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Chapter 5
A sigh escaped her at the blatantly intentional question.
“You should know better than anyone how pathetic emotional squabbles look in a union based on profit and loss.”
“Does it work like that? I wouldn’t know—I’m not a noble.”
“Listen here, Mr. Fletcher.”
Judging from the mocking tone, he clearly had a complex about his status.
And yet, considering he dared to covet the prestige of a ducal house, perhaps his courage was impressive in its own way.
“And I was only asking. Not trying to start a fight.”
Tilting his head from side to side, Eden curled the corners of his lips teasingly. Erin turned away, avoiding his gaze.
“You do realize who’s being unnecessarily prickly right now, don’t you, Miss Erin Cornue?”
“Who knows.”
“We’ve got a long road ahead of us. Wouldn’t it be better if we got along?”
“…Ah, getting along.”
A faint laugh slipped from Erin’s lips. That was exactly what she wanted to say.
“Then tell me, Mr. Fletcher—did you really love ballet that much?”
“Ballet?”
She turned toward him, but just before their eyes met, she looked away again. The man was still idly swinging his foot.
“I was just curious. Watching the same performance four days in a row isn’t exactly common.”
That was only the number she personally remembered, so perhaps it had been even more than that.
Couldn’t you have approached me in a more normal way? That was what Erin wanted to ask.
Instead of making unrelated people whisper behind her back, would it really have been so difficult to start a conversation with ordinary manners?
“As if it was the ballet.”
He placed a newspaper down on the cluttered seat beside him, already covered in documents. Then he loosely clasped his hands together, leaned forward, and whispered to her.
“Erin Cornue. I went to see you.”
“……”
As he leaned back again, she caught the faint scent of wood from him. A chill crawled over her skin so sharply she nearly wanted to cover her nose.
“And I wasn’t the only man there for that reason. Though in the end, I’m the one who got you. Ah, or were the others only interested in admiring from afar…?”
Unable to endure it anymore, Erin glared at him. Her tightly pressed lips trembled.
“You… after only one day, why are you already—”
“We still have things to discuss.”
The moment their eyes met, Eden looked genuinely delighted. It was exactly the sort of smile a businessman would wear when ready to say anything necessary to steer a contract in his favor.
“Sorry, but that won’t do.”
Erin spat the words out.
“For reasons you already know, I’m not in good condition right now. I need to rest somewhere quiet first.”
“You can’t avoid this forever.”
“No, of course not. It’s just not a conversation that’ll end quickly. Let’s meet another time and—”
“Then that settles it. We’ll talk now.”
Eden lightly jerked his chin and knocked on the carriage wall.
The crack of a whip and the sound of hooves rang out, and before Erin could even process what was happening, the carriage lurched forward.
“…What is this?”
She looked from one window to the other. The carriage was rapidly heading in the opposite direction from her lodgings.
“You said you wanted somewhere quiet.”
“When did I—? I meant I wanted to go back to my lodgings.”
“Right. So let’s go.”
“Go where exactly—!”
Home. Home.
Murmuring the word casually, the man crossed his arms and closed his eyes.
By the time they passed through the gates, the carriage had stopped.
The door opened, and Jin greeted Erin with a bright smile, extending a hand toward her.
Limping slightly as she stepped down, Erin adjusted her skirt and looked around. But then her eyelashes trembled violently, and she whipped her head away.
Eden stepped down after her, casually dusting off his wrinkled jacket.
“What is this? Why… why are we here…?”
She had known something felt strange.
Even after the streets had grown sparse, the carriage had continued onward, and she had secretly wondered just how grand a place he intended to take her.
But never—not even once—had she imagined it would be here.
“Why are you just standing there? Let’s go inside.”
As Eden lightly wrapped an arm around her shoulders, Erin immediately shrugged him off.
“Don’t act like the master of the house. In my home.”
The butler and head maid were already waiting at the entrance. Watching them bow, Erin bit her lip.
The place Eden Fletcher had brought her to was the Cornue family’s townhouse at the end of Le Mans Street.
Her home.
Was it really such a terrible mistake that she’d closed her eyes the whole way here to avoid troublesome conversation?
