Chapter 10 Do You Think I’m Begging You?

“Where’s Mr. Remmer?”

The duke asked Leyla.

“Uncle is going downtown. Is there something that matters?”

Leyla was quick to answer after cleaning the biscuit crumbs from her lips.

With a brief nod, Duke Herhardt turned his gaze towards Kyle.

As he looked Kyle in the eyes, his lips curved into a courteous smile. Kyle soon relaxed, letting go of the tension in his shoulders.

After expressing his appreciation and regards to Kyle’s father for taking such good care of his grandmother’s health, the duke looked back again at Leyla, “Miss. Lewellin, you can bring the roses in on behalf of Mr. Bill, right?”

He spoke softly. The smile on his lips disappeared.

“Roses? Do you mean the roses in the garden?”

“Just cut a few roses moderately and bring them to my annex.”

The duke turned away with a slight nod without even giving Leyla a chance to answer.

Leyla frowned helplessly as she checked her blouse and skirt, all of which were littered with biscuit crumbs.

Although she could clean off the dirt on it, Leyla couldn’t get the shame out of her mind. Only Kyle giggled, watching Leyla rubbing her lips over and over.

“Stop it. There aren’t any crumbs left on your clothes anymore.”

“Why did he suddenly appear just like that?”

“Why are you so embarrassed? Do you think the duke has never eaten a snack in his life?”

“But…” Leyla unwittingly rubbed her mouth again.

“Why do you care so much when you always eat messily in front of me?”

“You’re my friend.”

“And Duke Herhardt is a stranger. So you don’t need to care about him more than your friend.”

“That’s true but…. I don’t know. I just felt uncomfortable.” Leyla wrinkled her brows.

“Why? Did something happen?”

“No, that’s not it, but… Every time I get close to him it feels very uncomfortable and suffocating. I really don’t like it.”

“Then, how do you feel about me? I’m comfortable and nice right?”

His voice tinged with anticipation.

Leyla grinned and tucked her hat onto her head. “Of course, Sir Etman.”

Kyle’s face brightened after he received a satisfactory answer.

“As expected. I knew it. Ah, should I help you with your errand?”

“No, it’s not a big deal. You should go home now.”

“I’ll wait here, then.”

“I’m fine, your father will be very upset if he finds out you were hanging out here again. I don’t want to get scolded alongside you. You should focus on your studies.”

Kyle squirmed hearing Leyla’s logical argument. He wished he could refute, but he couldn’t. He then took a careful look in the direction where the Duke had disappeared.

‘I’m probably being too sensitive these days.’

Duke Herhardt was the only one there. The flawless aristocrat who would make his engagement announcement to the public.

‘But…..’

“Leyla!”

Kyle called, trying to stop her. Somehow, he was a little worried about Duke Herhardt and Leyla being alone together.

Leyla was about to step off the porch, clutching a pair of scissors and a basket in her hands, before she said her goodbyes.

“See you tomorrow, Kyle!”

‘Please, don’t go.’

Swallowing the words he wanted to convey, Kyle just waved his hands.

‘It’s Duke Herhardt. Nothing bad would happen.’

Kyle was repeating those words like a spell, gazing at Leyla, who had crossed the path on the other side.

*.·:·.✧.·:·.*

“Do it again.”

Matthias suddenly broke the silence.

After a few moments of blinking, Leyla did realize that his words were directed at her.

Leyla turned her body to face him with her breath feeling as if it was trapped in her lungs.

Matthias sat on the couch near the window, opposite the butler. He was busy reviewing the documents that had stacked up on the table.

“With non-flashy colours.”

Matthias spoke slowly with his eyes fixed on the papers he was holding in his hands.

“Again.”

His lips cracked into a ridiculously tender smile when he stared at Leyla.

Leyla clenched her fists tightly to cope with her accumulated frustration. The roses, which he instructed her to cut down ‘moderately,’ turned out to be the crux of the problem.

Matthias’ eyes became emotionless when Leyla arranged back the flowers.

Hessen, the butler, continued his report, and Matthias, who had been listening, replied with some short instructions.

The annoyed errand girl’s presence in the room was totally obliterated.

‘For Uncle Bill.’

While chanting the magic words, Leyla quietly left the annex near the river and headed to the garden.

‘That guy, who torments a person at 2 p.m. in the middle of summer, is well-known as a gentleman.’

She was very vocal, expressing her dissatisfaction with his utterly unsuitable reputation.

Despite her lack of interest in the mansion’s affairs, Leyla was well aware that the separated annex, as well as the river, belonged to Duke Herhardt.

He didn’t have many visitors in his private annex—the number of servants who came and out was also restricted to a few.

Leyla first assumed it was because of Claudine that he wanted to display the flowers in his annex.

Claudine was going to marry him, so there was a possibility she might have started using the annex as well.

Knowing Claudine’s love for colorful flowers, Leyla had cut down the flashy colored roses and brought them to the annex, only to get rejected by him.

The shadowless garden appeared in sight when Leyla came out from the woods. She took a bold step and cut the roses with great care once more. To meet the Duke’s stressful demands, she decided to pick soft-colored roses this time, the color of roses that she favored.

