chapter 14
Hair darker than the black night whipped in the night breeze. Bathed in the moonlight that filtered through the clouds, Lord Winchester standing there somehow looked unreal.
Vampire—or Incubus.
The word flashed in my mind. One that mesmerizes people.
“Miss Neary.”
A deep voice, as if aged for decades in an oak barrel, called my name. When our eyes met, he picked up an empty wine glass from the windowsill and held it out toward me.
Like someone under a spell, I moved toward him. And, as if entranced, I accepted the glass he offered.
I kept watching him as the wine poured into my glass with a soft glug-glug. When the glass was about a third full, Lord Winchester lifted the bottle, and only then did I pull my gaze away, as if breaking free from a trance.
“Do you like wine?”
I remembered he was drinking last night too.
“Not particularly.”
As expected, the answer was brief.
“Didn’t you drink yesterday as well?”
This time, instead of answering, I simply nodded.
“You don’t even like it, and yet you drink it again?”
“It helps me sleep.”
Saying that, Lord Winchester took a sip. Not a small, savoring sip, but a large one that made his throat move noticeably.
Hearing that answer only stirred more questions in my mind. I had tried to swallow the questions with the wine, yet they lingered stubbornly on my tongue.
“Do you suffer from insomnia?”
Eventually, I couldn’t help but voice it. I didn’t even realize I was this impatient.
Strangely, it always happened when I was around Lord Winchester. I didn’t know if it was because he spoke so little, the awkward silence felt suffocating, or the side effects of my altered body.
“…….”
Instead of a verbal reply, he met me with a gaze. I was supposed to find the answer in his eyes, but it felt like his piercing blue eyes were searching for some solution in me.
“Drinking every night isn’t good for your health.”
Unaware of the question he sought to answer, I felt my face heat up under that unwavering gaze and turned my head slightly. Then I took another sip of wine.
It was completely different from the sweet aperitif I had sipped before. The rich oak aroma, the sweet fruity scent, all contradicted the bitterness that scraped across my tongue.
“Miss, are you normally this meddlesome?”
His question caught in my throat, choking the wine that was about to go down.
“……If I have been rude, I apologize.”
Only after swallowing the wine could I speak the words of apology. My face burned faster than when I had been lost in my own illusions.
It had only been two days since the wedding—just two full days—and yet I was already interfering in matters beyond my place.
“It’s late.”
I set the wine down on the windowsill. As I hurriedly turned, I suddenly stopped, as if caught on something.
“That’s not what I meant.”
Holding my wrist, Lord Winchester said this with a slightly flustered tone.
“I think I chose the wrong words. What I meant was, I wanted to ask if you are normally… kind.”
He hesitated, searching for the right word, and finally chose it:
Kind.
When I turned my head, I saw his hand still holding mine. The hand that had hastily grasped me as I tried to turn away, embarrassed. The hand that tried to clarify that what he had said wasn’t what he intended.
Kind.
A large hand, with thick joints, rough palms, covered in calluses—and the emotion within it was the same.
The previously opened window, the cool night breeze entering through it, the two wine glasses prepared—all pointed to that one word.
“No. Not really.”
I slowly withdrew my hand and denied it. I wasn’t that kind or affectionate.
“I’m only like that to people I want to be.”
Had his piercing blue eyes found the answer they were searching for?
As usual, when I woke this morning, the only thing beside me was an empty space. Perhaps because of wandering around the shop yesterday or the wine I had drunk before bed, even though I slept and woke early, it was the same.
I reached out to touch where Lord Winchester had lain yesterday. It was already ice-cold. He must have gotten up at least thirty minutes ago.
“Haah~ what time did he wake up?”
I yawned and murmured.
“Milady! It’s urgent!”
Just as I was about to wash my face, the door suddenly burst open. A maid, looking genuinely panicked, was stomping her feet.
“Urgent? What urgent matter?”
I asked, startled. I was only on my third day as the Countess—a baby countess! What could be so urgent?
“Ah… this.”
Hastily throwing on my robe, I rushed downstairs, only to be greeted by stacks of boxes piled up at the entrance.
“Where should I put these?”
Two men carrying a desk entered, presumably delivering furniture as well.
“Just set them aside for now.”
Normally, they would go directly into the room, but Daniel’s room wasn’t ready for furniture yet.
‘I should have done this step by step in order… I went too reckless buying everything. Thank goodness Daniel stopped me yesterday.’
Yesterday, I must have been a little reckless. The boy needed so many things, I had so much affection for him, and with money in abundance… it was bound to happen.
“What’s all this commotion so early in the morning?”
Madame Perede appeared, frowning. Seeing the piles of boxes and incoming furniture, her expression darkened even more.
Hmm~ So, she must be seeing these items for the first time? That means she came to me first instead of going straight to the shop, right?
“What’s your name, girl?”
I asked the flustered maid beside me.
“Eh? Ah! My name is May.”
Good. May, you’re approved.
I repeated her name in my mind, picturing her freckled face and orange hair.
“Wait a moment. There seems to be a mistake.”
Madame Perede said this to the furniture delivery staff as they tried to place the desk “to the side.”
“We never ordered these items…”
“I ordered them.”
I stopped Madame Perede from confronting the delivery men.
“I went shopping with Daniel yesterday, just a little.”
I knew it was far more than “a little,” but I said it brazenly. Madame Perede looked momentarily dumbfounded at my audacity.
“Milady.”
She called me calmly, already hiding her expression like a professional.
“Isn’t this a bit much to call ‘a little’?”
“Is it?”
“Spending the family’s precious Winchester estate wealth so freely right after marriage is unacceptable.”
“Why? I’m spending the family’s precious Winchester wealth for the family’s precious young countess.”
“……”
Madame Perede paused at my answer, her gaze shifting sideways.
The contents of the boxes were unknown unless opened, but the furniture was clearly child-sized. That was why I bought it. Though the furniture in Daniel’s room was antique and valuable, it was too large for a young child to use.
The wardrobe was too tall for Daniel to pick clothes; the desk and chair were not child-height; the wall mirror reflected only the top of the head, which Daniel couldn’t even see.
“By noon, the interior contractor will come. Move all of Daniel’s things to another room or storage first. The room needs painting and wallpapering. Once the interior is done, place the new furniture in Daniel’s room.”
Like a true countess, she instructed the staff and then turned away. I hadn’t even washed yet. Time to clean up and eat breakfast.
“Ah, and Daniel?”
I almost forgot the most important thing.