Clenching her fists, Erin struggled to calm the burning turmoil inside her as the man leaned his head toward her.
Then he glanced between her and the mansion, smiling with infuriating sweetness.
“So our lady of the house should hurry and show me around. Starting today, I have ownership of this place too, so let’s all get along nicely.”
“Ownership?”
Nodding playfully, Eden pulled out a sheet of paper from inside his coat and unfolded it. Dense lines of writing covered the page.
“This is a notice of debt transfer. I got it from the court this morning, so you’ll understand once you read it.”
Snatching it from him, Erin skimmed through it before throwing it back against his chest.
Even without reading the details, she had already heard that he had repaid the bonds issued by her family in their place.
Which meant the transfer of ownership for the mansion used as collateral was obviously real. There was no need for forged documents.
Eden Fletcher was in her home.
And every right to it now belonged to him.
“Haah…”
The reality crashed over her all at once, making it hard to breathe.
But at the same time, the princess’s words came back to her. Those words like a ray of sunlight—
“Still, my dear, I made sure to leave you at least one escape route.”
“What?”
“He promised that if Duke Cornue returns and repays the debt, everything will be undone. He’ll end all relations and leave cleanly.”
“Really?”
“Yes, I made certain of the promise. And the written agreement has already been notarized and locked inside the royal bank vault.”
“…Ah.”
“What did I tell you? For someone raised outside noble society, he seems to possess a bit of conscience after all.”
So she only had to endure until her father returned.
Until then.
This was merely a passing contract. A play with a fixed ending.
Erin repeated the thought to herself as if trying to calm her own heart. Her face was pale, her bitten lips the only thing flushed red.
“As you can see from the documents, this is technically my house now, but…”
Watching the constantly shifting expressions on Erin’s face, the man drawled on in amusement.
“It’s my first day here. Since you know the place so well, wouldn’t it look nicer if you personally welcomed me inside?”
“……”
“Are you going to keep standing there? I suddenly find myself having gentlemanly concerns that your ankle pain might worsen.”
Eden gestured with his chin toward the hem of her skirt.
The dark crimson skirt reached her ankles, emphasizing the slender ankle supporting her weight beneath it.
Afterward, he calmly glanced toward the servants watching them, pressing Erin once more.
“Please, Miss Cornue.”
At last, swallowing dryly, Erin started toward the entrance.
Eden immediately closed the distance and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pressing himself against her side.
As if intending to support her, Erin halted in place and quietly shut her eyes.
“Let go.”
“You’re hurt.”
“I said let go of me.”
“If you dislike this so much, I could just throw you over my shoulder instead. What do you think? Prefer that option? I can do it.”
“……”
His hands firmly restrained both of her arms. His chilling voice settled by her ear.
“You need to heal quickly. Those are precious legs meant for all that spinning around.”
His uncompromising tone made her frown even deeper, but eventually she opened her eyes again in resignation.
Dragging this out was ridiculous. It would only waste more emotion.
When she finally relaxed and leaned against him, a light laugh sounded above her head.
“That’s better. You should’ve listened sooner.”
In the early spring air, as though green grass might sprout at any moment, the sound of their shoes echoed steadily across the wide stone path.
The butler and head maid, who had remained motionless at the entrance as if by prior agreement, only stepped forward once Erin was directly before them.
“Miss, your leg…”
As expected, the first thing they noticed was her twisted ankle. Erin immediately offered them a gentle smile.
“It’s just fatigue building up. Nothing serious enough to worry about.”
“Shall we call a doctor?”
“No. Later. I just want to rest today.”
At Erin’s refusal, neither of them pressed further and silently stepped aside.
Both Erin and the servants clearly understood that an outsider now stood among them where he did not belong.
“Ah.”
Then suddenly, Erin stopped walking.
She stood just two steps away from the wide-open entrance. The butler and head maid halted at the same time.
“You two should greet him. This is Mr. Eden Fletcher.”
It was hardly the right timing to introduce a guest, but Erin deliberately interrupted the flow of things to insert him into it.
At a glance, she could already see the maids working in one corner of the drawing room lined up and stealing curious looks in their direction.
