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Chapter 81
“During the time I’ve been observing, the Duke has only made two choices that caused him a loss. Don’t you notice something in common?”
“…Both are related to Miss Liana, aren’t they?”
The space fell silent again. Kim and Bastian looked bewildered, lost in their own thoughts.
Even if not now, they both had the feeling that someday, a storm would surely hit the Duke’s household.
Liana ran to the main building, soaking wet. She was heading back to her quarters to change out of her uniform.
‘At least it’s not another situation where I have to apologize to Deborah… thank goodness.’
And she had escaped the Prince’s threat as well!
Her heart leapt with excitement at how well everything had turned out. So much so that she didn’t even notice someone calling her name along the way, nor did she remember that shoes were slippery when wet in the rain.
“Aaah!”
Her foot slipped in the rain, and she staggered, flailing her arms.
“Liana!”
Suddenly, someone appeared out of nowhere and grabbed her arms. She instinctively relied on him to regain her balance.
Though she was already soaked like a drowned rat, she had narrowly avoided an even worse situation. Grateful, she looked up at her rescuer.
“…Gray?”
He was half-dry, as if he had only just been in the rain, holding an umbrella.
Seeing the umbrella lying on the ground, it seemed he had thrown it aside and ran over.
His normally dry shirt was quickly becoming soaked.
Liana shook off his hands clinging to her arm and furrowed her brow.
“What are you doing out here?”
It didn’t look like he was walking Willie. At least, not without Willie—currently, Liana thought of Gray as nothing more than a nuisance.
“Are you okay? No twisted ankles? Why were you acting like a lunatic in this weather?”
Despite her attempts to push him away, Gray’s hands persisted, moving her around, inspecting her as if performing a full-body check.
Liana shoved him again, annoyed.
“Why are you suddenly acting friendly? You ignored me after accepting an important task and payment.”
Her tone, sharper than intended, revealed more anger than she had planned. Her voice, raised to be heard over the rain, unintentionally carried the depth of her true feelings—something that could only be called disappointment.
“You told me it was important! And then you flake without a word of explanation. And now you show up out of nowhere—what’s that about?”
Liana rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. She realized that what trickled down her face wasn’t tears but just rainwater.
A relief. Any emotion regarding Gray now felt like a waste. Be it tears or friendship, it didn’t matter.
Seeing herself feel this way, she realized she had trusted him a lot and maybe even relied on him more than she had admitted.
But now, it didn’t matter anymore. What if she gave him her trust again and ended up disappointed?
Turning away, she murmured one last thing:
“I wasn’t joking when I said I didn’t want to see you. Unlike me, I keep my word. So don’t show up in front of me again.”
“Wait!”
She tried to leave, but her wrist was grabbed. As she struggled violently, the friction of wet skin made a squelching sound.
“What right do you have to touch me? Who do you think you are?”
It was implied that they were neither friends, colleagues, nor allies.
‘I should have done this from the beginning.’
I was foolish to think a friendly relationship was possible with him, she thought, biting her lower lip. Any feeling Gray now evoked would only be regret or resentment.
Yet—
‘Why does his face look like that?’
Oddly, his expression mirrored similar emotions. His pupils wavered, his fingertips trembled, and his uneven breathing could be seen under the wet, clinging shirt.
How irritating. Who got hurt here, anyway?
Liana shoved him away again, signaling she had no intention of letting him touch her.
“See you at the auction. Until then, I have no business with you.”
Gray staggered back, making a contorted expression. Seeing him like that, soaked and grimacing, almost looked like crying.
She didn’t care. Liana hurried on her way.
“I know you’re angry, but I thought long and hard before coming.”
His voice came from behind, but Liana ignored it, moving ahead.
“You’re nothing to me, but you’re not nothing, right?”
Another useless rant. Not worth listening to.
“You… to me… I—”
Gray’s voice trembled with emotion, but Liana, steadily moving away, didn’t care.
“You…”
His words were swallowed by the sound of the rain. His fists shook violently as he tried to say what he had meant, but instead blurted something else:
“You still need to take your money.”
Liana froze mid-step.
Gray quickly caught up, blocking her path.
“I was wrong to break my promise. So take back your money.”
“Fine. I’ll take it.”
Gray stared at her small hand extended toward him, ruffling his wet hair.
“…I don’t have it right now. Sorry. I’ll give it to you tomorrow—”
“If you’re not giving it now, forget it. Just eat it and leave.”
Liana snapped coldly and brushed past him.
Gray froze, feeling as if the raindrops hitting him were hail instead.
“…You’re really just going to throw away six gold coins?”
“Not throwing them away. Think of it as the price of keeping you away.”
Her icy response struck through the rain like a dagger.
“…What?”
Gray couldn’t follow her any further. He had believed those six shining coins were the only way to see her again, even just once.
‘But to think she hates me that much…’
Her hatred hurt—like being stabbed as many times as the raindrops fell.
He realized he was already drenched in love, realized too late. His world had turned gray, so much so that he couldn’t even remember the color of his old self.
And suddenly, everything that left, leaving a gray world behind, felt terrifyingly sad.
Flash!
A white lightning bolt split the sky. Liana dashed into the main building entrance and sank to the floor, escaping the rain.
Thunder boomed, shaking her chest.
“…You did well, Liana. You did the right thing.”
Gray had been a painful part of her life.
Perhaps it was because he was an orphan, poor, and unlucky like her. She had always been too soft with him.
So finally cutting him off was the right choice. Staying soft would have meant being crushed in someone else’s fight.
The conclusion was reached before the thunder stopped. Liana rose bravely, determined.
From then on, her days continued as usual, without Gray.
She washed the rain off, changed into fresh clothes, and wrapped a blanket around her shoulders to absorb the moisture from her hair.
‘Now, let’s get down to business.’
Today was actually an important day.
She went down to the first floor to find Bastian and Kim.
“Miss Liana?”
They jumped, caught off guard as if caught gossiping.
Liana brushed it off and looked Bastian in the eyes.
“Butler! I was just going to ask you something.”
“Go ahead, then. Answer sincerely.”
Kim patted Bastian’s shoulder and casually walked away.
“I have to go draft the Duke’s statement.”
Ignoring Kim, Liana approached Bastian.
His awkward, forced smile betrayed the gossip he’d been caught in.
“How may I assist you?”
He looked like a department store concierge. Overly polite. But that wasn’t the important part.
“Today is the first payday, right?”
It was the day she had marked with an ‘X’ on the calendar.
Recently, ‘X’ had been an annoying letter, but this ‘X’ meant something completely different. It symbolized freedom, liberation, and a very lovely salary!
Blinking in excitement, Liana asked eagerly:
“Do I have to finish my shift to get it, or will it be given while the butler is on duty? I’m just curious.”
“Ah, I was about to send the payment to Madam Midas as a promissory note anyway.”
At the mention of work, Bastian returned to his usual demeanor. Polite and natural.
“You may receive it today as well. Is now convenient?”
“Of course it is!”
Liana eagerly followed him to the butler’s office, hopping along.
