Chapter 12 The Raven Duke

He moved the stylus needle and the music started playing.

The phonograph mounted on top of the mahogany cabinet played an opera aria and shattered the silence that had fallen upon the reception room of the annex.

The mantel clock on the console table showed that it was currently five o’clock.

Matthias relaxed back on the sofa after changing the frequency a couple of times to listen to a new music genre.

The flying Waltz melody was lighthearted and upbeat. His long fingers gently grazed the armrest, slowly tapping along to the beat.

Matthias momentarily focused on the shabbily arranged rose vase next to the mantel before turning his gaze out the window.

The weather became colder as evening approached. The wind from the river swayed his robe before making its way out into the forest.

He reached out and opened the lid of a small silver box that had been placed at his working table.

The waltz song ended when he took a cigarette from the box and lit it.

The mid-evening of a summer day was monotonous and unexciting.

Matthias smoked whilst listening to the following lively string music. When the second song stopped, he picked up Leyla’s glasses, which he had carelessly dumped in the tray next to him, and put them on his face.

The world he viewed through the lenses made him dizzy. Her vision seemed to be pretty bad.

Is that why she frowned all the time?

Matthias was suddenly reminded of the little girl who was always looking at him with a grumpy face.

Despite her frail look, the scrawny-humble young lady’s eyes were gleaming brightly.

The child who was supposed to stay for a brief time in Matthias’ world had grown and matured into a woman.

Her skinny features got hidden by the attention her slender face attracted, which was framed by thin gold-rimmed glasses.

A fresh and sweet fragrance always seemed to linger on the girl with those shimmering eyes.

The scent of a rose.

The flower that filled Arvis’s summer garden.

Matthias went out to the balcony that stretched out towards the riverside.

He let out a long stream of his cigarette smoke while loosely clutching Leyla’s glasses.

His shadow lengthened as he casually played throw-catch with her glasses several times.

“Leyla.”

He whispered in the humid summer evening.

“Leyla Lewellin.”

Matthias had to tickle the tip of his tongue to say her annoying name without stuttering.

After returning to the reception room, Matthias put her glasses in the console table drawer.

The memory of the emerald eyes he had seen through her glasses vanished as soon as he closed the drawer.

Matthias then went to the bathroom and took a warm shower. He changed his clothes and waxed his hair.

He was back to being the model Duke of Arvis by the time he left the annex to attend dinner.

*.·:·.✧.·:·.*

“What if the raven stole it again?”

“Well…… I hope not.” Leyla shrugged as she sat on the table with a grim face when Bill asked her with some jest.

“Just saying. They’re the type of birds that would go nuts if they see something sparkling. Your hairpin, remember?”

Bill guffawed. The nostalgia he brought up made Leyla’s face stiff; she soon joined him in laughter.

Leyla’s thirteenth birthday gift from Uncle Bill was a gleaming hairpin.

Chef Mona chose it after researching the types of hairpins that were popular among girls her age.

Leyla tried to keep the pin in carefully. It would have remained in her closet forever if Bill hadn’t threatened to throw it out if she didn’t wear it right away.

The pin, however, met its inevitable fate on the first day she wore it.

The raven took away the pin Leyla had put on the fence while working in the garden.

It was an incident that caused Leyla, who adored all birds, to now have a hatred towards ravens.

“If you can’t find it, tell me.”

Bill strained his voice as if he were requesting.

“Don’t make such a face; I can buy you a new one. Okay?”

“Okay, uncle.” Leyla flashed a smile. “I will.”

She could answer back because she was sure her glasses were at the dock. She had dropped them there before jumping into the river.

Leyla was distraught the following day when she came back to the riverbank. Her glasses were nowhere to be found although she had checked the dock as well as the annex’s surrounding area carefully.

Her unfolded apron was still there, but not with her glasses.

She suspected the wind had blown it away, but she discarded her assumption because the apron was still on the dock.

Leyla was sure she removed her glasses first, followed by her apron. It seemed impossible for her glasses to disappear on their own.

No way… Don’t tell me?

Leyla snooped around in front of the annex. But then, she scratched her head as though it was just nonsense.

The duke has no reason to take it.

With her drooping shoulders, Leyla turned back.

She was cursing herself for not returning sooner to pick up her glasses just because she was scared of running into the duke.

“Is it him?”

Leyla muttered beneath her breath, her gaze fixed on the raven perched on a branch. The bird cocked its head multiple times before flying away into the forest.

Leyla clenched her fist and took big strides as she frowned. She would return to her cottage first, have breakfast, then rethink what she would do with a clearer mind.

The suspect who stole her glasses seemed to be one of the two.

The raven, or the duke.

*.·:·.✧.·:·.*

Kyle smiled and slid the window open when he saw a snow-white pigeon sitting in front of the trellis.

“Hey, Phoebe.”

The pigeon didn’t flee even though Kyle had reached out his hand and took the letter from its leg.

The mountain pigeon named Phoebe was Leyla Lewellin’s personal messenger.

