Chapter 11 Deep Water

The annex was surrounded by large windows attached on all sides. It presented a magnificent view of the forest and the Schulter river.

The good wind circulation in the place also contributed to the coolness of its environment.

Today’s weather was much hotter than yesterday, making it difficult to feel any cold shivers.

Leyla, however, felt as if chills were running through her spine.

She was eager to eat faster and leave, but the food in front of her didn’t seem to lessen in proportion.

Leyla couldn’t ingest anything because she had already eaten lunch and a snack. To make it worse, doing an errand in the sweltering sun had made her lose her appetite.

Leaning back in his chair, Matthias focused on his task, but she was still having trouble breathing properly.

‘Damn it, Is he punishing me for my failed errand and flower arrangement?’

Leyla couldn’t quit thinking about this as she took another slice of her serving-sandwich. If that’s the case, Duke Herhardt had attained his mission.

Leyla had the impression that she was being punished.

She drank the lemonade swiftly to help her swallow her sandwich before vomiting it out. After wiping the water droplets from her hands with her apron she picked up another slice.

Leyla then lowered the edge of her hat to hide her horrified face. But at that precise moment, someone’s long finger suddenly touched the tip of her chin.

“Leyla, if you’re a lady….” With his finger, Matthias untied the hat’s ribbon that had been knotted under her chin. “You’re supposed to take off this hat when you’re inside the house.”

Matthias removed her straw hat.

Leyla was taken aback at his sudden action and scampered from the sofa. Her half-eaten sandwich fell and rolled onto the floor.

Matthias squinted his eyes, but Leyla’s gaze was solely on her hat.

“Gi- give it back.”

No longer was Leyla’s voice shaking in fear, but rather, it had turned into rage.

“Give it back, please. I’m going to leave now. I want to go home. Return it to me.”

Matthias tightly clutched the stolen hat as he had no intention of returning it. Leyla reacted as if she he had been stripped naked even though he had taken only her hat.

The rosy flush on her cheeks, spreading down to her neck mesmerized him.

Her sensitive skin had reacted easily to her angry emotions.

“Eat.”

Matthias pointed to the plate, which still had two uneaten slices of sandwiches.

“Eat your food, get your hat, and go home. It’s simple.”

“No, I don’t want to.” Leyla shook her head and got closer to him. “I don’t want to eat anything. I can’t eat anymore. I hate it.”

Leyla’s terrified eyes were trembling. She couldn’t believe the words were coming out of her mouth.

Matthias sat up from his chair, tightening his grip on the hat.

“……You hate it?”

The petrified shadow from his towering figure had cast a pall over her.

“I was wrong, so please give it back.”

Leyla reached out her hand. She was about to cry.

Matthias stared at her eyes that followed his every move, and slowly raised the hat over his head.

And, when their eyes confronted each other…

Matthias threw it loosely over the window.

The wind swept up the hat, and it lightly flew into the river.

Leyla was dumbfounded.

She gave him a scathing glare and furiously hurried out of the room.

*.·:·.✧.·:·.*

Matthias made his way to the front window, which overlooked the river’s dock.

Leyla had arrived there.

She began stamping her foot in panic after seeing her hat floating in the water and abruptly took off her apron and glasses, throwing them on the pier.

‘Is she going to jump into the river just to get that stupid hat?’

There’s a look of great delight on Matthias’s face as he was standing behind the window, observing her.

Leyla looked to be shaking from her knees down, and she seemed afraid of the water.

‘Pfft..Is she serious?’

Leyla plunged into the river. She took a moment before heading towards her hat.

Matthias found Leyla Lewellin interesting as she kept walking even though the water level had now reached her feet, then waist, and chest.

He stood still and watched her with his arms folded.

Leyla extended her hand to the utmost, but the river stream had driven her hat farther away.

When Matthias thought she was about to give up, Leyla once again took a broader step closer to the hat.

Her hand successfully grabbed its ribbon.

‘By now, the water level should be higher than her head.’

Matthias slowly tilted his head at the same time when Leyla suddenly disappear from the river surface.

“As expected.”

Matthias sighed and muttered lightly.

That girl drowned precisely at the spot he had predicted.

Leyla struggled desperately to raise her head after she was shocked by the sudden, drastic depthening of the water. She was clutching onto her hat, hanging on for her dear life. But the more she struggled, the deeper she was drawn into the river.

Matthias took quick strides toward the dock.

His other prediction turned out to be true. Leyla Lewellin had jumped into the water despite not knowing how to swim.

Matthias stopped at the end of the pier and looked at the floundering Leyla. Her scream gradually faded as she repeatedly emerged-submerged from the surface of the water.

‘Silly girl, she just needs to eat, get the hat, and go home. What a ruckus she caused when she could have done that simple task’

Matthias clenched his lips, then dove into the river.

*.·:·.✧.·:·.*

Under the sun, the wooden panels on the dock that touched her cheek were hot.

Leyla realized she had safely come out of the water after she felt the vividness of the heat. But the relief was short-lived when pain and fear took its place.

Leyla shivered. A deluge of coughs came out of her lips. Even in her current state, still, she refused to let go of the hat she was holding onto.

While gasping for air, Matthias stared at Leyla’s blowsy appearance in front of him. The droplets of water from her soaking body had left a dark stain on the wooden panel.

Shortly after, Matthias spat out a mixture of shallow breaths and laughed in a low voice.

