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Chapter 97
“I didn’t know. That I could long for someone like this. And there isn’t much time left. Maybe this is the punishment given to me. To cherish someone who will leave me before long…”
My breath caught.
Why are you so transparent that you torment me like this?
My heart pounded wildly. It felt as if my heart might jump right out of my chest.
“Before that, a confession should come first. You ought to know how I feel about her… I should say it so you’ll know.”
A notice of a confession had even blown in.
Without using any force, the duke had bound me tight.
It was as if he’d laid his insides bare. When the other person has opened themselves up this far, how could I confess that I am who I am?
“Thank you. For not asking who I am.”
The duke repeated his words of gratitude that I couldn’t hear.
“That I could speak intimate things without reserve was probably because you don’t know my face or my name.”
Plop.
Suddenly something cold trickled down the bridge of my nose.
A raindrop.
The duke must have noticed too; he raised his palm and caught a few drops.
Plip. Plop.
A few raindrops pattered against his large hand.
“…I must go to my wife.”
He mentioned me again. Maybe at the thought of me standing in the rain like a lunatic every time it rained, he felt the need to return.
[Sorry, but I must drop you off only this far.]
His sign language was decisive.
[Look — there is your house visible over there. I have urgent matters to return to, so forgive me for leaving now.]
He pointed toward Lord Julio’s house which was visible beyond the small hill.
Then he handed me an oil lamp.
He intended to go back to the lord’s castle through the dark night without even a lamp himself.
Perhaps he couldn’t bear to leave me alone on a rainy night.
The duke turned and hurried away. If I let him go now, I felt I might lose him forever.
Instinctively I reached out and clutched the hem of the duke’s robe.
Where are you going? The one you’re looking for is right here.
Those words climbed up my throat, but I couldn’t bring myself to say them. I hated myself for it — wanted to slap my own face.
Noticing his clothes had been grabbed, the duke paused and turned.
[What’s the matter?]
[There isn’t much time. Take me only to the front of my house. From here, if I run it’ll take five minutes — no, not even three.]
I pleaded with gestures.
There’s no one at the place you’re going back to. The person you’re searching for is right here.
At some point raindrops had become a downpour. From the pitch-black night sky, dark sheets of rain poured without end.
[You saved me, didn’t you? Just to the front of the house, please.]
I didn’t want to show my face in the rain. I wanted to take shelter under an eave as quickly as possible. If I stood in the rain, surely my face would be smudged with tears and ruinous.
The duke shook his head and sighed softly.
[Come in here. And then run immediately.]
He lifted one arm to make space. He draped his robe over my head so I wouldn’t get wet and then started to run.
Splash, splash. On the rain-soaked ground we shared one robe and ran together.
Lord Julio’s guesthouse drew nearer and nearer.
Thinking the moment had come, my breath was already short despite not having run long.
Flash.
Something flashed like a streak in the near sky.
Startled, I pressed myself closely to the duke and gripped his robe.
“This scent…”
Just as I heard the duke mutter to himself.
Krrrung! Boom!
A thunderclap like a scream shook the ground.
Ugh. The noise was so loud my ears felt as if they would burst and I swallowed reflexively.
My whole body trembled. Still clutching the duke’s robe, I steadied my breath. Tears had blurred my sight. If this went on I would break into tears by reflex.
Huff. Huff. Huff.
We rushed without thinking and reached the front of the house.
Under the eaves I took deep, frantic breaths. To speak before the duke, I had to calm the pounding in my chest.
As I tried to slip out from within his robe, my wrist was suddenly grasped.
“You reacted to the thunder, clearly.”
The duke’s low voice rumbled like thunder.
“…”
My being able to hear had been discovered.
The duke held my wrist and pushed me step by step toward the wall. Immediately his arms and the wall blocked me.
His momentum was so fierce that there was no room to resist.
“You do not seem to have any hearing problems.”
Perhaps because of the cold rain, his voice sounded even colder.
He tilted his head and brought his face close to the nape of my neck.
“There’s a familiar scent.”
“…”
I hadn’t worn perfume today. But my clothes under the robe would have retained my scent. Maybe because of the damp air, or because of his sharp nose, the duke recognized my unique scent at a glance.
“It’s similar. The height, too, and the build.”
He was trying to find the link between the pawnbroker and me.
He would soon come to a conclusion.
“If you could listen, you would have known my identity a little while ago. So why weren’t you surprised?”
“…”
“Because you already knew?”
He pressed me with successive questions.
Thud. When I didn’t answer, he pressed his palm to the wall beside me.
Plop. At the same time, tears fell from my eyes. I didn’t know whether my weakness came from the heavy rain, or because I felt overwhelmed by the duke’s intensity.
The oil lamp I’d been holding slipped from my hand and fell to the ground with a thud.
Tears that had run down my cheek wet the veil. The duke slowly wiped them away with his thumb.
“Is it merely a coincidence that you cry when it rains?”
He touched the dampness on the veil with his fingertip.
“I thought the sign language gestures kept overlapping with someone else — that must have been an illusion. Now I’m thinking it might not be an illusion.”
“…”
“Now the question is clearing up. The pawnbroker without a face or name — with what wealth did he assist the people of Blansk both materially and spiritually?”
The duke toyed with the veil that hung over my chin as if he might remove it at any moment. Would my identity be revealed by his hand?
“No — it would be polite for me to take it off first.”
He lowered his hood.
His face was fully revealed. Even in the dimness his refined features were clearly visible.
In his gaze that looked down on me, a wildness mixed with anger showed itself.
Soaked through with rain, his hair and lashes were wet. Raindrops clung to his chin and fell.
Seeing his unreal beauty left me speechless. Like a rabbit caught in a snare, my limbs felt numb. I couldn’t act brazenly like usual.
I knew too well I wasn’t in a position to act that way.
“If you have no objection, I will see your face. Right now.”
He warned. Before I could even nod, he grabbed my veil and tugged.
Perhaps loosely tied, the veil came off far too easily.
The duke’s eyes skimmed over my exposed nose and lips. One corner of his mouth twitched upward.
He reached out and pulled my black hood off my head. Grabbing the end of the flat-black wig, he slowly drew it off.
The wig slipped down. At the same time, red hair poured over my shoulders like a waterfall.
“…Ha.”
At last, viewing me fully revealed, the duke sighed. He roughly swept his own bangs aside. His hood fell back as well.
Only when cornered like this did I reveal my true identity.
I closed my eyes. Tears pooled and trickled down. Thud. Krrrung. Thunder rolled once more from the sky. It felt like a scolding demanding I receive my punishment.
“…Go inside.”
Clutching his robe, I barely parted my trembling lips.
“Go inside and let’s talk.”
I picked the lock and entered the guesthouse.
I shut and locked the door tightly. Once the space was sealed, the sound of rain grew noticeably distant.
I lit the oil lamp left on the table beside the entrance. The cozy room warmed softly. I saw a small bed, a round wooden table, and an armchair tucked in the corner.
I turned and stood squarely in front of the duke. Now I saw his robe was completely drenched. Would he catch a cold like this?
As I reached to take his robe off at his chest, even that hand was grasped.
“…Was that amusing?”
He raised his tone again, and it felt somehow unfamiliar. He advanced step by step and closed me in. With my hand held, I stepped backward toward the wall again.
“Duke, I—”
“Even if I ran, I was in the palm of your hand. Even where I hid to try to conceal myself and run away, it ultimately was before you.”
