the kind of man who would rather keep it hidden forever and take it to the grave than lie to me.

Rainyd, who has been with Ash as family his whole life, knows better than I do that Ash is not someone who would deceive others.

Suspicion turns into certainty. He’s clearly planning to shake me up and make me doubt Ash. If I try to dig up secrets he doesn’t want to tell me, it will only break our trust. I’m confident that I can wait until Ash tells me everything himself.

As long as he stays by my side forever.

“I think I know enough. And I believe that he’ll tell me everything I don’t know someday. You must have secrets you want to hide too. How would you feel if I, a stranger, persistently pried into them?”

A subtle ripple appears in his clear, pretty blue eyes. It was a reaction that showed he was harboring a very big secret that he wanted to hide. Then, he furrows his brow as if he’s annoyed that things aren’t going the way he expected.

That’s the same expression Ash makes, so I can’t help but feel a little fond. I wonder if this is what it would feel like if I married Ash and had a daughter who looked like him.

I couldn’t help but chuckle at that thought. If she were my real daughter, I would pinch the tip of that sly child’s nose.

“It would have been better if you had just told me Ash’s hidden secrets directly instead of beating around the bush. I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that just now, so let’s keep our hearts as pretty as our faces so our brother doesn’t get hurt. Okay?”

I heard that this little child has been raised in Ash’s care since he was young. It makes me feel very sorry for him when I think about how a child who should have been raised by his parents didn’t receive proper love. I’m not one to pity others, but I feel concerned because he’s Ash’s brother.

So, I tried to persuade Rainyd with the kindest expression and voice I could muster, holding his hand tightly as if to comfort him. Just like my older sisters used to do to me.

Rainyd, who had been giving me a piercing gaze, lowers his eyelids slightly as if lost in his own thoughts. Even that scene, where his long, straight, platinum blonde eyelashes flutter like iridescent feathers, is so beautiful.

Aside from my mother and second sister, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen someone who makes me spontaneously say they’re beautiful. No, Ash and Pavilion are beautiful too. If those three beautiful siblings were nobles, I’m sure other nobles would have coveted them as marriage partners.

‘He’s my man now. I can never yield him to anyone. I won’t let him go.’

As I was reaffirming that in my heart, Rainyd, who seemed a little deflated and had his shoulders slumped, grabbed my hand again and diligently carved words with his fingers.

I’ll tell you just one thing. Ash is the one who took my voice. Ash made me like this.

“…That was an accident, wasn’t it?”

Rainyd just raised one corner of his mouth and scoffed. Then, he seriously wrote what he wanted to say on my palm again.

Be careful too. You never know when he might harm you. Remember that when you keep a beast of prey by your side, you must have enough bait.

As if he had said everything he wanted to say, Rainyd turned around and left the study without even looking at me. I just stared blankly at the closed door before lowering my gaze to the palm of my hand that still held Rainyd’s touch.

Ash had clearly said that he lost his voice in an unfortunate accident. That the unfortunate accident was because of Ash? What on earth did that mean?

In the midst of my confused thoughts, Ash re-entered the study and rushed towards me.

“What’s wrong? Did Rainyd say something harsh?”

“…He said that Ash was the one who took his voice. What does that mean?”

I don’t think he would have harmed Rainyd. If he had, Rainyd wouldn’t be so attached to him and cling to him so much. He also wouldn’t have come all the way here on that long journey.

But he wouldn’t have made up something that wasn’t true. Even if I don’t know anything else, I became quite curious because that incident involving the two of them was brought up.

Without showing any signs of panic, he led me to the window and opened the balcony door. In case someone might be eavesdropping. I know that if we talk with the windows open instead of in a closed room, the sound will spread in all directions, making it impossible to hear clearly from beyond the door.

I feel a slightly humid, stuffy breeze, which makes me feel like a cool rain shower will pour down sometime today.

“Did Rainyd really say that? That I took his voice?”

“Yes. That you made him like this. And he told me to be careful too. That you might harm me.”

“…Haa, I expected that he might say that. But I feel a little strange. I’d be very disappointed if he still blames me for that.”

His self-deprecating, bitter expression is so heartbreaking. Is Rainyd misunderstanding him? But I can’t say that for sure because it was very obvious that Rainyd loves Ash so much.

If someone hurt me, it would be painful to even look at that person. Even if that person was family.

Could it be that he deliberately told me that story to drive a wedge between Ash and me?

“Lishua. Since the words are already out, I should explain. It’s not something I want to talk about because it’s not a pleasant family matter, but I think you should know.”

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to. I trust you.”

I know very well that he has a dark past. He said that he didn’t like his father from the beginning, who betrayed his first wife and embraced another woman, even if it was a political marriage. I didn’t want to stir up his pain unnecessarily.

But he shook his head as if he didn’t want me to misunderstand him and explained seriously.

“Someone used Rainyd to put poison in my wine glass in order to kill me. Rainyd, feeling guilty about that, drank that wine instead of me.”

“…So, he lost his voice because of the poison?”

“That’s right. Fortunately, he survived, but his vocal cords didn’t recover. Rainyd is still silent about the culprit, so I haven’t been able to find out.”

“When did that happen?”

“Five years ago.”

If he doesn’t talk about the culprit, it must be someone close to him. My hands tremble at the thought that he was in such a crisis.

The reason Rainyd said it was because of Ash is probably because he’s blaming Ash for the whole incident. He must be thinking that if it weren’t for Ash, there would have been no reason to put poison in the wine or drink it.

The reason Ash is so protective and cherishing of Rainyd is probably because he also feels guilty. That child, who was only ten years old, wouldn’t have plotted such a thing with murderous intent on his own.

The reason he’s not revealing the culprit is probably because it’s someone close to Ash. He might be being threatened. Ash probably knows that, so he keeps Rainyd by his side even more.

“So that’s what happened. Maybe Rainyd is desperately trying to stay by your side to protect you from that culprit.”

“I don’t particularly trust that child. I can’t trust anyone around me. Except for you.”

I can tell that he’s had a really hard time. I bit my lip quietly, feeling choked up, and hugged him tightly. He’s such a big person that I ended up being the one in his arms.

“Thank you for telling me, Ash. And I’m sorry for making you recall painful memories. As I said before, I won’t resent you even if you don’t reveal your past before you met me. I understand everything.”

“…I don’t intend to hide it forever. It’s just that I haven’t been able to prepare myself mentally yet, so it unintentionally turned out that way.”

“Then tell me whenever you’re ready. I’m willing to listen anytime.”

He seems anxious that there are no secrets in the world. I could feel that he was feeling uneasy that his siblings had unexpectedly come and stirred up the peaceful relationship between me and him, and that I might be disappointed and lose interest.

I hope the anniversary of his mother’s death passes quickly. Then, if we send his siblings back with the excuse that we have to go to the capital, he’ll be able to escape from his painful memories a little.

Late that night.

Unlike Evelyn, who falls asleep as soon as her head touches the pillow, I’m not one to fall asleep easily, so I was tossing and turning a little. Maybe it’s because I was replaying the story I heard from Ash during the day, but I couldn’t fall asleep more than usual.

Who was it that threatened him? The person who could use a ten-year-old girl is likely to be a close family member. Rainyd’s biological mother? Surely it wasn’t his father. I believe that he wouldn’t have plotted such a terrible thing against his own child.

‘…Surely it wasn’t Pavilion?’

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