Leyla glared at him.

“How….. could you…do something like this….?”

She asked with a panting voice and gave Matthias a look seeming to say how nasty he was.

But it was the tears in her eyes that attracted his attention.

Matthias swept his wet hair away from his forehead and chuckled at her as if she were something entertaining.

His laughter even grew louder when Leyla could finally catch her breath.

Droplets of water poured down from her wet hair like rain. Leyla raised her upper body off the boiling hardwood floor with her shaking hands.

Her eyes were red, but she didn’t cry. Instead, she kept her gaze fixed on Matthias— the evil man with a friendly smile.

Leyla changed her mind after failing to think about what to say, and stood up.

Her body lines were strikingly exposed behind the thin, wet clothing. Matthias then looked up at her, as he rested on the wooden floor, posing like he was having a sunbath.

He still focused on her trembling shoulders when Leyla wagged her soaked hat at him.

The water droplets splashed on his face. Leyla flinched a bit, but she didn’t let it deter her from exacting her revenge.

After wearing a hat that was still dripping with water, Leyla flicked back her skirt. She glared at Matthias with provocative eyes.

“Is it fun?”

“I’m starting to get a little bored.”

Matthias said, as he dried his damp face with his hand. His laughter faded soon and returned to his stony look.

“How… What… Why… Are you doing this to me?”

Despite being gripped with fear, Leyla didn’t divert her gaze from him.

“Leyla, your gratitude.”

Matthias slowly rolled his wet shirt’s sleeves up.

“Your gratitude to your lifesaver.”

He teased Leyla at random, who was astonished and looked at him in disbelief.

“I don’t think any of this would have happened if you hadn’t thrown my hat into the river.”

“No.” Matthias furrowed his eyebrows. “This wouldn’t have happened if you had patiently eaten the sandwich and then left.”

Leyla frowned as he talked in a far too calm voice to be taken as a joke.

“And also, if you hadn’t made the foolish decision to jump into the water even though you don’t know how to swim.”

Matthias lightly wiped the dripping water from his forehead with the tip of his finger.

Uncle Bill. Uncle Bill. Uncle Bill.– silently recited the incantation many times, Leyla clenched her teeth and hunched her back.

“…… Thank you for saving me, Your Grace.”

“Again.”

Matthias scoffed as though he wanted to be certain of her sincerity.

“Once again. Like a lady.”

He didn’t even break into a smile or laugh.

“Please accept my sincere apologies, Your Grace; I’m not like the other aristocratic ladies. I am not even a lady.”

Matthias, without expression, quietly looked at Leyla, who leaked out her words of frustration.

The water drops on his fingertips fell on her foot.

“Whoever you are, I’m still the Duke.”

Matthias grinned at her.

Leyla grasped her soaked skirt and her body stiffened. Droplets of water from the straw hat’s brim landed on the dock’s wooden floor.

“Thank you very much for saving my life, Your Grace.”

Leyla lowered her head, articulating every word accurately, amid her body trembling to the extent that her teeth clashed against each other. She delivered a courteous bow, much like the graceful lady Matthias had wanted her to be.

With a nod of his chin, Matthias gave a pass to her ladylike gratitude.

‘Leyla Lewellin…. don’t cry.’

Leyla tightened her fist.

‘Don’t cry because of someone like that, please.’

After comforting herself, Leyla straightened her waist.

“Then, I’ll go back now. I wish you farewell, Your Grace.”

Firmly, Leyla turned around, leaving Matthias standing still on the dock.

The water droplets dripped from her skirt made a long trail following her footsteps for quite a distance.

Her legs were lax, and she was on the verge of falling several times, but Leyla fought tirelessly to not relax her leg muscles.

She gritted her teeth and vowed that she wouldn’t fall today. That she’d never been his toy anymore.

‘Never.’

Leyla took to running once she was out of Matthias’ sight.

The shade of her hat couldn’t hide her sad eyes because they were too red. Leyla ran harder and faster, steadily increasing her speed.

One day, she happened to see it by chance. How Matthias and Claudine were taking a stroll through the forest.

The elegant gentleman was escorting the alluring lady.

That scene was like something out of a fairy tale or a courting novel.

The wind suddenly blew Claudine’s hat off as they reached the end of the road.

Matthias approached the hat slowly, taking it and giving it back to her.

His gesture was so composed and elegant.

By the time Leyla wondered how he could always move with such elegance, they had already disappeared from her sight.

That gentleman had humiliated her today with the same graceful gesture he had made that day.

Leyla stopped running as she realized the drastic contrast in his attitude towards her and Claudine.

Her complexion had turned a whitish color. She stumbled to the grass to vomit up the food she had crammed down her stomach.

Her eyes welled up with tears, but she refused to cry.

Once her nausea had receded, Leyla went to the shallow stream that flowed through the forest to wash her mouth . She looked much better after resting for a while in the shade of the trees.

Leyla headed to the road leading to the cottage while rubbing her lips again with the back of her hand. She didn’t have much more energy to sprint, so she trudged along with her legs dragging.

Her stockings and skirt were dirtied. But she ignored it as her appearance was already messy

When the cottage in sight, she summoned all of her remaining strength and kicked the hazel tree fruit off the side of the road.

But that roll-down fruit on the ground suddenly realizing her the fatal mistake she had made,

“My glasses…”

Leyla’s face crumpled up in a flash.

She felt as if the road she was looking back on was so long and winding.

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