Leyla, who had been fascinated by birds since childhood, read a book about the mailing pigeons that could deliver letters. From that moment, she had a great desire to have such a pigeon for herself.

‘Sure. Go ahead.’

Kyle, who had sneered at her dream, never imagined that the day would come until an ancient-like legendary letter carrier suddenly flew through his bedroom window.

That tenacious girl, Leyla Lewellin, pulled it off.

Despite many failures, Leyla never gave up and eventually could train the bird.

It was late spring when Phoebe-a lovely bird with gleaming white feathers and black eyes- first flew into his window two years ago.

Kyle opened the window, and the pigeon that had brought Leyla’s letter was staring at him.

[Hello, Mr. Etman]

Leyla’s letter, delivered by the pigeon that day, only contained one short line long.

But Kyle was able to read many other things -Leyla’s excitement celebrating her achievement with her eyes sparkling with joy.–

Leyla.

My dear friend, Leyla.

Delivering-pigeon in a world like today?

Kyle chuckled at the absurdity, but he fully understood. Phoebe was, in a way, a telephone for her.

The letter-carrying pigeons were very effective in a cottage where there was no telephone.

However, Leyla’s messenger delivered heartbreaking news in today’s letter.

Kyle, I’ve lost my glasses. I have to look for it, so I can’t go to the library with you. I’m so sorry.

Phoebe flew away from the window after finishing her job.

Kyle read the letter with a grim expression on his face. He dashed out of his place after sandwiching the folded letter between two thick books on his desk.

“Kyle Etman! Are you going to Leyla’s place again?”

Kyle only smiled when his father frowned at the sight of him going down the stairs.

“You need to study, Kyle!”

“I’ll study at Leyla’s place!”

Kyle walked out the front door, leaving only a cheerful answer behind.

*.·:·.✧.·:·.*

The shiny chrome bicycle slid off Etman’s house.

Kyle frantically peddled his bicycle as he grew more impatient as he passed Arvis territory.

He wasn’t interested in visiting the library because he had made that promise purely only to be with her.

And now, Kyle was really worried.

Those were the glasses she bought with her diligent work.

His heart ached as he thought of Leyla, the foolish girl who saved and earned money by making jam and selling it solely because she was afraid of becoming a burden to Uncle Bill.

“Uh, Kyle?”

Leyla, who was hanging the laundry, seemed shocked when the silver bicycle yelped to a stop.

“Hey, did you find your glasses?”

“No. Not yet.”

Leyla’s face went glum.

“I’ll buy you a new one!”

Kyle blurted out because he didn’t want to see the unhappy Leyla.

“…… Kyle. You? Why?”

Leyla responded with a quizzical look in her eyes.

Kyle had just remembered what he’d said. He’d let his emotions get the better of him, and he’d forgotten what kind of person she was.

“Thank you, Kyle, but I can’t.”

Leyla smiled softly to camouflage his shame.

“I want to find my glasses.”

Her eyes were firm, in contrast to her smiling lips.

Kyle was cognizant of those eyes.

It was the eyes of Leyla Lewellin, the tenacious woman who refused to give up no matter what.

“I’ll find it for sure.”

*.·:·.✧.·:·.*

Leyla had been rummaging through the forest for days. Kyle, the doctor’s son, also helped her.

Matthias pretended not to notice their admirable endeavors. Otherwise, it was pretty interesting for him to watch them sift through the innocent bird nests.

Does she really don’t know, or is she pretending not to know?

Matthias halted in his steps as he ascended the annex stairs and eyed the vast forest’s landscape along the river.

He was about to get bored of their folly. He was also growing tired of coming to this place over the past few days, only to chortle at their futile questing efforts amid his packed schedule.

Matthias went up the stairs, sweeping his hair back, which had become messy thanks to the heavy wind. Hessen, who followed him behind, cautiously opened the door and took a step back after.

Matthias walked into the reception room. He leaned against the window, viewing the forest instead of sitting on the couch.

“Marquis Lindman will arrive today around noon.”

“Riette? His arrival is sooner than planned.”

“The Duchess has instructed me to pay careful attention to the luncheon. She invited you to come if you didn’t have any other appointments.”

“Sure. I will.”

The chiffon curtains that enclosed half the window slowly inflated when a gust of wind blew in.

Matthias’ eyes narrowed when the curtain flattened, and he saw the road lit up by the lucid sunshine.

Leyla stood at the road’s edge, under the shade of a tree. She wandered around there with her hands clenched together.

Perhaps she isn’t a knucklehead.

Matthias silently grinned and returned his attention to Hessen’s reports while that middle-aged maid poured him a glass of cool lemon water.

The sound of ice clattering in the glass was satisfying to hear.

The maid and the butler left the room after finishing their job. Matthias watched the scenery again outside the window with the long-necked glass cup in his hand.

Leyla began walking towards the river after the maid and butler were fully out of sight.

The tranquil annex’s doorbell rang not long after.

And Matthias slowly rose from his seat.

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