She returned to the annex under the sweltering summer afternoon heat, carrying a basket full of roses.

‘Damn it, why didn’t he tell me what color he wanted from the beginning?’

Instead of spitting out the words she had in mind, Leyla vented her anger at the duke by kicking the stones on the ground.

‘I hate him.’

The cursing words, something that Leyla could never direct at him explicitly, were left behind, along with the stones she deliberately kicked.

*.·:·.✧.·:·.*

Leyla arrived in front of the detached building just when she started to get dizzy from the scorching sun.

The idyllic annex next to the dock was designed to appear as if it were half-floating on the river.

On the first floor, there was a boat cabin and a kitchen with simple snacks and drinks. While the living space, a bedroom, and a dining hall where he could rest and dine were all situated on the second level.

Leyla climbed the outer stairs that led straight to the second floor with the basket of roses in her hands. She ran into the butler and a middle-aged cleaner who were making their way out of the annex.

After voicing her farewells to them, Leyla headed to the reception room. Matthias was still sitting in his chair with his eyes closed and his head cocked back.

‘Should I wait him to wake up?’

In the middle of her reverie, Matthias spontaneously opened his eyes. His matted hair framed his forehead, gently covering it.

“My lord, I’ve brought you new roses.”

Leyla slightly lifted her flower-filled basket.

Matthias didn’t open his mouth and just stared at the cup of whiskey placed in front of him. He’d stripped his horse riding jacket and undone a few buttons on his shirt. His current getup made him look much more defenseless and languorous than usual.

“Should I…… go back again?”

Leyla asked carefully with her quivering voice. She really wanted to slap the Duke with the roses if he ordered her back to the garden again.

“Are you going to go if I tell you to?”

Matthias asked her back. His voice carried a slight drowsiness.

“If I made another mistake, I’d go, but please let me know what color roses you want this time.”

Yes, my lord.- That was the answer she had intended to say, yet her mouth said something else.

Matthias, who had been leaning deep against the chair’s back, straightened his stance and sat upright.

“Sit down.”

Matthias gestured to the chair placed on the opposite side of the table with his eyes.

“No, if my lord is satisfied, now I’d…….”

“Wouldn’t it be your job to arrange the flowers in a vase if you brought them, Miss Lewellin?”

“But my lord, I’m not very good at arranging flowers.”

“Then, do you expect me to do it?”

Matthias took a brief glance around the room before turning his eyes back to her.

Leyla had no trouble figuring out what his slight gesture meant. They were the only ones left in this detached building. That’s why she had no choice but to do something in which she lacked confidence.

Leyla took a step forward, a little hesitantly. She carefully sat on the wooden stool in front of the window that faced the river because the seat opposite the Duke was too arduous for her.

Matthias moved to his stacks of documents littered around the table when she started trimming the roses.

The noise of the scissor blade slashing through the fresh flower stem and the flapping of the document paper was drowned out by the milieu of the silent room.

After he finished signing the last document he had reviewed, Matthias suddenly remembered the bird living in his mansion bedroom.

The zookeeper’s words- that canary birds were difficult to tame were proven false. The canary in his bedroom was docile towards him and avowedly sang while perching on his finger.

The flapping bird on his finger chirped a little as if it were telling about its day. He kept looking at it for a long time, stunned by the fact that such a little bird could sing so beautifully.

When Matthias was busily sorting his papers, Leyla quietly went to the bathroom and filled the vase with water.

“Do you like it?”

Leyla hesitantly asked as she brought up the roses-filled vase to him.

Her words earlier were quickly proven to be true after her one look at the flower arrangement which was showing up to be a total failure.

“It’s terrible.”

Matthias’ tone was not condescending, but it was a little flat.

Leyla blinked her eyes in shock, and her face blushed red with embarrassment. “I’m sorry. I’ll bring in a skilled maid.”

“Sit.”

“Pardon?”

“Sit, Leyla.”

As Matthias lowered his voice, the atmosphere of the room grew more uncomfortable. His fingers were aiming in the precise direction of the sofa across from him.

Leyla sat stiffly where he had suggested after putting the disastrous rose vase on a console table near her.

Matthias then shifted his focus to the dish covered by the silver dome on the coffee table next to the sofa.

“Eat.”

Leyla opened the dome-shaped cover awkwardly, and she found sandwiches and a glass of lemonade prepared for one person.

Matthias kept his eyes on the puzzled Leyla. He planned to give her enough money to pay her work fee after she filled her stomach with those refreshments.

Her work result was poor at best, but she had placed a huge amount of time and effort on making it.

“Thank you, my lord. But I’m fine.”

With shaky hands, Leyla placed the dome dish shut. Her expression, which had previously sparked a brilliant smile in front of Kyle, now seemed disturbed.

“If you don’t want me to do anything else, I’ll take my leave….”

“Leyla.”

Leyla was stupefied, her eyes flickered in slow motion.

Matthias’s voice had dwindled to almost a whisper.

He took a sip of the icy whisky in front of him. The droplets on the crystal glass’s surface gently trickled down his long-gracile fingers.

“Do my words sound like I’m begging you?”

Matthias scoffed with his lips reddened, wetting with the cold whiskey.

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