What Remains at the End of Regret - Chapter 28

With Felix’s arrival, the grandmother regained her energy. It was proven that her beloved grandson’s visit was a great help in restoring her vitality. The grandmother’s recovery meant that Vivian’s duties had to be fulfilled again. That is, trivial things like tending the greenhouse.

It didn’t matter whether she ruined the greenhouse or cultivated it well. But she was more than satisfied that the trivial task was a good excuse to make Vivian set foot in this villa again.

Because the headache that had been irritating her for days seemed to be relieved when she saw that face.

She had a fiancé.

Marriage. She was at an age to do such a thing. Twenty. In the capital, she would already be married and have children if she were fast enough. So it was nothing new.

But, if it was Vivian Mabel, it was a little different.

You have things to be forgiven for.

Edmund silently turned the page again.

Daring to covet my space, and stubbornly crossing over.

He had thought about letting it go quietly. Even considering her sincerity in appearing in an absurd state and presenting even a touch of freshness.

Hayden Harper. If he hadn’t encountered the blond man who said he was her fiancé, he could have let it go.

The voice that confidently spoke of marriage still seemed to linger.

Tap, tap. The fingers that had been tapping the paper stopped the moment a small sound was heard. Vivian, wearing comfortable brown shoes and walking warily, was clearly captured in Edmund’s sight.

And again, that pure white dress.

Was she trying to be a ghost? She was always wearing white clothes on her already pale skin.

Doesn’t anyone stop her from looking like that?

To suppress the laughter that erupted from absurdity, Edmund raised the book to cover his face. As his vision was blocked, his senses were now focused solely on hearing.

The cautious footsteps, filled with hesitation, grew closer, and the scent of flowers intensified.

Then, suddenly, it stopped.

Did she find him?

Now, he even felt a slight anticipation of what kind of expression she would show him.

Edmund slowly lowered the book.

To slowly savor her face turning blue as he lowered the book.

It was a disaster.

Staggering back two steps, Vivian finally turned pale and turned around.

A peacock in the greenhouse? Vivian squeezed her eyes shut and took a stance to run out of the greenhouse.

At that moment, the peacock’s leisurely voice came to Vivian,

“Stop.”

It reached her.

“If you move one more step, I’m coming.”

It contained a cruel message like the end of the world.

“Shall I come?”

There was no way to avoid it.

Forced to turn around, Vivian strode up to the peacock holding the book to escape the situation as quickly as possible, then bowed her head excessively.

“Ah, hello, Duke. What brings you here?”

She chose to play dumb and pretend not to know. It was a strategy to brazenly act as if she had forgotten everything from the day they met in the annex, and to shut the Duke up.

It would certainly seem shameless, but it was the best response she could come up with in a short moment.

Seeing Vivian speaking to him with a nonchalant attitude, Edmund chuckled briefly. But he replied indifferently with a short answer.

“As you can see, reading.”

“I came to take care of the greenhouse. I’ll quietly look around the flower beds and be back soon.”

Vivian spoke loudly to hide her anxiety. She calmly explained the purpose of her visit and did not forget to secretly hide her intention to hopefully be able to do so safely.

But the Duke didn’t seem to want to let her go easily. The Duke’s attitude, nodding at the chair opposite, was very authoritative.

“Sit.”

Sit quietly in front of him. A quiet and neat command. Vivian didn’t want to react to it. She didn’t want to answer the Duke obediently and docilely. If she had to sit here, she didn’t know what terrible things would happen this time.

“No!”

“No?”

The Duke’s eyebrows furrowed slightly, as if dissatisfied, at the firm nod containing her refusal.

“What I have to do is take care of the greenhouse. Not be the Duke’s conversational partner.”

“Does it look like you have anything to do here right now?”

Vivian, staring at the flower bed where the daisies that should have been taken care of were blooming more beautifully than ever, bit her lip and avoided answering.

Unfortunately, the Duke was right. During the time she hadn’t been here, the flower bed had been neatly cultivated, and the beautifully blooming daisies, at least for now, didn’t seem to need anyone’s help anymore. So, the Duke was right.

For a moment, she thought about going back, but that was only for a moment.

Eventually, Vivian went to the opposite side of the Duke and sat down, straightened her back, and carefully placed her hands on her knees.

The Duke checked that Vivian was sitting in the chair, then looked down at the book again. And he continued to read the book he had probably been reading before Vivian came at a constant speed.

The thick-knotted hands turning the pages had calluses here and there, unlike his noble status. Following those fingers, she saw gray eyes that created a strange atmosphere.

They were very pretty eyes. She had thought so from the first time she saw them. So they didn’t suit the Duke.

Vivian had always been afraid of the Duke. Even when she first saw the Duke, he was too precious of an existence for her to dare approach.

When she saw him in the garden where she had lost her way, that thought deepened, and she realized it clearly in the annex a few days ago.

She didn’t want to meet him.

It was so difficult to be so successfully disgraced. Vivian had to do her best to make up for the mistakes she had always made. But the Duke treated such efforts as nothing and trampled on them.

Vivian didn’t want to face the Duke who witnessed, ridiculed, and mocked every moment. Even if it meant abandoning the responsibilities she had valued.

Vivian, who had been staring at the Duke’s eyes, quietly lowered her eyes.

Since the Duke was silently concentrating on reading, the silence continued for quite a long time. It was a particularly slow and long time, to the point where Vivian, who had been sitting still at first, carefully moved her body, which was slowly becoming uncomfortable.

Why, if he was going to be like this.

The expression that complained about this very uncomfortable moment was subtly frowned, so subtly that it was not noticeable.

It was a long time later that the Duke finally closed the book and paid attention to Vivian.

Vivian, who had been enduring the silence, finally met the Duke’s gray eyes, and at that moment, she vowed that she would definitely escape this time without being caught doing anything wrong.

Vivian, who had been staring at the Duke’s hand tapping the thick book, had to make an effort not to lose her concentration.

After staring at the book for a long time, the Duke finally looked up and said to Vivian.

“How long have you been interacting with Hayden Harper?”

Vivian, who had been preparing herself to give a sufficient explanation for her last intrusion, was very embarrassed by the Duke’s unexpected question. But soon, she calmly took a breath and looked clearly into the Duke’s eyes.

“I don’t want to answer.”

As if he had expected Vivian’s reaction, the Duke slowly threatened her in a consistently consistent tone.

“I’m not asking anything.”

“…….”

“What your intentions were, sneaking into my space.”

Resting his chin on his hand and slowly turning the pages again, the Duke said in a low voice.

She couldn’t say that she was completely innocent, but she never thought of going to the coast of Rocheberg. But Vivian was very offended by the part where he condemned her as a cunning person who had sneaked in with malicious intentions.

Not even having the time to control the emotions that welled up.

“It was a mistake! Really by chance…!”

“How can I believe that?”

“…….”

Vivian spoke to the Duke, who consistently maintained a relaxed attitude, with a slightly more earnest voice. Holding the hem of her skirt tightly to control her trembling heart, in a loud voice.

“What do I have to do for you to believe me?”

Vivian said it as if it were a very important issue.

Belief. The only way to resolve misunderstandings.

“That’s up to you, Vivian.”

“…….”

“For now, answer first.”

Therefore, Vivian had no choice but to cooperate with the Duke. Even to achieve the goal of leaving this place quickly.

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